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Israel Update 26.8.21

ISRAELI PM VISITS WASHINGTON DC

 

 

Prime Minister Bennett’s meeting with US President Joe Biden was postponed from Thursday until  Friday morning because of the Afghanistan suicide bombings.  Read more here

 

GAZA

 

An Israeli Border Police officer, Barel Shmueli, 21, was shot in the head at point-blank range and critically wounded  during a riot along the Gaza border on Saturday.    Read more here

 

 

 

Earlier, Hamas and Israel had come to an understanding, through intermediaries, on the transfer of Qatar’s aid money to impoverished families in Gaza.Despite the deal, which should have calmed tensions, Hamas kept plans in place for the mass rally Saturday on the Gaza border, marking 52 years since a Christian Australian tourist set fire to sections of al-Aqsa mosque. He was tried by Israel, found to be insane, and was hospitalized in a mental institution over the arson. Commemorating the event appeared to be primarily an excuse to get the masses to riot along the border. Hamas wanted civilians to confront troops.Read more here

 

 

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip sparked at least nine fires in southern Israel on Monday with balloon-borne incendiary devices flown over the border. Read more here

 

 

 

Despite doctors giving her just hours to live, Yulia Zalotsky, 44 who was gravely hurt during Israel’s May war with Gaza terrorist factions was discharged from hospital this week after making a miraculous recovery. She had been   given almost no chance of survival after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded near her and sent shrapnel flying in her direction. Read more here

 

 

 

AFGHANISTAN

 

 

From drones to missiles and armoured vehicles, Israeli-made systems have helped coalition forces against the Taliban. Reportedly, the UK, Germany Canada & Australia had been using  Israeli defence companies’ products for many years. Read more here

 

 

IRANIAN THREAT

 

 

A new report from the Istanbul-based Jusoor research institute says the Iranian military presence in southern Syria near the border with Israel has more than doubled since 2018 and is deployed in preparation for a future confrontation with Israel. Read more here

 

 

LAST WEEK’S HUGE FOREST FIRE CAUSED BY ARSON

Fire investigators  have found forensic evidence indicating that the massive fire in the Jerusalem Hills was caused by arson. Read more here

 

 

NASA  satellite images indicated that three fires in distant locations had ignited at the same time 3:00 PM. and were almost certainly caused by arson. Read more here

 

 

 

CORONAVIRUS IN ISRAEL

 

 

 (Last week’s figures in brackets for comparison)

 

Some 8,800  (7,856) new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in Israel on Wednesday, with 680  (603) patients in serious condition. 186  (106) were on ventilators. Some 1,772,367 Israelis had received the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Thursday morning. Read more here

Israel has seen a decline in severe COVID-19 cases Thursday, as hospitals were treating 680 COVID-19 patients in serious condition — 19 fewer than the previous day. Read more here

 

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

 

 

Israel’s Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that Israelis age 30 and over were now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster with immediate effect, expanding the programme days after lowering the minimum age to 40. Read more here

 

 

Reportedly, the third coronavirus vaccine shot is 95% effective against infection and 97% effective against serious symptoms some 16 days after the shot, according to Health Ministry data. Read more here

 

 

In an effort to reach the over one million Israelis who remain unvaccinated, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced a plan Monday that will dispatch mobile vaccination units to communities with particularly low vaccination rates. Read more here

 

 

VACCINE

 

 

The latest results from the trials of Brilife Israel’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine indicate the shot may provide longer-term protection than the inoculation developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. Reportedly 230 volunteers who received the highest dosage of the vaccine, developed by the Israel Institute for Biological Research, were notified that they did not need a third dose of the vaccine as their protection remained high, six months after getting a second dose.   Read more here

 

 

TREATMENT

 

 

 

Fourteen out of 15 severe COVID-19 patients who were treated in an investigator-initiated interventional open-label clinical study of the drug TriCor (fenofibrate) didn’t require oxygen support within a week of treatment and were released from hospital, according to the results of a new Hebrew University of Jerusalem study. Read more here

 

 

RESEARCH

 

 

An analysis of health data from 3,000 women in Jerusalem has found that coronavirus vaccines do not raise pregnancy risks, but contracting COVID-19 can make women slightly more vulnerable to premature labour, Read more here

 

 

The use of Pfizer BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine marginally increases the risk of heart inflammation, but the risk is higher among those infected with coronavirus, according to an Israeli study published on in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read more here

 

 

HAITI

 

Israeli NGO IsraAID was at the forefront of international rescue efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake and for eight years afterwards.  IsraAID has now returned after the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake and tropical storm and their team is working for Haiti’s long-term recovery.
Read more here

ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES

 

 

Israel’s aerospace and aviation manufacturer IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) has signed an agreement with the UAE’s Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest commercial aircraft maintenance provider in the Mideast, to establish a major facility in Abu Dhabi to convert Boeing 777-3000ER passenger planes into cargo aircraft. Read more here

 

 

AIA has signed a deal worth 200 million euros to supply new radars to the German Navy to modernize the sensor technology of its F124 air defence frigates.Read more here

 

 

 

FOOD TECH

 

 

Israeli startup SavorEat, a maker of 3D-printed, plant-based “meat” alternatives, has signed an agreement with Sodexo Operations, the American subsidiary of Paris-based food services and facilities management conglomerate Sodexo, to launch a pilot project offering the startup’s kosher, vegan, gluten-free, allergen-free burger patties in the US. This is the first major international partnership for SavorEat, which is also launching its food products with the Israeli burger restaurant chain BBB this year. Read more here

 

 

 

Four Israeli startups  BioMilk, ReMilk, Imagindairy and Fantastic Farms are developing real milk or milk proteins in the lab, without harming animals or the environment. Read more here

 

 

 

MEDICAL INNOVATION

 

 

Researchers at Tel Aviv University say the first 3D bioprinting of an entire active tumour marks a scientific breakthrough that will aid the battle against cancer by allowing researchers to develop bespoke cures in a simulated setting. Read more here

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

 

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is expanding its use of drones to fight environmental offenders, as high resolution video serves as substantial evidence in court.Green Police inspectors focus on illegal dumping, hazardous materials, and construction waste. Read more here

 

 

PARALYMPICS

 

 

Arab-Israeli swimmer Iyad Shalabi, 34, won a gold medal in the 100m backstroke event. He was born deaf-mute  and is paralyzed in all four limbs following an accident at age 13. He competes in disability classification S1, reserved for those with the most severe activity limitations.Read more here

 

Israel sent 33 athletes in 11 sports across the Games’ many different categories of disability to the Tokyo Paralympics.Read more here

 

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

 

Institute for Policy and Strategy-IDC Herzliya( Exec Dir.Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead):
The rapid military takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban constitutes an expression of the failure of “nation-building” by the U.S.  Against this backdrop, the Israeli perspective – that preferred stability over externally “implanting” democracy and a liberal value set on countries of the region – was revalidated. Thus, Israel must continue to support moderate and monarchic Sunni regimes, particularly in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Even if these regimes are not democratic, they still curb the forces of political Islam, fight against what remains of ISIS, and, like Israel, are disturbed by the growing shadow of Iranian influence and Shiite terrorism.
Read more here

 

 

Anthony Kila (Director of the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS) in Lagos):

The Israeli experience shows us that with goodwill to plan and learn, anyone anywhere can achieve beyond what nature has given it. Israel is one land that is blessed with little in terms of natural resources. Circled by unfriendly neighbours, Israelis knew from the onset that they had to look inward. Today, Israel is one of the top five countries in the world that has enough food for its own people and leads the rest of the world in the development of cutting-edge solutions for high yielding farming. It is also sending out professionals, companies, and government envoys to help nations discover products, ideas, and innovations that will help them make better use of their resources to feed their hungry people. Israel has done all this while simultaneously dealing with issues of security, constant attacks, ideological opposition, and racial bias against it. Read more here