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Israel Update 7.7.22

TERROR ATTACKS

 

 

Itzhak Dahan, 47, suffered serious head injuries after being stabbed Tuesday morning while walking to prayers near Bnei Brak. A Palestinian suspect was subsequently arrested in a joint operation by the police and Shin Bet intelligence agency. Read more here

 

 

The Israel Security Agency thwarted 172 substantial terrorist attacks in the last year, while failing to stop seven, agency chief Ronen Bar said on Tuesday. The attacks prevented ranged from shootings to bombings and suicide attacks. Read more here

 

 

HIZBOLLAH THREAT

 

 

The IDF shot down three unmanned aerial vehicles launched by Hizbullah toward an Israeli gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday. One was shot down by an F-16 and two others were downed by a Barak 8 surface-to-air missile launched from the INS Eilat. Read more here

 

 

The interception of Hizbullah drones by the Israeli Navy’s Barak 8 missile system was the first time the naval missile defence system proved its effectiveness. read more here

 

 

More than 30 governments in the Law Enforcement Coordination Group (LECG) met in Europe on June 29-30 to focus on countering Hizbullah’s ongoing global terrorist plotting, weapons procurement, and financial schemes. LECG members discussed how law enforcement or financial tools can be used to disrupt Hizbullah’s terrorist and criminal activities. Read more here

 

 

 

CONSERVATION

 

 

The renowned primatologist, environmental campaigner and UN peace messenger Dame Jane Goodall has announced that a new branch of the Jane Goodall Institute is being established in Israel, based at the Max Stern Jezreel Valley College in northern Israel, where Dr. Itai Roffman, an evolutionary anthropologist and long-time associate of Goodall’s, teaches and carries out research. Read more here

 

 

 

MILITARY CO-OPERATION

 

 

Israel’s National Security College is reportedly set to have a UAE military officer as a student for the first time in another sign of deepening ties between the UAE and Israel. Read more here

 

 

For the first time, the IDF participated as observers in the US Africa Command’s joint annual drill with Morocco which involved some 7,500 servicemembers in Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia. (Tunisia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.) Read more here

 

 

Greece has implemented a “veritable umbrella against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles” over islands and other important sites across the country during the past two months.  The system uses Israeli technology (the “Drone Dome”) to blind drones and disrupt their flight plans.  Read more here

 

 

 

The Royal Thai Navy will buy seven Hermes 900 drones from Israeli company Elbit Systems. The RTN already has four Hermes 400 drones. Read more here

 

 

 

MOROCCO

 

 

Morocco’s Ministry of Health and Israel’s IMS Ovadia Group have signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of five hospitals with a capacity of 1,000 beds in various regions of Morocco. The IMS group is set to invest $497 million on the design, construction, and equipment. Read more here

 

 

ITALY

 

At the request of the Sardinian President, an Israeli locust expert Dr Yoav Motro and a delegation including Israeli agritech companies visited the Italian island to help deal with an outbreak of the insects which has been a problem for 3 years. Read more here

 

 

MOLDOVA

 

Israel on Wednesday donated a consignment of medical equipment to Moldova valued at $700,000 for diagnosis and surgery rooms. Read more here

 

 

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

 

 

Technology built and now deployed in Israel works to warn doctors if their patients’ uncoordinated treatment regimens could set them on course for hospitalization. An artificial intelligence system developed by the Tel Aviv-based FeelBetter, is designed to reduce instances of suboptimal polypharmacy harming patients and has been deployed by Leumit Healthcare Services, one of Israel’s four HMOs. Read more here

 

 

Researchers at Haifa’s Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, have developed a material that speeds the repair of damaged nerves using electricity. The ultra-thin material can be wrapped around damaged nerves inside the body and then enable electricity derived from light to flow there after the wound is closed up. Read more here

 

 

Hebrew University startup ViroBlock has reported preliminary success of its platform for rapidly generating anti-viral therapies. Its channel blockers inhibit proteins expressed by current and emerging viruses, including COVID-19 and variants, influenza, Zika, West Nile, Hepatitis B and more.(TY Michael) read more here

 

 

ECONOMY

 

 

The Bank of Israel raised its benchmark interest rate by half a point on Tuesday to 1.25 percent, as the nation’s economists ramp up their fight to tame rampant inflation and spiralling housing costs.According to theBank , inflation in Israel over the last 12 months reached 4.1% with estimates showing it rising to 4.5% for 2022, before dropping down to 2.4% next year. Read more here

 

 

 

COVID-19 IN ISRAEL

 

Israel’s current coronavirus wave is almost at its peak and the number of new daily infections will soon start to fall, according to one of the country’s top virus statisticians, Prof. Nadav Katz, part of an interdisciplinary COVID-monitoring group at Hebrew University The transmission rate has dropped, with each confirmed patient infecting an average 1.06 others. A month ago, this figure was 1.46.  Read more here

 

 

COVID czar Salman Zarka urged the public on Wednesday to wear face masks when indoors. With more than 90% of those hospitalized with COVID over age 60, he said that those in that age group “must wear masks” in enclosed areas. He also called on the general public to be careful when visiting elderly people and advised taking an antigen test before making such visits.

A new highly infectious variant has been recently detected in India, Zarka reported, urging those returning from abroad to seek out a PCR test. He said the ministry was in particular asking those who return from India or Africa to take a PCR test, although mandatory post-flight testing was cancelled in May. Read more here

 

 

Babies from age 6 months up to 5 year old children could soon be eligible for vaccination against Covid-19 in Israel. read more here

 

 

 

Pediatric coronavirus vaccine is only 51% effective in Omicron among 5-11-year-old children, a new study by Clalit Research Institute claims. The research included data from 94,728 vaccinated 5-11-year-old children, compared to 94,728 unvaccinated children from the same age group, and was conducted from 23.11.21  to  7.1.22, when the Omicron variant was prevalent in Israel. Researchers from Harvard University, the University of Padua, Italy, and the University of London took part in the study. Read more here

 

 

PHOTO TECH

 

 

US photo giant Shutterfly is using artificial intelligence developed in Israel to transform the way consumers engage with their photos. An algorithm developed by its R&D department in Haifa automatically sifts and edits a customer’s pictures into a photo book in a matter of seconds, saving them hours of hassle. Read more here

 

 

ROAD SAFETY

 

 

Israel-based Autotalks has developed an affordable device that alerts cyclists and scooter riders to the danger of unseen motorists and could help prevent many accidents. The company uses V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technology to connect two-wheelers with other road users and warn them of each other’s presence.Read more here

 

FOOD TECH

 

Israeli food tech startup Maolac uses an algorithm that matches the key proteins in breast milk with alternative sources found in mushrooms, algae, and plant and is said to be the first company in the world to identify and extract functional proteins from bovine colostrum. Read more here

 

 

BUSINESS

 

Japanese automotive giant Toyota has chosen Israeli company Quantum Machines, through its trading arm Toyota Tsusho Corporation, for a partnership that will build future quantum capabilities and offer the multinational’s Japanese customers access to quantum technologies.Read more here

 

 

 

ENVIRONMENT

 

 

Israeli start-up Thermo Terra’s technology harnesses energy from fluctuations in humidity to cool & heat buildings at half the current price.Read more here

 

 

A drip-irrigation system from Israeli precision irrigation market leader Netafim is enabling a carbon-storing tree plantation in Suffolk, UK, to increase its yield and carbon-storing capabilities. read more here

 

 

SPORT

 

 

Israel’s under-19 men’s soccer team was defeated 3-1 by England in the country’s first-ever European soccer final on Friday, with England only scoring the winning goals late into extra time. read more here

 

 

An Australian cyclist, Simon Clark, riding for the Israeli team, Israel-Premier Tech has won the fifth stage of the Tour De France.  Read more here

 

 

Fulham FC were preparing to sign a contract with Israeli left-winger Manor Solomon, who reportedly agreed to join the club on loan for 12 months. Read more here

 

 

CULTURE

 

Rapper 50 cent played a Tel Aviv concert on July 4th. read more here

 

 

How Israeli songs became integral to Taiwan’s national folk dancing tradition. Read more here

 

 

ARCHAEOLOGY

 

 

The first known portrayal of biblical heroines Deborah and Yael has been uncovered in a mosaic panel around 1600 years old that decorated an ancient synagogue in Haqoq, northern Israel. Read more here

 

 

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

 

 

Khaled Abu Toameh: The vast majority of the Palestinians, however, make it abundantly clear that they do not believe in the “two-state solution” and would rather see Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group whose charter calls for the elimination of Israel, replace the Palestinian Authority… Hamas leaders have never been anything but clear and consistent about their intention to eliminate Israel and kill Jews. Read more here

 

 

Israeli journalist Yoav Limor recently visited Saudi Arabia and was pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome and friendly atmospehere. (Israel & Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations) Read more here