Monday, July 1, 2019: This past weekend was very busy. After getting home Friday night around 11:30 p.m. from my trip to the southwest border, I had an interview in the airport with WTOC TV in Savannah to discuss my observations from the trip. On Saturday morning I had an interview with WJCL TV in Savannah followed by an interview with WSAV in Savannah on the same subject. A link to the interviews can be found here and here. We will be sending out a special edition e-mail detailing my visit to the border soon. On Saturday afternoon I traveled to Screven in Wayne County for their July 4th celebration complete with lots of booths, a car show and many other fun events. This quaint little city is one of the jewels of the First District with a great group of volunteers who make everyone feel welcome.
Rep. Carter at the God and Country event in Waycross |
Next, I headed to Richmond Hill in Bryan County to J.F. Gregory Park for their July 4th celebration with a host of vendors and a great crowd. J.F. Gregory Park is one of the premiere parks in the state and is perfect for this type of event. Along with Richmond Hill Mayor Russ Carpenter and State Representative Ron Stephens (R-Georgetown), I had the opportunity to address the crowd and enjoyed visiting the many booths in this giant facility. Afterwards, I headed to Bloomingdale in Chatham County for their July 4th celebration that was not deterred by a little rain. Along with vendors and lots of kid’s rides, we honored our veterans before enjoying gospel music and fireworks. On Sunday, I joined Brother Freddie Smith at Sweat Memorial Baptist Church in Waycross for their annual God and Country event that is one of the best July 4th celebrations in the State of Georgia. This is the fourth year I have attended this great gathering and it has gotten better every year. This year the music ministries of Sweat Memorial Baptist Church and First Baptist Church joined forces with the Waycross Brass to make some of the best music anywhere. It is always a delight to participate in this special event. On Monday morning, I appeared live on Mornings with Maria on Fox Business Network to discuss my trip to the border and the important work President Trump is doing on trade. A link to my interview can be found above.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019: I’m on the radio this morning with my good friend Bill Edwards with WTKS radio in Savannah to talk about my trip to the border followed by a radio interview on the same subject with my good friend Scott James with Talk 92.1 radio in Valdosta and later with Martha Zoller with WDUN radio in Gainesville. A link to my interview on WDUN can be found here. Next, I head to our Savannah district office where I meet with members of Friends of Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge before heading to the Colonial Chemical Solutions (CCS) plant on Telfair Road in Savannah. CCS is a leading independent chemical distributor in the Southeast region with plant locations in Savannah, Atlanta and Wilmington, NC.
Rep. Carter at Colonial Chemical Solutions (CCS) plant |
Afterwards, I head to National Distributing Company (NDC) on Mills B. Lane Blvd in Savannah to learn more about the Alcohol Beverage Distribution business. NDC is a family owned business and one of the nation’s leading wholesale beverage alcohol distributors. Afterwards, I head back to our Savannah District Office for more constituent meetings and have a phone interview with the Savannah Morning News. Next, I head to Sunbury Plantation in Liberty County and on the way have a phone call with Fish & Wildlife Refuge System to discuss the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. Without question, Sunbury Plantation in Liberty County is one of the best kept secrets in Georgia. Since the arrival of Spanish explorers and missionaries in the early 1500’s, this area is full of American history. Of the 159 counties in Georgia, Liberty County is one of only three that is not named for a person or has a name of Native American heritage. The coastal community located between Darien and Savannah was named Liberty for providing two of Georgia’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Meredith Devendorf Belford and her mother Laura Devendorf have done an outstanding job of keeping their family property in tact through the use of land conservation and are truly great stewards of maintaining our state and nation’s heritage.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019: I’m back on the radio this morning with my good friends on the world famous Butch and Bob Show on WIFO radio in Jesup as we discuss my recent trip to the border as well as other issues of national interest. Afterwards, I meet with new Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) Garrison Commander Lieutenant Colonel Dave Escobar. Lt. Col. Escobar is a native of Fort Lauderdale, FL and has a most impressive resume including deployments of 36 months across two tours to Iraq and one tour to Afghanistan. We are very fortunate to have a soldier of his quality in this position at HAAF. Afterwards, I head to Ft. Stewart’s annual Marne Family Day at Newman Gym on post.
Rep. Carter at Ft. Stewart’s annual Marne Family Day |
This annual event brings the areas great group of volunteers together where businesses donate food and volunteers serve the troops and their families. Spearheaded by Melinda and P.J. Schneider, this is a great event and is yet another example of the community support that Ft. Stewart/HAAF receives. Afterwards, I have an office call with Major General Antonio Aguto, the new commanding officer of the 3rd ID. A well-educated and highly decorated soldier with outstanding credentials, Gen. Aguto is another in a long line of impressive leaders at Ft. Stewart/HAAF. Afterwards, I meet with Colonel Bryan Logan, the new Garrison Commander at Fort Stewart who took over with the change of command on June 20th. Col. Logan is a great soldier who has served at Fort Stewart before. A native of Houston, TX Col. Logan has an outstanding resume with the only blemish being that he graduated from LSU.
Rep. Carter greets a soldier reuniting with his family at the Savannah Bananas game |
Next, I head back to our Savannah district office where I meet with my good friend Sean Register from Bryan County before heading to the Savannah Bananas baseball game at Grayson Stadium which is always a fun event. I had the privilege of greeting a soldier that returned home from Afghanistan today as he reunited with his family during the baseball game.
Thursday, July 4th, 2019: Today is Independence Day, one of my favorite days of the year. For me today is all saints day - St. Marys, St. George and St. Simons Island. My day starts in Camden County where, for the 5th year in a row, I participate in the St. Marys July 4th parade. The enthusiasm of the crowd is only slightly lower that the temperature in what is always a great parade in this picturesque seaside community.
Rep. Carter at the St. Simons Island 4th of July Celebration |
Next, I head to the southernmost city in Georgia, St. George in Charlton County, for the St. George Baptist Church’s annual luncheon. Led by Charlton County Commissioner Jesse Crews, this is one of the premiere events in this tightknit community and it is always a delight to attend. Afterwards, I head to St. Simons Island in Glynn County where I participate in their annual July 4th golf cart parade where the fun is surpassed only by the patriotism.
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2)
Virtually everyone involved in the peace process has taken for granted that the primary goals of Palestinian leaders are peace, prosperity and self-determination. What if that’s wrong?
Abba Eban, who was serving as his country’s foreign minister after Israel defended itself from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six-Day War, is said to have lamented that Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
In Bahrain last week, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, struck a similar note. The plan he and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt have been working on for the past two years, he said, should not be seen as “the deal of the century.” It should be seen instead as “the opportunity of the century.”
Virtually everyone ever involved in what is optimistically called the “peace process” has taken for granted that the primary goals of Palestinians – or at least those who lead them – are peace, prosperity and self-determination.
What if that’s wrong? What if the Palestinians – or at least those who lead them – really want something else? Would that not guarantee that “opportunities” offered by those seeking to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be missed – or, more precisely, dismissed?
History may help answer this question. In 1947, the UN proposed partitioning western Palestine into two states: one for the Arabs of Palestine – back then they did not call themselves Palestinians – and one for the Jews of Palestine. (The more than three-quarters of Palestine to the east had become Jordan.)
This opportunity was immediately accepted by the Jews and rejected by the Arabs.
Upon termination of the British mandate for Palestine, the region’s existing Arab states launched a war to drive the Jews into the sea. Miraculously, Israel survived.
The Six-Day War of 1967 was a second attempt to use military force to vanquish Israel. When the fighting halted, Gaza and the West Bank, territories that had been occupied by Egypt and Jordan respectively, were in Israeli hands.
That presented a new opportunity. The Israelis could attempt what Egypt and Jordan had not: establishing a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, a so-called “two-state solution.” In exchange, Palestinians would only need to agree to peacefully coexist with their neighbor. The Arab League promptly issued the Khartoum Resolution, the "Three Noes": "No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it.”
The Israelis persisted. Deals were proposed in 2000, 2001 and 2008. The Palestinians were offered more than 90% of the West Bank. Each time, the Palestinians – or at least those who led them – declined. No counteroffers were presented.
Yet another opportunity: In 2005, Ariel Sharon, then Israel’s prime minister, withdrew every Israeli soldier and farmer, every synagogue and cemetery, from Gaza. If Gaza became a peaceable neighbor, expending its energies and foreign funds lifting its people from poverty, a deal on the West Bank would follow.
You know what happened next: Hamas went to war – literally, not figuratively – with Fatah, its rival. Hamas prevailed, which is why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dares not set foot in the territory.
Hamas then turned its guns, missiles and, more recently, terrorist tunnels and incendiary kites on Israel. This was in line with the Hamas Charter which calls for Israel to be annihilated and replaced by an Islamic emirate. Hamas views its struggle against Israel as a jihad. To compromise would be a sin – literally, not figuratively.
The Trump administration’s two-day “Peace to Prosperity Workshop” in Bahrain last week was an unusual and perhaps historic gathering of Israelis and Arabs. Given the threat the Islamic Republic of Iran poses to the region, many Sunni Arabs – or at least those who lead them – are no longer implacably hostile to the militarily capable Jewish state.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa went so far as to say: “Israel is part of this heritage of this whole region historically. So the Jewish people have a place amongst us.”
Kushner did not ask that Palestinians do anything in exchange for the massive assistance packaged he put on the table – including a $50 billion investment fund and a transportation corridor to connect the West Banks and Gaza.
Nonetheless, Abbas refused even to discuss the economic plan. At 83, he must be thinking of his legacy. I suspect he wants his portrait hanging next to that of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, not used for target practice by the mujahedeen.
If there are Palestinians who would like to seize this opportunity, can they prevail over those who lead them? From the river to the sea, only in Israel are people free.
Ashraf Ghanem, a Palestinian businessman, attended the conference. On Monday, he told the Jerusalem Post that he was in hiding after Palestinian security officers tried to arrest him. “I’m afraid for my life,” he said.
Final thought for today: Consciously or not, the “international community” has been encouraging Palestinian intransigence. In Europe and America, too, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and anti-Israelism are on the rise, with the far right and far left adopting views indistinguishable from those held by Islamists. The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is transparently eliminationist.
A landmark of sorts was UN Security Council Resolution 2334, passed in late 2016 thanks to President Obama. It asserts that there is “no legal basis” for Israeli claims even to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and the ancient Jewish holy sites. Which implies that Israelis have no claim to anything – no right to exist.
So Palestinians have been missing opportunities for an unsurprising reason: The opportunity to wipe Israel off the face of the earth may yet present itself. It’s not an impossible dream.
2a) Netanyahu: Iran's uranium enrichment steps are like those Nazis took in 1930
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called Iran's decision to upgrade its uranium enrichment beyond the limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal a “dangerous step,” likening it to the “small steps” the Nazis took in the 1930s that the world did not respond to, and which only whet their appetite for more.
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that he read an article in The Washington Post explaining that Iran's decision to go beyond the limit of 3.67% uranium enrichment was “not terrible, because it is just a “small step.”
This type of thinking, Netanyahu declared, is a “mistake.”
This enrichment, he said, “is for only one thing – to prepare nuclear weapons.”
World War II began in Europe, he said, “when Nazi Germany took one small step - to enter the Rhineland [in 1936]. A small step. No one said anything and no one did anything. The next step was the Anschluss, the connection with Austria [annexation of Austria in March 1938], and the next step was entering the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia [October 1938]. And the rest is known.”
Iran's decision is a “very dangerous step,” he said. “I call on my friends, the heads of France, Britain and Germany: You signed this [nuclear] agreement [with Iran], and you said that once they take this step, there will be harsh sanctions. That was the decision of the Security Council. Where are you?”
Netanyahu said he was not asking this question in a defiant manner, but rather “with the common knowledge of history, and [a knowledge of] what happens when aggressive totalitarian regimes cross the line, on the way to things that are very dangerous to all of us. Take the actions you promised to take; impose the sanctions.”
For its part, Netanyahu said, Israel is doing what it must, “constantly working against Iranian aggression.” Israel, he said, is not allowing Iran to entrench itself in Syria, and is acting to “nip this in the bud” – the same thing Israel is now asking Europe to do regarding the Iranian decision to enrich uranium at a higher level.
2b) Iran's time is up
By JOSEPH FRAGER---Dr. Joseph Frager is the first vice president of the National Council of Young Israel.
We are at an all-or-nothing military response stage. Anything short of total eradication of Iran's nuclear facilities will not stop the mullahs' quest for nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump’s last-minute decision to pull back from a retaliatory strike on Iran is nothing new in the annals of modern history.
According to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu was on the verge of attacking Iran three times between 2010 and 2012 but was blocked each time by other cabinet ministers or by the IDF chief of staff.
These attacks were planned for the most part before the Barack Obama administration came into power; that administration put an end to Israel’s plans to attack Iran. This may have been one of President Obama’s most colossal mistakes.
On March 28, 2012, then-Defense Minister Barak publicly praised himself and then-US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, saying, “The decision [to cancel the attack] was the result of contacts between the [Israeli] Defense Ministry and the Pentagon.”
During the Obama years, Israel was prevented from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. There were even reports that “friends of Obama” (namely Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser) threatened Israel’s jets would be shot out of the sky if it tried to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.
Although regime change and/or a vastly improved agreement with Iran on its nuclear program are the best options, neither appears to be realistic.
The limited US strike against Iranian radar and missile installations that Trump called off would have sent a strong message, but one that unfortunately would have only fed into the Iranian narrative that America is the aggressor. They would not have forced the mullahs back to the negotiating table.
There is no question the Trump administration is giving the ayatollahs daily fits. They have been completely unnerved by Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton. However, the mullahs are probably too smart for their own good. Their clear and calculated decision to shoot down a $120 million American unmanned aerial vehicle was designed to force America to retaliate. This would have played well for their audience the Iranian people, and their allies in the region.
Essentially, the president has only two real military options: Either he strikes all of the Iranian nuclear facilities in one major, thorough attack, or he does not strike at all. Anything short of a massive attack will be read the wrong way.
This is not to say that all diplomatic avenues shouldn’t be pursued, just that we are at an all-or-nothing military response stage. Anything short of total eradication of every nuclear facility in Iran will not stop the mullahs in their quest for nuclear weapons.
I have always believed in diplomacy first. The Obama agreement was not even a temporary solution for a very dangerous situation. America is running out of options and Iran is running out of time.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
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Gaza thugs throw incendiary balloons and rocks, the media and academics continue their libels, ignorant cretins continue their street theater demonstrations, and in spite of it all Israel makes outsize contributions in medicine, science, technology and cybersecurity which benefit the citizens of every nation on every continent. Amazing indeed! My friend and e-pal Michael Ordman compiles this list almost every week.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Hadassah surgeons realign baby’s organs. In a first-of-its-kind operation, a team of doctors at Hadassah Medical Center repaired the hernia (muscle between chest and abdomen) of a new-born baby. Then using low-invasive thoracoscopic surgery, they pushed the baby’s small intestine and spleen back into the abdomen.
Positive autism treatment results. (TY Stuart) Professor Lidia Gabis of Sheba Medical Center has published two important research articles on the treatment of autistic children. One showed that combined Donepezil and Choline improved their language skills. The other highlighted the benefits of medical clowning.
The protein that weakens the immune system. Researchers from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, working in an international team, have identified that the protein known as TOX represses T-cells within the immune system. By neutralizing TOX, scientists could restore the immune system to fight cancer and chronic or viral diseases.
Device for treating ADHD. I mentioned previously (Feb 2017) about Israeli-Arab startup InnoSphere, which was developing a wearable device for treating ADHD. This article describes in detail InnoSphere’s electrode-embedded cap that stimulates neurons in the brains of ADHD sufferers to make new connections.
New way to unblock arteries. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Transseptal Solutions announced the first TSP Crosser transseptal puncture procedure in the US. Transseptal’s innovative device helps surgeons to insert diagnostic and therapeutic devices into the left atrium with control, speed and precision. It is FDA and CE approved.
Generic treatment for hypertension. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Teva has launched a generic version of Tracleer tablets in the US. The treatment allows sufferers of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) to exercise better and slows progression of the disease. PAH is high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs.
Europe approves diabetes support system. (TY Atid-EDI) I’ve reported previously (see here) on Israel’s GlucoMe diabetes monitors. GlucoMe’s new Decision Support System (“DSS”) has just received the CE Mark. The DSS’s algorithm-based, clinical decision support software helps doctors monitor type 2 diabetes patients.
Anyone can save a life. Ezer Mizion’s data processor found she was a DNA match on the Israeli NGO’s bone marrow registry for a woman suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). She flew halfway around the world to donate some of her stem cells. She tells both her story, and of those still needing a transplant.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Specials get their wings. (TY Frieda) When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented an Israeli Druze his pilot wings (see last week), he awarded honorary wings to several special volunteers. They included Tarc Tuba with Down’s syndrome, a cousin of the Druze pilot, who comes from the same Druze village. Other new pilots included identical twins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqGmMjRRO8E
President’s awards for volunteering. (TY Sharon) Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin presented his awards for volunteerism to volunteers and organizations working to make art and culture accessible to children, Holocaust survivors, ultra-orthodox women, IDF soldiers, Israeli-Arabs, the deaf, at-risk youth and low-income families.
First graduates from Jewish Agency school for Bedouin. Twenty-two students celebrated their graduation as part of the inaugural class of Neve Midbar - Nitzana, a Jewish Agency youth village and boarding school catering to Bedouin high schoolers from the Negev desert region. They now have skills to enter Israeli society.
The first Arab chairman of an Israeli bank. Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank by market capitalization, has appointed Samer Haj Yehia as its Chairman of the Board of Directors. He becomes the first Arab chairman at an Israeli lender and is also on the board of both Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital and Israel’s Strauss Group.
Israel is “there to stay”. The US-led economic workshop in Bahrain had many positive moments. The warm welcome to Israeli journalists and their “delegate” badges; Bahrain’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist and that it was “there to stay”. Also, the service in the Bahrain synagogue, attended by US envoy Jason Greenblatt.
Israeli FM visits UAE. (TY WIN) Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz travelled to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to speak at the United Nations Environment Conference. He presented his “Tracks to Peace initiative, outlining an economic and strategic link from Haifa to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, via Jordan.
Jerusalem returns to Paris. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion inaugurated the new Jerusalem Square in Paris, 150 years after fire destroyed Paris’s Rue de Jerusalem. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote that the naming was “in order to remember the friendship and the unity between the city of Paris and the State of Israel”.
Cyber support for developing countries. Israel has just signed an agreement with the World Bank to support developing countries improve their cyber defense capabilities. It will contribute to the World Bank’s Digital Development Partnership and provide technical assistance to Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Israeli intelligence foils dozens of global attacks. Israeli PM Netanyahu revealed that Israeli intel thwarted a recent attempt to blow up a Sydney-Abu Dhabi flight. It has also used cyber-intelligence to help foil “major” terror attacks in “dozens” of countries. Israel shares info on cyberthreats with 85 countries.
Dead Sea snow. (TY Sandra & WIN) Scientists have explained how Israel’s Dead Sea deposits salt from warm upper levels to lower, colder water layers. Waves or other disturbances trigger “salt fingering”, whereby salt crystals are precipitated out of the top layer of water, as if they are “snowing” down through the water.
Revolutionary products for the food industry. Some 100 Israeli companies demonstrated their cutting-edge agriculture and food technology at AgriIsrael4.0 in Tel Aviv. Delegates from over 40 countries saw how Israeli tools such as Artificial Intelligence, robots, drones, satellites and sensors overcome today’s farming challenges.
IDF opens new BGU tech campus. Israel’s Ben-Gurion University opened the first building on the new IDF Technology Campus in Beer-Sheva. The IDF campus adjacent to BGU and the Advanced Technologies Park is the third element in the cyber-technology “ecosystem” being realized in Beer-Sheva.
Launch of expanding nano-satellite. I reported previously (9th June) on the nano-satellites from Israel’s NSLComm designed to process high-volumes of data. Its first satellite, the NSLSat-1, has just been launched as part of the payload of a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Far Eastern Russia.
WEF Pioneers for 2019. The World Economic Forum (WEF) choose Israeli startups Airobotics, MeMed Diagnostics, QED-it and TIPA for its list of tech pioneers using innovation to address serious issues. I’ve reported previously on three of them. QED-IT allows confidential transfer of blockchain assets.
Smart glasses for BP engineers. (TY WIN & I24 News) I reported previously (see here) on Israel’s Fieldbit and its Augmented Reality glasses that help technicians resolve critical or complex problems on the spot. Following an oil spill, BP implemented Fieldbit’s technology across 13,000 of its oil and gas wells.
Lifesaving pedestrian detector. (TY OurCrowd) Israeli startup Viziblezone has now proved that its pedestrian detector technology can detect pedestrians in any weather, even hidden behind objects at distances of up to 150 meters. Mobile phones turn pedestrians into smart beacons that cars can see and then avoid.
App helps you put on makeup. Israel’s Mirrori, founded by Israeli-Arab Mira Awwad-Khreish,, is developing an artificial intelligence-based beauty assistant that provides advice via smartphone. Mirrori uses computer vision, facial recognition algorithms and your facial features to help you apply your own beauty products..
Israel perfects the dragon fruit. I reported previously (Mar 2012) on the different varieties of the Vietnamese dragon fruit (pitaya) that Israelis have developed. Seven years later and the Israeli pitaya is more available year-round, produces more fruit, requires less water, is hardier, pest-free, healthier, sweeter and delicious.
Environmentally friendlier cows. Ben Gurion University biologist Itzik Mizrahi and other international scientists have discovered that the microbiome of cows can be manipulated to reduce methane emissions and improve milk yield and quality. Giving certain microbes to calves could reduce greenhouse gas levels.
US award for contract analysis system. I reported previously (see here) on Israeli AI contract review system LawGeex that is faster and more accurate than experienced lawyers. Now LawGeex has won the very first Burton award for Technology Advancement from the American Bar Association and Library of Congress.
Chips for AI systems. Israel’s NeuroBlade develops processors for artificial intelligence applications such as autonomous vehicles, video analysis, and image recognition. They are smaller and cheaper to manufacture than the current industry standard. NeuroBlade has just raised $23 million of funds, backed by Intel.
Israeli boost to New York economy. (TY Israel21c) The New York-Israel Business Alliance has reported that the economic benefit to New York of its 500 Israeli companies is over $33 billion. They employ almost 25,000 New Yorkers. In addition, Israel’s SOSA and JVP are at the forefront of NYC’s cybersecurity initiative.
Easier trade process with Hong Kong. Israel has signed a new agreement with Hong Kong, intended to ease customs clearance regulations for export and import between the two. It is Israel’s 7th bilateral agreement under the authorized economic operators program after the US, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada, China, and Mexico.
Record exits. (TY IVC) Despite more Israeli startups turning into mega companies, many sell for increasing large valuations. In the first half of 2019, there were 66 exits totaling $14.48 billion, the highest in 5 years. Even without the $6.9 billion Mellanox exit, it was a billion dollars more than the same period in 2018.
Israeli tourism breaks more records. (TY UWI) Approximately 365,000 tourists visited Israel in June - over 17% higher than in June 2018. Since Jan 2019, two and a quarter million tourists entered Israel – nearly 10% more than the same period in 2018. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265455
Israeli tech at Paris Air Show. Eviation’s electric plane (reported last week) wasn’t the only Israeli technology on display at the recent International Paris Air Show. Eight Israeli firms showcased systems, in response to a growing European willingness to spend on defense and homeland security.
Cybersecurity for Dutch police. Cyber Intelligence, a subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems, is to provide the Dutch National Police with a cyber intelligence system. It is part of Elbit’s Intelligence 360 suite, scalable and fits other custom requirements of the Dutch National Police.
Moody’s teams up for cybersecurity risk. Ratings agency Moody’s and Israel cybersecurity experts Team8 are setting up a joint venture that aims to become a global standard for evaluating how vulnerable companies are to cyberattacks. It will help companies assess takeover targets and price cybersecurity insurance.
Nintendo opens in Tel Aviv. Multinational consumer electronics and software company Nintendo has chosen the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv for its second retail store. Its first retail store opened in Rockefeller Center in New York City in 2005. Headquartered in Japan, Nintendo generated about $10 billion in net sales in 2018.
Travel service is worth $4 billion. Israeli-founded TripActions has developed a business travel management service aimed at saving companies, money on their employees’ work-related trips. It has just raised $250 million of funds, valuing the company at a massive $4 billion and putting it in the world’s top 60.
McDonald’s “Big Vegan”. McDonald’s Israel is launching a pilot of its “Big Vegan” burger at several branches in Tel Aviv – “the vegan capital of the world”. The hamburger is made of wheat and soybeans.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Maestro retires. Legendary conductor Zubin Mehta is retiring from his post as music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He will be honored at Tel Aviv’s “Philharmonic in the Park” concert on July 13, which he will conduct. A non-Jewish native of India, Mehta was named Honorary Citizen of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in 1986
Israeli cheesemaker wins gold. (TY Nevet) Israel’s Hanoked Dairy won gold at the 2019 Mondial du Fromage in France for its Leshem sheep milk cheese. Hanoked also won silver for its Beit Hakerem goat milk cheese and helped set a Guinness World Record for the largest cheese platter/board exhibit.
Dudi gets back to winning ways. (TY Nevet) Israeli tennis star Dudi Sena won the Little Rock Open in Arkansas - his first tournament win in two years after recovering from a long-term injury. It moves him from 208 up to 160 in the world tennis professional rankings.
Israeli show jumpers qualify for Olympics. Israeli equestrian show jumpers took a huge leap for the country by qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics - the first time that Israel has earned a place in the games in that sport. Four Israeli riders took first place at the Olympic Jumping Qualifier at Maxima Park in Moscow.
Jerusalem rebuilt. (TY Sharon) Israel’s capital is seeing huge numbers of building projects. They include the Jerusalem Gateway business park, a new wing of Shaare Tzedek hospital, the new National Library, the Jerusalem cable car and new court buildings in Jaffa Road. Things are definitely “looking up”.
Jerusalem breakthrough. U.S. envoys Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman inaugurated the Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem’s City of David. Ambassador Friedman broke through a wall, to open the tunnel, saying “this is where the ancient prophets of Israel gave voice to revolutionary ideals of freedom, liberty and human dignity.".
Biblical mosaics in ancient Galilee synagogue. Biblical mosaics recently uncovered at a 1,600-year-old synagogue in the Galilean town of Huqoq include the earliest known artistic rendering of the little-known Exodus story of Elim, and a partially preserved depiction of the Book of Daniel’s grotesque four beasts.
UK minister visits Western Wall. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid, a Muslim, visited the Western Wall (Kotel) during his latest visit to Israel. It comes 19 years after the last British government minister visited Jerusalem and the Western Wall. (N.B. Boris Johnson visited the Kotel in 2016 when Mayor of London.)
Reunited in hospital. Two veterans of the War of Independence Battle of Gush Etzion, were simultaneously but separately referred for heart surgery at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital 71 years later. Doctors noticed similar scar tissue from shrapnel wounds incurred during the battle. They then reunited the two comrades in arms.
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4) NINE IMPORTANT FACTS
9. Death is the number 1 killer in the world.
8. Life is sexually transmitted.
7. Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
6. Men have two emotions: hungry and horny, and they cannot tell them apart. If you see a gleam in his eye, make him a sandwich.
5. Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.
4. Health nuts are going to feel stupid one day lying in the hospital dying of nothing.
3. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
2. In the 60’s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
1. Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers. What you do today may burn your ass tomorrow.
And, someone once said
- Don’t worry about old age. It doesn’t last that long.
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