Stand By Me. Birmingham. Dragging Hezbollah. Biden Too Dumb Or Incapacitated? More.

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I will be away this week.  Going to Birmingham, Alabama. The Synagogue we belonged to, Temple Beth-El, where I had my Bar Mitzvah, is opening a permanent Civil Rights Museum and honoring my father and other Jews in the city who fought for black citizens to gain their Civil Rights. My father Chaired The Committee that rid the city of the police chief tyrant, Bull Connor.

As previously noted my father had 4 special interests as reflected in his attached "narrative" resume:

Civil Rights, establishment and arming of Israel, the law and his family.

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Max Berkowitz came to America in 1905 from Vilna,Lithuania .  In 1906- ‘07 Sarah Golda Smokler Berkowitz (Max’s wife) and their son, Jesse (b 1901?), came to America, shortly thereafter. 

  

Upon arriving in America, Max was sent from New York City to Meridian, Mississippi by The Industrial Removal Office in April 1905.  Abe Berkowitz was born in Meridian ,  Mississippi  on November 26, 1907. Sarah, who was a nurse, died of yellow fever on October 14, 1913 when Abe was six and Jesse, twelve. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery  in Tuscaloosa ,  Alabama . 

  

Max was married again to Fanny “Frania” …of Chicago , and opened a small shoe store in  Tuscaloosa , Alabama.(Max and Fanny had a daughter – Sylvia..)  Later, Max and his family moved to Birmingham and lived on the Southside just below Vulcan Park. An individualist, Max raised chickens in his backyard , often causing the neighbors to complain.  Max spoke guttural English, had no teeth but could crack walnuts with his gums. He loved making borscht and in his later years brought some to his grandson and great- granddaughter, Dick and Debra, when Dick was in law school at The University of Miami. Dick remembers the events with some nostalgia. Max died on March 11, 1958, in Memphis, TN. 

  

Jesse, Max and Sarah’s oldest son, was in the scrap-metal business, Gadsden Iron and Metal, in Gadsden, Alabama and later retired to Fort Lauderdale. Abe Berkowitz, their youngest son, attended undergraduate and law school at the University of Alabama. A brilliant student, he completed all of his studies in three years and graduated before he was twenty-one. He was ready to begin his law practice but was too young to sign legal documents. The Alabama Legislature passed special legislation enabling him to pursue a legal practice until he reached legal age. 

  

Abe began his law practice in Birmingham in 1928 and practiced alone throughout the Depression. He joined David Solomon in a partnership in 1942 and they continued their partnership for several years. Arnold Lefkovits joined Abe as an associate in 1950 and became a full partner soon thereafter, at which time the name of the firm became Berkowitz & Lefkovits.  Vernon Patrick joined shortly thereafter and the firm continued to grow.  

  

Some four or so years ago the TN firm of former Sen.Howard Baker acquired the Berkowitz Firm and it became part of Baker-Donelson, Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. 1 

  

Abe was invited ,in 1945, to participate in a meeting hosted by Rudolf Sonneborn, (see Addenda, Sonneborn), a meeting which was described by David Ben-Gurion as “the most important day in the history of Israel .”2 Sonneborn was a wealthy New York  industrialist and a committed Zionist. .Abe, at the time, was President of The ZOA’s Southeastern Division. The group, which met, as the Sonneborn Institute, in Rudy’s Park Avenue Apartment, has been described as a secret American underground and was responsible for helping Israelis to purchase, goods, material, weapons, explosives, and other military equipment  to defend their fledgling nation once the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine. 

  

The work of the members of the Institute is described in the book: "The Pledge," by Leonard Slater 3, was performed discreetly behind the scenes and there was never a leak to the public or the press about its activities. The Sonneborn Institute’s existence was known to the Truman Administration and Abe was visited once by an FBI Agent who told him to 'maintain a low profile.'

"I guess today, my father would be considered a domestic terrorist by the FBI."

  

Sonneborn Members solicited funds to locate, purchase and ship equipment to what was then called-  Palestine, a feat that required overcoming  U.S. restrictions on shipping and the British arms blockade. Millions were raised and used, not only for the purchase of every possible form of weaponry, but also for ships to transport survivors of the Holocaust, who were languishing in camps throughout Europe. The Exodus, made famous by Leon Uris, in his book by the same name, was just one of those ships. ‘Shep’ Broad, a Miami attorney a Sonneborn Member and dear family friend, was involved in arranging shipping the items my father purchased.  

  

Interestingly, the Institute at one point, sought the assistance of Sam Zemurray of New Orleans,(see Addendum) in order to gain access to ships that had been purchased in South America but detained from sailing because of red tape. Zemurray, after being apprised of the problem, used his excellent relations in South America and made the necessary arrangements to get the ships sailing within three days. I believe, at the time, Zemurray  was Chairman of United Fruit, and an American Lebanese.  Some of Zamuray's relatives still live in Savannah and New Orleans.. 

  

Throughout the debates in the United Nations relating to plans for Palestine, with the possibility of a partition giving Jewish settlers and survivors of the Holocaust a state of their own, Sonneborn Members met weekly. In The Pledge, Abe is referred to as “a young attorney from Birmingham.”  This casual reference does not diminish the contributions that he made. Abe participated in activities of the Sonneborn Institute throughout the effort to build up military supplies for the settlers in Palestine until it quietly disbanded in 1955. He worked with local owners of scrap yards, and army/navy stores to obtain materials to support the Hagenah, the secret Jewish defense force in Palestine, arms that proved to be crucial in the War of Independence for the State of Israel in 1948.  Abe also was successful in arranging for a young Alabama Christian, who fought as a pilot in WW 2,  to got to Israel and become a pilot in the fledgling IAF.   (There is a documentary movie  that tells the story of the owner of The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas who helped birth the IAF. I later learned why, when my father, who loved to go to Las Vegas to gamble modestly and for the "shows," this was why he always stayed at The Sands.

  

The Civil Rights Movement, from 1952 to 1963, thrust Abe into the hotbed of political strife in Birmingham, Alabama. Albert Boutwell, who would become mayor of the city, was Abe’s roommate at the University of Alabama and the two continued their friendship when both started their law practices in Birmingham. In addition, Burke Marshall, chief of the civil rights division in the Justice Department in  the Kennedy administration, relied on Abe, along with Chuck Morgan, as a source of information.5 Abe hosted several meetings in his offices, probably at the request of Marshall, during the period of major demonstrations and boycotts of downtown stores on the part of the black community seeking removal of whites only water fountains and segregated dressing rooms etc. 

  

As a strong proponent of equality, justice and fair application of  the law, Abe quickly became publicly vocal, writing letters to the Birmingham News and speaking out against discriminatory laws. In one letter he wrote, expressing his contempt for “Bull” Connor, the Public Safety Commissioner for the City of Birmingham, “It is the Supreme Court which guarantees Mr. Connor’s right to express his ‘pity and contempt’ for it, and mine to express my pity and contempt for him.”6 

  

In another he wrote, “The good fight is always a lonesome one, but there is comfort in the fact that the dissenting opinion of today is often the majority opinion of tomorrow..... There will be, some day, the greater, better Birmingham for which I believe a shy and silent majority pray.”7  (How prophetic those words are in today's rise of anti-Semitism here in our country etc.")

  

Abe became a senior advisor to several younger lawyers who had devised a strategy to unseat “Bull” Conner.8 The young lawyers were eventually successful and were able to change Birmingham’s form of government to a Mayor-Council system, which helped end many of the most discriminatory policies of Birmingham’s government. 

  

Marshall had a sign in his office that stated, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall catch hell from all sides.”9 Abe, who by holding several meetings of the black civil rights activists with city leaders and merchants, seems by the nature of his personality, to have avoided the truth of that sign. He continued to be held in high esteem by his fellow lawyers, the Jewish and gentile communities and, most importantly, the black community. Among his friends was the black attorney, Arthur Vining Davis and other prominent black leaders , ie. Rev. Shuttleworth etc.

  

Unlike some of the other parties to negotiations with civil rights protestors, Abe continued to live in Birmingham throughout the tumultuous events and for the rest of his life. Years later, in addressing the audience at an Israel Bonds dinner, Abe explained, “I asked myself some very candid questions:  Why I did not leave when, as you all know and must agree, this past decade for this city and state has been, in some or many respects, most difficult for those who live in this beautiful and blessed valley - disheartening, discouraging and disillusioning - certainly, at least, for those who care:...the questions I asked myself were answered in that flood of realization...the reason I never left, the reason I was held here in heart and mind and spirit to this wonderful community of my wonderful friends...was YOU.”10 

  

One of the favorite stories about Abe told in legal circles and around Birmingham is cited by the author of “Kentucky Lawyer,” Judge Mac Swinford.  Illustrating things are not always as they appear, the story tells of Abe (who did not drive and frequently rode the bus) picking up an umbrella belonging to a fellow passenger. She pointed out that the umbrella was hers and Abe, with apologies, returned it. That afternoon, Abe picked up two umbrellas, one left at his office and he had left to be repaired, and got on his bus to return home. As he was entering the bus with his umbrellas, the lady passenger, whose umbrella he had mistakenly taken that morning, commented, “I see that you had a good day.” 

  

Because of his close working relationship with the Kennedy Administration during the Civil Rights Days, Abe was asked by Bobbie Kennedy to campaign for him in New York . Abe did so and spoke to many Jewish Women’s area organizations on Bobbie’s behalf. In fact he stayed in Bobbie’s apartment at The Carlyle Hotel and slept in his bed.  When he returned, his son, Dick, said his father did not bathe for a week. 

  

In May 1985, the Birmingham Bar Association named Abe the 1985 “Outstanding Lawyer of the Year” and a brief article about the presentation reads as follows:”.....President J. Mason Davis cited Berkowitz’s work as a founder in 1954 of the Birmingham Bar Aid Trust and his 20 years service as trustee of the trust. Praised for his dedication to civil rights causes, Davis noted that in 1936 Berkowitz filed proceedings to revoke the charter of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama , 11Described by Ed Myerson, attorney with the Berkowitz firm, “as a lawyer’s lawyer,” he was so highly respected that lawyers would turn to him when they needed legal advice or representation. 

  

Abe was married to Estelle Reiss. They had one son, Richard (Dick), who was a general Partner in Courts & Co. in  Atlanta, then opened an office for Burnham and Co. , also in Atlanta, ending his career as an   Executive Director of Oppenheimer and Company, Inc. in Atlanta. He currently lives in Savannah with Lynn Rudikoff, his wife of 50 plus years. Dick was a stock broker and investment banker for over 40 years. They have four daughters and one son. Debra (Darvick), Amy (Trager), Lisa (Thaler), Abby (Nelson) and Daniel. They also have 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. 

  

An award winning journalist, Debra often writes for the Detroit Jewish News. Her book:: “This Jewish Life, Stories of Discovery, Connection, and Joy,” was published in 2003 by Eakin Press. 

  

Lisa Thaler’s book:  Look Up: The Life and Art of Sacha Kolin,” was published in 2008 by Midmarch Arts Press. Lisa became obsessed with the art of Sacha Kolin after visiting an exhibit of Kolin’s work with her husband, Martin. The two saw what they thought were images of Hebrew letters in one of the paintings. After extensive research on Kolin’s life, Lisa found, to her surprise, the name “David Thaler” in Kolin’s old address book and after more research found that David, who was Martin’s cousin, was also related to Sacha Kolin. David had died just weeks before Lisa made this discovery.  Lisa now is a recognized editor.

  

Amy lives in Louisville, has served on the board and is active in many of that city’s charitable, educational and social organizations.  She also was a CASAVolunteer  and mentors students attending The West End School.. 

  

Abby is a highly recognized real estate agent in Orlando (Maitland) and rescues abandoned dogs. and is active in programs involving Israel. . 

  

Daniel and his wife, Tamara, live in Hollywood, Florida. Daniel has had a varied career and was recently hired to Chair Israel Bonds for the entire state.

  

Abe died on December 20, 1985, at the age of seventy-six. His obituary is brief, and, like the modest man he was,  it describes, reveals nothing about his adventures with the Sonneborn Institute or his battles on behalf of the Civil Rights movement. It states simply, “He was 1985 ‘Lawyer of the Year’ and senior partner in Berkowitz, Lefkovits, Isom and Kushner.” 12. He and Estelle (died March 13, 2001) are buried in Temple Beth-El/Knesseth  Israel’s Block 40 at  Elmwood  Cemetery  in  Birmingham. 

His biography is currently being researched by a history professor at UAB and may become written.

  

Buried at KI/Beth-El Cemetery: 

Max Berkowitz 

   

1Essay, Timothy M. Lupinacci, History of  Birmingham Office, Baker, Donelson,, Bearman,  Caldwell , and Berkowitz. 

2 Review , The Time Has Come: The Role of Rudolf Sonneborn as Catalyst for  Israel , by Charles B. Sonneborn.Trafford Publishing ’s Web Bookstore & On-Demand Publishing Offices. 

3 The Pledge, Leonard Slater. Published 1971, Simon and Schuster, page 323 

4 Carry Me Home” Birmingham ,  Alabama , The Climactic  Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution , Diane McWhorter, 2001, page 313. 

5 Ibid. page 380. 

6 Letter to Editor, Birmingham News, written by Abe Berkowitz, December 22, 1961. Collection of letters provided by Chervis Isom (deceased), partner, Berkowitz, Lefkovitz, Isom and Kushner. 

7Ibid., July 14, 1962 

8 Essay, Timothy M. Lupinacci,  “History of  Birmingham Office, Baker, Donelson, Bearman,  Caldwell and Berkowitz.” 

 9 “Carry Me Home,”  Birmingham ,  Alabama , The Climactic  Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution, 

Diane McWhorter, 2001, page 

10 Address by Abe Berkowitz made to an Israel Bonds dinner, October 3, 1965, from collection of documents provided by Chervis Isom (deceased), partner, Berkowitz, Lefkovitz and Isom. 

 11The Birmingham News, Friday, May 3, 1985, City/State, page 9b. 

 12 Obituary, The Birmingham News, December 21, 1986. 

 More recently Abe Berkowitz was featured, with two others in a book entitled: “ Behind The Magic Curtain”  by T.K Thorne

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Hezbollah ‘dragging Lebanon into war,’ Israel warns

IDF thwarts attack from Lebanon • 14 more northern Israeli communities to be evacuated • Two terrorists killed at Gaza security fence • Israeli military ups preparations for Gaza ground offensive.

By JOSHUA MARKS ++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Is Biden too dumb and/or incapacitated to understand/learn? +++

What happens when terrorists are rewarded for taking hostages

The terrorist Gaza regime hopes that it can survive by ransoming its captives like the two dual American women they just freed. Israel and America should know this only leads to disaster.

 By JONATHAN S. TOBIN

The bargaining has begun. That’s the implication of the release of two of the estimated 200 people kidnapped by Hamas during the course of its barbaric Oct. 7 terrorist assault on Israel. These women—a mother and daughter who have dual American and Israeli citizenship—were among captives that include children and the elderly, who were dragged over the border to the Gaza Strip by terrorists during the course of an hours-long attack that left more than 1,400 murdered and more than 4,000 wounded in the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. Evidence abounds of the horrific nature of their rampage in which women were raped; entire families were bludgeoned, shot and tortured; and the corpses of the dead desecrated.

By letting some people live, the killers and their Islamist commanders hoped to accomplish something more than shedding Jewish blood, and to receive, upon their return to Gaza, cheers from the same Palestinian civilians who would soon be lamenting Israel’s efforts to punish these criminals. They assumed that taking so many hostages would give them not just a valuable commodity that could be used as bargaining chips but also some degree of impunity for what they’d done.

Everything they knew about Israel and Western countries like the United States told them that Jews and Americans don’t just value human life. They will do just about anything to buy the freedom of captives, even if it means paying exorbitant ransoms in deals that strengthen and enrich terrorists. Though American presidents and Israeli premiers often boast about not negotiating with such despicable groups, everyone knows they do it all the time. That’s true whether they are supposed “hardliners” like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or veteran appeasers like President Joe Biden.

Hamas was counting on the same factors that led Netanyahu to release 1,027 terrorists in exchange for the freedom of one lone Israeli soldier—Gilad Shalit—in 2011 or Biden to pay more than $6 billion to gain the release of five American citizens being held by Iran, bringing them benefits that would ensure, at the very least, their survival in power in Gaza.

What is America’s role?

The question that hangs over the impending Israeli ground assault into Gaza aimed at ensuring that Hamas can never again inflict such pain on Israel is whether the terrorists can leverage the fate of their hostages in such a way as to prevent their complete or even partial defeat.

In every past hostage situation, the desire of the families of those held captive, as well as compassionate people everywhere that their safety and freedom be made a priority, has created intolerable pressure on governments to pay ransoms and limit their freedom of action to attempt rescues. Yet the anger generated among Israelis about the atrocities of Oct. 7 may have made a decisive victory over Hamas as well as a military imperative for Netanyahu and his government.

At the same time, the United States, whose citizens were among both the slain and those taken hostage, is playing a dual role in this crisis. It is supporting Israel’s desire to take down the Hamas regime, in addition to supplying critical arms and ammunition that will make that goal possible. It is also fending off a potential terrorist assault in Israel’s north from Iran’s Hezbollah auxiliaries steeped in Lebanon. And yet, it is hamstringing Israel’s military efforts by insisting on providing a “humanitarian corridor” for Gazans trying to flee the coastal enclave, coupled with $100 million in aid to allow the resupply of Hamas’s beleaguered forces and civilians under their control.

There is something particularly sinister about the way Hamas has dangled the two American citizens in front of the world in this manner. If their release is considered partial payment for Biden’s gestures, then it remains to be seen how much Hamas can get for the rest of the Americans and others with foreign passports.

Does the Hamas leadership think that they can win Biden’s promise to stop Israel from removing them from power if they give up the rest of their non-Israeli captives while holding on to the Israelis to bargain for the release of Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails? More than that, it’s unclear as to how Israel can proceed with a counterattack into Gaza to bring the killers and their masters to justice while Biden is bargaining for the freedom of U.S. citizens whose lives are at risk in a war zone.

The Gilad Shalit precedent

Decent people everywhere must hope and pray that all the hostages—men, women, the elderly and children—are released unharmed. But this is the moment to finally come to the realization that paying ransoms to terrorist kidnappers is simply ensuring that the hostage-taking and terrorism will never end.

The Gilad Shalit episode is instructive in this respect. Shalit, a 19-year-old corporal serving in the Israel Defense Forces, was captured by Hamas terrorists in a cross-border raid in which two of his comrades serving with him in a tank were killed and others wounded. Hamas successfully hid him inside Gaza, evading Israeli attempts at rescue and ultimately holding the young man for a total of 1,934 days, all the while refusing and preventing, as it is now with its current larger haul of hostages, access to care from the Red Cross.

Over the course of his more than five years in captivity, pressure on Israel’s government from his family and their many sympathizers ratcheted up to insist on paying virtually any price for his freedom.

The same dynamic has been at work every time Americans are held hostage by hostile regimes, like that of Iran. A diverse group of American presidents—Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and, most recently, Biden—has succumbed to pressure from families of hostages, coupled with their own natural sympathy for the victims and their relatives, to do almost anything to get these prisoners back. And they all paid a dangerously high price for their freedom.

Still, Shalit’s case was one that resonated with the Israeli public in a way that is special to the Jewish state.

Shalit was seen as representative of every Israeli family’s child sent off to do their mandatory army service after high school. Families delivering their children into the hands of the government and the vaunted military are proud of their service, but they also expect that those in charge will protect them and never leave them at the mercy of the Jewish state’s cruel terrorist foes. It was in this way that his grief-stricken parents were able to generate widespread support for their cause.

Such efforts are deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition of the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim, the “redemption of hostages.” Throughout two millennia of exile and powerlessness, Jews have a long and bitter history of members of their communities being taken and held for ransom by governments as well as criminals. As a result, since ancient times, freeing hostages has become a priority and even a praiseworthy endeavor.

Netanyahu was thus faced with the choice of doing something incredibly dangerous for his country’s security by giving in to Hamas’s demands or letting Shalit die in captivity or be lost, like Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who was shot down in Lebanon in 1982. Arad is believed to have died at the hands of his captors in 1988, though Israel wasn’t sure of that until decades later.

Aware of the potential cost, he chose to do what was, at that moment, the popular thing by agreeing to a massive prisoner release for nearly 1,000 terrorists with blood on their hands. It is estimated that those freed were responsible for the deaths of some 569 Israeli civilians. In this case, the justified outrage of the families of the victims of those crimes was overwhelmed by the joy most Israelis felt about Shalit’s release. Polls showed that an overwhelming majority of Israelis favored the ransom deal.

While some of his right-wing critics and security experts scolded the prime minister for immensely strengthening the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza and ensuring that other Israelis would one day suffer the same fate, he paid no political price for the decision.

Netanyahu was not the first Israeli leader to make such a one-sided prisoner release. His assumption—and that of many of his political foes in the opposition, as well as the Israeli military and intelligence establishment—was that the capture of Shalit was a feat that Hamas would not be able to repeat. And few, if any, imagined that almost exactly 12 years later, Israel would be faced with a terrorist threat and hostage dilemma of the magnitude of the Oct. 7 attack.

A terrible choice

It remains to be seen if Hamas can use the hostages—not to mention the fate of Palestinian civilians around them they are also using as human shields—to ensure they emerge from this battle still in control of Gaza.

One of the most distressing aspects of the last two weeks has been the utter disdain for the hostages that has been expressed by Hamas’s foreign supporters, and the relative indifference of the international community and the corporate media to their fate. Indeed, it didn’t take long for the liberal press in the United States to essentially forget about the evidence of Hamas’s barbarism and become obsessed with the dilemma of Palestinians living in Gaza as Israel began to strike back against the terrorists lodged deep into the enclave.

But what Hamas did on Oct. 7 was to impress upon Israelis that ransoming a hostage can lead directly to something far worse. If the freedom of the 200 kidnapped Israelis now suffering who knows what torment at the hands of their barbaric captors is bought at the price of a victory for Hamas, their families will consider it worth it, and everyone should understand and sympathize with them. But as the Shalit deal should have taught the world—not to mention the way that American ransom payments have strengthened Hamas’s Iranian sponsors—such negotiations are a compact with devils that will create even more grief and suffering in the future.

This understanding shouldn’t be confused with indifference to those languishing somewhere in Gaza, but as much as we desire their safety and freedom, it cannot come at the expense of an existential threat to the Jewish state and the West. It is a terrible thing that destroying Hamas in the coming weeks and months will likely cost the lives of many Israelis and innocent Palestinian Arabs as well as the terrorists. However, it will save more lives in the long run. Nothing—not American pressure or even the tears of the families of the captives—should allow Hamas’s cruel expectation that they will be able to get away with crimes worthy of the Nazis to be proven true.

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 Many of my subscribers have asked I publish some good news from Israel, even during these difficult times.  I have compiled a somewhat reduced size newsletter, and added a section containing some of the positive stories related to the events of Oct 7th and the on-going war..

Almost all these articles are highlights.  Please see donation sites at the end of this newsletter.

Click here to see the 8th Oct newsletter on IsraelSeen. Also (TY Sandra) for translating it into German here plus the 15th Oct message here. No Hebrew version as my translator is an IDF reservist. Please click here, to donate (a small or large amount) to help me publicize VeryGoodNewsIsrael. 

 If someone wishes to be added to the free email subscription list, they should either click here or send a request (with their name) to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

 
POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR
 
Mystery man buys tickets for returning reservists. An orthodox Jewish man stood by the counter of El Al Airlines at JFK airport and paid for anyone's flight who presented him with an IDF call-up notice. He paid for 250 tickets.  https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/anonymous-man-buys-250-plane-tickets-for-israel-bound-idf-reservists-at-jfk-airport-reports/  https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/mystery-man-buys-250-plane-tickets-to-israel-for-reservists/463489  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax2bFphI3Gk
 
Arab Muslim tracker saves IDF families. A Bedouin IDF Lieutenant Colonel saved the lives of the wives and children of IDF officers at the division's Re'im base. He removed his IDF uniform, called to the infiltrating terrorists in Arabic, and then eliminated them when they emerged, thinking he was also a Hamas terrorist.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378602
 
The heroine of Kibbutz Nir Am. (TY Laura B) Instead of sheltering during the Hamas rocket barrage on Oct 7, Inbal Rabin-Liberman, head of the security at Kibbutz Nir Am, armed her 12-person team. They were then able to defend against the infiltrating Hamas terrorists for almost three and a half hours until the IDF arrived.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-767920
 
Grandmother outsmarts Hamas terrorists. Rachel and David Edri survived a harrowing 20-hour ordeal, holed up with terrorists in their home in Ofakim. Rachel offered refreshments to the five terrorists, and later a meal, engaged them in small talk, playing for time until an elite IDF unit arrived and eliminated the terrorists.
https://www.jns.org/grandmother-outsmarts-hamas-terrorists-in-her-home/
 
How Israelis saved lives. Israeli civilians heroically fought back against Hamas on October 7. Citizens, police officers, and soldiers, at home and on base, scrambled, improvised, and fought back fiercely. These brave citizens not only saved countless lives: These Israelis saved Israel.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-768965
 
Life imitates art. Lior Raz, Tsahi Halevi and Idan Amedi are among the actors of the popular Israeli TV series Fauda who have joined the hundreds of thousands of IDF reservists. Lior posted “headed down south to join hundreds of brave "brothers in arms" volunteers”. They extracted families from the bombarded town of Sderot.
https://www.israel21c.org/life-imitates-art-fauda-stars-show-up-for-reserve-duty/
 
Soldier’s organs save five lives. The family of 23-year-old IDF Lt. Roi Nahari, killed by Hamas, donated his organs to five patients at Israel’s Beilinson Hospital. His liver went to a 44-year-old mother of five, suffering from hepatitis for 30 years. https://www.jns.org/slain-idf-officer-saves-lives-of-five-with-organ-donation/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/lt-roi-nahari-23/
 
Israelis overwhelm blood donation centers. So many Israelis wanted to donate blood for the wounded that many blood donation centers only accepted those with blood type O, which can be transfused universally.
https://www.israel21c.org/israelis-overwhelm-blood-donation-centers-as-war-begins/
 
Now it’s personal!  I “normally” report about Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID when it responds to global disasters. When the disaster is much closer to home, IsraAID is also there for us. IsraAID CEO Yotam Polizer will be speaking at a free zoom meeting hosted by ESRA on Oct 24.
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/israaid-us-global-humanitarian-assistance-inc/israaid-emergency-response-fund  https://www.israel21c.org/safe-spaces-for-kids-traumatized-by-war-in-israel/
https://ireneo.formtitan.com/OnlineEventRegistration?fld16=National-Zoom-Tuesday-24.10.23#/
 
Helping the survivors and trauma victims. It’s at these times that the people of Israel come together to help those who have been most impacted by these tragic events.  Not just dedicated humanitarian organizations but hi-tech companies such as Mobileye, OurCrowd, More Foods, and even the Israel Tennis Education Centers. 
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/israels-tech-sector-mobilizes-to-aid-war-effort-assist-victims/
https://www.israel21c.org/with-workers-called-to-battle-israeli-firms-rally-support/
https://itecenters.org/emergency-programs/
 
Thanks to our friends everywhere. There are literally thousands of articles describing the help that Israel’s friends overseas are sending to the IDF and Israelis affected by the war in Gaza.  Here are some of them.
https://www.jns.org/florida-virginia-donate-supplies-to-israel/
 
Supercharging Israelis. US company Tesla is providing free use of its 17 Israel-located superchargers for the estimated 10,000 Israeli Tesla electric car owners. Superchargers are the company’s fastest way of charging its vehicles, able to extend the cars’ range by up to 200 miles in just 15 minutes. More good Tesla PR in 3rd link!
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/tesla-makes-superchargers-free-in-israel-in-wartime/
https://www.tesla.com/findus/list/superchargers/Israel
https://www.israel21c.org/how-a-tesla-helped-a-driver-escape-a-hamas-inferno/
 
Wedding. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Penina had to postpone her wedding in Netivot. UH’s founder Eli Beer, however, organized an alternative wedding in Jerusalem, enlisting local vendors who provided their services to the couple free of charge.  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378580
 
Israeli Arab supporters. So many examples of Israeli Arabs standing shoulder to shoulder with Israeli Jews. Here is one.  https://www.israelunwired.com/the-anti-israel-bbc-will-never-be-having-this-arab-guest-again/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Protein discovered in cancer that fools immune system. (TY Israel21c) A team led by Weizmann scientists has discovered that the protein PSME4 is produced by cancer cells to stop the immune system from attacking the tumor. Reducing PSME4 levels should potentially render tumors more vulnerable to immunotherapy.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-researchers-unmask-how-cancer-camouflages-itself/
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/dumpster-diving-cancer-tissue-uncovers-immune-evasion-mechanism    https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-023-00557-4
 
RNA molecule to treat Alzheimer's. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have engineered an RNA molecule that repairs a damaged ubiquitin-proteasome system – a possible cause of Alzheimer’s disease. A faulty ubiquitin system leads to the accumulation of toxic proteins and amyloid plaque in Alzheimer's patients.
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/new-israeli-breakthrough-in-understanding-onset-of-alzheimers/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41545-7.epdf
 
Covid treatment also combats Ebola. Opaganib, a novel, twice-daily, oral medication developed by Israel’s RedHill Biopharma (see here previously) delivered a statistically significant increase in survival time in a United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in vivo Ebola virus study
https://www.israel21c.org/drug-shows-promise-in-treating-often-fatal-ebola-disease/
 
Matching cancer patients to clinical trials. Israel’s Belong.Life (see here previously) has launched a chatbot “Tara” - a conversational AI cancer clinical trial matching platform. It records cancer type, mutation, diagnosis, treatment history, and can even scan medical files. Belong.Life also has platforms for IBD, MS, and Psoriasis.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/meet-tara-an-israeli-chatbot-that-matches-patients-to-clinical-trials/  
https://belong.life/clinical-trials/    https://belong.life/
 
No laughing matter. A male striped hyena was certainly not a laughing hyena when it was caught in an illegal snare. Veterinarians at Israel’s Wildlife Hospital in Ramat Gan saved the animal’s life, treating its infected foot and dislocated toes.   They also made skin flaps to cover the injuries.
https://www.jns.org/hyena-gets-new-lease-on-life-at-israeli-hospital/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zMw0wLket4
 
 
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
 
A hotel for emotional healing. Israel’s largest volunteer NGO healthcare provider Yad Sarah, with partner Nitzotzot Inbar, have opened a new recovery and wellness center for women after a stillbirth or newborn death. It is located at Yad Sarah’s Yirmiyahu 33 Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel’s first fully accessible luxury hotel.
https://www.israel21c.org/a-unique-hotel-for-emotional-healing-after-stillbirth/  https://y33.co.il/
https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/israeli-nonprofit-opens-hotel-for-women-who-experience-pregnancy-loss/
 
Israel enters US Visa Waver Program. Israel has joined the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, allowing Israeli citizens to travel to America for 90 days without a visa, beginning sometime before Nov 30. A biometric passport will also be required, plus a digital form on the Electronic System for Travel Authorization site.
https://www.jns.org/israel-enters-us-visa-waiver-program/
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-travelers-celebrate-historic-us-visa-waiver/
 
Aid to fuel explosion victims in Armenia. (TY Hazel) Israel has sent a 14-person medical delegation to treat hundreds of victims of a fuel explosion at Nagorno-Karabach, Armenia. The team was led by Prof. Ofer Merin, director-general of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center and a leading cardiothoracic surgeon.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-761691
 
 
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
 
3D-printed cast for ibex with broken leg. Medics at Israel’s Safari Wildlife Hospital worked with Netanya-based Synergy3d Med to create a removable 3D-printed harness for fixing a fracture in the leg of a baby ibex (mountain goat). Following recovery, the kid was successfully reintroduced to its herd.
https://www.jns.org/innovation-in-conservation-3d-printing-used-to-heal-mountain-goat/
https://video.i24news.tv/en/9e44d596-82e6-4c4c-8a1c-96f84ae49bd5/content/6337980773112
https://synergy3dmed.com/
 
And there was (and is) light. (TY Hazel) Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed new methods to evaluate daylight in hospital inpatient rooms and new design guidelines for improved inpatient health. The guidelines are also relevant for offices and schools.
https://www.israel21c.org/natural-light-has-dramatic-healing-effect-in-hospital-rooms/
 
Kits transform roofs into gardens. Bing Klima, based at Kibbutz HaGoshrim, has developed an all-in-one green roofing system that can pay for itself. Solar panels sit above crops and generate energy to offset electricity bills or be sold to the electric grid operators. Customers are mainly in the USA and Spain.
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/all-in-one-kit-makes-urban-rooftops-into-energy-producing-gardens/
https://www.bing-klima.com/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1py8_xUnPI
 
I’ll follow the Sun. Another article about the floating solar panels from Israel’s Xfloat (see here previously). It contains a video showing the panels automatically tilting, to track the position of the sun as the earth rotates.
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/catching-rays-floating-solar-panels-tilt-to-face-the-sun/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qMD1o96f_w
 
Bee happy. Israel’s ToBe has developed a solution to eradicate the Varroa mite – the number one enemy of the honeybee. ToBe’s Hivemaster automatically monitors hives for the mite and at optimal times releases precise minuscule pulses of anti-Varroa compounds (natural or synthetic) without damaging the bees.
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/bee-happy-new-device-protects-hives-from-colony-killing-mites/
https://www.tobe.green/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCsXoNQwWk
 
 
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
 
Raising funds for Israel in its time of need. Many organizations have been raising and distributing money to support Israel financially. They include the Jewish Federations’ $500 million campaign. Financial giant Jefferies raised $13 million for victims of the attacks. And Safe Dome - an emergency fund for Israeli startups.
https://www.jns.org/american-jewish-zionist-communities-raise-funds-for-israel-in-time-of-need/
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/global-financial-firm-raises-13m-for-israeli-aid-groups/
https://www.israel21c.org/emergency-fund-helping-startups-survive-the-war/
 
Developing UK oil & gas field. The UK has given Israel’s Ithaca Energy (part of Delek) and its Norwegian partner Equinor, regulatory approval to develop Rosebank - estimated to be the largest untapped oil and gas field on the British continental shelf.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/tshuvas-delek-unit-gets-uk-nod-for-development-of-controversial-north-sea-oilfield/  
 
Lifeguard software for UAE. The lifeguard assistance software from Israel’s SightBbit (see here previously) is being used for the first time to save lives off beaches in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai-based BlueGuard will use the system as part of its program that blends technology with traditional lifeguarding techniques.
https://www.israel21c.org/israels-ai-lifeguard-set-to-save-swimmers-on-uae-beaches/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k291zK5a9JU
 
Monitoring the elderly in the UK. The smart tracking system for elderly at risk from Israel’s Essence SmartCare (see here previously) is now available to over 12.7 million UK seniors. The solution has been used by city councils in Liverpool, Essex, Dorset, Devon, and the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.
https://nocamels.com/2023/10/israeli-remote-monitoring-system-for-seniors-expands-in-uk/
https://www.essence-grp.com/press-releases/essence-smartcare-expands-uk-operations-bolsters-access-to-its-advanced-technology-enabled-senior-care-solutions/
 
 
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
 
New nature reserve in the desert. (TY Hazel) Israel has approved the creation of a new, 90-square-kilometer (35-square-mile) nature reserve at Ramat Mazar in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. The area is home to several species unique to Israel, e.g., the Nubian ibex, dorcas gazelle, desert tawny owl and Blanford’s fox.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/planners-green-light-new-nature-reserve-in-negev-desert/
 
Bruno Mars performs in Tel Aviv. (TY Hazel) Bruno Mars was able to make his first appearance in Israel on Oct 4. The US pop superstar, accompanied by his band The Hooligans, wowed the 60,000 sold-out crowd for almost two hours at Tel Aviv’s Park Hayarkon. (His second concert scheduled for Oct 7 was cancelled.)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/pop-superstar-bruno-mars-declares-his-love-for-tel-aviv-in-first-ever-israel-show/   https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-761771
 
New Israeli TV series in 190 countries. (TY Hazel) The series, Bros, an 8-episode Hebrew-language comedy-drama available exclusively on Netflix starts Nov 9. It will be shown in 190 countries.  Bros tells the story of inseparable childhood friends, co-owners of a local Jerusalem bar, and die-hard Beitar Jerusalem soccer fans.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-761705
 
 
THE JEWISH STATE
 
Become a Jewish leader at an Israeli University. Tel Aviv University (TAU) has launched the gap-year program Exploration, Leadership, and Innovation (ELI). Taught in English from Aug 2024, students can choose 5 or 10-months, and from 5 tracks, including Jewish Peoplehood, and Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
https://www.aftau.org/news_item/tau-announces-launch-of-gap-year-exploration-leadership-and-innovation-program/   https://international.tau.ac.il/eli-gap-year
 
Please support us.  Here are some sites where newsletter readers can donate to Israeli organizations that provide vital help to Israelis at this difficult time.  Many thanks to those who have already contributed.
 
Friends of the IDF (US donors): https://www.fidf.org/
or IDF Soldiers Fund in Israel: https://www.ufis.org.il/en/donation-en/  (select the English speakers’ option)
 
American Friends of Magen David Adom (US donors): https://afmda.org/
or Magen David Adom (Israel): https://www.mdais.org/en/donation
 
Zaka (US donors):  https://donate.zakatelaviv.org/give/525578/
or (Israeli donors): https://charidy.com/zaka
 
United Hatzalah: https://israelrescue.org/campaign/israel-at-war-2/
Leket Food Israel: https://www.leket.org/en/
JNF USA - https://my.jnf.org/gaza-emergency/Donate
Orthodox Union - https://www.charidy.com/ouisraelcrisis
 
Hadassah Hospital Israel: https://www.hadassah.org/
Laniado Hospital (Netanya) https://my.israelgives.org/en/fundme/EmergencyLaniado
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