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Biden dithers in 4th of July address to the nation.
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Meanwhile Trump speaks with clarity:
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Israel Has Seized More Land This Year Than in Any Year in the Past Three Decades
Nearly half of all West Bank land seized by Israel since the 1993 Oslo Accords was taken this year, watchdog group says
An Israeli flag was painted on the wall of a Palestinian house in the West Bank.
An Israeli flag was painted on the wall of a Palestinian house in the West Bank. NASSER ISHTAYEH/ZUMA PRESS
By Carrie Keller Lynn
TEL AVIV—Israel has declared control over its single-largest swath of land in the occupied West Bank this year, expanding its ability to build settlements in the Palestinian territory as it pursues war in Gaza.
Jewish settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by much of the international community.
The Israeli authority overseeing Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank said Wednesday that it had declared an additional 5 square miles of the Jordan Valley to be Israeli state land, enabling Israel to allocate it for new settlements and other uses, and in practice, preventing Palestinian access. Israel’s Civil Administration published the order Wednesday, about a week after it was enacted.
Israel has declared a total of 9 square miles of West Bank land to be Israeli state land since the start of this year, according to Peace Now, an Israeli watchdog organization that tracks land seizures in the West Bank. That makes 2024 a record year for land seizures in terms of square miles since Oslo established a framework for a Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli officials say.”
Since Oct. 7, Israel’s military has operated extensively to root out Hamas and other militant groups in the West Bank. This follows the attacks by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed, mainly civilians, and around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank violence since war broke out in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities, whose numbers don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Palestinian Authority exercises control over Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank in line with the 1993 Oslo Accords, the most recent major peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, which separated the West Bank into civil and security administrative regions.
The head of the Palestinian Authority’s settlement-monitoring commission said the land seizures are designed to dispossess Palestinians. The move is “part of a large plan aimed at controlling the eastern part of the West Bank,” Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban said in a statement.
Israeli authorities say only land that isn’t privately held by Palestinians can be declared Israeli state land, but in practice, rights groups say the lands of many Palestinians have been confiscated.
The latest land seizure is within an area administered by Israel, and is contiguous with Israeli settlements northeast of Ramallah, according to Peace Now.
Earlier this year, Israel seized about 3 square miles in an adjacent plot, Peace Now said.
Palestinians say that settlement expansion threatens a future Palestinian state, which they envisage as encompassing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, because the settlements prevent the creation of contiguous territory.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that since Oct. 7, Israeli settlers have been rapidly building illegal roads and outposts across the West Bank. Photo Illustration: Annie Zhao
Parts of the West Bank are administered by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, a secular rival to Hamas and a candidate in some quarters of the international community to govern postwar Gaza. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Palestinian Authority, widely seen as corrupt and inept, is unfit to rule Gaza in its current state.
Still, Israel’s Defense Ministry has been quietly evaluating options to work with Palestinians linked to the Palestinian Authority to establish alternative options to Hamas in Gaza.
Israel’s pro-settler finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who is also in charge of West Bank civil affairs in the Defense Ministry, is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and acknowledges working to weaken the Palestinian Authority.
A person close to Smotrich said that while government policy can influence which land the office reviews for designation, the final decision by the Civil Administration isn’t taken by politicians.
Smotrich has created a new deputy role within Israel’s Civil Administration, under whom decisions tied to land designations are taken. The position is held by a supporter of the settler movement.
Last week, in a separate move, Israel’s cabinet decided to begin a process toward legalizing five Israeli outposts in the West Bank. “It’s definitely part of moving the settlement movement forward and opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state” a spokesman for Smotrich said about the decision.
The United Nations alleges settlers from those outposts were behind 27 attacks on Palestinians this year. Separately, the U.S. has brought sanctions against some Jewish settlers this year for attacks on Palestinian homes in the West Bank.
Fatima Abdul Karim contributed to this article.
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How DEI Becomes Discrimination
The NIH First program wasn’t supposed to involve outright preferences. Public records show how that’s worked in practice.
By John Sailer
J
In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), the Supreme Court held that colleges and universities couldn’t engage in racial discrimination in the name of diversity. The 45-year-old dispensation from civil-rights law that the court effectively overturned had never applied to employment decisions. But its end ought to provoke institutions to scale back “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives more broadly. Some appear to be doing so: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard said recently they would no longer require “diversity statements” from prospective hires.
Yet there is evidence that many universities have engaged in outright racial preferences under the aegis of DEI. Hundreds of documents that I acquired through public-records requests provide a rare paper trail of universities closely scrutinizing the race of faculty job applicants. The practice not only appears widespread; it is encouraged and funded by the federal government.
At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a large hiring initiative targets specific racial groups—promising to hire 18 to 20 scientists “who are Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Pacific Islander.” Discussing a related University of New Mexico program, one professor quipped in an email, “I don’t want to hire white men for sure.”
Both initiatives are supported by the National Institutes of Health through its Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation program, or First. The program gives grants for DEI-focused “cluster hiring” at universities and medical schools, promising eventually to spend about a quarter-billion dollars.
A key requirement is that recipient institutions heavily value diversity statements while selecting faculty. The creators of the program reasoned that by heavily weighing commitment to DEI, they could prompt schools to hire more minorities but without direct racial preferences. That’s the rationale behind DEI-focused “cluster hiring,” an increasingly common practice in academia. The documents—which include emails, grant proposals, progress reports and hiring records—suggest that many NIH First grant recipients restrict hiring on the basis of race or “underrepresented” status, violating NIH’s stated policies and possibly civil-rights law.
In grant proposals, several recipients openly state their intention to restrict whom they hire by demographic category. Vanderbilt’s NIH First grant proposal states that it will “focus on the cluster hiring of faculty from minoritized racial and ethnic groups, specifically Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Pacific Islander scientists.” The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of Texas at Dallas jointly proposed hiring 10 scholars “from underrepresented groups,” noting that the NIH First program specifically identifies racial minorities and women as underrepresented.
Emails reveal candid discussions about the perceived aim of the program. In April 2023, a professor running the University of New Mexico’s cluster hire emailed Jessica Calzola, the NIH program official overseeing the First program, to ask whether Asian-Americans count as underrepresented. The professor later wrote, “I really need a response at least by tomorrow, because it is now holding up our search teams.”
In reply, Ms. Calzola reiterated the program’s official policy: “My confusion is how this information can hold up search teams since candidates are to be evaluated and considered based on their credentials and not race/ethnicity/gender, etc.—all hiring decisions are to be made following the law and avoiding any type of bias (as you have stated and acknowledged).”
Ms. Calzola’s seemingly straightforward response confused her correspondent. “I am now wondering if I am missing something in terms of what we are supposed to be doing,” the professor emailed other members of the leadership team. She wondered if she placed too much emphasis on minority status.
Yet she hesitated to take Ms. Calzola’s word at face value, citing earlier remarks: “My first thought is that Jessica has to write about hires in this manner (she’s hinted at that before on zoom).” (Ms. Calzola referred my inquiry to an NIH spokeswoman, who said in a statement: “Consistent with NIH practice and U.S. federal law, funded programs may not use the race, ethnicity, or sex . . . of a prospective candidate as an eligibility or selection criteria.”)
A colleague responded: “For me as long as we are diversifying our departments and go with what we wrote in the proposal I am happy.” She then made clear her intention to keep one specific group out of consideration: “I don’t want to hire white men for sure, we did a very good job in the grant with the tables and numbers and that’s what we should follow in my opinion.”
Yet the confusion at UNM makes sense. Records show a repeated tension between the NIH First program’s official nondiscrimination policy and how the funded projects have played out—which at times looks a lot like discrimination.
At its inception, NIH First was widely understood not to involve racial preferences. In 2020, shortly after the program was announced, Science magazine published an explanation: “Not all of the 120 new hires would need to belong to groups now underrepresented in academic medicine, which include women, black people, Hispanics, Native Americans, and those with disabilities, says Hannah Valantine, NIH’s chief diversity officer. In fact, she told the Council of Councils at its 24 January meeting, any such restriction would be illegal and also run counter to the program’s goal of attracting world-class talent.”
Yet multiple programs have stated their intention to limit hires to those with “underrepresented” status. One job advertisement, for a First role at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, notes: “Successful candidates will be early stage investigators who are Black, Latinx, or from a disadvantaged background (as defined by NIH).”
Some grantees even admit such preferences in documents sent to and reviewed by the NIH. A joint proposal from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the university’s Baltimore County campus states that all scientists hired through the program will meet the NIH’s definition of “underrepresented populations in science.” Drexel University’s program, which focuses on nursing and public health, provides its evaluation rubric in a progress report. Among its four criteria: “Candidate is a member of a group that is underrepresented in health research.”
This raises questions about compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination in employment. The First program’s website highlights regulations requiring that federal agencies ensure grant recipients comply with nondiscrimination law. The most basic implication is that universities can’t refuse to hire someone, or prefer one candidate over another, because of race or sex. But emails show that this has been happening.
At the University of New Mexico, the First leadership team heavily scrutinized the race and sex of applicants. “Just to be sure: what was the ethnicity of Speech and Hearing’s first-choice candidate?” a UNM team member asked in an email.
“She identified as URM in her application, right? I am confused, maybe I am misremembering,” a team member wrote of a different candidate. Another responded, “It looks like she said she was a ‘native New Mexican.’ We checked, and she said she’s white.”
Another team member wrote about a third candidate: “He is LGBTQ so should fit NIHs definition of URM. In my opinion, women are more underrepresented in our department when you consider demographics.”
The team had veto power over the program’s job searches, which it took seriously. In one email, a math-and-statistics search committee sent a list of proposed finalists. The first candidate, a woman, was recommended without qualification, while the second candidate, a South Asian man, was recommended if the leadership team decided he was a “good fit for the program.” A third candidate, a woman, was recommended as a backup.
One leadership team member emailed her colleagues about the South Asian candidate, citing the NIH’s priorities: “Is this a second look person that NIH would like?” UNM’s grant proposal explains that “at each point in which the applicant pool is narrowed, all applicants from underrepresented groups are given a ‘second-look’ before they are eliminated.” The question, in other words, was whether the South Asian candidate counted as underrepresented. (A UNM spokeswoman said “the second look procedure is a longstanding UNM hiring process.”)
The team agreed the answer was no and nixed him. As one pointed out, “We’ve said that Math is really low on women.” Another chimed in, excited to interview the two remaining candidates, noting “their DEI statements are strong.”
UNM appears to have violated NIH First policy, which states that programs “may not discriminate against any group in the hiring process.” The UNM spokeswoman said in a statement that “the email correspondence among members of the UNM FIRST Leadership Team do [sic] not represent the University of New Mexico’s values nor does it comport with the expectations we have of our faculty” and that “as a result of this unfortunate circumstance,” the university is instituting a required “faculty search training/workshop for all . . . faculty search committee members.”
Yet other universities signaled to NIH that they also intended to engage in race and sex preferences. Northwestern University’s program, which focuses on areas like cancer and cardiovascular health, promises to hire faculty from “underrepresented groups.” Its grant proposal suggests this excludes one particular group: “Our faculty development programming intentionally seeks to elevate URG”—underrepresented group—“faculty to equal privilege with white men in academia.”
Records repeatedly show NIH First grantees following through on their promises. In a letter of support for Florida State University’s project, that university’s associate vice president for human resources declared, “I firmly believe in and reaffirm this project’s mission to create an under-represented minority faculty cohort.”
Hiring documents show that special attention was paid to job candidates’ minority status. In a survey on job finalists, one Florida State faculty member wrote, “Is the applicant a URM, as defined by the NIH? Relatedly, I’m not saying this is happening, but I believe consideration of self-reported sexuality in the hiring process would go against official FSU nondiscrimination policy.” An FSU spokeswoman said in an email that “the Florida FIRST program followed the guidelines set forth by the NIH.”
That search took place as the Florida legislature was beginning to curtail DEI at public universities. Other programs raise similar red flags regarding state law. California’s Proposition 209 prohibits preferential treatment by race in admissions, hiring and “the operation of public employment.” A San Diego State University proposal says nonetheless that it will require shortlists “to include at least 25% of applications from historically underrepresented groups.” The San Diego program even divvies up certain faculty duties by race: “Whenever possible, the chair of the hiring committees should be a faculty member of color”; “the hiring committees will be required to have at least two (50% recommended) faculty of color”; and so on.
A university spokesman said in an email that “SDSU relies on the Building on Inclusive Excellence (BIE) faculty hiring program,” that “BIE is compliant with both civil rights law and California Proposition 209,” and that “it is incorrect to state that ‘the SDSU program . . . divides certain faculty duties by race.’ ”
Taken as a whole, these documents shed new light on the practice of cluster hiring. They explain why some in academia seem to treat the practice as a form of legal racial quotas. In addition to the responses already noted, representatives of the University of Maryland, UT Dallas and UT Southwestern said that their institutions comply with civil-rights laws and don’t discriminate on the basis of race. Drexel, Northwestern, Mount Sinai and Vanderbilt didn’t reply to inquiries.
The documents I reviewed point to a large-scale sleight-of-hand in the application of the NIH First program. They give all the more reason to reconsider one of the most controversial practices in higher education, mandatory diversity statements, which provide a convenient smokescreen for discrimination. Lawmakers would be wise to investigate this practice closely—especially the NIH First program.
In a comment on her decision to end mandatory diversity statements, MIT president Sally Kornbluth noted that such statements “impinge on freedom of expression.” That’s true, but fails to capture the full extent of the problem. Diversity statements mask racial discrimination. The NIH has ensured that they’re widely used in medicine, where excellence should matter most.
Mr. Sailer is a senior fellow at the National Association of Scholars.
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Ormand continues- Edited
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There are many signs that Israelis are continuing with their work to make a better world, despite the continuing war on many fronts. The wounded returning to work, Oct 7 victims opening cafes, new innovative medical devices and procedures. The economy expands with increasing gas exports, private and government support for startups, funding, and partnerships, plus a huge demand for Israeli defense technology. Israel is the new powerhouse in Artificial Intelligence systems that will improve our lives, while Israeli sustainable innovations guarantee to safeguard our planet and feed a hungry world. You can see all these signs on Israel's streets and in the positivity shown by Israeli youth and in the excitement of the participants of youth groups visiting Israel. In the 7th Jul 24 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
Wounded ICU doctor vows to work again. Dr Yoav Bichovsky, of the intensive care unit at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, was wounded beyond recognition by Hamas in Gaza. He is now regaining his speech and motor skills at the Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center in Ra’anana and is resolved to return to treating patients. https://worldisraelnews.com/ Family reunions, in Gaza. Several videos are circulating showing brothers in the IDF meeting up unexpectedly in Gaza. Here is one where a father is reunited with his son. https://unitedwithisrael.org/ Pittsburgh paramedic is back in Gaza. A video of Isaac Nadoff, a paramedic from Pittsburgh, is circulating currently where he explains his 2.5-week holiday in Israel on Oct 7 became 4.5 months including 50 days in Gaza. He returned to Pittsburgh for 3 months and now he’s “back in Israel for round two”. Kol Hakavod! https://www.everand.com/ Donating shares to Oct 7 children. The fund, Valoo for the Kids, has so far raised around $20 million in stock donations to help support Israeli child victims of Oct 7. Founders, angel investors, and employees donate shares in tech companies. As the company’s value grows, so does the value of their donation. https://nocamels.com/2024/07/ https://forkids.valoo.io/ Outfitting IDF soldiers. (TY Yanky) Cousins Yael and Terri are known by IDF soldiers as “Terri’s Angels.” Since Oct 7 they have distributed hundreds of bags of gear to thousands of IDF reservists requesting gloves, tents, sleeping bags, scissors, medical kits, and more, supplied by donors and brought to Israel by volunteers. https://forward.com/news/ Second Café Otef opens. Following the successful launch of Café Otef in Tel Aviv’s Sarona Market (see here previously), Cafe Otef – Re’im has opened in Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood. It will sell Dvir Chocolates, the line of confections created by Re’im resident Dvir Karp, murdered on Oct 7. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS Removing shrapnel with a metal detector. Removing metal fragments from the neck and head is complex. At the Galilee Medical Center, they use a small metal detector, purchased on-line from AliExpress, to locate the exact position of bullets or fragments of shrapnel, which are then removed without damage to vital tissues. https://www.israel21c.org/ Doctor saves life on the way to work. Dr. Amir Orlev, director of the cardiology department at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, was on the way to work when he noticed a man lying on the side of the road. He diagnosed that he was suffering from a massive blood clot in the lung, catheterized him, and saved his life. https://www.jpost.com/health- Laser treatment saves leg amputation. Doctors at Netanya’s Laniado Medical Center have for the first time in Israel used an AURYON laser device from Eximo Medical (see here previously) to remove an arterial blockage in a patient’s leg and avoid amputation. Israel’s Eximo was acquired by US-based AngioDynamics in 2019. https://www.jpost.com/health- Faster, clearer CT bone scans. The Veriton SPECT/CT system from Israel’s Spectrum Dynamics performs a bone scan in 12 mins instead of the usual 45. Image quality is also far better, thanks to its camera with 12 heads, each with a novel digital radiation detector that gets near to the patient. Used at Schneider hospital and globally. https://www.israel21c.org/ https://spectrum-dynamics.com/ https://spectrum-dynamics.com/ A hormone-free birth-control pill. Rachel Teitelbaum moved to Israel from the USA in 2003 and founded Hervana Bio in 2008. It has developed a safe contraceptive tablet containing the bacteria lactobacilli found in yoghurt but enhanced to produce antibodies that bind to sperm, removing them from the fertilization process. https://www.israel21c.org/new- https://hervana-bio.com/ 76 new ambucycles. United Hatzalah has inaugurated 76 new ambucycles (emergency motorcycles) – one for each of modern Israel’s 76 years. The vehicles were paid for in a matching partnership with philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson and will be deployed all over Israel. Several were dedicated to the memory of fallen medics. https://www. ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL A combat unit for religious women. The IDF is creating a new all-female combat unit for religious women soldiers. The unit will be part of the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps and the women enrolled will receive spiritual support and guidance. Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, head of Midreshet Lindenbaum, will supervise the unit. https://unitedwithisrael.org/ A pro-Israel village in Norway. (TY UWI) Sokndal, Norway (not to be confused with Sogndal) is possibly the most pro-Israel village in the world. The residents, primarily Christian, express their solidarity with Israel through an array of flags and symbols, reflecting a profound bond rooted in faith and shared values. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Expanding gas exports. Israel’s influence in the oil & gas market is set to improve following the preliminary green light from Israel’s Energy Ministry to more than double exports of natural gas from the Leviathan field. Customers in Europe and the Far East prefer to import gas from Israel, rather than from Russia. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ Germany’s new citizenship law. The country’s new citizenship law goes into effect, requiring those applying for a passport to affirm they believe that Israel has a right to exist. It is part of an overhaul to emphasize German values and protect Jewish life in the country. https://www.jns.org/new- Taiwan steps up for Israel. (TY Rhoda) Since Oct 7, relations between Israel and Taiwan have been growing fonder and stronger. The Taipei government has donated many thousands of dollars to Israeli causes, condemned Hamas and declared solidarity with Israel. Officials have even picked fruit on Israeli farms. https://www.ynetnews.com/ Indians stand with Israel. (TY UWI) Israelis and other Jews enjoy traveling to India. Hindus and Jews are both ancient civilizations facing the threat of Islamic terrorism. Hear some Indians in Israel talk about common interests. https://www.youtube.com/watch? Argentinian ambassador is a Rabbi. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed Argentina’s incoming ambassador, Rabbi Shimon “Axel” Wahnish, to Jerusalem. He noted that under the leadership of Argentina’s President Javier Milei, the relationship between the two nations will reach new heights. https://www.jns.org/katz- Israeli universities receive redirected $5 million donation. US donor David Magerman is giving $1 million to five Israeli institutions, including Israel’s Technion Institute, Bar-Ilan University, and the Jerusalem College of Technology. He halted his donations to the University of Pennsylvania due to its handling of antisemitism. https://www.jns.org/american- SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY The best speech to text. Israel’s aiOla (see here previously) won the “Best Speech to Text Solution” award at the annual AI Breakthrough Awards. aiOla’s Natural Language Processing and Automatic Speech Recognition accurately interprets complex jargon, acronyms and accents in 100 languages, regardless of background noise. https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ https://aiola.com/blog/ai- https://aibreakthroughawards. Replacing the court stenographer. Israel’s Verbit (see here previously) provides automated captioning and transcription services to over 2,000 businesses worldwide. It is now launching Legal Real-Time, providing reliable real-time transcriptions for legal proceedings at a fraction of the cost of traditional stenography. https://www.israel21c.org/new- A video-based lie-detector. Israel’s Revealense Technology has unveiled illuminator – an AI platform to identify the behavioral DNA of individuals using video analysis. It could transform decision-making processes for managers, investigators, psychologists, researchers, and more. Useful for recruitment, banking, doctors, etc. https://revealense.com/ AI to check AI fraud. Israel’s Corsound (a subsidiary of Israel’s Cortica – see here previously) has developed AI technology to detect a cloned voice – if a recording of your voice was digitally manipulated to impersonate you. It can also check that a voice matches a photo of the speaker. Voted FinovateEurope 2024’s Best of Show. https://www.israel21c.org/the- https://www.corsound.ai/ https://finovate.com/videos/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Detecting fakes from true content. Israel’s TrueMedia.org helps people discern real from fake content. TrueMedia has developed about 15 models to identify AI-created audio, video, and images, achieving around 90% accuracy. https://www.calcalistech.com/ Using AI to monitor legal compliance. Israel’s Shield has developed a generative AI (GenAI) platform to help financial services companies maintain legal compliance and avoid issues such as misconduct and market manipulation by their employees. Shield analyzes communications from emails, messages and voice calls. https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ AI to protect the vulnerable. Israel’s EyeKnow.AI has developed a safety platform with cameras and artificial intelligence to predict hazardous and violent incidents such as falls, slips and physical violence, in hospitals and care facilities. It can raise an alert before a situation spirals into a full crisis involving patients or staff. https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? An AI matchmaker. Israel’s Heyoosh is the world’s first AI-based personal matchmaker. The founders’ main goal was to make the digital dating environment safer. Currently only available on iPhone, it allows users to get to know each other’s personalities, rather than appearance. Images are not shared and privacy is a priority. https://www.israel21c.org/bye- https://www.heyoosh.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ Light years ahead of time. Israel’s CogniFiber is developing DeepLight photonic processors that utilize multi-core optical fibers to process data at the speed of light. It means processing speeds can increase up to 1,000 times, while using only 1% of the energy. https://www.cognifiber.com/ https://www.calcalistech.com/ DeserTech Innovation Center. The DeserTech Innovation Center in Beer Sheva is part of the World Zionist Village, which aims to create a Living Lab for research, education and development of startups. It will be a hub for DeserTech, ClimaTech, AgTech, FoodTech, clean energy, conservation, and more. https://zionistvillage.jnf. https://zionistvillage.jnf. A sustainable solution to weed control. One of the Israeli startups on show at Israel’s 2024 PlaneTech conference in Tel Aviv was AgriPass. Its (proof of concept) tool mimics a human laborer with modern tech. AI-powered sensors identify the weeds, map the terrain, and instruct the tilling heads to pull out the weeds. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ Turning wastewater into protein. Although Israel’s Fabumin was included here previously I forgot to mention its sustainable benefit. Fabumin purifies the wastewater discharged from the vegetable processing industry, extracting the “mud” to make “aquafaba” – an egg substitute. Clean water and “no-chicken” eggs. https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? ECONOMY & BUSINESS Best funding quarter in two years. Israeli startups raised $1.9 billion in funding in the second quarter of 2024 – its best quarter since Q4 2022. A further $1 billion was raised by Wiz – the highest raised in one round in Israeli history. https://www.calcalistech.com/ $80 million Korean fund. (TY OurCrowd) The South Korean NHOC Global Open Innovation fund will invest in DeepTech (engineering and scientific innovation) startups in Israel & South Korea. It will be one of the largest international investment funds, aiming to invest $80 million in some 30 startups from both countries, https://nocamels.com/2024/07/ Israel’s largest rental deal. Google is to lease some 60,000 square meters in Tel Aviv's ToHa2 Tower at an annual rental of NIS 115 million. The tower is still under construction – due to be completed in early 2027. It will be the largest office rental deal in Israel’s history, both in terms of space and rental value. https://www.calcalistech.com/ 3-week response. eHealth Ventures specializes in early-stage health tech startups. It operates a fast-track investment program that promises a response to all investment requests within three weeks. A positive response guarantees an investment of NIS 3 - 3.5 million within three months and acceptance into its incubator. https://www.calcalistech.com/ Driving economic recovery in the North. Startup Nation Central is partnering with Tzafon Medical Center near Tiberias to help drive economic recovery in northern Israel. Startup Nation Central will help Tzafon train medical staff, create global partnerships, and connect to the local and global health tech innovation ecosystem. https://www.jns.org/startup- Big demand for counter-drone defense. Israel’s D-Fend Solutions (see here previously) is expanding its US presence due to growing demand. D-Fend’s anti-drone systems have been installed worldwide by militaries, law enforcement and homeland security agencies, and even major international airports. https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ Partnership to secure smart cars. Israel’s Argus (part of Germany’s Continental AG) has partnered with Microsoft to develop a next generation, end-to-end platform for automotive and mobility security. The Argus Vehicle Security Platform, plus Microsoft’s software and GenAI, secure software-defined vehicles (SDVs). https://nocamels.com/2024/06/ https://argus-sec.com/company/ Startup investment – to 7/7/24: Sendblocks raised $8.2 million; CogniFiber raised $5 million. CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT Cyber security and art exhibition. The exhibition "Protecting the World: Israeli CyberSecurity Technologies" at the CyberWeek conference in Tel Aviv, featured 25 Israeli cyber technologies, each represented by a rare lock, some are over 2,000 years old. Cyberweek was attended by 9,000 attendees from more than 80 countries. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/ Shira Haas wins at Monte Carlo festival. Israeli actress Shira Haas received the Jury Prize for her role in the TV drama “Night Therapy” at the 63rd Monte Carlo International Television Festival. https://www.israel21c.org/ All on me. Israel’s 2018 Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai has released her debut Hebrew album “It’s All on Me”. The video features the title track – set in an Israeli outdoor market. https://www.jns.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Israeli dancing dog has got talent. (TY Nevet) Israeli dog trainer Roni Sagi and her dog Rhythm won a standing ovation for their two-minute dance routine on America’s Got Talent. Unbelievable! 1.1 million views. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch? Signs of the times on Israel’s streets. (TY Sharon) There were many positive signs on the streets of Jerusalem last week. See Sharon’s photos of the parade lion, the welcome sign at Navon station, the new Nano Science building, new displays and events at the ANU, ads for summer events, graduations, weddings, and music. https://rjstreets.com/2024/06/ Israeli hits home run in US debut. Israel’s Assaf Lowengart smacked a three-run home run in his first baseball match for New York Boulders at their home stadium. He helped his team to an 11-1 win against the New Jersey Jackals. After Oct 7, Assaf worked as a volunteer agricultural laborer on a kibbutz. https://www.jns.org/israeli- https://unitedwithisrael.org/ Israel at the Tour de France. The Israel PremierTech cycling team has made a reasonable start to the 2024 Tour de France race. Hugo Houle was ninth on Stage 2 and Pascal Ackermann sprinted to sixth on Stage 5. The IPT team is in 14th place overall. Derek Gee is the highest IPT individual at 21st of the 174 riders. https://israelpremiertech.com/ THE JEWISH STATE Torah study in Gaza. An IDF unit in Gaza has completed the study of the Talmud tractate Bava Metzia during pauses in their battles with Hamas terrorists. These soldiers exemplify resilience and commitment to their faith during these tumultuous times. https://unitedwithisrael.org/ How did Jews get to Ethiopia? There are some 15,000 Israelis of Ethiopian decent living in Beer Sheva, including Naftali Aklum, whose brother was key to the mass Ethiopian Aliya. Naftali relates two of the legends as to the Jewish origins of today’s Ethiopian Israelis. https://www.youtube.com/ Bob Marley’s grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. Reggae icon Bob Marley’s son Ziggy is married to an Israeli, Orly – of Jewish, Iranian descent. Ziggy posted a photo of himself with his son Abraham at “his celebration of becoming a man according to the ancient tradition he has reached that age of responsibility and change.” https://www.jpost.com/israel- 2,000 attend Birthright mega event. More than 2,000 participants on Birthright Israel programs gathered for the Mega Event at Mini Israel Park in Latrun – the highlight of the organization’s summer trips to Israel. Israel’s 2024 Eurovision singer Eden Golan and others gave performances in solidarity with the IDF. https://www.jns.org/ The secret to success in the IDF. IDF Brig Gen (res) Amir Avivi, founder of the IDSF (Israel’s Defense Security Forum) explains how he managed to motivate the 800 soldiers under his command. And the important message that this sends to all supporters of Israel. https://www.youtube.com/watch? How to help Israel. 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 and to those who are helping by donating their own valuable time and resources. Friends of the IDF (US donors): https://www.fidf.org/ or IDF Soldiers Fund in Israel: https://www.ufis.org.il/en/ American Friends of Magen David Adom (US donors): https://afmda.org/ or Magen David Adom (Israel): https://www.mdais.org/en/ Zaka (US donors): https://donate.zakatelaviv. or (Canadian donors): https://www.canadahelps.org/ United Hatzalah: https://israelrescue.org/ Leket Food Israel: https://www.leket.org/en/ JNF USA - https://my.jnf.org/gaza- Orthodox Union - https://www.charidy.com/ Schneider Children’s Hospital: https://www.fos.org.il/en/ https://system.smartgiving. https://chaischneider.org/ Rambam Medical Center (Haifa) https://aforam.org/ways-to- https://www.rambam.org.il/en/ Hadassah Hospital Israel: https://www.hadassah.org/ Laniado Hospital (Netanya) https://my.israelgives.org/en/ Buy Israel Bonds to support the Jewish State. (TY Larry B) https://www. USA - https://www.israelbonds.com/ Europe - https://israelbondsintl.com/ Canada - https://www.israelbonds.ca/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
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