Author: The Jerusalem Connection July 15, 2020
In addition to the general statement that Israel today sits on the forefront of cures, treatments and prevention of Parkinson’s, various cancers, Alzheimer’s, cardiac conditions, and more, let’s add the latest ailment, Corona virus. Let’s examine what specific contributions Israelis and/or Jews contributed to modern society that touch our everyday lives; and should you decide to boycott Israel, you will have to really clean out your briefcase, office, pantry, garage, and more.
Keep this in mind: Jews make up about .03% of the population but have won about 20% of Nobel prizes. Israel has more Nobel Prizes per capita than the United States, France, and Germany. It has more laureates, in real numbers, than India, Spain and China. If only scientific laureates are considered, Israel is 13th in Nobel prize per capita, just after Germany, 11th, and the United States, 12th. (2019). Contributions for general advancement, in addition to specific advancements, in science, technology, medicine, counterterrorism, disaster relief, farming, agriculture, water treatment and conservation—all disproportionality seem to have some root or contributor who is either Jewish or Israeli. I am not going to comment on the why behind this just now, but let’s just call this notion an objective, given premise.
So based on this premise, could Israelis and Jews be contributing far more to society than the BDS, anti-Zionist and Jew-hating members of faculties, so-called social justice organizations, members of Congress, or protestors in the streets of LA, Paris, or NY are willing to admit?
Boycotts of Israeli products may prove detrimental to your health, the health of a family member, or even the joy of many a modern convenience and technology.
Israeli Innovations That Changed the World
Medical technology
SniffPhone – the device that can smell disease including Parkinson’s and various cancers.
ReWalk – a battery-packed ‘exoskeleton’ that helps paralyzed people regain upright walking and movement including climbing stairs. It has been seen in the Paralympics and London Marathon.
PillCam – a swallow-able medical camera developed to help diagnose and treat infections such as intestinal disorders, and digestive system cancers. Data is transmitted from the camera to an external receiver and it is a revolutionizing medicine. The camera is digestible and disposable and is now FDA-approved for use. Because of its unique design, it can access areas of the digestive system that are typically out of range during a conventional procedure.
The Flexible Stent – preventative medical tech has been around for quite sometimes and provides life-saving remedies to clogged arteries and heart attack victims without the use of invasive open-heart surgery which comes with a host of additional risks. Around since 1996, You have no idea how many people you likely know who had a coronary event and this stent saved a life or averted major heart surgery.
Software Developments Computer Innovations
Disk on Key – the world’s first USB drive was patented by Israelis. Those pen drives were vital in our carrying around vast amounts of data, our term papers, and more, (before we saved everything to the cloud).
Firewall – the original protection against malware. The first commercially viable firewall software was first developed in 1993 by a team of Israeli computer scientists at Check Point Software Technologies. Since then, Check Point has expanded, opening subsidiaries overseas and partnering with major tech companies, including Nokia. This type of software is the cornerstone of most computer security systems and keeps millions of people a little safer from malicious cyber activity.
ICQ – the first global instant messenger. IMs including Slack and What’s App are nothing to the original– It was first released in 1996 by Israeli software company Mirabilis and it was free-to-download. Eventually it was sold to AOL in 1998 and then to MailRu Group in 2010
Cell phone internal technology — if not for Israeli R&D, you would not have one.
Agriculture and Environment
Netafim – a desert-friendly irrigation system—using a dripping system to avoid the abundance of wasted energy and evaporation you see in traditional sprinkler systems
Watergen – drinking water produced from thin air.
BioBee – harmless pest control that solves an age-old problem without administering deadly chemicals that cause other problems down the road.
Navigation and Road Safety
Waze – a navigation device with a twist. Not just getting you from point A to Point B, it uses real time data to provide traffic checks, road conditions and hazards, and even alternat routes. An instant hit, Google ended up buying it.
Mobil Eye—the tiny cameras all around your car offering you views and beeps to alert of objects or obstructions. Mobileye – life-saving AI. 1999 by Israeli inventor Amon Shashua. It was the product of his academic thesis on machine learning and is a revolutionary car technology. Mobileye systems consist of tiny cameras that are placed in cars to alert drivers of potential hazards like pedestrians or other obstacles. It has since been integrated into many cars around the world and has been adopted by over 25 automobile makers—so likely in your car or the car of one of your loved ones.
What about the next generation of startups and innovation?
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem ranked together in sixth place in Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) for 2020, an annual report on global startup ecosystems and subsector trends. Tel Aviv ranked sixth in 2019 as well. Israel ranked third in the total number of Artificial Intelligence startups globally. AI is the leading sector for startups based in Tel Aviv, accounting for 40.7 percent of all startups and 25 percent of employees in the city. Cloud and big data come second with a 38.1 percent share, according to the report.
India to use Israeli technology to disinfect public spaces for COVID-19
The new development disinfects surfaces 100% of bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungi, and remains active for a long time after being sprayed in a manner which is safe for the public. Israel has contracted to use this technology to India on its public spaces in the continued effort to combat COVID19.
In addition to innovation, Israel site at the forefront of security and humanitarian efforts. Israel has for the ninth year in a row topped the international list of countries in the battle against human trafficking, a U.S. government report said. The annual report, published each year since 2001, ranks countries by three different categories – prosecution, protection, and prevention – divided into three tiers: 1 (best) to 3 (watch list). Israel has been in Tier 1 since 2012
Israeli disaster relief forces were the first on the scene at the Haitian earthquake, and at several recent devasting hurricanes, aftermath of mass shootings (Orlando for example), and health crises on the Syrian border and elsewhere.
These are just a small snippet of daily conveniences and life-preserving and enhancing contributions Jews and Israel gave the world. Remember these when you hear about a Boycott. Ask if that person is willing to sacrifice the life of a family member, the convenience of their smartphone and many of the apps they use each day as they go about looking for organic, clean foods to consume.
Consider this…
Genesis 26:4
I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 28:13-14
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Acts 3:25
It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
Shavua Tov, have a great week.