Here’s the latest installment in our monthly round-up of BDS fails.
Political BDS Fails
Report: Israel to procure, transfer millions of COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians
The PA warned, however, that it still expects to see a shortage of the treatment, especially in Gaza
A senior Palestinian Authority official claimed on Sunday that Israel has agreed to transfer millions of doses of COVID-19 treatment to Ramallah in the coming months, according to Israeli daily Israel Hayom.
Some three to four million coronavirus vaccines are expected to reach Palestinian medical workers as part of a deal Israel has reached with pharmaceutical companies.
Israel Eases Path to Citizenship for 20,000 East Jerusalem Palestinians
Following legal challenge, Interior Ministry agrees to implement 1968 clause that would make it faster and easier for young Palestinians to obtain Israeli citizenship
Around 20,000 young Palestinians will be eligible to expedite their requests for Israeli citizenship after a court forced the Interior Ministry to publish guidelines for the scheme on Monday.
According to experts, the updated procedure should allow another 7,000 or so young Palestinians to obtain citizenship each year as well.
Israeli prime minister makes historic visit to Saudi Arabia, intelligence official confirms
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret trip to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to a Middle Eastern intelligence official, a watershed visit in the historically hostile relations between the two countries.
According to the Israeli publication Ynet, Netanyahu spent a few hours late Sunday in the Saudi coastal city of Neom, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Netanyahu reportedly traveled with Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, a key figure in emerging efforts to broker diplomatic relations with the kingdom.
Malawi vows to open embassy in Jerusalem by next summer
Malawi plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem by next summer, the southeast African country’s foreign minister, Eisenhower Mkaka, announced Tuesday during a visit to Israel.
It would be the third embassy in Jerusalem, after the United States and Guatemala, and the first of an African country.
Pompeo: US declares BDS antisemitic
Bahrain FM lands in Israel for first-ever ministerial visit from Gulf nation
Flying in on first Gulf Air flight to Tel Aviv, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani to participate in tripartite meeting with Netanyahu and US Secretary Pompeo
Bahrain’s foreign minister landed in Tel Aviv Wednesday morning for a whirlwind visit, during which he will meet with senior Israeli officials and participate in a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani is the first minister from the tiny island nation to visit the Jewish state.
Economic BDS fails
Israel’s first commercial flight to UAE takes off from Tel Aviv
Israel’s first commercial flight to the UAE took off from Ben-Gurion Airport to Dubai International Airport on Tuesday, after Saudi Arabia granted permission for the flight to use its airspace with less than a day to spare.
The flight’s 170 passengers took off on Israir flight 6H663 from Ben Gurion Airport to Dubai, in a cornerstone trip that further cements the relationship between Israel and the UAE, who signed a normalization agreement in the form of the Abraham Accords in September.
Israel receives approval to begin fruit and vegetable exports to the UAE
Israel received official authorization to export fruit and vegetables to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry announced.
The authorization follows a series of meeting and coordination between Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Alon Schuster, ministry employees and the UAE ministry for climate change and the environment.
#BREAKING Pompeo announces US will no begin labeling products from any area under Israeli control as "made in Israel," reversing policy since 1995 to label settlement goods as "made in the West Bank"
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) November 19, 2020
UAE national carrier to start flying to Tel Aviv next spring
Etihad Airways the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, announced Monday it would start operating daily nonstop flights to Tel Aviv next spring, a move that deepens ties between the UAE and Israel after the two countries agreed to normalize relations.
Direct flights on Etihad between the emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv will begin March 28, giving “Emiratis and UAE residents the opportunity to discover Israel’s historical sites, beaches, restaurants and nightlife,” the state-owned carrier said in a statement. Tickets are already available on Etihad’s website.
The announcement comes after Dubai’s budget carrier flydubai said it would begin offering direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv later this month.
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has placed a private donation to the Israeli Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation, it was announced today.
The Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation, founded in 1996 by the late President of Israel, Shimon Peres, develops and implements impactful and meaningful programmes with a focus on promoting a prosperous Israel, nurturing and highlighting Israeli innovation, and paving the way for shared-living between all of Israel’s citizens and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbours.
It is the first Israeli non-profit to receive support from a member of the Royal Family.
Technology and Medical BDS fails
6 Israeli creations get showcased in TIME’s 100 Best Inventions for 2020
Six Israeli tech firms have been named in this year’s annual list of TIME magazine’s 100 Best Inventions “that are changing the way we live, work, play and think about what’s possible.”
The global “groundbreaking inventions” of 2020 published earlier this month include a skill building robot, hydrogen power for airplanes, vodka out of think air, alt-pork, a hands-free tooth-brushing device, and mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19.
Israeli research: People with asthma 30% less likely to contract COVID-19
People with asthma could be as much as 30% less likely to contract the coronavirus, according to Israeli research that was accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
“COVID-19 susceptibility in bronchial asthma,” which is slated to be published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology this month and which The Jerusalem Post reviewed, shows that contrary to what has been assumed by many medical professionals up until now, people with bronchial asthma are less likely to get COVID-19.
Oral insulin, by Israeli mom-son team, starts final trials to become world’s 1st
An Israeli company has started final-stage tests of its oral insulin, bidding to become the first to make the product available on the international market.
The product started phase three trials under the US Food and Drug Administration in California on Monday, after 14 years of development. If all goes well, Oramed Pharmaceuticals says it expects type 2 diabetics to start taking its pills in just over three years, followed by type 1 diabetics after further testing.
Plague-busters: Israeli team combats swarms of locusts in war-torn Ethiopia
At the request of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a crack team of Israelis swooped into the war-, storm-, and famine-struck country earlier this month to aid in its fight against a further plague — desert locusts.
Currently on the ground in the country’s eastern Somali region, the Israeli delegation is testing out an innovative technique of using drone surveillance and targeted night-time spraying, which will reduce the amount of pesticides.
Beyond Automotive: Why Michigan is Eying Israeli Industry 4.0 Innovation
Israel, the Startup Nation, is playing a significant role in developing smart technologies for manufacturers around the world. Despite having a very small manufacturing sector of its own, Israel’s 255 startups in the fields of operation optimization, inspection and testing, supply chain, maintenance, 3D printing, robotics, connectivity and security vulnerabilities, are gaining recognition for their Industry 4.0 solutions, deriving from Israel’s well-known strengths in cybersecurity and AI/ML, computer vision, sensors, and complex systems integration capabilities.
Moreover, Israel is now placed third in the world (after the US and China) in terms of venture capital investments in the field of Industry 4.0, which more than tripled in five years: from $112 million in 2014 to $349 million in 2019
Israeli scientists claim to reverse aging process
Specifically, the study, which is published in the peer-reviewed journal Aging, focused on whether the process could reverse two key indicators of biological aging: the shortening of DNA telomeres and the accumulation of resultant senescent cells.
Israeli duo’s early Alzheimer’s detection test brings cure one step closer
TORONTO — Israeli expatriate biomedical engineers Eliav Shaked and Roy Kirshon may be far from old age but one of its dreaded curses — Alzheimer’s disease (AD) — figures prominently in their lives. As business partners in an artificial intelligence medical imaging start-up in Toronto called RetiSpec, they’ve developed a new way for early detection of AD, the main cause of dementia among older adults.
Cultural BDS Fails
Israeli team takes home gold at rhythmic gymnastics European Championships
Israeli team takes home gold at rhythmic gymnastics European Championships in Kiev.
We are proud of you! 🇮🇱🏅 pic.twitter.com/SAe4h4Nsc2
— Nitsana Darshan-Leitner | עו"ד ניצנה דרשן-לייטנר (@AttorneyNitsana) November 29, 2020
Tel Aviv’s Zencity wins international award for ‘pioneering’ smart city project
Tel Aviv-based startup Zencity has won a Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2020 Award, which is granted to “pioneering projects,” innovations, ideas and strategies that make cities more livable, sustainable, inclusive and economically viable.
Zencity, which has set up a platform to transform the way cities make decisions and foster civic engagement with residents, won first prize in the governance and economy award category.
Tel Aviv University’s Islamic history course a global hit
(November 26, 2020 / Israel21C) A course about Islam taught at Tel Aviv University was recently ranked as one of the 50 best online courses in the world, and has drawn a varied global audience, including numerous students from Middle Eastern and Islamic countries—some of which don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel.
The course, called “Arab-Islamic History: From Tribes to Empires,” focuses on the history of the Muslim people. It reviews political developments in the Islamic world from its inception in the sixth century until the arrival of the Ottomans in the Middle East at the beginning of the 16th century, and also examines cultural and social history in the area during the Middle Ages.
Israeli Judoka Peter Paltchik wins gold medal at European Championship
Israeli judoka Peter Paltchik won the gold medal in the under-100kg. category on the final day of the European Judo Championships in Prague on Saturday when he defeated the Arman Adamyan of Russia, last year’s winner, in the final.
Paltchik, 28, needed a “golden score” wazari in overtime to secure his win after both men ended the set four minutes of their contest and the scoreboard remained blank.
Making history as #Israel’s first ever top 10 draft pick
Israel's #DeniAvdija on being the #NBAdraft's 9th pick and making history as #Israel's first ever top 10 draft pick.
"I have the whole nation behind me, I hope I'm gonna represent well"
You do and you will Deni! 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/kBTVaiDYSK
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר (@emilykschrader) November 19, 2020
