Here’s the the latest installment in our ongoing series of posts documenting BDS fails.
When debating those who suggest that BDS is succeeding, consider using some of these examples to disprove their claims.
Economic
The $3.1 billion American aid package is provided within the framework of the memorandum signed by former president George W. Bush in August 2007. The memorandum stated that Israel would receive $30 billion in ten years, and Obama is working on signing a new memorandum which will go into effect only in 2017.
In a “Globes” interview, [3M VP] Shin reveals the company’s secret – why, more than a century after it was founded, 3M is still cited as a model in business administration studies, and what it is looking for in Israel. “We’ve been operating in Israel for 20 years, and it’s important to us as a strategic location,” Shin explains. “The reason why we’re opening the innovation center is to propel our investments into the next stage. We have diverse customers of varying sizes and diverse marketers, but when you want tofind technology, you have to see it in action. Why Israel? I believe that the answer is obvious – Israel is economically stable, and we see that there’s a future for 3M here, and the possibility of good penetration.”
More than 25 of the world’s largest multinational corporations will gather at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) on December 16 for the Axis Tel Aviv Corporate Edition, an event aimed at connecting international companies with promising Israeli startups.
Senior representatives from firms such as AVG, Ford, IBM, GE, Tyco, GM, Singtel, PayPal, Yahoo, ProSieben and Kimberly-Clark will participate in the second annual networking and deal-making meetup.
Plunging oil and coal prices pushed Israel’s balance of payments surplus up to an all-time record NIS 3.8 billion in the third quarter, according to a review published today by Ministry of Finance chief economist Yoel Naveh. The large surplus is generating pressure in the direction of appreciation of the shekel, thereby countering the effect of the Bank of Israel’s monetary policy of retaining a negligible interest rate, despite the recent interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
Inflation expectations in Israel are still falling while the US Federal Reserve is raising its interest rate, according to figures published today by the Bank of Israel. The figures, based on forecasts by leading analysts, show expectations of a 0.5% rise in the Consumer Price Index over the next 12 months, compared with last month’s 0.7% projection.
British airline Monarch, which recently resumed its activity in Israel after a 10-year absence, is planning to introduce a new route between Tel Aviv and Manchester in April 2016.
Ticket prices are expected to begin at 108£ (about $160) for a one-way flight.
German low-cost airline TUIfly, which is owned by the world’s largest travel and tourism corporation, will offer two weekly flights to Israel from March 2016 at a starting price of €218 for a round-trip ticket.
Israel’s high-tech companies had a banner year for exits in 2015, the accounting firm PwC Israel said Wednesday. Sixty-two startups were bought in M&A deals totaling $7.2 billion, up from 52 companies and $5 billion last year. Another eight conducted initial public offerings worth about $3.5 billion, down from 2014, but still, the combined value of exits neared $11 billion, PwC said. “This is the fifth year in a row exits exceeded $5 billion,” said Rubi Suliman, who heads PwC’s high-tech practice.
Political
This list is based on positions expressed by the Presidents of such Universities or others in a position to state a university’s position (e.g., communications staff). We are aware of no university in the U.S. endorsing the boycott. See University statements rejecting academic boycott of Israel. (Note added: For University Systems, we only list individual schools separately if there is a separate statement or some other individual agreement to the system statement, so this list significantly understates the number of universities rejecting the boycott.)
This is a list in progress and will be updated as more announcements/confirmations are made. If you have additions, please post in comments with source link or forward confirming emails here.
India successfully test-fired on Wednesday the Barak 8, a new long range surface-to-air missile capable of countering aerial threats at extended ranges, which was jointly developed with Israel.
The long range surface-to-air missile system, said to have cost $1.4 billion to develop, can intercept aerial threats at extended ranges.
When Israel was ranked 18th out of 188 countries and territories in the world on the United Nations Human Development Index a few weeks ago, it didn’t make nearly big enough of a splash. Since 2013, Israel has climbed from number 19 on its way to the coveted top 10 First World democracies (the very high human development group).
According to the 2015 Human Development Report, titled “Work for Human Development,” the Human Development Index is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
Liberia’s senate president, Armah Zolu Jallah, thanked Israel for its aid in helping to eradicate a fatal Ebola outbreak in his West African country.
In 2014, Israel sent aid — mobile clinics, training of medical teams and visits by Israeli medical experts — to Liberia to help halt the severe Ebola outbreak there.
“I am proud that we did our part and helped Liberia become free of Ebola. It is a world interest to which the State of Israel is a partner,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Jallah.
Jallah – who made history by becoming the first president of the upper house of the bicameral Liberian legislature to visit the Knesset – also told Edelstein that his country greatly admires Israel, saying, “we can learn a lot from you about innovation, technology, agriculture and medical research.”
Scientific, Cultural, Technology
The ReWalk was invented by Israeli entrepreneur Amit Goffer, who was paralyzed in an accident in 1997. Several competing products that use similar technology — nicknamed “electronic legs” — are also being tested in U.S. rehab hospitals.
None, including the ReWalk, are fast enough or can be worn long enough to replace wheelchairs. VA pilot studies found paraplegics who used the exoskeleton as little as four hours a week for three to five months experienced better bowel and bladder function, reduced back pain, improved sleep and less fatigue.
About 42,000 veterans are paralyzed. Of them, a fraction would meet the requirement for an exoskeleton. The apparatus requires specific height and weight requirements and works for paraplegics but not for quadriplegics. A supportive belt around the patient’s waist keeps the suit in place, and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable battery. Crutches are used for stability, and the FDA requires an assistant be nearby.
ReWalk Robotics CEO Larry Jasinski said a dozen VA centers are expected to start training staff to provide the system. The program will likely be expanded in the future.
When American troops are injured in the field, the first piece of life-saving medical equipment they may come into contact with nowadays is an Israeli-invented mini-sized manual ventilator. And not just American soldiers on the battlefield; the Pocket BVM has been used to treat thousands of people at the scene of numerous natural disasters, like in the huge earthquake that devastated Nepal earlier this year.
Tel Aviv announced on Monday an agreement to assist in creating “smart cities” around India, in partnership with the Mumbai-based NGO Delivering Change Foundation.
The innovative digital technologies implemented by Israel’s high-tech capital are set to traverse the city and go international, as Israeli representatives are slated to mentor, train, consult and escort Indian city officials in technological urban transformation.
The initiative is set to incorporate the Indian cities of Pune, Nagpur and Nashik in the northwestern state of Maharashtra, a municipal spokeswoman told The Jerusalem Post.
Spanish pop star Enrique Iglesias performed Wednesday night to a sold-out audience at Tel Aviv’s Menora Mivtachim Arena as part of his Sex and Love Tour supporting his tenth studio album of the same name.
“I will never leave Tel Aviv,” Iglesias said towards the end of his relatively short 75 minute concert. The truth is, he boarded a plane immediately after the last song, but will return to Israel for another concert next Tuesday. In any event, for the enamored girls in the audience, aged 10 to 80, the performance was absolutely perfect.
Iglesias, in fact, did exactly what an international artist of the highest order should do: raise the audience above the clouds, without politics, with much love and with fire in the eyes.
Famed Jewish actor and comedian Adam Sandler railed against Pink Floyd co-founder and anti-Israel activist Roger Waters during an appearance on the Howard Stern Show on Tuesday.
I’m very pro-Israel,” Sandler told Stern, who has himself blasted Waters on a number of occasions on his Sirius satellite radio show. “And when someone says s*** about Israel, and I know people say s*** about Israel and they f***ing won’t play there… I’m disgusted that they single out Israel that [they say], ‘We can’t play Israel.’ All these f***ing nice Israeli people are getting a ‘f*** you’ from Roger Waters.”
Legendary stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld landed in Israel on Friday, ahead of four performances during his world tour. He will perform in front of a sold-out Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv four times, on Saturday and Sunday. Initially he was meant to perform once, but three more shows were added due to the high demand for tickets.
Seinfeld has visited Israel in the past, even volunteering at a kibbutz when he was just 15 years old. This will, however, be his first time performing in the country. “So happy to be back, so happy to be in Israel again,” he said upon his arrival.
Japan’s Fukushima Medical University and Israel’s Pluristem Therapeutics are to develop Pluristem’s PLX-R18 cells to treat acute radiation syndrome (ARS). Radiation continues to spread following the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.
Talkitt, an Israeli-made technology from VoiceITT that translates unintelligible pronunciation from any language into understandable speech won first prize in the fourth annual international Medica medical app competition in Dusseldorf on November 17, 2015.
Medica is the world’s largest medical trade fair, attracting nearly 5,000 exhibitors from 70 nations. See the following video: Video: Inspirational Talk | VoiceItt: Giving a Voice to the Voiceless
Jethro Tull – The Rock Opera, performed by Ian Anderson, is coming to Tel Aviv, Israel, in February 2016. The performances are part of a series of worldwide concert tours. Anderson’s show celebrates the life of Jethro Tull, an English agricultural inventor. It tells the story of the original Tull’s life and also incorporates the famous songs of Anderson’s rock band, Jethro Tull.
Chef Nir Mesika from the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Motzkin, who has made it big time. Eight months ago, Mesika opened a restaurant called Timna in the East Village. Last week, it was chosen as the Best New Restaurant in the United States by the readers of USA Today and 10Best.
The 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards is one of the most popular year’s end summaries in the American mainstream media.
The Palomar restaurant in London, which belongs to the owners of Jerusalem’s famous Machneyuda restaurant, has won the Best Restaurant prize in the inaugural GQ Food and Drink Awards, handed out by the British GQ men’s fashion and style magazine.
[…] the big winner in the April 28 award ceremony at the Bulgari Hotel in London was a restaurant without any Michelin stars, with a lot of Israeli chutzpah and with much cheaper prices than the other candidates.
The five other restaurants on the shortlist included The Ledbury, which holds two Michelin stars and has been featured in S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Made-in-Israel technology is heading toward ubiquity, not just in back-end hardware and software, but even in consumer goods. Case in point: One-third of the smart TVs sold in the world today contain an
“As of this year, both Samsung and LG are using our Adaptive Video Acceleration (AVA) technology to ensure flawless playback of streaming content on their Internet-connected televisions,” said Giraffic co-founder and CEO Yoel Zanger. “Right now we are the industry standard for client-side video acceleration and stabilization technology. It’s pretty cool.”
From religious school to world kickboxing champion. She grew up in a religious environment, practiced kickboxing in order to deal with her parents’ divorce, and is giving up on love in favor of her career. Now Nili Block, 20, is world kickboxing champion.
Two months ago Nili Block, 20, went to the scene of the final fight in the kickboxing world championships wearing a vest with a Superman logo on it. After a few minutes she’d already defeated her Croatian opponent, Maria Malnika, becoming the world champion in the 60 kilogram category.
“In truth I felt that I’d already won the championship in the semi-final,” Block said. “It was the hardest fight for me. For the fourth time in my life I was up against Helena Mortova from Belarus, who is a six-time world champion.
TEL AVIV — With their ebony hair and Yemeni accented Arabic, singing sisters Tair, Liron and Tagel Haim would probably not seem out-of-place on the streets of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
But the sisters, collectively known as A-Wa, or “yes” in Arabic slang, are descendants of Yemeni Jews who immigrated to Israel decades ago.
Today, they live in Tel Aviv.
