Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day to focus on 1.5 million children killed by Nazis

(Photo By: Matt Lebovic/The Times of Israel)

By: Matt Lebovic - January 26, 2021

As countries around the world observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday, online events will replace large gatherings at the Jewish genocide’s major sites of remembrance.

Started by the United Nations in 2005, the commemoration marks the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau — the largest of Nazi Germany’s death camps — was liberated by the Soviet army on January 27, 1945. One million Jews from all over Europe were murdered in gas chambers there, in addition to 100,000 victims from Poland, Russia and elsewhere.

With many countries reeling from COVID-19 deaths, some organizations are focusing on the plight of the Holocaust’s youngest victims: the 1,500,000 Jewish children murdered by Nazi Germany. Another theme shared this year is combatting “denial” of the genocide, which — along with anti-Semitism — is on the rise globally.

Read More: Times of Israel

Israel officially opens embassy in United Arab Emirates with arrival of envoy

(Photo By: Foreign Ministry/courtesy)

By: Lazar Berman - January 24, 2021

Israel officially opened its embassy to the United Arab Emirates in the United Arab Emirates Sunday, as Ambassador Eitan Na’eh arrived in Abu Dhabi.

The development came on the same day that the UAE approved the opening of its embassy in Tel Aviv.

“The embassy will work to advance Israel’s interests and will be at the disposal of its citizens,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It will work from a temporary office, which will begin operations in the coming days, until a permanent location can be found, the ministry said.

Na’eh, the former ambassador to Turkey, is the first Israeli to have full diplomatic status in the Gulf state, following the normalization of ties with Israel last year.

Read More: Times of Israel

Secret bunker discovered beneath Warsaw Ghetto in Poland

(Photo By: Wikimedia Commons)

By: Jerusalem Post Staff - January 25, 2021

A secret underground bunker has been discovered under the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto with ten pairs of Jewish Tefillin (phylacteries) hidden behind other items, Israel Hayom reported.

The area of the Warsaw Ghetto is being demolished by the Polish authorities to make room for residential building.

The bunker was discovered following demolition work done at the site, revealing the structure which had been hidden since World War II.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

A new canary in the coalmine warns of Covid droplets

(Photo By: Canario)

By: Naama Barak - January 19, 2021

What in regular times might seem like the perfect gift for the friend who truly has it all, a personal, portable air-quality monitor might just be what we all need this pandemic season.

Enter Canario, an Israeli startup that recently started marketing a canary-yellow device that detects air pollution, UV radiation and suspicious droplets that may contain viruses such as Covid-19.

“The whole thing began about two years ago and stemmed from the personal need of our R&D manager whose daughter suffers from asthma. He looked for some kind of device that would determine air quality, and since there wasn’t one on the market he sat down and began working on one,” explains Canario CMO Itzik Baabur.

Read More: Israel21c

Bedouin volunteers fix vandalized Jewish Israeli graveyard

(Photo By: Desert Stars)

By: Abigail Klein Leichman - January 21, 2021

After two young Bedouin teenagers bragged on TikTok about vandalizing a Jewish graveyard at Moshav Nevatim about five miles south of Beersheva in the Negev, a group of about 20 young adults from a variety of Bedouin villages sprang into action.

Armed with paint and brushes, they headed to the cemetery the next morning – even though it was Friday, the Muslim Sabbath – and worked for hours to repair damaged tombstones and scrape and paint over hateful graffiti.

All the volunteers in this heartwarming deed are recent alumni of Desert Stars, a not-for-profit organization that creates a cross-tribal network of young Bedouin leaders in the Negev.

Read More: Israel21c

‘Christ born of Mary’: 1st proof of early Christianity found in Galilee village

(Photo By: Tzachi Lang/Israel Antiquities Authority)

By: Amanda Borschel-Dan - January 20, 2021

With the words, “Christ born of Mary,” archaeologists have discovered the first evidence of an early Christian settlement from 1,500 years ago in what is today the location of a small Arab village near Nazareth.

According to Israel Antiquities Authority researchers, a recently discovered Greek inscription dedicated to the Christian Messiah had originally been laid at the entry way of a previously unknown 5th century church. The inscribed stone was recently discovered in secondary use in a wall of the late-Byzantine era structure during excavations in Taibe, located in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel.

According to the text, the church was founded under the auspices of the well-known late 5th century Beit She’an regional archbishop Theodosius, whose name in the partially destroyed text provided the archaeologists with a secure dating.

Read More: Times of Israel

The return of a Lost Tribe of Israel, 27 centuries later

(Photo by: Laura Ben-David)

By; Abigail Klein Leichman - January 17, 2021

On January 3, three Lhanghal sisters from northeast India – Rut, 28; Dina, 21; and Avigail, 13 – immigrated to Israel, the land their ancestors were forced to leave 27 centuries ago.

The remarkable story begins in 722 BCE, when the Assyrian Empire conquered and deported the nine tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel, which had split from the southern kingdom of Judea 200 years earlier.

Menashe (Manasseh) was the largest of these so-called Lost Tribes. They wandered through Central Asia and the Far East for centuries, eventually settling in the villages of Manipur and Mizoram along the borders of Burma (now Myanmar) and Bangladesh.

Isolated from the world, the Bnei Menashe (children of Manasseh) continued practicing biblical Judaism and dreaming of their return for 2,700 years.

Read More: Israel21c

The futuristic lighting system that offers disinfection and Wi-Fi

(Photo By: Juganu)

By: Abigail Klein Leichman - January 18, 2021

When Groupe Renault hosted a global hackathon to scout out disinfection solutions for automobiles, the Israel regional winner was the lighting company Juganu.

Juganu (Hindi for “firefly”) is in discussions with Groupe Renault about how its J.Protect LED lighting fixtures could inactivate pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, in car cabins.

This is a perfect example of a company whose technology unexpectedly took a new market direction due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Juganu began with a novel streetlight system that doubles as a public Wi-Fi network.

“We created a totally new LED light and a platform on which data of all types can be transferred between the lights,” Chief Marketing Officer Eyal Lewin tells ISRAEL21c.

Read More: Israel21c

Fiverr to debut its first Super Bowl ad

(Photo By: Fiverr)

By: Tess Levy - January 18, 2021

Online freelancer platform Fiverr International will run its first Super Bowl ad during Super Bowl LV on February 7, joining an elite group of Israeli-founded companies to advertise on one of the world’s most significant sporting events.

The annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) drew 102 million viewers last year.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than the Super Bowl from a branding and marketing perspective,” said Fiverr Chief Marketing Officer Gali Arnon.

“We believe this is a major opportunity for us to introduce the world to Fiverr in a unique and creative way. The spot will get to the very heart of how Fiverr supports businesses around the world. We can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve created.”

For more than a decade, Fiverr has connected businesses with skilled freelancers offering digital services in more than 500 categories including graphic design, digital marketing, programming, video and animation.

Read More: Israel21c

City of David recognized as 'testament' to US Judeo-Christian heritage

(Photo By: Rossella Tercatin)

By: Jerusalem Post Staff - January 18, 2021

The City of David was recognized as a “testament to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and founding principles” by the US Embassy in Jerusalem and the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad at a special ceremony on Monday.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chairman of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad Paul Packer dedicated a plaque recognizing the “seminal role” the City of David plays in connecting visitors to “the origins of the values that helped shape America.”

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Deputy mayor of Jerusalem announces construction of permanent US embassy

(Photo By: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

By: JNS - January 13, 2021

The city of Jerusalem has approved plans to build the permanent U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, in addition to an extension of the current temporary embassy, announced the city’s deputy mayor on Wednesday.

“The Jerusalem Municipal Building and Planning Committee has just approved the plans for the new #US Embassy which will be built on Derech Hebron in #Jerusalem. As well as the extension of the current temporary embassy in Arnona,” tweeted Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.

Read More: JNS

Germany hands over 14 works from trove of Nazi-looted art

(Photo By: PeterKlaunzer/Keystone via AP)

By: AP - January 13, 2021

German authorities have now handed over all 14 works from the art trove accumulated by late collector Cornelius Gurlitt that so far were proven to have been looted under Nazi rule, the government said Wednesday.

“Piano Playing,” a drawing by Carl Spitzweg, was handed over to Christie’s auction house on Tuesday at the request of the heirs of its rightful owner, Henri Hinrichsen, the government said.

The work was seized from Hinrichsen, a Jewish music publisher, in 1939. The following year, it was bought by Gurlitt’s father, Hildebrand Gurlitt — an art dealer who traded in works confiscated by the Nazis. Hinrichsen was killed at the Auschwitz death camp in 1942.

Read More: Times of Israel

The Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle helping to secure European borders

(Photo By: Israel Aerospace Industries)

By: Yaakov Lappin - January 11, 2021

A contract recently signed to lease a cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that was developed and manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to assist in European Union border protection missions represents a major step in the use of the technology in the civilian sphere, a company executive has told JNS.

In November, IAI announced that it had won a tender, together with Airbus, potentially worth tens of millions of dollars for the leasing of its Maritime Heron UAV to Frontex, which is the European Union’s Border and Coast Guard Agency.

IAI and Airbus will be responsible for the full service of naval patrols, flight equipment and maintenance for four years in southern European countries, with a focus on surveilling the Mediterranean Sea region.

The Israeli Navy uses this same system for many of its own surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions.

Read More: JNS

Is Israel’s scarcity of water a blessing in disguise?

(Photo By: Arik Arbel)

By: Alan Rosenbaum - January 7, 2021

‘Israel is blessed by its lack of water resources,” says Dr. Diego Berger, international special projects coordinator at Mekorot.

Clarifying this unusual remark, Berger explains that the country’s shortage of natural water resources requires it to manage its supply carefully. “If you don’t have water, you have to manage with your lack of water resources.”

Numerous areas throughout the world that have abundant natural water sources, says Berger, have experienced acute water shortages, such as Latin America and parts of the United States, including California. Yet Israel, which has limited water resources, provides water to its nine million residents with little difficulty.

Water shortages in many areas of the world, he explains, are due to poor management of resources. And while some see technology as the salvation for water shortages, Berger demurs, saying, “The main water problem in the world is management – not technology.”

Israel is a small country on the edge of the desert with scant amounts of water, yet today it is considered a water superpower.

Read More: Jerusalem Post

Knesset honors departing US ambassador to Israel

(Photo Source: Twitter)

By: JNS - January 11, 2021

The Knesset honored departing U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Monday as he is set to finish his term next week.

Zvi Hauser, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, thanked Friedman for his “extraordinary contribution to strengthening the ties between the United States and the State of Israel.”

Hauser said Friedman was given the task of “fulfilling the dreams of all of us, changing historical distortions, and actually realizing the traditional position of the United States and its historical vision that the capital of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel is Jerusalem.”

Read More: JNS

Israeli MMA fighter defies odds and prejudice at Ultimate Fighting Championship

(Photo By: Amy Kaplan/via JTA)

By: Elie Bleier - January 10, 2021

Natan Levy is no stranger to fighting. After moving to Israel from his native Paris as a boy, Levy would often tangle with kids picking on him because of his accent.

But this aggressive prowess has helped some of his wildest dreams come true, silencing plenty of doubters along the way.

Levy, 29, and now living in Las Vegas, became only the third Israeli to sign on with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, with an impressive victory last month in a series promoted for up-and-comers in the sport.

After subbing for a fighter who tested positive for COVID-19 on just five days notice, Levy upset undefeated Shaheen Santana in a 160-pound (73kg) catchweight bout in Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a UFC contract.

Read More: Times of Israel

A new bee species is discovered in Israel

(Photo By: Alain Pauly/Belgian Journal of Entomology)

By: Abigail Klein Leichman - January 10, 2021

A new species of bee unique to the sand dunes of Israel’s coastal plains has been identified and described by Alain Pauly, a taxonomist from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

The species was named Lasioglossum dorchini in tribute to the Israeli bee researcher Achik Dorchin of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University.

This new type of bee is especially exciting because a decline in the world bee population is putting crop pollination in danger.

Crop pollination relies mainly on managed colonies of the domesticated honeybee. However, wild, unmanaged bees are also highly effective in pollinating natural and agricultural systems.

Read More: Israel21c

Vertical Field to deploy green-wall farms in Ukraine supermarkets

(Photo Courtesy: Vertical Field)

By: Shoshanna Solomon - January 7, 2021

Vertical Field, a startup that has developed a vertical farming system, has signed an accord with Moderntrendo S.R.O, an agricultural distributor in Ukraine, to deploy its plant installations in supermarket chains nationwide.

Vertical Field will conduct an initial pilot at Varus, a national supermarket chain, in early 2021 before expanding to other chains. Varus operates 95 stores across 25 cities and attracts approximately 260,000 customers daily.

Vertical Field’s soil-based installations are made up of separate blocks of plants that can be rearranged at will to produce locally sourced vegetables. This green wall of vegetation is suitable for growing vegetables in stores, offices and apartment buildings, or anywhere in urban areas, which have little space but many walls.

Read More: Times of Israel

Microbiome transplants can reprogram immune system to attack tumors

(Photo credit: Shutterstock.com)

By: Abigail Klein Leichman - Januray 6, 2021

Changing the gut microbiome can reprogram the immune system to attack malignant tumors, according to results of a unique clinical trial at Sheba Medical Center in Israel.

The results were published in the peer-reviewed journal Science by a research team led by senior GI oncologist Dr. Ben Boursi, senior oncologist Dr. Gal Markel and MD-PhD student Erez Baruch.

“For the first time in the world, we have successfully fought cancerous tumors by changing the gut microbiome,” Boursi said.

“Currently, immunotherapy works for only 40 percent to 50 percent of patients. We anticipate that with the help of this revolutionary treatment, we will see as many patients as possible transforming from non-responders to responders,” he said.

Read More: Israel21c

Ancient burial stone bearing Greek inscription found in Negev national park

(Photo By: Israel Antiquities Authority)

By: JNS - January 7, 2020

A stone bearing a Greek inscription from the end of the Byzantine period was discovered last weekend in the Nitzana National Park in the Negev, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.

The flat, round stone was used as a tombstone in one of the cemeteries surrounding the ancient settlement, the IAA said.

It was found by Nitzana Educational Village director David Palmach, who came upon it while clearing hiking paths in the park. According to the IAA, Palmach noticed an inscription on the stone, which was later deciphered by Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as referring to “Blessed Maria, who lived an immaculate life.”

The stone, which is being transferred to the National Treasuries Department, dates from the late sixth–early seventh centuries C.E.

Read More: JNS