Good News Israel

GN ISRAEL 01 08 08
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Quote for the Week
"Now that Poland has become a democracy…We are seeing this incredible phenomenon of the hidden Jews of Poland emerging from the shadows."
Michael Freund, Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel (And it’s not only happening in Poland [see final item]) 

We’ve all heard that if Moses had turned right instead of left we would have got the oil instead of the oranges and while we’ve done pretty well with those, citrus fruit is not the Israeli substitute for black gold, brainpower is and unlike the stuff that gushes out of the ground, it is inexhaustible and constantly renewable. And some of it was on show this week. Here are a few examples:

The International Commission for Optics has announced that Prof. Ze'ev Zalevsky, of Bar-Ilan University's School of Engineering, has been chosen to receive the ICO Prize and Ernst Abbe Medal for 2008. The award has been made annually since 1982 to a scientist under the age of 40 who has made a noteworthy contribution to optics and this is the second time in its relatively short history that an Israeli has been the recipient. And to top it all the Wolf Foundation awarded Zalevsky its Krill Prize 2007 for his achievements and for excellence in scientific research.

A group of four ninth-graders (all of them of the fairer and obviously brainier sex, but that’s just by the way) from the WIZO Youth Village Hadassim came in at fourth place – despite being the favorites from the beginning - in the European Young Entrepreneurs Awards competition for 2008. The contest hosted teams from 33 countries. The quartet qualified for the European finals by creating a startup company which specializes in manufacturing novelty soap bars, dubbed "Soaprise" because each bar of soap hides a little surprise toy and is meant to encourage children to wash their hands (and parents to buy the soap), by promising that the more you use the soap, the closer you get to finding out what the surprise is. Brilliant! The leading Swedish newspaper that reported the event chose the Israeli team to demonstrate exactly what entrepreneurial flair is all about.

The Beijing Olympics are up and just about ready to run, and the whole world knows about that. But what about the Madrid Olympics? Yes, the 2008 Mathematics Olympiad with 535 competitors from 97 countries was held in Spain last week and the top math whizzes from Israel – and the rest of the world - were there in all their glory. The final results? Israel’s six contestants came home with four medals, a gold, a silver, two bronzes and an honorable mention. And that’s not all

At just about the same time a six man team was competing in the Physics Olympics in Hanoi Vietnam and they also came back draped in medals. This time a silver, three bronzes and an honorable mention in contest against the scientific cr?me de la cr?me from 82 participating countries. Not finished yet

If you had been in Budapest last week you would have had the pleasure of seeing four Israeli high school students competing against the 257 participants from around the world in the annual International Chemistry Olympics and ending up with a silver and two bronze medals. The best performance by an Israeli team since the country started competing three years ago.

That takes care of left brain achievements but the Israeli right brain is forging ahead as well. An example: The international jury at the main competition in the 15th European Film Festival which ended on Friday in Pali?, Serbia bestowed the best movie award which is the European Oscar, or so they say, to “Waltz with Bashir” by director Ari Folman. Worth mentioning is that director Dror Shaul’s movie, "Adama Meshuga'at" ("Sweet Mud") received the main prize in last year’s competition. “With this film, Ari Folman is redefining film language,” said Shaul. “This is author’s cinema at its best.”

Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc, never far from the business headlines has just published its results for the second quarter: Record net sales of $2.82 billion, well beyond analysts’ expectations and up 18% on the second quarter of 2007. Net profit for the second quarter of 2008 totaled $539 million, compared to the $515 million for the same period last year. While the bulk of the company’s sales were generic drugs the revenue generated by Copaxone an ethical medication for the treatment of MS reached new records increasing by 25% since Q2 ’07.

Hard on the heels of the impressive visit by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week, which we reported on, we were privileged to welcome the Democratic Party’s contender for the Presidency of the US, Senator Barrack Obama. A man of great charisma, boundless energy and an elegant way with words he seemed to navigate the obstacle course that is the Middle East without treading on any toes. He met with members of government and the opposition and was warmly welcomed by President Peres. If the rumor mill is correct and it usually is he also made a hit with the ladies on the President’s – ours not theirs – staff. After visiting Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Memorial, he said, “May we remember those who perished, not only as victims but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit." It has a certain ring to it.

AlfaRom Holdings Srl plans to invest €200 million in the Romanian real estate market and is about to build an 850-apartment project at an investment of €70 million in Galanti. The company is also about to develop other small "high-level" residential projects in Bucharest and Brasov, and has already begun construction of a €70 million housing estate in the eastern Romanian city of Iasi. Half of this project has already been sold. They, together with a local partner are building 200 holiday apartments in Bran, best-known for its "Dracula castle" (blood transfusions on the house) at an investment of €25 million. The company's largest project is planned in Giurgiu on the Bulgarian border. It does tend to leave you a little breathless doesn’t it?

In a rather hectic few days before the Knesset went into recess there was a scramble to push through a number of bills and one of them, the Clean Air Act, is yet another step forward in making Israel a healthier place to live and it promises to revolutionize the way we deal with air quality issues, which affect the health of each and every one of us. Now that’s GN.

NICE Systems Ltd., an Israeli company that is dual listed on the TASE and the NASDAQ, has won a $14 million contract from an EMEA (Europe, the Middle East & Africa) law enforcement agency for the company's Citizen Safety and Security solutions. The contract is one of the many opportunities existing for large- scale security deals.

An interesting item to end with. [see quote above] A special group consisting of 22 young Polish people each with a fascinating story to tell and all of whom only recently discovered their Jewish roots, arrived in Israel on Sunday for a special three-week long, Polish-language seminar being organized by Shavei Israel. But that’s not all, growing numbers of Hispanics are discovering Jewish roots going back centuries. GN? We certainly think so!