Orit ben Tzvi, Author at Israel Rising

July 8, 2018

Bibi Netanyahu: “We will not tolerate the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies anywhere in Syria”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Sunday, 8 July 2018), at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, made the following remarks:

“This week I will fly to Moscow for an important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. We meet from time-to-time in order to ensure security coordination and, of course, to discuss regional developments.

At the meeting I will reiterate the two basic principles of Israel’s policy: First, we will not tolerate the establishment of a military presence by Iran and its proxies anywhere in Syria – not close to the border and not far away from it. Second, we will demand that Syria, and the Syrian military, strictly uphold the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement.

It is self-evident that I am in regular contact with the American administration. These links with the two great powers are very important to the security of Israel at all times and especially at present.

Regarding the Polish law, the goal of the contacts with the Polish government was to abrogate the criminal clauses in the Polish law that cast a pall of fear over research and free discourse regarding the Holocaust. This goal was achieved. I thank the team of Joseph Ciechanover and Jacob Nagel for succeeding in removing the criminal clauses from the Polish law.

The declaration that was published following the change in the law was overseen by a senior historian.

However, various comments were made after its publication. I have listened intently to the comments of the historians, including about several things that were not included in the declaration. I respect this and I will give expression to it.

We are marking 78 years since the passing of Zeev Jabotinsky (the Cabinet will hear a briefing). I think that with the perspective of history it is possible to understand the magnitude of his contribution to the Zionist enterprise. First of all, before anything else, there was the establishment of a Jewish fighting force after generations in which we did not have the strength to wield the sword and defend ourselves. His great work in establishing combat brigades [click here for details] in the British army during the First World War, in effect, laid the important foundations for the establishment of the IDF.

All of this started with the effort of Jabotinsky and Trumpledor with the British authorities during the First World War and, of course, in cooperation with the legendary commander of these forces, Col. John Henry Patterson, whom my family knew well. Today we will receive a new addition of Jabotinsky’s writings; I would be pleased if you could display it.”

July 3, 2018

Israel is Leading an Infrastructure Revolution

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, today (Monday, 2 July 2018), attended the dedication ceremony for the Ra’anana West and Ra’anana South railway stations. Before the ceremony, they traveled by train from Ra’anana West to Ra’anana South.

Following is an excerpt from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks:

“We just traveled from one side of Ra’anana to the other and we saw the gleaming towers and the high-tech. You see the progress and the prosperity of the [industrial] parks. You see Israel innovating and you see the future, you really see the future.

Regarding tunnels, we are both building and destroying. We are destroying the terrorist tunnels of those people who are not investing like us in a better life for their people but only in how to attack us.

And in contrast we are building these tunnels here which shorten the distances.

I just told Yisrael [Katz] that with the great link that we are making – north to south, south to center, center to center – we are here joining everything together and opening all these possibilities.

In the end, within the cities, even though there has been an effort to do very important work with elevated trains, underground trains, express highways and express lanes, in the end we will need to dig many tunnels with new technology.”

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018

Former MK and Minister Arrested for Spying for Iran

The Israel Security Agency and the Israel Police, last month (May 2018), arrested former minister and MK Gonen Segev on suspicion of having aided the enemy in wartime and spied against the State of Israel.

Following the investigation, the State Attorney (Jerusalem District), on 15 June 2018, filed a criminal indictment against Segev in Jerusalem District Court for the aforesaid offenses and for numerous charges regarding passing information to the enemy. The indictment was approved by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and State Attorney Shai Nitzan.

Segev, who has lived in Nigeria in recent years, went to Equatorial Guinea in May 2018. He was transferred to Israel at the request of the Israel Police after Equatorial Guinea refused him entry due to his criminal record.

Upon arriving in Israel, Segev was detained for investigation by the ISA and the Israel Police pursuant to information which indicated that Segev was in contact with elements in Iranian intelligence and was assisting them vis-à-vis their activity against the State of Israel.

During his subsequent investigation, it was learned that Segev had been recruited – and was active – as an agent for Iranian intelligence. It was also learned that contact had been made in 2012 between Segev and elements from the Iranian Embassy in Nigeria, and that Segev had subsequently twice visited Iran to meet with his handlers in full knowledge that they were Iranian intelligence operatives.

Segev also met with his Iranian handlers in various hotels and apartments around the world which he assumed were used for covert activity. Segev even received secret communications equipment for encoding messages between him and his handlers.

Segev transferred to his handlers information on – inter alia – the energy economy, security sites in Israel, and diplomatic and security personnel and buildings.

In order to perform the missions that he had been assigned by his handlers, Segev maintained contacts with Israeli citizens in the foreign affairs and security fields. Segev worked to put some of these Israeli citizens in contact with Iranian intelligence agents by misleading the former and presenting the latter as innocent Iranian businessmen.

At the request of the ISA and the Israel Police, the court agreed to allow publication of the foregoing. All other details regarding the case are subject to a gag order.

June 14, 2018

Germany Approves €1 Billion Deal to Lease Israeli Drones

Despite small protests outside Germany’s Bundestag, the German parliament approved a €1 billion deal for leasing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). These UAVs are capable of carrying payloads of weapons. For Germany, this is important and carrying out attack missions in the German army’s theaters of operation in Mali and Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said the following concerning the deal:

“I am very pleased by the decision of the German parliament yesterday to approve the giant deal to lease Israeli UAVs. This is an incredible deal that has implications, first of all, for our security industries and for the Israeli economy, but also for the continued strengthening of security relations between Israel and Germany. Germany helps Israel with security, and Israel also helps Germany. This is a very important development and I would like to personally thank Chancellor Merkel. I spoke with her about this ten days ago. She told me that she would pass it through the parliament and she did so.”

Why is this deal important?

Simply put, it cements Israel as the preeminent military drone developer. Not only that, it provides Israel with a huge win in a country that originally saw this deal nearly torpedoed by the German Social Democratic Party (SDP). While Western Europe has increasingly been confrontational with Israel at the UN, its continuous diplomatic antagonism appears empty as countries like Germany realize that only Israel can provide the type of technology it needs.

According to Globes the deal includes: €720 million payment to the Airbus Defense and Space company, which will lease seven UAVs from IAI (five regular UAVs and two for training) and €177 million to the Israeli government for use of airports, command and control facilities, and support and maintenance services.

Essentially Germany will have its first permanent presence in Israel.

June 12, 2018

Israel Approves 30 Million Shekels for Digital Health Innovation Pilots

Two months after the Israeli government approved a one-billion-shekel national digital health program as a means of improving public health and as an engine of growth for the economy, the Digital Israel Initiative at the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, the Israeli Health Ministry, and the Israel Innovation Authority have announced the launch of a new pilot program to be carried out in healthcare organizations across Israel. The new program will support research and development proposals and pilot facilities in the field of digital health. These pilots will be carried out in Israeli healthcare organizations or will be based on these organizations’ capabilities and data.

The program is intended for Israeli tech companies (not including any of the healthcare organizations in Israel) in the field of medicine and health. The companies accepted to the program will receive between 20% to 50% of approved R&D expenditures, with funding of up to 60% to 75% for proposals that show potential to significantly advance the public healthcare system in Israel and around the world, or that promise a breakthrough in their field.

The program will enable participating companies to significantly advance commercialization of their product. Implementation in test sites will also help facilitate go-to-market strategies. The program will help offset risks involved in R&D, without a stake in future profits. Companies will return their grants to the Israel Innovation Authority via royalties from sales only if an initiative has been commercialized.

Israeli Minister for Social Equality Gila Gamliel, who initiated the national Digital Health Program said, “Just two months after the government resolution I led promoting digital health was passed, the launch of this pilot program illustrates our commitment along with our partners to a quick and full implementation of the government resolution. The national digital health program is revolutionary and groundbreaking, and will position Israel as a superpower in digital health, with healthcare services among the most advanced anywhere in the world.”

Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry, Eli Cohen said, “Healthcare companies often need access to information and systems which are not normally available to growing companies to prove the viability of their technology. This program will make it easier for companies to have access to information not currently available to them and will help build a bridge between them and Israeli healthcare institutions.”

The Digital Health Initiative will help promote innovation and the implementation of advanced solutions in Israeli healthcare organizations in an effort to improve medical treatment and healthcare services for patients and provide solutions to challenges faced by the healthcare system with solutions such as individualized medicine, preventative healthcare, tele-care, decision-support systems, digital medical devices, solutions for patient empowerment, and others.

Submission Criteria:

1. Level of technological innovation and uniqueness of a pilot.

2. Level of difficulty and technological challenge.

3. A company’s capabilities including management’s ability to lead a program to commercial success.

4. The economic-business growth potential of a company if the pilot succeeds.

5. The overall technological and vocational potential for the Israeli economy.

6. The overall effect a project can have on improving and streamlining the healthcare system in Israel.

7. Quality of the pilot program – including the level of the test site and the synergy between the company and the site.

8. The pilot program’s potential benefits to the company itself in terms of its go-to-market and commercialization strategies.

Chief Scientist of the Israel Ministry of Economy and Industry and Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, Dr. Ami Appelbaum said, “The board of directors of the Israel Innovation Authority has approved this program to support innovation in companies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Digital Israel. Operating programs and pilots in real-time environments with adapted regulation will allow Israeli technology companies to offer proof of concept and quickly penetrate markets, thus helping them grow into large-scale companies in Israel. In addition, the commercialization of innovative technologies in Israel will improve the local market and the government’s regulatory capabilities and will help government entities propel tech companies from idea to commercialization. The goals of the program include developing and implementing innovative technologies in the fields of healthcare and medicine and examining their viability among relevant clients, promoting the healthcare system and public health in Israel and around the world, and creating and growing viable companies in the field of digital health in Israel through innovative technological solutions.”

CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, Aharon Aharon said, “The goal of this unique program is to offer coordinated solutions from the Israel Innovation Authority and Ministry of Health for pain points we have identified in growing innovation ecosystems, especially those with heavy regulation and government involvement. These include the challenges associated with raising funds related to high levels of risk and difficulty, or with market obstacles or limitations stemming from the lack of access to testing facilities or difficulty receiving necessary regulatory permits.”

Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Siman Tov said, “The State of Israel has over the years developed a healthcare system amongst the finest in the world, based on outstanding public healthcare services offered to the citizens of Israel. We and our government partners launched the national digital health program this year to serve as an engine of growth in order to continue to develop our healthcare services and to position Israel at the forefront of digital health worldwide. As part of this nationwide program, the government is launching this pilot program to promote investment in research and development in a range of innovative healthcare technologies. The program will make it easier for healthcare organizations to work with companies in the industry and will leverage the expertise of medical teams with innovative Israeli technologies to improve health services in Israel.”