Author: Orit ben Tzvi

Orit is Israel Rising's regional and threat analyst. She has a degree from IDC in Middle East Diplomacy and has served both intelligence related activities for the IDF as well as advised privately for firms doing business in the region.
Posted on

Austrian Chancellor at Yad Vashem: “We are responsible for our own history”

Chancellor of the Republic of Austria H.E. Mr. Sebastian Kurz toured the Mount of Remembrance, accompanied by by Austrian Minister of Education Heinz Faßmann, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and Mauthausen survivor Viktor Klein. The visit included a behind-the-scenes tour of Yad Vashem’s Archives, where Archives Director and Fred Hillman Chair for Holocaust Documentation Dr. Haim Gertner displayed a number of documents – official and private – pertaining to Austrian Holocaust survivors, including the personal inmate card of Mr. Klein.

Following a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, and a visit to the Children’s Memorial – memorializing the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust – Chancellor Kurz and Chairman Shalev signed an Agreement of Principle in Janusz Korczak Square, ensuring document exchange and access between Yad Vashem and the Austrian State Archives and Mauthausen Memorial.



“As Chancellor of Austria, I have to state that Austria and Austrians carry a heavy burden for the shameful crimes committed during the Shoah,” said Chancellor Kurz. “But let me assure you that we Austrians know that we are responsible for our own history. It is our duty and obligation to ensure that the Shoah will never happen again and that my generation and succeeding generations will never forget these horrific crimes.” Chancellor Kurz also announced that the Republic of Austria will contribute to the establishment of the new Shoah Heritage Collections Center at Yad Vashem, providing additional storage and preservation labs for Holocaust-era artifacts, artwork and documentation in the Yad Vashem Collections.

Chairman Shalev presented the Chancellor with a token of remembrance and appreciation: a facsimile copy of 99 works of art depicting scenes from the Bible, housed in Yad Vashem’s Art Collection, which were created by Holocaust victim Carol Deutsch for his infant daughter Ingrid in Nazi-occupied Antwerp in 1941.

In the presence of the Chancellor, Austrian Minister of Education Heinz Faßmann signed an extension to an educational agreement between Yad Vashem and the Austrian Ministry of Education, which will allow hundreds of Austrian teachers to visit Yad Vashem for yearly educational seminars.

The Chancellor and his entourage completed their visit in Yad Vashem’s Valley of the Communities – a maze-like structure created out of Jerusalem stone memorializing the hundreds of European Jewish communities decimated during the Holocaust.

Posted on

Valerann: The Smart Road Startup Is Now Being Implemented in Tel Aviv

Israel’s Smart Road startup Valerann, is now getting its first pilot in Tel Aviv which will see the Ayalon highway replace the standard road studs with smart sensors. These sensors will relay information in real-time on everything happening on the road.  This data will be used to detect risks and prevent accidents.  Road planners and engineers can use the information to better optimize intersections. The Smart Road System can be used to automate traffic control centers and its wireless sensory and IoT system supports connected and autonomous vehicles.

The Valerann team has been seeing lots of success since it first launched in August of 2016.  They have won numerous awards like Highways UK, the Intelligent Infrastructure Hub 2017 winner,  the Pitch 2017 Awards, and  was selected as one of six winning startups to join the Transurban Smart Highways Challenge & Innovation Lab.

Valerann – Channel 10 from Valerann on Vimeo.



Valerann is testing the system in two other pilots in UK and the US.  These pilots are meant to give the company real-time data to better enhance their algorithm.  If these are successful, expect these studs to be implemented in more areas as autonomous vehicle use begins to expand.

“It is clear to everyone that it would not be right for the autonomous car to work alone,” CEO Gabriel Jacobson said to TOI. “It must work with an ecosystem of technologies and entities and be part of a basket of solutions.”

With Mobile Eye making waves in the autonomous vehicular space and now Valerann, Israel is becoming a transporation tech giant.

 

Posted on

BIBI NETANYAHU: “It is Iran that is Responsible”

As calm began to return to the Gaza belt communities, Prime Minister Netanyahu touched on the IDF’s response the attacks by Hamas.

“Since yesterday the IDF has strongly retaliated against the firing from the Gaza Strip and has hit dozens of terrorist targets in the severest blow we have landed on them in years,” the Prime Minister Netanyahu stated at a ceremony for the victims of the Atalena.

“The Hamas regime, Islamic Jihad and the other terrorist organizations, inspired by Iran, that are responsible for the escalation. I will not detail our plans because I do not want the enemy to know what to expect. But one thing is clear: When they test us, they pay immediately. And if they continue testing us, they will pay dearly.”

“I salute the fighters of the IDF and the security forces and I commend the resilience of the residents of the south.”

As of tonight, the IDF’s strategy of hitting hard and early to prevent a cascading conflict appears to be working as Hamas has stopped firing rockets. Given the fluid situation anything is possible, but it appears that Hamas is rethinking its offensive.



Posted on

Israel’s New Drone Evacuates Wounded, Delivers Cargo In IDF Demonstration

Tactical Robotics (a subsidiary of Urban Aeronautics Ltd), based in Yavne. Israel, successfully performed a first “mission representative” demonstration for its lead customer, the Israel Defence Forces.  In the demonstration, which took place at the Israel Combat Rescue and Emergency Medicine conference in Megiddo the company presented Cormorant’s capability to be the first UAS system fielded for unmanned casualty evacuation missions.

According to the company’s press release:

“The demonstration showcased the drone taking off with a load of cargo, preforming a pre-planned flight to a specified point of delivery, offloading the cargo, and loading of a specialized, medical training manikin simulating a casualty which was then returned to the point of origin.

A monitor supplied by the IDF’s chief surgeon Trauma Branch (see Tactical Robotics’ May 2017 update) transmits vital information to the crews on the ground, in addition to a video camera for two-way communication with the patient. With the exception of the loading of the ‘casualty’ and off-loading of cargo, the entire simulated mission was performed autonomously.”



Posted on

ISRAEL-INDIA ALLIANCE: Israeli Defense Contracts to India Continue to Soar

Despite India’s publicly cool reception over Washington’s embassy move to Jerusalem, the Modi government continues to build on its alliance with Israel by becoming the top Israeli arms and defense importer for 2017.

In general, there has been a very large increase of Israeli defense contracts to the Asia-Pacific region.  The Asia-Pacific region holds 58 percent of Israeli defense deals making it by far the largest region for Israeli defense contracts.  Israel’s top three customers, all from the region, include India, Vietnam, and Azerbaijan.

India leads with US$715 million worth of purchase, then Vietnam at US$142 million and Azerbaijan at US$137 million follows next.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s military exports rose by 41 percent in 2017, the third consecutive year of increased defense exports, which brought in nearly US$9.2 billion in contracts.



Last month, India ended its ban it had placed on Aerospace Industries and the Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd both of Israel, which remained blacklisted since 2006 due to allegations of bribery.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a lawsuit demanding the closure of the criminal investigation against the two companies, which led to US$2 billion deal between India and Israel’s Aerospace Industries. The lawsuit closure led to an agreement between the two nations under which the Israeli company would supply India with Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles.

India’s Concern About China and Pakistan Has Strengthened the Military Cooperation With Israel

Most India-Israel observers have always noted the warm cultural relations between the two ancient countries.  Yet, in today’s geopolitical upheavels along with Chinese economic expansion westward by way of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Chinese military alliance with Pakistan, India’s military cooperation with Israel has taken a front seat to the growing trade and cultural ties.

With Pakistan arming itself with Chinese weapons and excacerbating tensions in Kashmir, India and Israel have now grown even closer.

While India may have skipped the US embassy dedication, it barely uttered a peep over Israel’s border defense against Hamas terrorists who posed as civilians.  Perhaps this is because, India too has begn to face a militant Pakistan prepared to utilize similar tactics against the only Hindu majority country in the world.