Staying Real in Israel
Home of
"The Marty Roberts Show"

Don’t they have something more important to worry about, like maybe saving Greece or Spain from economic collapse?

Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem

Besides, haven’t the French learned yet that Israel’s building of homes, communities, or even cities has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with peace or the lack thereof in the Middle East?

But I DO hate to see those Frenchmen so deeply concerned over anything…

France deeply concerned over Israeli settlements

France is deeply concerned about Israel’s authorization for the expansion of 2,000 settlement homes built on occupied Palestinian land in east Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry said Monday

Reprinted from dailystar.com

“Our position is constant: Settlement building is illegal in the eyes of international law, in the West Bank as well as in East Jerusalem,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

Jerusalem’s municipal council Sunday approved the expansion of 2,000 homes in the settlement district of Ramat Shlomo, allowing each home to add a room. The Ramat Shlomo neighborhood lies in an area of Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 war and later annexed in a move not recognized by the international community.

France called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks based on proposals made by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe when he visited the region earlier this month.

“We call on the parties to resume negotiations based on principles contained in the French initiative … and to refrain from unilateral gestures,” Valero said.

An Israeli-developed cell-based product for treating the scourge of pulmonary hypertension will be hitting the market…

…and adding to the already VERY long list of lives saved by Israel…

Pluristem soars on agreement with United Therapeutics

United Therapeutics will use Pluristem’s PLacental eXpanded cells to develop and commercialize a treatment for pulmonary hypertension

Reprinted from globes.co.il

Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; DAX: PJT: PLTR) has signed an exclusive out-license agreement with United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) for the use of Pluristem’s PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells to develop and commercialize a cell-based product for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH). United Therapeutics will receive exclusive worldwide licensing rights for the development and commercialization of the future product for treating PH patients. Pluristem will retain its intellectual property – the PLX cells – and all manufacturing rights. It will participate in the pre-clinical and clinical trial activities and provide the commercial grade product.

United Therapeutics will pay Pluristem an initial $7 million and milestone and other payments for a total of $55 million. Pluristem will also be reimbursed for costs of development and clinical activities. United Therapeutics will bear all the costs of conducting the clinical trials for this indication. Following commercialization, United Therapeutics will purchase commercial supplies from Pluristem at a specified margin over Pluristem’s cost, and it will also pay Pluristem specified royalties as a percentage from its gross profits generated from the developed product.

“This is an important milestone for our company, as it exemplifies our belief that Pluristem’s PLX cells are a platform technology that can be used for the treatment of numerous diseases. This agreement is in line with our strategy of being a state of the art cell manufacturer while maintaining all the production and Intellectual Property rights for future product candidates,” said Pluristem chairman and CEO Zami Aberman.

United Therapeutics president and CEO Roger Jeffs said, “Our mission to help patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension has led us to seek companies exhibiting innovative approaches and cutting edge technology, with whom we could partner for developing new therapies. Pluristem’s impressive results of their current clinical trials, their strong intellectual property and unique manufacturing capabilities, convinced us to select Pluristem as our partner in developing an important cell therapy for treating PH. We are excited to enter into this partnership and to work alongside Pluristem in advancing this exciting platform.”

Surrounded by so many enemies and military threats, Israel has no choice but to be good at defending herself…

…and Israel’s military know-how is on display and for sale in Paris…

Israel’s show of force in Paris

A NIS 6 million pavilion will support Israel’s defense exports effort at the Paris Air Show

Reprinted from globes.co.il

For weeks, it has been impossible to ignore the superlatives being heaped by the heads of Israel’s defense companies on the business potential of the Paris Air Show, which will open next week and will attract some 400,000 visitors from all over the world. As they attempt to stand out among the multi-national giants and make an impression, the Israeli companies that will exhibit there will reveal everything that they are allowed to reveal: from new concepts in land warfare and innovative systems for active defense of armored vehicles, to advanced missile systems; spy and communications satellites; sophisticated radars; UAVs that do everything except make the coffee. The list is long, long enough to explain how it is that a country like Israel sells the world defense systems to the tune of $7.2 billion annually, and is up there with the leading countries in the sector, the US, Russia, France, and the UK.

A NIS 6 million pavilion

A defense power like Israel needs suitable accommodation. The Israel Export Institute rose to the occasion, and paid out generously: more than NIS 6 million has been invested in setting up the Israeli pavilion at Le Bourget. It took five weeks to construct, with 40 people working six days a week. The pavilion has an area of 1,000 square meters, and it is made of 60 tons of metal and glass.

Most of the attention this year will be on the Iron Dome rocket interceptor system, and the Trophy system for intercepting anti-tank missiles, both developed by Rafael. Iron Dome, which will shortly be offered for export, will be exhibited bearing the halo of success from its interception of a Grad rocket fired from Gaza just days after it was deployed in the south of Israel. Alongside it will be exhibited a missile interception still under development, Magic Wand (also known as David’s Sling). According Ministry of Defense director general Udi Shani, “Exhibiting the systems, after the impressive success of Iron Dome, represents potential for another growth engine for Israeli defense exports.”

Elbit seizes territory

Public company Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) also has something new to offer at the show. It intends to unveil an innovative concept for seizing territory, enabling a military force to control an area remotely, using a package of products from the company. A multimedia presentation produced for the show will illustrate the systems’ capabilities through an imaginary scenario in which special forces are sent on a dangerous rescue operation in the heart of an urban area, involving a landing via assault helicopter.

Apart from the impressive presentation, Elbit will unveil for the first time, in full size, its advanced C-Music pod carried in the hold of a civilian aircraft and designed to protect it from shoulder-launched missiles. The system, the first of its kind in the world, is based on a laser that disrupts the missile’s flight. Aircraft of Israeli airlines are due to be equipped with the system.

Elbit will also exhibit its Targo pilot’s helmet, which is mainly used for training, and is accompanies the mission from planning through to debriefing.

IAI goes it alone

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will exhibit its products in its own pavilion, where it will set up a “missile farm” in which it will display the launch battery of its Barak-8 air defense system, together with the missile itself, as well as the ground-to-ground missile interceptors Arrow 2 and Arrow 3, the latter still in development. Alongside them will be its Jumper and Lora artillery missiles.

IAI will also unveil its MLGB laser-guided bomb, which is adaptable to various types of aircraft, and homes onto its target using laser or GPS. IAI says that the weapon’s high accuracy and its lightweight warhead make it suitable for strikes in populated areas, diminishing the risk to civilians and nearby structures.

IMI’s rocket

Israel Military Industries (IMI) will not have its own pavilion, but will open a deals room attended by CEO Avi Felder, and will exhibit some of its systems for export in the Israel pavilion, among them the Refaim urban warfare system, and the Delilah air-to-ground missile, and IMI’s rocket trajectory correction system, which facilitates accurate strikes on targets deep n enemy territory and the destruction of rocket launchers, artillery, and radar installations. These two systems have been in use with the IDF for several years, and proved their effectiveness in the Second Lebanon War, when they made possible accurate hits on Hizbullah targets and on trucks transporting weapons for it in South Lebanon.

Israel Export Institute CEO Avi Hefetz says that 15 Israeli defense companies will exhibit over the six days of the Paris Air Show. “The Israel Export Institute will place its emphasis on the less well known companies, to help them arrange focused business meetings, because the big companies are already known to the market. However, deals do not come to fruition at one exhibition, large as it might be. It takes a long time before a deal is finalized, but an exhibition like this is an excellent opportunity for sowing the seeds of future deals.”

Stinky breath…more politely known as “Halitosis”, or “Bad Breath”

When the “start-up nation” smells a bad smell…we find an innovative way to fix it…

Here, in Israel, we know how to make a pile of poop smell like roses…

A lollipop to banish bad breath

Israeli startup Breezy has developed a patented mint candy to keep breath fresh for up to four hours, with the help of microcapsules that gently clean the tongue

Reprinted from Israel21c

With some 50% of people suffering halitosis, Breezy CEO Hillel Lerman anticipates a lot of interest in his product.

Those old mouthwash commercials had it right: Bad breath, as clichéd as it sounds, really is a big problem. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be quite so many products on drugstore shelves to combat it. The only problem is that most of them don’t work.

“There are toothpastes, mouthwashes, candies and gums you can buy to treat bad breath, but all they do is mask the problem for a few minutes,” claims Hillel Lerman, the CEO of Israeli startup Breezy. “There is no solution that treats the root of the problem – except ours.”

That solution is Breezy’s Like lollipop, a sugar-free candy confection that removes the bacteria that causes bad breath. The best part is that its effects last for more than four hours.

This probably sounds like a claim you’ve heard before, but if you look closely at the ads for the plethora of breath-freshening products for sale, you won’t find any that claim to keep your breath fresh for one hour, much less four.

“They can’t make such claims, because the best they can give you is 20 minutes or so,” Lerman says. “That’s because they just mask the problem, instead of removing the bacteria that cause bad breath, keeping breath fresh and clean.”

The efficacy of the lollipop against halitosis was shown in a series of clinical trials on 75 individuals at the Hillel Yafe May Medical Center in Israel.

That’s the main difference between Breezy’s solution and major brands of mouthwashes that give you a boost of fresh breath but cannot prevent the quick return of halitosis, which is caused by bacteria. Once the mouthwash has dissipated, the bacteria reasserts itself, and bad breath soon follows.

Breezy’s Like candy overcomes that issue, according to Lerman, with slow-release microcapsules filled with safe, all-natural active agents that battle halitosis. The hard microcapsules assist in gently scraping the tongue to remove the food particles and bacteria that cause unpleasant odor. When the capsules open, they release the active ingredients, which continue to act against the germs for hours.

Tasty bacteria buster

“Our Like candy offers triple protection,” says Lerman. “The candy’s microcapsules scrub; the mint in the candy freshens; and the active agents combat bacteria. Like also acts as an on-the-go tongue scraper that facilitates scraping around and at the back of the tongue – a prime area for bacteria buildup – with significantly less gag reflex.”

Like is just an example of what Breezy can do; the lollipop is merely one iteration of an anti-halitosis platform the company is developing.

“We have several patents which cover the concept and the use of microcapsules for a scraping therapeutic effect,” Lerman says. Potential products will work against smoker’s breath, dry mouth (xerostomia), oral fungus (candida/thrush), and canker sores (mouth ulcer/aphtous stomatitis).

“The Like product is ready for the market, and we are finalizing funding for packaging and marketing,” Lerman says, adding that the company is in advanced talks with a European group for distribution and marketing of Breezy technology.

Along with Lerman, the Breezy team consists of co-founders Shimon Harpaz and Dr. Shlomo Barak. Harpaz has a business background, having worked with several other startups in the past, while Barak is a top Israeli dentist and maxillofacial surgeon.

The company was founded in 2007 with the backing of Lenny Sackstein, founder of Carmit Confectionery, one of Israel’s largest candy-makers. Breezy has its offices at the Trendlines Group’s Mofet B’Yehuda Venture Accelerator near Jerusalem. Trendlines is currently the main investor in the company.

“This is something the world has definitely been waiting for,” says Lerman. “With halitosis affecting approximately 50 percent of the adult population worldwide, consumers spend billions of dollars on products to make their breath smell clean and fresh. Finally, there is a product that consumers can really rely on to get rid of their bad breath. We expect a lot of people to like Like.”

Obama has been the most hostile US president in History to America’s best ally, Israel. His policies literally threaten the existence of the Jewish State and the lives of its inhabitants…

Jews almost universally supported Obama in the last elections with their votes AND huge amounts of their money. He needs the votes and the cash of American Jews more than ever now, after proving to be a pretty awful president on all fronts.

The “tactical disagreements” that Obama spoke about in his address to Jewish campaign donors ARE NOT transcended by Obama’s empty, “feel-good” pro-Israel words. They threaten the existence of the Jewish state and millions of Jewish-Israeli lives…

My friends, the American Jews…it is time to stand up and be counted…You have an obligation to Israel (AND to America) to remove your support AND your dollars from the Barak Obama camp…

Obama: Israel, US stalwart allies

American president tells potential Jewish donors to presidential campaign Jerusalem-DC relations transcend ‘tactical disagreements’

Reprinted from Ynetnews.com

WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama spoke Monday at a fundraiser for potential Jewish donors to his 2010 presidential campaign and assured then that Jerusalem and Washington’s relations were unshakable.

“One inviolable principle will be that the United States and Israel will always be stalwart allies and friends, that that bond isn’t breakable and that Israel’s security will always be at the top tier of considerations in terms of how America manages its foreign policy – because it’s the right thing to do, because Israel is our closest ally and friend, it is a robust democracy, it shares our values and it shares our principles,” Obama said to roaring applause.

Speaking of the regional changes sweeping the Middle East, Obama stressed that, “Both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes. It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things we’ve been doing and expect somehow that things are going to work themselves out.

“We’re going to have to be creative and we’re going to have to be engaged. We’re going to have to look for opportunities where the best impulses in the Middle East come to the fore and the worst impulses are weakened.”

Such achievements, he continued, would have to be carved from a position of strength: “This is why my administration has done more to promote Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its defense capabilities than any administration over the last 25 years. And we have made that commitment consistently.

“But it also means that we’ve got to engage diplomatically… there are going to be moments over the course of the next six months or the next 12 months or the next 24 months in which there may be tactical disagreements in terms of how we approach these difficult problems.

“But the broader vision, is one in which Israel is a secure Jewish state,” Obama stressed. “One where it is able to live in peace with its neighbors, where kids can get on the bus or go to bed at night and not have to worry about missiles landing on them, where commerce and interactions between peoples in the region is occurring in a normal fashion, where the hopes and dreams of the original travelers to Israel, the original settlers in Israel, that those hopes and dreams that date back a millennium, that those hopes are realized. That will remain our North Star. That will remain our goal.”

Obama told the crowd that he was “absolutely confident” the goal could be achieved, reiterating that it was “going to require some hard work.”

“It going to require that not only this administration employs all of its creative powers to try to bring about peace in the region, but it’s also going to require all of you as engaged citizens of the United States who are friends of Israel making sure that you are giving us suggestions, you are in an honest dialogue with us, that you’re helping to shape how both Americans and Israelis think about the opportunities and challenges.”

“My hope,” he concluded, “Is that through the kind of conversations that we’re having here tonight, that we’re going to be able to, together, craft the kind of strategy that not only leads to a strong America, but also leads to a strong Israel.”