The Israel Situation

Hi-tech in Silicon Wadi

Anthony Reich — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:43:01 +0000

In its short history, Israel has developed a name for technological innovation and advancement. In this respect, Israel is often compared to the famous Silicon Valley in California which is the hotbed of world technological development. Although comparisons are validly made between the two and close connections are forged in the interests of cooperating to advance the world’s technology, the truth is that the differences are as remarkable as the similarities.

Israel has been in existence for a mere 61 years. During this time, she has been forced to devote a vast slice of her human and monetary resources to fighting wars in the defence of her right to continue to exist at all. Many other countries in the same situation would have collapsed and fallen by the way a long time ago. But Israel has succeeded not only in surviving 61 amazing years, but also in developing some world firsts. Silicon Valley, on the other hand, has been the beneficiary of many millions of dollars of investment money and a stable environment to cultivate new technologies. The link has resulted in Israel gaining the nickname “Silicon Wadi” after its more famous US counterpart.

I have chosen on this occasion to focus on three amazing developments that have come out of Israel. These are true technological firsts. They are three of numerous other unique developments that have come from Israel. I hope to cover other developments separately in the future.

Telephone Transmission:
Israeli company ECI Telecom was the first to develop Digital Circuit Multiplication Equipment (DCME) in the world. This is equipment that is attached to undersea and satellite telecommunications infrastructure to allow the transmission of many more simultaneous phone calls than the infrastructure was originally designed to carry. If an undersea cable was originally designed to carry 64 simultaneous phone calls, the attachment of DCME to the cable enable the transmission of many more calls without the need to upgrade the cable infrastructure. DCME was first marketed in 1988 and is still in use by many large telecommunications companies around the world, saving many millions in infrastructure costs.

Voice over IP:
Internet Protocol (IP) is the protocol that was developed for communicating data across networks. This is more recent than the protocol that was traditionally used for communicating voice for many years before. So it was a significant development when Israeli company Vocaltec succeeded in launching “Internet Phone”, the first application that truly allowed the average person to communicate using a voice call over the Internet. Vocaltec’s ground-breaking technology is the base for better known applications such as Skype, Jajah, and numerous others. Unfortunately, Vocaltec was never really able to build upon its amazing invention and many other companies managed to leapfrog it whilst using its technology. But Vocaltec is universally recognised as being the first of its kind.

Camera in a Pill:
Israeli company Given Imaging is the first and only company to develop a camera that is small enough to fit into a pill that can be swallowed by a human. The purpose of the camera is to create a short video film of the inside of the patient’s body, and transmit the video to computers outside the body such that physicians can analyse its details. The video can transmit images for up to 8 hours before it is expelled from the body. The technology was initially developed by Gabriel Iddan who honed his scientific skills developing missiles for the Israeli military. This technology was used and is now evident in the capsules that are being sold around the world to assist the examination of the internal workings of the human body. Recent advancements to the pill include the ability to “control” the movement and location of the capsule inside the body. In this way, doctors can focus on particular areas and gain extended exposure of certain critical parts of the body in a way that was not possible before.

These remarkable stories show that it is possible to make an impact on the world and to create business opportunities, even in the absence of natural resources or a classic stable working environment. Sometimes big dreams, hard work and great ideas are enough to make the world sit up.

I hope that the above stories have created an appetite for additional Israeli technology stories. I hope to be able to discuss other stories in the future.

Hi-tech in Silicon Wadi is a post from: The Israel Situation

What’s The Word On J-Street?

Guest — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:34 +0000

This is a guest post by Joel, a non-profit professional and former Hillel president at the University of Colorado. Joel will be writing a series of posts on non-profits and NGOs either located in or focused on Israel and the Middle East. He can be followed on Twitter at @ExplodingGopher.

There has been a lot of talk this week about a new Israel-centered grassroots political group. J-Street is definitely ruffling some feathers after last week’s large conference turnout, which they heralded a “smashing success”. The group exceeded attendance goals and managed to attract the attention of college students, members of Knesset, major newspapers from the Jerusalem Post to the Economist, and even the ruling powers of Jordan. In a political atmosphere supposedly dominated by AIPAC, many believe that the conference signals J-Street’s “coming out” onto the scene of the American lobby for Israel. However, at this point in time, a comparison of the two groups which seeks to paint them as opposites on a spectrum of pro-Israel political engagement is disingenuous, and the belief that J-Street is truly “the new address for Middle East peace and security” is dangerous.

For now, we will have to put aside the question of the legitimacy and the irony of American political groups that lobby for the interests of another country. Instead, let us examine the rhetoric of J-Street and how it plays into the current political scene. J-Street is a self-described “‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ lobby, whose executive director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, says it is fighting for the ‘heart and soul’ of the American Jewish community. Unlike AIPAC, J Street intends to push aggressively for a two-state solution based on Israel’s pre-1967 borders” (source). Surprisingly, the interesting part of this discussion is not J-Street’s actual platform; it is not surprising to see a group emerging which grounds its support of Israel on the premise that Israel ought to be making unprecedented concessions.

The method and rhetoric of a grassroots political group is as important as the actual policies which it supports. J-Street has done a brilliant job attracting support using wording like “pro-peace.” While seemingly harmless, this phrase places dissenters in a defensive position; if you don’t agree with J-Street’s path, you must be “anti-peace,” or worse, “pro-war”. This is a dangerous way to paint the opposition, as it’s the same rhetorical technique that the hawks use to bully people into supporting wars: “either you’re with us, or you’re a terrorist.” Certainly, this is the kind of destructive manipulation that we should be avoiding.

Moreover, J-Street puts a lot of emphasis on its relationship with the Jewish community. In America, the Israel question is often painted as a Jewish question, which is a dangerous position to take. When we twist the concept of “pro-Israel” into an understanding of “pro-Jewish,” we enter the rhetorical territory of Ahmadinejad and his lovely Holocaust-denying friends and open the door to legitimizing anti-Semitic arguments. Though J-Street’s policies of engagement show that the group understands the distinction, their numerous references to being the new voice of the American Jewish community have a high potential to slide down this slippery slope. It would be a mistake to paint groups like AIPAC as non-representative of Jewish opinion; it is equally wrong to claim that J-Street represents a major shift in Jewish public opinion about Israel. Most importantly, however, it’s simply a bad idea to paint the question of Israel as a Jewish question.

In the post-Obama political atmosphere, grassroots political organizers and lobbyists have found strength in numbers. In order to bring in the throngs, however, such groups manipulate their language and position to a dangerous extreme. Since AIPAC markets itself as “America’s pro-Israel lobby,” J-Street’s rhetoric equates this traditional pro-Israel stance with violence. Young Jews are certainly “low-hanging fruit” for recruiting members into organization like J-Street. However, the need to gain members ought not overshadow the group’s purpose–in this case, to promote Israel’s interests. We shall see what happens as J-Street matures, but it does not make sense to portray them as the new American Jewish voice on Israel.

What’s The Word On J-Street? is a post from: The Israel Situation

Israelis Capture Iranian Weapons in the Med

Eric — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:07:42 +0000

The Israeli Navy boarded a German ship based in Cyprus headed to Syria from Iran that contained 500 tons of weapons. The weapons, likely destined to Hezbollah officials, filled 40 of the 300 shipping containers on the Francop, flying the Antigua flag.

“In a random check of the containers we found a variety of weaponry camouflaged as civilian goods,” Gen. Ben Yehuda said. “Clearly these weapons are for terror purposes. There is no doubt they came from Iran, and were headed through Syria to Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah officials in Beirut refused to comment on the Israeli allegations. A spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York also had no comment. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moalim called the Israeli commandos “pirates” and denied the ship was carrying weapons in televised comments made during a visit to Tehran on Tuesday.

Clearly the Mossad is doing its job, as the weapons stopped before getting into terrorist hands. However, the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis is very dangerous for Israel and is well equiped for another Lebanon-Israel war.

Read the whole story at the Wall Street Journal.

Israelis Capture Iranian Weapons in the Med is a post from: The Israel Situation

Jerusalem Mayor Sparks Protest at University

Eric — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:09:42 +0000

The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, spoke on my campus in Denver, Colorado tonight. While I was unable to attend the speech, I was told about the large protests that surrounded the building he spoke in.

My school is heavily Jewish, and heavily Muslim. It is interesting to see these two worlds collide occasionally at the small, urban campus in Denver. The school is about 20% Jewish. I can’t quote the figure on Muslims, but they seem more visible on the campus than the Jewish students.

Whenever a major Jewish or pro-Israel event takes place on campus, it seems that the anti-Israel crew is very capable of gathering very fast. On the other hand, protests of pro-Palestinian events are virtually non-existent. There has been a small gathering on occasion, but for the most part the pro-Israel people at my school are quiet.

Why does this matter? People notice protests. Sadly, they can often gain more media coverage than the events that spark them. But if the Palestinians are better at gathering to protest than we are, they will get more coverage, and possibly more sympathy. Not that Israel needs sympathy; however, it does need support.

So, the next time you hear about a big pro-Palestinian political (not cultural) event in your city, assuming you live outside of Israel, get a group of people together and do something. You never know what your efforts are doing. At the very least, you can spread the truth where others will most certainly lie.

Jerusalem Mayor Sparks Protest at University is a post from: The Israel Situation

Time Makes Settlers Look Like Terrorists

Eric — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:47:36 +0000

The article was written in response to the arrest of a 37 year old Floridan turned Israeli who was arrested for murdering two Palestinians and injuring three others over a span of twelve years. Jack Yaakov Tietel, the suspect, told police that he murdered two Palestinians in 1997 as revenge for the onslaught of Palestinian suicide bombing attacks.

Tietel lives in Shavut Rachel and is married with four children. If he really is a murderer, as the evidence shows, he deserves to be in prison. In the article he is described as a “militant right wing Jewish settler.” What does settler have to do with the rest? However, other settlers do not deserve to be painted with a bad image because of a couple of people.

“Teitel is what we call an autodidact,” says a senior Israel security official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He bought the materials for these homemade bombs by himself and added pretty sophisticated devices to activate it.” In 2000, police say, Teitel smuggled 10 weapons into Israel from the U.S in a container, and concealed them in several hides around his home. In another sign of his caution, on the night of his arrest on Oct. 7 in Jerusalem, police say he was posting leaflets while wearing gloves and a balaclava (to prevent identification), and carried a loaded gun in his pocket. By this time, security sources say, he had been under the surveillance of the Shin Bet, following a two-year investigation of an attempted bombing that slowly accumulated clues pointing to him as a suspect.”

While it is clear that he worked alone, the author shows anti-Settler biases. Loaded phrases in the article include:

Teitel worked alone, way below the radar of the Shin Bet security service, which monitors extremist activity among Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Despite the fertile ground of extremist ideas among the Jewish settlers on the West Bank

Time Makes Settlers Look Like Terrorists is a post from: The Israel Situation

Clinton Endorses Netanyahu Efforts

Eric — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:21:09 +0000

US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton publicly endorsed Israeli efforts to bring back the peace discussions and said that the Palestinians are the ones preventing peace.

Arab states are not happy with these comments and plan to let Clinton know at a meeting scheduled to take place today in Morocco. The secretary of the Arab League claims to have backing from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Arab League to express frustration over settlements.

“I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed … with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done.”

He went on to say that Obama’s peace initiative for the region looks to be a failure. Read more about the Morocco meetings at Reuters.

Clinton Endorses Netanyahu Efforts is a post from: The Israel Situation

Where to Draw the Line

Anthony Reich — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:20:08 +0000

I read an article entitled “Democracy check” written by Naomi Chazan and published in The Jerusalem Post magazine this weekend. In her article, Ms Chazan argues that the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 14 years ago came as a result of a lack boundaries in Israeli democracy and society. She claims that increasingly threatening, aggressive and violent behaviour patterns have become commonplace and acceptable in Israeli society as a tool for people to get what they want.

While reading her article, I began to realise how correct she is. There are so many elements of Israeli society that are affected by this issue of lack of boundaries that Ms Chazan discusses. Even though she raises only negative aspects to this phenomenon, I have also identified one or two positives that arise from it.

The most basic and common behaviour that reflects lack of boundaries is the lack of personal space in Israel. Whether you are standing in line for the post office or withdrawing cash from an ATM machine, you can be sure to have somebody standing right on top of you. It also manifests itself when strangers look through your shopping trolley in the supermarket to ask your opinion regarding items that are there. Many even ask whether you should be eating something with so many calories. How many times have we been asked how much we earn, or how much our house cost us? These are questions which would never be asked if we were living elsewhere in the world. There are those who object to this sort of behaviour as being too intrusive and not respecting privacy and private space. These are usually new immigrants to Israel who find this type of intrusion totally unacceptable. Some immigrants find this behaviour endearing in the sense that it shows a caring and warm side of the Israeli culture. Even though people may be insulting you, they are doing it because they want to show that they care. People born and bred in Israel seem to find this completely normal and they know no different.

Israel is regarded as a place where laws, rules and prescribed methods of behaviour are all open to negotiation. This usually means that timid or polite people are considered “freiers” (the Hebrew word for suckers) and are the ones who wait in line patiently whilst more aggressive, persistent and convincing people seem to get away with pushing their way to the front of the line. These aggressive people are also the ones who get their own way in all other aspects of life, be it in business, when driving on the roads or other daily activities. It is unfortunate that this gives rise to the Israeli notion that the way to get anything done in this country is to “tip the table over”. This literally means going along to the person who you wish to convince or who you require some service from, and remonstrate with them to the point of tipping their desk over until you get what you want. Usually, it works. This means that, the next time you wish to get a bank or government clerk to do something that may not be quite part of what they are allowed to do, you do what you know works best which is adopting bullying tactics. This notion clearly promotes aggressive and even violent actions, and breaks down the boundaries of reasonable and acceptable behaviour. This is handed down to the next generation when children witness parents and teachers getting their own way by bullying others.

The “lack of boundary” behaviour is clearly evident amongst our politicians. The lack of respect afforded by members of Knesset to each other, even on the floor of the Knesset, is a shocking example to Israeli adults and children. If this is the way that the society’s leaders behave, what hope is there for future generations growing up in Israel who witness this unacceptable behaviour?

Despite the negative and often shameful behaviours that are seen in Israel, I am equally convinced that Israel would not be experiencing some of the successes that it enjoys if the boundaries were adhered to. A good example is the Israeli hi-tech industry which has developed and successfully sold some significant firsts. For example, the voicemail that most of us have on our mobile and fixed line phones was first thought of and developed in Israel. Similarly, an Israeli company was the first to produce a firewall to prevent unauthorised accesses to our private networks at home and at the office. It is no accident that companies like Intel and Microsoft have significant development labs in Israel. The fact that Israeli scientists and engineers refuse to be limited by restrictions that are regarded by others as insurmountable means that Israelis are producing new and improved products and technologies that would not be developed elsewhere. The lack of boundaries in society promotes free thinking and creativity in business and technology with astonishing results.

As is usual with such things, the real answer often lies between the extremes. In this case, it would be fantastic if we could ensure that boundaries are adhered to in our daily behaviour, whilst ignoring them in scientific or engineering developments. Inevitably, this is difficult to achieve.

Ms Chazan concludes that the lack of boundaries threatens Israeli democracy. There may be some element of truth in her contention. I find people who behave this way in everyday life to be intolerable. We cannot ignore, however, the contribution that this behaviour style has made to the building and successes of the State of Israel. Even though many of us find this attitude difficult to live with, it seems somehow to be an integral part of the culture of modern-day Israel. It will not change any time soon, so I am forced to focus on the positive elements of which they are many.

Where to Draw the Line is a post from: The Israel Situation

Fatah Inspiring Temple Mount Riots

Eric — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:56:58 +0000

Inciting a riot is not just for Hamas anymore. Fatah leaders have joined in the call for violence in recent tensions between Jews and Arabs in the Jerusalem area.

We have all gotten used to the pattern of events, described today by Ha’aretz, that leads to small clashes in the holy areas of the Old City. Some unheard of religious Jewish group announces plans to visit the Temple Mount, which are not followed through with, but Arab media and leaders react anyway.

Muslim clerics, Palestinian politicians and members of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel urge Muslims to flock to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to defend it from Jewish “takeover attempts.” On the day of the “operation,” these groups arrive at the Temple Mount, accompanied by Arab media representatives (especially the Al Jazeera TV crew). They all wait until 7:30 A.M., when the Israel Police open the Mughrabi Gate to entry by non-Muslims. The Jewish groups do not even bother to show up, but the police who enter to enable the hypothetical visit are greeted with massive stone-throwing.

Meanwhile, Fatah members are in the mosque to express their solidarity and to prove that they aren’t being directed by Israel’s Arabs, but rather are leading this fight themselves. One of the most prominent figures present is the man who holds the Jerusalem portfolio for Fatah, Hatem Abdel Qader, who was arrested there this week on suspicion of incitement.

Doesn’t violence just hurt the Arab cause in Jerusalem? I think so, but that’s just my opinion. I am one of those “learn from history” types. Violence didn’t work in the past, so why would it be productive for anything today? If the Palestinians really want a state, this is not the way to get one.

Fatah Inspiring Temple Mount Riots is a post from: The Israel Situation

Buy Uranium Online, Be Like Ahmadinejad

Eric — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:41:51 +0000

Have you ever wanted to build your own nuclear power reactor? You can be like Iran and buy uranium ore for your own top secret nuclear factility. (Yes, that is an Amazon affiliate link to buy Uranium from The Israel Situation)

I was doing a little online perusing, and stumbled upon radioactive uranium ore for the low price of $29.95. I don’t know how legit this really is, but it is shipped by Images SI Inc.

So, if you want to be a government outlaw or nuclear scientist, you too can build a nuclear reactor. All you need is $30, centrifuges, scientists, and billions of dollars.

Buy Uranium Online, Be Like Ahmadinejad is a post from: The Israel Situation

Lebanese Rocket Hits Israel, UN Doesn’t Care

Eric — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:19:25 +0000

The ninth rocket since the 2006 Lebanon War landed in Israel yesterday near Kiryat Shomna. Last month, two rockets landed in the Western Kineret region.

After Tuesday’s attack, Lebanese military entered the town Houla and found four more rockets at the same site aimed at Israel. They dismantled the rockets and the site.

This is just another proof of failure on behalf of the United Nations. The UN is so busy criticizing Israel with the Goldstone Report that they are missing the regular rocket attacks coming into Israel from two borders, Gaza and Lebanon.

Maybe it is time the UN pulled its head out of its ass and actually did something useful? UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, created specifically to prevent a flare up of terrorist activity in Southern Lebanon, has proven to be completely incompetent and worthless. Had they been someone effective, the 2006 Lebanon War would not have happened.

Even worse, after Israel had to go into Lebanon to destroy weapons and fight terrorists that UNIFIL should not have let arm in the first place, the Hezbollah terrorists appear to be as strong as ever. They are stockpiling weapons in residential areas and are slowly beginning to attack Israel with more frequency again.

So, what is going to happen next? My bet is that rocket attacks become more frequent. UNIFIL continues to do nothing. The UN and world community will look the other way. More rocket attacks. And, eventaully, Israel will be forced to respond.

I only hope that this time Bibi has the chutspa to do what Olmert did not. Benjamin Netanyahu has been chosen by the Israeli people to defend them after the proven incompetence of Kadima under Ehud Olmert’s leadership. Maybe he (Bibi) will finish the job that Olmert started?

Lebanese Rocket Hits Israel, UN Doesn’t Care is a post from: The Israel Situation