Israel Active

Ben Gurion University Professor Itzhak Mizrahi has already received two European Research Council grants for his research into how microbes degrade plant waste. Now he has received a third one – this time from German research funder Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

Following a “technological breakthrough,” Israel’s Defense Ministry has re-started development of a laser beam system capable of destroying incoming rockets and small drones, to complement Iron Dome. The new system is expensive but will have negligible operational costs.

The archives of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) are being converted from film to digital format. The 5-year project will process hundreds of thousands of Betamax tapes, cassettes, reel-to-reel tapes and film recorded between 1948 and May 2017.

Cybertech 2020, the largest annual cybersecurity event in the world outside the US, takes place in Tel Aviv Jan 28 - 30.  Hundreds of Israeli startups are exhibiting and some 18,000 attendees from over 80 countries are expected to attend. Startups will also compete in Cybertech’s Startup Innovation Challenge.

Israel-based Stepac (now part of Johnson Matthey) has launched its latest range of sustainable packaging solutions for preserving the freshness and extending the shelf life of pomegranates and extracted pomegranate seeds and arils.

Israel’s 2017 plastic bag law saves 7,091 tons of non-recyclable plastic from landfills every year. Now, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are removing disposable plastics from schools.  Herzliya has launched its “City without Plastics” project. IKEA, Sodastream and many Israeli companies are following suit.

There is a new solution to stop the thousands of incendiary balloons, kites and drones that Gaza terrorists have launched to burn large areas of Israeli farmland. Light Blade’s laser system has a 2km range and tests were conducted during the past week.

Israel’s Ellomay is a developer of renewable energy and power projects in Europe and Israel. It has just sold 12 of its power plants in Italy to JP Morgan’s Sonnedix Group for 38.7 million Euros. Ellomay has another four photovoltaic plants in Spain.

Dr Rob Norman’s new book explores the world of Israeli medical and scientific innovations. It highlights the achievements of some of the 1,000+ Israeli companies in healthcare or life-science products and provides compelling reasons why Israel is a world leader in innovation.

For anyone wanting to study archaeology in English, Israel is probably the most significant region in the world to do it. Nowhere offers such a concentration of archaeological sites - from Neolithic to Crusader periods, underground and underwater. Summer courses are offered at Israeli universities.