Cabinet approves Western Wall elevator for the disabled
Cabinet ministers on Sunday approved a plan to build an elevator and an underground passageway from the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City to the Western Wall that would allow more accessibility to the holy site, as part of a series of measures relating to the capital.
In addition to the elevator and underground passageway, the cabinet was also set to approve a new cable car leading to the Old City’s Dung Gate from the First Station complex, as well as a five-year budget allocating additional funding to develop the area around the Old City and improve health services in East Jerusalem.
Ancient war for Jerusalem echoes as stones and arrowheads uncovered
The remains of weapons used by Roman legionnaires and desperate Jewish rebels in Jerusalem in the first century CE went on display Thursday, with Israeli archaeologists linking the last battle before Jerusalem fell 2,000 years ago with ongoing celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification after the 1967 Six Day War.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, an account by first century Roman-Jewish historian Josephus on the fall of Jerusalem is being confirmed by objects discovered on an ancient road that used to ascend from the city’s gates and the Pool of Siloam to the Jewish Temple, including the arms.
Israeli startup finds way to predict tumor resistance to chemo
Chemotherapy is sometimes thought to be a treatment that’s harsher than the disease it comes to fight.
Cancer patients are subject to rounds of chemotherapy treatments in which cells – both healthy and cancerous are expected to be destroyed in the process.
Israeli scientists announce new treatment for ALS
Scientists at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev discovered a breakthrough treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, the university said Wednesday.
ALS is a lethal, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the motor nerve cells in both the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of motor neurons leads to atrophy, paralysis and eventually death due to failure of the respiratory muscles.
Futuristic health tech on display at biomed conference in Tel Aviv
The future of healthcare was on display at the MIXiii BIOMED conference in Tel Aviv this week as Israeli and international digital health companies exhibited their products, services and technologies.
BrainMARC, a two-year-old Israeli startup in a technology incubator in Yokne’am, was demonstrating to one participant how its technology works. Donning a headset with one electrode positioned snugly on the forehead of the user, a participant was asked to repeat a series of numbers backwards, starting with two-digit numbers and going up to four or five digits. The screen recorded the degree of brain engagement of the user.
Israeli researchers say they have new way to combat heart disease, stroke
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Sheba Medical Center said they have have developed a way to treat atherosclerosis and prevent heart failure with a new biomedical polymer that reduces arterial plaque and inflammation in the cardiovascular system.
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease causes 56 million deaths annually worldwide, according to the 2015 Lancet Global Burden of Disease Report. Arteries are lined by a thin layer of cells called the endothelium which keep them toned and smooth and maintain blood flow. Atherosclerosis begins with damage to the endothelium and is caused by high blood pressure, smoking or high cholesterol. The resulting damage leads to plaque formation.
Ultra-Orthodox protesters compare top IDF official to Hitler, army service to Auschwitz
Police launched an investigation after extremist ultra-Orthodox protesters threatened a senior IDF officer on Friday, distributing hate-filled flyers comparing him to Hitler and likening army service to Auschwitz.
Dozens of male protesters gathered outside the home of Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, in the northern village of Kfar Tavor, to protest against the draft of religious men and women into the army.
Half of Israel to be Arab, ultra-Orthodox by 2059
Just under half of Israel’s population (49 percent) will be made up of Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews by 2059, according to projections by the Central Bureau of Statistics released by the Israel Democracy Institute on Thursday.
In 42 years, the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community will have grown to 5.25 million people, or some 29 percent of the Israeli public, the figures estimated. Israelis who identify as ultra-Orthodox currently make up some 9% of the public, according to data released by the CBS last month.
