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| Did You Know? |
Your Weekly Fact from the Canada-Israel Committee
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- Tourism to Israel continues to grow. In February, Israel welcomed a record-breaking 222,000 visitors, the highest number of tourists in a single month in Israel's history. In the first two months of 2010, 434,300 tourists visited Israel, compared with 283,400 visitors in the first two months of 2009.
Source: Globes
- Here's some heart-smart news: An new Israeli study has found that any one of three diets - low-fat, low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean - can reverse the thickening of artery walls that can lead to heart attack and stroke. If you follow a sensible diet, even if you only lose a bit of weight, your heart will benefit, explained Iris Shai, a nutritional epidemiologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and lead author of a report published in the journal Circulation.
Source: BusinessWeek
- Israel will open a trade office in Calgary in the spring, its first in Western Canada. Jonathan Levy, the country's consul general for economic affairs to Canada, said the office is part of a pilot project aimed at increasing Israel's trade relationship with the western provinces. Israel already has trade offices in Toronto and Montreal.
Source: Calgary Herald
- More good news on the economic front: Israel's economy grew by 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, its fastest pace in nearly two years. Exports - which account for nearly half of Israel's economic activity - surged 33 percent in the fourth quarter.
Source: Reuters
- Go team Israel! Israel is sending three athletes to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver: the brother and sister ice dance team of Sasha and Roman Zaretsky, and skier Mikail Renzhin, who will compete in the slalom and giant slalom events.
Source: Canadian Jewish News
- The Israeli film Ajami was selected as one of the five Academy Award nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film. A gritty crime drama set in Jaffa, Ajamai is the first film by directors Scandar Copti, an Israeli-Arab Christian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew. This is the third year in a row that Israel has received an Oscar nod in this category, and Israel's ninth nomination overall. No Israeli film has ever won the Best Foreign Film award. To see a preview of Ajami visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRfxD2NFVq4
Source: Jerusalem Post
- Project Better Place, the ambitious electric car venture founded by Israeli-American entrepreneur Shai Agassi, has received a $350 million investment from a consortium led by HSBC. The project's backers say the electric car will drastically reduce oil dependence, cut carbon emissions and blaze a trail for more environmentally friendly transport. Israel's government endorsed the project two years ago, and the country is slated to be the first to have electric cars on its highways in large numbers, starting next year. Denmark has also adopted the Better Place model, and plans to have thousands of cars running on electricity generated by wind turbines by 2011.
Source: AP
- Scientists have discovered the earliest known Hebrew writing - an inscription dating from the 10th century B.C., during the period of King David's reign. The breakthrough could mean that portions of the Bible were written centuries earlier than previously thought. "It indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research," said Gershon Galil, a professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, who deciphered the ancient text.
Source: Yahoo News
- A new species of spider - the largest of its kind in the Middle East boasting a 5.5-inch leg span - has been discovered by biologists at the University of Haifa. Unfortunately, the arachnid is facing a disappearing habitat. Cerbalus aravensis was found in Israel's Samar sand dune, which is rapidly shrinking due to rezoning for agriculture and other uses. "The discovery of this new spider illustrates our obligation to preserve the dune," says Dr. Uri Shanas, who headed the team of scientists.
Sources: Science Daily, Jerusalem Post
- Israel's economy is "ready to roar," according to analysts from influential investment banking firm Barclays Capital. Finding that Israel passed through the global recession with only light damage, the analysts expect Israel's real GDP to grow by 2.9 percent in 2010 and by 3.1 percent in 2011, with gross public debt falling to 76 percent of GDP in 2010, and 74.3 percent of GDP in 2011.
Source: BusinessWeek
- A team of archaeologists and scientists has found the first known pieces of a burial shroud from the time of Jesus in a tomb in Jerusalem. The researchers, from Hebrew University and institutions in the UK, US and Canada, including Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., say the cloth is made of a simple two-way weave. It is different from the complex weave of the controversial Turin Shroud, believed by some to have been used to wrap the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. The discovery suggests that the Turin Shroud is from another period than first-century Jerusalem.
Sources: BBC, Jerusalem Post
- U.S. computer giant IBM is buying Israeli high-tech company Guardium for $225 million. Guardium specializes in security solutions for databases. IBM has been buying up Israeli companies over the past few years – this is IBM's ninth purchase, alongside its large investment in its Israeli research and development facilities.
Source: Haaretz
- An Austrian ski resort has found an unlikely source of early season snow: Israel. Using technology originally developed to desalinate sea water, the All Weather Snowmaker, from Israeli engineering firm IDE Technologies, is six times as powerful as a traditional snow cannon and produces flakes regardless of temperature, humidity and wind. The St-Leonhard im Pitztal ski resort in Austria started using the system in late August, increasing its ski area threefold by mid-September.
Source: AFP
- Israeli scientists have found a substance that can kill cancerous cells without harming healthy ones, paving the way for more effective cancer treatment. Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Sheba Medical Center isolated a component of a drug developed a decade ago to preserve nerve cells after a stroke. The drug has been tested on several types of cancer; the breast cancer findings were recently published in the international peer-reviewed journal Breast Cancer Research.
Source: Haaretz
- Israel has become the world's top exporter of hippopotamuses. Ramat Gan Safari, outside of Tel Aviv, had to find a way to scale down its herd of over 40 hippos. So far, 14 have been shipped by air or sea to Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam, with two more hippos due to leave Israel for a new homes in Ukrainian zoos.
Source: AFP
- Ancient foot and sandal prints were found by Israeli archaeologists removing a mosaic floor for conservation in Lod. The mosaic, discovered in 1996 but only now being restored, is one of the biggest and most remarkable found in Israel, and is thought to be from an affluent villa dating to the Roman period some 1,700 years ago. Experts believe the prints were from the mosaic's creators, and that they packed the plaster with their feet. The size of the footprints varied, from an American shoe size of 2 to 10.5, and at least one of the imprints resembles a modern sandal.
Sources: UPI, Haaretz
- Interest in food safety is growing, with recalls of everything from sliced meat to spinach making the headlines. To help keep you safe from dangerous food poisoning, Israeli startup MS-Tech is developing a hand-held device that indicates quickly if food is okay to eat - or if it should be disposed of as a health hazard. The device will initially be marketed to government inspectors, then to food producers and retailers, and eventually to consumers.
Source: Jerusalem Post
- The 50th anniversary edition of the International Harp Contest in Israel is currently taking place in Jerusalem. A field of 30 young harpists from 18 countries are competing for first prize: debut recitals in London, New York and Israel, as well as a gilded Lyon & Healy concert harp valued at $50,000.
Sources: Israel 21C, Harp Contest website
- Israeli scientist Ada Yonath, a professor and head researcher in the field of structural biology and biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Yonath shares the prize with a British and an American scientist, for showing how ribosomes function, work that has important implications for antibiotics. She is the first Israeli woman to win a Nobel Prize and the ninth Israeli Nobel laureate.
Sources: Haaretz, Ynet
- A 2,000-year-old ritual bath (mikveh) was discovered recently in Jerusalem's Western Wall tunnels. It was found inside a building containing three halls dating back to the Second Temple period, not far from the Western Wall. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, this may be the bureau in which the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court at the time of the Second Temple, would convene.
Sources: UPI, JTA
- Some 120 rare coins dating from the Bar-Kokhba revolt of the Jews against the Romans, 132-35 CE, have been discovered in a cave by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University. The archaeologists say the find proves the theory that Jews found refuge in the Judean Hills during this time period.
Source: Jerusalem Post
- The Israeli film "Lebanon" won the Golden Lion, the top prize, at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. The film is was also shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Reacting to protests against Israeli films at TIFF, director Samuel Maoz told the Toronto Star: "The reality in Israel is very complex. What's most important is to let us show our work and talk about it."
Source: Toronto Star
- Researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University have developed a computer program that can decipher previously unreadable ancient texts. The program uses a pattern-recognition algorithm similar to one used to identify and compare fingerprints. But in this case, it identifies letters, words and even handwriting styles, and may lead to a Google-like search engine for historical documents.
Source: Vancouver Sun
- An ancient fortification, dating from the time of Abraham, has been uncovered by archeologists in Jerusalem. The 26-foot-high and very thick wall was likely used by the Canaanites some 3,700 years ago to protect the path to an important water source, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. The discovery will be open to the public beginning Sept. 3 as part of the 10th Annual Archaeological Conference on the discoveries in the City of David.
Sources: Arutz Sheva; JTA
- Israeli researchers have made an important breakthrough in treating heart disease, by growing heart muscle in rats' abdomens and using it to patch the hearts of rats that suffered heart attacks. Led by Dr. Tal Dvir of Ben-Gurion University, along with scientists at the Hebrew University and doctors at the Sheba Medical Center, this is the first study to show it is possible to improve the health of a heart after it has been damaged by heart attack.
Sources: Haaretz; Medical News Today
- Scientists in Israel have successfully falsified the DNA contained in blood and saliva samples, undermining what is currently considered the best evidence of guilt in criminal cases. The scientists also constructed a sample of DNA to match a profile in a database without obtaining any tissue from that person. "Any biology undergraduate could perform this," said lead researcher Dr. Dan Frumkin, founder of a Tel Aviv-based company that has developed a test to distinguish real DNA samples from fake ones.
Source: New York Times
- Today ? August 5, or the 15th day of the Jewish month of Av ? is Tu B?Av, an ancient Jewish holiday that has been revived as Israel?s answer to St. Valentine?s Day. According to tradition, Tu B?Av marks the day the daughters of the Tribe of Binyamin were allowed to marry the sons of the other tribes, thus bringing love, peace and reconciliation to the people of Israel. In modern Israel, couples exchange gifts, and it?s a popular day for weddings and singles events.
Source: Ynet
- Omri Casspi is the first Israeli to play in the N.B.A. Drafted by the Sacramento Kings, the 6-foot-9, 21-year-old forward previously played for Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Source: New York Times
- Scientists at Israel's Technion Institute of Technology have created a tiny robot able to crawl through a person's veins in order to diagnose and potentially treat artery blockage and cancer. The world's smallest robot, with a diameter of one millimetre, it is powered by an external magnetic field allowing it to be controlled for an unlimited amount of time during medical procedures.
Sources: The Inquirer, Medical News Today
- Canada has sent 425 athletes - its biggest delegation ever, and third behind Israel and the United States - to the 18th annual Maccabiah Games. Known as the Jewish Olympics, the games are taking place until July 18 in Israel. You can get updates on all the standings at the official website: http://www.maccabiah.com.
Source: Montreal Gazette.
- Scientists from the University of Haifa-Oranim have discovered the world's first 'self-watering' plant in Israel's Negev desert ? one of the driest regions on earth. The Desert Rhubarb can hold 16 times more water than its rivals and has developed a unique ability to effectively water itself in its barren habitat.
Source: Daily Telegraph
- Influential investment analyst MSCI is upgrading the status of Israel to developed from emerging market. Israel?s upgrade will take place in May 2010, when the MSCI Israel Index will be included in the MSCI World Index and in the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Asia and Far East) Index. The move should draw more investors into Israel?s equity markets, since many are allowed to invest only in developed markets.
Source: New York Times
- The next version of Microsoft Windows will include new touch screen technology thanks to Israel-based N-trig. The high-tech company's system combines software and sensors to create a computer screen that can interact with pens and fingers. N-trig says that later this year, three more PC makers are set to join H.P. and Dell as backers of the touch technology.
Source: New York Times
- A patch of Israeli desert is the oldest place on earth. While much of the earth?s surface is constantly eroding and changing, researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a vast region of Israel's Negev Desert that has remained the same for about 1.8 million years - more than four times older than the next oldest area of desert in Nevada.
Source: New York Daily News
- Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer in women worldwide, but early identification greatly increases the survival rate. And that may now be possible thanks to Israeli firm Zetiq Technologies Ltd., which has successfully completed clinical trials for its new system that can detect pre-cancerous cells in 90 percent of patients.
Source: Reuters
- Israel's latest export is technology education. The ORT Israel educational network recently won an international tender, worth an estimated 1.5 million Euros, to teach European Union students about nanotechnology. About 400 schools in 20 European countries will run the project, reaching approximately 30,000 students.
Source: Haaretz
- This year, a Jewish-Christian duet will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place May 12 to 16 in Moscow. Christian Arab Israeli singer Mira Awad and Jewish Israeli singer Noa (Achinoam Nini) say their performance shows the world a true model of coexistence happening inside the borders of Israel.
Source: Israel21C
- To celebrate Israel?s 61st birthday, on Wednesday, April 29, beginning at 10:50 p.m. Israel time, communities from around the world will join together to sing Hatikva, Israels national anthem, Last year, this event broke the Guinness Book of Records for the number of people singing a national anthem in unison.
Source: Live Hatikva
- Israeli researchers have discovered a root cause of deafness, which may lead to new treatments and even a cure for all types of deafness, whether age-related or genetic. The three-year study, led by world-renowned geneticist Prof. Karen Avraham of Tel Aviv University, has found that tiny molecules in the inner ears of mice - which are very similar to human ears - are vital for normal hearing.
Source: Jerusalem Post
- Google Israel developed the Google Suggest service, which completes keywords being typed in the search box and offers suggestions in real time. In April, the service went live on 151 local Google websites, in 51 different languages. And Israeli Ori Allon developed the Google search technology, launched in March, that produces results related not just to your keywords but to other words directly related to the topic.
Sources: Ynet, Jerusalem Post
- Despite the economic slowdown, the Israeli government Investment Promotion Center has received a record number of applications for the funding of new business initiatives: 109 requests compared with an average of 30 in recent years. These applications could result in 800 new jobs.
Source: Arutz Sheva
- Israel was named the world's most efficient recycled water user in a United Nations report, issued in honour of International Water Day, March 22, 2009. The UN report also ranked Israel as one of the world's leaders in desalinated water use. Israel purifies and reuses almost 70 percent of its waste water each year for agriculture, and much of the leftover sewage water is reused for other purposes.
Source: Haaretz
- An Israeli energy startup wants to turn rush hour traffic into electricity. Innowattech, an energy company affiliated with Israel's Technion Institute of Technology, said generators placed under roads, railways and runways can harvest enough energy from passing vehicles to mass-produce electricity.
Source: Calgary Herald
- Israeli skaters Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski won the gold medal in the ice dance competition at the Harbin Winter Universiade, held recently in China. The brother-and-sister pair, who were ninth at the 2008 World Championships and silver medalists in the 2009 Nebelhorn Trophy competition, are likely to compete for Israel at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Sources: Chinaview.cn, CTV
- Happy 100th Tel Aviv! The first modern Israeli city, Tel Aviv was founded on April 11, 1909. To mark its 100th anniversary, a wide array of centennial events are being planned, including outdoor festivals, art shows, sporting events, historic exhibitions and numerous community projects.
Source: Tel Aviv-Yaffo Centennial website
- A cancer sniffing nose, developed by Technion - Israel Institute of Technology researcher Dr. Hossam Haick, may be able to differentiate between cancer patients and healthy people, and even detect the location and nature of the tumour. In a trial study of 100 people, the nose - which is very similar to a dog's olfactory system - had a 92 percent success rate.
Source: Ynet News
- A huge natural gas reservoir found offshore from Haifa is poised to meet Israel's natural gas demand for about 15 years, and reduce the country's dependence on gas imports. Preliminary estimates indicate that the field might contain over 88 billion cubic metres of gas.
Source: Jerusalem Post
- Israel's innovative Batsheva Dance Company is coming to Vancouver for the first time as part of the Cultural Olympiad 2009 festival. The company will perform its internationally acclaimed "Deca Dance" at the Vancouver Playhouse, Feb. 20 and 21.
Source: Vancouver 2010
- Israeli entrepreneur Shai Reshef is launching the first global, tuition-free Internet university. Reshef, who has founded several successful Internet-based education businesses, is calling his nonprofit venture "the University of the People."
Source: New York Times
- Toronto Raptor Anthony Parker spent five successful seasons with the Maccabi-Tel Aviv basketball team, and chose the number 18 - for Chai - as a tribute to Israel. Parker says: "I'm wearing it because I thought it would be a good way to show a thank you for all the fans and everything in Israel. I wanted to take part of that whole experience with me to the NBA."
Source: New York Post
- Trade between Israel and Canada is booming. Israeli exports to Canada rose 45 per cent from Jan. to Sept. 2008, accounting for nearly $828 million (US) in sales and contracts, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.
Source: Canadian Jewish News
- Israel is turning the Hiriya, a 2,000-acre garbage dump on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, into Ayalon Park, featuring recreation facilities alongside an environmental learning centre. When completed, it will rank as one of the largest metropolitan parks in the world.
Source: Treehugger.com
- This year, two Israeli institutions, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, placed first and second, respectively, in The Scientist magazine's survey of best academic places to work internationally.
Source: The Scientist.com (registration required)
- Worldmate Inc., headquartered in Lod, Israel, was one of the first three software companies, chosen from over 3,000 applications, to receive venture financing from Toronto-based BlackBerry Partners Fund. Worldmate produces a travel application that allows users to check the weather and exchange rates, and book hotels from their BlackBerry devices.
Source: Globe and Mail
- Jewish Heart for Africa is a new non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Africa, while boosting the image of Israel in the developing world. Its first initiative, Project Sol, is bringing Israeli solar power technology to Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, providing electricity for schools and clinics, and running water pumps.
Sources: Jerusalem Post, Jewish Heart for Africa
- Cats and dogs can live together, according to a new study of 200 pet-owning households by Joseph Terkel, a zoology professor at Tel Aviv University. The key to interspecies harmony is to adopt a cat before a dog, and to introduce the two animals early in life - younger than six months for kittens, a year for puppies.
Source: Globe and Mail
- Albert Einstein's telescope, forgotten for decades in a Jerusalem storage shed, goes on display this week at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, after a three-year, $10,000 restoration. Einstein, who was a co-founder of Hebrew University, willed his records to the school.
Source: Associated Press
- Severe life events may increase the risk for breast cancer in younger women, according to a new study by researchers at Israel's Ben-Gurion University. The study found a positive correlation between exposure to more than one adverse factor ? such as the loss of a parent, or separation from a spouse ? and breast cancer in women under 45.
Source: Times Colonist (Victoria)
- Scientists at Israel's Bar-Ilan University have discovered a new way to test for water pollution by "listening" to plants growing in the water. By shining a laser beam on the tiny pieces of floating algae, the researchers said they hear sound waves that tell them the type and amount of contamination in the water.
Source: Globe and Mail
- At the recent World Film Festival in Montreal, Israeli director Eitan Green won the Innovation Award for "It All Begins at the Sea." A film in three episodes, it tells the story of an Israeli family coping with a familiar array of life experiences - friendship, love, sex, death.
Sources: Montreal Gazette, World Film Festival
- Paraplegics may now be able to stand, walk and climb stairs thanks to ReWalk, an electronic exoskeleton created by Israeli engineer Amit Goffer. Currently in clinical trials at Tel Aviv's Sheba Medical Centre, Goffer's company Argo Medical Technologies expects to market the device by 2010, and has a video of ReWalk in action on its website.
Source: Reuters/MSNBC
- Canadians will soon have a new way to invest in Israel. The CNQ, Canada's new stock exchange, will be listing Israeli high-tech companies thanks to an exclusive agreement with IsraTech Canada Ventures. IsraTech also puts together funding for promising Israeli technology companies and entrepreneurs.
Source: Yahoo! Canada Finance
- Israeli swimmer Alon Mandel is competing in the Beijing Olympics just four days after the tragic, accidental death of his father. Mandel set a new national record in the 200 metre butterfly with a time of 1:59.27 minutes, finishing a respectable 28th overall. Mandel will swim in the 100 metre butterfly before returning to Israel on Thursday (Aug. 14).
Source: Jerusalem Post
- An Israeli high-tech firm has outsourced software engineering - to Ramallah. Since March, seven Palestinians - five men and two women, all recent graduates of West Bank universities - have been designing software for Herzliya-based Nuvoton Technology Israel.
Source: Cox News Service
- At the recent Comic-Con International Convention, Israeli artist Rutu Modan won a prestigious Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Novel for Exit Wounds, set in modern day Tel Aviv. Publisher Drawn and Quarterly, based in Montreal, has more information, including a preview of the novel.
Sources: Designist Dream, Comic-Con 2008
- Yoav Talmi, artistic director and conductor of the Quebec Symphony, is being honoured by his native Israel with the Frank Peleg prize. Named for the late Israeli pianist and harpsichordist, the award pays tribute to Talmi's "high-level artistic achievements through many years of activity."
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
- Montreal born Juan Mendez, power forward for Israel's Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball team, has been named to the 2008 Canadian Senior Men's National team. The team will represent Canada at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens, Greece, from July 14-20. The top three finishers will earn a berth at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.
Source: Canada Basketball
- Taking methylphenidate - familiar as the drug Ritalin used to treat attention-deficit disorder - could help older people reduce their risk of falling by sharpening their mental function, Israeli researchers at Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center report. They found that after only one dose, seniors walked with a more even gait and did better on a standard screening test for fall risk.
Source: Reuters
- Nortel Networks Corp., headquartered in Toronto, and Tel Aviv-based technology provider Alvarion Ltd. have struck a "strategic WiMAX agreement." The deal - worth an undisclosed amount - will combine the Israeli company's wireless network solutions with the Canadian telecom equipment maker's network gear and services.
Source: Canadian Business Online
- "Slim Peace" weight loss groups bring Israeli and Palestinian women together to shed pounds - and misconceptions about each other. Yael Luttwak, an Israeli filmmaker, set up the first Jerusalem-based diet group for a 2007 documentary, She won funding from the UK-based Charities Advisory Trust for subsequent 10-week courses, and the fourth has just started.
Source: Reuters
- North Americans can now buy Israeli stock without investing overseas. Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. is introducing the NETS TA-25 Index Fund, which tracks the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's index of 25 companies with the highest market capitalization. The fund trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TAV. Israeli equities have surged 150 percent over the past five years, making them a hot buy for investors.
Source: Globe and Mail
- Yes to Carrots is a new line of affordable, natural beauty products from Israel. Available at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada, the shampoos, creams and cleansers combine juices from "orange" produce like carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin, with Dead Sea mud. A percentage of every purchase goes to the Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, which provides vegetable seeds and technical know-how to help developing communities grow organic crops.
Sources: Chatelaine.com, Yes to Carrots
- Forbes Magazine rated Israel first in its survey of the "World's Up-And-Coming Real Estate Markets." The magazine notes that in 2007, Israeli real estate "prices climbed 2%. That is expected to continue, given the country's robust 5.1% 2007 growth in gross domestic product and a 3.8% projection for this year, according to the International Monetary Fund."
Source: Forbes.com
- Professor Ada Yonath of the Structural Biology Department at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science has received a 2008 L'Oreal-Unesco Award for Women in Science. One of five scientists honoured, Prof. Yonath was recognized for uncovering the structure of ribosomes, the protein factory in cells, and using her findings to help solve antibiotic resistance. She is the first Israeli to receive the prestigious prize.
Source: L'Oreal
- Israeli company CaesarStone, founded in 1987, was the world's first manufacturer of quartz-based surfaces such as kitchen countertops. Harder but more easily shaped than granite, and resistant to staining, chipping and cracking, its products are available worldwide, including in Canada.
Source: CaesarStone
- The Israeli shekel will be fully convertible in the international currency markets within three months, joining a group of just 16 other currencies that are traded in global markets. As well, shekels will be available at all major commercial banks in about 80 countries around the world.
Source: Ha'aretz
- Israeli company Diagnostic Technologies has developed a new method to identify those pregnant women at high risk of developing preeclampsia, a condition that endangers the life of the mother and the unborn baby. The simple blood test can be performed in the first trimester before symptoms develop, allowing for early detection and preventive care.
Source: Israel 21C
- "In Treatment," HBO's new television series about daily psychotherapy sessions, airing on The Movie Network/Movie Channel in Canada, is based on the popular Israeli show "Be'Tipul." Israeli executive producer Hagai Levi brought the show to North America with only minor adjustments.
Sources: HBO and The New York Times
- In Nov. 2007, the Ontario provincial government announced the creation of a $165 million venture capital fund in partnership with four of the largest institutional investors in Canada. It is modeled on Israel's successful Yozma fund, which was created in 1993 and has since become the backbone of the Israeli venture capital market. The new Ontario fund is intended to help keep high-paying jobs and local innovation from flowing out of the province.
Source: Toronto Star
- Israel-based clothing maker Bagir Ltd. is introducing business suits created from discarded plastic bottles. Each suit in the "Ecogir Recycled" line requires approximately 30 bottles, thereby consuming less energy compared to the manufacture of other fibre garments while helping to divert waste from landfills.
Source: Bagir press release
- Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan has been awarded the prestigious Dan David Prize by Tel Aviv University, sharing the $1 million prize in the field of "Creative Rendering of the Past - Literature, Theater, Film," with Israeli author Amos Oz and UK playwright Tom Stoppard. Egoyan was honoured for his film Ararat, the first major motion picture to deal directly with the Armenian Genocide.
Source: Tel Aviv University
- Israel is taking the lead in developing functional and environmentally clean electric cars. The state will offer tax incentives to purchasers of the cars, to be provided by Renault and Nissan. With an initial investment of $200 million, Project Better Place, founded by Israeli software entrepreneur Shai Agassi, plans to have a few thousand cars on Israeli roads by 2009, and will construct a network of facilities to recharge the cars and replace empty batteries quickly.
Source: New York Times
- Carleton University, Ottawa, is naming its School of Architecture after Israeli-Canadian developer David Azrieli. The announcement follows a $5.5-million gift from Azrieli, his second to the institution. While working on a shopping centre in nearby Gatineau, Que., the billionaire enrolled in the school's master's program, graduating with a degree at the age of 75. Now 85, Azrieli is set to open his latest Israeli mall in March, and plans to build the region's largest shopping centre.
Source: Globe and Mail
- Three Israeli companies top international accounting firm Deloitte Touche's 2007 "Fast 500" list of the fastest-growing tech firms in the Europe/Middle East/Africa region. Networking specialist Voltaire was ranked number one, with an incredible revenue growth rate of 50,612% during the 2002 to 2006 period. The number two firm, Celltick, which develops software for cellular phones, boasted a growth rate of 29,627% over the same five-year period. Runcom, which placed third for the second consecutive year with a growth rate of 27,950%, makes semiconductors for wireless technology.
Source: Haaretz
- On Dec. 11, 2007, the governments of Quebec and Israel signed an agreement to enhance cooperation in trade, commerce, technology, science, health and education over the next five years. The agreement builds on already warm bilateral relations, and is intended to encourage more joint ventures between Quebec and Israeli companies.
Source: Canadian Jewish News
- If you can't stand the smell of a gym locker room, your genes may be to blame. Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have associated a specific gene with the capacity for smelling sweat. Over the last few million years, about half of our 1,000 different genes for smell-detection have become defunct - some in all people, while others in just parts of the population. This is one reason why some people react to strong smells more than others.
Source: Weizmann Institute of Science
- Israel has its own dog breed. The Canaan Dog traces its roots to biblical times when it served as a herding dog for the ancient Israelites. According to the Canadian Kennel Club, the Canaan is alert, quick to react, distrustful of strangers, strongly defensive but not naturally aggressive, and is known for its devotion. It was re-domesticated in the 1930s as a working dog for the Haganah, the precursor of the Israel Defense Forces, and is now an internationally recognized breed.
Sources: Canadian Kennel Club & American Kennel Club
- The Israel Antiquities Authority has uncovered what is believed to be a palace belonging to Queen Helena of Adiabene in Jerusalem's City of David. A first-century CE convert to Judaism, Queen Helena moved to Jerusalem from her kingdom in what is now Iraq, building several large homes there during the Second Temple period.
Source: Haaretz
- Israel's unique location at the junction of three continents, Europe, Africa and Asia, places it on the migration path for some 500 million birds twice a year.
Source: International Center for the Study of Bird Migration
- In Nov. 2007, US-based Time Warner Inc. subsidiary AOL made multi-million dollar deals to acquire two Israeli-founded companies: search technology start-up Yedda Inc., and Quigo Technologies Inc., which develops customized content-based advertising technology and products for websites.
Source: Ynetnews.com
- Ancient Israel was one of the earliest countries to cultivate wine, over 2,000 years before the vine reached Europe. Today, Israeli winemaking is flourishing, with over 25 commercial wineries and more than 150 boutique wineries striving to produce world-class wines.
Source: Israel Ministry of Tourism
- With 71 companies listed, Israel is the number one foreign issuer on the NASDAQ exchange, ahead of countries like Canada and the United Kingdom.
Source: NASDAQ
- In October of 2007, two Iraqi children underwent emergency heart surgery in Israel by Save a Child's Heart, a humanitarian organization that has treated more than 1,700 children from 28 countries.
Source: Canadian Jewish News
- The Israel Government Tourist Office - Canada has a new Website, www.goisrael.ca, which provides access to travel deals from Canada to Israel, Israeli tour guides, state-of-the-art interactive maps, and much more.
Source: Israel Ministry of Tourism
- Because Israel has almost no natural fuel sources except for its abundant sunshine, it has become a world pioneer in the use of solar energy. Today Israel produces most of its domestic hot water from solar power, as well as exporting tens of thousands of solar water heaters all over the world.
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Israel is on track to welcome 2.3 million tourists in 2007.
Source: Jerusalem Post
- Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
Source: Invest in Israel
- Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."
Source: The Israel Diamond Industry
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