IDF soldier collapses, dies during physical training
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A new recruit to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Givati Brigade collapsed and died on Tuesday during physical fitness training at a base in the Negev desert.
Private Yehuda Suisa, 19, from the town of Beit Uziel, had enlisted in the army on Monday. The cause of his death is still unknown. Among other things, the IDF is looking into the possibility that he may have suffered from a heart condition or congenital defect.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement, “The IDF offers its condolences to the family and will remain by its side. Brig. Gen. Nadav Padan, head of the army’s 162nd Armored Division, has suspended all intensive activities in the division until the initial investigation is completed.”
GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir appointed Col. Itzik Cohen, commander of the Arava Brigade, to head the investigative committee into Suisa’s death.
In August, IDF soldier Dan Sela, 18, died of heatstroke while on an army trip to Jerusalem. He, too, was a new recruit. That same month, a 44-year-old soldier in the IDF reserves, Sgt. Maj. Zacharia Gil, collapsed and died after feeling chest pain while running.
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U.N. peacekeepers reportedly set to return to Golan Heights
(JNS.org) United Nations peacekeepers are reportedly set to return to the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, in recent weeks, officers and soldiers from the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) have made several visits to facilities and points that they previously manned in the region.
In early February, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Major General Jai Shanker Menon of the Indian Army as the head of UNDOF. Last week, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow that Israel is interested in the return of U.N. forces to the Golan Heights. Israel is concerned with Iranian and Hezbollah forces in the region, as well as threats from Sunni Muslim terror groups like the Nusra Front and Islamic State.
Established in 1974 following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, UNDOF was created to maintain the cease-fire between Israel and Syria. Amid the civil war fighting in the Syrian Golan Heights between Syria’s government and rebel forces, including Islamic terror groups, the U.N. in 2014 withdrew all UNDOF forces from the Golan Heights and moved them into camps and outposts deeper inside of Israel, following a series of attacks on UNDOF troops.
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Israeli defense minister says NGO Breaking the Silence committing ‘treason’
(JNS.org) Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has accused the left-wing NGO Breaking the Silence of committing “treason” over allegations that the group attempted to glean classified information from former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
“What was revealed on Channel 2 was that [Breaking the Silence] is also asking the soldiers questions that are unrelated to routine operations and morality, that [it is also asking questions]… that are considered a military secret,” Ya’alon told high school students in northern Israel on Monday.
“So whether they are using it outside [of Israel], which is very serious—if you distribute this material to the outside, it is treason,” Ya’alon said, adding that if the NGO were “keeping it for themselves, this is also [treason]. Who is guarding this material? Why do [they] need to know which equipment we use?”
Israel’s Channel 2 reported last week that Breaking the Silence actively worked to place people in classified units in the IDF in order to gather information that it could use in its activities against “the occupation.” Additionally, activists from the group interviewed IDF veterans on issues related to military secrets, and not human rights.
Breaking the Silence has long been controversial in Israel. The NGO attempts to expose alleged IDF human rights abuses in the disputed territories by using testimonies of former IDF soldiers.
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6 Israeli universities ranked among world’s top 100
(JNS.org) Six leading Israeli universities were ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in the QS World University Rankings by Subject.
The 2016 QS rankings, which compared top universities in the world in 42 different areas of study, included six Israeli universities—Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Bar-Ilan University.
Published annually since 2011, the QS World University Rankings by Subject highlight the world’s top-performing institutions in a broad spectrum of individual academic areas, such as in arts and humanities, engineering and technology, life sciences and medicine, and natural sciences.
Israeli universities had more places in the top 100 universities by subject—64—than all of the universities in the Middle East combined.
Hebrew University was Israel’s most-featured top 100 university, ranking three times in the 51-100 section for agriculture and forestry, history, and anthropology.
Haifa-based Technion ranked twice in the top 100 for computer science and information systems as well as mathematics, Tel Aviv University ranked in the top 100 for anthropology, and the Weizmann Institute ranked high for biological sciences.
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Israeli invention extends freshness of produce
(JNS.org) A young Israeli student living in Shanghai, China, has developed a product derived from essential oils that preserves fruits and vegetables three times longer than usual.
“These oils have been known about for thousands of years, but they are very volatile and evaporate very rapidly so their effectiveness disappears very quickly. The researchers wanted to transform the preservative properties into a liquid or powder and then release it very slowly and therefore multiply its effectiveness,” Amit Gal-Or, founder of Phresh Organics, told the Tazpit News Agency.
Gal-Or, 20, originally from Ra’anana, utilized Israeli research and other past research in the field to create a powder called Food Protectors that any household can use.
“Strawberries, for example, usually go bad after three days, and yet we can keep them good for consumption for another four or five days. At the other extreme, there are things like eggplant and potatoes that last weeks. We can expand their life by months. Then you have everything in between,” said Gal-Or.
Phresh Organics is raising funds through an online Kickstarter campaign in order to finalize production and delivery of the powder.
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