How Israeli Innovation Contributes to the World

Was Israeli innovation what the prophet Isaiah had in mind  when he taught that the Jewish people would return to the land of Israel and serve as a “light unto the nations?”

Despite its young age and being subject to constant war, the State of Israel has defied all the odds and has fulfilled this lofty mission in almost every aspect of life.

Israeli Innovation in Medical Advances

On the medical front, lives worldwide are being saved thanks Israeli innovations like these:

1. The “Pillcam” – Doctors can now record images of the digestive tract via a pill-sized capsule containing a tiny camera – enabling them to detect disease and monitor disease
2. Azilect – A drug to help treat Parkinson’s disease
3. Copaxone immunomodulator – A drug for treating multiple sclerosis
4. Elelyso – A drug for the treatment of Type 1 Gaucher’s disease
5. ReWalk – A bionic walking assistance system enabling paraplegics to stand upright, walk and even climb stairs
6. OrCam MyEye – A portable, artificial vision device allowing the visually impaired to understand text and identify objects through audio feedback
7. The Emergency Bandage – The first-ever field dressing that can be applied and secured with one hand to prevent bleeding from battlefield injuries

Israeli Innovation in Humanitarian Relief

Aside from medications helping those in need of medical care, Israel sends doctors to set up field hospitals and search and rescue experts when natural disasters occur in all corners of the world. In 2016, the World Health Organization recognized the IDF’s emergency field hospital as the best in the world. The WHO designation gives Israel priority access to begin offering immediate assistance in international disaster zones.

A few examples include:

1. Earthquake in Turkey, 1999 – A search and rescue unit rescued 12 survivors and the hospital treated 1,200 people including 40 surgeries and 15 delivered babies
2. Earthquake in India, 2001 – A 100-bed field hospital treating 1,300 injured; the Israeli team performed 52 surgeries and delivered 12 babies
3. Earthquake in Haiti, 2010 – Medics treated more than 1,100 patients including 319 surgeries and 16 delivered babies
4. Tsunami in Japan, 2011 – A 53-person delegation with 62 tons of medical supplies treated 220 patients in surgical, pediatrics and maternity wards, an intensive care unit, and a pharmacy
5. Typhoon in the Philippines, 2013 – A team of 150 doctors and nurses brought 100 tons of medical supplies and humanitarian aid
6. Earthquake in Nepal, 2015 – A team of 122 medical workers and 45 physicians brought 95 tons of equipment for a 60-bed hospital that treated nearly 1,600 patients, performed 85 surgeries and delivered eight babies
7. Golan Heights/Syrian border, 2016-2018 – A field hospital established to help victims of the Syrian civil war treated over 4,000 people including 1,409 children

Israeli Innovation in Technological Advances

Israeli innovation has made the world safer with inventions such as:

1. Mobileye – Advanced driver-assistance systems providing warnings for collision prevention, now becoming standard in new cars and used as the basis for safety in autonomous cars
2. WeCU – Technology to identify and analyze people in real time used in airports to help identify terrorists
3. Watergen – A technology that extracts water from air which can bring fresh water to areas without any access to clean, healthy water

NGOs Helping the World

Hundreds of Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are helping people in need throughout the world. A few examples include:

1. Innovation Africa – using Israeli solar technology to bring clean water and electricity to millions of people living in remote African villages
2. Save a Child’s Heart – bringing children from third world countries to Israel for basic, life saving heart surgery, while also training doctors from those countries to perform these surgeries
3. Israid – working in emergency and long-term development situations in more than 50 countries, providing assistance in the following areas: mental and physical health,  economic development, social development (women empowerment, gender-based violence, child protection, and psycho-social support, education and awareness

Other Israeli Inventions

Israeli technology has also made life easier for people worldwide with hundreds of inventions.

• USB flash drive – Also known as a disk on key, for data storage
• Instant messaging – Real-time transmission of text messaging over the internet
• Laser keyboard – A virtual keyboard projected on a wall which led to the ability to type on cellphones
• VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol enabling the delivery of  voice messages via the internet
• GetTaxi – An app connecting customers and cab drivers using a unique GPS system
• Wix.com – Enabling individuals and companies to create their own websites in an easy to learn and use format
• Quicktionary – An electronic dictionary that scans words or phrases and immediately translate them into other languages
• Waze – GPS navigation software providing travel times and best routes based on input of fellow drivers
• Drip irrigation – A revolution in agriculture technology allowing for farming with minimal water
• Grain cocoons – A simple and inexpensive way for African and Asian farmers to keep their grain market-fresh, with special bags protecting the harvest from extreme heat and humidity
• Zero-discharge” system – Allowing fish to be raised almost anywhere by eliminating the environmental problems in conventional fish farming, with no dependency on electricity or proximity to a body of water
• The super iron battery – A new class of a rechargeable, environmentally friendly electric battery
• Reusable plastic trays – Collects dew from the air, reducing the need to water crops by up to 50 percent

These were just examples of the thousands of technologies and projects through which Israel is helping to make the world a better place and is assuming its ancient and biblical mission to be a “light unto the nations.”

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Featured image: CC0 Public Domain Vectors; exoskeleton via YouTube/Rewalk Robotics field hospital CC BY-NC Israel Defense Forces;