ISRAEL INNOVATION PROJECT

Israel is preparing to direct desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee for the first time, after the lake’s water level dropped below the safe pumping threshold. As part of emergency measures to protect the ecosystem, only about 10 percent of the usual water volume will be released from the lake into the national water carrier. The transfer of desalinated water is expected to begin in November, starting with several million cubic meters. Officials say the unprecedented move aims to prevent ecological damage and stabilize the lake during the ongoing drought.

Bet Shemesh Engines, an Israeli firm that specializes in jet-engine components, has signed a $1.2 billion, 15-year contract with a major global aircraft engine manufacturer. The deal marks the largest agreement in the company’s history and will expand its role in producing critical engine parts like blades, disks, and rotating components. With an optional extension of five years and extra value of $400 million, this deal raises the firm’s total framework agreements to $3.3 billion. The company says the agreement strengthens its position in the global aviation market and bolsters Israel’s aerospace industry.

At a Jerusalem Post diplomatic conference, Amit Lang, CEO of Mekorot, said that Israel is leading globally in water-technology innovation, driven by AI and large infrastructure projects. He highlighted ongoing partnerships in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan as evidence of the country’s expanding water security influence. Lang also emphasized the role of smart technology in Israel’s future water strategy. He presented Israel’s achievements as a combination of scientific prowess and strategic outreach.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute, working with doctors from Ichilov Medical Center, have discovered how the brain’s fear of loss can fuel anxiety and PTSD. Using intracranial electrodes, they measured brain activity and found that certain neurons in the amygdala and nearby regions become overactive when people face risky decisions. This heightened response makes the brain exaggerate potential threats, leading to avoidance and overcautious behavior. Led by Prof. Rony Paz and Dr. Tamar Reitich-Stolero, the team believes this mechanism may help explain why some people struggle to recover from trauma or persistent anxiety.

Scientists from Hebrew University in Jerusalem say they’ve invented a new way to 3D print glass without using organic binders. Their technique relies on light to trigger a chemical reaction in a mixture of water, alcohol, and soluble silica, forming a gel that later becomes glass with just mild heating. They believe the method could be a game-changer for fields like optics, biomedical devices, and microfluidic systems.

A multidisciplinary team at Tel Aviv University has developed a cutting-edge method that uses cosmic muons to map underground spaces without excavation. Their system tracks muons as they pass through rock and soil, revealing hidden voids such as tunnels or cisterns. The technique was successfully tested at Jerusalem’s City of David, where it located Jeremiah’s Cistern with remarkable accuracy. The researchers believe this innovation could revolutionize archaeology by providing 3D maps of buried structures before digging begins.

Prof. Rennan Barkana and PhD student Sudipta Sikder from Tel Aviv University have proposed a new method to detect dark matter by studying ancient radio waves from the universe’s “dark ages.” Their model suggests that dense clumps of dark matter would have drawn in hydrogen gas, creating radio signals that could still be detectable today. Because Earth’s atmosphere blocks these faint signals, the team proposes placing radio telescopes on the Moon to capture them clearly. They believe this approach could finally reveal key clues about the nature and behavior of dark matter.

Professor Karen Avraham, Dean of the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University, together with PhD student Roni Hahn, has developed a groundbreaking gene therapy aimed at treating hearing and balance disorders. The innovative treatment delivers a corrected gene directly into the inner ear using an optimized viral vector, helping to restore the function of damaged sensory hair cells. The researchers are hopeful that this approach could pave the way for future treatments of a wide range of inherited hearing and balance conditions in humans.

A team of surgeons at Galilee Medical Center in Israel, with the help of psychologist Dr. Udi Bonshtein, successfully carried out deep brain surgery while keeping the patient in a hypnotic state instead of using full anesthesia. During the operation, Dr. Bonshtein guided the patient’s mind to a calm, imaginary place, helping them remain relaxed even while their skull was opened. The patient was reportedly unusually calm and at ease throughout the procedure, something surgeons said they had never seen in awake brain surgery. Hospital officials suggest this novel method could open up new possibilities for operations that require the patient’s cooperation.

Israeli and German researchers, Prof. Ronen Rapaport and Dr. Boaz Lubotzky, have developed a new technique that captures nearly all the light emitted by tiny defects in diamonds. Their method embeds nanodiamonds with nitrogen-vacancy centers into specially designed nanoantennas that direct the light more efficiently. This breakthrough greatly improves the detection of emissions essential for quantum sensors, computers, and communication systems. The researchers believe their work brings the world closer to building practical and scalable quantum technologies.