eretz >> our Israeli homeland Child Terror Victims Mark B'nai Mitzvah On Dec. 5, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife, Nechama, continued a 15-year tradition of Israel's presidents by hosting victims of terrorism who were celebrating their bar and bat mitzvahs. All the youngsters wore white sweatshirts with a print of a large blue Star of David accompanied by the logo of the Terror Victims Association. The girls also wore floral garlands in their hair. Rivlin and other speakers noted the children had matured beyond their years because of the suffering they endured — through the loss of a parent, a sibling or another close relative and, in some cases, because of the physical injuries that con- tinue to plague them. Thanking Rivlin on behalf of all the children was Noa Meir, one of the daughters of Dafna Meir, who in January was stabbed to death by a teenage Palestinian terrorist at her home in the West Bank settlement of Otniel. Meir, 38, was survived by her husband and six children. In Israel, Kulanu Member of Knesset Michael Oren shows a "Made in Europe" label he prepared in response to the European decision to label President Reuven Rivlin and his wife, Nechama, (center) host victims of terrorism celebrating their b'nai mitzvah. For years, scientists have been trying to find ways to block angiogenesis, the process by which cancerous tumors give off chemical signals to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels that bring them the nutrients and oxygen they need to grow. Angiogenesis inhibitors are now the standard therapy for many cancers, including of the colon, brain, lung and liver. Scientists, however, are still seeking more effective medications with fewer side effects. Enter the Israeli company Vascular Biogenics Ltd. (VBL), which believes it has found a way to target these vessels and impede their growth. "Tumors are smart," said VBEs CEO Dror Harats, a professor at Tel Aviv University and a doctor at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. "They have 20 agents they can excrete to stimulate the buildup of new blood ves- sels. "For this reason, trying to block one or two of these factors will not be potent enough. We took another approach — when the tumor tries to build these new vessels, we activate a deadly gene, targeting only the angiogenic blood vessels:' If scientists succeed in their efforts to better target blood vessels, patients will be able to live with cancer, just as HIV patients now live with the virus. — Shoshanna Solomon, Times of Israel Vascular Biogenics"VBL-111 targets glioblastoma multiforme, a form 32 December 15 2016 Oren suggested Israelis think twice about buying French products. Noa was very close to her mother, planning her bat mitzvah with her for more than a year. Noa said, "The tremendous spirit of my mother beats inside me and will help me to grow, to rise and to spread my wings; and I will be her living monument." — Greer Fay Cashman, Jerusalem Post Israeli Cancer-Buster? of brain tumor. products made in territories Israel captured in the Six Day War in 1967. Shari Arison, Israel's wealthiest citizen, is worth an estimated $4.7 billion. Millionaires And The Average Joe According to a report by Credit Suisse bank, the number of millionaires in Israel stands at 105,000 people, of which 18 are billionaires. This constitutes an increase of 17,000 millionaires, roughly 19 percent, since 2015. According to the report, in the last 16 years, the average Israeli citizen's wealth (including money, housing and invest- ments) has doubled to $176,263. Unfortunately, income inequality has also risen. The median wealth of Israelis (the point at which half the population is above or below) stands at only $54,384. This means that vast numbers of Israelis possess wealth far below the $176,263 average. As for the very rich, Shari Arison is both Israel's and the Middle-East's rich- est woman, with an estimated wealth of $4.7 billion, much of it from controlling interest in Carnival Cruise lines and Bank Hapoalim, which she inherited from her father, businessman Ted Arison. — Roi Bergman, Ynet News ADL CONDEMNS FRENCH LABELING The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned new regulations by France mandating that all Israeli products from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights be labeled as originating in these areas and — in parenthesis — "(from an Israeli settlement)" and not as products of Israel. The announcement by France relates to European Commission Guidelines issued in November 2015 that called for products from the West Bank and the Golan Heights to be given unique labels. ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said, "France's decision to label Israeli settlement products will serve to embolden campaigns to delegitimize and isolate Israel, which risk further undermining good faith efforts to nego- tiate a two-state solution to the conflict. As we said following the European Commission decision, regardless of their intention, these types of actions send an unconstructive political message that the onus for the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict is on Israel alone, and that settle- ment construction is the central obstacle to resuming a political process. All of this is wrong and such steps risk spurring the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is deeply hostile to the Jewish state and clearly opposes the two-state solution. "Despite the fact that French officials have denounced BDS and French legisla- tion makes such boycotts illegal, this move is particularly unhelpful given the hands-on role French officials have sought to play in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. "If anything, this new regulation will be perceived by Israel as part of the sin- gle-minded campaign to pressure Israel in its negotiations with the Palestinians. Israelis, therefore, will inevitably ques- tion France's evenhandedness and inten- tions:' *