By: Aryeh Savir
Israeli scientists have made a significant breakthrough in the fight on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and have developed a potent antibody that attacks the virus.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona on Monday, where he was presented with a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote to the Coronavirus.
The researchers have developed an antibody that attacks the virus uniquely and can neutralize it in a patient’s body.
According to the Institute’s researchers, led by IIBR Director-General Professor Shmuel Shapira, the antibody’s development phase is over.
The institute will continue the patent registration process and in the next phase, the researchers will contact international companies who can produce the antibody in commercial quantities.
The antibody’s name has yet to be determined.
Bennett stated he is “proud of the Biological Institute’s people who have made a huge breakthrough. The creativity and Jewish mind have brought this amazing achievement. The entire security system will continue to operate on the frontlines of the battle against the Corona.”
Shapira at the end of March spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the progress in the institute’s research and development efforts regarding a vaccine and antibodies.
Shapira noted that there has been “significant progress” in planning for the vaccine and added that preparations are now being made ahead of a model for the start of experimentation on animals, a crucial stage before trials on humans are carried out.
The news came as the number of deaths worldwide from the virus topped 252,420 out of over 3,646,000 cases in 212 countries.
In other developments, last week it was reported that Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern wrote a letter to the residents of the Arab town of Abu Gosh, near the capital, conveying his holiday greetings in honor of the commencement of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
In the letter addressed to the town’s mayor Salim Joubran, Rabbi Stern strengthened his hands in dealing with the Coronavirus and lauded the good Jewish-Muslim relations he was cultivating in his municipality.
Joubran responded by whishing Stern and the entire Jewish nation health and prosperity, especially during these trying times.
“We will always maintain good ties with our Jewish cousins,” he wrote.
Rabbi Stern occasionally invites Muslim leaders from the Jerusalem area to meet with him to strengthen the relations and coexistence with the moderate leadership in eastern Jerusalem and the area.
He has previously issued an unprecedented ruling that Israel has an obligation to help free Palestinians who have been imprisoned for selling land to Jews.
Stern’s letter came in response to the abduction of Issam Akel, a resident of Jerusalem who was arrested by the Palestinian General Security Service on the suspicion that he had sold land to Jews at the end of 2018.
(TPS)
