A MONTHLY REPORT COVERING NEWS AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES JOSEPH MORGENSTERN, PUBLISHER August 2010 Vol. XXV Issue No.7 You are invited to visit us at our website: http://ishitech.co.il Iron Dome destroys missiles Israel will deploy at least With the United States-Israeli Arrow as the main two of its homemade Iron protection for the Jewish state. “The Iron Dome is Dome anti-missile systems an effective and innovative mobile defense solu- by November, according tion for countering short range rockets and 155 to the country’s Defense mm artillery shell threats ... in all weather condi- Ministry. tions, including low clouds, rain, dust storms or The decision was made after the final set of tests co.il were successfully carried out. http://ishitech. Although the system is not without controversy at home, several countries, including India, are interested in purchasing it from Israel. In this Issue Other than its potential to enhance Israel’s strate- gic edge, analysts believe the system has a far- Iron Dome destroys missiles reaching impact on the big picture of arms control George Soros buys Comverse stake Hebrew U. scientists demonstrate novel memory and logic and global stability. device Israeli VC firms’ share in local funding hits 10-year low Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system that is German and Israeli ministries fund research project with inge manufactured by Israel’s Rafael Advance Defense watertechnologies AG VocalTec merges with YMAX Systems. The government company has a track Amdocs, AT&T launch R&D center in Israel record of producing highly regarded weapon Israeli-developed boiled potato batteries may provide cheap systems including the Popeye surface to air mis- power Gesture control sile, the Spike anti-tank guided missile and the The Origins of Israel’s Pharmaceutical Industry Typhoon weapon system. Businesses ink deal with Israeli incubator ECI enters into partnership with BT’s Openreach for UK’s next- Iron Dome is Israel’s answer to the threat of short- gen broadband Life sciences become big business in Israel and medium-range rockets that can travel some 35 to 45 miles. Many of the rockets have fallen on communities and as far inland as Ashkelon. It is the final piece of the Israeli defense against aerial attack. It is seen as the last line of defense. Copyright 2010: Israel High-Tech & Investment Report Subscription, bulk copy and reprint information available on request Editorial Offices: P.O.Box 33633, Tel- Aviv 61336, Israel Tel-: +972-3-5235279 Fax: +972-3-5227799 E-mail: [email protected] August 2010 fog,” according to specifications. has always rejected that idea. “The system uses a unique interceptor with a special warhead that detonates and destroys any However, the system’s backers say its advantag- target in the air within seconds,” it added. es far outweigh negatives. Indeed U.S. President Barack Obama has put his full weight behind the The system identifies the launch of an artillery program and what he described earlier this month shell or rocket and then monitors its trajectory. as “Israel’s special security needs.” The data is analyzed and a point of impact is established. If the target area poses a risk then In May, the White House asked Congress to an interceptor will be launched to take out the approve a $205m. package to help Israel com- threat. This happens as quickly as possible to try plete the manufacture and deployment of the Iron to ensure the incoming warhead is destroyed over Dome. In so doing Obama’s staffers said they an area where there is less potential risk to those understood the risk Israelis face both to the north on the ground. and the south. “Iron Dome’s breakthrough is not the intercepting Iron Dome was developed following the war with of missiles, but its new concept based on highly- the South- Lebanon-based Hezbollah in the sum- discriminating command and control technology mer of 2006. Israel sustained heavy rocket fire that automatically determines which threats to from positions just across its northern border, intercept and which to ignore all in 15 to 90 sec- with some loss of life and considerable damage onds,” according to Barbara Opall-Rome, the to property. Israel bureau chief of Defense News. Throughout the last decade Israel also faced Indeed in recent trials, it is reported that the sys- thousands of rockets fired on its southern towns tem was able to detect simultaneous launches from the Gaza Strip. In the main all the Israel from various directions and to determine which posed a real threat and which it could ignore. Israel High-Tech & Investment Report Published monthly since January 1985 One of the main points of contention about the Publisher and Editor in Chief Iron Dome is the cost of each anti-missile missile. Joseph Morgenstern, B.A. Chem. Analysts estimate that one salvo could cost as much as $50,000, which for a small country in a Technology Review Board war situation that would quickly become a huge Prof. S.J. Joel-Cohen, MD, FRCS. FRCOG (1996-2002) sum. Prof. Hylton Miller, M.B. Ch.B. Dr. Clive L. Carpel, M.B. Ch.B. This is countered by Israel’s defense establish- Copy Chief ment, which maintains that the system could pre- Debbie Mor vent wars from breaking out and the cost of each Web Master day of a military campaign is far higher than the Marty vonBokel upkeep of the Iron Dome. Graphics Consultant Daniel Morgenstern Other critics suggest the system may prove inef- Subscription Inquiries Tel-. +972-3-5235279 Fax. +972 3-5227799 fective against the Kassam rockets fired from E-mail: [email protected] Gaza, saying the distance and time it takes for Annual subscription $95.- per year, for 11 issues, the homemade rockets to reach Israel is too short Israeli residents add 16% VAT for the Iron Dome. Some propose the use of laser Web Edition and Achives technology instead, but Israel’s Defense Ministry http://ishitech.co.il 2 August 2010 Defense Forces managed to do was to put in $7.55 per share yesterday. place a warning system that gave residents a few seconds to run to their nearest bomb shelters. Comverse filed a request with the SEC to sell Experts believe the Iron Dome will change the 10% of the 28 million shares it holds in Verint face of the battle between Israel and its enemies Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNT). Even after a sale, just a few miles away in Lebanon and Gaza. Comverse will still remain Verint’s controlling shareholder, with a stake of around 60%. Israel hopes that the Iron Dome will not only prove a success at home but that it will also gener- Hebrew U. scientists demonstrate novel ate cash in sales to foreign governments. Early memory and logic device indications are that there is considerable interest Protein from poplar trees can be used to greatly overseas. India is among those who is interested reduce size of memory elements and increase the in the system and already enjoys a close defense density of computer memory relationship with Israel. Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusa- “By developing, testing and ultimately deploying lem have succeeded in showing how it is possible the Iron Dome in less than three years, Israel re- to greatly expand the memory capacity of future establishes itself as a technology powerhouse as computers through the use of memory units based well as a preferred supplier on the world market,” on silica nanoparticles combined with protein mol- added Opall-Rome ecules obtained from the poplar tree. The Iron Dome is the latest in a series of missile- In doing so, they say, they have developed an related programs unveiled around the world. It is alternative avenue to miniaturize memory ele- viewed in the current thinking in Washington as a ments while increasing the number and capacity sea change in policy towards missile defense. of memory and functional logic elements in com- puters. This approach, they say, could replace “A great amount of U.S. technology is in the Iron standard fabrication techniques in use until now Dome. Politically, missile defense is changing for increasing computer memory capacity, a pro- from the great undermining force wrecking arms cess which involves ever-increasing manufactur- control, to a capability that will receive much more ing costs. official U.S. support in the future. Missile defense will be a cornerstone of all future arms control and The Hebrew University project involves the genet- stability,” Bracken said. ic engineering of poplar protein to enable its hybridization with a silicon nanoparticle. In this George Soros buys Comverse stake process. The nanoparticles are attached to the George Soros has reached a 5.14% inner pore of a stable, ring-like protein (the poplar stake in Comverse Technology Inc. derivative), and these hybrids are arranged in a (Pink Sheets: CMVT.PK) accord- large network, or array, of very close, molecular ing to a statement that his Soros memory elements. Fund Management filed with the US Securities and Exchange Com- Prof. Danny Porath and his graduate student mission (SEC). The Soros Fund Izhar Medalsy of the Institute of Chemistry at the Management owns 10,381,566 Hebrew University have succeeded in successful- shares in the company. ly demonstrating how stable computing activity in a tiny memory element can be carried out in this The stake is worth $78.3 million way. The practical result is a cost-effective system at Comverse’s closing price of that greatly increases existing memory capacity 3 August 2010 while significantly reducing the space required to The average high-tech financing round was $3.3 carry out this volume of activity.