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Israel’s Defense Minister Katz Shuts Down Army Radio Citing Harm to Morale, War Effort   By The Media Line Staff  Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced on Wednesday that the military’s radio station, Galei Tzahal, will be shut down, ending 75 years of broadcasts by March 1, 2026. Katz said he will soon submit a formal proposal to the government for approval to carry out the closure.   Explaining the move, Katz said the station had strayed far from its founding purpose as a service for IDF soldiers and their families and added, “The station has harmed the war effort and morale.”   “The Army Radio was created as the voice and ear of the military—not as a platform for commentary that attacks the IDF and its soldiers. Its continued operation drags the army into political discourse and damages its character as the people’s army.”   Katz argued that maintaining a civilian news outlet under military control was “an anomaly without parallel in any democratic country.” He said the closure would help restore public trust in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by keeping it separate from political debate.   Following the decision, Katz said a professional team will be formed within the Defense Ministry to oversee the shutdown and to assist civilian employees at the station in transitioning out of their roles with full protection of their rights. The team will also examine ways to preserve the Galgalatz music and traffic station, maintaining its focus on promoting road safety awareness in keeping with its original purpose.   Critics from across the opposition condemned the move as an attack on Israel’s free press. MK Yair Golan of the Democrats accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to silence critical media voices. “Netanyahu wants to shut down outlets that discuss the commission of inquiry and Qatar money,” he said. “We will defend … investigative journalism.”   MK Gilad Kariv of the Labor Party called the decision “a direct assault on press freedom and a disgraceful attempt to weaken democratic discourse.” He claimed Katz was spreading lies about the station’s journalists and warned that its broadcast frequencies could soon be transferred to businessmen tied to Likud.   If approved, the closure will mark a major change in Israel’s media landscape, ending the military’s direct role in public broadcasting after more than seven decades.    Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Australian Envoy Links Antisemitism to Israel Policy, Jewish Leaders Push Back  Many Australian Jews blame the government’s inaction and what they perceive as pandering to Muslim voters for the rise in antisemitism  By Maayan Hoffman/The Media Line  Australian Ambassador to Israel Dr. Ralph King has suggested that the rise in antisemitism in Australia may be linked to growing objections to Israel’s policies — views he said are “quite largely shared.”  However, he emphasized that he would not place the blame on the country’s Muslim community, which now represents more than 3% of the population, making it Australia’s second-largest religious group after Christianity.  According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are more than 800,000 Muslims and just over 100,000 Jews in Australia, less than 0.5% of the total population.  King made his remarks in an interview with The Media Line on Sunday on the sidelines of an event aimed at fostering solidarity between Australia and Israel.  “Sadly, there’s antisemitism,” King said. “There’s also, of course, objection to the policies of Israel at the moment, and that’s quite widely shared.”  He added that as both a citizen and representative of the government, he feels “deeply sorry about the rise of antisemitism” and believes that most Australians share this sentiment.  “This is an intolerable crime, a terrible threat to our democracy,” King told The Media Line. “We hope that now that the war is over, calmness can prevail, and that Australians — all Australians, including the Jewish community — can enjoy the right to worship, gather and celebrate in dignity.”  Sunday’s event, held at Tel Aviv University, was co-sponsored by the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce, Tzofim Olami, Australians Living in Israel Facebook Group, WIZO, KKL-JNF Australia, and the Jewish Agency.  In contrast to similar solidarity events held before Oct. 7, 2023, and the Hamas massacre, at least one-third of the participants this time were native Israelis who turned out to support their Australian brothers and sisters, rather than the other way around. In the past, such gatherings were typically organized by Diaspora Jews rallying for Israel.  In her remarks, JNF Australia’s Israeli emissary, Sarah Vanunu, called on several people from Israel’s north and south to stand up in the room of more than 150 participants. She explained that these visitors came from communities affected by the war and were there to both thank the Australian community and show their support.  The rise in antisemitism worldwide, including in Australia, has highlighted a brutal truth: The Jewish Diaspora is inextricably tied to the policies and actions of the State of Israel, whatever they may be, and regardless of how Diaspora Jews view them.  “Before October 7, we all kind of took each other for granted,” said community activist and advocate Moran Dvir. “Since the war, there’s more of an understanding and appreciation on both sides that we really are one people, that our hearts and minds are with Israel. I think all of these Israelis coming here tonight symbolize that they can recognize what’s going on for Jews in the Diaspora. We bear the brunt of a lot of what happens inside Israel, rightly or wrongly.”  Dvir, who holds multiple leadership roles within the Australian Jewish community, said her community has been working hard to advocate for Israel and dispel “the lies and the myths” being spread about the Jewish state.  “There is a very Zionist community in Australia,” Dvir told The Media Line. “It’s a very, very strong and proud community. So I think tonight is really about this recognition that we belong to each other.”  During her remarks, Vanunu expressed similar sentiments, reflecting on how “life-changing” the past two years have been and how she’s come to realize that solidarity is a two-way street.  “When I was living in Israel on October 7, I had Australians back at home reaching out to me to see if everything’s okay and how I am,” she said. “Then fast forward to the war in Iran … which coincided with a security incident in Sydney — a stabbing in a popular mall, which happens to be where the JNF office is. And I had so many Israelis who were under cover from ballistic missiles from Iran reaching out to us in Australia to see if we’re okay. So the solidarity has been quite remarkably a two-way street.”  While antisemitism has risen worldwide since the October 7 massacre, Australia is among the countries experiencing the sharpest increase.  According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, anti-Jewish incidents rose by 316% in the 12 months between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024, compared to the previous year. In the two months immediately following Oct. 7, antisemitic incidents spiked by 738% compared to the same period in 2022.  The situation has not improved.  The solidarity event took place just one day after a neo-Nazi rally occurred outside the New South Wales Parliament. JNF Australia CEO Doron Lazarus said the Jewish community was “shaken” by the rally, particularly as it unfolded in a place where Holocaust survivors rebuilt their lives, believing it to be among the farthest points one could get from Nazi Germany.  “Never again is now in Australia and around the world,” Lazarus told the room. “Jews are facing a tough new reality … We must keep standing strong in Australia to resist antisemitism in all its forms. Yet what I personally and truly believe is one of the greatest and most effective ways to fight this antisemitism is through action. The best antidote to hate is inner strength — to strengthen our Jewish identity, strengthen our connection to each other, strengthen our Zionism and, above all, strengthen Israel.”  Ambassador King appeared to echo Lazarus’ message in his own remarks, despite being booed by some members of the crowd.  Although he defended the right to peaceful protest as an essential part of Australia’s democracy, he said that “protest activities that involve violence or incite hatred are not welcome, cannot be welcome, and will not be tolerated. Every Australian, no matter race, religion, or identity, should be able to enjoy their life in any Australian community without prejudice or discrimination.”  He also emphasized that the community should not conflate differences of opinion about the Israeli government with antisemitism or with the encouragement of antisemitism.  “Differences of view between governments, which are common, in no way diminish support for Israel’s right to live in peace and security and for Jews in Australia to have peace and security,” King said.  However, many Australian Jews blame the government’s inaction and what they perceive as pandering to Muslim voters for the rise in antisemitism. During King’s interview with The Media Line, one solidarity event participant approached him, cursing him and the government.  “We have a Labor government, which, just like the Labor governments in the UK and Canada, is essentially not supportive of Israel,” advocate Dvir told The Media Line. “They’re really pandering to the masses. It’s about votes. In Australia, we’re a tiny minority, whereas there are many more Muslims. And I think, you know, actions speak louder than words.”  She added that while the government often repeats the line, “there’s no place for antisemitism in Melbourne or Sydney, Australia,” the lived reality tells a different story. “There is very much a place for antisemitism because we’re living it every day. There’s this culture of normalization of antisemitism … Two years ago, people would never say or write or do what they’re doing now, but it’s become so normal that it’s reached unacceptable levels.”  Former Australian Labor parliamentarian Anthony Gerard “Tony” Lupton, who was in Israel for the event, told The Media Line that his party has undergone significant changes.  “Now we have people who are very much captured by identity politics and by electoral pressure in Western Sydney from Muslim voters, and they have just decided to dump the Jewish community and all their principles,” he said. “That lack of leadership has allowed the genie to get out of the bottle.”  Despite the rising antisemitism and growing interest in aliyah, most Australian Jews said they are not ready to give up on their home country.  “We have to be resilient,” Dvir said. “We have a lot of work to do, and the community is very active and is working very hard to advocate. I don’t think the answer is running away. It’s okay if you want to run toward, but we can’t run away. We just have to right all the wrongs.”  Lupton agreed.  “I think what we need to do is keep convincing the silent majority in Australia to stand up and stand with the Jewish community, to oppose the stance that the Australian government has taken, and to make sure that good principles of decency and the sort of traditional values that Australia has always stood for are put back in place,” he said.      Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

A peek inside some leading research labs shows how scientists-turned-detectives are painstakingly decoding what causes autoimmune diseases and how to stop the immune system from attacking you instead of protecting you. It’s a huge challenge. By the National Institutes of Health’s newest count there are about 140 autoimmune diseases affecting tens of millions of people. Unraveling them requires patience, persistence — and sophisticated technology to even see the suspects. Researchers use laser-powered machinery and brightly colored fluorescent dyes to tell rogue cells from normal ones. Take Type 1 diabetes, caused when cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are gradually killed off by rogue T cells. In a biomedical engineering lab at Johns Hopkins University, researchers examine mouse pancreas cells on a computer screen. Red marks the killer cells. In yellow are “peacemaker” cells that are supposed to tamp down autoimmune reactions – but they’re outnumbered. Another type of immune cell, B cells, drive autoimmune diseases by producing antibodies that mistake healthy tissue for foreign invaders. At NIH, Dr. Iago Pinal-Fernandez studies myositis, a poorly understood group of muscle-weakening diseases. His research shows rogue antibodies don’t just damage muscles by latching onto their surface. They can sneak inside muscle cells and disrupt their normal functions in ways that help explain varying symptoms. “When I started, nothing was known about the type of autoimmune disease we study. Now finally we’re able to tell patients, ’You have this disease and this is the mechanism of disease,” he said. In another NIH lab, Dr. Mariana Kaplan’s team is hunting the root causes of lupus and other autoimmune diseases — what makes the immune system run amok in the first place — and why they so often strike women. Today’s drugs tamp down symptoms but don’t correct the problem. Now in early-phase clinical trials are treatments that instead aim to fix dysfunctional immune pathways. At Hopkins, scientists are working on next-generation versions, not yet ready to try in people. In one lab, they’re developing nanoparticle-based treatment to dial down pancreas-killing cells in Type 1 diabetes and ramp up “peacemaker” cells. And in another Hopkins lab, researchers are developing what they hope will become more precise treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other antibody-driven illnesses – drugs that search out and destroy “bad” B cells. —- The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Scientists are trying a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus and other devastating autoimmune diseases – by reprogramming patients’ out-of-whack immune systems. When your body’s immune cells attack you instead of protecting you, today’s treatments tamp down the friendly fire but they don’t fix what’s causing it. Patients face a lifetime of pricey pills, shots or infusions with some serious side effects — and too often the drugs aren’t enough to keep their disease in check. “We’re entering a new era,” said Dr. Maximilian Konig, a rheumatologist at Johns Hopkins University who’s studying some of the possible new treatments. They offer “the chance to control disease in a way we’ve never seen before.” How? Researchers are altering dysfunctional immune systems, not just suppressing them, in a variety of ways that aim to be more potent and more precise than current therapies. They’re highly experimental and, because of potential side effects, so far largely restricted to patients who’ve exhausted today’s treatments. But people entering early-stage studies are grasping for hope. “What the heck is wrong with my body?” Mileydy Gonzalez, 35, of New York remembers crying, frustrated that nothing was helping her daily lupus pain. Diagnosed at 24, her disease was worsening, attacking her lungs and kidneys. Gonzalez had trouble breathing, needed help to stand and walk and couldn’t pick up her 3-year-old son when last July, her doctor at NYU Langone Health suggested the hospital’s study using a treatment adapted from cancer. Gonzalez had never heard of that CAR-T therapy but decided, “I’m going to trust you.” Over several months, she slowly regained energy and strength. “I can actually run, I can chase my kid,” said Gonzalez, who now is pain- and pill-free. “I had forgotten what it was to be me.” CAR-T was developed to wipe out hard-to-treat blood cancers. But the cells that go bad in leukemias and lymphomas – immune cells called B cells — go awry in a different way in many autoimmune diseases. Some U.S. studies in mice suggested CAR-T therapy might help those diseases. Then in Germany, Dr. Georg Schett at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg tried it with a severely ill young woman who had failed other lupus treatment. After one infusion, she’s been in remission — with no other medicine — since March 2021. Last month, Schett told a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology how his team gradually treated a few dozen more patients, with additional diseases such as myositis and scleroderma — and few relapses so far. Those early results were “shocking,” Hopkins’ Konig recalled. They led to an explosion of clinical trials testing CAR-T therapy in the U.S. and abroad for a growing list of autoimmune diseases. How it works: Immune soldiers called T cells are filtered out of a patient’s blood and sent to a lab, where they’re programmed to destroy their B cell relatives. After some chemotherapy to wipe out additional immune cells, millions of copies of those “living drugs” are infused back into the patient. While autoimmune drugs can target certain B cells, experts say they can’t get rid of those hidden deep in the body. CAR-T therapy targets both the problem B cells and healthy ones that might eventually run amok. Schett theorizes that the deep depletion reboots the immune system so when new B cells eventually form, they’re healthy. CAR-T is grueling, time consuming and costly, in part because it is customized. A CAR-T cancer treatment can cost $500,000. Now some companies are testing off-the-shelf versions, made in advance using cells from healthy donors. Another approach uses “peacekeeper” cells at the center of this year’s Nobel Prize. Regulatory T cells are a rare subset of T cells that tamp down inflammation and help hold back other cells that mistakenly attack healthy tissue. Some biotech companies are engineering cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases not to attack, like CAR-T does, but to calm autoimmune reactions. Scientists also are repurposing another cancer treatment, drugs called T cell engagers, that don’t require custom engineering. These lab-made antibodies act like a matchmaker. They redirect the body’s existing T cells to target antibody-producing B cells, said Erlangen’s Dr. Ricardo Grieshaber-Bouyer, who works with Schett and also studies possible alternatives to CAR-T. Last month, Grieshaber-Bouyer reported giving a course of one such drug, teclistamab, to 10 patients with a variety of diseases including Sjögren’s, myositis and systemic sclerosis. All but one improved significantly and six went into drug-free remission. Rather than wiping out swaths of the immune system, Hopkins’ Konig aims to get more precise, targeting “only that very small population of rogue cells that really causes the damage.” B cells have identifiers, like biological barcodes, showing they can produce faulty antibodies, Konig said. Researchers in his lab are trying to engineer T cell engagers that would only mark “bad” B cells for destruction, leaving healthy ones in place to fight infection. Nearby in another Hopkins lab, biomedical engineer Jordan Green is crafting a way for the immune system to reprogram itself with the help of instructions delivered by messenger RNA, or mRNA, the genetic code used in COVID-19 vaccines. In Green’s lab, a computer screen shines with brightly colored dots that resemble a galaxy. It’s a biological map that shows insulin-producing cells in the pancreas of a mouse. Red marks rogue T cells that destroy insulin production. Yellow indicates those peacemaker regulatory T cells — and they’re outnumbered. Green’s team aims to use that mRNA to instruct certain immune “generals” to curb the bad T cells and send in more peacemakers. They package the mRNA in biodegradable nanoparticles that can be injected like a drug. When the right immune cells get the messages, the hope is they’d “divide, divide, divide and make a whole army of healthy cells that then help treat the disease,” Green said. The researchers will know it’s working if that galaxy-like map shows less red and more yellow. Studies in people are still a few years away. A drug for Type 1 diabetes “is forging the path,” said Dr. Kevin Deane at the University of Colorado Anshutz. Type 1 diabetes develops gradually, and blood tests can spot people who are brewing it. A course of the drug teplizumab is approved to delay the first symptoms, modulating rogue T cells and prolonging insulin production. Deane studies rheumatoid arthritis and hopes to find a similar way to block the joint-destroying disease. About 30% of people with a certain self-reactive antibody in their blood will eventually develop RA. A new study tracked some of those people for seven years, mapping immune changes leading to the disease long before joints become swollen or painful. Those changes are potential drug targets, Deane said. While researchers hunt possible compounds to test, he’s leading another study called StopRA: National to find and learn from more at-risk people. On all these fronts, there’s a tremendous amount of research left to do — and no guarantees. There are questions about CAR-T’s safety and how long its effects last, but it is furthest along in testing. Allie Rubin, 60, of Boca Raton, Florida, spent three decades battling lupus, including scary hospitalizations when it attacked her spinal cord. But she qualified for CAR-T when she also developed lymphoma — and while a serious side effect delayed her recovery, next month will mark two years without a sign of either cancer or lupus. “I just remember I woke up one day and thought, ‘Oh my god, I don’t feel sick anymore,’” she said. That kind of result has researchers optimistic. “We’ve never been closer to getting to — and we don’t like to say it — a potential cure,” said Hopkins’ Konig. “I think the next 10 years will dramatically change our field forever.” —- The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

Israel’s Defense Minister Katz Shuts Down Army Radio Citing Harm to Morale, War Effort   By The Media Line Staff  Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, announced on Wednesday that the military’s radio station, Galei Tzahal, will be shut down, ending 75 years of broadcasts by March 1, 2026. Katz said he will soon submit a formal proposal to the government for approval to carry out the closure.   Explaining the move, Katz said the station had strayed far from its founding purpose as a service for IDF soldiers and their families and added, “The station has harmed the war effort and morale.”   “The Army Radio was created as the voice and ear of the military—not as a platform for commentary that attacks the IDF and its soldiers. Its continued operation drags the army into political discourse and damages its character as the people’s army.”   Katz argued that maintaining a civilian news outlet under military control was “an anomaly without parallel in any democratic country.” He said the closure would help restore public trust in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by keeping it separate from political debate.   Following the decision, Katz said a professional team will be formed within the Defense Ministry to oversee the shutdown and to assist civilian employees at the station in transitioning out of their roles with full protection of their rights. The team will also examine ways to preserve the Galgalatz music and traffic station, maintaining its focus on promoting road safety awareness in keeping with its original purpose.   Critics from across the opposition condemned the move as an attack on Israel’s free press. MK Yair Golan of the Democrats accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to silence critical media voices. “Netanyahu wants to shut down outlets that discuss the commission of inquiry and Qatar money,” he said. “We will defend … investigative journalism.”   MK Gilad Kariv of the Labor Party called the decision “a direct assault on press freedom and a disgraceful attempt to weaken democratic discourse.” He claimed Katz was spreading lies about the station’s journalists and warned that its broadcast frequencies could soon be transferred to businessmen tied to Likud.   If approved, the closure will mark a major change in Israel’s media landscape, ending the military’s direct role in public broadcasting after more than seven decades.       Brought to you by www.srnnews.com