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Fungus threatens to delegitimize Israel

I never cease to be amazed at the strange news items that appear in the Israeli press. And sometimes they are true.

An American-Israeli microbiologist named Dr. Joseph Moshe has been linked to the spread of a deadly airborne fungal disease which is reported to have spread from the United States to Europe. The fungus, called Cryptococcus gatti, is thought to be responsible for several fatalities, causing a worldwide panic. Ha’aretz reports that Israel is worried that tourists will bring the disease there.

There is speculation that the fungi may have originated in a laboratory in Nes Ziona near Tel Aviv where Moshe worked, or from a facility in the United States where he has been more recently employed. The Nes Ziona facility is known to produce biological weapons.

Joseph Moshe was arrested last summer in California for threatening White House officials. Dr. Moshe has allegedly claimed he worked for the Israel intelligence agency, Mossad. It seems this doctor is not a nice Jewish boy.

According to Ha’aretz, Professor Yitzhak Polacheck, who I assume is a nice Jewish boy, declared that any connection between the Nes Ziona laboratory and the deadly fungus is baseless. In addition he avers that if the disease does appear in Israel, he is sure that the authorities are equipped to deal with the problem effectively.

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