USA - Israel Can Lead Medical AI Revolution

Prof. Regina Barzilay, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of the world’s foremost figures in medical AI, said Israel is uniquely suited to play a central role in the AI in healthcare revolution.

Unlike many countries, Israel’s healthcare system brings providers and payers under the same organizational roof. That structure, Barzilay explained, creates an environment where innovation can move faster, data can be used more effectively, and AI tools can be tested and scaled with fewer barriers.

“[…] The point is not only to detect [disease] earlier, but to show at the population level that it changes the outcomes,” Barzilay said.

In breast cancer, for example, the goal is to prevent women from needing late-stage treatments, which are more expensive, more complex, and associated with poorer outcomes. Israeli companies, she added, are particularly well-positioned to demonstrate this kind of impact.

Barzilay was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel in her 20s. Today, she lives in the United States and is the School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of AI and Health in the Department of Computer Science, and the AI faculty lead at the MIT Jameel Clinic. She was recently named by Time magazine as one of the world’s most influential people in AI.

-themedialine.org, 11 January 2026

Commentary: When it comes to the medical field utilizing AI, a great door of opportunity presents itself to Israel’s high-tech sector.

In August 1991, a small part of the former Soviet Union became Moldova. While gaining full UN recognition in March 1992, borders are still not fully established with neighboring Romania, and especially with the Russian-back separatists in Transnistria.

It was from the former Soviet Union that over 2 million Jews moved out, and many to the land of Israel. Major immigration began in the 1970s, followed by a larger surge of Jews in 1987 and 1995, peaking after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

When viewed on a world map, one notices that north of Israel lies Lebanon, Turkey, the Black Sea; then Ukraine, and to the west Moldova.

When speaking of the former Soviet Union, we take note that the establishment of the Jewish State was overwhelming brought about by the participation of Jews from the USSR.

Of the 37 members of the Moetzet HaAm (People’s Council), all but seven originate from the Soviet Bloc: one born in Israel, three in Germany, one in Denmark, and one in Yemen.

We notice the following declaration of the prophet Jeremiah: “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers” (Jeremiah 16:14-15).

What is the hidden motive of the Jewish State? Here Jeremiah declares: “Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD” (verse 21).