Deborah Brand - Page 31

TEL AVIV – Israel’s High Court of Justice on Sunday held the first hearing, which was broadcast live on television, about whether to allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government despite his indictment in three corruption cases.

TEL AVIV – In some good news that coincided with Israel’s 72nd Independence Day, the number of people in Israel who have recovered from the coronavirus has for the first time outnumbered those who are sick.

TEL AVIV – Two new Saudi TV shows sparked outrage among Arab nations and others, including the Hamas terror group, for featuring characters speaking Hebrew and calling for better ties between the Gulf kingdom and Israel.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said his organization should formally censure New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for singling out the Jewish community in a series of tweets over violations of coronavirus restrictions.

TEL AVIV – The U.S. on Monday said it was ready to recognize Israel’s annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but asked Israel’s newly formed unity government to also negotiate with the Palestinians.

TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday said the military had progressed from blocking Iran’s presence in Syria to moving it out entirely.  

TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s recent interview on live TV was interrupted by a gatecrasher in the form of his 8-year-old son. The perennially cool defense minister continues to answer the news anchor’s questions with aplomb, stopping only to kiss or caress the young interloper.

TEL AVIV – Israel coronavirus pandemic will likely spark a massive wave of immigration to Israel, with some 100,000 expats and new arrivals expected to move to the country once the crisis is over, according to Ministry of Absorption statistics.

TEL AVIV — In a strange twist, the coronavirus pandemic has breathed new life into Gaza’s long-abeyant factories which are now working furiously to produce PPE including masks, gloves and protective gowns for Israel.

TEL AVIV – As countries around the world scramble to gain access to ventilators, an Israeli DIY design that can be downloaded for free on the internet is offering a stopgap solution to the shortage by providing the blueprint to build makeshift breathing machines for as little as $500.

TEL AVIV – In a first, a multi-faith gathering of religious leaders including Chief Rabbis, archbishops, patriarchs, imams, and sheikhs joined together in prayer in Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon, in a united call to God to ease the suffering experienced around the world by the coronavirus pandemic.

TEL AVIV – An Israeli hospital will begin testing COVID-19 patients with medicinal cannabis, which is known to have anti-viral properties, as part of a new experimental treatment.

TEL AVIV – Israel’s aid to the Palestinians in the face of the coronavirus pandemic is being met with “poisonous lies and inciting hatred” by the Palestinian leadership, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in an oped published Wednesday on Fox news. 

TEL AVIV – Annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is “ultimately Israel’s decision to make,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a briefing on Wednesday.

TEL AVIV – A Palestinian terrorist rammed his van into a Border Police officer on Wednesday morning at a West Bank checkpoint, then left the vehicle and stabbed the officer with a pair of scissors. The officer was moderately injured. 

Nearly two-thirds of American Jews (63 percent) feel less safe today than a decade ago, according to a survey released by the Anti-Defamation League Tuesday.

TEL AVIV – The Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center announced that it intends to file a class action lawsuit in the coming days, suing China for trillions over alleged negligence involving its handling of the novel coronavirus, Hebrew-language media reported.

TEL AVIV – Anti-Semitic incidents in which Jews are blamed for the spread of the coronavirus and the resultant economic crisis are on the rise around the world, Israeli researchers said in a report released Monday.

TEL AVIV – For the first time, the number of Israelis who have recovered from COVID-19 has exceeded the number of new confirmed cases for three consecutive days, the Health Ministry reported.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz signed a coalition agreement to form a unity government, ending a year and a half political deadlock.

TEL AVIV – Israel’s military has developed a system for converting CPAP breath regulators into respirators in the case that the health system is faced with a shortage of ventilators.

TEL AVIV – Israel announced Thursday it would begin easing coronavirus restrictions as a nationwide Passover curfew ended.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that if Israel’s infection rates and critical COVID-19 cases continue to stabilize, the country would begin to phase out of lockdown after the Passover holiday which ends on Wednesday evening. 

JERUSALEM – The traditional priestly blessing of the Passover holiday occurred at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday morning with only 10 worshipers present, including U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, in keeping with the coronavirus restrictions.

TEL AVIV – Israel on Sunday once again found itself embroiled in a political deadlock after President Reuven Rivlin denied Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s request for a 14-day extension to form a government. 

TEL AVIV – If Israel develops a vaccine against coronavirus, anti-Israel boycotters are still permitted to use it, Omar Barghouti, founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Jewish state said.

TEL AVIV – Inmates in Israeli prisons are manufacturing protective masks in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli news site CTech reported citing the Israel Prison Service (IPS).

TEL AVIV – Israeli scientists said they are “days away” from obtaining the active component of a coronavirus vaccine that could lead to human testing as early as June 1. “We are in the final stages and within a few

JAFFA – Dystopian scenes unfolded in the central Israeli city of Jaffa Wednesday, with residents burning tires and throwing rocks at police after an alleged quarantine violator refused to identify himself.

TEL AVIV – Israel was ranked the safest country to be in during the pandemic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement citing statistics from the Deep Knowledge Group (DKG).

TEL AVIV – The response in Israel to curbing the coronavirus pandemic has been “right on target,” a U.S. data and medical expert told the Times of Israel in an interview.

TEL AVIV – Defense Minister Naftali Bennett (Yamina) on Sunday pointed to the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sectors of Israeli society as being the “problem” in the spread of COVID-19, and called for his ministry to lead the fight against the virus instead of the Health Ministry.

TEL AVIV – Scapegoating Asian-Americans and Jews for the spread of the coronavirus has a “genuine threat” that will rob America of its civility, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder warned in a recent oped.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff will enter quarantine until Health Ministry officials complete an epidemiological investigation into whether he was exposed to the coronavirus, his office said Monday, a day after one of his aides tested positive. 

TEL AVIV – The upcoming holidays of Passover and Ramadan, which fall back to back this year, are a “danger” to the population and threaten to overwhelm the fight against COVID-19, the the Health Ministry’s director-general warned Thursday. 

TEL AVIV – In a dramatic day for Israeli politics, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his erstwhile rival Benny Gantz made an alliance deal as Gantz was voted in as Knesset speaker, prompting his Blue and White party to split up in protest.