Deal reached: Gantz and Netanyahu sign unity agreement

By David Isaac, World Israel News— Against what appeared all odds, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz signed an agreement for a unity government. The breakthrough came late Monday shortly before the start of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The agreement brings to a close a political crisis that has…

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The Palestinian Virus: Abbas’s Role Models

By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute— Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has not been seen in public since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the region last month. His absence, however, has not stopped Abbas from doing what he does best: praising and glorifying Palestinians who kill Jews. On April 16, Palestinians marked the anniversary…

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Corona fatalities climb as Israel mulls lockdown exit strategy

By Maytal Yasur Beit-Or, Israel Hayom— As of Friday morning, the number of coronavirus fatalities in Israel now stands at 148 people, the Health Ministry said. An additional six people passed away overnight Thursday. Altogether, there are 12,855 confirmed cases in Israel – an increase of 97 cases compared to Thursday night. In the Arab…

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Pandemics, Palestinian incitement and peace

By Caroline Glick, Carolineglick.com A few weeks ago, officials in Israel’s Health Ministry were calling for Israel to “medically annex Judea and Samaria” for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. The notion was that while Israel and the Palestinian Authority are separate political entities, from a public health perspective, they are indivisible. On a practical…

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Who works to help spread ancient blood libels?

By Sarah Stern, EMET— Dating back to the International Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001, many of the human-rights organizations that the public turns to for objective data have increasingly not been part of the solution, but part of the problem. With 1,500 organizations present, the Durban conference transformed itself into a…

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Coronavirus has gone global, but In Iran, it’s the Khamenei virus

By Reza Behrouz, Al Arabiya— In a televised address, the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei claimed last week that the coronavirus pandemic has caused more than one million fatalities worldwide. This statement was given in spite of international organizations estimating the global number of virus-related deaths at just under 90,000. Khamenei also claimed that…

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Defense officials to weigh Memorial Day-Independence Day lockdown, report says

By The Times of Israel— Officials from the National Security Council and Defense Ministry are reportedly set to meet on Wednesday night to discuss a lockdown from the eve of Memorial Day on April 27th until the end of Independence Day on April 29th. Defense officials are concerned about crowding at cemeteries where bereaved families…

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Palestinians: Don’t Believe UNRWA, They Are Not Helping

By Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute— The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) claims that it is on the “frontlines of responding to COVID-19,” and its officials are appealing for donations to help Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. According to an UNRWA statement from April 5: “UNRWA is doing its part to flatten…

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Corona crisis, Israel’s unity government, and Israeli national security

By Jacob Nagel and Jonathan Schanzer, Jerusalem Post—- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first world leaders to understand the dangers of the coronavirus. He locked down the country in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Even so, the country’s economy has been hammered by the pandemic. The economic slowdown has…

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Gridlocked Israel nears 4th consecutive election

By Associated Press— Israel’s president on Sunday turned down a request from Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz for a two-week extension to form a new coalition government. The announcement by President Reuven Rivlin means that Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have a midnight deadline on Monday night to reach a power-sharing deal.…

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Coronvirus update: 11,145 patients – 183 in serious condition

By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, JPost— For the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Israel, there has been a decrease in the number of people on ventilators. There were 123 being intubated at 8 a.m. Sunday vs.132 people 24 hours before. However, at press time, the total number was back to 131. While some…

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How to Contend with the Coronavirus Crisis: A Jewish View

By Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post— In the Great Plague of London in 1665-6, nearly a quarter of the city’s population perished, while the Third Plague Pandemic, which struck beginning in 1855, led to more than 1 million deaths in China and over 10 million in India. Sadly, there are numerous other instances as well. But…

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