Join our Community

Support ToI and remove all ads

Learn more

English
Français
עברית

Get The Daily Edition
Account
Sign In
- Sign in
- Join our Community

Open Search form

Israel & the Region
Jewish Times
Israel Inside
Tech Israel
Real Estate Israel
The Blogs
Podcasts
Video
Newsletters
Partners

Input search

English
Français
עברית

Latest Articles
Latest Alerts
Israel & the Region
Jewish Times
Israel Inside
Tech Israel
Real Estate Israel
The Blogs
Podcasts
Video
Newsletters
Partners
Community
- Join our community
- Sign in
- About The Times of Israel
- Advertise on The Times of Israel
- Contact us
- Download our App
  - For IOS users
  - For Android users
- Get the Daily Edition
- Follow us
- © 2026 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved
  
  Terms and conditions Privacy policy Your Privacy Rights

Input search

The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Facebook
Twitter

View previous edition

View next edition

Workers disinfect the Bar Kol Supermarket in Safed, March 16, 2020, as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (David Cohen/Flash90)

One network defines new guidelines as 'voluntary lockdown'

In partial lockdown, Israelis told not to leave home unless necessary

As country edges closer to full closure, Health Ministry instructs: Avoid beaches, parks, minimize social contact, reduce funeral participants to bare minimum

The director of the epidemics service, Dr. Karina Glick, checking a patient's monitor while wearing protective clothing, during a press presentation on hospital services for future patients with coronavirus at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, on March 16, 2020, in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. (Jack Guez/AFP)

‘Drive through’ virus tests to begin; medics hope to administer 6,000 a day

Israelis enjoy the beach in Tel Aviv, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Officials fume as Israelis ignore rules, crowding beaches, stores and IDF bases

Illustrative: Interior Minister Aryeh Deri leads a Shas faction meeting at the Knesset on May 27, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Ministers Deri, Hanegbi and 2 MKs sent to quarantine after meeting virus carrier

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

Four government officials met in recent days with local leader Shai Hajaj, who has now been diagnosed with coronavirus

9:30 pm

Ministers Deri, Hanegbi and 2 MKs to enter quarantine after meeting virus carrier
9:02 pm

Source of infection unknown for two more virus patients
8:33 pm

Brooklyn Nets say 4 players test positive for coronavirus

Shin Bet chief: Sensitivities around this are clear to me

Removing safeguards and oversight, cabinet okays mass surveillance to halt virus

By Judah Ari Gross

Government reneges on its promises that phone tracking program would get approval from Knesset, last only 30 days, and that all data from it would be deleted immediately

Two women take a selfie as they wear face masks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2020. (AP/Oded Balilty)

Illustrative: Magen David Adom workers in protective clothing arrive to test a patient with symptoms of COVID-19 in Jerusalem, March 16, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Knesset committee chair slams cabinet’s phone tracking decision as ‘power grab’

By Judah Ari Gross

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on March 16, 2020 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu: Ministers to approve mass surveillance to halt COVID-19 spread

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on March 12, 2020. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool/Flash90)

Israel media review

The night is dark and full of tracking: 6 things to know for March 17

By Joshua Davidovich

A middle-of-the-night cabinet decision to okay shadowing citizens whose only crime was getting sick or being near a sick person spreads alarm faster than a virus

Illustrative: Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz holds a press conference at Kfar Maccabia on March 7 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Gantz urges Knesset committees be set up fast, to oversee digital monitoring

By Raoul Wootliff and ToI Staff

A stock market ticker screen in the lobby of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, in the center of Tel Aviv, March 15, 2020. (Flash90)

Trading on Tel Aviv stock exchange halted as major indices plunge over 7%

By ToI Staff and AP

A nearly empty plenum, due to restrictions against the coronavirus, is seen at the swearing-in of the 23rd Knesset, March 16, 2020. At left is Benny Gantz. Center, with back to camera, is Benjamin Netanyahu (Gideon Sharon/Knesset Spokesperson)

In surreal scenes, Knesset sworn in 3 members at a time amid virus crisis

‘Give this people a government,’ pleads president in speech to near-empty chamber; Likud’s Tzachi Hanegbi arrives to take oath despite exposure to suspected COVID-19 patient

Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi on September 17, 2019. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Likud minister enters Knesset despite possible exposure to COVID-19

A worker disinfecting the Knesset on March 15, 2020. (Adine Wolman/Knesset Spokesperson's Office)

Toxic politicsKnesset fumigated ahead of swearing-in, over virus fears

We’re all women now

With quarantines and shuttered synagogues keeping us home, we have a golden opportunity to recalibrate Jewish observance

Jews, cancel everything

I’m a veteran expert in stopping epidemics. My medical and Jewish advice is: Don’t congregate, touch, kiss, share challah. Do be kind.

Tamar Wyschogrod

In Trump’s COVID-19 response, a troubling echo of the past

Once upon a time there was an unhinged, megalomaniacal, authoritarian leader who turned an epidemic into a humanitarian crisis

Staying home with God

Sure, praying and studying Torah in public is nice, but you can fulfill these mitzvot very well in the privacy of your own home — and you should!

Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen attends a party faction meeting in Tel Aviv on April 1, 2019. (Flash90)

Economy minister says lockdown of whole country still a possibility

By Raoul Wootliff

Officials considering dramatically increasing restrictions on movement for all Israelis in a bid to further slow the spread of the coronavirus

Kiryat Ye'arim, a small town near Jerusalem. June 29, 2010. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Health Ministry mulls closure of virus-plagued town near Jerusalem

People pray in enclosed areas allowing prayers of 10 people in a time, at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, March 15, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

26 more coronavirus cases confirmed, bringing Israel’s total to 324

Workers inside a building at Tel HaShomer Hospital which was converted to receive Israelis who were under quarantine on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan due to the spread of the coronavirus, February 20, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Israel seeking to avert worst-case scenario of 21,600 virus deaths – report

Mathematical model prepared for Health Ministry says as many as 1,440,000 Israelis could be infected without containment measures

Viruses expected to increase with global warming – expert

Foreign Ministry to help Israelis stranded in Peru after border closure

20 million swabs for virus tests could be useless amid ‘commercial’ spat

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, speaks at a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on March 16, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Public sector goes on emergency footing, with PM promising ‘economic safety net’

To stem spread of coronavirus, private sector must thin 70% of in-office staff, 80% of government workers to go on vacation until after Passover

Think tank: Israel wouldn’t be grinding to halt if hospitals were better funded

By Nathan Jeffay

Pandemic will cost Israel NIS 45 billion, wipe out growth, Treasury says

One-third of Israeli tech firms planning layoffs due to pandemic, survey finds

US President Donald Trump (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan at the White House, January 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images via JTA)

Analysis

Why Trump and Netanyahu handle the coronavirus outbreak in very different ways

Israeli leader is a career official in a country used to dealing with crises, often through national effort; US leader is businessman used to being listened to and getting his way

A Palestinian sanitary department worker sprays disinfectant on March 16, 2020 around the refugee camp of Aida near Bethlehem. (Musa Al SHAER / AFP)

Israel tightens restrictions on Palestinian workers, bars them from commuting

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett inspects the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv, which was converted into a quarantine facility for carriers of the coronavirus on March 16, 2020. (Naftali Bennett's Twitter account)

IDF readies hotels to house coronavirus patients with light symptoms

By Judah Ari Gross

Head of the Blue and White party Benny Gantz (R) and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman speak to the press after their meeting in Ramat Gan on March 9, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Blue and White, Yisrael Beytenu file bills aimed at disqualifying Netanyahu

PM’s rivals Gantz and Liberman float 4 proposed laws as Knesset is sworn in, each of which could result in premier’s ouster

Blue and White vows to go to High Court if no vote to choose Knesset speaker

Gantz calls Arab party leader, says he will form government ‘for all citizens’

SpeechGantz full text: I aim to form a national, patriotic, broad government in days

Rabbi Shalom Greenberg distributed thousands of masks and aid kits to Jews and non-Jews in Shanghai's Hongkou district. (Courtesy Chabad Shanghai)

As virus ravages Asia, Jews carry on through faith in God and fellow man

By Rich Tenorio

Despite longstanding measures to maintain distance, communities across China, Japan, and Korea manage to still come together — and are even planning for communal Passovers

A cleric and a woman pray behind a closed door of Masoume shrine in the city of Qom, some 80 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo)

Iran warns virus could kill ‘millions’ in Islamic Republic

By Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell

A woman walks through a lightly trafficked Times Square in New York, March 16, 2020. (AP/Seth Wenig)

China nearly coronavirus-free as rest of world grapples with disease

By Aritz Parra and ADAM GELLER

A locust sitting on a cactus. (Anna Kaplan/ Flash90)

Plague of locusts set to descend upon Middle East in time for Passover

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

‘Extremely alarming’ desert locust swarms forming in Horn of Africa — but will skip Holy Land

Screen capture from video showing people running for cover as eggplants rain from the sky in a prank clip made in Iran. (YouTube)

Busted ganoushIran arrests five over prank eggplant-rain video

By AFP

Join The Times of Israel Community!

Help support our journalism and enjoy the site ADS FREE - for as little as $6 a month

JOIN US

More Headlines

Michele Sciama in an undated photo. (Facebook via JTA)

Former head of Milan Jewish community dies from coronavirus

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Bullets that police say were stolen from military bases and were allegedly due to be sold to Palestinians in the West Bank by a weapon smuggling ring indicted on March 16, 2020. (Israel Police)

Security forces bust weapon smuggling ring that stole ammo from IDF bases

By Judah Ari Gross

Israelis wait in line outside a bank near the Hatikva Market, Tel Aviv, March 15, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Bank of Israel orders most retail banks closed, special services for elderly

Illustrative: Trader Gregory Rowe works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the end of the trading day, March 16, 2020. (AP/Craig Ruttle)

US stock market tumbles to worst finish since 1987

By STAN CHOE and DAMIAN J. TROISE

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a television address, in Ciboure, southwestern France, March 16, 2020. (Bob Edme/AP)

France’s Macron tells public not to go out unless they really have to

By Thomas Adamson, LORNE COOK and Samuel Petrequin

Michael Steinmetz is the Jewish entrepreneur behind Flow Kana and the Flow Cannabis Institute. (Courtesy of Flow Kana/ via JTA)

‘King of Weed’: Meet the Jewish mogul who’s smokin’ the competition

By Gabe Stutman

Illustrative: Magen David Adom workers in protective clothing arrive to test a patient with symptoms of COVID-19 in Jerusalem, March 16, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police chase down suspected virus patient who bolted hospital, took train

By Stuart Winer

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, in Washington, March 16, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP)

US tells older people to stay home, all ages to avoid crowds

By Jonathan Lemire, Andrew Taylor and Jill Colvin

Amer Fakhoury holds his granddaughter, Kira, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, June 2016. (Guila Fakhoury via AP, File)

Lebanon military court orders Lebanese-American released

US President Donald Trump arrives to speak, with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, center, and Adm. Brett Giroir, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Health, during a briefing about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, March 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Washington alleges foreign disinformation campaign stoking virus fear – sources

By Zeke Miller and Colleen Long

Women celebrate completing the 7 1/2-year cycle of Talmud study at a ceremony held by the organization Hadran in Jerusalem, January 2020. (Screenshot from YouTube/via JTA)

In the new Daf Yomi cycle, daily Talmud study is reaching new populations

A cleric and a woman pray behind a closed door of the Fatima Masumeh shrine in the city of Qom, Iran, March 16, 2020. (AP Photo)

Hard-line Shiites storm Iran shrines closed over coronavirus

By Jon Gambrell

View Edition by Date

February	March 2020					April
Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa	Su
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31

The Times of Israel

Daily Edition

Free to Your Inbox

The email is either missing or invalid.

By signing up, you agree to our terms You hereby accept The Times of Israel Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and you agree to receive the latest news & offers from The Times of Israel and its partners or ad sponsors.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Israel & the Region
Jewish Times
Israel Inside
Tech Israel
Real Estate Israel
The Blogs
podcasts
video

terms and conditions
privacy policy
Your Privacy Rights
about us
advertise with us
Jobs at The Times of Israel
contact us

Community

Join our community
Sign in

Get the Daily Edition

Enter your email address

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Whatsapp Follow us on X Follow us on Youtube Follow us on Telegram Follow us on Threads Follow us on Bluesky

© 2026 The Times of Israel, all rights reserved

Concept, design & development by

Developed by

Powered by

Never miss breaking news on Israel

Get notifications to stay updated

You're subscribed

Register for free
and continue reading

Registering allows you to manage your newsletters and alerts and helps us improve your experience. It takes just a few seconds.
Already registered? Enter your email to sign in.

Email address

Please use the following structure: example@domain.com

Or Continue with

By registering you agree to the terms and conditions. Once registered, you’ll receive our Daily Edition email for free.

Send me The Times of Israel Daily Edition

Register to continue

Email address

Or Continue with

Log in to continue

Email address

Something went wrong.
Please try again in a few minutes..

Sign in or Register

Email address * Password *

Incorrect password. Please try again or choose an option below.

I forgot my password / Send me a sign in link

Or Continue with

check your email

Check your email

We sent an email to you at .

It has a link that will sign you in.

Click the link in that email to complete your registration.