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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Wednesday, April 1, 2020

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Police arrest an ultra-Orthodox man as they close a synagogue in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem for violating emergency directives to contain the coronavirus, on March 30, 2020. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Virus cases in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem surge, stoking fears of ‘wildfire’ spread

Cities with large ultra-Orthodox populations see big jump in new diagnoses; police minister says cops carrying out ‘unprecedented enforcement’ in Bnei Brak

The funeral of Aliza Friedman, whose husband Tzvi Friedman is a leader of the so-called Jerusalem Faction, Petah Tikva, April 1, 2020 (Screen grab/Channel 12)

Funeral of hardline rabbi’s wife obeys virus rules despite predicted crowds

Magen David Adom medical team members transfer an Israeli man, suspected of being Covid-19 positive, in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, March 31, 2020. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Bnei Brak evacuates 67 virus carriers to stadium, then to isolation hotels

Passengers wearing masks to help protect against coronavirus arrive at the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on March 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

After nixing plan, Netanyahu now says all arrivals must quarantine in hotels

PM reverses decision to shelve Defense Ministry plan following criticism; says arrivals to be tested upon landing if Israel has enough kits to spare

Illustrative: Israeli travelers who had been stranded in South America arrive at Ben-Gurion airport on March 23, 2020, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, through New York. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

In ‘idiotic’ breach, hundreds from virus epicenters enter Israel with no checks

ILLUSTRATIVE: Police officers detain a man in Beit Shemesh while enforcing social distancing rules on March 31, 2020. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash90)

Israel media reviewUnorthodox understanding of the rules: 6 things to know for April 1

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu updates Israelis on the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, April 1, 2020 (video screenshot)

Live updates (closed)

Netanyahu: If public heeds rules, Passover ‘could be turning point’

By Joshua Davidovich and Itamar Sharon

Prime minister warns against complacency as Israel approaches Jewish holiday, says Italy’s leader told him severe action should be taken early rather than late

8:32 pm

Finance Ministry officials said surprised by PM's announcement of handouts
8:28 pm

13 EU nations 'deeply concerned' after Hungary power grab
8:16 pm

Coronavirus cases top 900,000 worldwide, AFP tally shows

Magen David Adom paramedics in protective gear put a man suspected of having the coronavirus into an ambulance in the the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, March 31, 2020. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

Coronavirus cases in Israel jump to nearly 5,600, death toll rises to 21

Health Ministry figures show largest rise in new cases yet over a 24-hour period; 98-year-old woman dies from virus; 76 patients on ventilators

Illustrative: Police officers at a synagogue in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem as they close shops and disperse public gatherings for violating emergency directives against the coronavirus, March 30, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

6 arrested in ultra-Orthodox town for breaking virus ban on prayer at synagogues

Tamar Peretz-Levi, 49, of Lod, who died of the coronavirus on March 31, 2020. (courtesy)

NIS 1.2 million donated for orphans of Lod woman who died from coronavirus

From the blogs

Nurses are stepping in to say Shema with the patients

Scenes from my day as a nurse on the frontlines of COVID-19 in New York: Asked to lay tefillin on a patient; downloading the Vidui prayer; crying

Paramedics push a gurney with a patient to the Brooklyn Hospital Center Emergency Room in New York on March 31, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP)

Coronavirus death toll in United States passes 4,000

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Total number of deaths in America more than double the tally on Saturday; over 40% of fatalities in New York State

White House projects 100,000 to 240,000 US deaths from virus

By AAMER MADHANI, KEVIN FREKING and Ricardo ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

Spain death toll hits 9,053 as virus cases pass 100,000

By AFP

New York hospitals overflowing with bodies

By ROBERT BUMSTED and Michael R. Sisak

Illustrative: A doctor checks a medical ventilator control panel while wearing protective clothing at the Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, March 16, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Mossad officer describes covert global battle to obtain ventilators at all costs

By Michael Bachner

In TV exposé, senior member of spy agency says Israel — and other countries — has been laying hands on machines ordered by others, in ‘most complex operation’ he’s overseen

For first time ever, more than a million Israelis are unemployed

IDF chief tests negative for coronavirus, but will remain in quarantine – army

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

Israel ramps up testing in Arab communities

Analysis

Haviv Rettig Gur

Netanyahu faces a rebellion on the right as new government takes shape

With growing anger among longtime allies, and some even threatening to bolt, the Likud leader risks an escalating showdown with an intransigent Benny Gantz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to deliver a statement regarding his intention to file a request to the Knesset for immunity from prosecution, in Jerusalem on January 1, 2020. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)

Then-Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, February 19, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Sa’ar: Gantz should prevent ‘inflated’ unity government during time of crisis

For Passover and beyond, Israel needs a ’Loneliness Czar’

The social disconnection that will be felt so acutely during the upcoming holiday, will continue to impact our society for months to come

Coronavirus would be catastrophic for us in the Gaza Strip

I didn’t think the virus would make it into the sealed Gaza Strip. Now it has and I’m terrified: we have no capacity to protect our lives. Don’t forsake us

A seder supplement in the age of coronavirus

’As we break the matza, we think of those whose lives have been split asunder; stricken with this terrible disease.’

Virulant conspiracies

It was just a matter of time before anti-Semites applied their twisted, hate-filled logic to the pandemic. Vigilance is paramount

'Anne Frank Video Diary' scene with Luna Cruz Perez as the diarist (Anne Frank House/Ray van der Bas)

In time for global self-isolation, ‘Anne Frank Video Diary’ premieres on YouTube

By Matt Lebovic

Police officers close synagogues and disperse public gatherings in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea She'arim in Jerusalem, March 31, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Police to beef up enforcement to prevent people celebrating Passover together

Health Ministry official says authorities deeply concerned Israelis will hold Seder night with extended family, leading to surge in virus infections

The empty promenade and beach along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, March 28, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)

Official: Lockdown may ease after Passover, but life to be ‘entirely different’

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, left, and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef attending a New Year’s ceremony at the national headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem, September 7, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel’s chief rabbis say Passover Seder can’t be held via videoconference

By Michael Bachner

Technicians carry out a diagnostic test for coronavirus, March 19, 2020. (Flash90)

Israel’s biological institute reports ‘significant progress’ on virus vaccine

Head of secretive defense facility tells Netanyahu the institute will soon start testing on animals, but working vaccine still long way off

Medical personnel after evacuating a suspected COVID-19 patient at Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, March 31, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Israeli public increasingly anxious, but not panicking, researchers say

Israeli coronavirus carriers partying at Dan Panorama hotel in Tel Aviv, which is currently a quarantine facility, March 2020. (Screenshot: Instagram)

The only place where Israelis are gathering to party: Virus quarantine hotels

A picture taken from the Israeli side of Tarkumiya checkpoint near the southern city of Kiryat Gat shows Palestinian workers crossing into Israel to reach their jobs on November 14, 2019 (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

15 Palestinian workers at Jerusalem poultry factory test positive for virus – PA

Spokesman says seven of the newly confirmed cases traveled from the plant to their West Bank homes and were near other people before health officials tested them for COVID-19

2 more virus cases confirmed in Gaza, bringing total to 12

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Health official says Israel may need to ‘medically annex’ West Bank

Palestinians worry about expenses as virus blocks way to work in Israel

Illustrative: Beds at a new coronavirus critical care unit at Sheba Medical Center (Courtesy)

Analysis

World’s first psychiatric coronavirus ward opens in Israel

Haunted by a disaster in South Korea, doctors enter uncharted territory by opening special facility — having hired actors to help simulate scenarios staff may have to deal with

Illustrative: Magen David Adom workers transferring a woman at Hadassah Ein Karem hospital, in Jerusalem, on March 22, 2020. (Flash90)

Research predicts Israel could see 1,000 serious COVID-19 cases by Passover

By Nathan Jeffay

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is interviewed by Channel 12's Rina Matzliah, February 28, 2020. (Screen capture: Channel 12)

Bennett urges quick end to lockdown: We may have more suicides than virus deaths

A patients is helped from an ambulance as they arrive at St Thomas' Hospital, one of may hospitals that are in the front line of the coronavirus outbreak, in London, March 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Analysis

Why are Jews vastly overrepresented in UK coronavirus deaths?

Local officials try to understand factors, from age, to lifestyle and community habits, to figure out why it appears British Jews are particularly at risk

UK reports record 381 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours

By AFP

After canceled flights, 31 Brazilian Jews zigzag way to new homes in Israel

By Marcus M. Gilban

Anything but routineMexican Jewish dance group bypasses virus by going online

By Marcus M. Gilban

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More Headlines

Larry David in a public service announcement video posted on March 31, 2020, by the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom. (Screenshot: Facebook)

Curb your exitsLarry David rants about ‘idiots’ leaving home in California PSA

Food personality Shaily Lipa shows how to organize the fridge so that there is less wasted food Courtesy Shaily Lipa)

The coronavirus kitchen: What home cooks create during lockdown

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative: Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via JTA)

‘Zoombombing’: With everyone at home, anti-Semites have a new way to harass Jews

By Eric Cortellessa

A guard at the shuttered Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, March 29, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Israel to issue first-ever 100-year bonds to help fund virus rescue package

Favorite Israeli singer Ishay Ribo released a new song this week as he thought about the effects of the coronavirus. (Courtesy: Dudi Hasson)

United in separationSinger Ishay Ribo composes tune to lift Israeli spirits

By Jessica Steinberg

A woman prays in front of the closed Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Old City of Jerusalem, March 25, 2020. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

Claiming discrimination, Vatican urges Holy Sepulchre open for Easter broadcast

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Police officers close synagogues and disperse public gatherings in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus, March 31, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Knesset panel okays controversial phone tracking by Shin Bet to fight virus

By AFP and ToI Staff

Chairman of the Labor party Amir Peretz during a press conference in Tel Aviv, March 12, 2020. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Relatives of Labor party chief among Moroccan Jews to die of COVID-19

German medical employees demonstrate testing at a coronavirus test center for public service employees, during a media presentation in Munich, Germany, March 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

Mass testing, empty ICUs: Germany scores early against virus

By Frank Jordans

F-16 jets fly above the Herzliya airport on November 15, 2019. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Syrian media says Israeli war planes attack near Homs

By ToI Staff and AP

A pairing of cards from Kiruv vs. Humanity. (Courtesy)

Competitive blasphemyThe irreverent Jew in your life will eternally burn for this game

By Yaakov Schwartz

Rabbi Barry Freundel exits a courthouse after entering his guilty plea, February 19, 2015. (Dmitriy Shapiro/Washington Jewish Week via JTA)

Mikveh-peeping DC rabbi set for early prison release

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