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 Thursday, April 30, 2020

Facebook
Twitter

View previous edition

View next edition

Redacted FBI document hints at Israeli efforts to help Trump in 2016 campaign

By ToI Staff and AP

Affidavit quotes Trump confidant Roger Stone being told by a Jerusalem contact: ‘He is going to be defeated unless we intervene. We have critical intell. The key is in your hands!’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and US President Donald Trump shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP/Sebastian Scheiner)

WhatsApp said to accuse Israel’s NSO Group of deep involvement in hacking op

The medical team at the coronavirus unit in Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center, Bnei Brak, April 27, 2020 (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

4 deaths raise virus toll to 219, but new infections continue downward slide

Health Ministry data shows 88 confirmed cases in last 24 hours; over half of the 15,870 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have regained their health

People run near the beach in Tel Aviv on March 19, 2020 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Government lifts 500-meter restriction on exercising outdoors

ToI investigatesVirus lockdowns may be hiding an outbreak of violence against women, children

Op-ed

It’s not over, and uncertainty abounds, but Israel’s COVID-19 stats are stunning

Are we younger, more hygienic, less kissy? No. We have great doctors and nurses, but so do other countries. And we’ve made many mistakes. So how has Israel kept a lid on the virus?

Medical staff cheer an Israeli air force aerobatic team flying over Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv on Israel's 72nd Independence Day, April 29, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

People play a makeshift ball game inside an apartment backdropped by London city buildings, as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, April 28, 2020. (Victoria Jones / PA via AP)

With 26,097 fatalities, UK has world’s third-highest virus death toll

Shoppers clad in protective gear, including face masks and shields and latex gloves, due to the coronavirus pandemic, walk through the Tajrish Bazaar in Iran's capital Tehran, April 25, 2020. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran coronavirus toll tops 6,000

By AFP

Analysis

Shoshanna Solomon

Businesses, economists decry ‘lack of leadership’ as pandemic batters economy

Ad hoc addenda, poor implementation and too little, too late — a chorus of criticism for the government’s aid measures comes from firms big and small, along with the self-employed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in Jerusalem on March 11, 2019. (Aharon Krohn/Flash90)

A traveler wearing a protective mask checks her phone at the arrivals hall of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on March 10, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Knesset committee extends Shin Bet tracking of virus carriers till Tuesday

An Israeli flag is seen flying at sunset in the coastal city of Netanya on April 29, 2020, during Israel's 72nd Independence Day. (Jack Guez/AFP)

Independence Day curfew ends as Israel moves toward easing more restrictions

A New York City police officer keeps watch as hundreds of mourners gather in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, to observe a funeral for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, a Hasidic Orthodox leader whose death was reportedly tied to the coronavirus. (Peter Gerber via AP)

Analysis

Inside story of the funeral of a NY rabbi, a COVID-19 victim, that went so wrong

The police wanted to help and ‘barricaded the streets.’ The synagogue aimed for a respectful, socially distant funeral. It didn’t work out that way. And then came the mayor…

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wears a mask while honoring healthcare workers at Brooklyn's Kings County Hospital Center at a ceremony during the coronavirus pandemic, April 24, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Slammed for lashing out at NY Jews, mayor has no regrets for calling out danger

By ToI Staff and AP

Shulem Lemmer is a pop star in his community -- and still a cantor, too. (Meredith Truax/ via JTA)

InterviewShulem Lemmer on being the 1st artist raised Hasidic to sign a major record deal

By Curt Schleier

Workers clean a classroom at Luba Eliav primary school in Rishon Lezion on April 30, 2020. (Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

State-funded study calls for abundance of caution in opening schools

By Michael Bachner and Joshua Davidovich

Authors of paper to be used as basis for decision on school openings show children not immune from catching or transmitting virus, but admit findings are preliminary

8:28 pm

Hospital ship leaves New York as New Jersey leapfrogs death toll
8:11 pm

Energy Minister: ICC prosecutor skewing international law to hurt Israel
7:51 pm

Reform summer camps won't open this year

Sir Mick Davis: Israeli politics violate Diaspora values

Writing in the Jewish News, a major UK donor to Israel says the breakdown of its democratic values is an existential challenge to ties with the diaspora

Adam S. Ferziger

American Jews are suffering. Can Israel help without patronizing?

With the pandemic’s devastating and disproportionate toll on centers of US Jewish life, a historical dynamic of aid-giving is reversed

When Satmar met Wellhausen

5 Hasidim read my book on biblical criticism and wanted more; when we met on Zoom, I found like-minded thinkers in an unexpected quarter

A Hasidic Woman in Israel

The cold crown of corona

Our pride in belonging to the Haredi community is on the wane – and our desire for the internet is rising

Democratic presidential candidate former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP/Matt Rourke)

Biden says he’ll keep US embassy in Jerusalem if elected

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Democratic candidate says he opposed Trump’s ‘short-sighted and frivolous’ decision to move mission, but ‘now that it’s done, I would not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv’

Former vice president Joe Biden speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, DC, March 15, 2020. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Biden under pressure to address sexual assault allegation

By Elodie Cuzin

AnalysisAs Biden sex assault claim builds, some Jewish women reconsider their support

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell addresses a video press conference at the conclusion of a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, April 22, 2020. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

Analysis

Lots of bark, some actual bite? How the world will react to West Bank annexation

The international community fiercely opposes the move, but what would it do about it? In this time of pandemic, ‘there will be little patience with Israel,’ ex-Mossad chief warns

Workers pick peppers in Tzofar on February 14, 2018.(Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Access for Israeli farmers to Jordan border enclave comes to an end Thursday

An Israeli patient waits in the corridor of the Barzlai Medical Center in Ashkelon, southern Israel, February 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

High Court rules hospitals can’t stop visitors bringing in bread during Passover

Ruling says guards can’t search belongings of visitors or make remarks about bringing in food that isn’t kosher for Passover; draws immediate rebuke from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers

Acting State Attorney Dan Eldad (State Prosecution website portrait)

Court freezes extension of acting state attorney’s tenure, which expires Monday

Illustrative: Hezbollah operatives stand in formation at a rally to mark Jerusalem Day, or Al-Quds Day, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on May 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Germany outlaws all Hezbollah activities, including by political wing

By Raphael Ahren

As ban comes into effect, police raids groups affiliated with Lebanese terror organization; Israel hails ‘valuable and significant step in the global fight against terrorism’

In this photo released April 22, 2020, by Sepahnews, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division, stands in front of an Iranian rocket carrying a satellite in an undisclosed site believed to be in Iran's Semnan province. (Sepahnews via AP)

Iran now ‘a superpower,’ Iranian general boasts after satellite launch

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a news conference at the State Department on April 29, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Harnik/POOL/AFP)

Pompeo says US to seek all ways to extend Iran arms embargo

By AFP

An empty classroom is seen in a closed primary school in Ramat Gan, Israel, March 15, 2020. (AP/Oded Balilty)

Israel media review

Learning the hard way: 6 things to know for April 30

By Joshua Davidovich

Questions regarding plans to reopen schools and kindergartens are on the rise even as infections drop and Israel looks for some sort of ‘normal’

Children wearing face masks in a field at Hasharon Park, in Hadera, on March 23, 2020. (Chen Leopold/Flash90)

How to prepare your kids for school in a pandemic: Q&A on a safe return to class

By Nathan Jeffay

Children wear protective face masks in Tel Aviv, March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Health Ministry said to caution against reopening of kindergartens Sunday

Pope Pius XII in an undated photograph. (AP)

Researchers say Vatican archives show pope Pius XII knew of WWII killing of Jews

By ToI Staff and Agencies

German scholars exploring newly opened trove of documents find letter indicating pope was aware of massacre of Jews in Warsaw and Lviv from own sources, but denied it to Americans

A screenshot of the meme of Anne Frank shared on the WhatsApp group of the young supporters of the Forum for Democracy party in the Netherlands. (HPDeTijd via JTA)

Dutch right-wingers share meme of Anne Frank snorting cocaine

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Stephan Ernst, center, is escorted to a helicopter in Karlsruhe, Germany, after being arrested for the murder of a regional politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, July 2, 2019. (Uli Deck/dpa via AP)

Germany charges neo-Nazi with murder of pro-refugee politician

By AFP

Leah Goldin, right, and her husband Simcha Goldin and other family members and supporters gather outside the state memorial ceremony for Operation Protective Edge at Mount Herzl on July 23, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Prisoner swap with Hamas gains momentum as hostage negotiator updates families

Coronavirus threat has apparently opened a political window in Gaza for a possible deal, with terror group’s leaders eager to see some of the blockade on the Strip lifted

The scene after a Palestinian man drove his car into the Reihan checkpoint in the northern West Bank in a suspected attack, April 29, 2020 (Defense Ministry)

Palestinian drives car into West Bank checkpoint in suspected attack

The Itamar settlement on January 30, 2020. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

Body of Palestinian found near settlement after failed cattle theft

A vial of Gilead Sciences' remdesivir drug is seen during a press conference about the start of a study with drug in particularly ill coronavirus patients at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, northern Germany on April 8, 2020. (Ulrich Perrey/Pool/AFP)

Experimental drug declared by US as first effective treatment against COVID-19

By Martin Crutsinger, MARILYNN MARCHIONE and Anne D'Innocenzio

Dr. Anthony Fauci says trial on patients shows GIlead Sciences remdesivir ‘can block this virus,’ American government to work to boost availability of the antiviral medication

Report: Israeli got $69m from New York state for ventilators, failed to deliver

Trump says he won’t extend social distancing guidelines, plans to restart travel

By KEVIN FREKING and Jill Colvin

Kushner ‘de facto president’ during COVID-19 crisis, WH sources said to claim

By JTA

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

A yellow scorpion in the Negev Desert (Ester Inbar, public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Boy, 6, in serious condition after ‘deathstalker’ scorpion sting

US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) attend a press conference in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP)

Trump touts his ‘significant actions’ for Israel in birthday letter

2020 International Bible Quiz winner Ruth Cohen, April 29, 2020. (Screen capture: Channel 11)

No contestFor first time in decade, female student wins top Bible quiz

Ellie Balouka is bringing in 'simple and delicious' meals, like this chicken salad sandwich, that don’t require reheating. (Courtesy of Balouka/ via JTA)

Special deliveriesParis chef provides free gourmet kosher meals to Jewish doctors and nurses

By Josefin Dolsten

The 19 cantors who gathered together to sing 'Avinu Shebashamayim,' the liturgical anthem for peace in Israel, in honor of Israel's 72nd birthday, April 29, 2020 (Courtesy JVocals)

Peace pipesFamed cantors join voices to sing prayer for unity

By Jessica Steinberg

Shira Haas arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of 'The Zookeeper's Wife' at The ArcLight Hollywood on March 27, 2017. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Israeli movie ‘Asia’ scoops 3 prizes at Tribeca Film Festival

By Agencies and ToI Staff

A general view of Long Street, usually one of the busiest and most popular entertainment areas in Cape Town, South Africa, with bars, clubs and restaurants, under a billboard reading 'Stay Home' amid a coronavirus lockdown, on April 3, 2020. (Rodger Bosch/AFP)

South African Jewish community records first COVID-19 death

In this July 8, 2013, photo Denis Goldberg, a friend and prisoner with former South African President Nelson Mandela, attends an event of the 50th anniversary of the raid against him and other former African National Congress leaders at the Liliesleaf Farm in the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber/File)

South African anti-apartheid activist who stood trial alongside Mandela dies

By AP

A member of a non-governmental aid organization measures temperature as a preventive measure for coronavirus in the town of Kafr Takharim, Idlib province, Syria, April 14, 2020. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

UN warns of potential coronavirus tragedy in Syria

By Edith M. Lederer

People near the German central DITIB mosque in Cologne, Germany, March 15, 2020, after the city banned religious services due to the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Germany’s top court rules against virus ban on religious services

By AFP

A firetruck is seen after a 86-year-old man was killed in a fire at a home in the central town of Matan on April 29, 2020. (Screen capture: Ynet)

86-year-old man killed in blaze at home in central Israel

Shira Haas speaks with Jonah, Henry and Ben Platt during a virtual Israel Independence Day celebration, April 29, 2020. (Screenshot via YouTube)

Party onStars join virtual ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day

By Josefin Dolsten

View Edition by Date

March	April 2020					May
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

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.