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 Monday, May 4, 2020

Facebook
Twitter

View previous edition

View next edition

From left to right: Justice Hanan Melcer, Chief Justice Esther Hayut and Justice Neal Hendel at the High Court of Justice on May 4, 2020. (Screenshot)

High Court pans coalition deal, but signals no ruling until relevant laws passed

By ToI Staff and Jacob Magid

Justices highlight problematic clauses, such as freezing senior appointments and non-virus-related legislation for 6 months, Blue and White’s planned expansion of ‘Norwegian Law’

High Court justices at a court session on petitions filed against the proposed government in Jerusalem on May 3, 2020. (Yossi Zamir/POOL)

Ending first day of hearings, High Court signals it won’t veto Netanyahu gov’t

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut (C) during High Court of Justice deliberations on petitions against Benjamin Netanyahu being appointed prime minister, on May 3, 2020. (Yossi Zamir/Pool)

Israel media reviewHanging in the balance: 5 things to know for May 4

Closed shops in the Mamilla Mall near Jerusalem's Old City, April 22, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Cabinet meets as virus cases drop, could reopen malls and markets by Thursday

By Michael Bachner

Gov’t also said set to reopen more public spaces, cancel limit on leaving home, allow family visits; officials rap Health Ministry for last-minute demands from malls, businesses

Israelis enjoy the blooming of flowers in the Dead Sea, February 20, 2020. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash90)

Israel said to join tourism compact for countries bringing virus under control

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut, center, arrives with fellow justices at a court hearing on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to authorize Israel’s Shin Bet security agency to use cellphone location data to track coronavirus carriers, March 19, 2019. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Gov’t expected to push legislation enabling ongoing tracking of virus carriers

Illustrative: A toilet bowl in a bathroom (belchonock; iStock via Getty Images)

Down the tubes: How Israel’s poop may help prevent second coronavirus wave

By Nathan Jeffay

Scientists say analyzing sewage from across the nation can help pinpoint infection areas and nip new cases in the bud

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference about the coronavirus at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, March 25, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Netanyahu admits lackluster support for small businesses amid crisis, vows fix

Magen David Adom medics wearing protective clothing with a patient outside the coronavirus unit at Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem on April 30, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Woman said hospitalized again with COVID-19 a month after recovering

Still from a video showing dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea, April 2020. (Guy Lavian, Eviatar Ben Avi, Israel Nature and Parks Authority).

Honor guard

Dolphin pod treats marine inspectors to special escort

Around 20 of an estimated local population of 30 to 40 dolphins, endangered in the Mediterreanean Sea, accompany Israel Nature and Parks Authority patrol boat

A whale shark spotted off the coast of Eilat on May 3, 2020. (Omri Omasi/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

Mommy sharkWhale shark, world’s largest fish, spotted off Eilat coast

'An Open Air Minyan' by Zoya Cherkassky (Courtesy of the artist)

Locked down? Open up to… artist Zoya Cherkassky

By Renee Ghert-Zand

A man takes the temperature of a customer to check if she has a fever, at an entrance to the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, May 04, 2020. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

New virus cases continue drop with 29 overnight; 2 more deaths take toll to 234

Total national cases at 16,237, of whom 9,858 have recovered; number of patients on ventilators down to 72

Illustrative: Elementary students wear protective face masks as they return to school for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus, May 3, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Schools to reopen Monday, Tuesday in cities that chose to wait over virus fears

Natan Sharansky on June 24, 2018 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Natan Sharansky to use Genesis Prize proceeds to fight coronavirus

By Josef Federman

Sala Glass (center) with two cousins in Chrzanow c.1916. (Courtesy of Hadley Freeman)

Mysterious keepsake box reveals shards of grandmother’s pre-WWII life

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Heiko Maas, you claim you entered politics ‘because of Auschwitz’

To Germany’s foreign minister: You helped prosecute Nazi war criminals yet you support an Iran that threatens to wipe out Israel

What Chief Justice Esther Hayut can learn from John Marshall

Political savvy does not have to taint legal purity: the justices can assert their authority, and also protect against a legislative coup that would cripple their power for good

One state, two governments

In giving equal power to Likud and Blue and White, the coalition deal creates a political structure unprecedented in Israel or anywhere else

Is it okay to still be scared?

Are we safe, or are we suffering from a moment of hubris that heralds much worse on the horizon?

People gather outside the Foreign Ministry building in Jerusalem, November 15, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

State comptroller says Israel’s foreign service badly underfunded, uncoordinated

By Raphael Ahren

In report, ombudsman list various government bodies that deal with same issues, often without communication; Foreign Ministry hails report as vindication of longstanding grievances

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit (L) and then-justice minister Amir Ohana attend an annual Justice Ministry conference in Airport City outside Tel Aviv on September 3, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Justice minister rails against AG, says he can’t serve as acting state attorney

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a televised statement on May 4, 2020. (Screenshot)

Live updates (closed)

Netanyahu warns High Court against intervening in coalition agreement

By Jacob Magid and Raoul Wootliff

Touting his election win as largest in Israel’s history, PM says justices will ‘bring fourth elections nearer’ if they override parts of deal between Likud and Blue and White

5:35 am

UN: 19 million children among 46 million displaced in 2019
8:02 pm

Only 38 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours -- Health Ministry
7:59 pm

US government projects virus deaths to soar in May

Cleaning the street alongside the Train Tracks Park between the Baka and Germany Colony neighborhoods. The label says 'Keeping the city clean.' (Screenshot)

New brush sweeps clean: Jerusalem mayor prioritizes municipal makeover

A vial of the drug remdesivir is viewed during a press conference about the start of a study with the drug in particularly severely ill patients at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, northern Germany, April 8, 2020, amidst the coronavirus pandemic. (Ulrich Perrey / POOL / AFP)

Remdesivir results for virus encouraging but too early to celebrate — local CEO

By ToI Staff and AP

FDA last week gave emergency approval to medicine produced by Gilead Sciences; it is believed to shorten illness time in some, but effect on mortality rates still unclear

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Fox News virtual town hall from the Lincoln Memorial, Sunday, May 3, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump relaunches campaign with vaccine promise, vision of ‘incredible’ future

By Sebastian Smith

An Indian Air Force helicopter showers flower petals on the staff of INS Asvini hospital in Mumbai, India, Sunday, May 3, 2020. The event was part the Armed Forces' efforts to thank the workers, including doctors, nurses and police personnel, who have been at the forefront of the country's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

As lockdowns ease, some countries report new infection peaks

By Frances D'Emilio, Pablo Gorondi and DANICA KIRKA

Staff in biohazard suits hold a metal stretcher by the in-patient department of Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some infected with a novel coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, China, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

US Homeland Security: China hid virus’s severity to hoard medical supplies

By Will Weissert

Revelation comes as Trump administration intensifies criticism of China, with Pompeo saying Beijing was responsible for spread of disease and must be held accountable

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

Pompeo says ‘enormous evidence’ virus came from Chinese lab

By AFP

Mohsen Rezaei (MEMRI screenshot)

Top Iran official renews threat to ‘raze Israeli cities’ amid friction with US

In Al-Jazeera interview, Mohsen Rezaei of nation’s Expediency Council reiterates conspiracy theory that coronavirus may have been created by US to target Islamic Republic

Ali Shamkhani, the the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, is seen in Tehran, Iran, January 17, 2017. (Ebrahim Noroozi/ AP)

Iran warns nuclear deal will ‘die forever’ if arms embargo extended

By AFP

More Headlines

An advertisement for the 'Miss Hitler 2020' competition (Courtesy/Anti-Defamation Commission)

Australian Jewish group calls on website to stop hosting ‘Miss Hitler’ pageant

Screen capture from video of the scene where a woman's body was found in Bat Yam, May 3, 2020. (Ynet)

Bat Yam woman allegedly murdered by partner named as Tatiana Haikin, 50

Illustrative: Kiev Cadets honor guard takes part in commemorative events at the Babi Yar ravine where Nazi troops machine-gunned tens of thousands of Jews during WWII, in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Ukraine commemorated the 75th anniversary of the 1941 Babi Yar massacre. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

Film director panned for plan to turn Ukraine museum into ‘Holocaust Disneyland’

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Police investigators at the scene of the fatal stabbing of a woman by her husband in Holon, April 28, 2020. (Israel Police)

Welfare Ministry: 4 suicides due to domestic violence amid coronavirus crisis

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Illustrative: Muslims pray at the Temple Mount during Ramadan (courtesy, Atta Awisat)

Ramadam KareemNational Library brings Ramadan online, with month of digital events

By Jessica Steinberg

Congregation Gates of Prayer building in New Iberia, Louisiana (Screenshot/ Google street view)

Fires destroy Louisiana synagogue, damage another

By JTA

An Iraqi fighter with the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) inspects the site of an attack by Islamic State, a day earlier, on a unit of the paramilitary force in Mukaishefah, about 180 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, May 3, 2020. ( AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Islamic State exploits virus, political crisis to boost Iraq attacks

An event at the 2019 Jerusalem Writers Festival at Mishkenot Sha'ananim, which was held in person, unlike the 2020 edition, which was online due to the coronavirus pandemic (Courtesy Writers Festival)

Book itJerusalem’s 8th Writers Fest goes digital during pandemic

By Jessica Steinberg

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

Biden wins Kansas primary conducted with all-mail balloting amid virus lockdown

The justices of the US Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

After Israel, US Supreme Court goes live for 1st time, though in audio-only form

By AFP and ToI Staff

David Yaari, director general, Arizona Israel Trade and Investment Office, left, and Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona (Davidi Vortman)

8 Israeli startups to strut their wares at virtual tech show in Arizona

By Shoshanna Solomon

Gil Schwartz, head of corporate communications for CBS Corp., poses in his office in New York, June 28, 2006. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)

CBS executive Gil Schwartz, aka humorist Stanley Bing, has died at 68

By Lindsey Bahr

View Edition by Date

April	May 2020					June
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.