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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Wednesday, May 20, 2020

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In this photo released by the state-run WAM news agency on May 19, 2020, an Etihad Airways flight with aid for the Palestinians to fight the coronavirus pandemic is loaded with its cargo in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, before departing to Israel. (WAM via AP)

In first, direct commercial flight from UAE lands in Tel Aviv

By AP and ToI Staff

UN says Etihad Airways plane ferrying 16 tons of medical supplies to Palestinians; Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi have no formal relations, but reportedly maintain clandestine ties

In this picture released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, April 9, 2020.Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Iran’s leader accuses UAE of ‘treachery’ after first direct flight to Israel

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Left: naked eye vs Right: multispectral imaging. A lamed (the letter 'L' in Hebrew) is written on the left side of the fragment and the Hebrew word 'Shabbat' is visible in the upper right hand corner. (© Copyright The University of Manchester)

Archaeology

‘Shabbat’ revealed: UK’s ‘blank’ Dead Sea Scroll fragments yield a holy surprise

By Amanda Borschel-Dan

The Shahid Rajaee port facility in the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas. (Iran Ports and Maritime Organization)

Israel braces for Iranian cyberattack after reportedly targeting strategic port

By Michael Bachner

The Shahid Rajaee port facility near the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas. (Iran Ports and Maritime Organization)

By design, cyberattack on Iran port caused only minor damage – report

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi speaks at a Home Front Command ceremony on May 19, 2020. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF chief hints at Israel’s role in cyberattack on Iranian port

By Judah Ari Gross

Illustrative: Jewish men pray at a synagogue in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, Gush Etzion, May 20, 2020. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Back to shul: Worshipers return to houses of prayer for first time in 2 months

Synagogues, mosques and churches reopen under strict distancing and hygiene requirements; Western Wall foundation announces raffle for entry permits during Shavuot

Illustrative: People lie on a beach as others cool off in the water in Netanya on May 18, 2020. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Beaches opening Wednesday, but bathers must stay 2 meters apart

Tourists wearing face masks for fear of the coronavirus tours at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 5, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Israel, five countries mull formation of quarantine-free travel bloc

By ToI Staff and JTA

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 7, 2020. (Nasser Nasser/Pool/AFP)

Abbas: PA no longer bound by accords with Israel and US, including on security

Railing against Netanyahu’s vow to annex parts of West Bank, Palestinian leader declares Israeli authorities must resume responsibility for Palestinian civilian population

Biden tells Jewish donors he’ll ‘reverse’ Trump’s policies that hurt peace

By Eric Cortellessa

France warns annexation in West Bank could hurt Israel’s ties with EU

By Raphael Ahren and Alexander Fulbright

EU official urges probe ensuring no funds benefit Palestinian terror backers

By Raphael Ahren

Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel at his Tel Aviv University office, June 19, 2017 (DH / ToI staff)

I was right, says prof who predicted pandemic would play itself out in 70 days

By Nathan Jeffay

Isaac Ben-Israel says virus disappears everywhere at same speed, rendering interventions irrelevant. Public health expert: He ‘has no clue about epidemiology and public health’

A food delivery man waits outside a McDonald's restaurant in Tel Aviv. April 18, 2020. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
תן ביס

Health Ministry backs plan to reopen restaurants, clubs, pools, hotels next week

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Workers wearing protective gears help clean each other's suits after disinfecting against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, February 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Scientists: New Israeli disinfectant en route to keep all surfaces virus-free

By Nathan Jeffay

Israeli students and teachers wear protective face masks as they return to school, at Hashalom School in Mevaseret Zion, near Jerusalem, May 17, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Girl, 7, forced to spend school day in her underwear; minister orders probe

Student who came in sleeveless dress told to change, but not given pants; ‘my daughter is in shock,’ says mother; girls in several cities protest dress codes as discriminatory

The scene of an attempted terror attack near the Hawara Junction in the northern West Bank on May 20, 2020. (Samaria Regional Council)

Live updates (closed)

IDF probes West Bank attempted shooting as terror attack

By Joshua Davidovich and Jacob Magid

Army says gunman tried to fire at Israeli vehicle sitting in traffic near Hawara; driver then got out of car and fired twice in air, as suspect fled the scene

8:37 pm

IDF probes West Bank attempted shooting as terror attack
8:13 pm

Police says it can't 'determine exact cost' of security for anti-Zionist rabbi visit
7:41 pm

Footage shows Palestinian man torching field outside settlement

Reopening the synagogues is a mistake

Shul has already been a proven source of the COVID-19 infection in Israel; given proximity and singing, the risk of super-spreading is just too great

Sarah Tuttle-Singer

COVID-19: I didn’t bake bread

I mourned. I prayed. I had no epiphanies. I drank less than I thought I would. But I ate more ice cream and cookies.

Abu Kabir is our home. How dare Tel Aviv try to kick us out.

We’ll tell the Supreme Court how the Ashkenazi elite sent us to live in a barren, dangerous neighborhood and now want our home for luxury condos

Shimshon HaKohen Nadel

A spiritual exit strategy

Will things go back to normal? No. But I pray we emerge from this pandemic just a little softer, gentler, and kinder

The Shahid Rajaee port facility near the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas. (Iran Ports and Maritime Organization)

Israel media review

All’s fair in cyberwar: 6 things to know for May 20

As an Israeli-Iranian hacking fight emerges from the shadows, pundits predict it’s a sign of things to come and link shutdown of Iranian port to Pompeo’s surprise Jerusalem visit

Israeli tanks participating in a military conduct a drills in northern Israel, May 13, 2020. (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

20 years after IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah brace for war

By Josef Federman and Bassam Mroue

Illustrative: An Israeli patrol along the Lebanon/Israel border fence near Rosh Hanikra, on November 10, 2016. (Doron Horowitz/Flash90)

Two Sudanese nationals caught trying to enter Israel from Lebanon

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

Esther Safran Foer holds a black and white photo of her father, Louis, top left, and the family that hid him during the war. (Courtesy)

Author interview

Safran Foer matriarch joins author kids with her first book, on Holocaust roots

A woman wearing a protective face mask and gloves to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus carries her purchases as she leaves a store which sells dates, a favorite fruit for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Tehran on April 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israel sees ‘dramatic’ increase in Iranians asking for help emigrating

By Raphael Ahren

Even before pandemic, thousands of Iranians reached out through Israeli government’s social media accounts, diplomats say, but stress Jerusalem cannot offer more than information

Iranian protesters gather around a fire during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, on November 16, 2019. (AFP/ File)

Amnesty urges probe into ‘ruthless’ Iran protest killings

By AFP

A plane from the Iranian private airline Mahan Air lands at the international airport in Sanaa, Yemen, March 1, 2015. (Hani Mohammed/AP)

US sanctions Chinese company for dealings with Iran’s Mahan Air

Dr. Vladimir 'Zev' Zelenko. (YouTube screenshot)

Trump ‘smart’ to use malaria drug, says Jewish MD who wrote to him about it

By ToI Staff and AP

‘It’s good for him,’ says Dr. Zelenko, as president rejects widespread criticism and concern that misuse of hydroxychloroquine to ward off COVID-19 could cause fatal side effects

US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, May 19, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Trump says US leading the world in virus cases is a ‘badge of honor’ for testing

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Devorah and David Katz of Pat Bamelach, the Efrat-based artisanal bakery that shares its sourdough recipes and starter, particularly during corona times. (courtesy, Pat Bamelach)

Sourdough bread gives rise to community of bakers during pandemic

By Jessica Steinberg

A couple of bumble bees inspect and pollinate a sunflower on a Gaddis Farms field in Bolton, Miss., Friday, July 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

To bee or not to bee: International Bee Day highlights plight of pollinators

More Headlines

Chinese and Israeli officials pay their respect in front of the flag-draped coffin of Chinese Ambassador Du Wei, who died at his home in the coastal city of Herzliya, during a ceremony at Ben-Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. China sent a team to Israel to repatriate the body of its ambassador. (Photo by Jack Guez/Pool via AP)

Israel honors dead Chinese envoy, as his body begins the journey home

By AFP

Students leave a yeshiva in Brooklyn after police shut it down for violating coronavirus social distancing regualtions on May 18 2020 (Screencapture/ WNBC-TV)

US ultra-Orthodox yeshivas are holding underground classes in violation of rules

New Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn speaks during a ceremony at the Justice Ministry on May 18, 2020. (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)

New justice minister to hold off on appointing acting state attorney

Illustrative: People lie on a beach as others cool off in the water in Netanya on May 18, 2020. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Deadly heat wave broils Israel, drives record electricity use

Students and their teacher walk past a street art mural on the facade of a house in Fanzara near Castellon de la Plana, on December 15, 2016. (JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Spanish government cancels teachers’ tolerance seminar by BDS group

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Screen capture from video of the area where security forces foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons from Jordan to Israel, May 20, 2020. (Ynet)

Security forces shoot suspected weapons smuggler crossing from Jordan

Illustrative: An iPhone loaded with TikTok and other social media application icons. (Wachiwit/iStock)

TikTok video mocking numbers tattooed on Holocaust survivors gets 600,000 views

By JTA

Allen Fagin, CEO of the Orthodox Union, introduces New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on March 1, 2017, in Albany, N.Y. (Orthodox Union Photo/Hans Pennink via JTA)

Amid pandemic, Orthodox Union furloughed 125 staffers — 25% of its workforce

A campaign for coronavirus victim Lipa Friedrich on the website Dryveup.com has already raised over $1 million. (Screenshot/ via JTA)

US-based Jewish crowdfunding sites raise millions for virus victims

Illustrative image of the services at the medical center of the Thomas Jefferson University (TJU)(YouTube screenshot)

Four Israeli startups to test health tech with Thomas Jefferson University

By Shoshanna Solomon

This file photo taken on December 5, 2019 shows a man walking by the barbed wire fence enclosing the memorial site of Auschwitz. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP)

Auschwitz renovation uncovers objects hidden by prisoners

By AFP

A snapshot of WEBBY 2020 winner 'Eva.Stories,' an Instagram series about a Hungarian teenager who died in the Holocaust (Courtesy Eva Stories)

Remembering EvaIsraeli Instagram Holocaust series wins Webbys

By Jessica Steinberg

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