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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Friday, September 18, 2020

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Widespread rule-breaking likely amid confusion, anger

Israel enters 2nd sweeping lockdown as Rosh Hashanah starts; defiance expected

By ToI Staff and Agencies

7,000 policemen and soldiers set to enforce intensely controversial closure that began at 2 p.m. on eve of New Year, is set to last at least three weeks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a televised statement at his official residence in Jerusalem on September 17, 2020. (Screen capture: YouTube)

Netanyahu warns ‘there may be no choice’ but to tighten lockdown

A drill at Rambam Medical Center to transform its underground parking and wartime hospital ward facilities into an emergency hospital for large numbers of coronavirus patients, July 2020. (Courtesy of Rambam Health Care Campus)

Hospitals open underground wartime wards to ready for surge in COVID-19 patients

People wearing face masks shop at the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem on September 18, 2020 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel media review

Dip the lockdown in the loophole: What the press is saying on September 18

By Joshua Davidovich

A nation beset by plagues of FOMO, anger, confusion and politics overriding health concerns enters a lockdown that is not a lockdown but may soon become a lockdown

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators block a road during a protest against army conscription in the city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, on March 12, 2018 (AFP PHOTO / Ahmad GHARABLI)

Haredim seek to hold ‘protests’ Sunday night; cops see bid to evade lockdown

Ronni Gamzu at a meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion at the Jerusalem City Hall, August 12, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)

Virus czar absent from lockdown presser, amid reports of disagreements with PM

Analysis

It’s a lockdown of necessity. But what kind of necessity? Health or political?

How did Israel become world’s first country reimposing lockdown? It’s not just a story of rising infections, but also of fragile religious-secular relations, nervous politicians

Illustrative: In this April 11, 2020, photo, Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade and a main road are empty of people during a lockdown following government measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv ahead of the start of Israel's second coronavirus lockdown, September 17, 2020. The sign reads: "When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes a must." (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Hundreds protest in Tel Aviv against new virus lockdown

By ToI Staff and AFP

An man prays ahead of the Jewish new year at the Western Wall,
in Jerusalem's old city, September 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Under lockdown, Israel faces bitter start of Jewish New Year

By Ilan Ben Zion

An Israeli man blows a shofar at the market in the northern city of Safed on September 16, 2020. (David Cohen/Flash90)

How to toot your horn: Israel’s Health Ministry issues shofar-blowing guidelines

By Alexander Fulbright

Memo suggests covering ram’s horn with a mask to prevent spraying of droplets, calls for blowing instrument toward an open window and not toward synagogue congregants

Illustrative: A maternity ward in an Israeli hospital. (Flash90)

Naming namesMohammad again most popular baby boys’ name; Tamar knocked off top by Miriam

Likud supporters celebrate at party headquarters in Tel Aviv on March 18, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

One-third of Netanyahu voters believe COVID-19 was sent by God

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)

US says Hezbollah storing ammonium nitrate, which caused Beirut blast, in Europe

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Terror group smuggling explosive chemical in first aid kits for use in terror attacks, State Department official charges; calls on European states to impose bans on organization

Trump said preparing executive order to sanction any who break Iran arms embargo

By ToI Staff and Agencies

US sanctions 2 Lebanon-based firms, Hezbollah-linked businessman

By AP

Pompeo insists US to enforce ‘UN’ sanctions on Iran

By AFP

Two Palestinian women weep as they sit on the curb in the Sabra Palestinian refugee camp in West Beirut, Lebanon, September 19, 1982, after they found bodies of relatives. (AP Photo/Bill Foley)

First person

Journalist reckons with Israeli blame for Sabra and Shatila

By Abraham Rabinovich

L-R: UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump talk at the ceremony for the signing of the Abraham Accords, at the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. (Avi Ohayon / GPO)

Analysis

Avi Issacharoff

With the Israel-UAE-Bahrain deals, ‘undeniable Palestinan truths’ no longer hold

Axioms the Palestinians imposed on the Arab world for decades — notably including the eschewing of all normalization with Israel — are crumbling before their horrified eyes

Screen shot from a video call between Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi, and Israel's Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz, September 17, 2020. (Screen capture)

Top Israeli, UAE officials say new ties will make countries ‘close family’

Illustrative: A uranium mine (Alexey Dozmorov; iStock by Getty Images)

Study said to find Saudis may have enough uranium to make own nuclear fuel

Jill Cozen-Harel

This Rosh Hashanah is not what I’d imagined

Last year at this time, I was pregnant and worried, so I pictured myself in shul with a baby (yes, it helped). Now, without shul, I find myself asking: Who am I now?

PHOTO ESSAY: May it be Your will, Lord

Word play makes our menu, as we move beyond ’apples in honey’ to swiss chard, pomegranate, and black-eyed peas, with the puns we use to ask for God’s blessing

The breath of life and the shofar blasts

The one biblical mitzvah that characterizes Rosh Hashanah reenacts the creation of humankind, an event that occurred on this very date in history

Stuck in second grade for the holidays

God isn’t our king, our father, our mother or our master. He’s God, whatever that might mean. And She doesn’t need a pencil (though He might)

Jewish pilgrims stuck between the Belarusian and Ukrainian border crossings, September 16, 2020. (TUT.BY/AFP)

Almost all Hasidic pilgrims leave Ukraine border ahead of Rosh Hashanah

By Dmytro Gorshkov

Spokesman for Ukrainian border guard says he hopes those still aiming to reach Uman understand that ‘the entry ban decision will not be revised’

Hungarian Jews bake challah in front of the Obuda Synagogue in Budapest in 2018. (Zsolt Demecs/Courtesy of EMIH via JTA)

Hungarian Jews to celebrate Rosh Hashanah on boat on the Danube as virus surges

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Illustrative image: researcher examining a bacterial culture plate (iStock)

Israeli research: Bacteria may be key to curing coronavirus and other viruses

By Nathan Jeffay

Likening finding to discovery of antibiotics, researcher says it ‘could lead to drugs that cure various viruses’ and ‘maybe even this one’

Pedestrians and shoppers, some wearing face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic, walk in Newcastle city center, northeast England, on September 17, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP)

British government warns national lockdown could return

Two woman look at the plaque of the newly named square "Plaza Coronavirus" in the Spanish city of Valencia on September 17, 2020. (Jose Jordan/AFP)

Coronavirus cases top 30 million worldwide as Europe sees fresh surge

By AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the flight back from the Israel-UAE-Bahrain normalization accords ceremony at the White House, September 16, 2020. (Facebook)

Picture of Netanyahu apparently sleeping on plane floor stirs debate

PM seen snoozing on his return flight from Israel-UAE-Bahrain normalization accords ceremony at White House, after plans for private jet were nixed

US President Donald Trump watches as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks from the Truman Balcony at the White House during the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Diplomatic deals with Gulf fail to provide Netanyahu electoral boost – poll

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends the oppening of the 30th Arab Summit in Tunis, Tunisia, March 31, 2019. (Fethi Belaid/ Pool photo via AP)

Qatar won’t normalize with Israel before 2-state solution reached, envoy says

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill speak to Jewish supporters in a Rosh Hashanah video conference call on September 17, 2020. (Screen capture/Biden-Harris campaign via JTA)

Biden, in Rosh Hashanah greeting, calls for change: ‘Got to be a better year’

By JTA and Jacob Magid

In message, Democratic Presidential challenger emphasizes holiday’s themes of renewal, his commitment to Jewish values

President Reuven Rivlin in a Rosh Hashanah message to Jews around the world, September 17, 2020 (video screenshot)

Hoping for a better oneRivlin wishes Jews around the world a happy new year

Pianist Shlomi Shaban participated in Beit Avi Chai's comprehensive content for the 5781 High Holidays (Courtesy Lior Keter)

Analysis

Jessica Steinberg

High Holiday content goes online for the Jewish New Year

Musicians and rabbis, chefs and writers take on questions of spirituality and knock on the gates of heaven with Jerusalem cultural center Beit Avi Chai

Rabbi Andrea Gouze of Easton, Massachusetts, demonstrates how she will blow the traditional shofar during the High Holidays services. The end will be covered with a face mask to prevent transmission of virus. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images via JTA)

Those looking for online High Holiday services in US have a plethora of options

By JTA

Pumpkin jam (Getty Images via JTA)

Sweet sauceTunisian pumpkin jam is an underrated Rosh Hashanah treat

By Rachel Myerson

Illustrative: Chairs are set up for a socially distanced service at Congregation Ohr Hatorah in Atlanta. (Courtesy of Rabbi Adam Starr via JTA)

Whole apples, individual honey jars: New York issues health guide for holidays

US state advises social distancing measures in synagogues to prevent spread of coronavirus, also suggests increased ventilation of sukkahs

Kindergartners at the Moriah School in Englewood, New Jersey, one of seven Bergen County schools to urge families to abide by school guidelines outside of school. (Courtesy of the Moriah School via JTA)

26 US Jewish schools unite to exhort families to play it safe during holidays

More Headlines

Former Israel Police commissioner Roni Alsheich speaks during a Channel 12 TV conference in Tel Aviv on September 5, 2019. (Flash90)

Denying cover-up, former police chief insists killed Bedouin man was terrorist

Carpenter Thomas Thiele, front, removes the bullet hole-ridden door of a synagogue in Halle, Germany, July 28, 2020. (Hendrik Schmidtpa/dpa via AP)

Germany to improve safety of Jewish sites after Halle attack

By AP

Palestinian security forces deploy in Bethlehem on Thursday, September 17, 2020 (Wafa)

3 Palestinians shot dead by unknown assailants ‘meters from Israeli checkpoint’

By Aaron Boxerman

The scene of a suspected double homicide in Nazareth, September 17, 2020 (Israel Police)

Two shot dead in Nazareth during club brawl

Netta Barzilai (top) and Sarit Haddad were two of the artists who participated in 'Tzav HaSha'a', an effort to support Israeli musicians during the coronavirus (Courtesy Moshe Nachumovitz)

Oldies but goodiesMusicians produce album of covers for Israeli classics

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative: Prime rib and ribeye steaksk at the M25 meat restaurant in Tel Aviv. (Ran Biran)

Polish parliament drops bill’s proposal to ban export of kosher and halal meat

By Cnaan Liphshiz

'The Crucifixion' mural in the Church of the Holy Rosary in Oldham by artist George Mayer-Marton. (Estate of George Mayer-Marton)

Push underway to save UK church mural made by Jewish artist who escaped Nazis

By Stuart Winer

President Andrzej Duda of Poland speaks to the media in front of remains of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2019. (John Macdougall/AFP via Getty Images)

2 US senators warn Poland’s president on anti-Semitism and restitution

The Miami Herald and its el Nuevo Herald are sold in Miami. (Art Seitz/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Miami Herald apologizes for running anti-Semitic and racist ads for months

By Josefin Dolsten

Woody Allen attends a news conference at La Scala opera house, in Milan, Italy, July 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

Woody Allen’s ‘A Rainy Day in New York’ to get US release after 2-year delay

By AP

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