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
Community(members only)

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
Community(members only)
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 Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Facebook
Twitter

View previous edition

View next edition

Israelis stand in line for COVID-19 vaccinations in Rehovot, central Israel on January 26, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israel expands vaccination drive to anyone over the age of 16, starting Thursday

Cabinet to discuss extending lockdown at least until Sunday as infections remain stubbornly high; about schools, Edelstein hints that ‘parents have something to look forward to’

People receive a COVID-19 vaccine, at a sports hall turned into a vaccination center in Hod haSharon, February 2, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Netanyahu: Israel aiming to vaccinate 90% of over-50s within two weeks

This photo issued by the University of Oxford shows of vial of coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, in Oxford, England. (John Cairns/University of Oxford via AP)

AstraZeneca vaccine cuts virus transmission by two-thirds after one dose – study

By AFP

An election campaign billboard of Tnufa party leader Ofer Shelah, in Tel Aviv on January 17, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Analysis

Haviv Rettig Gur

After a year of political betrayals, mistrust puts party mergers on hold

Israel’s electoral system facilitates infidelity by letting blocs break up easily; with big parties unable to trust those hitching a ride, smaller factions may be left in the cold

Yesh Atid, with MK Orna Barbivai at left, presents its candidates' list for the March 23, 2021 election to the Central Elections Committee, in the Knesset, February 3, 2021 (GPO)

Yesh Atid, Yamina, Blue and White file their election slates, ruling out mergers

Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit party holds a press conference in Jerusalem on February 26, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu said once again concocting deal to get far-right Kahanists elected

Labor party leader Merav Michaeli votes in the party primaries on February 1, 2021. (Courtesy of the Labor Party)

Poll shows Labor rising, predicts Netanyahu’s rivals can form majority coalition

Center-left party climbs further above electoral threshold in survey after holding primaries; centrist, right-wing bloc predicted to win Knesset majority of 61 seats

Welfare Minister Itzik Shmuli speaks during a ceremony at the ministry's headquarters in Jerusalem on May 18 2020. (Shlomi Cohen/Flash90)

Welfare minister Shmuli resigns, citing ‘mistake’ of joining Netanyahu coalition

By Stuart Winer

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman visits Ashdod after clashes broke out between police and ultra-Orthodox people over lockdown restrictions, January 12, 2021. (Flash90)

Unveiling party slate, Liberman vows not to enter coalition with ultra-Orthodox

Rachel Sharansky Danziger

Navalny sacrificed his freedom to liberate Russia; now he needs our help

If I learned one thing growing up around veterans of the struggle for Soviet Jewry, it’s that dissidents need the world’s attention to keep them safe

It’s time to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House

There should be no place in the US Congress for the kind of hate in which she traffics

Micha Odenheimer

What we can learn from conspiracy theories

Millions of people across the globe, including Orthodox Jews, believe in these malignant narratives. How can we prevent these insane ideas from threatening democracy?

Jonathan Feldman

Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski zt”l: Fearless advocate for victims of abuse

Raising taboo issues, from therapy and mental illness to addiction and sexual abuse, he pushed the Jewish community to accept and protect the victims

Then-Settlement Affairs Minister Tzachi Hanegbi in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, December 24, 2020. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Minister says US will never attack Iran nuclear facilities; Israel may act alone

Tzachi Hanegbi, a close ally of Netanyahu, says in the future there ‘may be no choice’ other than an Israeli strike to prevent a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic

In this Feb. 3, 2007 file photo, a technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

US says sides ‘a long way’ from return to Iran nuclear deal

Illustrative: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside of Bushehr, Iran, January 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno, File)

UN: Iran, breaching deal, installs 2nd batch of advanced centrifuges at Natanz

The Daily Briefing

Times of Israel Podcast

PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 3 — Israeli election deadline; Jewish space lasers

Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today

In this Sunday, January 3, 2021, file photo, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wears a 'Trump Won' face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House to take her oath of office on opening day of the 117th Congress at the US Capitol in Washington. (Erin Scott/Pool Photo via AP)

Democrats seek to censure, expel QAnon-backing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Activists outside a meeting of the Labour National Executive Committee in London, with signs protesting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, September 4, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images/ via JTA /SUE)

Biden admin ’embraces’ IHRA anti-Semitism definition shunned by progressives

Israel's envoy to Morocco David Govrin (r) with David Toledano, head of the Jewish community in Rabat, January 2021 (Foreign Ministry)

Interview

Arriving in Morocco, Israeli envoy makes expanding ties his mission

Ambassador David Govrin anticipates low-level relationship with Rabat will reach full diplomatic heights — building on years of contacts, visits and a shared history

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, in Jerusalem on June 10, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Ashkenazi speaks for first time with Moroccan counterpart

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi (right) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 27, 2018. (Avi Ohayon / PMO/ File)

Egypt said conditioning a Netanyahu visit on gesture toward 2-state solution

By Stuart Winer

Palestinian Authority Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila receives a shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 (WAFA)

Palestinians start shots for medical staff with first vaccines, sent by Israel

By Aaron Boxerman

PA doesn’t acknowledge source of 2,000 Moderna vaccines, which Israel says it transferred; some doses to be sent to Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

Jamaal Bowman, the Democratic nominee for New York's 16th congressional district, smiles as he talks to the media on Nov. 3, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Congressman urges Israel to continue vaccinating Palestinians, laments disparity

Peter Berkowitz. (US State Department)

Interview

For top policy wonk Peter Berkowitz, 18 months of Pompeo and circumstance

The former State Department policy director thinks Trump’s legacy is now trashed, but is sticking behind the ex-secretary of state’s moves he helped craft on Israel, Iran and more

A Palestinian pupil walks past United Nations Relief and Works Agency, (UNRWA) and USAID humanitarian aid, on June 6, 2010 in the Shatie refugee camp in Gaza City. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

In shot at Trump, Biden official says cutting aid to Palestinians ineffective

By Jacob Magid and Aaron Boxerman

Esther Horgen, 52, who was found dead in the northern West Bank in a suspected terror attack on December 20, 2020. (Courtesy)

High Court approves demolition of home of Esther Horgen’s suspected killer

Thousands attend the funeral of 22-year-old nursing student Ahmad Hijazi near the Arab city of Tamra, northern Israel, February 2, 2021 (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

Ten thousand flout rules in Tamra at funeral of student slain in police shootout

Many seen wearing masks in northern Arab town, but fail to distance; 22-year-old nursing student was shot dead as cops exchanged fire with suspected underworld criminals

The site of a mass funeral held illegally in a makeshift tent in a secret location near the borders with Egypt and the Gaza Strip, after police dispersed most participants, February 2, 2021. (Screenshot: Twitter)

Hundreds attend illegal Haredi wedding in makeshift tent near Gaza border

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) speak with Segev Harel, the first volunteer for trials for an experimental Israeli coronavirus vaccine, at Sheba Medical Center, November 1, 2020. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

First volunteer for Israeli vaccine trials, feted by Netanyahu, got the placebo

Otzma Yehudit party member Itamar Ben Gvir (R) speaks with then-National Union faction leader Betzalel Smotrich, during a campaign event in Bat Yam, April 6, 2019. (Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Far-right parties led by Smotrich, Ben Gvir merge ahead of election

Netanyahu has been pushing alliance over concerns factions would fall under electoral threshold if they ran alone

8:21 pm

After blasting PM-backed, Otzma Yehudit merger in 2019, AIPAC declines to do so again
7:27 pm

Netanyahu appoints ex-police official to combat violence in Arab communities
6:53 pm

Gantz envisions having 10-year political career, insists he won't quit

Marloes Sonnenveld, right, with her brother in Rosh Hanikra, January 2021. (Kan via JTA)

Holocaust survivor asks Israel not to deport his rescuer’s great-granddaughter

By Cnaan Liphshiz

‘I’m ashamed of my country that my help is even needed,’ says Simi Liebel about refusal to extend residency of Marloes Sonnenveld

A group of Polish Jews are led away for deportation by German SS soldiers, during the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto by German troops after an uprising in the Jewish quarter, in 1943. (AP Photo)

Libel case could determine future freedom of Holocaust research in Poland

By Vanessa Gera

Screen capture of Westside Middle School, Omaha. (Google Maps)

Omaha middle school apologizes for Hitler ‘quote of the day’

By Stuart Winer

A torso-shaped cake from De Ouwe Taart bakery in the Netherlands. (Courtesy of Jolisa Brouwer via JTA)

Jewish baker iced out of Dutch Muslim political party due to her X-rated cakes

By Cnaan Liphshiz

US President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on January 6, 2021, in Washington, shortly before the mob assault on the US Capitol. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump ‘singularly responsible’ for Capitol riot, impeachment trial brief says

‘If provoking insurrection against Congress not an impeachable offense, hard to imagine what would be’; ex-president’s lawyers say trial unconstitutional now he’s left White House

Kathy Manning had a long career as a Jewish organizational leader before running for Congress. (Kathy Manning for Congress via JTA)

US lawmaker: Running from rockets fired from Gaza prepped me for Capitol mob

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pay their respects to late US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, as he lies in honor in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC February 2, 2021. (Erin Cchaff / POOL / AFP)

Biden pays respects as policeman killed in Capitol attack lies in state

By AFP

Mitchell Schwartz, left, and Ali Marpet are two of the NFL's few Jewish players. (Getty Images via JTA)

A tale of 2 Jewish Super Bowl linemen

By Marc Brodsky

Ancient olive pits found off the coast of Haifa, believed to be some 6,600 years old (Courtesy University of Haifa)

Rewriting history, evidence of olive consumption 6,600 years ago found off Haifa

Discovery of pits in ancient submerged structures predates previously known use of olives for food by 4,000 years

A 2,000-year-old mummy with a gold tongue found near the city of Alexandria and revealed on January 29, 2021. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

Archaeologists in Egypt unearth an eerie cache of golden-tongued mummies

More Headlines

Chicken in crates and on the floor at the Off Hagalil poultry processor, in footage aired on February 2, 2020. (Screen capture: Channel 20)

Whistleblower footage shows filthy conditions at Galilee poultry plant

Activists take part at a protest march to demand immediate action on climate change, in Tel Aviv on September 27, 2019. (Flash90)

Trying to pitch pollution’s ills? Drop the studies and speak to the people

Stella D'oro Swiss fudge cookies (The Nosher/ via JTA)

It's not butterWhy American Jews love Stella D’Oro cookies

By Joanna O'Leary

Illustrative: A row of ambulances parked outside the Royal London Hospital in London, December 29, 2020. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

Study of an ultra-Orthodox community in London finds most caught, beat COVID

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Alejandro Mayorkas testifies at his Senate confirmation hearing to be secretary of Homeland Security, .Jan. 19, 2021. (Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images via JTA)

Senate confirms Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary

By JTA

Intel's Jerusalem office, May 18, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Intel Israel reports record-setting year with $8 billion in 2020 exports

Screen capture from video of the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe museum, Germany. (YouTube)

German commission rules museum must return Nazi-looted painting to Jewish heirs

By AP

Two women light candles among others and flowers next to the entrance of the synagogue in Munich, during a protest against anti-Semitism on October 11, 2019 two days after a deadly shooting outside a synagogue in Halle. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP)

Austrian rapper arrested for neo-Nazi songs tied to Halle synagogue shooting

By AFP

A winter pond formed from seasonal rainwater in the Hadera Forest, northern Israel. (Yaniv Cohen, INPA).

Map of all water bodies in Israel launched to mark World Wetlands Day

A SpaceX Starship prototype explodes in a fireball as it tries to land upright after a test flight (YouTube screenshot)

SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype crashes and burns — again

By AFP

View Edition by Date

January	February 2021					March
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

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.