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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Monday, February 8, 2021

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his corruption trial hearing at the Jerusalem District Court, February 8, 2021. (Reuven Castro/Pool)

Netanyahu formally pleads not guilty in 2nd court appearance of corruption trial

By Michael Bachner

With hundreds of protesters outside, PM arrives early for hearing, then leaves with permission; judges say they’ll consider delay of evidentiary stage; elections 6 weeks away

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a court hearing at the District Court in Jerusalem on February 8, 2021. Netanyahu is charged with fraud and breach of trust in three cases and bribery in one of them. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)

With Netanyahu in court for corruption trial, Gantz says nobody is above the law

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask in line with public health restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, stands inside the courtroom as his corruption trial opens at the Jerusalem District Court, May 24, 2020. (Ronen Zvulun/ Pool Photo via AP)

On trial during elections? Timetable at stake as Netanyahu back in court

By Michael Bachner

Israelis recieve a COVID-19 vaccine at a Maccabi Health vaccination center at the Givatayim mall, outside of Tel Aviv, February 4, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Vaccinated people less likely to transmit coronavirus, Israeli study suggests

By Nathan Jeffay

Nation’s largest testing lab publishes research showing older group’s viral load fell compared to younger cohort once most Israelis 60+ had received Pfizer-BioNTech shot

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection at a vaccination center in Holon, February 4, 2021. ( Chen Leopold/Flash90)

Facebook removes anti-vaxxer group encouraging public to make fake appointments

Illustrative: An Israeli health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services, in a gymnasium in the central Israeli city of Hod Hasharon, on February 4, 2021. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Vaccine drive slowed by 50%, official laments, blaming online ‘fake news’

Kylie Moore-Gilbert and her husband Ruslan Hodorov. (Screenshot: Twitter)

Australian academic: Iran tried to use me while jailed to lure Israeli husband

In a letter smuggled out of prison in 2019, Kylie Moore-Gilbert tells Australia’s PM of the Revolutionary Guard’s ‘diabolical plot’ to trap her spouse

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department, Feb. 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Blinken says US returning to ‘flawed’ UN Human Rights Council

By Jacob Magid and AP

Secretary of state says council ‘needs reform, but walking away won’t fix it’; Trump withdrew from organization over anti-Israel bias

President Joe Biden speaks about the economy in the State Dining Room of the White House, in Washington, on February 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Biden says US won’t lift sanctions before Iran stops uranium enrichment

French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, December 1, 2020. (Benoit Tessier/Pool/AFP)

Iran declines French mediation offer on renewed nuclear deal dialogue

By AFP

The cracks in Yair Lapid’s glass ceiling

His allies betrayed him, his partners left him and his opponents outshone him – but the Yesh Atid chair chose to remain silent. That’s exactly why he could well be PM one day

Life so fleeting and so endlessly green

Surrounded by towering trees that were there long before I was born and will be there long after I’m gone, I felt grounded, and I stepped back from my grief

The war on critical race theory weaponizes anti-Semitism

So what if California’s ethnic studies curriculum was vastly improved to present Jews as a marginalized minority: Emily Benedek is having none of it

The hospital waiting room, in the time of COVID

We sat in those awkward chairs, surrounded by putty-colored walls , not wanting to be there, impossible to be anywhere else, longing to see our loved ones

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady during NFL football practice, February 3, 2021 in Tampa, Florida (Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers via AP)

Analysis

The insider’s guide to Super Bowl LV’s Jewish stories and subplots

Pioneering women, massive linemen, and Tom Brady’s surprise visit to an IDF firing range

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates winning Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 7, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP)

Tom Brady wins his 7th Super Bowl, as Buccaneers beat Chiefs 31-9

The Daily Briefing

Times of Israel Podcast

PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 8 — Citizen Bibi in court; secret of Israeli TV

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

A demonstrator poses with a Palestinian flag outside the International Criminal Court, ICC, during a rally urging the court to prosecute Israel's army for war crimes, in The Hague, Netherlands, November 29, 2019. (AP/Peter Dejong)

Analysis

Facing possible ICC probe, Israel still has options before judgment day

The effects of a potential investigation into IDF war crimes are years away, and prosecution could still be headed off, but Israel has work to do to make it happen

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda waits for former Congo vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba to enter the court room of the International Criminal Court to stand trial with Aime Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidele Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido, on charges including corruptly influencing witnesses by giving them money and instructions to provide false testimony, and presenting false evidence, in The Hague, Netherlands, September 29, 2015. (AP/Peter Dejong/File)

Israel asking allies to ‘discreetly’ pressure ICC prosecutor – report

Then-US vice president Joe Biden, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, talk before a dinner at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, Pool)

Live updates (closed)

Netanyahu says he expects Biden will phone him soon: ‘Our alliance is strong’

US president has yet to call Israeli leader after taking office last month

7:47 pm

Suspected car thieves break into air force base, setting off manhunt
7:19 pm

Body of antiquities scholar beheaded by IS in 2015 believed to be found
7:12 pm

Trump committed 'most grievous constitutional crime' -- Democratic prosecutors

Eitan Ze'ev, right, receives an award from the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, on September 2, 2020, for his involvement in a clash with Palestinians over a piece of agricultural land that summer. (Roi Hadi)

Man said to have shot infiltrator dead already on trial for shooting Palestinian

By Judah Ari Gross

Eitan Ze’ev had his gun taken away last year after allegedly shooting a Palestinian during a brawl, but authorities say he used one to open fire on a man who broke into his outpost

Israeli settlers harass an Arab Israeli family having a picnic outside the village of Jibya in the West Bank on February 6, 2020. (Screen capture/YouTube)

‘You’re not Israelis, you’re Arabs’: Settlers oust family picnicking in W. Bank

Hundreds pack a street in Bnei Brak for the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Meir Wosner on February 7, 2021. (Screen capture/ Twitter)

Thousands pack Bnei Brak streets for funeral of senior rabbi who died of COVID

Police once again unable to prevent illegal crowds, this time at burial service for Rabbi Chaim Meir Wosner

United Torah Judaism leader Moshe Gafni, at the opening event of its election campaign, ahead of the Israeli elections, in Jerusalem, on February 12, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

UTJ head doesn’t rule out sitting with Lapid, will ‘probably’ back Netanyahu

A bus set alight by an ultra-Orthodox mob in the city of Bnei Brak, January 24, 2021. (Israel Police)

Haredi teen indicted for torching bus, attack on driver during Bnei Brak riot

A woman takes a picture of the Grim Reaper holding a sign referring to Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during a demonstration outside the International Criminal Court, ICC, urging the court to prosecute Israel's army for war crimes in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP/Peter Dejong)

Israel media review

The timing of the shrewd: What the press says about court days and class delays

By Joshua Davidovich

The reopening of schools appears to have been pushed off, and now Netanyahu is trying to do the same with his court case and an ICC probe

Medical personnel wearing protective equipment treat COVID-19 patients in an intensive care ward for coronavirus patients at Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Safed, Feb. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ministers to meet on reopening schools, daycares as virus rates remain high

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen during a vote to stave off a budget deadline and thus avert elections, at the Knesset on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)

‘Blood will be on your hands’: Recordings leak from chaotic cabinet meeting

Hamas's new deputy leader Salah al-Arouri (seated, left) and Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad (seated, right) sign a reconciliation deal in Cairo on October 12, 2017, as the two rival Palestinian movements work to end their decade-long split following negotiations overseen by Egypt. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)

Sharply divided Palestinian factions arrive in Cairo for election talks

By Aaron Boxerman

Fatah and Hamas have not held elections in 15 years, despite numerous promises to do so, and technical issues could prevent the vote from being held this time too

In this October 20, 2012, photo, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shows his ink-stained finger after casting his vote during local elections at a polling station in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)

AnalysisAbbas’s election journey is fraught with peril

An employee of Palestine Post carries a courier bag at a post office in the West Bank town of Nablus, on February 7, 2021. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

In assertion of sovereignty, Palestinians launch postcodes in West Bank

A new F-35 fighter jet at the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel, on July 14, 2019. (Israel Defense Forces)

Ministers approve NIS 9 billion purchase of aircraft, arms from US

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

Finance Ministry opposes plan over budgetary issues but is overruled; deal will include jet fighters, troop-carrying choppers, refueling planes and thousands of bombs

Then-secretary of state George Shultz, center, walks with then-president Ronald Reagan and vice president George Bush upon his arrival at the White House in Washington, after two days of arms talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva, on January 9, 1985. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

ObituaryGeorge Shultz dies at 100, shaped US stance on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

More Headlines

Iranian "Sime Akhar" gameshow, an almost identical copy of the Israeli "Boom!" trivia contest. (Screenshot: Instagram)

Exploded viewIsraeli-devised bomb-defusing gameshow reaches Iran

Illustrative image of the Japanese and Israeli flags (MikhailMishchenko; iStock by Getty Images)

Japan-Israel ties blossom as 2020 investments reach record $1.1 billion

By Shoshanna Solomon

An Orthodox Jewish woman is seen in a Brooklyn neighborhood on September 29, 2020 in New York. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images via JTA)

Vaccines, variants leave US ultra-Orthodox women confused and afraid

Sudanese businessman Abu al-Qassem Bortoum speaks during an inter-faith event to promote religious tolerance in Sudan's capital Khartoum on February 6, 2021.(Ebrahim HAMID / AFP)

Sudan businessman defends interfaith dialogue ceremony addressed by rabbi

Illustrative image of medics treating a patient (YouTube screenshot)

Haifa hospital starts using startup’s ‘artificial skin’ to treat burn wounds

By Shoshanna Solomon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) with Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab Jabarin, the millionth Israeli to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and medical staff in Umm al-Fahm, January 1, 2021. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Arab Israelis largely unimpressed by Netanyahu’s efforts to woo them — poll

Katarzyna Markusz. (Screen capture: YouTube)

Polish police probe journalist for writing about Poles’ Holocaust complicity

A medical staff member prepares the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine at the Mignot Hospital in Le Chesnay, near Paris, on February 7, 2021 (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

South Africa halts use of AstraZeneca vaccine as worries grow over effectiveness

By Claire DOYEN

A view of the campus at California Polytechnic State University (video screenshot)

Swastikas, anti-Semitic phrases daubed outside Jewish fraternity in California

By JTA

US President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally of his supporters on January 6, 2021, in Washington, shortly before the mob assault on the US Capitol. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

With sense of urgency and speed, Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial to begin Tuesday

By LISA MASCARO and Hope Yen

Customers browse the aisles for medicine at a pharmacy in the Lebanese capital Beirut, on February 2, 2021. (JOSEPH EID / AFP)

With failing economy and raging pandemic, Lebanon faces medicine shortages

By Layal Abou Rahal

Nathalie Becquart. (Screen capture/ YouTube)

Breaking with Catholic tradition, pope appoints first woman to senior post

By AFP

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