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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Monday, February 15, 2021

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Rabbi Elie Abadie (yellow tie) joins the Jewish community in the UAE for a Hanukkah celebration (photo credit: Courtesy)

'Closing the circle of Jewish history in Arab countries'

Beth Din of Arabia: Jews in Gulf countries announce first communal organizations

By Lazar Berman

Spurred by new accords with Israel, communities in UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia create new body under Beirut-born Rabbi Elie Abadie to oversee Jewish life

Israeli and United Arab Emirates flags line a road in the coastal city of Netanya on August 16, 2020. (Jack Guez/AFP)

UAE’s first ambassador to Israel sworn in by Emirati PM

Palestinian boats participate in a protest against the Israeli-Egyptian security blockade of Gaza, in Beit Lahya on the border with Israel in the northern Gaza strip on August 11, 2018. The Israeli Rutenberg power station can be seen in the background. (AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD HAMS)

After years of talks, a plan to provide Israeli gas to Gaza nears approval

By Aaron Boxerman

EU wants to allocate at least $5 million to the project, while Qatari envoy says Doha will fund construction of part of a gas pipeline inside Israel

Members of Gaza's Central Elections Commission's field team register a local woman to the electoral roll, at the main road of Gaza City, February 10, 2021 (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Knesset debates Palestinian request to allow COVID vaccines into Gaza

By Aaron Boxerman

People work at a digital task force to counter "fake news" on the internet, in the Health Ministry office near Tel Aviv, February 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Analysis

ISAAC SCHARF and Ilan Ben Zion

Playing whack-a-mole with anti-vaxxers, Israel works to revitalize vaccine drive

Health ministry working with doctors, religious leaders to counter misinformation; expanding team monitors social media for fake news in Hebrew, Russian, Amharic, Arabic, English

Screen capture from video of Rabbi Yuval HaCohen Asherov speaking about the COVID-19 outbreak. (YouTube)

Health Ministry warns public not to listen to anti-vaxxer rabbi

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centerl in Safed, on February 14, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Health Ministry said to mull vaccines for recovered COVID patients

The Daily Briefing

Times of Israel Podcast

PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 15 — Two pro-Iran deal officers fight for the left

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

Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi answers questions from lawmakers in an open session of parliament in Tehran, Iran, Oct. 25, 2016 (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iran disowns minister’s warning that it might seek nuclear weapons if cornered

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Illustrative: A missile is launched in a drill in Iran, January 15, 2021. (Iranian Revolutionary Guard/ Sepahnews via AP)

Iran tests ‘smart’ missile with 300-kilometer range

By AP

Dutch National Archives (courtesy)

Poland’s ‘legislation’ of Holocaust history vs. Netherlands’ open-access archive

By Matt Lebovic

This picture taken on February 10, 2021 shows marine life at a coral reef in the Red Sea waters off the coast of Israel's southern port city of Eilat. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

Inside story

Jonah Mandel

In Eilat, a deal to dock UAE oil tankers alongside fragile coral boils the water

Precious, world-renowned coral reefs are 200 meters from where oil from the Gulf is to be unloaded as part of a pipeline deal with the Emirates. Activists fear a pollution disaster

Buildings under construction in Mishor Adumim, an Israeli industrial zone adjacent to the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, in the West Bank, east of Jerusalem, on June 16, 2020. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

PM agrees to review controversial West Bank waste-to-energy plant plan

6 ways Jews can help Black economic development after the pandemic

For true racial equality and inclusion, we must address economic disparity – and to do that, we should listen to the wisdom of Maimonides

Bearing Bruce Springsteen’s cross

Context is everything and the rockstar didn’t intend to exclude non-Christians from a sermon that was meant, after all, to bring us together

Surprised by the ICC decision? You shouldn’t be

If Israel doesn’t want to be lambasted on the international stage, it should stop doing the very things for which it is being criticized

Day 20: Why are we still not allowed back in Israel?

We’re vaccinated citizens willing to get coronavirus tests and isolate. Why can’t we come back home while hundreds of foreign athletes are invited in?

Dani Dayan of the New Hope party at his home in Maaleh Shomron, February8, 2021. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

Interview

Trying to oust Netanyahu, an ex-settler head says he can rebuild bridge to Biden

Former consul to New York Dani Dayan claims New Hope, to the right of Likud on many issues, can repair bipartisan ties in Washington that he says the premier drove into the dirt

Election campaign posters showing Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz next to the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv. February 1, 2021. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Gantz launches civil marriage bid as poll shows him failing to enter Knesset

Illustrative: A judo event held in Tel Aviv in 2020. (Flash90)

With Israel’s skies closed, 600 athletes arrive for judo contest, drawing rebuke

By Stuart Winer

While citizens can’t return home due to COVID fears, expert says hosting judokas from all over the world creates unnecessary risk of letting in infections, mutated strains

Erik Lamela (L) of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Europa League qualifying round match between Shkendija and Tottenham Hotspur at Philip II Arena in Skopje, Macedonia, on September 24, 2020. (Robert Atanasovski/AFP)

Vaccination champ Israel hopes to host major European soccer matches

Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei at an undisclosed southern city of Germany, September 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Exiled Iranian judo champion lands in Israel for Tel Aviv tourney

A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection at Clalit COVID-19 vaccination center in Jerusalem, on February 8, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/ Flash90)

Israel’s largest HMO finds vaccines 92% effective in preventing serious illness

Clalit survey of 1.2 million Israelis, half of them immunized, finds that shots drive down symptomatic COVID by 94%

Illustrative: A medical team at a coronavirus ward of the Sheba Medical Center, in Ramat Gan, July 27, 2020. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

As case numbers drop, Israel’s largest hospital closes 2 coronavirus wards

An Israeli woman using the HeraBEAT device, newly deployed at Sheba Medical Center (courtesy of Sheba Medical Center)

Hospital launches system to remotely monitor fetal health in COVID ward

By Nathan Jeffay

Then-US vice president Joe Biden waves as he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walk to give statements to the press in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Debbie Hill, Pool)

Live updates (closed)

PM on US ties: Whoever endangers us, on Iran nukes for example, I oppose that

Netanyahu and Gantz to meet Tuesday on controversial aid plan, which Gantz has attacked as ‘vote-buying’ by the PM, says must be far more selective in who receives stipends

8:48 pm

Channel 13 survey: Yamina, Ra'am hold balance between pro-, anti-Netanyahu blocs
8:26 pm

PM says he's in talks with Pfizer and Moderna to build facilities in Israel
8:24 pm

PM on US ties: Whoever endangers us, on Iran nukes for example, I oppose that

(L to R) Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades elbow-bumps Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (mask-clad), during a joint press statement after their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on February 14, 2021. (Marc Israel SELLEM / POOL / AFP)

Israel and Cyprus reach tourism deal for vaccinated travelers

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Agreement exempting immunized tourists from quarantine expected to go into effect April 1

Israelis sit in the sun in Tel Aviv, on February 14, 2021. (Miriam Alster/ FLASH90)

Synagogues, stores could be reopened for all Sunday; malls, gyms for vaccinated

The empty arrival hall at the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on February 3, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Israel to allow 2,000 travelers per day to enter country starting Saturday

Illustrative -- An Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter flies during an aerial show at a graduation ceremony for soldiers who have completed the IAF Flight Course, at the Hatzerim Air Base in the Negev desert, December 29, 2016 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

IDF launches surprise air exercise, as it reportedly strikes sites in Syria

By Judah Ari Gross

Military says drill is meant to improve preparedness for war in northern Israel, warns residents of the area that explosions will be heard, aircraft will be seen overhead

A purported Israeli airstrike near Damascus, Syria on February 15, 2021 (Screencapture/Twitter)

Israeli airstrikes said to hit targets near Damascus

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

Supporters of US President Donald Trump are confronted by Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, January 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Bipartisan support grows for 9/11-style inquiry into Capitol riot

With Trump acquitted of causing deadly assault on US legislature, lawmakers say there needs to be a full investigation to ensure incident never repeats itself

Marinus van der Lubbe is shown as he appeared in court in Leipzig, Germany, October 2, 1933, where he is on trial for the Reichstag fire in Berlin. (AP Photo)

Republican deletes post suggesting Trump trial less fair than Nazi show trials

A person dressed as Lady Liberty wears a shirt with the letter Q, referring to QAnon, as protesters take part in a protest, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash., against the counting of electoral votes in Washington, DC, affirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Survey finds 3 in 10 Republicans believe QAnon child sex-trafficking theory

A municipal worker cleans swastikas spray painted on columns of the Rivoli Street in central Paris, on October 11, 2020. (Stephane De Sakutin/AFP)

French chief rabbi, fellow communal leaders clash over France’s Jewish future

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Fred Guttenberg with his daughter Jaime, who was killed in the Parkland school shooting. (Courtesy of Guttenberg via JTA)

‘Did I do enough to protect you?’ Families mourn Parkland victims, 3 years on

Parents of 17 teenagers gunned down in 2018 Florida school massacre, many of them now vocal activists against gun violence, agonize over murders on anniversary

A makeshift memorial erected in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, days after the shooting that left 17 students and teachers dead, February 18, 2018. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images via JTA)

On Parkland shooting anniversary, Biden calls for tougher gun laws

By AFP

Some of the superspreaders behind COVID-19 conspiracy theories (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

Investigative report

David Klepper, Farnoush Amiri and Beatrice Dupuy

The superspreaders behind the most viral misinformation about COVID-19’s origins

From college profs with no training in virology to social media fakers to governments, a trail of explosive claims sorely lacking in evidence

In this Feb. 7, 2020 file photo, people wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong. The outpouring of grief and rage sparked by Li's death was an unusual - and for the Chinese Communist Party, unsettling - display in China's tightly monitored civic space. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Investigative reportChina wasn’t alone, but it took lead role spreading lies about COVID’s origins

By Erika Kinetz

More Headlines

Hamas supporters march on the main road of Khan Younis City, Gaza Strip, on June 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Israel seizes money, goods it says Hamas was sending from Turkey to West Bank

By Judah Ari Gross

An illustrative image of a fruit fly (Entwicklungsknecht; iStock by Getty Images)

In first, fruit fly larvae protein maker said planning Tel Aviv IPO

By Shoshanna Solomon

Rabbi Eliezer Berland arrives for a court hearing at the Magistrate's Court in Jerusalem, on February 20, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 )

Convicted sex offender rabbi released to house arrest in ongoing fraud case

Following a snowfall, a man jumps in the Old Katamon neighborhood in Jerusalem, on January 16, 2019. (Hadas Parush/ Flash90)

Israel braces for cold snap, possible snow in Jerusalem

Illustrative. A criminal in handcuffs. (Yakobchuk Olena/ iStock, by Getty Images)

Girl, 10, allegedly molested by home intruders in south; father slams ‘anarchy’

View of the Jewish settlement of Eli, in the West Bank, on January 17, 2021. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

JNF debates enabling purchase of Palestinian lands in West Bank

By ToI Staff and Sue Surkes

Sakura cherry blossoms in bloom at Jerusalem's Botanical Gardens (Courtesy Tom Amit)

Pretty in pinkSigns of spring as cherry blossoms bloom at Jerusalem gardens

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative. A train at the Yitzhak Navon train station in Jerusalem, on May 11, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90/File)

Dozens arrested in bribery case involving ministry, Israel Railways officials

By Stuart Winer

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner (72) plays against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tennessee, August 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Zach Banner, Alysha Clark, Josh Bell headline ‘Athletes against Anti-Semitism’

Rabbi Bieberfeld is administered a dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at an event to encourage vaccine uptake in Britain's Haredi Orthodox Jewish community at the John Scott Vaccination Centre in London, February 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Ultra-Orthodox Londoners roll up sleeves to fight COVID

By DANICA KIRKA

Former Argentine President Carlos Menem sits in a courthouse in Buenos Aires, Argentina, February 28, 2019. (Natacha Pisarenko/ AP)

Carlos Menem, former Argentina president cleared of AMIA bombing coverup, dies

Actor Jason Biggs takes part in a panel discussion during the 2020 FOX Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, in Pasadena, California, January 7, 2020. (Chris Pizzello/AP)

No Biggs dealJason Biggs jokes his career could end if folks realize he isn’t Jewish

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