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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Sunday, February 21, 2021

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Osnat Ben Shitrit. (Instagram)

Pregnant 32-year-old woman and her fetus die of COVID at Jerusalem hospital

By Nathan Jeffay

Expert says case ‘raises a red flag’ regarding dangers of coronavirus to pregnant women, especially the now-dominant British variant; 30-week pregnant woman had not been vaccinated

People clean tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean sea in Gador nature reserve near Hadera, Israel, on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israelis told to stay away from beaches due to health fears over oil spill

Authorities urge keeping distance from entire Mediterranean coast from Rosh Hanikra to Zikim due to worry over tar exposure, a day after people fell ill helping cleanup efforts

Vets find ‘suspicious’ black liquid in lungs of whale found dead after oil spill

Nature authority calls for oil spill cleanup volunteers, pledges safety training

After oil spill, Environment Ministry to pursue funding pledged 12 years ago

The Daily Briefing

Times of Israel Podcast

PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 21 — Censoring the Israel-Syria prisoner exchange

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

The Israeli woman who crossed into Syria and was returned in a deal brokered by Russia, in a photo shown by Channel 12 on February 20, 2021. (Channel 12 screenshot)

‘No fence will stop me,’ woman who crossed to Syria previously wrote on Facebook

A health worker of the Maccabi Healthcare Services administers a dose of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to a woman inside a van in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, on February 16, 2021. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Vaccine prevents 98.9% of COVID deaths, Israel’s Health Ministry data shows

Officials hail ‘dramatically’ effective Pfizer shots; two weeks after second dose, vaccine also 99.2% protective against serious illness, reduces chance of hospitalization by 98.9%

Israelis receives a Covid-19 vaccine injection at a Covid-19 mobile vaccine station on the beach in Tel Aviv, February 20, 2021 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Health Ministry: Recovered COVID patients should get single vaccine shot

People wearing face masks take cover from rain at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, on February 19, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

65,000 Israelis miss quarantine due to Health Ministry ‘computer glitch’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touches the first batch of Pfizer vaccines to arrive in Israel at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, December 9, 2020. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool)

Diplomatic immunity: Netanyahu said to raise trading vaccines for normalization

PM reportedly assessing idea of giving vaccine doses to other countries, including those with no current diplomatic relations with Jewish state, in bid to boost world standing

Tyson Foods team members receive COVID-19 vaccines from health officials at the Joslin, Illinois facility, February 19, 2021. (John Konstantaras/AP Images for Tyson Foods)

US study suggests efficacy of 1st Pfizer, Moderna shot increases with time

Illustrative: Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in MDCK cells (seen in green). (Cynthia Goldsmith Content Providers: CDC / Wikipedia)

Russia records first case of H5N8 avian flu in humans, alerts WHO

By AFP

People swim at the Holmes Place health club in Modiin on February 21, 2021, after it was opened for people who have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israelis pack sports venues, malls as country loosens 2-month lockdown

Shoppers largely adhere to health guidelines, though some fail to maintain social distancing; virus czar warns not to ‘behave however you want’; transmission rate falls to 0.79

Israelis shop at a market in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. Israel lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions and started reopening its economy Sunday as the country's vaccination drive and third nationwide lockdown have started to bring down infections. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

In major easing of lockdown rules, Israel reopens stores, gyms, more schools

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a gym on Saturday, February 20, to urge vaccinated Israelis to use a 'Green Pass' to access sports and culture as Israel begins reopening (PMO/Amos Ben Gershon)

‘Green Pass’ site crashes even as Netanyahu urges Israel to adopt reopening plan

Kally Rubin Kislowicz

Planting an Audrey

I was devastated to learn her true identity. But I told my kids that although Audrey may not be what I expected, she does not deserve to be cold

Sharon Weiss-Greenberg

For my second pandemic Purim, I’m focusing on giving to the poor

This year, we need to adjust our attitude and lean into a different and often neglected side of the holiday

This UK professor thinks his Jewish students are foreign agents

David Miller traffics in antisemitic conspiracy theories. Why is Bristol University allowing him to continue teaching?

Shmuly Yanklowitz

Our post-prophetic age: Jewish activism for this moment!

The Jewish community has a significant role to play in forging a better and more positive vision for what comes next for a divided nation

Illustrative: Israeli students arrive at a high school in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, November 29, 2020. (Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Defying government, 15 cities to reopen grades 7-10 this week

As Israel scales back some lockdown restrictions, municipalities, including Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa, announce they’ll send preteens and teenagers back to class from Wednesday

7:29 pm

Hamas won't nominate candidate for Palestinian presidential elections
7:19 pm

American Jewish Committee demands SNL apologize for joke on Israeli vaccination
7:14 pm

Poll indicates Netanyahu could narrowly form right-wing government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, Egyptian Minister for Petroleum Tarek el-Molla, left, and Israel's Energey Minister Yuval Steinitz, in Jerusalem on February 21, 2021. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

Egyptian minister makes rare visit to Israel to talk energy cooperation

Tarek el-Molla is first senior Cairo official to arrive in five years; Netanyahu says enough natural gas in Mediterranean for both countries’ needs and to export

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)

Holocaust, Hitler jokes in far-right campaign ad cause rift in alliance

Betzalel Smotrich disavows video put out by partner Itamar Ben Gvir; incident also sparks fight with right-wing rival Naftali Bennett, who is accused of plotting with left

Friedrich Karl Berger in 1959 (US Department of Justice)

US deports 95-year-old ex-Nazi concentration camp guard to Germany

Sukhdeep Singh stands in front of the Laura Gatner House in Hirtenberg near Baden, Lower Austria, where he used to live, on January 22, 2021. (ALEX HALADA / AFP)

Austria refugee home inspired by Holocaust experience saved by former resident

By Denise HRUBY

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, attends a press conference during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters of the UN in Vienna, Austria, November 18, 2020. (Christian Bruna/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran hails ‘fruitful’ talks with UN nuke chief ahead of move to curb inspections

By AFP

Foreign Minister Zarif indicates he is looking to avoid an impasse over compliance with 2015 pact

Iran to shut UN nuke watchdog’s cameras as agency head visits

By AP

Iran ‘studying’ EU proposal for meeting of nuclear deal members including US

Zarif accuses West of hypocrisy over report Israel expands Dimona nuclear center

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as he makes a stop on April 9, 2018, at the site of violent "March of Return" protests on the Israel-Gaza border east of Gaza City. (AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams)

PA says Hamas has committed to peaceful resistance, two states — report

In letter ahead of scheduled Palestinian elections, senior PA official said to inform US that Hamas also agreed to obey international law and accept a peaceful transfer of power

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a leadership meeting at his headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on September 3, 2020. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool Photo via AP)

Abbas orders Palestinian public freedoms boosted before planned elections

By Agencies and ToI Staff

A Palestinian man casts a ballot during elections for the Fatah movment in the Nablus area, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, January 23, 2021. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Analysis

Avi Issacharoff

Barghouti calls for Palestinian leadership primaries as heat turns up for Israel

Terrorist jailed by Israel for murder challenges Abbas; if he wins, it could put the Jewish state in a serious bind

Mickey Paatzsch, left, and Arkadij Khaet on set. (Courtesy of 'Masel Tov Cocktail'/ via JTA)

Interview

Short film ‘Masel Tov Cocktail’ explodes stereotypes about young Jews in Germany

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More Headlines

Sylvana Tsegai, who was found dead in Tel Aviv, November 26, 2018.

Man who raped and killed ex-wife’s preteen daughter gets life plus 15 years

An elderly woman who fled to the city of Axum in the Tigray region of Ethiopia to seek safety sits with her head bandaged after being wounded during an attack on the city, November 30, 2020. (AP Photo)

Witnesses recall massacre in Ethiopia city claimed to be home to Ark of Covenant

Danny Biton, father of famous Israeli singer Eyal Golan, at the District Court in Tel Aviv on April 29, 2015. (Flash90)

Father of singer Eyal Golan, convicted of sexual offenses, dies of COVID-19

Illustrative image of artificial intelligence research, robots and banking (Blue Planet Studio; iStock by Getty Images)

Fintech startup Earnix raises $75m, attains ‘unicorn’ status at valuation of $1b

By Shoshanna Solomon

Pope Francis delivers his message during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, on the Immaculate Conception day, at the Vatican, December 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)

Pope visits Holocaust survivor in Rome, pays tribute to victims

By Frances D'Emilio

Jack Schwartz, veteran New York newsroom editor gives a talk on 26, September 2016 (Screen grab/YouTube)

Jack Schwartz, veteran New York newsroom editor, dies of COVID at 82

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