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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Wednesday, May 12, 2021

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Rockets are launched towards Israel from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 12, 2021 (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

Live updates (closed)

After 3-hour lull, early morning sirens wake up residents of southern Israel

By Jacob Magid and ToI Staff

IDF targets Hamas operatives, infrastructure overnight; 5 Petah Tikva residents treated for smoke inhalation due to rocket that set off fire; sirens reach as far north as Nazareth

5:26 am

IDF says it's hit 600 targets in Gaza so far, including bunker dug under school
4:04 am

Red alert sirens wail for 6th time this morning in Israeli towns bordering Gaza
3:57 am

Home Front Command clarifies that no rockets were fired at northern Israel last night

Israeli soldiers near the site of where a jeep was hit by an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza, May 12, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hamas missile hits army jeep, killing soldier; IDF strikes group’s top leaders

By Judah Ari Gross

The scene of a rocket strike in the city of Lod that killed two people on May 12, 2021 (Magen David Adom)

Overnight Hamas barrages kill father and daughter in Lod, woman in Rishon Lezion

By Judah Ari Gross and ToI Staff

A building in Ashkelon where a woman was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, May 11, 2021 (Zaka)

2 women killed by rockets in Ashkelon amid massive barrages from Gaza

By Judah Ari Gross and Aaron Boxerman

Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks to an air defense soldier operating an Iron Dome missile defense battery in southern Israel on May 11, 2021. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Minister)

‘No end date’ for Gaza operation, Gantz says, rejecting ‘moral preaching’

By Judah Ari Gross

Defense minister warns ‘all options are on the table’ as fighting shows no sign of abating; adds that in the Strip, ‘high-rises are falling down, commanders are being killed’

Smoke billows from an Israeli air strike on the Hanadi compound in Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas terror group on May 11, 2021. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Egypt: Israel hasn’t responded to our offer to mediate to defuse tensions

By Agencies and Jacob Magid

Netanyahu: 'It’s anarchy from rioters; we cannot accept it'

Massive forces sent to Lod as Netanyahu vows to restore order with ‘iron fist’

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

Synagogues torched in widescale Arab riots described by city’s mayor as ‘Kristallnacht’ and ‘civil war’; 3 Jewish suspects remanded over fatal shooting Monday of Arab man

The aftermath of riots in the central Israeli town of Lod, seen in the early hours of May 12, 2021. A state of emergency was declared after hours of Arab mob violence (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Israelis carry out Torah scrolls from a torched synagogue in the central Israeli city of Lod, following a night of heavy rioting by Arab residents in the city, on May 12, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

After Lod synagogues torched, Rivlin accuses ‘bloodthirsty Arab mob’ of ‘pogrom’

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

A car set on fire by Arab Israeli residents during riots in the central Israeli town of Lod, on May 11, 2021. (Yossi Aloni/FLASH90)

‘Kristallnacht in Lod’: State of emergency as Arab mobs set synagogues on fire

Israeli firefighters near a bus and other vehicles hit in a Gaza rocket strike on Holon near Tel Aviv, on May 11, 2021 (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)

Op-ed

Israel’s leadership taken by surprise, in a conflict it failed to see coming

‘We must not be dismissive about the situation we are in,’ defense minister says, as rockets hit nationwide and Arab riots spread. Rarely was advice more appropriate and necessary

The live Behind the Headlines webinar will take place on May 12, 2021, at 7 p.m. Israel Daylight Time. (Times of Israel)

Behind the Headlines

Israel under fire: Join ToI Community for live Q&A TODAY with our senior editors

In a special Behind the Headlines for ToI Community members only, this Wednesday, May 12, readers can query panelists for their perspective on the ongoing crisis in Israel

Smoke rises after a series of Israeli air strikes in Gaza City , early on May 12, 2021. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Live updates (closed)IDF strikes Hamas leaders amid heavy rocket attacks; major rioting in Lod

Smoke from Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas terror group, on May 11, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

IDF kills 4 Islamic Jihad, Hamas commanders in targeted strikes in Gaza

By Aaron Boxerman

US President Joe Biden arrives to speak about the economy, in the East Room of the White House on May 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Analysis

Biden fumbles attempt to please everyone with tepid response to Mideast violence

US blocks passage of Security Council statement criticizing both sides, but neither Israel nor Palestinians impressed; other allies of administration slam hands-off approach

US: Israel has right to respond to rockets, Palestinians have right to safety

Amid rocket attacks, US top diplomat says ‘all sides need to de-escalate’

By Jacob Magid and Agencies

Trump slams Biden’s ‘weakness,’ lack of support for Israel

By AFP and Jacob Magid

A pro-Palestinian protest in midtown Manhattan amid the ongoing escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza on May 11, 2021. (Screen capture/Twitter)

Thousands of pro-Palestinian New Yorkers pack Midtown in protest against Israel

Small group of pro-Israel activists tussles with counter-demonstrators; police make several arrests at tense but mainly uneventful protest; rally backing Israel set for Wednesday

Screenshot from a video clip of a rocket landing in Holon, Israel, May 11, 2021, that circulated on social media. (Screenshot)

TikTok, Twitter videos bring images of Israel-Gaza conflict home to US Jews

Israeli security forces at the scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, on May 11, 2021. (Flash90)

Security Council to meet for 2nd time in 3 days on Israel-Palestinian violence

Ismail Haniyeh gestures to supporters during a visit to the Ein el-Hilweh camp, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, near the southern coastal city of Sidon on September 6, 2020. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)

Hamas hails ‘victory in battle for Jerusalem’ after onslaught on central Israel

By Aaron Boxerman

Ismail Haniyeh says Gaza-ruling terror group ready for any scenario, celebrates ‘new balance of power’ with Israel after huge rocket barrages, eruption of violence in Arab sector

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Israel after unprecedented Hamas rocket fire on central Israel, May 11, 2021. Also present, from left: IDF chief of staff Aviv Kohavi; Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman (Amos Ben-Gershom / GPO)

After rockets rain on Tel Aviv, Netanyahu says terror groups will pay dear price

Firefighters near damaged vehicles in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv, on May 11, 2021, after rockets are launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Hamas hits central Israel with unprecedented rocket fire; woman killed

By Judah Ari Gross and Aaron Boxerman

Illustrative: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, at Washington Convention Center, in Washington, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

As Gaza conflict escalates, here’s what US Jews think about Israel

The Daily Briefing

Times of Israel Podcast

Daily Briefing May 12 – Is Hamas spurring Arab Israelis to intifada?

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

Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett speaks during a faction meeting at the Knesset, on May 3, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Bennett vows to back government Gaza response, says Hamas must pay ‘heavy price’

Illustrative image: a member of medical staff cares for a patient with coronavirus in the intensive care unit at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England. (Neil Hall/Pool via AP, File)

Why does COVID make people so sick, so quickly? Israeli geneticist has an answer

By Nathan Jeffay

SARS-CoV-2 uses a three-pronged approach to keep cells from recruiting immune system to fend off the attack until it may be too late, says Weizmann Institute researcher

3D illustration of neural pathways, connecting parts of the brain. (ChrisChrisW via iStock by Getty Images)

Israeli lab ‘switches off’ brain connectors, boosting efforts to treat disorders

By Nathan Jeffay

Israel and Gaza: Moral clarity, moral fog

The genocidal, death-celebrating Hamas terrorists drag Israel into reluctant confrontation, yet somehow the two sides are painted as morally equivalent

There are more American Jews – and they’re staying Jewish

The latest Pew survey shows double-digit growth in the American Jewish population and finds intermarriage is having a net positive effect

Proportionality of response: What it really means

How much force should the IDF use to stop rocket fire from a given location in Gaza? What if there are civilian casualties?

This has nothing to do with Sheikh Jarrah

It’s about Hamas seeing a chance to seize the narrative and increase its own influence and control over Palestinians in Jerusalem

(Illustration by Grace Yagel)

10 key takeaways from the new Pew survey of American Jews

They’re older, more educated, and less religious than rest of country; 1 in 10 supports Israel boycott, but most back Jewish state; most young people are marrying non-Jews

Pew study: 75% of US Orthodox Jews identify as Republicans, up from 57% in 2013

Pew survey of American Jews shows worries about antisemitism are widespread

Without using the term, Pew survey unveils new data on US ‘Jews of color’

Various centrifuge machines line a hall at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, Iran on April 17, 2021. (Screenshot/Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting-IRIB, via AP)

Iran now enriching uranium to 63% purity — UN watchdog

Amid talks on renewing nuke deal, IAEA said to conclude Tehran exceeding 60% enrichment cap it announced, bringing it even closer to weapons-grade level

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks with the media after registering his name as a candidate for the June 18 presidential elections at elections headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Tehran, Iran, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran’s Holocaust-denying ex-president Ahmadinejad to run again for office

By Nasser Karimi

'I went outside, I was in shock'

‘You never get used to it’: Ashkelon shaken by first rocket deaths in 2 years

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Two women killed in southern city; with up to a quarter of the city lacking shelters in their homes, residents say they’re living on ‘Iron Dome and luck’

Smoke billows following Israeli retaliatory airstrikes on the southern Gaza region of Khan Yunis after rocket fire toward Israel (Mahmoud KHATAB / AFP)

Gantz: Gaza operation aims to ‘strike Hamas hard,’ make it ‘regret’ rockets

By Judah Ari Gross

Israeli soldiers stand by the Palestinian vehcile from which two suspects allegedly attempted to commit a shooting attack at Tapuach Junction in the West Bank on May 11, 2021. (Screenshot)

IDF says it thwarted West Bank shooting, would-be Palestinian gunman killed

By Emanuel Fabian

Analysis

With Jerusalem focus, Hamas touches nerve even friendly Arab states can’t ignore

Rage against Israel spreads through regional states as the Gaza-based terror group positions itself as a defender of Palestinians and Islam

Fighters with the Izz-Al Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on April 18, 2021. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)

Dr Elaine Solowey in her greenhouse at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel, March 21, 2021. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

After reviving ancient dates, a Negev pioneer plants seeds against a dry future

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More Headlines

People attempt to subdue an assailant with a knife outside the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba on May 11, 2021. (Screenshot)

Jewish teen seriously hurt in Beersheba stabbing; Arab Israeli suspect arrested

By Emanuel Fabian

Convicted murderer Roman Zadorov in the courtroom of the Supreme Court, Jerusalem, December 23, 2015. (Gili Yohanan/POOL)

Supreme Court orders retrial of convicted killer of 13-year old Tair Rada

Illustrative: Traders at the New York Stock Exchange, March 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Digital analytics firm SimilarWeb to raise $180 million in NY IPO

By Shoshanna Solomon

Israeli startup Nimble says it has created a home-use machine for manicures (Jordan Kastrinsky)

Time for a manicure? Israeli startup’s 3D imaging, AI has got your nails covered

By Shoshanna Solomon

From the Metulla Poetry Festival, taking place this year over Shavuot, May 16-18, 2021 (Courtesy Nir Shaanani)

Northern literary lightsCOVID rules eased, Metulla Poetry Festival to be held in person

By Jessica Steinberg

Sedona Systems has developed NetFusion to help operate optimal network infrastructure (YouTube screenshot)

Cisco to buy Israeli startup Sedona for reported $100 million

By Shoshanna Solomon

NTT President and CEO Jun Sawada (Shoko Takayasu Shoko Photography 2021)

Japanese telecom giant NTT to open innovation lab in Israel

By Shoshanna Solomon

This August 2010 file photo shows a sign for Moody's Corp. in New York (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Moody’s, Team8 invest $25 million in joint cyber-risk venture

By Shoshanna Solomon

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