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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Wednesday, August 18, 2021

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Health Minister Director-General Nachman Ash at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, July 14, 2021.(Noam Revkin Fenton/FLASH90)

Health Ministry chief orders schools to allow vaccinations on premises

Sidelining education minister, Nachman Ash instructs principals to permit medical teams on-site during school hours to inoculate students whose parents give approval

Israelis wear protective face masks in Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv, on August 17, 2021. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

New caps on gatherings take effect amid sky-high COVID infections

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton attends a New Hope faction meeting at the Knesset on August 2 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

AG said drafting order to bypass education minister on vaccines in schools

Rabbi Ben Zion Mutzafi (Screenshot/Kikar HaShabbat)

‘You’re crazy, a heretic’: Senior Haredi rabbi kicks out anti-vaxxer student

Ben Zion Mutzafi, a leading ultra-Orthodox voice urging adherence to COVID-19 rules, later says there is ‘no point in speaking to such people’

A couple receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Shaare Zedek hospital, on August 17, 2021, in Jerusalem. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Top expert optimistic as data shows cases in over-60s slowing after booster

Screenshot from Israel's Kan TV interview with Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, August 17, 2021 (Kan screenshot)

Last Afghan Jew will be safe, Taliban spokesman (unwittingly) tells Israeli TV

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Kan broadcaster talks to Suhail Shaheen, who notes that minorities have religious freedom; Zebulon Simantov quoted saying he will not leave his home

Taliban fighters patrol in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP)

Taliban blow up statue of foe they killed in 1996, stoking more fear over rule

By ahmad seir, Rahim Faiez, KATHY GANNON and Joseph Krauss

Author Khaled Hosseini at the 'There Will Be Blood' premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, on December 10, 2007. (Evan Agostini/AP)

Afghans are ‘right to be scared’ of Taliban return, ‘Kite Runner’ author laments

By AFP

Analysis

With US credibility gashed by Kabul fiasco, Israel may be bruised by association

Biden’s botched withdrawal emboldens terrorists and pushes allies toward Iran, though Jerusalem could find silver lining by remaining America’s most reliable and capable partner

US President Joe Biden leaves after speaking about the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, from the East Room of the White House, on August 16, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on August 16, 2021 (AFP)

White House: Taliban gained ‘fair amount’ of US defense equipment

By AFP

Taliban fighters stand guard at an entrance gate outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul, on August 17, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP)

Western clothes gone, women too: Kabul wakes up to a new-old Taliban reality

Schoolgirls sit inside a classroom with bouquets of flowers on empty desks as a tribute to those killed in the bombing of the Syed Al-Shahda girls school, in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 16, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP)

The now-ending US-led war in Afghanistan, by the numbers

Over 170,000 lives, trillions of dollars: The cost of the Afghan war

By AP and ToI Staff

American’s longest conflict was never formally declared a war and was paid for with borrowed money; amid the carnage, infant mortality dropped and literacy climbed

US ramps up Kabul evacuations, says Taliban pledged ‘safe passage’ to airport

By Paul Handley

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid (L) gestures as he speaks during the first press conference in Kabul on August 17, 2021, following the Taliban's stunning takeover of Afghanistan. (Hoshang Hashimi / AFP)

After seizing power, Taliban vows not to seek revenge against opponents

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan wave from the Truman Balcony at the White House after they participated in the signing of the Abraham Accords, where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

The Washington Institute

The Abraham Accords One Year Later: Can They Change the Middle East?

Now that some Arab leaders see Israel as part of a solution to their challenges and are unencumbered by the enmity of the past, what will it take to deepen these relationships and extend them to other states?

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right) meets with Abbas Kamel, the director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, in Jerusalem on August 18, 2021. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)

Bennett meets Egyptian spy chief on Gaza, is invited to visit Cairo within weeks

By Tal Schneider and ToI Staff

Trip would be the first by an Israeli PM in a decade; summit with Abbas Kamel not connected to Qatari funds, officials say, amid reports of looming deal with Hamas

From the Blogs

The Taliban win forces the question: What’s next for the US?

Will America bounce back from this debacle by reclaiming its role of peacemaker or will it continue isolationist policies, and pave a path for Iranian hegemony?

Smoke and red fire retardant sprayed by Israeli firefighting aircraft mingles on a hillside on the third day of wildfires in the Jerusalem mountains, August 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

ToI podcast

Daily Briefing Aug. 18 – Ecosystems after the fire: Israel’s hands-off approach

Environmental reporter Sue Surkes talks about how philanthropy can drive climate change tech; Arab affairs reporter Aaron Boxerman updates us about ongoing talks with Gaza

The charred corpse of a Mediterranean chameleon in the Jerusalem Hills, on August 17, 2021. (Yaniv Cohen, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

Ecologists worry over ecosystem’s recovery after huge Jerusalem-area blaze

Rabbi Richard Hirsch z”l brought Reform Judaism home to Israel

He was the driving force pushing the Reform movement to shift its focus toward the Jewish state, beginning with moving its headquarters there

Nina B. Mogilnik

Kaddish for Afghanistan

America’s exit from Afghanistan has been messy and embarrassing, but it has not been wrong. How long were we going to pretend we were accomplishing something?!

Israel Police Commander Kobi Yaakobi (L) and Chief Superintendent Dvir Tamim speaking to Channel 13 near the Eitanim psychiatric hospital on August 17, 2021. (Screenshot: Channel 13)

‘The fire will reach them in a minute’: Cops recount tense hospital evacuation

By Michael Bachner

Cmdr. Kobi Yaakobi says he had to make quick, tough decisions in early stages of huge blaze near Jerusalem to avoid repeat of 2010 Carmel disaster, which killed 44 people

View of the damage caused to a house in Moshav Giv'at Ye'arim, following a major fire which broke out yesterday, on August 17, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Residents return to stricken homes as Jerusalem area fire brought under control

Eddie Jacobson, left, with former US president Harry S. Truman. (Courtesy of the National Archives)

InterviewIf not for a friend, the US might not have recognized Israel

How buddies-in-chief sway US presidents, from the Civil War to Israel’s creation

A new book by Gary Ginsberg reveals how ‘first friends’ can make history over a drink or round of golf – and may have been crucial in the formation of the Jewish state

Illustration for demonstration of 3D printing of a tumor in a brain microenvironment according to a computed 3D model. (Tel Aviv University)

Live updates (closed)

TAU researchers tout cancer breakthrough with first 3D bioprint of active tumor

Scientists at Tel Aviv University say the discovery ‘will enable much faster prediction of best treatments for patients’

6:22 pm

Turkey offers to mediate between Ethiopia and Sudan
6:11 pm

TAU researchers successfully complete first 3D-bioprinting of active tumor
6:04 pm

Labor MK hospitalized with COVID: 'It's scary, it's stressful'

An explosion is seen in Syria after a projectile hit, near the border with Israel, on August 17, 2021. (Video screenshot/Twitter)

Syrian media reports IDF strike in Quneitra border region

By Emanuel Fabian

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 insists nuclear program peaceful after IAEA reports uranium enrichment jump

By AFP

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidential office on Saturday, April 10, shows a video conference screen of an engineer inside Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant (Iranian Presidency/AFP)

Iran ups uranium enrichment to 60 percent, UN watchdog confirms

By AFP

MK Ahmad Tibi speaks during a protest outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 5, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

MK Tibi files complaint against IDF soldier he clashed with in Hebron

By Stuart Winer

Father of serviceman complains to police that his son was assaulted and publicly humiliated after Joint List lawmaker was prevented from entering Jewish enclave in city

South Tel Aviv resident and activist Sheffi Paz speaks during a visit of Ayelet Shaked in south Tel Aviv on April 2, 2019. (Roy Alima/Flash90)

Knesset speaker bans anti-migrant activist who called for MK’s execution

More Headlines

Rabbi Richard Hirsch delivers a Martin Luther King Day lecture titled 'Israel and American Jewry — why we need each other' at the Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, January 15, 2018. (YouTube via JTA)

Rabbi Richard Hirsch, who helped guide Reform movement to Zionism, dies at 95

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pays a visit to IDF soldiers stationed near Gaza, on August 17, 2021. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

TV: Israel not responding to Gaza rocket due to progress in talks with Hamas

By Emanuel Fabian

An ancient winepress unveiled in Ramat Hasharon. (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

Building project unearths ancient history in Tel Aviv suburb

By Stuart Winer

Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, suspected of sexual abuse against several women, is seen at the courtroom of the Kiryat Shmona Magistrates Court on July 8, 2015. (Basel Awidat/Flash90)

Safed rabbi jailed for multiple counts of sexual assault to get early release

Illustrative: An Austrian Airlines flight attendant directing a passenger to his seat. (Austrian Airlines, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)

Study: Personal point system for individuals may help nations reach carbon goals

Workers on the Tamar gas processing rig on June 23, 2014. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

Knesset committee advances legislation seeking to make natural gas companies pay

The IDC Herzliya campus. (Courtesy)

IDC Herzliya to become university following state approval

Avigdor Kahalani speaks at the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism ceremony in Jerusalem, May 29, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Famed IDF veteran Avigdor Kahalani in serious condition with bacterial infection

The Daily Beast website is seen on a smartphone, on August 17, 2021. (The Times of Israel)

Daily Beast to review editorial standards after writer calls Israel ‘genocidal’

Construction work is seen in the West Bank settlement of Yakir, on June 11, 2020. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

Meeting to approve rare West Bank Palestinian construction delayed

By Aaron Boxerman

Israeli farmers demonstrate at the border between Israel and Lebanon, on August 17, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Protesting agriculture reform, Israeli farmers attempt to breach Lebanon border

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

In this photo released on June 10, 2021, by the Iranian army, an Iranian warship moves in the Atlantic Ocean. (Iranian Army via AP)

Iran’s supreme leader appoints new chief for country’s navy

By AP and ToI Staff

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July	August 2021					September
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16	17	18	19	20	21	22
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