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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Thursday, December 23, 2021

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Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash speaks during a press conference about COVID-19 in Jerusalem, on December 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Israel delays rollout of 4th COVID shots amid signs Omicron less severe — report

Israeli TV says Health Ministry director may not endorse panel’s recommendation to offer additional booster shots if further data suggests hospitalizations lower from new variant

7:16 pm

Terrorists handed life sentences for 2019 killing of Dvir Sorek
7:07 pm

Instead of cash, Iran to accept payment in tea for Sri Lankan oil debt
6:44 pm

Israel delays rollout of 4th COVID shots amid signs Omicron less severe - report

Shas party leader Aryeh Deri leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on July 26, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Aryeh Deri admits to tax offenses as part of plea deal, will resign from Knesset

By Raoul Wootliff

Attorney-general confirms agreement won’t see Shas party leader charged with moral turpitude, allowing him to run again for office; good-governance group vows High Court appeal

Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben Gvir attends an Internal Security Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on December 7, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Far-right MK Ben Gvir summoned by Knesset security over gun incident in parking lot

By Stuart Winer

Chinese food review

Put the ‘oy’ in Christmas joy with this Jewish guide to navigating Xmas in NYC

By Jordan Hoffman

There is probably plenty to do in the City That Never Sleeps this December 25 – but we’re skipping all that in favor of a timeless Jewish tradition: Chinese food and a movie

A man receives a dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in a vaccination clinic set up at St Columba's Church in Sheffield on December 15, 2021 as the UK steps up the country's booster drive to fight a "tidal wave" of Omicron. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Two British studies indicate lower hospitalization rate for Omicron

By AFP and ToI Staff

Findings show those who fall ill are less likely to become severely sick; but experts warn high infectiousness could still lead to more overall severe cases

COVID cases surge globally ahead of holidays as China locks down city of 13 million

By Jing Xuan Teng

In long-awaited milestone, US health regulators authorize Pfizer coronavirus pill

By AP and ToI Staff

AstraZeneca says its booster shot is effective against Omicron

By Roland JACKSON

A Magen David Adom worker conducts a COVID-19 rapid antigen test at a testing center in Jerusalem on December 22, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

New daily COVID cases rise to 1,400 as ministers vow no lockdown is coming

Health minister says lockdowns and travel restrictions cannot be a long-term solution: ‘We can’t endlessly live in a bunker’

A man wearing a mask takes cover from the rain on Jaffa Road in the city center of Jerusalem on December 21, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Israel scrambles to avoid paralyzing economy ahead of Omicron ‘tsunami’

Illustrative: Israelis above 60 years old receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary Clalit health care center in Tel Aviv, on August 10, 2021 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Health minister: Israelis over 60 can get 4th COVID shot from Sunday

When a US Muslim leader said Zionist Jews can’t be trusted allies

The line she drew between the few ’good’ (anti-Zionist) Jews and all the rest sows division and polarization. Jews and Muslims who work together know better

Shmuley Boteach

Billie Eilish is right about the dangers of pornography

A human need for erotic imagery seems innate, so cater to it in a ’kosher’ way and protect yourselves from pernicious exploitative internet porn

Jonathan Muskat

Not letting Jewish tourists into Israel is legitimate

The argument that Israel must admit all Jews into the country immediately would apply only if Diaspora Jews were fleeing persecution

Jews are not foreigners

It’s time we realize that while COVID-19 persists, the support and confidence in Israel from Jews around the world may not. Israel must act before it is too late.

People gather around the giant Christmas tree outside the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Israel's northern city of Nazareth on December 18, 2021. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Israel’s Christian community is growing, 84% satisfied with life here – report

Pre-Christmas study finds high education levels, contrasts with warnings from Church leaders that ‘radical’ Israeli groups are driving Christians from Holy Land

ILLUSTRATIVE — New immigrants from North America arrive on a special aliyah flight arranged by the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization, at Ben Gurion International Airport on August 14, 2019. (Flash90)

4,000 US immigrants moved to Israel in 2021, the highest annual figure since 1973

US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, December 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

US national security adviser says deadline for Iran talks coming ‘within weeks’

Jake Sullivan’s visit to Israel said to calm some of Israel’s concerns; gaps between Jerusalem, Washington ‘smaller than we’d expected,’ official tells news site

Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora speaks to journalists after a meeting on the Iran nuclear deal, in Vienna, on December 17, 2021. (Alex Halada/AFP)

Iran nuclear talks to resume on Monday, says EU diplomat

By AFP and ToI Staff

In this Dec. 21, 2021, photo released by the US Navy, Illicit weapons seized from a stateless fishing vessel in the North Arabian Sea are arranged for inventory aboard guided-missile destroyer USS O'Kane's (DDG 77) flight deck (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Elisha Smith/U.S. Navy via AP)

US Navy says it seized arms from Iran likely bound for Yemen

By AP

ToI podcast

Daily Briefing Dec. 23 – Why are MKs and newsmakers on reality TV?

Reporter Amy Spiro and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur discuss the cult of Israeli celebrities on local reality shows, where newsmakers compete for votes onscreen

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center) is presented with a silver Menorah during a meeting with a delegation of Jewish leaders in Ankara, December 22, 2021 (video screenshot)

Erdogan tells visiting rabbis ties with Israel are ‘vital’ for regional stability

Turkish leader once again speaks of his desire to mend relations with Jewish state, says antisemitism is ‘a crime against humanity’

He attended cross burnings, wore a wire, risked his life to expose who was in KKK

By JASON DEAREN

US Army vet Joseph Moore helped feds foil 2 murders, crack down on white supremacists in Florida; says phenomenon ‘more prevalent and consequential than any are willing to admit’

Joseph Moore looks out of a window at his home in Jacksonville, Florida, on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021 (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi sign a Memorandum of Understanding at the Pancasila Building in Jakarta, December 14, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/Pool Photo via AP)

Blinken said to discuss Israel-Indonesia normalization during visit to Jakarta

Report says US secretary of state raised the idea last week with senior officials, but Israeli sources expect no immediate breakthrough

A picture taken in the office of Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita's (top-R) in the capital Rabat, shows him and his counterparts Israel's Yair Lapid (top-L) and Antony Blinken of the US (Bottom), take part in a virtual meeting, on December 22, 2021. (AFP)

Morocco, Israel mark first anniversary of US-brokered renewal of ties

By AFP

Op-ed

Avoiding the worst-case COVID scenario

In a sea of confusion and misinformation, the imperative to vaccinate marks the island of sanity — and the only proven means of averting the darkest of forecasts

Omicron variant spike protein mutations (MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research)

Illustrative: Students receive COVID-19 vaccine injections, at Amal high school in the southern city of Beersheba, March 17, 2021. (Flash90)

Parent threatens nurse at Beersheba school for administering COVID vaccines

Medical scientists prepare to sequence COVID-19 omicron samples at the Ndlovu Research Center in Elandsdoorn, South Africa, December 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

Israel’s Omicron response smacks of panic, 4th shots should wait, says immunologist

By Nathan Jeffay

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers disperse Palestinian demonstrators during an anti-Israel demonstration over tensions in Jerusalem, at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, in the West Bank, May 11, 2021. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP)

IDF: Palestinian gunman opens fire at troops in Ramallah, is shot dead

By Aaron Boxerman

Israeli army says Palestinian shot at them from passing vehicle as soldiers entered city to search for suspects; Hamas praises attack

File: Palestinian policemen in the West Bank town of Nablus (AP Photo /Nasser Ishtayeh)

Israel said to hand over 2 Palestinians wanted by Ramallah

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in the West Bank city of Ramallah, December 22, 2021. (Wafa)

Hosting Biden’s security adviser, Abbas urges closer US-Palestinian ties

By Aaron Boxerman

File - Former head of the Mossad Yossi Cohen attends a Jerusalem Post conference, held in Jerusalem, October 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ex-Mossad officials pan ‘power-crazy’ Yossi Cohen for alleged state secrets leak

By Michael Bachner

Investigative report on former spy chief revealing secrets to a woman with whom he was having an affair and her husband draws criticism, but also support from pro-Netanyahu pundits

Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-finance minister Israel Katz attend the swearing-in of the new government, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 13, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Likud to expel 1,000 members, probe 7,000 more, amid intensifying power struggle

A general view of the Prime Minister's Office building in Jerusalem (Orel Cohen/Flash90)

Delivery driver claims guards at PM’s office assaulted him, broke his ribs

Parcel of cash received by City College of New York physics professor Vinod Menon. (City College of New York)

Is CUNY’s mystery cash donor a New York Jew? There’s a $180,000 reason to think so

By PHILISSA CRAMER

Several clues relating to a box of small bills sent anonymously to the city college point to the benefactor being Jewish

Illustrative: Women walk with children during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in the Borough Park neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York, October 4, 2020. (AP/Kathy Willens)

US Orthodox Jews financially fragmented but mostly secure, survey finds

Phosphogypsum waste at Rotem Amfert in the Negev, southern Israel. (Environmental Protection Ministry)

Polluting company agrees to clean up in return for extension of Negev concession

Rotem Amfert and parent company the ICL Group guarantee to address decades of waste caused by phosphorus mining, rehabilitate soil and water

One of nine dead vultures shown next to the carcass of a goat in the Judean Desert in what the Israel Nature and Parks Authority suspects is a malicious poisoning event, October 24, 2021. (Eyal Ben Giat, INPA)

MKs advance bill to ease prosecution, raise punishment for wildlife poisoning

Actors Sophie Charlotte and Rodrigo Lombardi portray Aracy de Carvalho and the Brazilian writer and diplomat João Guimarães Rosa during the filming of "Passports to Freedom" in Germany in 2020. (Globo via JTA)

Accuracy of new Brazilian TV show on Holocaust-era hero called into question

By Cnaan Liphshiz

The new series ‘Passports to Freedom,’ as well as Yad Vashem, credit Aracy de Carvalho with saving Jews during the Holocaust — but historians suggest otherwise

More Headlines

A girl is entertained by clowns as she waits in the control room after being injected with a dose of the Soberana-02 vaccine for COVID-19 in Havana, Cuba, August 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Slinging slangAcademy of the Hebrew Language picks ‘lunacy’ as its word of 2021

Israeli youth protest against sexual harassment and assault at their schools, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv on December 14, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

15-year-old charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual assault of minors

The Kunsthaus in Zurich, seen in 2009. (CC BY, Daniel Lobo, Flickr)

Jewish artist to pull works from Swiss museum over Nazi-era collection

By Agnès PEDRERO

IDF chief Aviv Kohavi shakes hands with a graduates during a ceremony marking the end of the Israeli Air Force's pilot course, at the Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel, on December 22, 2021. (Israel Defense Forces)

Kohavi rejects idea Israel’s best should go to cyber units, says fighters are elite

The scene of an attempting stabbing attack north of Jerusalem on December 1, 2021. (Israel Police)

Suspected terrorist tried to kill his wife before attempted stabbing attack

Web pages used to show information for collecting unemployment insurance in Virginia, right, and reporting fraud and identity theft in Pennsylvania, are displayed on the respective state web pages, on Feb. 26, 2021 (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Secret Service: Nearly $100b stolen in pandemic relief funds in the US

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT

A woman hangs laundry in a flooded refugee camp in Idlib province, Syria, December 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian war killed 3,700 in 2021, lowest annual toll since outbreak a decade ago

By AFP

Lt. Col. Dan Sharoni, who is suspected of secretly filming his female soldiers, in an undated photograph. (Facebook)

IDF officer faces 79 counts for filming dozens of soldiers without their consent

By Judah Ari Gross

Illustrative. Cybersecurity technology. (Stock Depot via iStock by Getty Images)

From the webUS financial software giant Intuit to acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup

Illustrative: Sailboats sit anchored off Choeng Mon beach on the resort island of Koh Samui, Thailand, on October 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Adam Schreck)

Israeli faces Thailand jail time after leaving quarantine, evading police for 5 days

Insurrectionist supporters of then US president Donald Trump breach the Capitol in Washington, on January 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

US Capitol rioters face harsh sentences as judges crack down on insurrectionists

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Israelis drive their cars in a flooded street due to heavy rain in Tel Aviv, December 21, 2021. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

2 homeless men die within hours in Bat Yam of apparent hypothermia

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November	December 2021					January
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		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

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