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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Wednesday, December 29, 2021

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(L) Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a conference in the Eshkol region, southern Israel. on July 13, 2021; (R) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech regarding COVID-19, at the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on May 5, 2020. (Flash90)

Likud: Government returning Palestinians to center stage

Gantz hosts Abbas at his home, in PA leader’s first meeting in Israel in a decade

By Aaron Boxerman

Talks are their second in recent months; Gantz says they spoke of fighting terror, while Abbas adviser says they discussed creating a ‘horizon’ for peace

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speak, during the swearing-in ceremony for President Isaac Herzog, on July 7, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Gantz’s right-wing coalition partners assail him for hosting PA chief Abbas

By Michael Bachner

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (left) attends a conference in the Eshkol region, southern Israel. on July 13, 2021; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech regarding COVID-19, at the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on May 5, 2020. (Flash90)

Gantz announces series of gestures to Palestinians after meeting Abbas

By Aaron Boxerman and Jacob Magid

An Israeli soldier stands guard during a ceremony opening the newly completed barrier above and below the Israel-Gaza border, December 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Israeli civilian injured by gunfire from Gaza; IDF shells Hamas posts in response

Military says man was working on maintenance of recently completed border barrier; 3 Palestinians said wounded in retaliatory strike

Milad Ayyad, a Palestinian Greek Orthodox Christian from Gaza, lights candles at the Greek Basilica at the Church of the Nativity, the traditional place of Christ's birth, in the biblical city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, on December 26, 2021. (Hazem Bader/AFP)

Rare Israeli permits enable 500 Gazans to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

By AFP and ToI Staff

People walk on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, some with face masks, December 21, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

As COVID outbreak intensifies, Israel said mulling ‘herd immunity’ policy

Almost 3,000 new cases seen for 2nd straight day, but serious cases stay same; milder, fast-spreading Omicron reportedly prompts Health Ministry to weigh aiming for mass infections

A woman with cancer receives a coronavirus vaccine (Hector Pertuz via iStock by Getty Images)

Vaccine effect fades faster for cancer patients; boosters restore it – Israeli study

By Nathan Jeffay

An illustrative photo of medical workers wearing protective gear tending to a patient in the coronavirus ward at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, on December 27, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

In Israel’s first suspected Omicron death, vaccinated woman succumbs to virus

By ToI Staff and Tal Schneider

Analysis

Make your tax-deductible gift for the land and people of Israel now

With your support, JNF-USA makes the impossible possible in so many ways. Help write the next chapter in the Jewish people’s 4,000-year-old story with a gift before Dec. 31.

Israel drops dozens of countries from Omicron no-fly list, but US, UK, Canada remain

By ToI Staff and Tal Schneider

Israelis no longer need special permission to fly to much of Africa, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Germany, and the Scandinavian nations; 600 new Omicron cases confirmed

Illustrative: The Statue of Liberty is seen Thursday, July 1, 2021, in New York. Israel dropped dozens of countries from its no-fly list, but the US, UK, Canada remain prohibited. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Everyday images of an extraordinary year

PHOTO ESSAY: COVID and a broken ankle kept me in Tel Aviv, with my trusty iPhone to tell a story in pictures. What a strange time it’s been

Steven Windmueller

America has bigger problems than Donald Trump

He exploited the discontent, anger, and worries of millions, but he didn’t create it, and we must reckon with it to heal the profound social disconnect in the US

Sarah Bernstein

All eyes on Bethlehem

Church leaders in Israel are experiencing harassment from Jewish youth conditioned to be fearful of a community that long ago stopped posing a threat

Jonathan Muskat

Is ice skating a proper Sabbath activity?

I’m a rabbi and I keep Shabbat differently than Olympic contender Hailey Kops does, but I appreciate her passion, commitment, and the complexity of her approach

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau attends a ceremony of the Israeli police for the Jewish new year at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem on September 5, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Chief rabbi freezes all conversions to Judaism in protest of planned reforms

By Stuart Winer and ToI Staff

David Lau tells PM framework being proposed by religious affairs minister will split the Jewish people

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, July 21, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Live updates (closed)

Liberman issues warning to chief rabbi as Knesset vote on conversion reform delayed

Finance minister tells Lau he must fulfil terms of his job or be ousted, after chief rabbi threatens to freeze all conversions; Knesset vote pushed off after Shas pressures Ra’am

7:21 pm

WHO chief worried about 'tsunami' of Omicron, Delta coronavirus cases
7:06 pm

Chief rabbi opposes police decision to cancel Baba Sali memorial event
6:55 pm

Ex-cabinet secretary admits to shredding docs before Bennett replaced Netanyahu

ToI podcast

Daily Briefing Dec. 29 – Gantz invites Abbas over; ‘lunacy’ is Hebrew word of 2021

Palestinian Affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman examines the unexpected summit, while Hebrew sister site Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren sounds off on ‘tirlul’

Evgeni Krasnopolski and Hailey Kops compete in a local competition at the Holon Ice Peaks skating rink in December 2021. (Amit Shisel/Israel Olympic Committee)

Beijing 2022

Orthodox New Jersey teen is Israel’s newest Olympic skating hope

Hailey Kops will team up with veteran Israeli Olympian Evgeni Krasnopolski on the ice at the 2022 Winter Games

Nir Hefetz arrives for a court hearing in the trial against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Jerusalem District Court, December 29, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu trial

Key state witness ends testimony, says was ‘very difficult’ to go against Netanyahu

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

Nir Hefetz, a former aide to ex-premier, wraps up 5 weeks of hearings in high-profile corruption trial, telling reporters: ‘I only went with the truth’

Nir Hefetz at the Jerusalem District Court, on December 28, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Netanyahu trialEx-aide: Netanyahu pushed Adelson to set up Israel Hayom ‘to take down’ Yedioth

Interview

Ricky Ben-David

Proposed online censorship bill more intrusive than in any other democracy — expert

So-called ‘Facebook Bill,’ meant to block harmful content on social media, is far too broad, opens door to harm freedom of speech, says IDI’s Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler

Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar arrives at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, for a group photo of the newly sworn in Israeli government, on June 14, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks during a plenum session in the Knesset on December 15, 2021. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Sa’ar reopens candidates list for Supreme Court justices amid gridlock

Sen. Harry Reid, Democrat-Nevada, leans on a stack of documents pertaining to campaign finance reform during a Capitol Hill news conference on Dec. 3, 1996. (Dennis Cook/AP)

‘A true friend of Israel’: Bennett, Lapid eulogize ex-Senate majority leader Reid

Premier calls Nevada Democrat a ‘true American patriot,’ says his commitment to Jewish state will never be forgotten; FM lauds significant contribution made to bilateral ties

ObituaryDemocrat Harry Reid, former US Senate majority leader, dies at 82

By AP and ToI Staff

Harry Reid, the two-fisted majority leader with deep Jewish ties

US presidents, lawmakers mourn former Senate ‘giant’ Harry Reid

By AP

Ethan Coen, left, and Joel Coen arriving at the premiere of 'Hail, Caesar!' at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California, February 1, 2016. (Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage/JTA)

Film review

The tragedy of Joel Coen’s ‘Macbeth’ is the breakup of a great Jewish filmmaking duo

By Amelia Merrill

But it serves no critical or artistic purpose to judge the film – in theaters since Dec. 25 and debuting on AppleTV Jan. 14 – by what it may have been with Ethan Coen onboard

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (left) at the Ramat David Air Base, which is home to a number of F-16 fighter jet squadrons, on December 28, 2021. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

After reported Syria strike, Israel says won’t let Iran bring ‘game-changing’ arms

By Judah Ari Gross and AP

Latakia fires doused hours after alleged Israeli attack; in visit to air force base, Gantz urges countries in region to stop letting Tehran stream weapons through their territory

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price pauses while speaking during a media briefing at the State Department in Washington, on July 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US sees possible ‘modest’ progress in Iran nuclear talks

By Julia ZAPPEI and Shaun Tandon

Illustrative photo of a woman begging in Jerusalem. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Despite pandemic, poverty rate dropped in 2020 due to government aid — report

National Insurance Institute says proportion of poor Israelis fell 0.6% to 21%; estimates quality of life rose by 2.4%, whereas without state payouts it would have dropped by 10%

More Headlines

An aerial view of Gamla on the Golan Heights. (AVRAMGR, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)

Fast-tracked plan to double Golan population is a minefield — nature advocacy group

People walk by the water tower on the ruins of Homesh, August 27, 2019. (Hillel Meir/Flash90)

Justice minister backs legalizing illegal outpost where terror victim studied

The Jerusalem neighborhood of Talbieh, viewed from the Old City of Jerusalem. (Pinybal, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons). The Inbal Hotel can be seen in the foreground.

Court orders $13m paid to Jewish National Fund over 21-year-old botched lease deal

Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream, seen at the University of Haifa on April 11, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Former SodaStream CEO and associate indicted for insider trading

Intel Corp's new corporate VP Karin Eibschitz-Segal, head of Intel's development centers in Israel. December 2021. (Courtesy)

Intel appoints 10 Israeli executives to senior global positions

By Ricky Ben-David

The scene where a man's body was found in the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv on December 29, 2021. (Magen David Adom)

Man found dead in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon River

Donald Tusk, the leader of Poland's largest opposition party, Civic Platform, speaks to people joining a demonstration after the Polish parliament approved a bill that is widely viewed as an attack on media freedom, in Warsaw, Poland, on December 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish opposition chief says hacking scandal tied to NSO Group a crisis of democracy

By AP

Alibaba may stop shipping to PA, which won’t deliver packages with ‘Israel’ on them

View of the Arab village of Nahf in northern Israel, on January 11, 2014 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Man shot dead in northern town, becoming 124th Arab victim this year

FILE - Defendant John Earnest listens during testimony by witness Oscar Stewart during Earnest's preliminary hearing, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, in Superior Court in San Diego. Earnest has been sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, to life in federal prison for killing a woman and injuring three others when he burst into a Southern California synagogue in 2019, adding to a life sentence he received three months earlier in state court. (John Gibbins/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

White supremacist gets second life sentence for deadly Poway synagogue shooting

By Elliot Spagat

Jordanian parliament members are separated during an altercation in the parliament in the capital Amman on December 28, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

LIVE-stream meleeGender equality debate leads to brawl in Jordan parliament

By AFP

The flip sideRobo-chef cooks up customized veggie burgers at Israeli restaurant

By AFP

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