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A person rides a bicycle on an empty street as the sun sets on the first day of a three-week lockdown in Tel Aviv, September 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Nathan Jeffay
Op-ed
Nathan Jeffay
As Israel makes loose lockdown tighter, its decisions risk alienating the people
The government wants to rebuild public trust in its virus fight. But it’s done just the opposite with the chaotic and unsettling way it adopted stricter measures
A mask-wearing traveler looks at his cellphone in front of a flight panel (Vergani_Fotografia; iStock by Getty Images)
Israeli instant COVID gargle test set to deploy in European airports
By Nathan Jeffay
A mask-wearing traveler looks at his cellphone in front of a flight panel (Vergani_Fotografia; iStock by Getty Images)
Israeli instant COVID gargle test set to deploy in European airports
By Nathan Jeffay
A person rides a bicycle on an empty street as the sun sets on the first day of a three-week lockdown in Tel Aviv, September 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
September 24, 2020, 2:18 pm
As Israel makes loose lockdown tighter, its decisions risk alienating the people
The government wants to rebuild public trust in its virus fight. But it’s done just the opposite with the chaotic and unsettling way it adopted stricter measures
By Nathan Jeffay
A mask-wearing traveler looks at his cellphone in front of a flight panel (Vergani_Fotografia; iStock by Getty Images)
September 22, 2020, 12:04 pm
Israeli instant COVID gargle test set to deploy in European airports
Inventors in self-service spit test have signed a deal with airport security giant to pilot tech on the continent, predict it will be a ‘de facto solution for air travel’
By Nathan Jeffay
Illustrative. Surgeons at work in an operating theater (iStock)
September 21, 2020, 11:53 pm
Hospital chief: Government ‘abandoning’ us with order to end elective surgeries
Hadassah head Zeev Rothstein says ‘theater of the absurd’ is a threat to public health and hospitals’ financial stability
By Nathan Jeffay
Shoppers clad in protective gear, including face masks and shields and latex gloves, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walk through the Tajrish Bazaar in Iran's capital Tehran on April 25, 2020, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
September 19, 2020, 5:46 pm
Iran virus deaths top 24,000 as country battles ‘third wave’ of pandemic
Iran’s director of the National Coronavirus Control Center says the whole country ‘is in red’ when it comes to the color system
By AFP and TOI staff
Illustrative: In this April 11, 2020, photo, Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade and a main road are empty of people during a lockdown following government measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
September 17, 2020, 9:12 pm
It’s a lockdown of necessity. But what kind of necessity? Health or political?
How did Israel become world’s first country reimposing lockdown? It’s not just a story of rising infections, but also of fragile religious-secular relations, nervous politicians
By Nathan Jeffay
An Israeli man stands on his hands on an empty road during a lockdown following government measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, April 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
September 16, 2020, 12:13 pm
State virus adviser slams lockdown as ‘stupidest and most hazardous solution’
Closure will ‘kill the Israeli spirit,’ says Hagai Levine of COVID-19 czar’s expert panel, as another critic predicts bad results and a rerun in 3 months
By Nathan Jeffay
This March 19, 2020 photo shows playground at Tel Aviv's beachfront wrapped in tape to prevent public access.(AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
September 15, 2020, 8:35 pm
Minister says new lockdown will be looser, more focused on mental health
As government set to decide on exact lockdown rules, Yizhar Shai tells ToI rules will focus on keeping people sane, including opening playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment
By Nathan Jeffay
Illustrative image: 3D rendering of the coronavirus attacking a lung with severe pneumonia (iStock)
September 15, 2020, 12:14 pm
New coronavirus proteins found by Israeli lab, potentially helping drug efforts
‘We now know the enemy better,’ says Noam Stern-Ginossar, after finding 4 previously unknown proteins that may be wreaking havoc in COVID-19 patients
By Nathan Jeffay
Israelis play tennis on an empty road during lockdown, following the government's measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel, April 9, 2020. (AP/ Oded Balilty)
September 14, 2020, 8:34 pm
New measures ‘not even close’ to a full lockdown, says top virus aide
Fresh restrictions, starting Friday, won’t feel anything like the spring closure, claims head of virus czar’s expert panel
By Nathan Jeffay
A worker checks the temperature of a customer at a store in the northern Arab Israeli town of Deir al-Asad on April 18, 2020. (Basel Awidat/Flash90)
September 13, 2020, 6:31 pm
Arab hospital chief: It’ll take deaths in villages to get virus taken seriously
Government adviser Masad Barhoum is ‘afraid,’ warns that people in his community will only wake up to threat when they see ‘many from their village dying’
By Nathan Jeffay
Staff wearing protective clothes work in the coronavirus ward at the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh), near Tel Aviv, August 20, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 10, 2020, 6:43 am
Virus cases are snowballing but hospitalizations aren’t, reassuring some doctors
At large hospitals, senior medical officials predict they’ll be able to withstand load of new patients; but smaller medical centers warn it’ll compromise general care
By Nathan Jeffay
Tel Aviv's beachfront is wrapped in police tape to prevent public access during a lockdown following government measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, March 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
September 9, 2020, 6:55 pm
Lockdown could be ‘useless’ unless managed well, gov’t coronavirus adviser warns
As Israel reportedly hurtles towards a new lockdown, top doctor warns that unless there’s a clear exit strategy — unlike the last time around — benefits could be wasted
By Nathan Jeffay
Dr. Rabbi Levi Cooper. (Courtesy)
September 9, 2020, 4:00 pm
LISTEN: How rabbis of yore fought plague with Temple rite, social distancing
Dr. Rabbi Levi Cooper takes us back in history to show eerie parallels with today’s health measures, then forward – to a helicopter with a trio of rabbis blessing Israel from above
By TOI staff
A medical professional sheds a tear over the human cost of the pandemic (iStock)
September 6, 2020, 11:52 pm
A thousand more dead: As Israel tops one bleak milestone, can it avoid the next?
While one expert says 2,000 COVID-19 fatalities is unavoidable, others say that the right mix of policies, public cooperation and medicine can cancel the evil decree
By Nathan Jeffay
Illustrative: The Mamilla pedestrian mall in Jerusalem. (iStock/ YKD)
September 6, 2020, 9:47 pm
Lawmakers extend Shin Bet phone tracking by 10 days, but voice reservations
Head of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee urges government to consider economic effect of sending hundreds of thousands to quarantine due to controversial program
By TOI staff
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