Luke Tress

Luke Tress is a video journalist and tech reporter for the Times of Israel

A Barak-8 missile, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is launched during a test. (IAI)

March 22, 2021, 7:52 pm

IAI completes test of new defense missile with 150 km. range

Barak extended-range interceptor can defend against fighters, cruise missiles, other airborne threats, Israel Aerospace Industries says

By Luke Tress

Illustrative: A medical worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at a Clalit vaccination center in Jerusalem on February 25, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

March 22, 2021, 7:04 pm

Pfizer vaccine less effective against South African variant, Israeli study finds

Inoculation highly effective against British strain, offers more protection than does recovery from COVID-19, Ben Gurion scientists say

By Luke Tress

Fifth grade students return to school in Efrat, February 21, 2021. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

February 28, 2021, 9:32 pm

Netanyahu says all students to return to class in low-infection areas

Premier proposes extending school year into summer to make up for lost time; teachers’ leaders oppose plan

By Luke Tress

Nancy Pelosi with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May 2009 (Moshe Milner/GPO/Flash90)

February 24, 2021, 11:23 pm

Netanyahu speaks with Pelosi about 2-state solution, pandemic

Speaker of US House says she spoke to premier to ‘reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations’

By Luke Tress

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with then Education Minister Naftali Bennett during a plenum session in the Knesset, on December 5, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

February 12, 2021, 2:02 am

Netanyahu, Bennett trade fire in battle for right-wing voters

Premier accuses Yamina of siding with Lapid and left-wing parties; Bennett slam’s PM’s handling of pandemic and challenges him to a debate

By Luke Tress

Medical workers in the COVID-19 ward of Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, February 3, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

February 11, 2021, 6:04 pm

More younger Israelis now being hospitalized for COVID than those 60-plus

New figures suggest vaccination campaign is reducing morbidity rates

By Luke Tress

Hospital staff work in the coronavirus ward of Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem on February 3, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

February 3, 2021, 11:13 pm

14 of 16 severe COVID patients in trial recover with experimental Israeli drug

2 cases remain in critical condition 28 days after receiving Enlivex Therapeutics’ Allocetra therapy in Phase II trials, marking 0% mortality rate in both studies of treatment

By Luke Tress

Israeli citizen Yuri Shaulov, left, is accused of trafficking airsoft guns to West Bank resident Muhammad Abu Hiya, right, according to the Shin Bet, February 3, 2021. (Courtesy/Government Press Office)

February 3, 2021, 7:06 pm

Shin Bet: Israelis sold airsoft rifles, easily made into real ones, to West Bank

Sderot resident, two Bedouin accomplices trafficked non-lethal weapons to Hebron knowing they would be altered, could be used for terror attacks, Shin Bet charges

By Judah Ari Gross and Luke Tress

Intel's Jerusalem office, May 18, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

February 3, 2021, 10:23 am

Intel Israel reports record-setting year with $8 billion in 2020 exports

Tech firm’s Israel branch sees jump of 14% in exports over 2019; Mobileye, Israeli startup bought by Intel in 2017, takes in $967m; parent company experiencing bumps, however

By Luke Tress

A 2,000-year-old mummy with a gold tongue found near the city of Alexandria and revealed on January 29, 2021. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities)

February 3, 2021, 12:20 am

Archaeologists in Egypt unearth an eerie cache of golden-tongued mummies

Corpses dating back to Greek and Roman eras likely received gilded organs to better speak to Osiris, lord of the underworld

By Luke Tress

Illustrative: Speeding cars and a traffic jam in Jersey City, New Jersey, January 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

February 2, 2021, 11:42 am

Car data firm Otonomo to go public on Wall Street at $1.4 billion valuation

Israeli startup to list on Nasdaq via SPAC, will use funding to fuel growth and enter new markets

By Luke Tress

A construction site for new residential housing in Be'er Yaakov, central Israel, March 26, 2020. (Flash90)

February 1, 2021, 10:27 am

Israelis took out record amount in mortgages in 2020 despite pandemic downturn

Bank of Israel says Israelis took out NIS 78.1 billion in mortgages last year, a 15% increase over 2019

By Luke Tress

A tank prototype developed by Elbit Systems as part of the Defense Ministry's Carmel project, which was tested on August 4, 2019. (Defense Ministry)

January 28, 2021, 11:35 am

Israel’s Elbit wins $172m contract to supply tanks to Asia-Pacific country

Deal with unnamed state for 30-ton Sabrah vehicles to be carried out over 3-year period

By Luke Tress

A delivery man riding a bicycle passes the New York Stock Exchange and Fearless Girl, a bronze sculpture by Kristen Visbal, in New York, January 27, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

January 28, 2021, 11:18 am

Israeli firm files for $220 million SPAC on Wall Street, days after Taboola deal

ION Asset Management sets up new company aimed at taking another Israeli tech company public in US after closing $2.6 billion agreement earlier this week

By Luke Tress

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

January 26, 2021, 10:26 am

Online ad firm Taboola to go public on Wall Street at $2.6 billion valuation

Israeli content recommendation platform says it will list on New York Stock Exchange via Israel-based SPAC later this year

By Luke Tress