Stuart Winer

Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

Asian citrus psyllid. (Agriculture Ministry)

January 26, 2022, 6:57 pm

Newly arrived bug threatens to decimate Israel’s citrus fruit industry

Sap-sucking Asian citrus psyllid identified in Emek Hefer region, prompting Agriculture Ministry to launch pesticide campaign; likely arrived on smuggled plant material

By Stuart Winer

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators assault Jews at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles on May 19, 2021. (Screen capture: Twitter)

January 24, 2022, 12:58 am

Ministry report highlights backlash against world Jewry over 2021 Gaza conflict

Annual review of global antisemitism finds 31% increase in hate posts about Jews on Twitter in 2021 compared to 2020; during May fighting, content spiked six-fold

By Stuart Winer

Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a vote at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, January 17, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 21, 2022, 12:34 pm

Gantz becomes latest cabinet minister to catch COVID-19

Defense minister, vaccinated 4 times, says he is feeling ‘good,’ urges all to get the shots, will continue to work from home; opposition MK Meir Porush also catches virus

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

Screenshot of UN Watch CEO Hillel Neuer's personal Facebook page, January 21, 2022. (Facebook)

January 21, 2022, 10:20 am

Citing error, Facebook nixes threat to delete page of pro-Israel UN watchdog chief

Following online petition, formal complaint, social media giant issues apology to Hillel Neuer, says restrictions on his account lifted

By Stuart Winer

Snow in the Golan Heights, northern Israel, January 19, 2022. (Maor Kinsbursky/Flash90)

January 20, 2022, 10:28 am

Snow blankets north, but only teases Jerusalem with light appearance

Schools in the capital open an hour late over fears of icy roads; weather forecast to remain cold until slight weekend warming

By Stuart Winer

Prof. Eitan Mor of Sheba Medical Center inspects a kidney from Israeli woman Shani Markowitz, just before it was transported to the United Arab Emirates (courtesy of Sheba Medical Center)

January 18, 2022, 4:10 pm

Record number of organ transplants in 2021, as harvesting skills improve

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, there were 647 donations carried out last year, including a 30% increase in ‘altruistic’ donors who were not acquainted with the recipient

By Stuart Winer

Joss Whedon arrives at the world premiere of 'Avengers: Infinity War' in Los Angeles, April 23, 2018. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

January 18, 2022, 10:30 am

Joss Whedon says Gal Gadot’s claim he threatened her career was misunderstanding

Israeli actress rejects director’s suggestion her English wasn’t good enough to follow what he was really saying: ‘I understood perfectly well’

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

Screen capture of a warning from Facebook to Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, that he was violating community standards.(UN Watch)

January 18, 2022, 8:51 am

Facebook threatens to delete page of pro-Israel UN watchdog chief

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, told his account is at risk over post criticizing Israel boycott; pushes back with legal appeal, online petition

By Stuart Winer

Shaare Zedek hospital team members wearing safety gear as they work in the coronavirus ward of Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem on January 11, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

January 13, 2022, 12:54 pm

Number of seriously ill COVID patients rises, with over 48,000 new virus cases

Data shows that though new case numbers are breaking records, serious illness and deaths still lower than rates in past waves; over 400,000 tests carried out, nearly 12% positive

By Stuart Winer

HMO workers conduct tests on PCR samples for COVID-19 at a Clalit Health Services laboratory in Jerusalem on January 10, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

January 12, 2022, 12:47 pm

COVID still climbing, with 43,815 new cases detected, but no rise in serious cases

Seriously ill patients stable at 254; positive test rate climbs to 12.09%; MK Ofir Sofer catches virus

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

Illustrative image: an isolated child. (iStock via Getty Images)

January 11, 2022, 5:42 pm

Number of youths seeking mental health hospitalization doubled during COVID – report

Social workers’ survey finds long waits for assessment and treatment, increase in suicidal tendencies; union urges increasing resources

By Stuart Winer

Israeli Instagram model Yael Cohen Aris (right) in a British TV interview, and the sex doll (left) she says was created in her image without her consent, January 10, 2022. (YouTube screenshot)

January 11, 2022, 1:04 pm

Israeli woman sues after unwittingly inspiring a sex doll

Instagram model Yael Cohen Aris says Chinese company is marketing life-size toy with her head on it, using her name, and with details right down to the beauty mark on her lip

By Stuart Winer

The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour, Sept. 17, 2021. (Mark Baker/AP)

January 5, 2022, 1:28 pm

20 acts pull out of Sydney Festival over Israeli embassy funding of dance show

Backing boycott calls by pro-Palestinian activists, performers accuse organizers of partnering with ‘apartheid’ state, failing to provide ‘cultural safety’ for Palestinians

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, right, and ministry director-general Nachman Ash, hold a press conference on equality for surrogacy, Tel Aviv January 4, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90)

January 4, 2022, 1:21 pm

Children by surrogacy to be allowed for same-sex couples, single men from next week

Health Minister Horowitz stresses transgender people will be included in regulation change in wake of last year’s High Court ruling; rights groups welcome ‘historic day’

By Stuart Winer and TOI staff

The stone toilet seat found during the excavation of an ancient villa at Armon Hanatziv in Jerusalem. (Ya’akov Billig/Israel Antiques Authority)

January 4, 2022, 11:22 am

Ancient toilet shows Jerusalem’s rich wallowed in luxury – and discomfort

Sediment samples swiped from 2,700-year-old privy reveal the presence of intestinal worm eggs that would have caused abdominal pain, diarrhea and itching

By Stuart Winer