Over or Not

 

While all the important news outlets predicted that Joe Biden won the election and is the 46^th president elect of the United States, not only was current US President Donald Trump still declaring that he won the election, but the Republican Party’s Israel chairman sang the same tune. Marc Zell, originally from Highland Park, Illinois and a member of the well-known Zell family, said he was “Waiting for the legal process” to finish. Zell told Israel’s Channel 13 TV news that believed that there was fraud in the election process, a claim unsupported by little if any evidence, and that Trump would ultimately be declared the victor.

In 2016, when the pollsters predicted a clear victory for Hilary Clinton over Donald Trump, Zell appeared on Israel TV brandishing his laptop and told the interviewer that according to the polls the Republicans were running, Trump would win the election. He was politely ignored by the interviewer who clearly considered Zell ill-informed. The results showed Zell to be better informed than the pollsters. This has led some pundits to be cautious in declaring Biden a clear winner. “The official results will be announced in Congress in mid-December,” said one observer. “Until then, anything can happen.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was equally cautious. He delayed sending congratulations to Biden for nearly 12 hours following the news announcements of Biden’s victory. Pundits think Netanyahu was trying not to upset Trump, who was still president, and could still give Israel a few last-minute gifts, like approving the sale of advanced F-22 stealth fighters to Israel. Even Netanyahu’s congratulatory Tweet to Biden and Harris was less than enthusiastic. “Joe we’ve had along warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years and I know you are a great friend of Israel.”

But Netanyahu also covered his bases, according to one analyst, by sending President Trump a message shortly after that to Biden thanking Trump “for the friendship you have shown the State of Israel and me personally, for recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan, for standing up to Iran, for the historic peace accords and for bringing the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights.”

However, two former US Ambassadors to Israel, both Democrats, thought the election results were clearly final. Dan Shapiro, US Ambassador to Israel from 2011 until 2017, now a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said Trump had “no chance” of winning the election and despite the legal maneuvering by the Trump team, thought the results would not be reversed. He thought that the Trump administration was “chaos” and Biden would bring calming moderation back to the White House.

Daniel Kurtzer, US Ambassador to Israel from 2001-2005, speaking on Israel Radio’s Galei Zahal Army Radio, dismissed Republican legal challenges to the election. “This just seems to be a stalling technique without any merit.” Kurtzer did think, however, that the US and Israel would disagree on Iran. He thought the Obama administration’s approach to Iran was quite effective. “During the three years when it was in effect, the Iranian (nuclear) program was stopped dead in its tracks, and then it restarted after the Trump administration pulled out of the deal. So my guess is that the Biden administration will want to find a way to go back in.”

According to Israel’s Ynetnews, the Biden approach to Iran will be in two phases. The first after Biden takes office, the second after the Iranian presidential elections in June. In the first, the US will want the Iranians to freeze the development and distribution of ballistic missiles, like those going to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, to stop meddling in the Middle East, and to halt nuclear military activity. In the second, the US will lift the onerous sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Ynet also reported that Israel’s security officials believe a good deal to curtail Iran’s distribution of ballistic missiles and a halt to the development of nuclear weapons would be preferable to an armed conflict with Hezbollah.

When asked about US Jewish involvement in Israel, former ambassador Shapiro said that young American Jews weren’t interested in Israel. To underline his point, when asked about the election results, J., a young American now working as a teacher of English in primary schools in Israel, under a Jewish agency program, said that today’s young Jews want more active representatives, like the progressives in the Democratic camp. “Young Jews today aren’t interested in moderate Democrats.” J is also saddled with a huge student loan debt that is frozen as long as she stays in Israel. Perhaps, said one observer, President Biden will do something to relieve those student loans that most have trouble repaying.

However, J’s views are not unusual. Many young Jews, from solid Jewish families who firmly back Israel, have taken to protesting against groups like Birthright, the program that brings young Jews to Israel on a free fact-finding trip, and even show up at airports with placards shaming those who are boarding the plane to Israel. These same progressive activists also support BDS and the “progressives” in the Democratic party. This election, those young Jews voted for Biden, because, pundits say, this was the only choice to prevent the USA from enduring four more years of Trump.

The question now is if President Trump will leave the White House once Joe Biden is to take up residence. Most analysts expect he will go peacefully, albeit reluctantly. What these analysts also expect is that Trump will do whatever is necessary to undermine the Biden presidency, including the continued claim that the election was stolen from him by crooked Democrats. “He loves the limelight,” said one analyst. “He’ll do whatever he can to stay in it. Including making outrageous statements that keep him in the news. He may keep this up for four years if he can.”

And finally, a Baruch Dayan Emet, (Blessed is the True Judge)  for Rabbi Lord Jonathan Saks, philosopher, writer, and spiritual leader who served as Chief Rabbi of Britain from 1991-2013. Rabbi Saks was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2005. He was made a Lord in 2009. Prince Charles said Rabbi Saks was “a light unto this nation.” Rabbi Saks was 72 and passed away after a short battle with cancer. May he rest in peace.

Breakthroughs and the Ticking Clock

 

Israel has developed a new and faster test for Covid-19 using the PCR standard, cutting the time from nasal swab, considered the most accurate test, to results from seven hours to two hours, according to a statement by Israel’s Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.

Israel’s infection rate has dropped from a high of nearly 15% of those tested to just over 3%, Israel has also slid down the list from #24 in worldwide infections to #29. The USA is still number one in the world, followed by India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, United Kingdom, Mexico, that make up the top 10.

Still, Israel is bracing for an upswing in the virus. According to media reports, the Health Ministry has seen a slight rise in infections and suspects this may come from young school children. The Health Ministry is weighing requiring preschool and kindergarten children to wear masks. As of Sunday, Israeli schools, grades 1-4 have reopened, as well as houses of worship, beauty salons, and bed and breakfast getaways. Small stores have still not reopened. One source said that Israel has succeeded in taking down the percentage of infections through a country-wide lockdown. But at the same time the lockdown also paralyzed Israel’s economy.
 

While the infection rate has dropped in the ultra-Orthodox community, there are still red zones. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis have been more willing to warn their followers of the deadly dangers of Covid-19. Still, some ultra-Orthodox still insist on having weddings and not always following the rules. The Arab community has seen a spike in infections resulting in six Arab towns , mostly in Israel’s north, declared red-zones and locked down. Only one Israeli town is still in lockdown, Hazor Hagalil, in Israel’s north. 

The Cornona committee today approved an increase in fines, up to 10,000 shekels from 5,000 shekels for businesses and educational institutions, like those ultra-Orthodox schools, who ignore the regulations, and a fourfold fine for those holding large gatherings, like weddings. The fine is now 20,000 shekels (@$6,000) up from 5,000 shekels (@$1,500).
Israeli media reported today that the first few patients to receive Israel’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine were released from the hospital. “I’m feel great,” said Segev Harel, who was discharged following a 24-hour observation period. He said he hopes Israel “will bring the vaccine to the whole world.”

According to Ynet news Hebrew edition, a number of companies are racing to bring a Covid-19 vaccine to market, Israel’s Institute for Biological Research, funded by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, is one of those in the race. The IIBR is in the process of producing 11 million doses of the vaccine that will be given to the public once the phase three trials are finished. Phase one was done on small animals and rodents, phase to on pigs, who share many human physiological traits, and now phase three, the human trials. Once the first few volunteers are given a clean bill of health 30,000 Israeli volunteers will then be injected with the vaccine, some will receive a placebo.

The IIBR vaccine, VSV-G ,is based on VSV, that causes illness in animals. According to an article in Ynetnews, “To produce the vaccine, scientists modify the VSV-G protein found in the VSV virus, which serves as a viral platform. This protein of the engineered virus is known to be a significant factor in the destructive ability of the virus in the body. Thus, the virus becomes a kind of "skeleton" that can serve as a carrier of other virus particles that will make the body "think" that it is a real virus, produce antibodies against it that will be stored in the body, and attack the real virus in case of infection.”

Other companies in the race to find the vaccine, who are already in phase three trials, rely on different methods. Johnson & Johnson have developed a vaccine using their vast experience in fighting the Ebola plague.  Pfizer, another American pharmaceutical giant, has joined up with the German company BioNTech to produce a virus that attacks the RNA of the virus. This vaccine was given in two doses, and, according to the article,  from the results so far, very high levels of antibodies and T-cells against the corona virus have been found in the vaccinated. In the third phase, which is now coming to an end, 30,000 subjects also participated, and recently they were joined by 12-year-old children who volunteered to receive it.
 

Moderna, another American company, also developed a vaccine based on the RNA that requires two separate injections. Moderna has invested nearly $500 million to develop the vaccine and hired 150 employees to develop it. Moderna has will also finish phase three trials this week and expects FDA approval of the vaccine by February 2021. However, both the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines require they be stored at -80 C, not so easy in many countries where normal refrigeration is only 4 C.
 

Another leader is AstraZeneca. While initial tests resulted in volunteers suffering side effects, treatment with paracetamol relieved the symptoms that cleared up in a few days. Interim results have shown that a single dose of the vaccine is sufficient to induce an immune response, which is maintained over time in more than 90% of the vaccinated. It has also been shown that giving a vaccine and a booster  improves these results even more, and inspires a more significant and long-lasting response. Millions of doses of the vaccine have already been produced and will soon be distributed, starting with the UK.
 

Russia’s Gamlia’s “Sputnik 5” vaccine has been tested extensively on those at risk, like medical workers, with no side-effects. Russia hopes to vaccinate the entire Russian population by early 2021. Chinese firms like Consivo have been running phase three trials on soldiers who volunteered, as well as on subjects in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Russia. Another Chinese company, Sinoparm, have already inoculated over 500,000 residents 18 and over as well as thousands in the UAE.  
 

Israel’s Covid-19 Czar, Ronni Gamzu, has finished his term and has returned to run Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital. He was replaced Nov 1 by Nachman Ash, a former chief medical officer of the IDF and head of the medicine division of health fund Maccabi Health Services. According to the Globes website, Ash has been critical of Israel’s slowness in imposing a second lockdown saying ‘lockdown skeptics distort science.’ According to Globes, “The first challenge that Ash will have to meet is to influence Israel's plan for exiting lockdown, a plan that has so far not been fully discussed and approved even though steps have begun to reopen the economy.” Globes also wrote that, “Ash has a wealth of experience in medicine but is not familiar with the innards of the Ministry of Health, the internal politics, and the delicate relationship with the politicians.” That could be a problem for Ash, who reportedly has a “pleasant demeanor.” Pundits point out that in Israel during Covid-19 politics frequently became more important than fighting the virus.
 

Israel observed the 25 anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin last week. A reminder of how dangerous a split in the society can become. With the US election only hours away, Israel’s papers have been awash with reports of how many Israelis support President Trump. According to the Jerusalem Post, 65%-20% with 10% undecided, the majority mainly among the orthodox and settler populations. However, the feeling among non-orthodox is similar to that of the American Jewish community, that Biden is the better choice. Should Trump loose the presidency, will he go peacefully, or will the US face a split similar to that Israel faced before Rabin’s assassination?  The outcome is as yet unclear. And the clock is ticking.