Don't Mix Milk And Meat

 ICE CREAM AND HAMBURGERS

Ben & Jerry’s is still making news and causing a furor in the Jewish community. 90 lawmakers in Israel’s Knesset, from across the political spectrum, sent a letter to Unilever, Ben&Jerry’s parent company, demanding the company rescind the move to ban the sale of the popular ice cream in the West Bank.  According to Ynetnews, the MKs call the B&J’s move “severely hypocritical.” The MKs pointed out that Palestinians who work for B&J’s in Israel will also be out of a job. “"This decision goes against Israeli law: the Prohibition of Discrimination in Products and the Ban of Boycotting Areas of Israel," the letter said, urging the company to reconsider. 

 

 

According to the report, pro-Palestinian groups pressured Avi Zenger, B&J’s local licensee, who has held the license since 1987, to cut sales to the West Bank. A number of states in the US have said that they were going to pull their pension funds’ investments out of Unilever since the company is in violation of laws in their states banning business with any company boycotting Israel. 

However, Ben & Jerry’s founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who sold the company to Unilever in 2000 and are no longer connected to the firm, wrote in a New York Times  opinion piece that the company is not Anti-Semitic. The two wrote that they support Israel but oppose what they termed Israel’s “Illegal occupation of the West Bank…that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.”

Unilever CEO Alan Jope said in a letter sent to the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) as well as other Jewish organizations, that Unilever does not support the BDS boycott movement. Jope wrote that Unilever was “fully committed” to doing business with Israel. This, according to pundits, was Jope’s attempt to distance himself from the decision of the independent board of Ben and Jerry’s to enforce a boycott of the ice cream’s sales in the West Bank.

Meanwhile an analysis in the Times of Israel by Jacob Magid asked how the fast-food hamburger chain“McDonald’s took the same stance as Ben & Jerry’s but avoided a public backlash.” This prompted a response from one observer who said “That just shows that some journalists don’t always do their homework.” The observer pointed out a basic difference between McD’s and B&J’s. B&J’s board decided to pressure Avi Zenger, their Israeli licensee, to stop selling in the West Bank. When he refused the Ben & Jerry’s board notified Zenger that his license would not be renewed.  

The McDonald’s case is different, said the observer. McDonald’s began operating in 1993 in Israel.  Omri Padan is the president of Alonyal, a group of seven local businessmen, who were awarded the franchise. Omri Padan, according to the Israeli site Calcalist, is  “a businessman and philanthropist known for his liberal political views, and one of the founders of Israeli activist group Shalom Achshav (Peace Now), a prominent advocate against Israel’s presence in the occupied territories.” The article went on, “In 2013, McDonald’s raised some controversy in Israel when it refused a request to open a restaurant in a mall in Ariel, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, stating its longstanding policy is to avoid activity in land occupied by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.”

                                                                                                    Omri Padan,  President of Alonyal, McD’s Israeli franchise operator

Unlike Ben & Jerry’s, McDonald’s corporate’s policy is to let a franchisee run his own business, said the observer, as long as they meet McD’s stringent standards, that include among other things color scheme, kitchen design, uniforms, and menu, McDonald’s didn’t interfere with how the franchisee ran the business. Padan proved that he could expand McD’s business nicely without opening up in the West Bank. McD’s now has about 180 stores in Israel with sales of about $300 million. But, said the observer, he was never told by the corporate headquarters not to sell in the West Bank.

BDS related. In the US, approximately 50 academics have resigned from the academic union at CUNY (City University of New York) in Brooklyn over the faculty union’s statement critical of Israel. The PSC, Professional Staff Congress, passed a resolution following the May 11th war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  

HEALTH:

Prof. Nachum Ash, director-general of Israel’s health ministry, announced on Thursday that Israelis 60+ would begin to receive a third C-19 “booster” vaccine. This after Prime Minister Bennett accepted the report by a panel of Israeli health experts who recommended the third vaccine for that age group. Reportedly, after six-months the efficacy of the vaccine drops from 97% to about 81% or lower. 

The director-general has told the local HMOs to begin administering the third vaccine on Sunday, August 1st. Israel has already set a world record by administering the third “booster” vaccine to those with a seriously compromised immune system. In the US, Prof. Anthony Faucci has said that a third shot is likely for those most vulnerable. 

Prof. Gabi Barabash, former director general of Israel’s health minist Bry, told Channel 12 TV that in his opinion using the Moderna vaccine for the the third shot with the two Pfizer shots already administered would produce more antibodies to fight off the C-19. He admitted, however, that Israel has already bought an ample supply of the Pfizer vaccines and there was little chance they would also buy more from Moderna.

STATISTICS

According to ncov2019.live/data, the USA has seen 35,487,490 cases of the infection, with 628,098 deaths, and 5,255,434 active cases. Worldwide there are 196,820,227 cases with 4,205,314 deaths and 19,799,388 active cases.

In Israel, the state’s Kan Reshet Bet radio reported that there were 2165 new cases on Wednesday, with 159 serious cases, 26 patients on ventilators and nearly 15,000 active cases. This even though 55% of Israelis have been double vaccinated.  Health officials predict that by the end of August Israel will see upwards of 1000 serious cases. Hospitals have begun reopening their Corona Virus wards in anticipation of the wave of those seriously ill from the virus. 

Reportedly, the health ministry has added Greece, Bulgaria and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to the growing list of countries Israelis are forbidden to visit.  On Tuesday, 212 people arriving at Ben Gurion airport tested positive for C-19. 102 were over 60.(76 had been fully vaccinated), 39 were between the ages of 40-65, and 16 were under 40. Of the 212 cases, 62 were from Turkey (experts say this was due to the recent Moslem holiday Eid al Adha celebrating Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac) 51 from Greece, 18 from the USA and 6 from Russia.

In an attempt to stem the rapid rise of the virus the health ministry has issued a regulation prohibiting anyone from entering the airport, neither the greeting hall nor the checkin area, except those with a ticket to travel, or those who work in the airport.

Masks are now mandatory at all large events, indoors and outdoors, also at gyms and restaurants. The health ministry has also reimposed the Green Pass, a certificate proving they’d been double vaccinated. People attending gatherings of over a hundred people, indoors or outdoors, must show the green pass or proof they’ve recovered from the virus or a negative test taken within 72-hours, (children under 12 are exempt from these conditions.) PCR tests will be free until August 8. Businesses found in violation of the regulations will be fined 10,000 shekels (@$3,200). 

Rapid tests can be taken up to 24-hours before the event, but they will not be free. A number of sites are listed for the tests, but tests purchased at a pharmacy over the counter will not be valid. Protests over the new regulations have come from the restaurant industry and representative of gym and work-out studios.

Israel’s popular singer Matti Caspi has reportedly cancelled a series of concerts because, he said, “the restrictions won’t allow my fans to come to my shows…I won’t cooperate with a dictatorship or fascism.”

On the political front, Israel’s coalition government has had some successes and some failures. A bill to reform how the Kasruth certificates are issued has passed, but a bill to legalize marijuana failed to pass. So far, the new coalition government has shown surprising resilience. There are battles between the health ministry and the education ministry over administering vaccines to children in schools, which open in September. 

Covid-19 & Ice Cream

 Israel’s active Covid-19 cases has passed 11,000 reaching 11,390.Two months ago, according to the health ministry, the number was around 200. The number of daily cases has nearly reached 1400 again, with serious patients climbing past 100 for the first time in three months. Nearly 150 patients have been hospitalized and 17 are on ventilators, with 6458 deaths. According to current research, those Israelis who were inoculated early, back in January or February, were twice as likely to catch the bug than later adapters. 

Even though Israeli researchers have found that the C-19 vaccine is only 39% effective as time goes on, still it is 91 per cent effective in preventing serious illness and 88 percent effective in preventing hospitalization. Experts point out that the numbers of serious cases is still quite low compared to the height of the epidemic a year ago. Still, Israel’s ministry of health has ruled that masks must now be worn indoors at malls and stores and any indoor event.

As of July 29th, the ministry of health has brought back the “Green Pass,” a document that is proof of full vaccination.This green pass must be presented at cultural and sporting events, hotels and tourist attractions, gyms and work out studios, restaurants, bars, coffee houses, dinging hall, conferences, synagogues and places of worship. At weddings and similar events with over 100 guests a recent PCR test showing negative results must also be presented, with a rapid test available at the door. Costs for the tests are on those being tested.

Those places not requiring a green pass are stores, malls, swimming pools, museums, libraries, national parks and nature preserves. 

The government on Sunday approved plans by Omer Barlev, Israel’s Public Security Minister, to use a cellphone app to monitor arrivals who are supposed to be in isolation to make certain they are abiding by the mandatory quarantine. It is not clear when the monitoring will go into effect. According to a report in the Times of Israel, "Health officials have linked a recent spike in infections in Israel to travelers who brought back new variants of the virus from abroad and did not properly quarantine after arriving.”

Israel has added Great Britain to the list of red countries requiring a returning Israeli to enter quarantine for seven days. Any costs for the quarantine are to be absorbed by the traveller. Prof. Nachum Ash, director general of Israel’s health ministry, has warned Israelis not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Airplanes, said Prof. Ash, are places where chances of getting the virus are very high.”

Meanwhile, researchers in Tel Aviv are in the early stages of testing a pill that will replace the Corona vaccines. Nadav Kidron said Oravax “Targets three proteins not one and is strong against Cororna.”  Oravax is produced by, Oramed Pharmaceuticals and expects to begin clinical trials in Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennet has stated that those refusing to take a vaccine are endangering the rest of the country. Bennett said that a “Critical mass” of vaccinations were needed to block the Coronavirus.

And then there is the controversy over Ben & Jerry’s Ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s board has declared that their ice cream can no longer be sold in “"occupied Palestinian Territory.”

According to pundits, Anuradha Mittal, Chairman of the board of Ben & Jerry’s, seems to be the driving force behind the move to pressure Israel to drop sales of the ice cream in the West Bank. Some sources said she has pushed to stop the sale of the ice cream to all of Israel.

Avi Zinger, who holds the Israel license to produce the ice cream, said he has been pressured for a while to stop selling in the west bank and has refused to comply. Recently, he received notice that his license, scheduled to expire in 18-months, will not be renewed. 

However, Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s parent company, has said that they are “fully committed” to Israel and would continue to sell the ice cream in Israel. 

This apparently didn’t go over well with Mittal. “In an interview with NBC, Mittal said that Unilever had overstepped its authority by pledging to remain in Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post, “The Ben & Jerry's board said that it had the sole authority to make such a decision and that it had not done so.

"The Acquisition Agreement [with Unilever] grants the Independent Board [authority] on an issue directly related to Ben & Jerry's social mission and brand integrity," the board said. "Unilever and its CEO at Ben & Jerry's are in violation of the spirit and the letter of the Acquisition Agreement."

Israel’s government immediately took action. Israel’s ambassador to the UN and the USA, Gilad Erdan, reportedly sent a letter to 35 American states reminding them that the boycott “violates the anti-BDS laws of many states.” Some states have invested in Unilever and may have to remove their investment because Unilever is breaking the anti-BDS law.  Some supermarkets have publicly stated they will no longer sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

Erutz Sheva, the right-wing settler media outlet, has labeled Mittal a “Jew hater.” The outlet claims that Mittal has been pressing for years to to boycott Israel and has at least 107 anti-Israel tweets on her Twitter account. In one, according to Erutz Sheva, she describes “the very creation of Israel as a ‘catastrophe.’ 

Some critics believe that Erutz Sheva is exaggerating. Another brought up a line once uttered by former US Sec. of State Henry Kissinger. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.”

The Viruses Still With Us

 

The Delta variant of Covid-19 is just one of the viruses plaguing Israel and the world.
The Delta variant has caused Israel to rethink strategies. While restaurants and theaters and wedding halls are still open, there are new restrictions going into effect. The Health Ministry announced that starting Tuesday, weddings and celebrations would be limited to 100 people who had to produce the ‘green pass’ that they’d been inoculated, or had recovered from C-19, and also take a rapid C-19 test at the entry to the event.

This is because the number of daily cases in Israel have increased drastically, although no where near the peaks reached last year, while those in in serious condition has remained low.“We are in a fourth wave,” said Prof. Eran Segal, a computational biologist from the Weizman Institute of science, speaking on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet. “But this wave is different,” he said. “We have over 60 serious cases but this number is much lower than the previous waves.” Israel’s Health Ministry reported there were 808 new cases in 24-hours. “Last year we had between 8,000-9,000 daily cases,” said Segal. In order to stem the rise of the infections, Segal said, Israel needed to vaccinate nearly a million people who as yet have not been vaccinated. Segal said that the vaccine is still very effective against the Delta variant.

So far, Israel has recorded 852,176 cases with 6,450 deaths, 124 in hospital with 66 in serious condition and 6,952 active cases. Israel’s positivity rate is now 1.7. Already 16 people have died of C-19 in July while only 9 died of C-19 in June. 16 people were on ventilators as of Sunday morning. On Friday, Israel recorded 1,118 new cases, the highest over four months.

Another expert takes a different view. Prof. Gabi Barabash, former director-general of the Ministry of Health, said on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet that the present vaccine was much less effective than originally thought. “The Delta variant is a game changer,” said Barabash. He said Israel still didn’t have enough information to say exactly how effective the vaccine was, or wasn’t, because a thorough examination of the level of immunity of the people inoculated in January and February hasn’t been carried out. Barabash thought a third inoculation could help fight the Delta variant, but it might take as much as six-months before a vaccine to deal with the Delta variant is produced.

Barabash was also critical of the way those entering Israel at Ben Gurion airport were tested.”If we deal with those entering properly, we should be okay,” he said. He also said, echoing what Prime Minister Bennett had said a few days earlier, that “those who don’t need to travel shouldn’t. This is a very dangerous situation both here and abroad.”

Barabash brought up the example of Singapore, a country who was not as concerned with how many people were infected but rather how to live with the Corona virus. “We must wear masks, separate in restaurants, keep social distancing,” Barabash said. “The rise in infections we see now can’t end well.” He thought that England, (now number 7 in infections in the world, with 5,433,939 cases, 128,708 deaths, and 908,281 active cases) was taking a big risk by rolling back all restrictions. “Time will tell if they are right,” he said. Experts in England have warned that young nightclubbers are a perfect mixing vessel for the virus to spread, and even generate new variants.

Israel has taken steps to curb the possible infections coming in through Ben Gurion airport. The list of countries Israelis are now forbidden to travel to has grown with Greece and Spain added to the list. Health Ministry officials say that Great Britain may soon be put on the list. A stiff 5,000 shekel ($1,500) fine is to be imposed on any Israeli caught traveling to one of the “red” countries. Israel has also forbidden travelers to come to Israel unless they have a “first degree” relative. These travelers must fill out an on-line form, found at Israel’s Ministry of Health website, and apply for entry.

Also, those leaving Israel must now also take a C-19 test even if the countries they’re traveling to do not require such a test. Returning Israelis must also provide results of a recent test. Soon, not only a test will be required, but a 4-5 day quarantine, at the traveler’s expense, for those returning from any country. The police will digitally monitor all those who enter quarantine and fine and possible arrest those who break the rules. Meanwhile, to quell speculation, Health Minister Nitzan Howorwitz has said that there are no immediate plans to close Ben Gurion airport. Nearly 40,000 Israelis left Israel on Sunday. It is unclear what their status will be should the country they travel to is declared a red zone. During the first wave, many Israelis were stranded abroad when the airport was closed.

The EU (European Union) Disease Agency anticipates a Delta variant surge in the coming weeks. In the USA, 70 percent of those tested positive for C-19 had the Delta variant. According to the New York Times, Los Angeles County passed a new regulation that masks had to be worn indoors for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents. However Sheriff Alex Villanueva ,the Chief of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, said he would not enforce the regulations. but rather ask the residents to voluntarily wear masks indoors. Villanueva said the regulations were not backed by science.

In a related story, according to the CCDH (Center for Countering Digital Hate) anti-vaccine and other disinformation stories on social media have been traced to just 12 sites that are reportedly responsible for 65% of the anti-vaccine content. According to the research, these 12 sites reach nearly 60 million people on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter. The sites reportedly are behind 73% of the anti-vax content on Facebook and 17 per cent of tweets on Twitter. A notable behind one of the anti-tax sites was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose Instagram account was permanently removed earlier this year,. He is the nephew of the last president John F. Kennedy.

Almost all the others on the list have been active and vocal supporters of former president Trump. Those on the list: Joseph Mercola, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, Sherri Tenpenny, Rizza Islam, Rashid Buttar, Erin Elizabeth, Sayer Ji, Kelly Brogan, Christiane Northrup, Ben Tapper and Kevin Jenkins. According to media reports in the on-line site “The Hill,” a spokesperson for Twitter noted that the platform has removed over 20,000 posts from the platform and challenged nearly 12 million accounts under its coronavirus misinformation policy.”

The report also stated, “Facebook spokesperson Kevin McAlister told The Hill that the platform has ‘already taken action against some of the groups in this report.’  "Since research shows that the best way to combat vaccine hesitancy is to connect people to reliable information from health experts, we’ve also connected over 2 billion people to resources from health authorities, including through our COVID-19 Information Center," he added.
Even so, according to CNN, US President Biden said last Friday that social media platforms like Facebook are “killing people:” with misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Another virus sweeping the world is anti-Semitism. Speakers at the recent 3-day 7th Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, held on July 13 in Jerusalem, warned that the ‘new form’ of anti-Semitism disguises itself as anti-Zionism. According to research, there was a 75% spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the US and a 591% percent spike in the UK following the 11-day war in Gaza. According to a report in the Times of Israel, Conference attendees argued “that a new actor, namely the radical Left in both Europe and the U.S., is fanning the flames of anti-Israel sentiment, inevitably contributing to anti-Jewish violence, alongside the political and social exclusion of Jews.”

Sunday was Tisha b’Av, a 25-hour fast day of mourning, to commemorate the destruction in Jerusalem of both Solomon’s Temple in 597 B.C., and the Second Temple in 70 A.D.. Other tragedies in Jewish history also occurred on that date, including the Jewish expulsion from England and later from Spain.

The courtyard beneath the Western Wall, a remnant of the Temple destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans, is traditionally packed on Tisha b’Av with men and women seated on the stone floor, separated by a “Machitza” a separation fence. On Saturday night, a group comprised of Jews from the Conservative and Reform Egalitarian communities were observing the prayers and reading from the Book of Lamentations at Robinson’s arch, an area around the corner and out of sight of the large gather at Western Wall, when they were suddenly attacked by hundreds of ultra-right wing religious nationalist youth.

The youth were reportedly part of a group called Liba who were opposed to egalitarian prayer and to the establishment of a permanent pavilion at the site for pluralistic prayer, as outlined by then Prime Minister Netanyahau in 2016. Netanyahu ultimately froze the plan under pressure from his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners who are vehemently opposed to Conservative and Reform Judaism.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said he was “appalled and dismayed by the baseless hatred demonstrated by a group of extremist Orthodox zealots who disrupted the lawful Tisha B’Av service conducted by Conservative Jews at the section of the Western Wall set aside for egalitarian prayer.”

Both Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennet and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid condemned the attack on the egalitarian worshipers.

Meanwhile, an estimated 1,600 Jews went up to the Temple Mount on Tisha b’Av. The Temple Mount, the remaining upper layer of Israel’s first and second temple’s, is the site of the Al Aksa Mosque and the Shrine of the Rock. Jewish worshipers reportedly came to pray quietly and hold a short Torah discussion. The police, according to media reports, have apparently have been allowing such visits for a while. But Omer Barlev, Minister of Public Security, told Channel 13TV news that “if Jews were praying on the Temple Mount, that is certainly against the law.”

The Temple Mount was captured by the Israeli Army from the Jordanians during the 1967 Six-Day War and turned over to the Moslem Wakf who administers the site. Last May, fighting between the Israeli Police and Moslem demonstrators kicked off the 11-day war when Hamas took up the mantle of defender of the Al Aksa mosque.

Israel’s fledgling government nearly had a coalition crises when Prime Minister Bennett came out with statement calling for ‘freedom of Jewish worship’ on the Temple Mount. David Horowitz, editor of the Times of Israel, called the Temple Mount “a religious hotspot.”

Bennett's coalition partners from the Israeli Arab Islamist Ra’am party threatened to quit the coalition if Bennett stuck to that line. A Ra’am spokesman said that the ‘entire Temple Mount “is solely the property of Muslims.” Jordan, Turkey and Egypt reacted angrily on Sunday to news of waves of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount and clashes between the police and Arab youth shouting “With spirit, with blood, we’ll redeem Al-Aqsa.”

Bennett’s office later clarified his statement, saying Jews have “freedom of visitation rights” not worship, as his comments went agains the current status quo of no Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, thus ending a possible coalition crises.

Yet another virus is man-made, is Israeli, and attacks cellphones. NSO, a Herzliya based hi-tech company, has been accused of developing and selling the Pegasus malware to dozens of repressive governments that use the software to target journalists, activists, and politicians. A group of 17 well-respected international news organizations, like the New York Times, participated in research that exposed NSO’s sale to countries accused of human rights violations.

According to media reports, tens of thousands of phone numbers were accidentally leaked from the NSO data bases showing that countries like Rwanda, Morocco, India and Hungary are using the Pegasus spyware. Pegasus baits a user to click on a link that allows the software to infiltrate the phone and have compete access to the phone’s entire content as well as remotely activating the microphone and camera.

NSO spokesmen say that the company only sells to countries authorized by the Israeli government’s strict policies and stressed that the Israeli government does not have access to their data, claiming that anyone who says differently is propagating a unfounded conspiracy theory.” Amnesty international has urged limits on surveillance in the industry, and Whatsapp say the use of this technology must be stopped.

Reportedly, former Prime Minister Netanyahu encouraged NSO to sell their software to Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu, who has finally vacated the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem for his luxurious villa in Caesarea, is still on trial for three felonies. Last week, the prosecution asked to postpone the continuation of Netanyahu’s trial until September.

Closing the borders, Again

 Israel has decided to keep the borders closed to travelers until September, according to the Health Ministry. All travelers, including those vaccinated and/or recovered from C-19, would be required to self-quarantine for up to 24 hours upon arrival in the country, or until they receive a negative test result. This is because the Ministry of Health has linked the recent Covid-19 spike in Israel, almost all the cases reported have the Delta variant, to those coming from abroad and not undergoing the proper quarantine upon arrival.

Israel also decided to impose a fine of 5,000 shekels ($1,500) for those traveling to, or returning from forbidden ‘red’ countries. that have a high infection rate. The countries are: The UAE (United Arab Emirates), Seychelles, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Krygyzstan , Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico and Russia. Last month, the Health Ministry required any Israeli leaving the country to sign a declaration that they would not visit countries on the ‘red’ list, and were warned they would be fined if they visited any of those 16 ‘red’ countries.

Israel reported 770 new Covid cases over the weekend, almost all from the Delta variant. Israel now has seen 845,811 cases with 6,435 deaths; currently there are 43 serious cases with 13 people on ventilators, and 4,108 active cases. Among three of the recent deaths, one was an 86-year-old man who had received both doses of the vaccine, another was a 75-year-old woman, also double vaccinated but with underlying health issues, and one 48-year-old man who had not been vaccinated. Israel’s Health Ministry has determined that the deterrent effect of the Pfizer and Modern vaccines begins to fade after six-months, and this slight but supposed continual degradation may be the cause of the upturn in serious cases. 

On Sunday, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said that COVID booster shots are now available to at-risk adults “From now we’re giving a third shot to people who are immunocompromised,” Horowitz told national broadcaster Kan on Sunday morning. This might make Israel the first country to offer third vaccine doses. Horowitz also said that the Health Ministry is also evaluating whether to offer boosters to the whole population. However, according to reports, none of the HMOs have been informed of this decision to give booster shots to at risk adults and have yet to agree to give appointments for a third vaccine dose.

Israel is now 32nd in the world in the number of Covid-19 cases. The USA still leads the world with 34,726,111 cases, 622,821 feathers, and 4,868,360 active cases. California leads the USA in infections, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey and North Carolina to fill out the top ten. 

Worldwide, there are 187,279,338 cases confirmed, with 4,043,020 deaths, and 78,382 in critical condition.

Israel’s Health Ministry is closely following the Pfizer research that would determine if it was safe to administer the vaccine to children from six-months-old to 12-years-old. As of now Israel is vaccinating anyone over 12, however only 29% of the 12-15-year-olds have agreed to be vaccinated. The deadline for receiving the first vaccine ran out on Saturday, since Israel did not have enough vaccines to provide a second dose within the four-week interval required.

Israel has sent the 300,000 doses, set to expire at the end of July, to S. Korea in a swap deal. In September, S.Korea will redirect to Israel the 300,000 Pfizer doses S. Korea was to receive.  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been in direct contact with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and ordered another 200,000 doses of the vaccine that are to be delivered on August 1, 2021.

Meanwhile, The government approved the appointment of Nachman Ash as the new director-general of the Health Ministry. Ash, who has served as the national coronavirus czar since November, takes over for Chezy Levy, who is returning to be director of Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

In another health development, Israeli researchers at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva have said they’ve found a way to remove “the greatest cause of organ rejection,” according to Ynetnews. This Israeli breakthrough could mean a “miracle for organ transplants.”

Dr. Shahar Cohen, who led a team of researchers who developed a new method to stabilize the blood supply to transplanted organs that could, he said, “pave the way for humans to receive kidneys, livers, lungs, hearts and pancreases from pigs.” Researchers have shown that pigs had organ sizes and functions similar to humans.

The research was released this week in the prestigious Scientific Reports journal. According to Cohen,”The idea behind the method is the understanding that the most significant trigger for organ rejection is the internal lining of the blood vessels…This lining is the point of contact between the transplanted organ and the recipient's body.” Cohen made it clear that implants from pig organs to other animals will first be carried out before any transplants on humans. Cohen also pointed out that should this method work there would no longer be a shortage of organs needed for transplants since “Pigs produce a large number of offspring each year, making them an inexhaustible source of organs.” 

According to Ynetnews, in an interview with Dr. Eviatar Nesher, director of the Rabin Medical Center’s Department of Organ Transplantation, “The ability to produce an organ that is available and suitable for transplantation in humans will be a solution for the thousands of patients awaiting transplants.”   

There has as yet been no comments from the rabbinical authorities about the religious implications of the new method.

In another development, the IDF has admitted that swarms of drones using AI (artificial intelligence) were deployed during the recent 11-day Gaza war. Small flocks of quadcopter drones flying over specific patches of land were used to identify missile launching sites in the southern Gaza strip and “send the coordinates to other armed aircraft or ground based units to destroy them,” according to the Walla news site. The report said that drone swarms were used dozens of times during the fighting.

Israeli drone expert Tal Inbar was quoted as saying this was one of the first times Israel officially acknowledged the use of drone swarms. According to Inbar, the technical definition of a drone swarm is “a number of aircraft flying together for a specific mission. That can be something military or it can be making a bunch of pretty lights in the sky.” Drones swarms are like a school of fish or a flock of birds, each talking to the other and coordinating movements, according to Walla news. The Israeli Elbit company produced the drones 

According to Inbar: ““If you have five drones, you can control one, and the others just copy what it’s doing. That’s one level, a lower level of capabilities…

“But when you have a bigger swarm, how they carry out their mission, you or I as operators don’t necessarily know or control in real time. Say you have 50 aircraft in the air, one of the smarter ones can decide to send five of them to a certain street and another five to another place or to fly in a certain formation,” he said. “Artificial intelligence is not something that’s just for superpowers anymore,” according to Inbar.

The Gaza war also produced another surprising detail. According to Alex Fishman writing in Ynetnews, “The single most important non-military achievement of the fighting in the Gaza Strip in May is Egypt taking more responsibility for the enclave's economy…The more Israel distances itself from the entry of goods and money to rehabilitate the Strip, the more Egypt finds itself – against its will – more deeply involved in its management.” Fishman also wrote, “thanks to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's political short-sightedness, Israel might finally be able to free itself from the duty of care for Gaza's residents.” Fishman believes that when Sinwar gave the order to fire on Jerusalem, “he failed to predict this would lead to a fundamental shift in Israeli policy on Gaza.” 

Egypt has reportedly promised $1 billion in aid to Gaza but so far has not provided anything. Israel has been involved for years supplying aid to Gaza even after Hamas’ repeated attacks. Critics say that international aid to the poverty-stricken residents of Gaza was routinely syphoned off by Hamas leadership for their own personal gain or to reinforce Hamas’ military capabilities. 

Israel’s new prime minister Naftali Bennett has reached out to Jordan’s King Hussein in an effort to patch over differences between the two countries exacerbated during the Netanyahu administration. The two countries agreed that Israel would provide much needed water to Jordan. Bennett’s government has so far managed to survive turbulent political waters even while some of the new government’s legislation, like family reunification, granting citizenship to a Palestinian spouse of an Israeli citizen, has yet to be passed. 

The Arab Israeli Islamist party Ra’am said on Sunday it was halting its parliamentary cooperation with the coalition, temporarily denying Bennett’s broad coalition a majority. Pundits believe Ra’am leaders are angry that Bennett has reached out to the other Arab party, the Joint List, in a move that could weaken Ra’am.  The Joint List, while in the opposition, could still vote with the coalition on any given piece of legislation. Ra’am has also threatened to bolt the coalition should Israel decide to strike at Hamas in Gaza because of missile attacks or an increase in incendiary balloon attacks.

Former Prime Minister, now leader of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu has finally vacated the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. Netanyahu agreed to leave on July 10th, but for whatever reasons, perhaps spite opined one observer, the last moving van did not leave until after midnight. Prime Minister Bennett plans to live with his family in Ra’anana, just outside of Tel Aviv, and only use the Balfour Street’s Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem for official meetings and functions.

Israel’s detachment of rescue workers to the Surfside, Florida condo collapse were recalled after the search for survivors was declared over. 86 bodies were recovered, 43 residents were still missing. A ceremony was held Saturday to thank members of Israel’s National Rescue Unit for their help in trying to find survivors in the mountain of rubble left behind where the Champlain condo building collapsed.The ceremony was attended by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, and local fire and rescue chiefs.

Delta, Balloons, and an Unwanted Tenant

 The Surfside Florida disaster continues to bring bad news. Tropical storm Elena is bearing down on Florida causing a suspension of all rescue activity. So far 24 bodies have been recovered with 124 still missing. Local authorities have decided that the remaining building still attached to the collapsed south tower must be demolished. Israel had sent a seasoned rescue team to the site to help find survivors. The leader of the Israeli team still hopes to find survivors. Many of the residents of the building were Jewish.

The cause of the collapse of the south tower is still unclear, although a weakened foundation on the 40-year-old building was exacerbated by work on the building’s roof that required significant force and banging, ostensibly weakening the structure. The underground parking lot was reportedly frequently flooded and the rebar embedded in the concrete supporting pillars was visible in many places. The building had been scheduled for multi-million dollar repairs but the final decision to implement the repairs had not been taken, according to media reports. Miami-Dade county also evacuated another aging building that showed signs of a possible collapse.

In Israel, the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 Delta variant continues to worry Israeli health authorities. As of now the daily numbers of those infected range from nearly 200 to over 300 people a day, and the numbers are still climbing. The number of infections, according to the Health Ministry reports, has risen 10 fold since June 18. Experts predict that unless the government takes immediate action, the daily caseload could rise to 1,000 within two weeks. 

Hebrew University’s researchers have found that the Pfizer vaccine is 60-80% effective against the Delta variant, and is quite effective preventing serious illness. According to Health Ministry statistics many of the newly infected have received both doses of the vaccine but only 35 serious cases have been reported with 16 people on ventilators. Israel has seen 842,749 cases since the original outbreak over a year ago, with 6429 deaths. Currently, there are 2,455 active cases. Over five million Israelis have received two doses of the vaccine. Israel has also begun vaccinating teenagers aged 12-15.

The media reported that one end-of-the-school year party resulted in the infection of 55 students. Reportedly, the cause of the infection was an adult who had returned from London and infected one of his children who infected those at the party. Israel’s new prime minister Naftali Bennet has called on all eligible teenagers to get vaccinated in order to curb the rise in infections.

 

Outgoing Health Ministry director-general, Prof. Hezi Levi told Ynetnews, “There are many children who have not been administered vaccines and they can also infect others,…We also have around 200,000 adults who are unvaccinated.”

Levi also said that the country is not experiencing anything close to the numbers at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Most of the new patients…are exhibiting mild symptoms.” But Levi said there is a slow rise in serious cases. “We see three or four people suffering from serious symptoms every day.” Levi said that the Health Ministry is considering administering a booster shot in October for those at ‘high risk,’ like the elderly and infirm. Levi said that a third ‘booster’ shot may be administered to everyone early next year.

Israel now has a surplus of nearly 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, worth approximately $200 million, that are due to expire at the end of July. Israel is trying to sell those vaccines in exchange for fresh vaccines at a later date. So far, no country has agreed to buy Israel’s vaccines, including the Palestinian Authority, that has been using a small supply of the Russian ‘Sputnik’ vaccine.

Because of the rise in Covid-19 Delta variant cases, the Israel government has also imposed new health regulations, like wearing masks indoors, and is leaning towards even more restrictions, such as reimposing the requirement that the “green pass” proving a person has been fully inoculated be presented before entering public areas such as malls, sporting events, restaurants and theaters. More severe measures, like a lockdown and curfew, are not yet being considered due to the negative impact on the economy.

 

Travel to “red” countries is also forbidden with a 5,000 shekel ($1,500) fine imposed for anyone caught arriving from one of those countries. The government has also assigned a special team to Ben Gurion airport to insure that PCR (nasal swab) C-19 tests are carried out, and make certain that those who need to be quarantined follow the restrictions imposed upon them. Travelers who arrive in Israel may take a serology test that should it prove negative, allows them to forgo quarantine. The serology test results take approximately 24-hours. 

Israel has again been attacked with incendiary balloons, causing fires in farmland along the Gaza border, and responded with Israel Air force attacks on missile launching sites and weapons factories. PM Bennett has said that the new rules are in place and he would respond forcefully to any attacks on Israel.

According to a report in the Palestinian Al-Quds daily newspaper, the UN will oversee the transfer of Qatari money to the cash-strapped Gaza strip The government of Qatar has transferred hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Gaza in recent years, but the money was all funneled through banks controlled by the Hamas terror organization, a move approved by the Netanyahu government. Previously, the transfer of money was distributed as $100 monthly payments to some 100,000 families in Gaza chosen by Hamas, the rest to pay government salaries. 

PM Bennett has approved the new UN plan where the money is to be transferred to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Monetary Authority and not local banks in Gaza. Some of the money is reportedly to buy fuel. As of now Gaza has not had enough fuel to run generators and provide electricity to the 2 1/2 million residents for more than a few hours a day. Israel has accused Hamas of syphoning renovation funds to finance building attack tunnels under Gaza and pay for missiles used to attack Israel. No money has been transferred to Gaza by Qatar since May 21, 2021 when a cease-fire ended 11 days of Gaza fighting.

Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating the conditions to allow the shipment of material to rebuild the structures damaged in the recent fighting in exchange for the release of the bodies of Israeli soldiers who died either while prisoners of Hamas in Gaza or in battle. The negotiations are taking place in Cairo. Gaza is isolated, with the passage of goods from both Egypt and Israel closed due to the hostilities. 

This week, Shlomit Barnea Farago, the Prime Minister’s office’s advisor on Legal Affairs, began an investigation into reports that renovations on former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private luxurious residence in Caesarea, costing approximately $15,000, were paid for out of state funds. It is unclear if the work was on a jacuzzi or a swimming pool. The Netanyahu’s lawyer sent a letter to Farago threatening to sue even though the Netanyahu’s themselves were not suspected of wrongdoing. Other media sources pointed out that Sarah Netanyahu had been indicted for fraud for using state funds to pay for private expenses and that Netanyahu is on trial for three felonies including accepting gifts in exchange for granting political favors.

Israel HaYom, usually a pro-Netanyahu newspaper, reported on three unnamed Likud MKs who were critical of Netanyahu. Netanyahu is currently the leader of the Likud and the opposition in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. However, according to the Israel HaYom report, former Finance Minister Yisrael Katz has said had Netanyahu stepped aside as leader of the Likud in the last election, he, Katz, could have put together a coalition to keep the Likud in power. Other critics of Netanyahu also say Netanyahu kept the Likud from winning the election. Nir Barakat, former may of Jerusalem and a Likud MK, said that he’d run for leadership of the Likud should Netanyahu step aside. And that he got some of his “considerations” wrong.

Still another unnamed Likud MK’s and former minister said Netanyahu’s problem “is he is not to be trusted.  Another said, “He did not cultivate relationships, was not interested in personal lives..always acted with suspicion and a watchful eye on the actions and statements of his senior officials.” Yet another said, “all of a sudden he is trying to be nice…now he is trying to get back to the basic human relationships, whose absence brought him to the troubles he has today.” Another said, that with Netanyahu it was always “give and take.” But he only gave when he wanted something in return.

Former Prime Minister Netanyahu is due to leave the official Prime Minister’s residence, where he has lived for the last 12-years, on July 10th. Contrary to a previous agreement, Netanyahu continues to use the Prime Minister’s residence to greet foreign dignitaries. According to Channel 12 TV news, Prime Minister Bennett said that he plans to sleep four nights a week in the Prime Minister’s residence, and spend weekends with his wife and four children at their home in Ra’anana. That is, said one pundit, if Netanyahu ever vacates the Prime Minister’s residence