BOOSTERS? LOUIE ARMSTRONG & ALEXANDER HAMILTON

 

 

 

Covid-19

Israel saw a significant jump in Covid-19 cases with 10,946 testing positive for the virus, the highest number since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Israel. This puts Israel at #6 per capita in the world. However, health officials were upbeat since the numbers of seriously ill was dropping and indication that the vaccine was still having an effect on the virus. Israel is only 57th in the world in deaths per capita.

Israel’s Health Ministry reported that those 60+ who were unvaccinated were 13x more likely to get seriously ill than those vaccinated.  So far in Israel, there have been 1,066,352 cases, an infection rate of 7.5%, with 738 in serious condition, 160 on ventilators, 80,183 active cases, and 7049 deaths. In August alone over 500 people died of the virus.

Israel is now involved in a massive campaign for those who have had two shots to take the booster. PM Bennet has called on all eligible Israelis to take the booster. Nachum Ash, director-general of the Health Ministry, has said the booster is the way to quell the fourth wave outbreak.  Israel Corona Cabinet has now opened up the booster to everyone over 12 years of age.

The cabin also ruled that once someone has received the booster they no longer have to go into isolation when returning from a trip abroad, unless they're returning from a "red" country. Because of that ruling reservations to travel abroad in September have skyrocketed)

So far, 2,157,299 Israelis have taken the third ‘booster’ shot. 5,482,062 have received two shots, 5,974,921 have received the first shot.

But are booster shots really necessary? This was the question New York Times columnist David Leonhardt asked in a recent piece. Leonhardt questioned the Israeli study that showed a decrease in the Covid vaccines’ effectivity as time went on thus necessitating a 3rd ‘booster’ shot.

According to Leonhardt, who interviewed a number of scientists in the USA, the Israeli study was flawed and the necessity for a booster was far from certain. Leonhardt also hinted that some of the results may have been influenced by companies like Pfizer and Moderna who stood to make a nice profit from the sale of the booster shots.(  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/briefing/vaccine-immunity-booster-shots.html  )

“Leonhardt’s article is very interesting,” said one observer, who added, “Questioning the Israeli research and even pointing fingers at the drug companies who are touting the booster to raise their own profits makes sense.” Another pointed to an Israeli article that also raised questions about the booster. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-study-claims-major-drop-in-vaccine-protection-experts-dont-believe-it/

However, skewing results would assume that those who carried out the Israeli research were influenced somehow in their work and manipulated the results to the benefit of big pharma, said an observer.

Other pundits doubt that those involved in the push for the booster are being paid off by big pharma. “Some, perhaps, but all?” asked one observer. “Not unless those ‘some’ are the decision makers, does the taint of corruption hold.”

Another wrote, “I doubt Bennett is on the take. Or Prof. Ran Balicer, considered one of Israel’s top coronavirus experts and head researcher for Clalit, Israel’s largest HMO. Balicer led the recent study that showed that the vaccine didn't cause heart problems but C-19 did.

In another article in Haaretz, Prof. Balicer is quoted as saying, that infection rates among Israelis 60 and over are "slowing down, as a renewed COVID outbreak has triggered soaring infection rates… In fact, over the past two days we see a curb in the number of new cases in 60-year-olds and over, who are mostly inoculated with a third dose," said Balicer. So far 80% of those 70-79 have received a third dose, according to the Health Ministry.

In addition, one of Israel's health maintenance organizations (HMOs), Maccabi, on Wednesday released its findings on the effectiveness of booster shots. According to the study a third shot of the coronavirus vaccine is 86 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infection among 60-year-olds and over.

“The outbreak hasn’t been stopped but there is definitely a drop in the rate of serious infections,” said Dr. Eran Segal of the Weizman Institute.”

While some critics agree with the NYTimes article most agree that the Israeli studies may have faults, but strongly doubt the Israeli scientists are completely wrong.

Bottom line, said one health expert, why take the chance, take the booster. Just stay aware that the virus is still rampaging, wear a mask, stay out of crowds, keep your
hands clean, and be careful.

Meanwhile, school starts in Israel on September 1st. Over 91,000 students have tested positive for C-19 and are in isolation. The Corona Cabinet ruled that if 70% of a high school class have received a vaccination than remote learning is not necessary. Less than that and classes must be held remotely. The cabinet also ruled that teachers must be vaccinated or take a C-19 test twice a week to be allowed to enter a classroom. Students are also undergoing rapid serology tests and must show a negative result before entering school.

Israel’s Coronavirus czar Salman Zaka said, “There will probably be a fifth wave. We have to learn to live with the virus. To find a balance.” But Galia Rahav, head of Sheba Medical Center’s Infectious Disease Center said, “We have to be very careful as school starts. Not complacent.”

GAZA

Israeli border policeman Bar El Shmueli, 22, has died of his wounds. Shmueli was shot in the head at point blank range during a riot at the Gaza/Israel border 10-days ago. Riots broke out again on Saturday night and have continued for the fourth consecutive night. This even as Israel has loosened restrictions of goods entering Gaza and allowed for the transfer of some disputed funds. According to reports, 1,000 Gazans were involved in the riots, throwing stones and firebombs. Palestinian sources report that 14 Gazans were injured during the riots.

ARAB ISRAELI MURDERS

A rash of murders that one critic says is starting to resemble that on the South Side of Chicago continues in Israel. So far 71 Arabs have been killed this year mostly by gunfire as rival gangs carry out targeted assassinations. The Israeli police have been harshly criticized for their inability to control the street. Arab lawmakers have long called for a stronger police presence in Arab towns and villages.

    

                                             Iyad Shalabi at Tokyo Paralympic Games

PARALYMPICS

Israeli athletes have garnered 7 Paralympic medals, six in swimming.  Iyad Shalabi, 34, a Muslim who is both deaf and paraplegic, was the first Arab-Israeli to win a gold medal. He already held the record for the same event, 150-meter medley.
Mark Malyar won two gold medals and one bronze, setting two world records in the process. Ami Dadon won a silver in the pool.

HURRICANE IDA AND LOUIS (LOUIE) ARMSTRONG’S 2nd ‘JEWISH’ HOME

According to theweek.com  Hurricane Ida destroyed a New Orleans landmark, the 2nd home to a young Louis Armstrong. “The storm also felled the Karnofsky Store on South Rampart Street, one of the last remaining landmarks from early New Orleans jazz history.” The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “The Karnofsky Store was, beginning in 1913, the shop, with residence above, of the Jewish family that provided a second home to the young Louis Armstrong…He worked for the Karnofskys on their coal and junk wagons, tooting "a small tin horn," and ate meals with the family, either in their earlier home on Girod Street or here, or maybe both. The Karnofskys loaned Armstrong money for his first cornet. ... Morris Karnofsky, the son of the family and Armstrong's boyhood friend, opened the first jazz record store in town, Morris Music.”

ALEXANDER HAMILTON WAS JEWISH   

For all those Hamilton fans, researcher Andrew Porwancher, who had written “The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton” before the hit Broadway play ‘Hamilton’ was ever written, turned up an interesting fact. Alexander Hamilton’s father was Jewish and his mother, who converted to Judaism, sent the young Hamilton to a Jewish day school when he was growing up in the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Experiences, says Porwancher, in an interview with the TimesofIsrael, that influenced Hamilton in colonial America. Other sources mention that Hamilton attended a school in Saint Kitts with a Jewish headmistress. So far, there has been no other mention a Jewish father or mother that converted to Judaism.

Riding The Fourth Wave

 C-19

 
Israel has reached another record, nearly 10,000 cases of Covid 19 have been recorded for the second day in a row. Israel is now the 8th most infected nation, per capita, in the world. On Tuesday Israel recorded 9,891 cases, with 1,118 hospitalized, 692 in serious condition, 129 on ventilators, and 6,880 deaths since the outbreak of the virus.

According to Ynetnews, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis told Ynet that “if more measures are not taken to limit contact between people in public spaces, new COVID-19 cases will continue to skyrocket. Sources in the Health Ministry told Ynet that they are mulling recommending tightening restrictions on gatherings to 100 people in confined spaces and 200 in open areas.

Alroy-Preis also urged Israelis eligible to get the third vaccine booster shot to get it, saying the latest data shows it is very effective. "About a week or ten days after receiving the booster shot, protection [against the virus] in vaccinated is four times higher than in those who did not receive it."

Israel has also lowered the age for those who qualify for a ‘booster’ to 30 and over. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said he expects the ‘booster’ to become available soon to all Israelis 12 and up, provided five months have passed since their second shot. The Health Ministry recently published data that only 0.2% of Israelis who received the booster caught Covid-19 with only 88 serious cases out of 1.1 million recipients of the 3rd vaccination. UPDATE: Channel 12 TV news reported on Wednesday that according to the Health Ministry the ‘booster’ provides 97% protection against the Covid-19 virus 16 days after administration of the shot. According to Ynetnews, a new large Israeli research study also showed that "Unvaccinated virus patients were 4 times more likely to develop myocarditis (heart inflammation) than fully jabbed people."

According to the Israel Health Ministry, once 5 million Israelis have received their third Covid-19 Booster shot the country can overcome the current outbreak of the Delta variant.  So far about 1.65 million Israelis have received the third dose. Health ministry sources say they have seen a steady decline in the “R” factor, the rate which an infection spreads, due to the ‘booster’ in the over 60 population.




But according to Prof. Salman Zarka, Israel’s current COVID-19 czar, “The world was changed by the virus.” He said Israel thought the war was over and Israel had won but that was only a battle. “The war is still here.” He said Israel should have kept pushing for inoculations during the lull in infections “and didn’t.”  He said the virus would be with us “for months, maybe years and vaccinations and overcrowding would have to be avoided.” He said preparations are needed for a possible 5th wave.

In the USA, the CDC, Center for Disease Control, has issued a report that finds those with two vaccinations are nearly 30 times more protected than those unvaccinated. So far in the world 214,176,634 people have been infected with 4,469,017 deaths and 23,967,299 active cases. In the Usa, 38,868,925 cases have been reported with 648,161 deaths and 7,701,120 active cases.  The top ten countries in infections: USA, India, Brazil, Russia, France, UK, Turkey, Argentina, Colombia and Spain.  California leads the list of the ten most infected states in the USA followed by Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and New Jersey.

Researchers have also found that travelers arriving in Israel are among the primary source of the infection. As a result, Israel had issued a long list of ‘red’ no-fly countries. where travel was forbidden without special permission. New rules issued on Wednesday say that only four remain ‘red.’ They are Bulgaria, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey. Those travelers arriving in Israel, who are vaccinated or recovered, coming from a country deemed ‘yellow’ will be required to provide a negative test, or undergo a 24-hour isolation, whichever comes first. Yellow countries are Bahrain, Hong Kong, Hungary, Taiwan, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic. All the rest are Orange and travelers arriving from those countries will be required to undergo between seven and 14 days of isolation. Unvaccinated people no matter where they arrive from must be isolated for up to 14 days.  

Israel’s Health Ministry is actively taking steps to quell the rise in the Delta variant. Limitations have been set by Israel’s Corona Cabinet limiting indoor gatherings to 100 and outdoor gatherings to 400. Masks are required at all indoor areas except a persons’ home. TV news reported that nearly 14,000 fines were issued for those not wearing masks indoors. A green pass, proving full vaccination, or a negative test result, is required upon entering an event, gym, theater or other indoor function. Other measures are rapid tests outside wedding halls and other events.

Israel has also began a serology test for children to prove they were not infected with the virus before attending school. Israeli schools open on September 1st.The serology tests were administered by Israel’s Home Front Command at 122 stations around the country. However, the roll-out of this program ran into technical difficulties causing long lines of angry parents. As a consequence the program was halted until the bugs could be worked out.

So far, 5.5 million Israelis have received two doses of the vaccine but more than one-million Israelis have as yet to take the first shot. 37,000 of them work in the education system. The Health Ministry has suggested that unless a teacher show proof of vaccination they not be allowed to work or be paid. This suggestion has been met with disdain by some unvaccinated teachers who feel the move is an infringement on their rights.  Most of the unvaccinated are in the Haredi and/or Arab communities. On Tuesday, revered ultra-Orthodox leader, Rabbi David Kanievsky issued an order that all teachers in Haredi schools must be vaccinated or they will not be allowed to teach. The Haredi and Arab communities have shown a sharp spike in the rate of infections in their communities.

On Tuesday Nitzan Horowitz, Israel’s Minister of Health, announced a new program where mobile units will be sent into Israeli towns and villages to bring the vaccine to people who have not yet received even the first shot. According to Horowitz, there is a socio-economic disparity between those who have received the vaccines and those who haven’t. He said research has shown that most of the unvaccinated come from the poorer communities, mainly either Haredi, (ultra-orthodox) or Arab. The mobile units will travel to these communities and even go so far as to knock on doors of those shown to be unvaccinated to help them get the shot. Horowitz said the many unvaccinated simply can’t afford to take time off from work or watching the children to get vaccinated.

NEW TREATMENTS

 
A research team from Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found that that fenofibrate, a generic fat-lowering medication and one of America’s most prescribed medicines, could help COVID-19 patients. According to the TimesofIsrael, “The team has given the drug to 15 serious COVID-19 patients at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. All were receiving oxygen, yet all were discharged during the course of the 10-day trial.” The treatment would cost as little as $1.50 a day.  Hebrew University’s Research team leader, Prof. Yaakov Nahmias,  said that in his trial 93% of patients came off of oxygen within a week and none experienced a cytokine storm, the immune overreaction which often causes C-19 deterioration. Fenofibrate is an FDA-approved oral medication. The results of the Israeli study were published on Researchsquare.com and are currently under peer review.

GAZA

 
The IDF is beefing up forces along the Gaza/Israel border in anticipation of another riot similar to the one Israel experienced last Saturday. UPDATE: 1,000 Gazans rioted at the border and were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. 14 Gazans were injured. According to the TimesofIsrael serious violence was averted when Hamas stationed operatives in yellow vests in front of the mob. Analysts say that the US pressured Egypt who in turn pressured Hamas to prevent a melee similar to that last Saturday. Then, hundreds of Gazans protested near the border fence and then charged forward. One Gazan. Osama Adaeej, 32, who Hamas says was an operative in its armed wing, was killed. One Israeli soldier, Barel Shmueli, 21, was shot in the head and is still alive but in critical condition. During the riot hundreds of Palestinians converged on the border, burning tires and throwing stones. Israeli troops responded with tear gas, sound grenades, and Ruger bullets, a small-caliber form of live fire that is usually less lethal than normal rounds.

According to Alex Fishman, writing on the opinion page of Ynetnews, Saturday’s riots and those planned for the next few days were meant to embarrass Israel’s PM Naftali Bennet, who is currently in Washington meeting with US President Biden. Fishman says that Hamas wants to press the US to be “more involved” in the reconstruction of Gaza following the May 11 war. Hamas expects the US to be an “active partner” in the reconstruction. According to Fishman Israel has recently opened the borders, closed since the war, and issued work permits for thousands of Gazans allowing them to enter Israel, as well as allowing building supplies and electronic goods to cross the border.

However, Hamas wants more than these tokens of normalcy. A key issue is the millions of dollars donated by Qatar that Hamas needs each month to pay salaries and keep their government in power. Israel has worked out a program with the UN where the money will be transferred to a Palestinian Authority bank and then to the Gazan authorities keeping the cash out of Hamas’ hands. Hamas head Sinwar has rejected this plan. The protests last Saturday and in those expected in the upcoming days are meant to pressure Biden to convince Bennett to rethink the present strategy. According to Gal Berger, Arab affairs correspondent on Israel TV’s channel 11, Hamas’ Sinwar is facing a threat to his leadership because of unrest in Gaza that is beset by high unemployment, with extreme fuel and food shortages.

 

                                  Benny Gantz, Israel’s Minister of Defense


IRAN

Upon departing Israel for the USA, Israel’s PM Bennett has said that Iran is the primary issue on his agenda in talks with US President Biden. Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz told a gathering of diplomats on Wednesday that Iran is only two months away from acquiring the materials necessary for a nuclear weapon.” Gantz also said that Iran has attacked Israeli ships. Recently bomb-laden drones attacked an Israeli operated ship, killing a British and Rumanian seaman. Gantz said that “Iran has the intention to destroy Israel and is working on developing the means to do so.” He did not rule out the possibility that Israel would have to take action in the future in order to prevent a nuclear Iran. “All of Iran’s acts of aggression thus far have been conducted without nuclear capabilities. Imagine what will happen if Iran Achieves nuclear capabilities.”

PM Bennet is reportedly trying to stitch together a coalition of Western nations to take on Iran. So far, the US attempts to get Iran back to the negotiating table to talk about their nuclear program have been rebuffed by Tehran.

SPORT

Israeli Arab Iyad Shalabi, 34, from Shfaram, won a gold medal in the Tokyo paralympic games in the 100m backstroke. Shalabi was the first Israeli Arab ever to win an Paralympic medal. Shalabi has been paralyzed from the age of twelve after he fell from the rooftop of a building. Israeli athletes have won 375 Paralympic medals and 13 Olympic medals. The Paralympic games were founded by Ludwig Guttman, a leading Jewish neurosurgeon specializing in spinal injuries, who had escaped Germany in 1939 for the United Kingdom. Guttman reportedly introduced the competition as a way to rehabiliate paraplegic patients and boost their self esteem. The first recognized Paralympic games were held in Rome, Italy in 1960.

             

The Fourth Wave

 The fourth wave of the Coronavirus, the Delta variant, is crashing over Israel. The dire results are only tempered by the vaccinations. According to Israel’s  Ministry of Health, those over 60 who are unvaccinated are 8 times more likely to develop a serious illness than those vaccinated. Those under 50 who are unvaccinated are 3 times more likely to become seriously ill.

So far nearly 60 percent of the Israeli population has been vaccinated. However, while the vaccines may prevent serious illness, the numbers of those infected continues to rise at an alarming rate reaching 8,646 within 24-hours between Aug 16-17, at a rate of 6.1 percent of all those tested.
                

                           Number of infections from Feb-Aug

                                           

                                                           Statistics according to the Israel Ministry of Health

To try to stem the rising tide of the virus Israel has begun inoculating the over 60 population and those with immunocompromised conditions with the 3rd “booster” shot. So far nearly one-million Israelis have received the third “booster” shot. Those over the age of 60 account for nearly 90 percent of those seriously ill.

Research has shown that the Pfizer vaccination, that used in Israel, is less effective than the Moderna vaccine against the delta variant. Pfizer’s resistance to the variant falls to 47% after six months whereas the Moderna vaccine is 87% effective during the same time period. However, both vaccines are effective in preventing serious illness.

In a conference call discussing the company’s quarterly earnings, Moderna president Stephen Hoge raised what he called a “scary” scenario should the coronavirus mutate and evolve. “If you think about how this might play forward, it seems logical to us that those three mutations present in the beta, gamma line and those two mutations present in the delta might find some way to combine in new and potentially scary ways. And if that came with the increased transmissibility, force of infection that delta can achieve, that might be a significant threat” But Hoge added, “Hopefully, it’s not as big of a threat as we’re seeing right now. But we need to be cautious and humble because SARS-CoV-2 keeps surprising us.”

So far worldwide there have been 208,713,040 confirmed cases of C-19, with 4,383,910 deaths, and 22,942,799 active cases. Number one on the list is still the USA, 37,736,986 cases have been confirmed with 638,798 deaths, and 6,870,866 active cases. The United Kingdom is #6 on the list of most infected with 6,295,613 cases, 130,979 deaths and 1,307,793 active cases. South Africa, 17th on the list has 2,613,569 cases with 77,440 deaths and 153,320 active cases. Canada, at 25 on the list has 1,455,971 cases, with 26,704 deaths and 19,172 active cases. Australia, who had been one of the least infected countries up until now, is about 104 on the list, with 40,080 cases, 967 deaths and 8,102 active cases.

Israel, 35th on the list, has 948,058 cases with 926 people hospitalized, 559 in serious condition, 89 on ventilators. and 6,694 deaths, up 13 in 24-hours. 

                        Deaths in Israel from Covid-19
           

                                                          Statistics according to the Israel Ministry of Health

The cause for alarm in Israel is the sharp rise in the number of serious cases that has more than doubled in less than two weeks.

Health officials warn that should the numbers reach 700-800 a lockdown of the population, that may take place over the upcoming Jewish high-holidays, would become a viable option to contain the spread of the virus. However, most politicians, from Israel’s Finance Minister Avigdor Leiberman to Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz are against another lockdown.

                               Serious Cases rise in August
    

                                                 Statistics according to the Israel Ministry of Health

Israel’s PM Naftali Bennet has called for every one of the over one-million Israelis who have not yet been vaccinated to take the shot. According to Bennet, this is the best way to fight the spread of the virus.He also stressed that the Israeli Arab community has so far not responded to calls for vaccinations in significant numbers. Those unvaccinated, stressed Bennet put not only themselves at risk but their families and communities. One dire prediction by a health official was that those unvaccinated in Israel could see 1,000 deaths a week if the virus is not contained.


Israel’s coronavirus cabinet also passed a series of measures to help in the battle.  Israel has 1.6 million students between the ages of 3-12. According to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet, beginning next Sunday, students in grades 1-7 will be given government sponsored serology tests before entering school to determine if they are carriers of the virus. If so, they will be sent home to be quarantined. Students over 12 will be obligated to provide negative test results before entering school. Families of students over 12 will be responsible for the costs of the tests. As of now, children 12+ are entitled to receive Pfizer C-19 vaccines. So far, 23% of students 12+ have been vaccinated.Also, classes in high infection areas will be conducted remotely unless at least 70% of the students are vaccinated.

Other measures are the limitation on gatherings.  Outdoor events will be limited to 500, indoors to 400, masks required for any gathering over 100. Private events are limited to 100 outdoors and 50 indoors. Mass events, like sports, or public gatherings, are limited to 1,000 indoors and 5,000 outdoors. Masks are now required in all closed spaces except private residences, and all indoor public areas.

Health experts are hopeful these measures will quell the current rise in the virus, however the effect of the ‘booster’ vaccination and the serology tests and restrictions in schools and other areas is not expected to have immediate results. Hospitals are already on the brink of overcrowding. Some of the smaller hospitals have already begun to send their patients to less busy hospitals, or those with many more beds. Health officials expect to see 1,500 serious cases a day by September. Health Ministry director-general Nachum Ash has instructed the hospitals to cancel all elective surgeries. The government is also desperately seeking more doctors and health care workers. The government is considering using medical students and nursing students to help in the crises.

According to Ynetnews, Dr. Miki Dudkovitz, head of Hillel Yafe Hospital, said it was still not clear how many nurses were needed and pointed out that ‘“Young nurses have not finished their post-graduation hospital training and are not yet suited to staff the Covid wards.”

Gali Weiss, deputy director-general of Share Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem, saw the government suggestion in a positive light. “We don’t have a choice…We’re talking about over 100 seriously ill per hospital.” She thought that the training the nurses and doctors had received was sufficient to help in the wards. “We welcome any help we can get,” she said.

Professor Arnon Afek, deputy director of Sheba hospital, agreed with the government initiative and with Gali Weiss. He said the real need was for nurses. “We’re at a critical phase in fighting the virus. As long as the health system is strong it provides a backbone to the government and prevents a lockdown.” He admitted the inexperienced nurses would not be of the highest standard, yet, but “it is better than to be short-staffed as the numbers of seriously ill are rising.”

Poland.  A furor has broken out over Poland’s new law denying Holocaust survivors restitution of their property seized during WWII. In response, Israel’s Foreign Minister, and alternate Prime Minister, Yair Lapid has strongly protested to the Polish government over the move. Lapid, son of Holocaust survivors, has said the Polish law is a ‘disgrace.’ Poland has defended itself saying Poland wasn’t responsible for the loss of property but Germany, since it was the Nazis who gave the orders and who occupied Poland.

Fires.  Israel’s hot dry summer has created an environment ripe for forest fires. A recent man-made brush fire, either arson or a careless camper, is still burning over communities in the outskirts of Jerusalem. So far, the fire has destroyed homes and crops and displaced residents. Over the last 45-hours, fire-fighters as well as 14 fire-fighting aircraft including a Super Hercules C-130 have been dropping water and fire retardant in efforts to stop the fires. No injuries among residents have been reported although one fire-fighter was taken to hospital.

Afghanistan. Some analysts in Israel are concerned that the recent Taliban take over of Afghanistan following the messy US withdrawal of 2,500 military forces, may encourage Islamic fundamentalist Palestinians in towns like Ramallah to mount a military campaign against Israel.

Others, like military analyst Yossi Melman writing in Haaretz, thought that the Taliban takeover might present an opportunity for Israel. While the Taliban takeover was “harming the United States’ standing in the world…” and US ally “Israel is certainly hurt by the image of a superpower in decline…what is happening in Afghanistan is not a zero-sum game,” wrote Melman, since the Sunni Taliban may become a thorn in the side of Israel’s enemy Shiite Iran. Iran and Afghanistan share a 950 km (590 mile) border.

According to Melman the Taliban and the Iranian Shiite regime have an “unbridgeable conflict between their religious ideologies and outlooks.” Since the moderate Arab Sunni counties like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait are fearful that the Taliban may strike an alliance with Sunni Al Queda, Melman postulates that “Israel could …become the backbone of military and strategic support for the Sunni world, which is fearful of Iran and of fundamentalist terror…”


















       

Lockdown or Open Up?

As the number of those infected by the Corona 19’s Delta variant continues to rise, a fierce debate is taking place within Israeli political and health circles if a lockdown will slow the rapid pace of the contagion.

The good news is that a lock down, something that crippled Israel’s economy when last imposed, will be the last resort, according to Prof. Ron Baliczer, an advisor to the government’s Corona cabinet. This can be avoided, he told a Kan’s Reshet Bet radio program, “If we can inoculate the recalcitrant 1.2 million unvaccinated Israelis. That is the way to avoid the lockdown.” Israel is also the first country in the world to begin inoculating those 60 plus, and those with health conditions that put them at risk, with the third Pfizer “Booster” vaccine. Health officials say that they may soon begin giving the vaccine to those 50 plus.

 

 

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked joined the chorus of health and political officials urging everyone over 60 to take the third Pfizer “booster” in order to stop the spread of the virus. She told Israel radio’s Reshet Bet, “There’s no need for anyone over 60 to wait in line. Just show up at the HMO and you get the vaccine.” She also said Israel is considering inoculating those over 50 in the near future.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stressed on Sunday that Arab Israelis should also get vaccinated, pointing out the relatively low inoculation rates in the community. According to reports, 51% of Arab Israelis have been vaccinated compared to 66% of other Israelis. However, the Arab Israeli health non-profit Galilee Society said that 83% of Arab Israelis over 50 had been vaccinated compared to 92% of other Israelis. But, according to experts, the Bedouin communities in the south of Israel have been reluctant to get the vaccine and only about 20% have been inoculated.

Prof. Tal Brosh, head of Infectious Diseases at Assuta, Ashdod University Hospital, told Esti Perez on an Israel Radio Reshet Bet talk show, that the only real solution to the problem is vaccinations. Brosh said that a lockdown was “super drastic.” He also said that by the time Corona runs its course, most of the population in Israel would have been infected. But the question is, he asked, do you want to be infected when you have an immunity through the vaccine, or be open to the infection with no protection?  The unvaccinated, he said, are not only endangering themselves, but those they come in contact with, either at home or at work.

According to Ynet news, the Israeli government is only going to consider a lockdown when the number reaches 600-700 serious cases a day. Health experts like Prof. Brosh, say that beyond the 600-700 number the health system will be overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients, leaving others with heart conditions or cancer or in need of surgery, pushed aside. Already hospitals in Israel are reporting a lack of beds and a paucity of health workers resulting in nurses and doctors already to work double shifts.

On Monday, Israel reported a new record of 3,392 new cases in 24-hours, with 360 serious cases, compared to 257 last Thursday, and with 47 people on ventilators. The C-19 positivity rate has climbed to 3.9%. The death toll is at 6542, with 16 deaths reported in the two days. Israel now has 31,736 active cases.

The Israeli government has also decided on a series of other steps, besides pushing vaccinations,  to try to slow the spread of the virus. As of August 16 the Green Pass, showing two inoculations, will be required at restaurants, gyms, hotels, synagogues with more than 50 people, outdoor gatherings, like weddings, sporting events, and concerts. Masks will also be mandatory in outdoor venues of over 100 people.

As of Aug 20, children under 12 will also have to prove they are not C-19 positive. To accomplish this Israel’s Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross) has established 120 testing centers across the country to provide results within 15-minutes.These results can be presented at the entry to an event.

Israel’s schools are scheduled to open on September 1. According to news reports, the government has a plan that all 1.6 million kids in kindergarten and grades 1-6 will undergo a serology test to check if they have COVID-19 antibodies. Additionally, the families of 1.9 million children in kindergartens and grades 1-9 will receive a rapid COVID-19 home test kit within 48 hours of the start of the school year and will be asked to test their children prior to their coming to class.

A pilot program of this plan has begun with the 250,000 Israeli ultra-Orthodox students who returned to school today. Haredi, ultra-Orthodox, students usually return to school the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, after their traditional summer break. Israel has also issued a new list of countries that require a 7-day quarantine for returning travelers. As of now, only 10 countries in the world can be visited without the traveler returning to Israel and undergoing a mandatory week-long quarantine. One commentator said that this move essentially closes Israel’s Ben Gurion airport since most travelers won’t want to undergo the quarantine.

Israel has also listed 15 local authorities as Red, with a very high number of C-19 cases : Kiryat Malachi, Sderot, Harish, Nesher, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Gat, Netanya, Elas, Beit She’en, Ma’ale Adumim, Be’er Yaakov, Tiberias, Or Yehuda, Yavne, and Afula.

According to Ncovid2019.live/data, there are now 203,461,989 cases of Covid-19 world-wide, with 4, 307,546 deaths, and 21,886,232 active cases. The USA is still number one with 36,543,338 cases, 633,116 deaths and 6,051,160 active cases. Israel is 34th on the list of countries most infected.

MISSILES

 

                 Along the Northern Border: left in square Hezbollah flags, border fence. Right IDF radar station.

Israel and Hezbollah, a terrorist group based in Lebanon, exchanged fire on the Northern border. Last week Hezbollah fired three missiles at Israel. Israel responded immediately with artillery fire and later with IAF jets bombing the rockets launch sites. Last Friday 19 missiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel, most fell in open land, some even in Lebanon. A few were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome. A couple landed near Kryiat Shmona setting off a fierce brush fire.

Lebanon is currently in the midst of a severe financial crises. Riots have broken out in the streets protesting the cost of bread and milk and gasoline. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, has, according to pundits, tried to set itself up as the protector of Lebanon against Israel. But observers say that Lebanon is coming apart at the seams with high unemployment and low income. Lebanon is also split along religious lines and has long been controlled by a coalition of Christians and Sunni Moslems, while Hezbollah, run by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, is made up of Iranian-backed Shiites.

Both Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz have warned Hezbollah against continued attacks against Israel. According to the TimesofIsrael, PM Bennett has said that after the flare-up on the norther border, the Lebanese government must take responsibility and “clean up its backyard,” referring, according to pundits, to the need to reign in Hezbollah. However, both sides have said they are not interested in a deterioration along the border. The US has called on Israel to show restraint.

Giora Eiland, Major General (ret.)and former head of the Israeli National Security Council, wrote an analysis in YnetNews also called for restraint. He encouraged the world to provide financial aid to Lebanon but make that aid contingent on a reduction of Hezbollah’s military and political power. Last week a protest against

Hezbollah turned violent in a Southern Lebanese Druze village. More protests are expected. However, pundits point out that neither Hamas nor Hezbollah are concerned with their respective populations but rather with the higher goal of destroying Israel for religious reasons.Last week both Hamas and Hezbollah representatives attended the swearing in of Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi, who swore to help them in their struggle against Israel.

Israel has also been beset by incendiary balloons sent over the Southern border from Gaza by Hamas operatives. The fires caused by the balloons have destroyed hundreds of acres of Israeli farmer’s fields .

OLYMPICS
Israel won four medals in the latest Olympic games in Japan. Linoy Ashram,22, was the first Israeli woman to win a gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics, Israel's Artem Dolgopyat, 24, made history on Sunday when he clinched a gold medal in the floor exercise in men's artistic gymnastics. Avishag Semberg, 19, won a bronze medal in the Taekwondo competition. Israel’s mixed judo team also won a bronze medal.

From vaccines to missiles and Olympic medals, Israel has witnessed impressive achievements and dangerous attacks. Unless the rise in viruses in Israel is stemmed, Israel faces a very uncertain future.