Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel.
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
The IDF says that a suspected ramming attack was reported near the West Bank settlement of Halamish, also known as Neve Tzuf.
A 19-year-old IDF soldier was moderately wounded in the incident, and is receiving medical treatment.
The vehicle and the driver have been caught, according to the local council.
The details of the incident are not immediately clear.
The Catholic Church in Rome strongly condemns as “offensive and unacceptable” a funeral procession outside a local church in which the casket was draped in a Nazi flag and mourners gave the fascist salute.
Photos and video of the scene outside St. Lucia church following the funeral service yesterday were published by the Italian online news portal Open. They show around two dozen people gathered outside the church as the swastika-draped casket emerges, shouting “Presente!” (“Present!”) with their right arm extended in the fascist salute.
Funerale con saluto romano e svastica Era un'esponente di Forza Nuova https://t.co/4KzXGlxCoM pic.twitter.com/8dWvVnzORt
— Affaritaliani.it (@Affaritaliani) January 10, 2022
In a statement, the Vicariate of Rome strongly condemns the scene and stresses that neither the parish priest, nor the priest who officiated the funeral, knew what was going to transpire outside after the funeral Mass ended.
It calls the swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag “a horrendous symbol irreconcilable with Christianity.”
“This ideological and violent exploitation, especially following an act of worship near a sacred place, remains serious, offensive and unacceptable for the church community of Rome and for all people of good will in our city,” it says.
Israel Railways announces that train service will be cut today due to a staff shortage as many employees have tested positive for COVID.
According to the announcement, trains on the Ashkelon to Beersheba route will operate once an hour instead of twice an hour. In addition, train service along that route will end earlier than usual.
Also today, the train station at Ben Gurion International Airport returns to normal service following more than a month where passengers were not allowed to board at that station due to quarantine measures for travelers.
Israel has donated $500,000 to the United Nations for food, medical aid and other assistance for Afghan refugees in Tajikistan, the Foreign Ministry announces.
Alon Ushpiz, director general of the ministry, says Israel is proud to be part of the international effort to help Afghans who fled from the Taliban takeover of the country in August. Ushpiz says the aid is part of Israel’s commitment to the international community.
The donation came the same day the UN made what it called a record $5 billion appeal to help Afghanistan and its neighboring countries.
The appeal seeks $4.4 billion for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and its partners, plus $623 million for the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, to help more than 6 million Afghans who have fled. That’s about 15% of Afghanistan’s total population.
Others continue to trickle across the border, UNHCR said, while noting that an estimated 175,000 have returned to the country since the Taliban takeover.
Health Ministry director-general Prof. Nachman Ash announces that Israelis who test positive for COVID will only have to quarantine for seven days, down from 10, providing that the last three of those seven days are asymptomatic.
Ash says that in testing the ministry has carried out in recent weeks on Omicron patients, just 6% showed signs of the live virus seven days after they were infected.
If symptoms persist throughout the week, however, then patients must complete a full 10 days of quarantine.
The change in policy is slated to take effect at midnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
“We won’t mandate people stay in quarantine longer than necessary, in order to protect their health as well as the economy, education, culture and to continue normal life as much as possible alongside COVID,” says Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz.
Seventeen civilians have been killed in a drone strike in the town of Mai Tsebri in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, aid workers tell AFP.
“Yesterday [Monday] the strike at Mai Tsebri occurred in the afternoon and killed 17 civilians working at the flour mill,” one aid worker says, citing witness accounts.
Ahead of a meeting of the COVID cabinet this evening, a forum of experts tells the government that the course of the ongoing Omicron-fueled wave of COVID cannot be predicted.
Experts say the current wave cannot be stopped, even with a lockdown, and they advise against closing schools, but urge “hybrid solutions” when students test positive. They warn those who are elderly and at high risk of COVID complications to avoid contact with crowds or large groups as much as possible.
The advisers say that in the coming weeks the COVID wave will put very high pressure on the medical system and prevent people from receiving life-saving treatments.
They also recommend that the government limit large gatherings and institute restrictions on occupancy for most businesses.
Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, the co-creators of the hit TV show “Fauda,” have sold their production company to two former Disney executives who have set up their own company, according to reports.
According to Variety, the deal inked between Raz and Issacharoff’s Faraway Road and Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer has come in under $50 million.
In addition to “Fauda,” which is slated to soon premiere its fourth season, the duo produced “Hit and Run” for Netflix, which was canceled after one season due to its high production costs. The pair still maintain a production deal with the streaming giant.
The Israel Defense Forces saw a slight increase in the number of soldiers killed in uniform over the past year — 31 compared to the previous year’s 28 — as well as a small rise in the number of suicides, according to fresh statistics released by the military.
Suicide remains the leading cause of death, with at least 11 soldiers believed to have taken their own lives in 2021 and another two whose deaths are currently designated as accidents but which may also have been suicide, Brig. Gen. Yoram Knafo, chief of staff of the IDF Manpower Directorate, tells reporters.
Of the 11 soldiers suspected of committing suicide, three were members of the Ethiopian community, far above the number than would be expected based on their representation in the population. One of the two people suspected of committing suicide was also Ethiopian, further inflating the already disproportionate number. Knafo says the military is aware of this issue and is working to better address it, while trying to not stigmatize the Ethiopian population.
This is an increase from 2020, when nine soldiers were suspected of having committed suicide, though Knafo says that overall the number of suicides in the military has held steady at roughly 10 each year.
Only one IDF soldier was killed in combat over the past year, Omer Tabib, who was hit by an anti-tank guided missile on the Gaza border during May’s conflict with terror groups in the Strip. Another soldier, Yonatan Granot, was killed when he was shot in the head by another soldier who had allegedly fired a weapon on their base in violation of orders and is currently on trial for manslaughter.
The death of Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was shot in the head by a Palestinian gunman during a riot along the Gaza border, was not included in the figures since he served in the Border Police.
Ten soldiers were killed in car accidents while on leave and six soldiers died of illnesses in 2021, none of them from the coronavirus, Knafo says.
Last year, no soldiers were killed in work or training accidents, he says.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will hold a live press conference this evening.
He is slated to speak to the public from the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv at 6:15 p.m. local time, and address “the continued effort to combat Omicron.”
Close to 38,000 new cases of COVID were confirmed in Israel yesterday, as each day over the past week has seen a new daily record set in transmission of the virus.
Bennett has faced a wave of criticism for sticking by his promise to not institute a national lockdown in order to minimize damage to the economy.
An IDF veteran with PTSD who has been hospitalized since April after self-immolating in an act of protest was publicly heard speaking for the first time, as the hospital releases a recorded blessing for Israel’s doctors.
Itzik Saidyan’s condition has improved significantly in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, he left his hospital room for the first time in a wheelchair and went outdoors.
Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv — where he is hospitalized — publishes a recording of Saidyan making remarks in honor of Israel’s national Doctor’s Day.
“Hello dear doctors. I, Itzik Saidyan, want to wish you a happy and joyful day and to thank Sheba hospital, the Burn Unit and all the doctors, Prof. [Yosef] Hayek and Dr. [Moti] Haratz, and all the nurses,” Saidyan can be heard saying, sounding slightly out of breath.
The High Court orders Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to cease her implicit ban on Palestinian spouses receiving residency in Israel, saying that she is attempting to enforce a law that expired in July.
“The basic rules of administrative law do not allow the enforcement of a law that is no longer on the books,” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez writes in a ruling issuing a temporary injunction to Shaked to lift the ban.
In July, the Citizenship Law expired following a dramatic predawn vote. The right-wing opposition, led by Likud, voted against renewing the law in an attempt to embarrass the coalition. Two Ra’am coalition parliamentarians also abstained.
After the law expired, Shaked instructed ministry staff to continue as though the ban were still valid until further notice. Shaked has pushed for even stricter controls on Palestinian immigration to Israel in the past, and has vowed to pass the law again in the coming weeks.
Civil rights groups appealed what they decried as a violation of the rule of law. Their case is currently pending in the Jerusalem District Court; Barak-Erez’s ruling today serves a temporary injunction until the end of those proceedings.
An official close to Shaked says: “The minister intends in the coming weeks to re-enact the law. Hopefully the opposition that toppled the law before will not act against the state.”
Barak-Erez scoffs at that claim in her ruling, quoting a previous Supreme Court filing: “No government office can base [its actions] on predicted legislation. They must act under the law as it is.”
The Citizenship Law has been wildly controversial since its inception. Israeli politicians initially justified it on security grounds, while rights groups charge it discriminates against Palestinians and Arab Israelis. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a 6-5 decision in 2012 after a protracted legal battle.
A man suspected of starting a fire that gutted South Africa’s parliament appears in court to face a new charge of terrorism, in addition to robbery and arson accusations.
Zandile Christmas Mafe, 49, was arrested around the parliament complex in Cape Town after the fire broke out on January 2, and appeared in court three days later.
Mafe was initially charged with breaking into parliament, arson and intention to steal property, including laptops, crockery and documents, before the terrorism charge was added.
Prosecutors say the additional charge was introduced after investigators viewed CCTV footage from parliament on Monday.
A new charge reads that the “accused is guilty of the offence of contravening the provisions of… the protection of constitutional democracy against terrorist and related activities,” according to a court document.
“The accused did unlawfully and intentionally deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive, or other lethal device in… parliament building with the purpose… of causing extensive damage,” it says, without giving further details.
David Blumberg, the chairman of the National Library of Israel’s board of directors, resigns from his position days after he was accused of paying a former employee to silence her following accusations of sexual harassment.
In Blumberg’s resignation letter, reports Haaretz, the library chief claims he “fell victim to a fierce and vicious attack… motivated by political and personal revenge.”
Last week, Channel 13 news reported that Blumberg agreed to pay his accuser NIS 240,000 ($77,000), and in exchange, she signed a deal barring her from revealing that he sexually harassed her.
The two signed the secret agreement with the help of a lawyer in December 2020. The deal stipulated that if the woman spoke of the harassment, the money would be confiscated, the report said.
At least two people have died and eight are still missing after a small truck they were riding in slid off a ferry and plunged into the Nile River, say authorities in Egypt.
The accident happened just outside of Cairo yesterday, in the town of Monshat el-Kanater in Giza province, the office of the public prosecutor says in a statement.
The statement says the driver lost control of the truck while the unlicensed, rickety ferry was transporting it across the river. The truck was carrying 24 workers, including children, returning home from a farm where they worked, it says.
Fourteen people were rescued, and rescue workers were still searching for the missing, it says.
Authorities have arrested the truck diver and three ferry workers, and were searching for the ferry’s owner, the statement says.
Ferry, railway and road accidents are common in Egypt mainly because of poor maintenance and the lack of regulations.
The Israel Defense Forces cancels all exercises for reservists through the end of the month as it rolls out a number of fresh restrictions as coronavirus cases in the military have skyrocketed in recent days and are expected to continue to do so in the coming weeks, a senior IDF officer says.
As of today, there are currently more than 6,000 soldiers, officers and civilian employees of the military who have been diagnosed with the disease, an increase of more than 1,000 cases in 24 hours.
In addition to the canceled exercises for reservists, the military is limiting leave time for combat soldiers over the next two weeks in order to ensure that it has sufficient troops at its disposal, the senior officer tells reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The IDF is also tightening its restrictions on gatherings, he says.
The officer says the military anticipates the meteoric rise in COVID-19 cases to continue in the coming weeks. The IDF is now working to “lower the flames” of the outbreak and ensure the military can continue functioning as needed, he says.
The officer adds that the IDF has purchased hundreds of thousands of testing kits in order to better track the disease’s spread through the military.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for a new summit with France, Germany and Russia to resolve the conflict in his country, at the center of intensive talks between the West and Russia this week.
“It is time to agree in a substantive manner on an end to the conflict and we are ready to take the necessary decisions during a new summit of the leaders of the four countries,” Zelensky says in a statement following a meeting with European diplomats.
The head of the high school principals’ union says close to half of all high school students are absent from class due to the current COVID wave.
Menashe Levi, chairman of the School Administrators Association, says about 50% of high school students are showing up: “Everyone is either getting, tested, in quarantine or decided not to come,” he tells Army Radio. “We don’t need to close every school, but we need to do it in a differential manner.”
Levi refutes a statement made earlier in the day cited by the director of the Education Ministry, who claimed that “the vast majority of students are learning as normal.”
“She is mistaken in her figures,” says Levi. “Some schools need to move to Zoom.”
As of yesterday, more than 42,000 schoolkids had COVID and another 85,000 were in quarantine due to exposure.
Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej says that the latest figures show Israel is heading toward “herd immunity.”
“According to the figures we have, 2-4 million people in the next three weeks are expected to test positive,” Frej tells Ynet. “This is the direction. Why should we bury our heads in the ground like an ostrich? The pandemic is reaching everyone.”
Frej admits that the government “is not able to do all the tests needed, we don’t have enough PCR tests, we have a problem with labs.” But he defends the government, saying it is making decisions “to do the maximum to protect public health” with vaccines and antiviral medications.
The minister says a lockdown will do more damage than good, and calls for adherence to the current guidelines: “The behavior of the public is more important than anything we do… everyone’s behavior is what will determine our direction.”
Yesterday, 37,887 Israelis tested positive via PCR or antigen tests, with more than 185,000 active cases. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said earlier in the week that 2-4 million Israelis are likely to be infected in the current Omicron-fueled wave.
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