2 Saudi dramas warm to Israel, Jews, unlike Egypt TV and a Hebron teacher * Lapid: I’d vote to block Gantz as PM * Op-ed: Farewell, Labor * Tzur Goldin: My brother’s body

[Visit timesofisrael.com for 24/7 updates]( The Daily Edition Monday, April 27, 2020 [In first, Saudi TV dramas feature character urging Israel ties, Hebrew monologue]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Controversy swirls around two Ramadan productions, screened amid warming Jerusalem-Riyadh ties; 13 Palestinian groups said urging that one of the shows be taken off air]( [Israel decries Egyptian TV show predicting its destruction, breakup of the US]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Palestinian teacher posts lesson hailing terrorist in 1978 attack that killed 38]( By [TOI staff]( [Lapid says he’d vote with Netanyahu to stop Gantz becoming PM in rotation deal]( By [Michael Bachner and TOI staff]( [In dramatic step, Yesh Atid leader says that to prevent his ex-running mate taking over as PM, he’d join forces with Likud leader to reverse law anchoring power-sharing agreement]( [Lapid says his former running mate Gantz is ‘unfit to be prime minister’]( By [TOI staff]( Op-ed [David Horovitz]( [Meanwhile, in other news, Israel’s Labor Party is finished]( [The party of Ben-Gurion, Eshkol, Meir and Rabin led Israel for decades. Now it has fallen so low, become so discredited and irrelevant, that even its demise barely makes a headline]( [Labor leader Peretz wins his party’s backing to join Netanyahu-led government]( By [TOI staff]( Live updates [Ministers reportedly vote to reopen some schools starting Sunday]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( [Decision contingent on situational assessment Friday; kindergartens and elementary school classes would switch off meeting in groups of around 15, according to plan]( From the blogs [Tzur Goldin]( [My brother’s body must not be left behind]( [Hamas can and should be made to realize that the kidnapping of soldiers or civilians, dead or alive, is a liability for them, not an asset]( Necessary stories [The anemone’s smile]( By [Haim Watzman]( Top Ops [Diana Barshaw]( [Liberty versus the virus]( [I’m far less afraid of COVID-19 than I am of illogical regulations being followed blindly by a cowed, compliant population]( [Dan Perry]( [Israel courts needless disaster with annexation]( [To assume the current calm will continue forever following such a provocation is to forget the nightmare of the Second Intifada]( [David Matlin]( [An Israeli soldier: Dispatches from the front]( [Being yanked from civilian life to the front of a breaking war within 5 hours: That — and so much more — is how we help ensure Israel is here to stay]( [Naomi Chazan]( [Judicial independence under assault]( [The political changes being perpetrated under the guise of the COVID-19 disaster chip away at Israel’s democracy while so many are too worn out to pay full attention]( [Just 68 new virus cases confirmed in last day]( By [TOI staff]( [Health Ministry puts tally at 15,466, with one new fatality bringing death toll to 202; the last time there were under 100 infections in 24 hours was more than a month ago]( [Cabinet to lift limit of 500m from home for exercise, after Independence Day]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [11-year-old girl in serious condition with COVID-19]( By [TOI staff]( Reporter's notebook [Sam Sokol]( [I wasted 2 days holed up in my bedroom thanks to buggy Health Ministry virus app]( [Mistakes have tarnished HaMagen’s reputation, as I can personally testify, but health officials say they are addressing its problems]( [High Court: Shin Bet surveillance of virus carriers must be enshrined in law]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [Six new symptoms for coronavirus are added by US Centers for Disease Control]( By [TOI staff]( Israel media review [I will remember you, at IKEA: 6 things to know for April 27]( By [TOI staff]( [In shadow of pandemic, Israel prepares for 1st socially distanced Memorial Day, with military cemeteries to be shut as precaution and the country placed on lockdown]( [IDF troops deliver aid in locked down Netivot, Beit Shemesh]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Isolated by pandemic, Israelis have record-high ‘sense of ‘belonging’ – poll]( By [TOI staff]( [Government okays NIS 6 billion to meet major chains’ demands as they stay closed]( By [TOI staff]( [Hundreds of large businesses refused to reopen Sunday, citing lack of state monetary support; they are expected to resume operations over the next few days as new funds approved]( [Shop owner at closed Jerusalem market dies by suicide amid financial woes]( By [TOI staff]( [Government watchdog probes legality of shutdown protest by Israel’s top chains]( By [TOI staff]( [On centenary, San Remo Conference hailed as ‘seminal moment’ in Zionist history]( By [Raphael Ahren]( [World leaders praise April 1920 summit as first anchor of Jewish state’s legitimacy in international law; Pompeo says it marked world’s embrace of Jews’ unbreakable ties to Israel]( [Arab League to meet over Israel’s plans to annex parts of West Bank]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Netanyahu confident Trump will okay West Bank annexation in ‘couple of months’]( By [Michael Bachner and TOI staff]( [Coronavirus crisis fueling anti-Semitism around world, foreign minister charges]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel Katz says Jewish communities already hurt directly by pandemic are under threat of rising Jew-hatred as well, adds Israel should help them]( [German far-right party to drop ‘fascist’ spokesman proud of ‘Aryan’ grandfather]( By [AFP]( [Anti-Semitic fliers left at homes and on cars in Montana city]( By [JTA]( [CRM]( More Headlines [AG said convinced acting state attorney, justice minister trying to oust him]( By [TOI staff]( [Cities cancel Independence Day fireworks displays despite cabinet approval]( By [TOI staff]( [No parading with the Torah: Coronavirus at bay, German synagogues set to reopen]( By [Toby Axelrod]( [Syria says 4 pro-Iran fighters, 3 civilians dead in exchange of fire with Israel]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Seoul says North Korea’s Kim ‘alive and well’]( By [AFP]( [Iran says virus cases pass 90,000; daily death toll lowest since March 10]( By [AFP]( [Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for minors]( By [Aya Batrawy]( [New York announces lowest death toll this month, may partially reopen May 15]( By [AFP]( [One day / Matisyahu to join Jewish Agency’s (online) Independence bash]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Nvidia completes acquisition of Israel’s Mellanox for $7 billion]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( © 2020 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, All Rights Reserved