COVID cases spike * Profile: Dermer, the Dems, the downside * Israeli parties open US election playbooks * The 1920s white supremacist influencer beloved by a president

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Presented by IDC Herzliya [Israel passes 10,000 daily infections for first time since start of pandemic]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Positive test rate highest in months, as officials make grim prediction of major outbreak in spring despite vaccination campaign]( [Israelis aged 40+ start receiving vaccines in race to halt record infections]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Israel media review / This is a fine mess: What the press is saying about lockdowns, Haredim and Trump]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( Profile [Netanyahu’s envoy Dermer departs US, but to Democrats he’s been gone for years]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Ambassador’s close relationship with the PM and willingness to bet it all on Trump paid handsome dividends, but many on other side of aisle say strategy will haunt Israel]( [Morocco 2nd Arab country to promote combating anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Arab League chief hopes Biden reverses Trump policies, revives 2-state solution]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( Inside story [Born on the 4th: Israeli parties look to US playbook for pandemic-era campaigns]( By [Tal Schneider]( [With Likud sticking to its Republican pollster, New Hope signs up with group that helped defeat Trump from the right, while Yesh Atid sees Georgia as a model for beating Netanyahu]( [No more ‘America First’: Biden’s top diplomat says US needs its allies to thrive]( By [Shaun Tandon]( From the blogs [Kenneth S. Stern]( [Can America inoculate against the dire threat of ‘us vs. them’?]( [As false claims of a Trump victory stoke political violence, the US must launch a grand effort to rebuild a society in which disagreement is not deadly]( Times of Israel Podcast [PODCAST: The Daily Briefing – Ultra-Orthodox dance at weddings, pray for sick]( By [TOI staff]( [A quick 15-minute podcast with ToI editors and reporters to catch you up on what’s important today]( [The 1920s white supremacist influencer beloved by president Harding – and Hitler]( By [Matt Lebovic]( Top Ops [Rachel Aridor-Hershkovitz]( [WhatsApp’s new terms of service? Kiss your privacy goodbye]( [With Facebook’s insatiable appetite for personal data, the new requirement for users of its popular subsidiary should be a red light to us all]( [Chaya Lester]( [A eulogy for lost truth within the Torah community]( [A flood of extreme conspiracy theories is driving painful wedges between us – we have a responsibility to speak out when we see them]( [CRM]( Live updates [LIVE: Ministers meet to discuss extending COVID lockdown]( By [TOI staff]( [PM pushes to extend tightened restrictions past Thursday, as Israel sees record morbidity; Gantz said conditioning support on more enforcement of rules in high infection areas]( [Iran says it is producing half a kilo of 20% enriched uranium every day]( By [TOI staff]( [Country’s nuclear agency chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, says it will resume adhering to nuke deal’s terms if ‘other parties’ do so]( [Iran kicks off ground forces drill on coast of Gulf of Oman]( By [Nasser Karimi]( [Lavrov: Israel should inform Moscow of Iranian threats in Syria, not bomb them]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Israeli hospital: 98% of staff who got 2nd shot have high-level COVID antibodies]( By [TOI staff]( [‘The vaccine works wonderfully’: Sheba Medical Center says Pfizer inoculation gives more protection than recovery from coronavirus infection]( [A new COVID-19 challenge: Mutations rise along with cases]( By [MARILYNN MARCHIONE]( [Officials bicker over airport virus failures ahead of cabinet vote]( By [TOI staff]( Interview [Lambasting ‘inciter’ Trump, settler leader expresses relief president on way out]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Gantz blocks Netanyahu’s ‘irresponsible’ push to legalize West Bank outposts]( By [TOI staff]( [PM reportedly tried to add recognition of 6 illegal settlements to cabinet’s agenda a day before Biden inauguration]( [UN calls on Israel to stop new settlement construction in West Bank]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [UK ‘seriously concerned’ by Israeli approval of new West Bank homes]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Inauguration rehearsal halted, US Capitol briefly locks down after false alarm]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Fire in a homeless encampment sparks fears, temporary evacuation, as Washington remains on edge ahead of Biden’s swearing-in]( [Trump not planning to pardon himself or his family members — report]( By [TOI staff]( [Biden picks transgender Jewish woman as assistant US health secretary]( By [Will Weissert]( [Revving up electric car industry, Israeli firm develops 5-minute-charge battery]( By [TOI staff]( [Herzliya-based startup StoreDot unveils solution for main obstacle to widespread use of electric vehicles, but it requires major upgrades to charging stations]( [Israel- and Dubai-based investors set up $100 million tech debt fund]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Israel-US R&D fund to invest $7.45 million in 8 new projects]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [CRM]( More Headlines [In first, Haifa man regains his vision after getting artificial cornea implant]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Netanyahu lawyers say he was never questioned on many accusations in graft cases]( By [Michael Bachner]( [WHO raises ‘concerns’ about vaccine inequity between Israel and Palestinians]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [PA demands Israel allow East Jerusalemites to take part in Palestinian elections]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [Palestinian shipment of Russian Sputnik vaccine delayed]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [Rivlin pleads with government to resolve hospital budget crisis]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Likud whip accuses defecting minister of choosing ‘white people’s party’]( By [TOI staff]( [Quick fix / Home repair organization helps elderly during coronavirus]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Polish Holocaust scholars on trial for suggesting mayor helped kill 22 Jews]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Barak says he will not return to Labor, citing fractured left-wing field]( By [TOI staff]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? [View in browser]( © 2021 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved