Conflict rages for 11th day * Biden wants ceasefire; PM says battle goes on * 3 EU ministers tour in show of friendship * PM: Iran behind drone * Jews attacked in LA

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Thursday, May 20, 2021 [‘Showing friendship’: European ministers visit in act of solidarity with Israel]( By [Lazar Berman]( [German, Czech, and Slovak envoys stress Israel’s right to self-defense as they tour rocket-devastated building in Petah Tikva]( [Electric company union: No repair to Gaza power lines until captives returned]( By [TOI staff]( Live updates [LIVE: Heavy Gaza rocket barrages fired at south; reports of possible Friday ceasefire]( By [TOI staff]( [Projectile hits Ashkelon home, 1 lightly hurt * Hamas fires anti-tank missile at bus, lightly injuring IDF soldier * PM: Drone shot down this week was Iranian armed UAV]( [Biden to Netanyahu: I expect significant de-escalation today; PM: Battle goes on]( By [Jacob Magid]( [In 4th phone call between the leaders, US president sharpens tone, pushes for ceasefire; Netanyahu says he’s ‘determined to continue this operation until its goal is achieved’]( [US hints it will oppose French Security Council resolution calling for ceasefire]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Senior Hamas official: Ceasefire can be reached within ‘one or two days’]( By [Aaron Boxerman and TOI staff]( [After lull, Hamas resumes rocket fire, shoots anti-tank missile at empty IDF bus]( By [Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff]( [Israel resumes airstrikes on targets in Gaza as efforts for ceasefire said to gain steam; heavy barrages target Ashkelon, Beersheba, Gaza border communities]( [IDF officer: Hamas is looking for a ‘major success’ before the end of fighting]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Hamas pummels south, central Israel with rocket salvos on 10th day of fighting]( By [Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff]( [Netanyahu: Drone downed by IDF this week was armed, launched by Iran]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [PM says the UAV was dispatched by Iranian forces from either Syria or Iraq, accuses Tehran of backing terror groups in Gaza]( [IDF: 4 rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon, 1 intercepted; no injuries]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Iran Guards commander hails Hamas rocket barrages on ‘broken, downcast’ Israel]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Pro-Palestinian demonstrators assault Jews in Los Angeles]( By [Andrew Lapin]( [Local authorities open hate crime investigation into attack at sushi restaurant, during which the assailants allegedly used antisemitic language to determine who was Jewish]( [Reality TV star Erica Mena: ‘Special place in hell’ for ‘these Jewish people’]( By [JTA and TOI staff]( [Pro-Palestinian activists storm UK factory co-owned by Israel defense firm Elbit]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Rouhani hails ‘major’ progress in nuke talks; other countries say hurdles remain]( By [Nasser Karimi]( [Iran’s president claims ‘big step’ has been taken to revive 2015 nuclear pact, with solutions to issue of sanctions; other parties to talks indicate there is still a way to go]( [EU official chairing Iran nuclear talks touts ‘substantial progress’ toward deal]( By [David Rising and Philipp Jenne]( [Ocasio-Cortez drafts resolution to block $735m sale of missiles to Israel]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Measure almost certain not to pass, given strong support for Jewish state in Congress, but it’ll spark further debate on Israel, which growing number of Dems now criticizing]( [Gaza violence presents fresh hurdle to Biden’s tested friendship with Netanyahu]( By [AAMER MADHANI and Ellen Knickmeyer]( [Analysis / Biden’s decades-long pattern with Israel: Public support, private scolding]( By [AAMER MADHANI]( Top Ops [Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahya]( [Israel’s mixed Jewish-Arab cities are on fire. Here’s how put out the flames]( [The government can start by allocating funding to boost prospect for Arab citizens of Israel and close the close glaring socioeconomic gaps]( [Kenneth Jacobson]( [The world’s immoral, deadly silence on Hamas and Hezbollah]( [In leaving Israel to deal alone with terror groups’ assault on civilians, the international community ensures the conflict will continue and become more destructive]( [Donniel Hartman]( [Why Israel lost this war]( [As criticism of the war shifts to a foundational critique of Israel itself, Israel can’t afford to not make its case. This it can do ​only by reclaiming the moral high ground]( [Reuven Spolter]( [Will you please stop lecturing us on ‘complexity’ and ‘nuance’?]( [Those words have come to justify terrorism. I prefer words like ’solidarity’ and ’concern’. Have you been on the road during a rocket attack? I have]( [CRM]( [Jewish riot victim’s kidney gives new lease on life to Arab woman]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [‘This Jewish kidney has now become part of me,’ says Randa Aweis, after transplant from Yigal Yehoshua, killed by Arab Israelis in Lod; ‘We’re just people, we need to live together]( [‘For we are brothers’: Arabs, Jews in tech call for healing social rifts]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Israel is ‘being tested’ and is at ‘edge of the abyss,’ says consortium of 35 VC funds and 130 startups; just as citizens fought COVID so must they fight for solidarity]( [Jewish Google employees call for tech giant to publicly support Palestinians]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [Google reportedly speeding up digital wallet launch in Israel]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( Times of Israel Podcast [Daily Briefing May 20 – 2 steps forward to Israel-Hamas ceasefire, 2 steps back]( By [TOI staff]( [Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today]( [With Israel-Gaza crisis, students ask US colleges to declare war on antisemitism]( By [Cathryn J. Prince]( [Violent incidents around America highlight need to teach pupils and faculty how to combat hatred on campus, while over half of young Americans don’t know what ‘antisemitism’ means]( [Abbas accuses Israel of ‘war crimes,’ calls Gaza operation ‘state terror’]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [PA president says he’ll see to it that Israel is prosecuted by the ICC over ongoing fighting]( [Palestinian woman fires at Israelis outside West Bank settlement, is shot dead]( By [TOI staff]( [Clearing out helter-skelter, group makes room for people in junk-jammed shelters]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [CRM]( [Most US kids of intermarriage raised Jewish; parents want institutions to notice]( By [Ben Sales]( [A recent Pew study shows that over the last decade, most Jews have wed non-Jewish partners – but 2/3 of them imbue children with some Jewish identity, and this seems to be growing]( [And then there were 2: Isaac Herzog and Miriam Peretz to compete for presidency]( By [Tal Schneider and TOI staff]( [Jewish Agency chief and ex-Labor leader receives signatures of 27 MKs; Israel Prize-winning educator garners 11 signatures; 3 other candidates drop out; Knesset votes on June 2]( More Headlines [Sweden probes Jewish doctor for not using anesthetic when circumcising babies]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [35-country pan-American group designates Hamas a terrorist organization]( By [JTA and TOI staff]( [Ultra-Orthodox party leader backs official state inquiry into Meron disaster]( By [TOI staff]( [Benvenuto! / Italian tenor set for Israel gig, after coronavirus ‘silence’]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Students expose fake social media reports on Israel-Gaza, to set record straight]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Syrian expatriates cast early ballots in symbolic presidential vote]( By [AP]( [UK police arrest 2 men they say assaulted rabbi in hate crime]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Docs on call / Arab medics go all out to give Jewish colleagues a Shavuot break]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [From the web / Fintech company Sunbit raises $130 million at $1.1 billion valuation]( [Turkish Jews defend Erdogan against antisemitism charge by US]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Japan’s Mitsui insurance invests $36 million in Israel’s Upstream Security]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Tortoises, snakes burned to death in south in fires sparked from Gaza]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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