ToI’s weekly deep dive: The cantor sings for the IDF, in Morocco * Running with the UAE * Atarot’s rise & fall * Blogs: Sondheim up close; Yossi Klein Halevi: The walkout

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, November 28, 2021 [Israeli drug cuts COVID deaths by 70% in small study, company says]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Phase II trial of MesenCure among 30 patients with serious coronavirus cases shows almost all lived and had shorter hospital stays than controls, but expert says more data needed]( [Immunotherapy drug now works with a millionth of a dose — thanks to Israeli tech]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( Reporter's notebook [Judah Ari Gross]( [Hearing the cantor sing the prayer for IDF soldiers… in Morocco]( [It’s easy, and not entirely wrong, to be cynical about Jerusalem’s newfound ties with Rabat. But there’s something earnest about them, owing to a deep cultural connection]( [Israel looking to deepen ties with Morocco, with plans for arms sales, joint drills]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [In Morocco, Gantz signs Israel’s first-ever defense MOU with an Arab country]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Ex-IDF intel chief: In a revived nuke deal, Iran will be much closer to bomb]( By [TOI staff]( [Amos Yadlin blasts former Netanyahu gov’t for pushing Trump to leave JCPOA, without drawing up plan for what Israel would do if Tehran advanced enrichment in retaliation]( [2 US defense officials say Israel hacked Iran’s gas system last month — NYT]( By [TOI staff]( Top Ops [James Inverne]( [One day in the house with Steve]( [Encounters with Stephen Sondheim led me to a deeper understanding of a titan of the theater, the most humane of men, who dealt in contradictions rather than absolutes]( [Elana Kaminka]( [The US gun algorithm is broken. Just ask the IDF]( [Unlike Kyle Rittenhouse, my son completed months of weapons training in the Israeli army – and he still doesn’t have access to his gun if he’s not on duty]( [Yossi Klein Halevi]( [To the students who walked out on Palestinian-Israeli dialogue]( [I’ve learned you can’t cancel a people: Mohammed Darawshe and I are modeling a painful conversation about injustice and existential fears]( [Yael Buechler]( [A series of unfortunate Thanksgiving events – and their upside for Jews]( [Early on, exclusionary discourse on the holiday led to dustups, clarifications and even an epic apology that helped Jews carve out a piece of the American story]( Reporter's notebook [Lazar Berman]( [Setting the pace: The UAE’s envoy to Israel, an inspiring Israeli athlete… and me]( [Mohamed Al Khaja accompanies blind runner Avi Solomon as he prepares for the Abu Dhabi marathon, and tells this breathless hack why UAE-Israel ties will be a model for peace]( [UAE embassy in Israel hosts first-of-its-kind business, innovation forum]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Israel to bar tourists, renew travel quarantine rules to contain Omicron variant]( By [TOI staff]( [Coronavirus cabinet also approves Shin Bet tracking for confirmed virus carriers, in race to prevent spread of new COVID strain]( [S. African expert downplays threat from Omicron: ‘We won’t have a severe epidemic’]( By [TOI staff]( [Interview / ‘Bad omens’: Optimism over Israel’s child vaccine marred by COVID spike — expert]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [UK officially bans Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist group]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [In move announced last week and hailed by Israel, Britain says members of Hamas or those who support it could be jailed for up to 14 years]( [‘Best of the best’: Thousands of mourners attend funeral for terror victim Eli Kay]( By [TOI staff]( [Herzog meets Prince Charles, announces nursing scholarship in honor of grandmother]( By [TOI staff]( [Why ‘Lucky Jew’ dolls are more popular than actual Jews in Poland]( By [Matt Lebovic]( [Going against long-held Polish tradition, Krakow’s municipality will slowly phase out the souvenir caricatures after acknowledging the trinkets are antisemitic]( [A mile from Auschwitz, a restored synagogue recalls thriving Jewish life in Oswiecim]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Babies emit smell to get aggressively loyal moms and mellow dads, Israeli study says]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Scientists astounded that chemical on newborns’ heads has opposite effect on men and women, but say it’s logical because kids are safest with protective mother, unaggressive father]( Interview [Angels in antiquity: Judaism’s long relationship with heaven’s haloed helpers]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [While many Jews relegate the supernatural beings to the Christian realm, Prof. Mika Ahuvia reveals a deep cultural and religious connection in a new book]( [Rare silver ‘rebel coin,’ maybe minted at Temple 2,000 years ago, found in Jerusalem]( By [TOI staff]( [Experts suggest shekel coin may have been made by priests assisting Great Revolt against Romans, using precious metal from holy site’s plentiful reserves]( inside story [David Horovitz]( [The dizzy rise, swift fall, and planned radical repurposing of Jerusalem Airport]( [When Jordan held Atarot, it built a 15-destination hub for an elite clientele. Israel wasn’t able to keep it going; then came the 2nd intifada. Now, there’s a very different vision]( [Israel backs off housing project at Jerusalem’s Atarot airport site amid US pressure]( By [Jacob Magid]( Netanyahu trial [Court hears tapes of Netanyahu, son ordering ex-aide to involve media boss]( By [TOI staff]( [Recordings of Netanyahu family made by state’s witness Nir Hefetz – by accident, he claims – played for 1st time to bolster claim of ex-PM’s involvement in directing news coverage]( [Netanyahu told to return $900,000 in gifted legal funds from US billionaires]( By [Raoul Wootliff]( [Netanyahu trial / Netanyahu’s wife, son demanded incriminating texts be deleted, ex-aide testifies]( By [TOI staff]( [CRM]( Interview [Before the airlifts, Ethiopian Jews did the heavy lifting to get out of Africa]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [Documentary ‘With No Land,’ featured at the Other Israel Film Festival earlier this month, puts long-overdue focus on the resilient immigrant community rather than its ‘saviors’]( Interview [JP O’ Malley]( [Hallelujah: How Leonard Cohen looked to the Bible and Kabbalah for inspiration]( [‘Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius’ by UK author Harry Freedman shows how Judeo-Christian theology and rabbinic roots shaped the writer and musician’s worldview]( Reporter's notebook [Lab to table: Israeli tech kitchens cook up future of animal-free food]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Bovine-free dairy and beef products, fowl-free eggs, animal-free seafood, and sugar-free sweeteners are just some of the recent Israeli innovations in a growing foodtech sector]( [Experts: Israel has ‘no strategy’ for managing ‘lifeline’ Mediterranean Sea]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Naval, planning experts tell confab that country needs laws, coordinating body, to ensure that sea, on which Israel depends for drinking water, fuel and trade, is properly managed]( [Supermarkets ill-prepared for expanded bottle deposit law]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Israeli researchers identify chilly transition to farming at end of last ice age]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Cinematheque’s Jewish Film Fest brings range of movies for Hanukkah viewing]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [The annual film event includes screenings, discussions and talks with filmmakers and creators exploring Jewish thinkers, artists and activists]( [The tours, events and shows that will light up your Hanukkah]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( More Headlines [Amid NSO scandal, Israel said to ban cyber tech sales to 65 countries]( By [TOI staff]( [Chelsea Clinton upbraids Facebook for enabling book-burning events]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Religious affairs minister appears to walk back support for Western Wall compromise]( By [TOI staff]( [Jewish group seeks to stall plan to finally commemorate Krakow concentration camp]( By [Amy Spiro]( [Israel Air Force flight school gets first female squadron leader]( By [TOI staff]( [Minister asks AG to probe claim female guards were ‘pimped’ to Palestinian inmates]( By [TOI staff]( [Businessman Hogeg said implicated in sexual assault of minor as remand extended]( By [TOI staff]( [Nearly 1 in 4 Israelis will be ultra-Orthodox by 2050, study says]( By [Shira Hanau]( [Dramatic strike / Israeli thriller ‘Tehran’ wins best drama at International Emmy Awards]( By [Amy Spiro]( [Unemployment dips to 7% in October, still double pre-pandemic rate]( By [TOI staff]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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