Omicron doubles in day * Mansour Abbas: Arabs should stop contesting Israel’s Jewish identity * 12 stunning photos of Israel from above * Found: Israel’s ancient pub town

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Tuesday, December 21, 2021 Presented by [American Friends of Sheba Medical Center]( Live updates [LIVE: Omicron cases in Israel double in one day, surpass 340, says Health Ministry]( By [Amy Spiro]( [Among those with confirmed cases of the new worrying variant, 234 recently returned from abroad and 246 are considered to be fully vaccinated or protected]( [Arabs should move past contesting Israel’s Jewish identity, Ra’am chief Abbas says]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [‘Israel was born a Jewish state… and so it will remain’, Islamist party chief tells Hebrew media conference, echoing remarks he’s also made in Arabic-language media]( [Ra’am MK warns coalition in peril as it pushes to connect Arab homes to power grid]( By [TOI staff]( [Daily COVID-19 caseload jumps to 1,306, highest in two months]( By [TOI staff]( [Transmission number climbs to 1.28; ministers, health officials to formulate plan for tightening restrictions on gatherings, public activities]( [As Omicron wave looms, Bennett says next 2 weeks critical to get kids vaccinated]( By [Amy Spiro]( [Health officials push more COVID restrictions in meeting that ends with no decision]( By [TOI staff]( [Sweeping across America, Omicron now accounts for 73% of all new cases]( By [Mike Stobbe]( from the blogs [Yoav Cohen]( [Ending 2021 on a high: 12 Israeli secrets captured from above]( [It’s the Israel you’ve never seen before, from a little-known shipwreck 15 minutes from Tel Aviv to the middle of the desert under the Milky Way]( from our sponsor [Will you help us support this work?]( [When wounded IDF soldiers need rehabilitation, they all go to Israel’s National Center For Rehabilitation of injured soldiers, at SHEBA MEDICAL CENTER]( [US national security adviser set to arrive in Israel for talks on Iran]( By [Jacob Magid and TOI staff]( [Sullivan to meet with Bennett as well as Israeli counterpart Eyal Hulata to discuss strategic issues, will also meet Palestinian leader Abbas]( [Gantz urges Vienna negotiators to toughen stance against flailing Iran]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [Analysis / Iran, unlike West, is upbeat about nuclear talks, experts say]( By [Sammy Ketz]( [Iran’s Guard fires cruise missiles, drones in major military exercise]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [IDF begins allowing troops to shoot at fleeing rock-throwers]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Military says soldiers are still directed to first try to make an arrest without using deadly force, but experts raise questions about legality of new guideline]( [Prison guard stabbed by Palestinian inmate, lightly hurt]( By [TOI staff]( ToI podcast [Daily Briefing Dec. 21 – Local renewable energy tech offers environmental hope]( By [TOI staff]( [Environmental reporter Sue Surkes discusses energy conference; Arab affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman reports on Omicron in Gaza and West Bank, and the recent spate of stabbings]( [Deri said set to sign plea, quitting Knesset for second time over corruption charges]( By [Raoul Wootliff]( [Shas head, an ex-con, expected to admit to tax offenses that won’t bar him from running for office in next election; party says he’ll remain at helm; decision awaits AG signature]( [Coalition flogs Netanyahu over English-language attack ad]( By [TOI staff]( [First evidence of social beer consumption found in 7,000-year-old Israeli town]( By [TOI staff]( [Archaeologists say discovery at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley is first known instance of alcohol being imbibed inside a community in the ancient Middle East]( Top Ops [Zack Rothbart]( [They jailed him for insulting Hitler on an unopened envelope]( [Convicted in Poland for insulting the head of a friendly nation, Jewish hero Nahum Halberstadt was freed on Christmas Day]( [Rachel Sharansky Danziger]( [A way out of the narrow places]( [With the full significance of the Omicron variant still uncertain, I find freedom from the panic inside me by looking outside myself – at you]( Comment [Amy Spiro]( [‘The Masked Singer’ and the curious nature of celebrity in Israel]( [Why do former lawmakers, health officials and even famous ex-cons populate reality TV in the Jewish state?]( [Chile’s new president is bitter Israel critic, whose win has many local Jews worried]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Gabriel Boric has publicly called for Chilean Jewish community to condemn Israeli policy; Jews fear he will also promote a Palestinian supporter accused of antisemitism]( [Winter storm ‘Carmel’ wreaks havoc with heavy rains, wind]( By [TOI staff]( [One death blamed on storm, as woman crashes car into pole; weather system brings down trees and poles, causes fires and floods]( [Father arrested after 5-year-old found walking alone in Jerusalem cold]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel said to arrest over 100 Hamas members in Hebron area in major sweep]( By [TOI staff]( [TV reporter, who accompanied troops, says cell operating out of southern West Bank hoped to carry out several attacks in area and inside Israel, directed from Turkey]( [14-year-old Palestinian girl charged with attempted murder for stabbing attack]( By [TOI staff]( [PA television broadcasts girl calling to ‘trample the necks of the Zionists’]( By [TOI staff]( [Israeli study: Mothers’ smartphone use could damage toddler development]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Tel Aviv University research finds key interactions with child are reduced to a quarter when mom is distracted by phone or reading magazines; same likely true of fathers]( [CRM]( Interview [20 years before the Holocaust, pogroms killed 100,000 Jews – then were forgotten]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [‘In the Midst of Civilized Europe’ by Jeffrey Veidlinger revisits the brutal violence in 1918-1921 that portended a genocide of Europe’s Jews, and was soon overshadowed by it]( [Fast food: Israeli team stumbles upon speed boost for slow-growing cultured meat]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Researchers were focused on helping people after injury when they realized their findings could assist artificial meat producers to turn muscle into fiber in a fraction of the time]( [Israeli venture capital firm Aleph raises $300m fund for early-stage investments]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [CRM]( More Headlines [Polish opposition duo hacked by Israeli NSO Group’s spyware, watchdog says]( By [Frank Bajak and Vanessa Gera]( [US ‘disappointed’ as Egypt jails key revolution figure Abdel Fattah for 5 years]( By [AFP]( [Israelis in Philippines call for urgent aid as typhoon death toll climbs to over 375]( By [Glenn Cloarec, Ricky Ben-David and Agencies]( [With Israel’s tacit approval, Hamas only grows stronger in Gaza]( By [Joseph Krauss and Fares Akram]( [New Syrian migrants seek Europe, driven by post-war misery]( By [Sarah El Deeb and CHRISTOPH NOELTING]( [Explainer / Where do the billions of dollars in foreign aid to Gaza really go?]( By [Agencies]( [10 Israelis set to be indicted for illegally exporting missiles to China]( By [TOI staff]( [Yair Netanyahu again fails to show up in court for libel case, is fined NIS 2,000]( By [TOI staff]( [Peres Place / Manhattan intersection to be named after Shimon Peres]( By [Shira Hanau]( [The full picture / Choreographer says: You’ve seen the dance. Now, ‘read’ the book]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [In closing argument, prosecutor alleges Ghislaine Maxwell was a dangerous predator]( By [Larry Neumeister and Tom Hays]( [Obituary / Pioneering sex therapist Shirley Zussman dies at 107]( By [Shira Hanau]( [The daily edition]() [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]( [Unsubscribe]( from this List © 2021 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved