COVID cases hit record; ’twindemic’ fears * Webb’s ex-Israeli developer on new space era * Knesset storm over electricity for illegal Arab homes * J Stewart v JK Rowling

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Wednesday, January 5, 2022 Presented by [My Jewish Learning]( [11,978: Israel reports all-time high for new daily COVID-19 infections]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Record number comes amid confusion over regulations and massive lines at testing centers; serious cases continue to rise, most of them unvaccinated]( [Week into trial, Bennett claims 4th vaccine shot provides major immunity boost]( By [TOI staff]( [Soaring Omicron could mutate into more dangerous variants, warns WHO official]( By [AFP]( Interview [Space is changing. Webb is just the start, says ex-Israeli who was in from its dawn]( By [Haviv Rettig Gur]( [Michael Kaplan, who shepherded the telescope through its planning stages before temporarily living in Israel, talks space robots, baby galaxies, and the pitfalls of Israeli bravado]( [Webb telescope deploys tennis-court size sunshield in mission milestone]( By [Marcia Dunn]( [Gantz meets Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman to discuss security concerns]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [In rare public meeting with the monarch, Israel’s defense minister hails improving ties between countries]( from our sponsor [Celebrate Two Years of Daf Yomi with My Jewish Learning]( [Join us to celebrate 700+ pages of Talmud studied in this Daf Yomi cycle, with music & conversation featuring singer Neshama Carlebach, Rabbi Dov Linzer, Rabbi Benay Lappe & more]( [Nearly 3,000 hospitalized with flu since September, amid ‘twindemic’ fears]( By [TOI staff]( [Health Ministry urges vaccinations to counter both COVID and influenza, after first ‘flurona’ case identified]( [Health Ministry shifts emphasis to home testing as surging virus strains capacity]( By [TOI staff]( [Explainer / Rocketing COVID case numbers lose relevancy as Omicron surge shifts calculus]( By [Carla K. Johnson]( [Power struggle: Bill to hook up illegal Arab homes to grid passes in stormy session]( By [TOI staff]( [PM stands up to confront opposition MKs as they hurl insults over legislation: ‘A bunch of thugs. I’m not afraid of you’; Netanyahu: ‘A dark day for Zionism’]( [Opposition parties boycott Knesset over fast-tracking of Electricity Bill]( By [TOI staff]( [Sole survivor recounts his attempts to save pilots as helicopter smashed into sea]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Navy, air force chiefs hail Capt. Ron Berman, who managed to escape aircraft and call for help from his cellphone while floating at sea; now recovering in hospital]( [As pilots buried, initial probe finds motor malfunction doomed helicopter]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( Live updates [LIVE: Iran said intending to prosecute 127 people over Soleimani killing]( By [Michael Bachner]( [Judiciary spokesperson reportedly says Tehran has sent letters to nine countries asking them to take action against alleged culprits]( Top Ops [Stephanie Z. Bonder]( [An open letter to Emma Watson]( [When you let others use your name and platform for discrimination against Jews and Israel, you alienate fans like me, and stand on the wrong side of history]( [Talli Rosenbaum]( [When religious leadership fails, it leads to a crisis of faith]( [When your support system falls, you ask: What am I still doing here? But why do I have to leave? I love and believe in God. It’s religion that’s a problem]( [Jon Stewart says J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ goblin characters clearly antisemitic]( By [Shira Hanau]( [‘That’s a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature’: Comedian surprised there wasn’t wider outcry over depiction of hooked-nosed characters that run the banks]( [US tech founder out after screed blaming COVID on Jews wanting to exterminate people]( By [AP]( [20 acts pull out of Sydney Festival over Israeli embassy funding of dance show]( By [Stuart Winer and TOI staff]( [Israel to ease rules on imports of goods to boost competition, reduce cost of living]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Economy Ministry says thousands of items — electronics, bicycles, eyewear, toys — that already meet international standards will benefit from reform of regulations]( Inside story [Jacob Magid]( [‘It’s a two-way street’: PA warns of fallout from US holdup of consulate reopening]( [Palestinian officials tell ToI Ramallah can’t be expected to follow through on key asks, such as reform of prisoner payment policy, when Biden isn’t living up to his promises]( [Palestinian-American gets two life sentences for deadly West Bank terror attack]( By [TOI staff]( [Palestinian detainee ends hunger strike after 141 days, to be freed in February]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [Court issues first sentence over Jewish mob’s attack on Arab man in Bat Yam]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Lahav Nagauker jailed for a year in plea deal; did not participate in unprovoked beating that left Saeed Mousa seriously injured during May war, but was party to it]( [Thousands applied for gun licenses after May violence, new data shows]( By [Amy Spiro]( [IDF intel chief reportedly says restored Iran nuke deal better than talks failing]( By [TOI staff]( [Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva quoted telling ministers that an agreement would increase certainty about limits on Tehran’s nuclear work, better position Israel for a possible escalation]( [UN peacekeeping forces attacked in southern Lebanon near Israeli border]( By [AP]( [IDF: Hezbollah drone downed after flying over border from Lebanon]( By [TOI staff]( ToI podcast [Daily Briefing Jan. 5 – Israel’s draconian abortion process & J.K. Rowling’s goblins]( By [TOI staff]( [US correspondent Jacob Magid updates us on a new development in PA-US tit-for-tat politics and reporter Carrie Keller-Lynn goes in-depth on humiliating procedures for abortions]( From the blogs [Yedidia Z. Stern]( [The Haredi leadership: Crime and its punishmentÂ]( [The ultra-Orthodox self-segregate from Israeli society, but the Walder affair is revealing major cracks in the ’wall of holiness.’ A day of reckoning is coming]( [Israel expects to establish ties with Comoros, Maldives next — sources]( By [Lazar Berman]( [After no new accords signed in 2021, Israel working toward agreements with Indian Ocean Muslim-majority nations, though no announcement is said to be imminent]( [UAE, four others join powerful UN Security Council]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [CRM]( [Google acquires Israeli cybersecurity company Siemplify for $500m]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Israeli firm will become part of Google Cloud’s security team, and ‘change the rules’ of threat detection and response]( [Vietnamese electric vehicle maker invests in Israeli fast-charging battery developer]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Israeli food tech startup Remilk raises $120m investment for cow-free milk]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( Obituary [Suzanne Singer, writer who used fallen son’s legacy to inspire others, dies at 86]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Longtime Moment Magazine managing editor, a New York native, followed her children to Israel, where she turned bereavement into facts, and family, on the ground]( [CRM]( More Headlines [Rabbi hailed as hero after Poway synagogue shooting gets prison time for fraud]( By [Luke Tress]( [El Al attendant to return from China after quarantine for Omicron – reports]( By [TOI staff]( [Over 90,000 descendants of Sephardic Jews naturalized by Spain, Portugal]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Disgraced real estate magnate Boaz Yona suspected of defrauding creditors]( By [TOI staff]( [Tzohar rabbi tapped to head conversions, prompting rage from Haredi leaders]( By [TOI staff]( [Amid controversy, collection of Norman Mailer’s writing finds new publisher]( By [Hillel Italie]( [Quebec shuts synagogues, other houses of worship as Omicron surges]( By [David Lazarus]( [Government military secretary spotted partying with NSO executives]( By [Tal Schneider]( [Attorney general says defense brass can’t close Army Radio on their own]( By [TOI staff]( [Irritable bowel / Macron uses vulgar term to target unvaccinated, sparking outcry]( By [John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet]( [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? 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