Zelensky: ’Never again’ meaningless * Rescue efforts at bombed theater * Reading Esther, praying for redemption, in Lviv * 1st data on 4th vaccine* Op-ed: Being good Jews

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Thursday, March 17, 2022 Presented by [TAU International]( [Zelensky tells German MPs ‘never again’ Holocaust slogan is now meaningless]( By [TOI staff and AFP]( [Ukrainian president addresses Bundestag via video, says Europe being destroyed, urges tearing down a new ‘wall’ that Russia is building between ‘freedom and bondage’]( [Biden lashes ‘war criminal’ Putin as civilian carnage mounts in Ukraine]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Putin likens Western sanctions to the Nazis’ ‘antisemitic pogroms’]( By [AFP]( Live updates [LIVE: Ukraine says rescue efforts underway at bombed Mariupol theater serving as shelter]( By [TOI staff]( [‘The building withstood the impact of a high-powered air bomb and protected the lives of people hiding,’ according to Ukrainian official; no signs of casualties so far]( [Bennett is playing the ‘primary’ role in mediating Russia-Ukraine talks, report says]( By [TOI staff]( [Financial Times says Israeli prime minister is the key international broker between Moscow and Kyiv, as the two sides inch toward a ceasefire deal]( [With Zelensky to address Knesset, Russian envoy asks to brief MKs beforehand]( By [TOI staff]( [As talk grows of potential Ukraine ceasefire, country’s neutrality said on table]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Hundreds feared buried after Russia destroys Mariupol theater serving as shelter]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Authorities unable to confirm casualty count at building that served as largest refuge in besieged city, as area remains target of Russian shelling; Ukraine FM blasts ‘war crime’]( [Ukraine’s defense minister urges EU to brand Putin a ‘war criminal’]( By [AFP]( [10 people killed waiting in bread line in Ukraine; US embassy demands accountability]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [Over 5,000 immigrants have arrived in Israel from Eastern Europe since war’s start]( By [TOI staff]( [President Herzog welcomes new immigrants staying at Jerusalem hotel, while dozens gather outside home of Interior Minister Shaked to protest refugee policy]( [Israel to offer healthcare, temporary housing to Ukrainian refugees]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Photo essay / Ministers, soldiers welcome Ukrainians at airport]( By [TOI staff]( from our sponsor [Human Trafficking: Combatting a global phenomenon]( [Join a free webinar hosted by Prof. Hila Shamir, from Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Law, to learn more about new approaches to solving human trafficking.]( ToI podcast [Daily Briefing Mar. 17: For Purim, ToI kids ask hard questions about the Ukraine war]( By [TOI staff]( [Times of Israel reporters’ children pick up the mic to ask diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman essential questions; plus, some optimistic news items]( Op-ed [David Horovitz]( [Being a good Jew is meant to be the same as being a good person]( [More than almost any other country, Israel should have swiftly recognized the moral obligation to open its doors to innocent Ukrainian civilians escaping Russia’s invasion]( [Some Ukrainian refugees refused entry to Israel due to translation error – report]( By [TOI staff]( [Minister defends calling out ‘white hypocrisy’ of colleagues over refugee policy]( By [TOI staff]( Reporter's notebook [The Book of Esther is read, against the odds, in the ruins of oldest Lviv synagogue]( By [Carrie Keller-Lynn]( [Retelling an ancient redemption while praying for its own, a tiny Ukrainian community gathers in a synagogue destroyed by the Nazis, under the shadow of Russia’s onslaught]( Top Ops [Helen Gottstein]( [Esther, power and voice]( [We admire the megillah’s heroine for her strategy, her community organizing, her bravery, her success with the king… but we should learn from her failure]( [Sam Lehman-Wilzig]( [Legitimizing a Jewish travesty: Why Megillat Esther is in the Bible]( [The sages had specific reasons for wanting the Purim story in the canon, not the least of which was its emphasis on Esther’s cunning in saving the Jews]( [Before age 60, 4th vaccine slightly cuts infection rates, moderately thwarts illness]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Peer-reviewed Israeli research likely to be widely noted worldwide as health authorities debate whether to administer 4th doses to the general population]( [COVID transmission rate continues to rise as new cases tick slightly upward]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel to keep indoor mask mandate as it warily watches COVID resurgence elsewhere]( By [TOI staff]( [US said to mull nixing Trump’s listing of Iran Revolutionary Guards as terror group]( By [TOI staff]( [Decision would be coupled with announcement that US reserves right to re-designate IRGC if it returns to nefarious activity in region; Israel said briefed on possibility]( [Two British-Iranians, held by Iran for years in prison, reunited with families in UK]( By [Charles ONIANS]( [Iran defies Western powers with enriched uranium work it was warned not to do]( By [TOI staff and AFP]( Inside Story [Mass graves, hunger, nowhere safe: Besieged Mariupol descends into despair and agony]( By [MSTYSLAV CHERNOV, Evgeniy Maloletka and Lori Hinnant]( [Children are buried in trenches, residents scrounge for food and water and hospitals get bombed as Russian troops squeeze the life out of a Ukrainian city]( [Melitopol mayor released five days after his abduction by Russian troops]( By [AFP]( [Cheap, lethal Turkish drones surprisingly effective at bolstering Ukraine’s defenses]( By [Derek Gatopoulos and Suzan Fraser]( [Chaotic patchwork of volunteers embrace Ukrainian refugees at Medyka border crossing]( By [Carrie Keller-Lynn]( [Vibrant scene and a variety of aid greets a kilometer-long line of uprooted Ukrainians crossing the border into Poland]( [Aid agencies rush to get supplies for Ukraine as fighting rages on]( By [FLORENT BAJRAMI]( [‘Heartbreaking crisis’: Over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees flee fighting in 24 hours]( By [Robin MILLARD]( [As millions flee Ukraine, some rabbis have headed there — to celebrate Purim]( By [PHILISSA CRAMER]( [Religious leaders, many from the Chabad movement, travel into war-torn country to mark holiday celebrating Jewish people’s survival]( [Autopsy finds Bedouin man killed by police was shot twice from behind — report]( By [TOI staff]( [Initial results show Sanad Salaam al-Harbad suffered gunshot wounds to his back and buttocks, though cop who opened fire insists Rahat resident was shooting at security forces]( [Israeli troops nab 3 Gaza infiltrators armed with knives, flammable liquid]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [IDF, police seize dozens of guns from drug smugglers near Dead Sea]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [In Jerusalem’s shuk, a brainiac distillery rethinks spirit-making]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Thinkers Distillery in the Mahane Yehuda market plans to make everything from vodka and gin to rum, bourbon and tequila — just better]( [Joint Purim and St. Patrick’s Day gives Irish Jews more reasons to raise a glass]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [When ‘Saturday Night Live’ celebrated Purim and St. Patrick’s Day]( By [Lisa Keys]( [PepsiCo taps Israeli startup N-Drip for drip irrigation tech]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Farmers who grow crops for the US beverage and snack giant’s range of brands to adopt tech for better yield, water conservation]( [Israeli food tech startup pulls in over $12m for 3D-printed plant-based fish]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Israel’s alternative protein market up 450% in 2021, says report]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [CRM]( More Headlines [Settlement security officers announce strike after arrest of colleague]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [Telegram channel leaks Mossad chief’s personal photos, documents]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [UAE-flagged cargo ship reportedly capsizes off Iranian coast]( By [Isabel Debre]( [Life’s a pitch! / Sandy Koufax statue to be unveiled at Dodger Stadium this summer]( By [jacob gurvis]( [UN rushing to prevent human traffickers from capitalizing on Ukraine refugee exodus]( By [Nina Larson]( [Herzog to join Macron in marking decade since Toulouse Jewish school attack]( By [TOI staff]( [For first time in 5 years, IDF doesn’t close off West Bank for Purim]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [Human Rights Watch urges Ukraine to stop parading around Russian prisoners]( By [AFP]( [Obituary / Jewish Atlanta mayor who shepherded in era of Black-led politics dies at 94]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Canadian trade minister lauds ‘productive’ Israel trip, touts science, tech collab]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Jewish Google employee claims her anti-Israel activism got her job moved to Brazil]( By [Andrew Lapin]( [High Court to rule on expelling over 1,000 Palestinians from West Bank firing zone]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [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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