IDF focused on plans for Iran attack, after Tehran says it can make bomb * Likud MKs hail activist who called to execute traitors * Israel tests variant-busting vaccine

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Monday, July 18, 2022 [IDF chief: ‘Diplomacy can fail,’ attack on Iran ‘at the center’ of IDF preparations]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [Aviv Kohavi acknowledges ‘possibility’ IDF will need to strike Iranian nuke facilities, says Israel has ‘moral obligation’ to be ready with military response]( [Lapid: Israel, US don’t ‘necessarily agree’ on need for military threat against Iran]( By [TOI staff]( [Senior Likud MKs hail party activist who’s called to execute right-wing ‘traitors’]( By [TOI staff]( [Rami Ben-Yehuda called Yamina’s Ayelet Shaked an ‘escort for the Palestinians,’ urged an MK to go to the ‘gas chambers’; operative was praised at event near Jerusalem last week]( [Likud activists slammed for cult worship over Netanyahu ‘medallion of loyalty’]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Ahead of primary, Likud battle over reserved spots for newbies heats up]( By [Carrie Keller-Lynn]( [Ben Gvir threatens to run solo if Smotrich keeps ignoring him]( By [Tobias Siegal]( [Poll shows Religious Zionism would be strengthened under leadership of Kahanist Ben Gvir, who says he’s willing to compromise for sake of ‘unity’]( [Poll shows Religious Zionism party would soar if headed by Ben-Gvir]( By [Tobias Siegal]( [ToI podcast / Daily Briefing July 18 – Political footballs: 2022 Maccabiah Games, Beitar Jerusalem]( By [TOI staff]( [LIVE: UN chief warns humanity is choosing ‘collective suicide’ with climate change inaction]( By [TOI staff]( [Guterres tells Berlin meeting rich nations must take ‘responsibility for our collective future,’ honor promise to provide annual $100 billion in climate aid to developing countries]( [Top aide to Khamenei boasts Iran has technical ability to manufacture nuclear bomb]( By [TOI staff]( [Kamal Kharazi, head of Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, says country choosing not to make weapon, warns any attack from neighboring countries will trigger reprisal at Israel]( [Analysis / Syria to top agenda as Iranian, Russian and Turkish leaders head to Tehran meeting]( By [Karim Abou Merhi]( [Iran pardons, commutes sentences for 2,200 convicts to mark Muslim holidays]( By [AFP]( [Moderna’s new variant-busting COVID vaccine starting trial in Israel]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [Study will assess how well special shot built to be Omicron-proof protects against infection; expert says Israel helping lead way in ‘the future of the fight against the pandemic’]( [UK study: Omicron subvariant 4 times more resistant to vaccines]( By [Michael Horovitz and AP]( [Three cases of new Omicron subvariant detected in Israel, says Health Ministry]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [Gaza airstrike significantly sets back Hamas rocket production, says IDF]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [16 tons of explosives destroyed when jets dropped bunker-busting bombs on subterranean facility on Saturday in response to rocket fire; IDF: Drones also manufactured at site]( [US Marines successfully test air defense system using Iron Dome launcher, missiles]( By [Emanuel Fabian]( [Abbas thanks Saudi royals for backing Palestinian cause at Jeddah summit with Biden]( By [TOI staff]( [PA president writes to king and crown prince expressing gratitude for supporting a 2-state solution with East Jerusalem as capital of a future Palestinian state]( Analysis [Lazar Berman]( [Biden visit proves a far cry from Israel’s fanciful expectations]( [After hyping the president’s trip, Jerusalem plays host to the first leg of a markedly low-stakes affair that left only MBS as a clear winner]( [Analysis / Biden wraps up Mideast tour without any significant diplomatic breakthroughs]( By [Robbie COREY-BOULET]( [Sanders slams Biden for visiting Saudi Arabia despite its human rights record]( By [TOI staff]( [Daily Briefing July 18 – Political footballs: 2022 Maccabiah Games, Beitar Jerusalem]( [listen to the podcast]( [UK braces for record temperatures as wildfires sweep across southwest Europe]( By [TOI staff and Agencies]( [Britain issues first-ever ‘red warning’ of extreme heat; some hospitals cancel surgeries, many schools to shut; blazes in France, Greece, Portugal, Spain force thousands to flee]( [Nearly half of EU territory at risk of drought as heatwave strikes Europe]( By [AFP]( [Israel Meteorological Service to get ‘supercomputer’ to model climate change effects]( By [Sue Surkes]( Top Ops [Steven E. Zipperstein]( [J Street’s reaction to Lapid as prime minister: Crickets]( [Israel finally has a moderate centrist at the helm who supports the two-state solution. Why isn’t the progressive US Jewish organization applauding?]( [Elchanan Poupko]( [Postmortem IDF IVF doesn’t really create ’orphans’]( [Naysayers decry using the sperm of a fallen soldier in the hope of a child or grandchild, but who are they to deny a family its next generation?!]( [Hair found at scene of girl’s 2006 murder matches partner of defense-accused woman]( By [TOI staff]( [Tair Rada’s case has gripped Israel, due to brutality of her murder and retrial of Roman Zadarov, initially convicted and serving prison time for crime]( [Man indicted for murder, kidnap of ex-partner after she dropped kid at daycare]( By [TOI staff]( [Serial sex offender nightclub owner to be released from prison early, court rules]( By [TOI staff]( [Deep sea corals glow in the dark to lure prey, Israeli researchers find]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Study shows that corals in dark zones of sea that must supplement food obtained by photosynthesis use fluorescence to lure small creatures such as plankton into their mouths]( [Top EU diplomat delaying key Israel meeting over Abu Akleh killing – official]( By [Lazar Berman]( [Josep Borrell balked at advancing first Association Council since 2012 after journalist shot in disputed circumstances in Jenin, announcement of new settlement building]( [CRM]( [Ukraine’s Zelensky fires top security chief and prosecutor]( By [Agencies]( [Ukrainian president cites hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration in prosecutor’s office, state security service, other government departments]( [Russia strikes industrial facilities in southern Ukraine, expands gains in the east]( By [HANNA ARHIROVA and Cara Anna]( [UAE president arrives in France with energy deals top of the agenda]( By [AFP]( [3 dead in Indiana mall in latest US mass shooting; armed civilian kills gunman]( By [AP]( [Schools, churches, grocery stores, and a July 4 parade in Highland Park, Illinois, have all become killing grounds in recent months]( [Report finds ‘systemic failures’ in police response to Uvalde school shooting]( By [Jake Bleiberg and Paul J. Weber]( [Amid increase in violence, US houses of worship bolster security measures]( By [DEEPA BHARATH and LUIS ANDRES HENAO]( Maccabiah games [Orthodox wrestler from Teaneck takes to mat in Beersheba for 21st Maccabiah Games]( By [Charlie Summers]( [Moshe ‘MB’ Klyman was the only Sabbath observant athlete in his hotel when he last wrestled for Canada at the ‘Jewish Olympics’; this year he’s aiming to take gold for Team USA]( [CRM]( [It’s a quick ride from Bordeaux red to sparkling Champagne in the Judean Hills]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Israel’s Judean Hills and Foothills becomes first appellation of origin for the region, a boon for local wineries and tourism]( More Headlines [Cop killed in car ramming laid to rest; widow berates minister over open-fire rules]( By [TOI staff]( [38 lightly injured when bus comes off highway near Jerusalem, tips sideways in ditch]( By [TOI staff]( [Government approves millions to restore archaeological site scorched by blaze]( By [Michael Horovitz]( [Better mortgage conditions may help more homebuyers get a leg up, experts say]( By [Danielle Nagler]( [US rejects claim by UAE that arrest of Khashoggi’s former lawyer was coordinated]( By [AP]( [Thai pro-democracy activists hit with Israeli NSO Group’s spyware, researchers say]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Ex-Trump aide Bannon set to go on trial for refusing to cooperate with Jan. 6 panel]( By [GARY FIELDS]( [Nine lives / MK Kahana stops traffic to rescue kitten, then needs tetanus shot]( By [TOI staff]( [Cyberattack on Health Ministry website blocks overseas access]( By [TOI staff]( [Polanski fled US when judge planned to renege on teen sex assault case deal – lawyer]( By [brian melley]( [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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