Israel is set to give tens of thousands of coronavirus vaccine doses to some 15 countries, local media reported on Tuesday. In addition, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that it would send thousands of doses to medical staff in the Palestinian Authority.
The list of nations has yet to be finalized, but the report said it would include Italy and Chad, as well as other unspecified African states that have renewed diplomatic ties with Israel. The Czech Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, and Hungary — which have opened diplomatic missions in Jerusalem or pledged to do so — are also expected to receive vaccines.
Israel will reportedly give nearly 100,000 doses in total.
According to the Health Ministry, more than four and a half million Israelis, or almost 50 percent of the country’s total population, have now received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Over 3 million Israelis have received both jabs.
Israel is not pinning its hopes on intensifying efforts by global powers to revise the Iran nuclear deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. “We already saw what these agreements are worth… with North Korea,” he asserted, adding that, “with or without an agreement, we will do everything so [Iran isn’t] armed with nuclear weapons.”
Earlier this week, Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan and others to discuss Israel’s strategy and response to the Biden Administration’s intention to rejoin the nuclear pact.
In addition, senior Israeli and Saudi officials recently held several phone calls to discuss Washington’s rapprochement with Tehran. Israel has no diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia but has long maintained clandestine ties that have strengthened in recent years, as the two countries confront what is perceived as an Iranian threat.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the Biden Administration will consult with Israel and Arab allies in the Middle East before making any decision on reentering the deal, from which former president Donald Trump withdrew Washington in 2018.
In recent weeks, Iran announced that it would enrich uranium up to 20 percent and produce uranium metal, which has no credible civilian use.
Israel’s government has approved the allocation of NIS 45 million ($13.7 million) to a plan to clean up the country’s shoreline after a massive tar spill.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the event was “a huge ecological disaster, with a thousand tons of oil and tar piling up on our shores.” He further emphasized that, “we must act quickly before it seeps into the ground, especially in the rocky areas where it will damage and stay with us for many years. This is why we are acting quickly and the plan as been approved. The budget assistance will help save our beaches. We will protect our beaches and we will protect our environment.”
The spill that has washed up along Israel’s entire Mediterranean coast may be the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. The Environmental Protection Ministry estimates that as much as 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of tar have already washed ashore. The government has urged Israelis not to go to any of the country’s beaches due to the pollution caused by the massive leak.
While authorities investigate the source of the offshore spill, many civilians and soldiers are helping with cleanup efforts that will likely take months.
Antisemitism Watch: At least 74 percent of the French public believes antisemitism is a widespread phenomenon in France, according to the findings of a poll commissioned by the Jewish umbrella organization CRIF. More than half of the participants think that Jew-hatred is more severe today than a decade ago.
The independent IPSOS institute interviewed 1,000 people, constituting a representative sample of French people 18 and over.
The survey coincides with the 15th anniversary of the brutal murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris. On January 20, 2006, Halimi – a young French Jew – was kidnapped, tortured, and then murdered by an antisemitic group calling itself the Gang of Barbarians.
CRIF’s research found that 69 percent of French people are aware of the details of Halimi’s murder. However, when broken down by age group, the report showed that young people know less about the incident. Only 46 percent of individuals under 35 are aware of the 2006 murder, the survey said.
Participants were also asked about their perception of anti-Zionism, with almost 40 percent of those surveyed responding that they do not know what the term means. Another 43 percent correctly defined anti-Zionism as the wish that the Jewish state would disappear.
In the latest episode of the YouTube show You Know How I Know, on the My Jewish Learning channel, actress Mayim Bialik breaks down the Jewish holiday of Purim. In the video, Bialik tells the story and elaborates on the customs of the holiday that starts on Thursday at sundown.
“Drinking, cross-dressing, partying all night, letting it all hang out – oh yes friends, it is Purim,” says Bialik, explaining why she is thrilled about the upcoming celebration.
“It’s the holiday of masks, and no, not those kinds of masks 2021,” the Big Bang star jokes.
- Former World Leaders Stand Against ICC Investigation of Israel (i24News)
- The Dangerous Antisemitism of ‘SNL’ and Its Media Cronies (Laureen Lipsky, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Western Wall Stones Get ‘Injection’ Before Passover (Algemeiner)
- Picking up Signal From Faraway Galaxy, Israelis Challenge Black Hole Assumptions (Nathan Jeffay, Times of Israel)
