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COVID-19: Israel’s medical profession was cautiously optimistic on Tuesday, after the country’s new coronavirus chief Prof. Ronni Gamzu gave his first speech, one that was hailed as the start of a new relationship between the state and the public.
Gamzu, a former Health Ministry chief who is CEO of Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center, outlined his vision in a televised address. He said he will use his new government post to ensure that the virus is fought effectively but that Israelis aren’t subjected to any more restrictions “that lack logic.” Gamzu added that he will improve the much-maligned contact tracing process by putting the military in charge, admitting that the Health Ministry hasn’t succeeded and saying that this task is at the “heart” of attempts to stop the pandemic. He also announced plans for a “traffic light” system for gauging coronavirus levels in different parts of Israel.
One of Ganzu’s boldest promises was to rebuild public trust. He pledged a “new contract, between the people and the government.”
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Hezbollah Escalation: After IDF forces thwarted an attempted infiltration by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group earlier this week, the Israel’s security and defense establishment thinks that Hezbollah will attempt to carry out another cross-border attack ahead of the holiday Eid al-Adha, which falls on Thursday. Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday that despite Hezbollah’s formal denials that its operatives had initiated any attack against Israel, the IDF has footage of a squad entering Israeli territory for several minutes.
However, there are signs that a dramatic escalation on Israel’s northern border is not inevitable. Israel has reportedly conveyed to international officials that it doesn’t want the border altercation to descend into a war with Hezbollah. For its part, Hezbollah is facing growing pressure in Lebanon, a country undergoing a financial crisis that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
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New developments on the issue of annexation: After weeks of silence on US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it back on the agenda in their remarks at an event on Tuesday. However, they notably did not mention any timeline for Israel to apply Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank as the plan allows.
Netanyahu said in a letter read at the event that the Trump plan “has the potential to overcome past failures by offering the Palestinians the path of peace and reconciliation.”
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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that his organization recently turned down a substantial aid package from the United States because it would have had to lay down its weapons. Speaking with a Qatari news outlet, Haniyeh claimed that as part of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, Washington offered to give Hamas $15 billion in aid if it would agree to disarm. The offer was “categorically declined,” Haniyeh said.
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In what could potentially be a major medical breakthrough, Professor Daphne Weihs of the Technion Faculty of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new test that can identify aggressive cancer cells within two hours. Such a test would allow doctors to start their patients on life-saving treatment before the cancer spreads. The spread of cancer cells from the original tumor to other parts of the body, known as metastasis, is currently responsible for 90% of cancer related deaths.
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Antisemitism Watch: A security guard at a Ukraine synagogue overpowered a man armed with an ax who broke into the compound shouting “where’s the synagogue?” The intruder slightly wounded the guard, who managed to wrestle the weapon away from him. No one else was injured in the incident Tuesday in Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine.
President of the Zionist Organization of America Morton Klein announced via his Twitter page on Tuesday that he had a 2-hour conversation with rapper Ice Cube where he claims that the musical artist supports condemning antisemitism and racism. Ice Cube has been immersed in controversy, after condemning NBA Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for writing an article mentioning the rapper on the topic of antisemitism. Ice Cube also tweeted an image of a mural that was removed from a wall in London in 2012 after complaints that the image was antisemitic.
Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia has pulled a digital campaign ad that was apparently doctored to make his Democratic opponent’s nose look bigger. Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, harshly criticized Perdue for the ad. According to the Jewish Daily Forward, the ad featured grainy photos of Ossoff and New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who is also Jewish. “Democrats are trying to buy Georgia! Help David Perdue fight back!” the ad read.
Recommended Reading
- Constant, unchecked, dangerous antisemitism: Why British Jews are boycotting Twitter (Nicole Lampert)
- Debunking the ‘Jews-only roads’ charge (Simon Plosker)
- Can Israel and Hezbollah stave off a dangerous escalation? (Yoav Limor)
- Did Arab violence really start with the ‘occupation’ (Dov Lipman)
