With a tenuous ceasefire taking hold across southern Israel, politics has again returned to center stage.
With Israel and its legislators analyzing the fallout from two days of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and with Blue and White leader Benny Gantz having less than a week to form a government, the most significant development was a meeting between Gantz and Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman.
The two party leaders met on Thursday—after their meeting earlier in the week was delayed due to rocket fire—to discuss forming a possible unity government. It did not, however, yield any tangible results.

Yerushalayim-based emergency room startup Diagnostic Robotics has raised $24 million in a series A funding round, the company announced Wednesday. The round was led by Israel-based medtech investment firm Accelmed Growth Partners and Tel Aviv-listed investment firm Mivtach Shamir Holdings, with participation from Maverick Ventures Israel, Alpha Capital, and additional private investors.
Diagnostic Robotics develops robots that use artificial intelligence to assess the urgency of each case before the people in line can be seen by a doctor.

Elazar Cohen, Israel’s new commissioner to Expo 2020, which will be held in Dubai, said this week that the world fair would give Israel an opportunity to build closer ties with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states, the AP reported.
Cohen said in a briefing at Israel’s Foreign Ministry that the Israeli pavilion at the world’s largest exhibition would present technological products, but also showcase the country itself.
“There is curiosity, mixed with concern, about this thing called Israel, and we want to alleviate that concern,” said Cohen. ”We want to project that Israel is an open country, that Israel is a democratic country, that Israel is a country that respects all its citizens, that everyone finds their place in it.”

DETROIT (AP) – Nissan is recalling over 450,000 vehicles worldwide because a brake fluid leak could cause them to catch fire. Because of the fire risk, the company is urging owners to park the vehicles outdoors and away from structures if the antilock brake light comes on for more than 10 seconds. The recall, detailed […]

A southern Israeli woman wounded in a rocket attack on Wednesday celebrated her 88th birthday on Thursday with the help of the hospital social workers, who have essentially adopted her as a substitute grandmother.
The Israeli news site Mako reports that when the social workers at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashdod found out that Olga Luria was having a birthday while hospitalized, they got together and brought her cake, flower, and balloons while singing birthday songs in Hebrew and Russian.
Luria was struck in the hands and head by flying shrapnel after her home took a direct hit from a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip during the 48-hour conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad that wound down with a shaky ceasefire on Thursday morning.

President Trump on Thursday moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an aide to former national security adviser John Bolton who was seeking a ruling on whether he must comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in the House impeachment inquiry.
The filing to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., cited Trump’s official capacity as president. In it, he sought to have a judge dismiss White House official Dr. Charles Kupperman’s lawsuit seeking guidance on whether he should comply with the subpoena or the president’s directive not to cooperate.
A representative for Trump argued that the president’s direction should supersede any prospective court ruling.

Israeli families who have lost their loved ones in terrorist attacks will file a lawsuit against Hamas and three money changers with US assets, demanding compensation worth of 144 million dollars, Hebrew-language outlet Ynet reported on Friday.
The lawsuit is due to be filed on Sunday at the Jerusalem District Court on behalf of five families.
The families are of Shir Hajaj and Erez Orbach who were killed in a truck-ramming attack at the Armon Hanatziv promenade in East Jerusalem; Rabbi Nehemia Lavi who was stabbed to death in the Old City in Jerusalem; Elhai Taharlev who was killed in a car-ramming attack in the West Bank; and new-born baby Amiad Ish-Ran who was delivered prematurely after his mother was shot while waiting for a ride at a West Bank bus stop.

TEHRAN (VINnews) – Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Tehran is not calling for the “disappearance of Jewish people,” and that people of all religions should decide Israel’s future, Reuters reports. The Iranian Supreme Leader routinely calls for Israel’s destruction. “Calling for the elimination of the state of Israel does not mean the elimination […]

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