In an effort to rebuild the right-wing bloc of parties that aided him in previous elections, Prime Minister Netanyahu succeeded at securing an agreement from both of the Charedi parties UTJ and Shas, that they would only support a government being led by the Prime Minister. Both parties signed an agreement that they will not independently join a government led by any party other than Likud after the March 23rd elections. Netanyahu had been pressuring Betzalel Smotrich and his Religious Zionism party to sign the document as well, but Smotritch refused to do so, claiming that previous such agreements failed to produce right-wing governments.

Tragedy struck the Williamsburg community on Wednesday morning, when word spread of a fatal accident involving a young child. The incident occurred at around 8:00AM on Hooper Street and South 5th Street, when an approximately 6/7 year-old child was fatally struck by a vehicle. Williamsburg Hatzolah responded and Paramedics attempted to save the child life, but were unfortunately unsuccessful due to the massive injuries sustained. Sources tell YWN that initially it was believed that the child was struck by an MTA bus, but it appears that the bus only stopped to help the child – who was struck by a hit and run vehicle. Chesed Shel Emes is on the scene, and the NYPD was investigating the incident. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to us.

Jodenkoeken, a dessert staple in the Netherlands since the 19th century, translates as “Jew cookies.” It’s not clear how the flat round shortbread cookies came to be called “Jew cookies” but there are several theories, including that a baker with the name “de Joode” first baked the cookies, that the original recipe originated from a Jewish baker in Amsterdam, and that the flat crunchy cookies are reminiscent of matzah. There is also one theory with anti-Semitic overtones – that since jodenkoeken are big but very flat they are very cheap to produce and a lot of cheap products were associated with Jews.

The Israeli government on Monday approved a plan to offer $50 million in compensation to the families of hundreds of Yemenite children who disappeared in the early years of the country’s establishment. But the announcement received a cool reception from advocacy groups that said the government had failed to apologize or accept responsibility for the affair. Stories about the missing children have circulated in Israel for years. Hundreds of newborn babies and young children of Jewish immigrants from Arab and Balkan countries, most of them from Yemen, mysteriously disappeared shortly after arriving in the country. Many families believe their children were taken away and given to childless couples of European backgrounds, both in Israel and abroad.

In efforts to vaccinate as many Israeli citizens as possible, Magen Dovid Adom and the Health Ministry are bringing mobile vaccination centers to commercial areas nationwide. On Monday, vaccination stations in Ikea stores throughout Israel offered vaccines from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Stations have also been set up in the Machaneh Yehudah shuk in Jerusalem and in Big malls in Ashdod, Be’er Sheva and Eilat. “Our main goal is to get everyone vaccinated,” a MDA spokesman said. “The idea is that if you won’t come to us, we’ll come to you.

Yehudah Ben-Shitrit, the husband of Asnat, z’l, who passed away of the coronavirus on Motzei Shabbos at age 32, told Channel 13 News that contrary to rumors, his wife wasn’t opposed to vaccines and even made an appointment to receive the first dose but caught the virus prior to the appointment. “At the beginning, she was a little nervous due to all the talk in the media about pregnant women but later she decided to be vaccinated and she made appointments for both of us,” Yehudah said. “I got vaccinated with the first dose but then contracted the virus and then she caught it and it was too late for her to be vaccinated.

Over 70% of Israelis over 16 have been vaccinated, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Tuesday morning. A total of 4.5 million Israelis have received the first dose of the vaccine, of whom over 3 million received both doses. The IDF stated on Tuesday that about 85% of its soldiers and personnel will be vaccinated within the next couple of weeks. Vaccines have reduced infections among young people by 50%, according to a report by Prof. Eran Segal, who developed Weizmann Institute’s prediction model for the spread of COVID in Israel. “The first group to see a drop was the over 60s, which saw a dramatic decline in serious illness, followed by those aged 55-60,” he said.

An Israeli-made nasal spray reduced the coronavirus infection rate among Chareidi members of a Bnei Brak shul during the Rosh Hashanah tefillos in September 2020, a preliminary study showed. The Israeli Nasus Pharma developed Taffix nasal spray, which creates a protective gel layer over nasal passages and blocks viruses from infecting nasal cells. Researchers approached the members of a 250-member shul in Bnei Brak ahead of Rosh Hashanah and interested some of them in taking part in a trial for the spray. Each shul member was eligible to pick up a bottle of Tafix at the shul on the day before Rosh Hashanah with written instructions to use the spray every five hours whenever leaving their homes for the next two weeks.

just before the start of the Purim weekend, which is Thursday-Sunday this year, the government voted unanimously in favor of a night curfew to take place each night of the three-day weekend from 8:30 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. The purpose of the curfew is to hamper any possible spread of the virus over the holiday, which many point to as the holiday which began the spread of the pandemic in earnest last year in the country. According to the rules of the night curfew, people will not be able to travel beyond 1,000 meters from their home except for essential needs, and there will be a ban on being in another’s person’s home during that time. Public transportation will also severely limited and in many cases halted altogether.  Intercity bus service will not be running from Thursday at 8 p.m.

COVID-19 vaccine makers told Congress on Tuesday to expect a big jump in the delivery of doses over the coming month, and the companies insist they will be able to provide enough for most Americans to get inoculated by summer. By the end of March, Pfizer and Moderna expect to have provided the U.S. government with a total of 220 million vaccine doses, up sharply from the roughly 75 million shipped so far. “We do believe we’re on track,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge said, outlining ways the company has ramped up production. “We think we’re at a very good spot.” That’s not counting a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, that’s expected to get a green light from regulators soon.