Since the beginning of the government’s more loosening of the regulations set up to protect against COVID-19, nearly 170,000 Israelis have begun working once again. The number seems large, but compared to the number of people who lost their jobs or were put on unpaid leave it is quite small. Close to 1.2 million Israelis found themselves without work due to the regulations enforced surrounding the Coronavirus. These workers make up one-quarter of the entirety of the Israeli workforce. The government stepped in and the Labor Office set up unemployment payments to all of these workers. However, even with the regulations lightning and people going out more, 1,237 people registered for unemployment since Thursday.

Talmudei Torah in Jerusalem neighborhoods which were categorized as “red zones” in the past were finally given the green light to reopen on Friday. According to a Kikar H’Shabbos report, principals and parents of children in once “red zone” neighborhoods have been fighting a protracted battle to reopen their educational institutions despite the fact that the numbers of new coronavirus cases have decreased dramatically and are even now lower than some secular areas. Some of the schools re-opened on Sunday morning and others are waiting until Monday morning. Meanwhile, in Sanhedria Murchevet, a kindergarten assistant in the Chachmas Shlomo cheder was diagnosed with the coronavirus, forcing two groups of kindergartners, each with 30 children, into quarantine.

A 24-year-old Israeli woman with special needs, who was arrested about nine months ago in Lima for suspected drug smuggling, was released to house arrest on Sunday. Hodaya Monsonego, a special needs young woman from a religious family who has the mental capacity of a child, was arrested in August 2019 for an alleged attempt to smuggle 28 kg cocaine from Peru to Israel. Her family, who lives in the southern settlement of Neve Dekalim, a community established by Gush Gatif evacuees, has been actively trying to gain her release ever since, explaining that Hodaya was exploited by her “friend” who took advantage of her cognitive impairment and planted drugs in her suitcase. According to the family, Hodaya doesn’t have the mental capacity to even acquire drugs, must less smuggle them.

There are 16,717 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Sunday, a rise of only five new cases in the past 24 hours, with only 2,285 cases still being active. A total of 44 patients are in serious condition, of whom 34 are ventilated. The death toll remains at 279 as no new fatalities were reported for the fourth day in the row. A resident of the Mishan nursing home in Be’er Sheva who tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend tested negative on Sunday when a second test was administered. As temperatures in Israel continued to drop on Sunday, Israelis were once again required to wear face masks. The Health Ministry temporarily lifted the requirement for face masks last week due to the severe week-long heatwave.

Almost half the number of car accidents occurred this year during the month of April in comparison to April 2019. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), during the month, which generally sees a lot of traveling due to the Pesach vacation, in 2019 there were 987 road accidents 25 of which were fatal and killed 25 people. Another 154 involved serious bodily harm and 1,853 people were injured overall. In 2020, there were only 405 accidents, 18 of which were fatal. The accidents claimed the lives of 21 people and 65 people were seriously injured with 608 people injured overall. In addition, in April of this year, 635 minor accidents resulting in 760 light injuries were reported to the police.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri made a decision, in coordination with the foreign ministry and health ministry, to allow “chutznik” avreichim and bochurim, with valid visas to return to Israel to continue their learning in yeshivos and kollelim. Deri wrote a letter to roshei yeshivos explaining his decision and detailing the arrangements that need to be put into place. “In order to ease the process [of enrolling foreign students], I have decided that the requests will be made via the roshei yeshivos directly to the Population Authority through a dedicated email address and not through the consulates,” Deri wrote. Deri added that the yeshivas must declare that the bochurim have a place to quarantine according to health ministry regulations.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon, both outside the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street and outside the Jerusalem District Court, ahead of the first trial in Israeli history against a sitting prime minister. Some of the protesters – the “Black Flag” protesters – were protesting against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and others were demonstrating in support of the prime minister and against the Israeli judiciary system. The name of the “Black Flag’ movement is taken from the black flags protesters hold or attach to their cars to symbolize the “danger to Israeli democracy” that Netanyahu represents.

After entering the record books last year as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will once again make history when he becomes the country’s first sitting leader to go on trial. Surrounded by security guards, Netanyahu is set to march into Jerusalem’s district court for arraignment on a series of corruption charges on Sunday. The stunning scene will push Israel into uncharted political and legal territory, launching a process that could ultimately end the career of a leader who has been undefeatable at the ballot box for over a decade. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases.

There are 16,712 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Motzei Shabbos, an increase of only four cases in the past 24 hours and no new fatalities, with the death toll remaining at 279. One of the new virus patients is a resident of the Mishan nursing home in Be’er Sheva, site of one of the largest virus hotspots in Israel, with 14 residents passing away after contracting the virus. The resident is hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center Be’er Sheva in moderate condition. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein issued an order on Thursday allowing up to 50 people in indoor gatherings. All municipal schools in Bnei Brak are reopening on Sunday. Preschools and ganim reopened for an hour on Friday to begin easing the adjustment for the children who have been out of their classrooms for two months.

Following the longest documented heatwave in Israeli history last week, temperatures began to drop on Friday, although the temperatures in some parts of Israel remained higher than seasonal averages. Unfortunately the drop in temperatures came too late for an 85-year old Bnei Brak woman who was found unconscious in her home on Friday by family members. MDA paramedics arrived at the scene and evacuated her in serious condition due to heatstroke to Ma’anyei Yehashua Hospital. Unfortunately a few hours later, doctors were forced to pronounce her death. Temperatures finally dropped significantly on Shabbos to within seasonal averages. Local rainfall is predicted for Sunday in northern and central Israel and there may be isolated thunderstorms in the north.