Data published by Israel’s Health Ministry on Sunday shows that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Chareidi cities has doubled in the past week, which may be a result of Rosh Hashanah tefillos and Selichos. “From the beginning of Elul we see a dramatic increase in the Chareidi population of twice the amount of coronavirus cases than the general population,” said Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, the Health Ministry’s head of Public Health, in an interview on Radio Kol Chai. “In the past week alone, 20,000 Chareidim tested positive for the coronavirus, three times the number in the general population.

A record number of 6,923 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours were confirmed in Israel on Wednesday morning, the highest number of daily cases since the start of the pandemic. The positive testing rate has risen to 11.4% and the total number of coronavirus cases leaped to 200,041. A mere month ago, there were only 100,000 virus cases. There are 668 seriously ill patients, of whom 159 are ventilated. There were 31 additional fatalities recorded in the previous 24 hours, raising the death toll to 1,316. A total of 4,331 medical staffers are currently in quarantine and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein ordered paramedics to provide backup to hospitals immediately.

The United States and the United Arab Emirates are aiming to form an initial agreement on the sale of F-35 fighter stealth jets to the Gulf country by December, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Emirati defense officials hope to secure a letter of agreement no later than December 2, when UAE National Day is celebrated. Israel is the only country in the Middle East to own the F-35s and currently has about 24 of the jets. The agreement must fulfill the United State’s commitment – defined in US law – to ensure Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME). Some sources say that the US may provide Israel with advanced radar technology that may override the stealth qualities of the jets, rendering them visible to Israeli radar.

Twenty new coronavirus-related fatalities were reported across Israel over Rosh Hashanah. These deaths included sixteen people who were reported to have died of the disease on Shabbos and another four on Sunday. The total mortality rate due to complications with the virus since the pandemic began is now 1,236. A total of 3,790 new cases of the virus were diagnosed Saturday, down from 5,301 new diagnoses on Friday. On Sunday, that number went down even further, to 1,571 as of 7:00 p.m. The total number of active carriers of the virus in Israel is 52,262. Currently, there are 643 people in serious condition with 170 on ventilators.

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is putting the Senate in unchartered political terrain. There’s no recent precedent for a confirmation vote so close to a presidential election. President Donald Trump on Saturday urged the Republican-run Senate to consider “without delay” his upcoming nomination, even with the Nov. 3 election nearing. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said there is “no doubt” the winner of that election should choose Ginsburg’s replacement. Plans were being set in motion Saturday for a swift and highly unusual nomination and confirmation in the heart of campaign season.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin praised the peace deal between Baharain and Israel that was announced on Friday. “I praise the Prime Minister and the President of the United States and all of the other people who worked tirelessly in order to achieve this great success. I call on other Arab and Muslim states to broker peace with Israel, peace between nations, peace for peace. This is the beginning of a new Middle East and we are witnessing the paradigm shift with Baharain following and also normalizing relations with Israel.” The draft agreement that the Corona Cabinet created in a further attempt to slow the spread of the Coronavirus in Israel that will be brought to the government to ratify on Sunday, will include a full lockdown beginning on Friday, Erev Rosh Hashanah.

A team of law enforcement officers fatally shot a man suspected of being the gunman who killed a supporter of a right-wing group in Portland, Oregon, last week after a caravan of Donald Trump backers rode through downtown, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday. Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, was killed as a federal task force attempted to apprehend him near Lacey, Washington, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Portland. Reinoehl was suspected in the killing of 39-year-old Aaron “Jay” Danielson, who was shot in the chest Saturday night, a senior Justice Department official told The Associated Press. Federal agents from the FBI and the U.S.

Following a directive that came from Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky telling Roshei Yeshivos that yeshiva students should stop being tested for coronavirus because it could lead to “mass Bitul Torah”, Coronavirus Commissioner Ronni Gamzu, chastised the Gadol Hador, and said that his words could “endanger the Chareidi public”. Rav Kanievsky was reportedly worried about the testing causing masses of students to be put in isolation until after Yom Kippur which would cause a massive amount of Bitul Torah. Recent statistics have shown that there has been a large spike in the number of Chareidim who have contracted the virus, especially in Yeshivos. One Yeshiva in Carmiel had 200 students test positive for the virus on Tuesday.

A person was shot at 9th Avenue and 42nd Street, Wednesday afternoon. The victim was driven by private vehicle to Maimonides Hospital in traumatic arrest, and was pronounced dead a short while later. An NYPD Level 1 Mobilization response was requested. Law enforcement sources tell YWN that the suspect may have fled in a grey Hyundai Sonata with “TLC” Plates. The suspect is a black male wearing a white tee shirt, red shirts with a beard. Boro Park Shomrim was on the scene as well. Meanwhile, a person was stabbed at 928 41st Street minutes after the shooting. FDNY EMS and the NYPD were on the scene. It was unknown if the incidents are connected.

Members of the Israeli-US delegation in the United Arab Emirates joined the local Jewish community for Shacharis on Tuesday morning at its shul in Abu Dhabi. Rav Levi Duchman, the leader of the local Jewish community and the only resident Rav in the UAE, led the tefillos. Also present at Shacharis was Solly Wolf, the head of the Dubai Jewish community, and Attorney Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE), as well as other prominent businessmen in the Emirates. They were joined by Meir Ben-Shabbat, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s National Security Adviser, the head of the Israeli delegation, and religious Israeli journalists who are reporting on the historic trip.