Israel’s Health Ministry reported 745 new coronavirus cases on Monday morning, with tests showing a positivity rate of 2.3%. There are currently 8,456 active cases, with 298 seriously ill patients, of whom 130 are ventilated. Another 49 deaths were confirmed since Sunday morning, raising the death toll to 2,806. A report by the Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center on Sunday stated that there has been a rise in hospitalized and seriously ill patients for the first time in a month and warned that the continued easing of lockdown restrictions is likely to lead to a rise in the virus infection rate.

Following the the lifting of parole restrictions on Jonathan Pollard this past Friday, Esther Pollard cut the GPS tracking devices off his arm. In a statement to the press, Pollard said the following: “Thirty years ago, my beloved wife Esther found her way into USP Marion, the highest security prison in the United States, where I was languishing in a dungeon cell three stories underground behind 13 locks and keys. “Esther reached out and cut the shackles off of my heart and restored my soul to life. That is when the fight for my freedom began in earnest. Fast forward 35 years. “Today, Esther, fearlessly cut the GPS device off of my wrist, restoring me to almost complete freedom.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A Bahraini government delegation flew to Israel on Wednesday morning, the first official delegation to visit Israel on the first nonstop Gulf Air commercial flight from Bahrain to Israel. The delegation, led by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, and accompanied by a US delegation headed by US Mideast envoy Avi Berkowitz, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport at about 10:30 a.m. The Bahraini-US delegations were greeted at the airport by Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. Excited to be on the first commercial flight from Bahrain to Israel! pic.twitter.com/ngux75pRDU — Avi Berkowitz (@aviberkow45) November 18, 2020 This is a good morning indeed.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced he is running for mayor of New York City on Wednesday, joining an already crowded field of candidates for the 2021 election. Adams, who entered politics after a two-decade career as a police officer, announced his candidacy in a video posted overnight. “Whether it’s the pandemic or violence in our streets we don’t feel safe, and too often city government makes things worse with inefficiency that leads to inequality and holds our people back,” the 60-year-old Adams says in the video, in which he also describes being victimized by police brutality in his youth and joining the police in order to fight for reforms from the inside.

About 2,000 mispallelim davened at the Kosel on Tuesday morning for Rosh Chodesh Kislev. However, unfortunately, the tefillah was disturbed by a small group of about ten women of the Women of the Wall organization who once again tried to smuggle a Sefer Torah into the Kosel plaza, in violation of the decisions of Israel’s Supreme Court and Attorney-General. The representatives of the Women of the Wall arrived at Shaar Ha’Ashpot and carried out a protest holding a Sefer Torah until the entrance to the Kosel. Their entrance was blocked by the Kosel Heritage Foundation’s security guards but the women refused to concede and a skirmish broke out at the scene.

A large number of police forces stormed the Itzkowitz Shul in the center of Bnei Brak on Tuesday due to the claim that there was a large number of people gathering inside in direct violation of the Coronavirus restrictions issued by the government. Sources from the Shul said that they were complying with the restrictions and that there was no need for the police action. A spokesperson for the police said: “Officers saw a shul which claimed to be closed, but under a close investigation found that there were dozens of people gathering inside in violation of the restrictions. This gathering endangered their own health and the health of others.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday said he will be reducing indoor and outdoor gathering limits because of the COVID-19 resurgence. The Democrat said on MSNBC that he will order indoor gatherings to fall from 25 to 10 and outdoor get-togethers from 500 to 150 people. The new indoor limit goes into effect Tuesday, while the outdoor level kicks in Nov. 23. The following indoor gatherings may continue under the current rules – limited to 25% of a room’s capacity, up to 150 people: Religious services/celebrations and political events Weddings – Funerals/memorial services Performances The lower levels come just before Thanksgiving and ahead of the winter holidays.

ICE’s Twitter account is once again operational. According to a Twitter spokesperson, it appears that a backend issue was responsible for the account going down. ORIGINAL STORY BELOW: The Twitter account for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was suddenly removed from Twitter, Thursday afternoon, and replaced by a message saying the account no longer exists. Previously, the account featured a bio that read, “We focus on preventing terrorism, immigration enforcement and combating transnational crime.” Its targeting of immigrants for deportation has made it despised by many, and the campaign slogan “Abolish ICE” is frequently seen at anti-government protests. Twitter has yet to respond to any media inquiry.

(By: Sandy Eller) The financial impact of the pandemic has left its devastating mark on small businesses everywhere, with countless people seeing their life’s work decimated by lingering lockdowns. That impact has been profoundly greater in New York’s red zones, where small businesses deemed non-essential by Governor Andrew Cuomo were gasping for breath after being closed for months last spring, only to find themselves at the center of a second shutdown this fall that lasted an additional four and a half weeks. Enter the Rise Up Red Zone initiative launched by activist Chaskel Bennett in tandem with the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition and the WhoWeAre Network as a grassroots movement to support local businesses in areas that had been designated as red zones.

Unlike the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, who were delighted with Biden’s victory over Trump, the moderate Gulf states fear what Israel is fearing these days – that US President-elect Joe Biden will renter the Iran nuclear deal. Saudi King Salman, like Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, significantly delayed transmitting his congratulations to the new president-elect – an indication of the kingdom’s disappointment and fears of the future, namely the increased influence of Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliates in the region.