Hundreds if not thousands of Israeli websites were hacked in a cyberattack on Thursday, the National Cyber Directorate stated. The websites’ homepages were replaced with an anti-Israel video and the ominous (but poorly translated) message of: “The countdown of Israel destruction has begun since a long time ago,” in Hebrew and English. The anti-Israel video was also uploaded to YouTube with the statement: “An universal mission completed. It is done in order to support resistance and freedom of palestine.” “Hackers_Of_Savior” was named on the bottom of the page as the group responsible for the attack. The National Cyber Directorate said that it warned last week that Iran may perpetuate a cyberattack to mark al-Quds Day.

Israel’s 35th government was sworn in on Sunday at the Knesset on Sunday afternoon, the first government in Israel history that includes the position of “alternate prime minister,” after 507 days of repeat elections and a transitional government amidst the unprecedented coronavirus crisis. Prior to the government’s swearing-in, Israel’s Basic Laws were amended to create the new position of “alternate prime minister,” a vital part of the Netanyahu-Gantz coalition deal. The government will also be the largest in Israel’s history with 36 ministries and 16 deputy-ministries, many of them newly created to satisfy Likud MKs vying for ministerial positions in the new government.

There are 16,608 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Sunday, with a total of 59 patients in serious condition of whom 48 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 271. A total of 12,884 patients have recovered from the virus, leaving only 3,452 active cases. Israel’s educational system began a gradual resumption to full capacity on Sunday, with 4th-10th graders beginning their return to their classrooms and pre-schoolers, 1st-3rd graders and 11-12th graders, who have already returned to school, beginning their return to full-time schedules. After-school programs are also resuming. Each municipality and local council will make the decisions for the exact schedules of their students’ return. School attendance is currently voluntary.

Rav Rafael Ephraim Sheinfeld, z’l, a renowned ba’al chesed and a ZAKA volunteer who lived in the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood of Bnei Brak, passed away of the coronavirus on Friday night at the age of 59. Rav Sheinfeld was hospitalized in Ma’anyei Yeheshua Hospital in serious condition after contracting the coronavirus despite the fact that he had no underlying health issues. His condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv about a month ago, where he was hospitalized in the ICU and attached to a ventilator. Recently his condition grew even worse and he was attached to an ECMO machine. Rav Sheinfeld was a senior volunteer in ZAKA Tel Aviv and the manager of the gemach Achim L’Tzara, that provided necessary items for families sitting shiva in Bnei Brak.

There are 16,567 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Thursday, with 62 in a serious condition of whom 52 are ventilated. A total of 12,364 people have recovered from the virus, leaving only 3,939 active cases. The death toll remains at 264 as no new deaths have been reported since Thursday night. A plan for schools to return to full operation on Sunday in most of Israel was agreed upon in a meeting on Thursday morning with the participation of the education, health and finance ministries and the head of the Federation of Local Authorities, Modiin Mayor Chaim Bibas. The plan still needs to receive the approval of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ and be brought to the Knesset for a vote. Netanyahu is not expected to oppose the plan.

COVID-19 is not necessarily a death sentence for the elderly. That much was proved Sarah Itzinger, a 99-year-old Holocaust survivor who has fully recovered in hospital after she contracted the virus. Itzinger, whose husband recently died from the virus, was released from Shaare Tzedek hospital on Sunday after being hospitalized in the Corona-ward for the past month. “I want to thank everyone for what they did for me. I just want to go home,” she told reporters upon her release. Itzinger, moved to the United States following the Second World War, where she met her husband, also a Holocaust survivor, Tzvi Herschel. They had a daughter who made aliyah to Israel and had 13 children.

Nonessential businesses, shuttered because of the coronavirus outbreak, will open next week for curbside pickup, as will nonessential construction, Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday. Curbside pickup at businesses – like retail stores – and nonessential construction can start at 6 a.m.. Monday under an executive order Murphy said he will sign. The state’s COVID-19 trends are headed in the right direction, Murphy said, leading him to relax the nearly two-month-old business shutdown: Over the past two weeks: newly hospitalized people are down 28%; patients in hospitals are down 34%; people in intensive care and on ventilators are down about 30%. Still the state has higher hospitalization rates, positive cases and deaths per 100,000 people than any other state right now, Murphy said.

On Tuesday evening, Yuli Edelstein, the former Speaker of the Knesset and high-ranking member of the Likud party, accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to become Israel’s next Health Minister, replacing the resigning Yaakov Litzman (UTJ). Edelstein had received an alternative option of taking over the education Ministry which will soon be vacated by Yamina MK Rafi Peretz after his party leaves the coalition. This will take place once the new government is sworn in later this week. Edelstein had expressed a desire to Netanyahu earlier int he week to return to his position as the Knesset Speaker, but that was vetoed by the Blue and White party.

Mrs. Mazal Elbaz, a’h, 52, a mother of 11 children, passed away at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem overnight Sunday, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. Mrs. Elbaz, who lived on Rechov Ido Hanvai in Jerusalem, suffered from cancer in the past and had a bone marrow transplant a few years ago. She was hospitalized on Pesach after contracting the coronavirus and unfortunately her condition deteriorated. Her friends and neighbors describe her as a special woman who always welcomed guests, was moiser nefesh for her husband’s learning, was always satisfied with little and raised her children in the ways of Torah and yiras Shamayim. The nifteres left behind her husband and 11 children, the youngest of whom is only 10 years old.

The Beis Yaakov schools in Israel which are a part of the Chinuch Atzmai system are re-opening on Sunday, with only 8th-grade students returning to their classrooms for the time being to be followed shortly by 7th graders as well as 11th and 12th graders. The Chinuch Atzmai stated that students who live in neighborhoods or cities which were under full lockdown will begin on Wednesday rather than Sunday. This applies to the cities of Bnei Brak, Modiin Illit, Elad, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Tel Tzion (Kochav Yaakov) and certain neighborhoods in Jerusalem. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)