Palestinians attacked Jews living in area of Shimon Hatzadik Kever in Jerusalem on Thursday night. A Jewish-owned vehicle was torched, and rocks and bottles thrown at the Jewish residents. Jewish residents claim Police refused to respond to their calls for help tonight, and have reportedly taken matters into their own hands. It appears that residents opened fire at Palestinians who attacked them, finally prompting police to respond. No one appears to have been struck by the gunfire. The cause for the violence is due to Jews recently purchasing homes from Palestinians in the area. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, praised Israel’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in an interview with Channel 13 News on Wednesday. “I often use Israel as the prototype example of what actually goes right [in the battle against the coronavirus],” he said. “I don’t think Israel did everything perfectly – no one does things perfectly – but you had a couple of things in your favor.” “One, you’re a small country with a small population that is used to pulling together. I think the history of Israel, because of the political circumstances that surround you in the region, you know what it means to stick together as a single unit.

Yehuda Guetta, h’yd, 19, a student of the Yeshivas Hesder Itamar critically injured in a terrorist shooting attack in the Shomron on Sunday, succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday evening at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah. Guetta, z’l, who was shot in his head by the terrorist, is survived by his parents and six siblings, residents of the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem. He was murdered while on the way to learn Torah in yeshivah. Another victim of the terrorist attack, Benaya Peretz, 19, of Beit She’an, is still in very serious condition and underwent complex surgery on Wednesday night. His father, Zohar Peretz, has asked the public to daven for him and say Tehillim, especially Perek Chaf, and Shir Hashirim.

Four days after the Meron disaster, the Health Ministry reviewed the response of the emergency rescue teams at the scene and the evacuation of the injured to hospitals, Channel 13 News reported. According to the report, about 40 victims were evacuated to Ziv Hospital in Tzfat, the closest hospital to Meron, although the emergency room only has 20 beds. “Nahariya Hospital was waiting to receive more injured patients but they didn’t arrive although the hospital was prepared for it,” said Rafi Golani, head of the Health Ministry’s emergency department. “The casualties were distributed incorrectly,” another source said. “The only thing that was carried out well was the emergency management of the actual event. Even the transport from hospital to hospital was illogical.

Hundreds of Hatzalah volunteers were at Meron on Lag B’Omer when the disaster occurred and worked for long hours tending to the wounded and dead, while witnessing unspeakable and heartrending scenes, difficult for even the most experienced volunteers to endure. On Tuesday night, about 150 Hatzalah volunteers returned to the site of the tragedy and sang at the very place that the horror had occurred only days before. The volunteers sang slow songs, including Ani Maamin, and were joined by dozens of people who were davening by kever Rashbi. Rav Michoel Kakon, a member of the Bnei Brak City Council and a Hatzalah volunteer, said pirkei Tehillim l’illui nishmas ha’niftarim and for the refuah sheleimah of the wounded.

It’s a week and a half after the story of the missionary family in Jerusalem hit the headlines and while the account has unfortunately been eclipsed by the news of the Meron tragedy, the fallout of the story continues for some families. According to a B’Chadrei Chareidim report on Tuesday, three Chareidi families who used  Michael, now revealed to be a non-Jew, for a mohel, are now dealing with the ramifications. Rav Tovia Singer of Jerusalem, who is experienced in these matters, is assisting the families. “I know of at least three families,” Rabbi Singer told B’Chadrei. “One of them already carried out a new bris milah [drawing of a drop of blood], the other two are about to do it.

Yakir Asaraf, a secular Israeli, who like many others was shocked by the immensity of the Meron tragedy, decided that he had to do something to share in the families’ pain, and he and a friend went to pay a shiva call to the Englard family of Jerusalem, who lost their two sons, Moshe Natan Neta, z’l, 14, and Yehoshua, z’l, 9. He wrote a Facebook post about his experience, which quickly went viral and moved thousands of Israelis. “It could be that I just experienced one of the most significant moments of my life,” Asaraf wrote. “I just left the shiva of the Englard family, who lost their two sons at Meron.

Menachem Schwartz, who heads the Chareidi department of Jerusalem’s Social Services, spoke to Kikar H’Shabbat about the harrowing hours he endured while speaking to the families of the Meron victims at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute on Friday. “I was at Abu Kabir on Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. – horrible scenes. In a minute I’m going to start crying right here, I’m in some type of post-trauma shock and I’ll have to go for treatment.” “Forty-five families, try to understand the situation. One truck followed by another truck, the car of the Chevra Kadisha followed by another car and another car. Forty-five families who lost their closest relatives. The Elhadad family lost two.” “It was unbearable. I needed to be strong in order to help the families.

Rav Eliezer Sorotzkin, the head of Chinuch Atzmai in Israel, spoke to the Rosh Yeshivah, HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, on Monday on various chinuch issues ahead of a conference for principals of girls’ schools, including how to understand the Meron disaster. HaRav Sorotzkin: A terrible tragedy occurred to all of Klal Yisrael as well as specifically to Chinuch Atzmai. We have one teacher who lost her husband and a teacher who lost her son and some lost their brothers. Everyone is asking: what do we say to the teachers, what do we say to the students? And what we can we be mechazeik in? What kabbalah can we accept? Rosh Yeshivah: There’s a Gemara in Kesuvos – חשיב את לאתפוסי אדרא [you’re worthy to be taken for the generation]. The generation needs chizzuk.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday failed to meet a midnight deadline to put together a new governing coalition, raising the possibility that his Likud party could be pushed into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. The deadline closed a four-week window granted to Netanyahu by Israel’s figurehead president. The matter now bounces back to President Reuven Rivlin, who announced just after midnight that he would contact on Wednesday the 13 parties with seats in parliament to discuss “the continuation of the process of forming a government.” Rivlin is expected in the coming days to give one of Netanyahu’s opponents a chance to form an alternative coalition government. He also could ask the parliament to select one of its own members as prime minister.