The National Nuclear Security Administration and Energy Department, which safeguard the US stockpile of nuclear weapons, have had their networks hacked as part of the widespread cyber espionage attack on a number of federal agencies. Politico reports that officials have begun coordinating notifications about the security breach to the relevant congressional oversight bodies. Suspicious activity was identified in the networks of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation, and the Richland Field Office of the Department of Energy. Officials with direct knowledge of the matter said hackers have been able to do more damage to the network at FERC, according to the report.

Dozens of Israelis are being sent into quarantine in Dubai after testing positive for COVID-19. The group of Israelis, who flew into Dubai on one of the many daily flights that are now operating between Israel and the UAE, tested positive in Dubai for the virus, sending many other Israelis who shared flights with them, to spend the first two weeks of their long-awaited vacations, in quarantine in Dubai. In order to alleviate some of the logistical problems that these Israelis now face – many of whom are religious – the Chabad community of Dubai is doing everything it can to make sure that they are comfortable and have kosher food to eat.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ will be the first Israeli to get vaccinated for the coronavirus on Motzei Shabbos, and possibly the first world leader to do so. The prime minister’s inoculation at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer will be broadcast live to the Israeli public. President Reuven Rivlin, 82, will be vaccinated on Sunday at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem. Also on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi will be the first IDF officer to be vaccinated in order to set an example for the rest of the soldiers and staff, the IDF stated this week. Medical personnel will begin to be vaccinated on Sunday as well and those over 60 and at-risk populations will start receiving vaccinations on Monday.

The following important update was released by the Chaim VChessed Organization: In October, the Health Ministry of Israel released rules which would have granted quarantine exemptions to travelers arriving from Red countries, based on serological (antibody) testing. This news was a significant breakthrough for those who had suffered from Corona abroad but did not have PCR documentation. Disappointingly, in an embarrassing turnaround, this dispensation was suspended just a few days after it was established. However, in a new missive issued late on December 16, Dr. Sharon Elrai-Preis, Director of Public Health Services, announced that exemptions for travelers based on serological testing will be reinstated, effective Sunday, December 20. The details of the new process are still unclear.

A report earlier this week said that senior officials from a large Muslim-majority country that has no official ties with Israel recently visited the Jewish state. The report did not identify the name of the country but it has recently become apparent that the delegation was from Pakistan. Most thought that the delegation from an “Asian Muslim-majority country” was from Indonesia, but Indonesia has denied that it is considering normalizing ties with Israel.

Israel’s daily coronaviurs cases surged to 2,862 on Wednesday, the highest number of daily cases in over two months, with tests showing a positivity rate of 3.5%, the highest rate in almost two months. There are currently 19,887 active patients, of whom 381 are seriously ill and 138 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 3,022. “We can longer avoid imposing further restrictions,” deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch told Army Radio on Wednesday morning, referring to the fact that the government made a decision that if the number of daily cases reaches 2,500, it will tighten restrictions. Kisch said that the Health Ministry will call for stores and businesses to close next week and remain shut for five weeks.

A long standing heter that allowed kohanim to fly El Al from JFK to Tel Aviv, even when niftarim are present, has been retracted, effective immediately. The heter had been given by the Karlsburger Rov, Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, and relied on the airline placing the aron into an outer box, creating an ohel that afforded kohanim some leniency on flights that were carrying niftarim. But after being alerted that El Al was placing aronos directly into the cargo hold with no outer covering, the heter is no longer relevant and Rabbi Roth has announced that kohanim should not fly to Israel on any El Al flight out of JFK until further notice.

In a kol koreh published on Wednesday, addressed to all Rabbanim in Europe, the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) stated that all members of the Jewish community should be vaccinated against COVID-19 without delay. The kol koreh was signed by the President of the CER, Rav Pinchas Goldschmidt, the Chief Rabbi of Moscow,  as well as by the Chairman of the Standing Committee, Dayan Menachem Gelley, the Av Beis Din in London, and by the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Toras Chaim in Moscow, Rav Moshe Lebel.

A fast moving blaze fire destroyed a Shul in Boro Park on Wednesday morning. The fire started at around 8:00AM in Rabbi Felder’s Shul located at 4901 18th Avenue. Heavy fire was seen blowing out the windows and heavy fire conditions were reported. As of this posting (8:20AM) there were no reports of any injuries. Bichasdei Hashem there are no injuries reported. Misaskim tells YWN that a Sefer Torah was rescued from the basement. The handle of the (fireprooof) Sifrei Torah safe in the Shul has melted from the heat and is sealed shut. It will take time to have it opened to check the condition of the Sifrei Torah. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein spoke to Israeli media station Reshet Bet on Tuesday and said that should Israel continue on its current trend of increase in morbidity rate that it is currently undergoing, then another lockdown is looming and is expected to begin next week. “We will be forced to shut down retail and trade,” Edelstein said, “given the coronavirus statistics we’re seeing right now.” He noted that, “The government already decided on very clear criteria regarding reimposition of restrictions. We said that when we reach 2,500 new cases per day, with an R-rate of 1.32, that’s when it happens.