Israel’s Health Ministry predicted that the number of seriously ill coronavirus patients will reach 1,000 in three weeks, as the number of active patients reached over 30,000 on Tuesday night, Channel 12 News reported. The ministry added that Israel’s health system can cope with only 750 seriously ill patients. The ministry presented the grim prediction at an emergency meeting convened by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ and said the data is based on the expected decline of current coronavirus patients, which means that the prediction holds true even if the number of daily cases decreases in the coming days.

(By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com) Empire Kosher is the largest producer of kosher poultry in the United States, and one of the oldest.  It was founded in Liberty, New York, in 1938 and shechts some 65,000 chickens each day.  They have between sixty and seventy shochtim. Until recently, Empire has had 4 supervising agencies providing its hechsherim: The OU The Nirbater KAJ Tartikov of Rabbi Yechiel Babad. The OU is the oldest hechsher that supervised Empire, followed by KAJ (approximately 15 years ago.  This author was present when Rav Yisroel Belsky zt”l called the KAJ to come in and add their supervision).  The most recently added supervision was Tartikov which began after this past Sukkos but was announced in April.

As YWN has reported earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli government has announced that American Yeshivos and Seminaries will be allowed to open in Elul. Rabbi Nechemya Malinowitz, the head of the coalition of Yeshivas and Seminaries for B’nei Chu”l, has spent weeks working with Gedolim and government officials to pull this off. In this riveting interview, he shares the backstory that many people are unaware of. He discusses his fascinating conversations with HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch Shlita. He talks about the immense achdus and Kiddush Hashem that has come out of all this. He explains why he believes the government will keep this policy in place and not retract.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Wednesday that foreign students will be permitted to enter Israel despite the current ban on non-Israeli citizens, the Chaim V’Chessed organization reported. “The announcement comes after weeks of intensive work by the recently formed Yeshiva & Seminary Coalition for Bnei Chul, headed by Rabbi Nechemya Malinowitz,” Chaim V’Chessed stated. “The Coalition is comprised of more than 100 institutions catering to foreign students, from across the spectrum of Orthodoxy, serving a total of 15,000 students.” “The efforts received strong support from MK Rabbi Yitzchak Pindrus (UTJ).

Eli Rozenberg, the son of businessman Kenny (Naftali) Rozenberg, who has been revealed as the businessman interested in purchasing El Al, sent an official investment offer through his lawyer to El Al’s board of directors, Calcalist reported. The letter offers a $75 million investment proposal, in exchange for a private allotment of EL AL shares at a rate that will account for 44.9% of the issued capital and voting rights at El Al. Rozenberg deposited $15 million, about 20% of the offer, in a trust account at Mizrachi Tefachot Bank to show the seriousness of his offer. The proposal is valid until August 2020 and is intended to bypass the Finance Ministry’s bailout plan.

Special responsa by Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ahead of Rosh Chodesh Av was publicized on Tuesday on shailos relating to inyanei de’yoma, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. Should one daven tefillas Yom Kippur Katan at a time like this [on Tuesday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Av]? HaRav Chaim: Raui (it’s appropriate.) Should women also recite it? Yes. Can one daven on the tzara of the coronavirus together with the tefillos for the building of the Beis Hamikdash? Efshar (one can do so.) Someone who needs to enter quarantine a number of times [due to contact with confirmed coronavirus carriers] – what should he be mechazeik in? Limud Torah.

Khalil Yusef Ali Jabarin, the Arab terrorist who murdered Ari Fuld, h’yd, in Gush Etzion two years ago was sentenced to life in prison by the Judea military court on Tuesday. The court also granted Fuld’s family damages of NIS 1.25 million ($365,128). Jabarin, then 17, stabbed Fuld multiple times in the back and neck outside the Gush Etzion shopping center on September 16, 2018, where he was shopping for the upcoming meal before Yom Kippur. On that day, Jabarin, a resident of the village of Yatta, near Hebron, first traveled to the Ziv junction armed with an 8-inch knife but failed to find an IDF soldier he could stab.

Following a statement by the Israel Airports Authority on Monday that Israel’s borders will be closed to non-citizens until September, a Maariv report on Monday said that it’s possible that the ban will be extended until after the Yamim Tovim. The reason for the reported possible decision is the Health Ministry’s concern about a large number of visitors arriving in Israel for the Yamim Tovim just as Israel is facing an unprecedented health crisis as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise and hospital wards are filling. It should be assumed that in light of the announcement by yeshivas and seminaries that they were given permission to open for the coming year that students will be exempt from the ban of non-Israelis entering the country before the Yamim Tovim.

Twitter has deemed the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism and Jewish pride, to be “hateful imagery”, and is locking the accounts of users who display it. Several Twitter users have contacted Campaign Against Antisemitism in recent days reporting that their accounts have been locked, and Twitter has provided the following rationale: “What happened? We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically for: Violating our rules against posting hateful imagery. You may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. As a result, we have locked your account.” The social media platform advises users that if they delete the “hateful imagery”, i.e. the Star of David, the account may be unlocked.

A woman was arrested by the NYPD after she was allegedly attacking people with a hammer on a busy Manhattan street on Tuesday morning. A video posted on Twitter, shows a woman being held down by the NYPD near Rockefeller Center. The caption on the video read, “Woman was attacking people with a hammer just now in NYC 48th street Rockefeller. NYPD got her.” It did not appear that anyone was injured in the incident. Woman was attacking people with hammer just now in NYC 48th street Rockefeller. NYPD got her. pic.twitter.com/pgCiGkM3Um — gsammz (@gsammz) July 21, 2020 (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)