Education Minister Naftali Bennett conceded that he had lost his Knesset seat and that the New Right party had failed to clear the electoral threshold.
“I did the best I could for my beloved people,” Bennett wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday evening after the Central Elections Committee found that the New Right had gained less than 50 votes in the latest recount and remained over 1,400 votes shy of the electoral threshold.
“After six years of kosher service, 100 campaign days and another week of struggle for every voice, I can say: I did the best I could for the people of Israel, my beloved nation,” Bennett said.
“This time it was not enough.
“I have no complaints to anyone. I and I alone are responsible for the result.

Rockland County officials this morning announced a “Communicable Disease and Exposure Exclusion Order” that mandates anyone with measles to stay home, and those exposed stay out of public spaces throughout the county, LoHud reports.
The new offensive was unveiled by County Executive Ed Day and Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert on the same day the county announced there have been 186 confirmed measles cases since the outbreak began in October. Ruppert also said she is sure there have been more cases that the county cannot verify.

Bais Medrash Govoha is under contract to buy Woodlake Country Club, according to a notice filed with the Ocean County Clerk on March 20.
The document signals the sale of the 150-acre golf course at 25 New Hampshire Ave. is in the early stages and does not guarantee the land will change hands, according to Ocean County Clerk Scott M. Colabella.
“We are exploring the possibility of developing a campus that could help us accommodate future growth without drawing more commuters up and down the Route 9 corridor that runs through the heart of Lakewood,” BMG President Rabbi Aaron Kotler told Asbury Park Press.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she has given up Facebook and expressed concerns about the negative effects of social media platforms in general.
“I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook and Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time,” the New York Democrat said in an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast on Sunday.
Ocasio-Cortez said that she thinks, in general, “social media poses a public health risk to everybody.” She also said “there are amplified impacts for young people, particularly children under the age of 3 with screen time.”

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has come out as a vocal supporter of the gruelling working hours commonplace in China’s tech and internet industry known as the 996 schedule.
The 996 schedule – which means working 9am to 9pm, six days a week – is “a huge blessing that many companies and employees do not have the opportunity to have,” Ma said in an internal event on Thursday, according to a transcript published on Alibaba’s official WeChat account.
“If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when will you?” Ma asked. “Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honor to boast about? If you don’t put out more time and energy than others, how can you achieve the success you want?”

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been awarded a $69 million contract for a mission that will include flying a spacecraft into an asteroid. With the mission, NASA will look to “demonstrate a kinetic impact” by deliberately flying a spacecraft into a small asteroid, according to a description of the project on NASA’s website.
NASA last week awarded the contract to SpaceX, selecting the company to provide services for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, NASA said in a statement.
The current target date for the mission is June 2021, and NASA plans to use one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, the agency said.
 

A proposal introduced in Quebec last month to ban yarmulkes and other religious clothing has come under fire with one Jewish mayor of a town in the Canadian province equating it to “ethnic cleansing.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also opposed the measure.
“It’s unthinkable to me that in a free society we would legitimize discrimination against citizens based on their religion,” he said.
Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg has refused to heed calls from Trudeau and other politicians to apologize for labeling Bill 21, which was introduced in response to the issue of Muslim women wearing hijabs in Quebec, as “ethnic cleansing.”

Matzav.com has confirmed that United Healthcare Community Plan of New Jersey, which had terminated Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as of July 1, has officially rescinded their termination. This will allow all patients who are part of United Healthcare Community Plan of New Jersey to receive coverage for services at the renowned medical center on Civic Center Blvd in Philadelphia.
This development was independently confirmed by Matzav.com with upper management of the hospital and those in the know.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday afternoon called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory.
Merkel invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to a meeting in Berlin after the new government is formed. Netanyahu thanked the Chancellor for the warm greetings and welcomed the relations between the two countries.
In addition to the congratulations, Netanyahu also heard Merkel’s position on the need to renew contacts with the Palestinian Arabs. The Chancellor stressed that she and the entire European Union are committed to resolving the conflict between the two sides through the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

The gambler who placed an $85,000 wager on Tiger Woods winning the Masters — ultimately winning $1.2 million — says he was tens of thousands of dollars in debt as recently as four months ago.
James Adducci, 39, made the bet with William Hill at 14-1 odds last Tuesday, the company said. When Woods won the golf tournament on Sunday, the betting business said it turned into a $1,275,000 payout — the largest golf-related payout in the company’s history.
Adducci told Golf Digest after the big win that he flew from Wisconsin to Las Vegas last week to place the bet, which he claimed was the first he’d ever made on sports in his life.
Read more at Fox News.
{Matzav.com}