Jordan Valley annexation in ’deep freeze’ * How Mossad Agent D befriended Munich terror chief, had him killed * Irving Berlin’s Xmas revolution * Women lighting menorahs

[Visit timesofisrael.com for 24/7 updates]( The Daily Edition Tuesday, December 24, 2019 [Jordan Valley annexation said in ‘deep freeze’ due to ICC probe]( By [TOI staff]( [Inter-ministerial panel tasked with planning sovereignty extension over territory, as promised by Netanyhau, reportedly cancels first meeting]( [Report: UN anti-racism panel to probe claims of Israeli apartheid in West Bank]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel media review / Whatever it takes: 7 things to know for December 24]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( [The top Mossad spy who befriended his terrorist target — then had him killed]( By [TOI staff]( [When Agent D was sent to follow the Munich massacre’s architect, he was ordered not to make contact. He broke that rule, and then some: Salameh ‘was a friend — and a mortal enemy’]( [Israeli bus crash victims include Philadelphia teacher, South African immigrant]( By [TOI staff]( [Driver in Sunday crash near Ben Gurion airport remanded for 4 days]( [Reversing initial decision, Likud court calls off primaries for Knesset slate]( By [TOI staff]( [Judges accept Netanyahu’s appeal to forgo vote on entire roster for March elections, block measure that would make it easier for members to cast ballot in leadership race Thursday]( [Netanyahu rejects as ‘spin’ Sa’ar’s proposal to make him president]( By [TOI staff]( [Liberman blasts Netanyahu for not razing Bedouin village in light of ICC probe]( By [TOI staff]( [Blue and White MK: Court should not disqualify Netanyahu]( By [TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff]( Author interview [How Jewish-American immigrant Irving Berlin started a Christmas revolution]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [Netanyahu sends Christmas greeting to Christians: ‘We have no better friends’]( By [TOI staff]( [On eve of holiday, PM says Jewish state wouldn’t have been established if not for ‘avid support’ of Christians through the years]( [Christian Israeli community growing slowly, besting Jews in matriculation grades]( By [TOI staff]( [Thousands arrive in Bethlehem as Christmas festivities begin]( By [AP and TOI staff]( Live updates [Netanyahu, Sa’ar trade barbs over whose Likud leadership bid is helping the left]( By [TOI staff]( [MK laments ‘baseless’ attacks from PM’s campaign after it swats down his proposal to push to make the premier president]( Top Ops [Yochi Rappeport]( [Women can’t light the menorah in public?]( [Chief Rabbi Yosef’s ruling, which derides the practice as imitating Reform and Conservative Jews, negates most historic rabbinic opinions]( [Masha Kisel]( [4 ways not to celebrate Christmas]( [Help your kids experience the joy and the festivity of the season while you keep them away from Santa Claus]( [Alon Goshen-Gottstein]( [Hanukkah, Christmas and the light of the Messiah]( [A Hasidic teaching offers a way to see the two holidays as sharing more than winter timing and crass commercialization]( [Joe Baur]( [At 33, I’m finally celebrating my first Hanukkah]( [My lifelong apathy about my Jewish heritage ended when I took a DNA test, dove in deeper and learned the value of embracing tradition]( [Historic synagogue in Alexandria set to be reopened following major renovation]( By [Adam Rasgon]( [Eliyahu Hanavi shul is one of two remaining Jewish houses of worship in the coastal city, where only a few Jews live today; Jewish leaders originally from Egypt welcome move]( [Torah scroll set alight in break-in at settlement synagogue]( By [JTA]( Reporter's notebook [Amanda Borschel-Dan]( [This Hanukkah, kid sleuths help solve the case of the ghostly book thief]( [National Library in Jerusalem hosts program in which children solve a mystery — and learn about strange creatures like card catalogs]( [Colombia’s Day of the Little Candles looks an awful lot like Hanukkah]( By [Alan Grabinsky]( [State halts test of Leviathan gas rig, saying company didn’t meet criteria]( By [TOI staff]( [Noble Energy is told additional approvals needed before it can conduct the pipe-flushing procedure, which has raised concerns of dangerous pollution along the coast]( [CRM]( [Dozens of Israelis being arrested, some jailed in Europe for smuggling khat drug]( By [TOI staff]( [Criminals pay travelers to take suitcases full of leaves abroad, but European countries have increasingly been punishing those they catch]( [Psychedelic drug pioneer Ram Dass – born Richard Alpert – dies at home aged 88]( By [AP]( [With online platform, these cantors want to sing in more than just one shul]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( More Headlines [Israel tech exits surge 102% in 2019, reaching $9.9 billion]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Gazan banks hand out fresh round of Qatari grants to poor families]( By [Adam Rasgon]( [High Court says lawsuit on disappeared Yemenite children should be heard]( By [TOI staff]( [Population Authority dismisses claim 85% of immigrants to Israel aren’t Jewish]( By [Sam Sokol]( [Columbia U accused of anti-Semitism in first test of Trump executive order]( By [Marcy Oster]( [Giuliani says he is ‘more of a Jew’ than George Soros]( By [TOI staff]( [Court orders settlers to evacuate Hebron home after purchase invalidated]( By [Jacob Magid]( [German youth choked by classmates, who hurl anti-Semitic abuse at him]( By [JTA]( [Police find submachine gun hidden in high school students’ bag of books]( By [TOI staff]( [‘Ghost’ cell startup that targets deadliest cancers gets funding boost]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Israelis again delayed, questioned for hours after landing in Moscow]( By [TOI staff]( [Spoilers / Clive Owen plays a Hasidic violin virtuoso in new film ‘The Song of Names’]( By [Curt Schleier]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( © 2019 THE TIMES OF ISRAEL, All Rights Reserved