Elections 4: Likud ahead; majority elusive * Rivals on the right * Op-Ed: A different Israel * Morocco deals inked * Herd immunity by Pessah? * Blogs: Xmas msge to Hamas

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Wednesday, December 23, 2020 Presented by IDC Herzliya Analysis [Haviv Rettig Gur]( [The rivals on the right: Why the new election will be much tougher for Netanyahu]( [The PM managed to topple the government without handing Gantz his promised rotation, but Sa’ar and Bennett would never have trusted him, and their anti-Bibi camp is rising]( [As Knesset dissolves, Likud leads in polls but no clear majority for Netanyahu]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel media review / Looking at fourth and long: What the press is saying on December 23]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( [Israel calls 4th election in 2 years as Netanyahu-Gantz coalition collapses]( By [Raoul Wootliff]( [New vote set for March 23 after ‘unity’ government crumbles in just 7 months; Netanyahu promises huge win, but polls suggest tough race, with main threat from parties to his right]( [Amir Peretz announces he’s stepping aside as Labor leader]( By [TOI staff]( [Sharren Haskel is latest Likud MK to defect to Sa’ar’s new party]( By [Raoul Wootliff]( Op-Ed [David Horovitz]( [Whoever wins, we’ll be a fundamentally changed Israel when this election is over]( [It’ll be Bibi. Or maybe it won’t be Bibi. But our next leadership and legislature will be unprecedentedly right-wing. Unlike in the US, our political pendulum has stopped swinging]( [Israel leads democracies in number of elections held since 1996 — think tank]( By [TOI staff]( [Ministers okay interim financial package as new elections set to be triggered]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel, Morocco ink deals, agree to reopen mutual liaison offices within weeks]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Joint US-Israeli delegation meets with King Mohammed VI, other senior officials during visit to Rabat; Kushner praises ‘huge strides’]( [Trump administration offering Indonesia billions in aid for Israel normalization]( By [TOI staff and JTA]( [US warns Chinese investments in Israeli tech could pose a security threat]( By [TOI staff]( Reporter's notebook [Judah Ari Gross]( [For Israeli delegation in Rabat, a muted ‘welcome back’ marks resumption of ties]( [Unlike the UAE and Bahrain, Morocco already had relations with Jerusalem once, a fact highlighted by a less effusive reception, despite the historic first flight to Morocco]( [Occupants of Jerusalem COVID hotel fear it’s a breeding ground for UK strain]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [‘Come for quarantine, leave with coronavirus’: Residents decry dire hygiene standards, chaotic mismanagement of facility, say army utterly unequipped to deal with influx]( [Health Ministry set to push immediate 3-week lockdown amid rising cases]( By [TOI staff]( [Netanyahu, Gantz said to agree on imposing 3rd national virus lockdown]( By [TOI staff]( Top Ops [Bishara A. Bahbah]( [A Christmas message to Hamas]( [You who have brought zealotry and intolerance to Gaza are not worthy to lead a Palestine where Christians have always played integral roles]( [Rona Miles]( [My daughter is FlatbushGirl and I couldn’t be prouder]( [When a Brooklyn newspaper wouldn’t print a photo showing her face, she took bold action to affect change. For that, she has paid a high price]( [CRM]( [Herd immunity by Seder night? Trailblazing Israel is vaccinating faster than UK]( By [Nathan Jeffay]( [After just 3 days, vaccination newbie has overtaken the coverage in Britain, percentage-wise, though that country got started 2 weeks earlier]( [Orthodox rabbis in US, Israel tell followers to vaccinate. But will they listen?]( By [Ben Sales]( [Pharmacist accidentally injected with 4 COVID vaccine doses]( By [TOI staff]( [Myanmar activists accuse Israeli firm of abetting military’s Rohingya atrocities]( By [Simona Weinglass]( [Report highlights alleged role of Gilat Satellite Networks]( [Trump pardons 4 Blackwater contractors convicted of 2007 Iraq massacre]( By [Eric Tucker]( Live updates [Ministers meet to debate 25-day lockdown to rein in virus]( By [TOI staff]( [Fight reportedly brews over whether to shutter all schools, when closure should begin; Health Ministry proposal would reimpose 1-kilometer travel limit]( [After making friends with Gulf, Israel brings in influencers to reach its people]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Head judge in Netanyahu trial gets COVID-19, three weeks before key hearing]( By [Michael Bachner and TOI staff]( [Judiciary says Jerusalem District Court’s Rivka Friedman-Feldman, 62, is feeling well, will be quarantined until January 1]( [Bezeq ex-owner Elovitch indicted in case that led to probe against Netanyahu]( By [Michael Bachner]( [AG tells High Court: Netanyahu is bound by conflict of interest agreement]( By [TOI staff]( Times of Israel Podcast [TOI staff]( [LISTEN: TOI diplomacy reporter debriefs on following Netanyahu around the world]( [Raphael Ahren reveals what happens on the road with the PM, and health writer Nathan Jeffay advises on the pandemic’s final stretch]( [CRM]( More Headlines [UN condemned Israel 17 times in 2020, versus 6 times for rest of world combined]( By [TOI staff]( [US Congress approves $250m for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue programs in omnibus]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Amid leadership controversy, Yad Vashem appoints Ronen Plot as acting chairman]( By [TOI staff]( [Unlikely duet / Aviv Geffen and Avraham Fried sing about societal ‘drought’]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Scientists asked to submit experiments to be conducted by 2nd Israeli in space]( By [TOI staff]( [Defense minister orders seizure of $4 million sent by Iran to Hamas]( By [TOI staff]( [Pompeo regrets Israel-Lebanon stalemate on maritime border, offers US mediation]( By [AFP]( [Lawmakers fast-track environmental initiatives as Knesset set to dissolve]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Ultra-Orthodox protesters surround car of IDF general, who pulls out pistol]( By [TOI staff]( [Democrat group pans lawmakers who called Palestinian hamlet’s razing illegal]( By [Jacob Magid]( [On the scent / As winter starts, Negev desert daffodils herald the coming spring]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Not lost for eternity / NY sanitation workers help Jewish man retrieve lost tefillin from dump]( By [Shira Hanau]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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