With hours to form coalition, Netanyahu seeks longshot bid for direct election vote * Shaked: Netanyahus are ’tyrants’ with ’lust for power’ * J ust 93 serious COVID cases

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Tuesday, May 4, 2021 Presented by Israel Tech Challenge [In last-ditch effort, Likud seeks fast-tracked vote on direct election for PM]( By [Stuart Winer]( [Longshot attempt comes hours before premier’s deadline to form a government; parties scramble over who will be tasked next to form coalition, Ra’am says it won’t recommend anyone]( [Last-minute maneuvers as Netanyahu’s mandate to form government set to expire]( By [TOI staff]( [Rivlin said set to ask Lapid to form coalition, won’t give mandate to Bennett]( By [TOI staff]( Live updates [LIVE: Officials say Rivlin won’t task Bennett with forming government — TV]( By [TOI staff]( [Likud said hinting it may recommend the Yamina chief as PM, as part of efforts to prevent Netanyahu’s rivals from assembling a coalition]( Netanyahu trial [Ex-Walla CEO: We removed news about bereaved families because PM didn’t like it]( By [TOI staff]( [Ilan Yeshua says editors were told to take down stories about families of soldiers killed in 2014 Gaza war; says was made to fawn over Sara Netanyahu as if in ‘Byzantine court’]( [Man to Bedouin cop who rescued son at Meron: You saved my child, saved the world]( By [TOI staff]( [‘Rami didn’t ask what party I belong to or if I’m Bedouin or Arab. Rami saved us,’ says Avigdor Hayut, whose eldest son Yedidia was killed in disaster]( [TV: Police document warned of need to ‘widen exit’ where Meron disaster unfolded]( By [TOI staff]( [Minister said to muzzle police chief’s request for Meron probe commission]( By [TOI staff]( Times of Israel Podcast [Daily Briefing May 4 – Has Netanyahu pulled the final rabbit from his hat?]( By [TOI staff]( [Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today]( [In bombshell recordings, Shaked calls Netanyahus ‘tyrants’ with ‘lust for power’]( By [TOI staff]( [PM ‘must go,’ Yamina’s ex-justice minister says, but a compromise in which he’d serve 2nd in a rotation deal with Bennett is preferable to a ‘ridiculous coalition’ with the left]( [Bennett to get boosted security, reportedly after receiving death threats]( By [TOI staff]( A Message from ITC [Israel Tech Challenge to offer security operations training to olim, Masa students]( [Israel’s high-tech industry suffers a shortage of thousands of cyber experts. ITC.tech plans to fill the huge demand for SOC analysts by training olim, Masa youths and native Israelis]( [Palestinian suspects arrested for allegedly aiding Tapuah attacker]( By [TOI staff and Judah Ari Gross]( [Israeli forces enter West Bank village of Aqraba and take individuals in for questioning, confiscate car used in drive-by attack; terrorist who carried out shooting not among them]( [Islamist party chief Abbas condemns terror attack, calls victims ‘innocents’]( By [Aaron Boxerman]( [Palestinians torch vehicle used in shooting attack as IDF arrives to seize it]( By [Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff]( Top Ops [Robyn Frisch]( [My Haredi son was at the Mt. Meron disaster]( [With a Reform rabbi for a mother, our family is very different from those of my son’s peers. Now, I can’t stop thinking about how similar we are]( [Gary Rosenblatt]( [What will it take for me to go back to synagogue?]( [Are we just lazy or fearful of becoming sick? Or have we become dependent on the safety and security of keeping close to home?]( [Jonathan A. Greenblatt]( [Why Iran poses such a serious threat]( [US negotiators must treat Teheran’s antisemitism, persecution of minorities, and backing for terrorism as integral issues in any nuclear talks]( [Naomi Chazan]( [Israel and the challenge of apartheid]( [The recent Human Rights Watch report makes it plain: Continued rule over another people against their will undermines Israel’s core interests]( [At Knesset memorial, leaders urge comprehensive probe of Meron tragedy]( By [TOI staff]( [Netanyahu says deadly crush will be thoroughly investigated, but doesn’t mention a state inquiry commission; Deri, breaking silence, also calls for full examination]( [AG: Transitional government can form state inquiry into Meron disaster]( By [TOI staff]( [Serious COVID-19 cases in Israel drop below 100 for 1st time since July]( By [TOI staff]( [Announcement comes as Israelis told they cannot travel to India, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Turkey amid fears of virus variants]( [For first time, Brazilian, Chilean coronavirus variants found in Israel]( By [TOI staff]( [Israel expected to be on list of countries to be granted unlimited travel to EU]( By [AP and TOI staff]( Director interview [Convinced he’s dead, a young man asks a rabbi to recite mourner’s prayer for him]( By [Renee Ghert-Zand]( [CRM]( [Plan to reform care for veterans stalls as Netanyahu, Gantz quarrel over funding]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Defense minister accuses PM, finance minister of holding up proposal; they say the Defense Ministry should come up with some of the money]( [Speculation swirls of Iran deal resurrection as diplomatic activity intensifies]( By [Matthew Lee]( [US officials play down rumors of progress toward bringing Tehran back into compliance with 2015 pact, but Iranian media claims agreement on prisoner swap at hand]( [Iran a key topic as US envoy Blinken meets UK counterpart in first trip abroad]( By [Pan Pylas]( [US officials in Gulf to reassure jittery allies over effort to rejoin Iran deal]( By [Isabel Debre]( Explainer [What the Sarah Halimi case and current protests mean for French Jewry]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [CRM]( [Israel to fly planeloads of medical aid to virus-wracked India]( By [TOI staff]( [Shipments will include oxygen generators, ventilators; non-government organizations join effort; deliveries to arrive this week]( [US FDA expected to okay Pfizer vaccine for kids aged 12-15 within week]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Israel’s first transgender soccer referee takes the field as a woman]( By [AP]( [After coming out last week, Sapir Berman takes charge of Premier League game between Hapoel Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem]( More Headlines [Hundreds in Ukraine attend marches celebrating Nazi SS soldiers]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [Israeli man shot dead in Baltimore during visit for family wedding]( By [TOI staff]( [Suspected balloon-borne bombs from Gaza land in south for first time in months]( By [Judah Ari Gross]( [Israel and Lebanon hold maritime border talks, in first since Biden took office]( By [AP and TOI staff]( [Swiss Embassy staffer dies in fall from Tehran building; Iran police open probe]( By [AP]( [2 Palestinians arrested, 10 hurt in clashes at East Jerusalem eviction protest]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Two centuries on, Napoleon’s bloody campaign still contentious in Gaza]( By [AFP and TOI staff]( [Torah scroll dedicated at major US Army base following synagogue renovation]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Mitsubishi joins Israeli investment arm to scout for food, agriculture tech]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [US firm PTC earmarks $5 million for R&D center at the Technion]( By [Shoshanna Solomon]( [Unsubscribe from this List]( Email not displaying correctly? 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