Warning Israel, Iran fires 16 ballistic missiles * Backlogged: 15,000 Israeli pleas to leave * 4th shot: Campaign’s on hold, and so is trial * Ethics and the US bombmaker

[Times of Israel]( [The daily edition]( Friday, December 24, 2021 [Iran says it fired 16 ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israel during drill]( By [Agencies and TOI staff]( [Armed forces chief says exercise is a response to Israel’s ‘massive but pointless threats’]( [Lapid: ‘Bad’ nuclear pact with Iran worse than no deal at all]( By [TOI staff]( [Iraq calls for direct nuclear talks between Iran and US]( By [AFP]( [As travel exemption requests pile up, panel accused of issuing automatic rejections]( By [TOI staff]( [Committee tasked with granting permission to those looking to fly to banned countries reported to have backlog of 15,000 petitions, with most of those considered being denied]( [Israel said delaying rollout of 4th COVID shots amid signs Omicron less severe]( By [TOI staff]( [WHO warns booster campaigns prolonging pandemic]( By [AFP]( [4th COVID vaccine dose clinical trial delayed after key panel holds up approval]( By [TOI staff]( [Helsinki Committee authorizing clinical trials yet to sign off on test-run of extra booster for 100 volunteers for unknown reason, even as Health Ministry okays shot for elderly]( [COVID case count jumps by 79% since last week; 183 new Omicron infections diagnosed]( By [TOI staff]( [US approves Merck pill as 2nd easy-to-use drug against COVID-19]( By [MATTHEW PERRONE]( Israel media review [Shooting blanks: What the press says about non-lockdowns, non-doses and non-threats]( By [Joshua Davidovich]( [The somehow still-looming Omicron threat brings with it worries of fresh restrictions (and a quarantine pandemic), a fourth shot gets frozen and Israel changes its tune on Iran]( [Pregnant woman, 31, dies of flu in Jerusalem amid rise in cases; baby born healthy]( By [TOI staff]( [Woman was 9 months pregnant when she contracted virus; son delivered by Caesarean section before mother put on ventilator, but doctors unable to save her]( Top Ops [Kenneth Jacobson]( [The day Mansour Abbas told Israeli Arabs to accept Israel as a Jewish state]( [If Abbas’ message gets through to the right people, then Israel’s Jews and Arabs might just get their acts together to work to improve things for everyone]( [Ilana Sober Elzufon]( [Miryam and Bitya]( [What really happened when the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe and found a Hebrew baby in a basket on the Nile? A suggestion (Shemot)]( [Ariel Beery]( [We were robbed; let’s not become robbers]( [Israel’s current government has the opportunity and responsibility to include the country’s non-Jewish citizens and residents in the national narrative]( [Stephen Stern]( [If you ask me, and I’m Jewish, go with ’Merry Christmas’]( [’Happy Holidays’ is meant to be inclusive, but knowing when Hanukkah was (a month ago) would be far more so; this ’holiday season’ really means Christmastime]( Interview [Helping the US get the bomb, this Jewish mathematician faced an ethical problem]( By [Rich Tenorio]( [New film ‘Adventures of a Mathematician’ follows Stan Ulam, who lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust, as he helps his new homeland’s nuclear efforts during and after WWII]( Peace: The final frontier [UAE astronaut gifts Jewish state with Israeli flag he took to space]( By [TOI staff]( [Hazzaa al-Mansoori flew to the International Space Station with the national ensign a year before the Abraham Accords normalized relations between the UAE and Israel]( Explainer [Nathan Jeffay]( [Rising cases, empty wards: Israel’s COVID situation explained in six graphs]( [In mid-November, when Israel felt Delta was defeated, cases began to rise once again. How has the rise in infections progressed and where does Israel stand now?]( [UK data suggest hospitalization 50-70% less likely with Omicron than Delta]( By [Jill Lawless]( [For a growing number of Jews in Israel, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas]( By [Asaf Shalev]( [An influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, combined with tech firms trying to project image of cosmopolitan savvy, mean the festival is becoming increasingly mainstream]( [Coronavirus, and rain, dampen Christmas joy in Bethlehem]( By [jack jeffery]( [As cases surge, world set to ring in another pandemic Christmas with restrictions]( By [Andrew BEATTY]( [Green groups claim victory, withdraw court petition against Eilat oil deal]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Move follows state attorney’s opinion that the Environmental Protection Ministry had full authority to act against the agreement]( [A fifth of wild cranes in Israel thought to be infected with fatal bird flu]( By [Sue Surkes]( [Investors poured $2.2b into Israeli climate tech companies in 2021 — report]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( Interview [Jacob Magid]( [Allied with the right, Labor’s Michaeli insists she’s keeping peace hopes alive]( [Transportation minister says she won’t okay West Bank projects that harm 2-state solution, and her ties with US progressives will be critical to rebuilding bilateral relationship]( [CRM]( Times Will Tell [Podcast: For Xmas in NY, the best Kosher Chinese and a movie with ToI’s film critic]( By [TOI staff]( [Whether you call it Christmas or Festivus, while some places may be closed, there’s plenty to do in New York for the rest of us]( [Border cops raze buildings at illegal outpost as army girds for West Bank clashes]( By [TOI staff]( [Yeshiva frequented by shooting victim remains standing, but settler leaders call demolition ‘prize for terror’; IDF said to fear Hamas looking to capitalize on simmering tensions]( [Thousands rally against razing of illegal outpost where terror victim studied]( By [TOI staff]( [2 terrorists who killed Israeli Dvir Sorek in 2019 sentenced to life in prison]( By [TOI staff]( [The little-known Jewish origins of Boston’s annual Christmas tree tradition]( By [Penny Schwartz]( [For over 50 years, Nova Scotians have gifted Bostoners a spruce in gratitude for an aid mission led by Abraham Ratshesky in 1917 after a port explosion killed and injured thousands]( [Christmas tree, huge menorah ignite latest fight over holidays in US public schools]( By [Gabe Stutman]( [Tel Aviv’s Gordon Gallery brings contemporary art to an unlikely corner of Jerusalem]( By [Jessica Steinberg]( [Branching into the capital, the historic art house has opened a light and airy space in the Givat Shaul industrial zone, looking for different kinds of neighbors and possibilities]( [Confab of rabbis from Islamic nations whisked off for surprise visit with Erdogan]( By [David I. Klein]( [Turkish leader, long critical of Israel, tells spiritual leaders he values renewed dialogue with Herzog, Bennett; says he supports rebuilding local synagogues, condemns Holocaust]( [CRM]( [Probing ethics process, Reform group finds late rabbi ducked abuse complaints]( By [Asaf Shalev]( [New report commissioned by the Central Conference of American Rabbis reveals how Michael Cook was able to continue teaching after formal allegations were lodged against him]( [‘That was wrong’: James Franco admits he slept with students in his acting school]( By [TOI staff]( More Headlines [Over 2.5 million Israelis live in poverty, among them 1.1 million kids, report finds]( By [Ricky Ben-David]( [Woman, 24, dies in Yanuh-Jat fire; suspicion blaze caused by cellphone that ignited]( By [TOI staff]( [Herzog, Putin invite one another for visits during phone call]( By [TOI staff]( [Polish opposition senator hacked with spyware from Israel’s NSO Group]( By [Vanessa Gera and Frank Bajak]( [Hungarian Jewish group backpedals after coming out against gay marriage]( By [Cnaan Liphshiz]( [14-year-old Palestinian arrested with large knife in Tel Aviv bus station]( By [TOI staff]( [Sheryl Sandberg donates $5 million to United Hatzalah’s women’s unit]( By [Ron Kampeas]( [Israel’s controversial Oscar submission gets snubbed on the 2022 Academy shortlist]( By [Tom Tugend]( [Ruth be told / Dr. Ruth gushes over ‘brilliant’ portrayal of her in one-woman show]( By [julia GERGELY]( [Tehran tea party / Iran to accept payment in tea for Sri Lankan oil debt]( By [AFP]( [Illinois divests pension funds from Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s settlement boycott]( By [Jacob Magid]( [Leftist US Jewish magazine apologizes for running Israel fellowship ad]( By [Ben Harris]( [The daily edition]() [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? 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