Israel

13 April 2020; MEMO: Israel locked down mainly ultra-Orthodox Jewish areas of Jerusalem on Sunday to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus from the densely populated neighbourhoods where the infection rate is high.

The entry and exit restrictions, enforced by police roadblocks, were imposed on the same day that a government order for the wearing of masks in public went into effect throughout the country.

JERUSALEM, Apr 13 (NNN-MA’AN) – A former Israeli chief rabbi has died, after contracting the COVID-19, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said today, Monday.

Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron was the country’s highest-profile death from the pandemic.

Bakshi-Doron, 79, who served from 1993 to 2003, as the state’s top chaplain for Sephardim, or Jews of Mena descent, died late on Sunday, to complications from the respiratory virus, in a Jerusalem hospital.

“Tragically, Rabbi Bakshi-Doron contracted the virus and doctors’ efforts to save him did not succeed,” Netanyahu said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s president on Sunday rejected a request to extend coalition talks between the country’s two most powerful political parties — appearing to give a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pushing the nation toward an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

Jerusalem, Apr 12 (AP) Benny Gantz, leader of Israel's Blue and White Party, on Saturday asked the country's president for a two-week extension as he tries to form a coalition government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gantz, Netanyahu's chief rival in three elections over the past year, was given the task by Israel's president last month of forming a new government after winning the backing of a narrow majority of members of the newly elected parliament.

JERUSALEM, Apr 11 (NNN-MA’AN) – The number of COVID-19 cases in Israel topped 10,000, with 95 deaths, the health ministry said Friday.

The ministry said, nine people died and 440 more tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total number of cases to 10,408, including 167, who are in critical condition, while at least 1,061 have recovered.

The government has taken a number of steps to stem the spread of the virus, including closing all educational institutions and banning gatherings of more than 10 in open or closed public areas. 

JERUSALEM (AP) — On the day set aside to mark Christ’s crucifixion, most churches stood empty. Streets normally filled with emotional processions were silent. St. Peter’s Square was almost deserted. And many religious sites in the Holy Land were closed.

Instead, Christians around the world commemorated Good Friday behind closed doors, seeking solace in online services and trying to uphold centuries-old traditions in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

09 April 2020; MEMO: The grandson of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin apologised on Wednesday for wishing in a tweet that the chairman of the Likud Party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would catch the coronavirus and be sick, spending the rest of his life in prison.

09 April 2020; MEMO: The head of Israel’s Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) alliance, Benny Gantz, said yesterday that he is still willing to form a “national emergency government” with the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu, but “not at any cost”.

JERUSALEM, Apr 9 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel on Wednesday reported two new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 73.

The two victims included a 90-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man, both suffering from other serious diseases, the Shaare Zedek and Soroka medical centres said.

Of 9,404 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Israel, 738 patients were treated in hospitals across the country, according to Israel’s Ministry of Health.

A total of 145 patients were in serious condition, of whom 120 were using ventilators, it said.

06 April 2020; MEMO: The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday ordered soldiers at its largest base not to leave their rooms amid reports of a coronavirus outbreak there, Israel’s Kan news channel has reported. Soldiers at Camp Sharon in the Negev Desert have been told to stay there until further notice.