Israeli President Reuven Rivlin praised the peace deal between Baharain and Israel that was announced on Friday. “I praise the Prime Minister and the President of the United States and all of the other people who worked tirelessly in order to achieve this great success. I call on other Arab and Muslim states to broker peace with Israel, peace between nations, peace for peace. This is the beginning of a new Middle East and we are witnessing the paradigm shift with Baharain following and also normalizing relations with Israel.”

The draft agreement that the Corona Cabinet created in a further attempt to slow the spread of the Coronavirus in Israel that will be brought to the government to ratify on Sunday, will include a full lockdown beginning on Friday, Erev Rosh Hashanah. The lockdown is set to begin at 6:00 a.m. The draft will also be shutting down the education system a few days earlier and all classes will cease as of Wednesday. Tefillos will be allowed outside in groups of up to 20 people.

Protesting against the lockdown, and against the economic downturn the country has taken since the beginning of the Coronavirus, some 10,000 people gathered in Jerusalem near the residence of the Prime Minister on Gaza Street near Balfour. An additional 500 people protested outside of the Prime Minister’s home in Cesaria. Protesters chanted that a cure for Corona will eventually be found, but it will not help all those who will be made destitute in the meantime by the government’s decisions that are full of corruption and run by a dictator.

Treasury and Industry Minister Amir Peretz said that he will not vote for a full lockdown during the government’s session tomorrow. “I support a nightly closure that allows 80 percent of the economy to remain open. Hundreds of thousands of employees and self-employed workers are living in fear. The Coronavirus is plaguing the economy no less than the health of our citizens. If we close things down, we must make reparations. I have asked the Prime Minister to immediately establish a team that will determine the reparation agreement that will be given to those losing work so that it will be clear to everyone what each person is set to receive.”

Director of the Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, MK Tzvi Hauser proposed looking into the option of shortening the number of the mandatory days of isolation by two days, from 14 to 12, for those who have been exposed to the Coronavirus. Hauser added a provision that in order to shorten the time, a person exposed must undergo a corona test and have a negative result. The proposal came following the publication of statistics that since July, more than one million Israelis were subject to mandatory isolation due to having been exposed to a person with the virus. Last week alone, 164,655 Israelis were forced into isolation. the shortening of the days of isolation would save the economy more than 150 million NIS per month and more than 2 billion NIS over the course of a year.

Two Ministers from the government went into mandatory isolation over the weekend after discovering that members of the staff tested positive for the virus. Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel, and Sports and Culture Minister Hili Tropper. Hendel already tested negative for the disease but still needs to wait out his days of isolation. Tropper is in isolation until Sunday, the second day of Rosh Hashanah as a result of the Director of his Ministry tested positive. Tropper also took a test and was found to be negative. Both Ministers will continue their work from their own homes.

The IDF reported that 615 IDF soldiers in the active service, career officers, and staffers, are currently positive for having Corona. The soldiers are all in light condition. This number is more than double the number that was reported six days ago. Some 7,287 soldiers are in isolation after having been exposed to a confirmed carrier of the virus.

The Achva Schoo in the Druze village of Yarka, with a population of 750 students, was shut down after a teacher tested positive with the virus. The town’s Corona-operations-center is meeting this evening to determine how to provide classes to the students.

Israeli police and border police located and shut down three nature parties that were arranged and took place in the region of Mate Yehuda over the course of Shabbat. A number of suspects were apprehended after they were caught with drugs in their possession. Tickets were issued to those who were in violation of Corona regulations, such as not wearing masks. Four of the organizers of the parties were detained for questioning.

A man in his early 20s was killed after his car flipped over near the entrance to Beit Ja’an in the Galilee. United Hatzalah volunteers and Magen David Adom ambulance teams responded to the car accident ad performed CPR on the young man but were forced to pronounce his death at the scene. Police are investigating the accident.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)