SECURITY/DEFENSE:

*Today, Thursday, is day 170 of the virtual Gaza ceasefire.

*Today is Gilad Shalit’s 894th day in Hamas captivity.

*Iran on Wednesday reported the completion of stage 2 of a 6-day advanced military exercise.

POLITICS, DOMESTIC & MORE:

*Labor primaries today will be manual. Following the failure of the computerized ballots earlier in the week, the party moved to return to paper ballots.

*An estimated 1,000 people in Israel are waiting for an organ transplant.

*The new Bnei Brak City Council will convene for a first time today, Thursday.

*Registered Labor Party members on Thursday are taking part in primary elections to elect a party leader and the 18th Knesset lineup.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)