Turkey and Greece to begin talks over Aegean sea after five-year hiatus
25th January 2021
The Telegraph lead with Israel’s vaccination drive as the country has begun vaccinating 16 to 18-year-olds against COVID-19 in an effort to enable them to take exams. The exams play an important role in deciding where students will go to university. Their results can also affect their placement in the military, where many young Israelis do compulsory service. More than a quarter of Israel’s population of nine million have received at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine since 19 December, its health ministry says.
The
Gantz threatens no support for lockdown extension unless fines hike passes
Without Blue & White s support, the measure to extend national closure to Jan. 31 lacks a Knesset majority for approval; ultra-Orthodox ministers opposed to bill pressure Netanyahu to delay final vote on legislation though PM says bill must be pushed through
Moran Azulay, Nina Fuchs |
Updated: 01.25.21 , 20:53
After the Knesset approved the first reading of a bill to raise fines for those violating coronavirus restrictions, Blue & White chairman Benny Gantz told his Likud coalition partners that if the legislation is not tabled for its final vote, his party will not support a measure to extended the lockdown by a week.
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Labor MK Merav Michaeli casts her vote for party leader at a polling station in Tel Aviv, on January 24, 2021. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)
MK Merav Michaeli on Sunday won the Labor leadership primaries, taking over the storied center-left party as it faces possible extinction in the March 23 general elections.
Michaeli, the only current Labor lawmaker in the race, finished first with 77 percent of the 9,651 votes cast, out of over 37,000 registered party members.
The runner up was Avi Shaked, an ally of outgoing Labor chief Amir Peretz, who got 19.08% of votes. Gil Beilin, the son of former minister Yossi Beilin, picked up 2.37% of ballots, while five other candidates finished below 1%.
When the pandemic scuttled Shira Hofesh’s plans to get married overseas, she did what a growing number of Israelis are opting to do she got married virtually in the state of Utah.
That seemingly simple act has landed her at the center of a case before the Israeli Supreme Court, one that if her appeal succeeds could fundamentally change the options available to Israeli couples unable to get hitched in the Holy Land.
Hofesh’s husband, Alexey Kabishcher, immigrated to Israel from Ukraine as a child but is not recognized as Jewish by the Orthodox Rabbinate. As a result, the couple could not get married in Israel.
Marriages online: Utah Countyâs system a hit with Israeli couples
The option is seen as a way around strict marriage laws but now is under government review.
(Illustration by Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
  | Jan. 19, 2021, 2:00 p.m.
The phones at the Utah County clerkâs office just keep ringing, many of the calls coming from those seeking marriage licenses. While that may not be surprising, given the countyâs reputation as a haven for big families, thereâs a twist.
A number of the calls are coming from Israel. In fact, between Dec. 28 and Jan. 13, the county issued 62 licenses to Israeli couples. About a third of the 474 marriage licenses that were issued during the same period were to couples outside of Utah.