Yom Shishee
Friday
5 Elul 5781
August 13 2021
Quote of the Day
“Do not expect compassion from our medical staff if you come to our hospital with Corona and are unvaccinated. Our nurses, doctors, and staff are exhausted.”
Director of the Intensive Care Unit of Sha’are Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem
Whatever you may think about vaccinations, there is no doubt that numerous unvaccinated Israeli corona patients are now filling up Corona wards and ICUs.
The News on the Israeli Street
The daily Corona update . . .
5,996 more Israelis were confirmed yesterday as having Corona bringing to 43,181 active cases in the country.
924,762 Israelis have tested positive since the pandemic began last year.
447 Israelis are in serious condition with another 71 in critical condition on ventilators.
6,604 Israelis have died of the virus–an increase of 11 since yesterday.
Yesterday, Israeli Police handed out a number of Corona citations:
1,927 were fined for not wearing a mask.
72 were fined for a breach of the Green Label restrictions.
64 were fined for violating their quarantine.
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
Palestinian terrorists attacked Egged buses on the Ma’ale Adumim-Jerusalem line six times last night near the Naomi Shemer Bridge. One passenger was wounded when hit directly by a rock on line 178. As a result, bus drivers announced they would not drive the route until they receive full police protection.
Palestinian terrorists using Molotovs and “rocks” attacked Israelis in numerous locations. The worst attack was on Road 60 between Ein Yabrud and Ofra where the driver of a car was wounded.
More than 10 fires started by explosive balloons from Gaza are currently burning along the railroad tracks between Sdot Negev and Sha’ar Hanegev:
A small section where fires are burning.
An update from yesterday’s blog . . .
Yesterday, we noted that Israel has in effect become a vassal state to the U.S. with President Biden becoming the liege lord of PM Bennett and Defense Minister Gantz.
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Apparently, following a public outcry, the government has switched course again.
As of this morning, what was to have been 3,623 residential units for Jews in Area C has been reduced by 1,400 to 2,223. This number will be advanced for authorization next week.
Supposedly. Who knows if the government will change course yet again; the Biden Administration is already condemning Israel for the units. Actually, only 908 will be validated for “final approval.”
At the same time, 863 Palestinian homes in Area C will be approved–still the first Palestinian homes approved in Area C for more than a decade.
A nation of star-gazers . . .
You probably were unaware of it, but Israelis are in love with the sky.
At various times during the year when meteor showers occur, people flock to Mitzpe Ramon and other desert locations with no ambient light to gaze in wonder at hundreds of shooting stars.
Tonight is one of those nights. There are supposed to be a myriad of shooting stars–the Perseids, originating from the cosmic dust trail of the huge Swift-Tuttle comet. Here in Israel they will appear in the northeastern sky.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Closed: Gone Fishing
You can put this sign on the doorway to each Ministry in the Coalition government.
What a bizarre few days it has been.
On the one hand, Covid-19 is surging again. Dire warnings about massively increasing numbers of seriously ill patients, mounting deaths, hospitals collapsing, possible holiday closures, turmoil with school openings–the list of crises faced by the government goes on and on.
And yet on the other hand, there is no government to be seen.
PM Bennett canceled the latest cabinet meeting about Corona yesterday because he decided to take a vacation to the north with his family. This was after a disastrous press conference in which he implored Israelis not to shake hands with each other, and then turned around and shook hands with those around him.
FM Lapid, under the guise of setting up new relations with Morocco, has gone gallivanting on a quasi vacation to Rabat, Casablanca, and other sites of interest carrying a huge entourage of Israelis with him. This, after the government encouraged Israelis to stay home and not fly abroad.
Finance Minister Lieberman is nowhere to be found after sending out tweets that his presence is not required at any Cabinet meetings having to do with Corona–or pretty much anything else. In the same tweets, he declared that his assistants could handle any questions that came up for the Finance Ministry.
“Defense” Minister Gantz apparently has only one thing on his mind and that is kowtowing to the Biden Administration. The problems of Israel seem not to be on his radar at all.
Health Minister Horowitz appears now and then on television revealing repeatedly that he as no idea what he is talking about when it comes to Corona. And why should he have an idea? He has no medical or health background whatsoever. All he seems to care about are civil rights for his fellow gay men.
We could go on, but why?
We are on a rudderless ship with no one at the helm. For all the ballyhoo from the new Coalition about how they were going to improve on Netanyahu’s lackluster performance by making joint decisions, all they have succeeding in doing is showing that Netanyahu, for all his faults, was actually a leader who could make decisions.
Perversely joking last week, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri called Bennett “the trainee on duty.”
Trainee perhaps, but on duty? No, he’s gone fishing.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.