Source: @ohad_zwigenberg / Instagram, February 27, 2021     
 
As feared, many ignore Purim restrictions: With the stability of Israel’s coronavirus decline teetering on the edge, Israeli health officials are holding their breath to see if last week’s Purim holiday causes another surge of cases. Police gave thousands of fines to partygoers, breaking up hundreds of parties on the first night of Purim. Parties illegally took place during the day as the government imposed a curfew to prevent public revelry in the evening. Transportation into Jerusalem, which celebrates Purim a day later than the rest of the world, was blocked out of fears of gatherings, but thousands of Israelis walked on foot into the city instead. In Tel Aviv, partiers gathered in outdoor settings, whereas ultra-Orthodox residents in Jerusalem gathered en masse indoors and without masks. Despite the very high rates of vaccination as compared to the rest of the world, Israel’s Health Minister is warning that an uptick in cases due to Purim might cause the government to introduce stricter measures around Passover, which begins later this month.
 
Two stillborn fetuses infected with COVID-19: In the second such case in Israel within a week, a fetus stillborn from a woman infected with the coronavirus was also found to be carrying the virus. In the most recent case, hospital staff said they were not certain that the virus led to the fetus’ death, but in the first such case, the hospital said there was a high probability that the fetus had died from COVID-19 complications. In describing the first case, Dr. Tal Brosh, head of the Infectious Disease Department at the Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, told the Ynet news site: “The fetus was infected through the placenta and with a very high degree of certainty, [we can say] died due to coronavirus.” The Health Ministry has advised pregnant women to get the coronavirus vaccine after a number of expecting women fell seriously ill, with several babies delivered prematurely via Caesarean section due to life-threatening risks to the mothers and the children.  
 
Israel to vaccinate Palestinian workers: Israel agreed to begin vaccinating approximately 120,000 Palestinian workers who are employed in Israel or in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Although Israel does not have an obligation to do so under the Oslo Accords, the Jewish state has come under fire from the Palestinians and international allies for not doing more to help vaccinate the Palestinians who are now entering another coronavirus lockdown in the West Bank. According to the Jerusalem Post, both Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli officials denied a report last week of a plan to open a vaccination complex on the Temple Mount. Meanwhile, in response to allegations that the PA was distributing vaccines in the West Bank “outside the framework of a clear and published plan,” Palestinian civil society organizations called for an inquiry into the PA’s distribution of the vaccines. Some Palestinians have accused the PA of only distributing the vaccines to those with connections to the PA government.
 
Austrian and Danish leaders to visit Israel: The Chancellor of Austria and the Prime Minister of Denmark will travel to Israel on Thursday to host a discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the success of Israel’s rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria wrote that the three leaders have been working closely together on issues related to the pandemic since last year and now “want to expand the cooperation.” Kurz, the world’s second youngest state leader, is very much ideologically aligned with Netanyahu as a hardline conservative, whereas the Danish PM, Mette Frederiksen, is a center-left social-democrat.

Iran behind Israeli ship attack: After both Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi indicated that Iran was behind an explosion on an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman late last week, Israel reportedly bombed Iranian targets near Damascus, Syria late Sunday night. Israel declined to comment on the report about the airstrikes, but on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli public broadcaster Kan definitively that the cargo ship explosion “was indeed an act by Iran, that’s clear.” The cargo ship was sailing to Singapore from Saudi Arabia when the explosion occurred. It was then diverted to a port in Dubai to assess the damage. On Friday, Gantz said Israel was taking action “almost weekly” to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
 
Iran rejects EU, U.S. offer: Iran rejected a European Union and American offer to hold direct nuclear talks in coming weeks, risking a new hike in tensions. On Sunday, a White House spokeswoman responded, “While we are disappointed at Iran’s response, we remain ready to reengage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with JCPOA [nuclear deal] commitments.” Iran is sticking to its position that it will not come back to the negotiating table without sanctions relief, which the Biden administration has so far ruled out. In addition to escalating its nuclear activities and limiting some monitoring of its activities in recent months, Iran said last week that if U.S. sanctions are not lifted within three months, it would erase surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities. At this week’s upcoming meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors, the European parties to the Iran deal will reportedly put forward a resolution condemning Iran’s suspension of some inspections.
 
Israel—Gulf alliance against Iran: According to an Israeli official, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have reportedly begun unofficial talks of an anti-Iran alliance in light of Iran’s recent threats to ramp up nuclear capabilities. The reports of cooperation came after the publication of an article by World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder in Arab News calling for a “NATO of the Middle East.” This indicates a deepening relationship between Israel and the Gulf countries, with which Israel signed the Abraham Accords last fall. Saudi Arabia is not a signatory of the Accords, but U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that Saudi peace with Israel is a goal of the new administration. Additionally, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on stage at CPAC last week that ‘many’ in Saudi Arabia want normalization with Israel. 

Cardiac accessory implant operation being performed at Bellinson Medical Center (Source: Courtesy)
 
Today we celebrate another medical breakthrough in Israel! On Monday, Israeli surgeons at the Rabin Medical Center Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikvah performed the world’s first cardiac accessory implant surgery. The procedure usually involves implanting a cardiac device near the heart through open heart surgery, but surgeons innovatively placed the device under the patient’s skin instead. Throughout the procedure the patient remained fully conscious and mobile, and she required very little recovery and rehabilitation before being released from the hospital. This procedure marks a crucial advancement in cardiac healthcare technologies and could possibly serve as a springboard for similar treatments to complicated cardiac cases.
 
On this day in 1855, Czar Nicholas I of Russia died at age 58. Nicholas’ 30-year reign from 1825 to 1855 was horror for the empire’s approximately 2,400,000 million Jews. To crush the Jewish spirit, Nicholas introduced mandatory conscription to the Russian army for all Jewish men from age 18 for 25 years (until they turned 43). Prior to conscription, Jewish boys were required to attend schools for conscripts starting at age 12, before their bar mitzvahs. Nicholas also conducted mass forced population transfers of Jews in Russia, moving them from one end of the empire to the other by decree. Under his reign, Jewish literature (including the Talmud) was heavily censored and Jewish clothing was regulated. On the same day that he died, his son, Alexander II of Russia, a reformer, was crowned Czar.