Haaretz: Deal Reached With Israeli Gov’t to Protect National Library’s Independence. “Israel’s education minister and the National Library of Israel have reached an agreement on the appointment of senior library officials, ending government efforts to undermine the institution’s independence.”
Times of Israel: Hebrew U threatens to pull content if National Library politicized. “The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has warned that if the government moves ahead with plans to make a fundamental change to the National Library Law, the institute will pull its content from the institution.”
Forward: Israeli immigration records now searchable in English online. “The collection of 1.7 million records, published by MyHeritage.com, is free for anyone to search. The database includes scanned images of documents for immigrants who arrived in Israel between 1919 and 1948, from anywhere in the world, by ship, plane or land. The records include the immigrants’ names; names of those who traveled with them and those who were expecting them in Israel; country of origin; date of arrival and their destination city.”
Reuters: Israel to Crack Down on Social Media Companies to Tackle Offensive Content. “Israel said on Wednesday it plans to regulate social media companies such as TikTok, YouTube, Meta’s Facebook and Twitter, following in the steps of the European Union in tackling illegal and offensive online content.”
Jerusalem Post: TikTok bans Palestinian terror group Lions’ Den from platform. ” Video-sharing platform TikTok has restricted the account of the new Palestinian terrorist group claiming responsibility for a host of recent attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank, the Lions’ Den. The group, which has yet to reveal its political affiliation to any Palestinian faction, has been using its social media platforms to share propaganda and increase support.”
Haaretz: Google Blurring Out Satellite Images of Israel – Again. “After legislation limiting satellite imagery of Israel expired, Google began showing higher resolution images. But recently something changed for the worse.”
WIRED: Google and Amazon Want More Defense Contracts, Despite Worker Protests. “HUNDREDS OF GOOGLE workers and their supporters gathered near the company’s downtown San Francisco offices Thursday, raising signs that read ‘No Tech for Apartheid’ and filling the air with chants of ‘Tech from Amazon and Google! You can’t claim that you are neutral!’ Similar scenes unfolded outside Google and Amazon offices in New York and Seattle, and a Google office in Durham, North Carolina.
New York Times: Google Employee Who Played Key Role in Protest of Contract With Israel Quits. “A Google employee who became the most visible opponent of a company contract with the Israeli military said on Tuesday that she would resign after claiming Google had tried to retaliate against her for her activism. The employee, Ariel Koren, a marketing manager for Google’s educational products arm who has worked for the company for seven years, wrote a memo to colleagues announcing her plan to leave Google at the end of the week.”
Jerusalem Post: Map of Jewish heritage sites in Ukraine presented to Russian ambassador . “The locations of Jewish heritage sites in Ukraine were passed on to Anatoly Viktorov, Russia’s Ambassador to Israel by Yaakov Hagoel, the chairman of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) on Wednesday. In light of the great risk of damage to national Jewish heritage sites in Ukraine, Hagoel shared a map of the Jewish heritage sites in Ukraine with the Russian ambassador in order to avoid as much accidental damage to the sites as possible.”
CTech: Yandex wants to move its headquarters to Israel but has some conditions . “Arkady Volozh, one of the founders of Yandex, wrote to the Israeli Prime Minister and three ministers telling them that he has decided to move the company’s headquarters to Tel Aviv. He is seeking special conditions for the company’s non-Israeli workers as he attempts to move the ‘Russian Google’ away from Russia and the sanctions.”
Haaretz: Israel Officially Ends Indoor Mask Mandate Amid COVID Decline. “Israel’s cancellation of the indoor mask mandate came into effect on Saturday evening, as coronavirus continues to wane in the country. The decision will not apply in high-risk places, such as hospitals, flights, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, while people on their way to quarantine will also be obliged to wear a mask.”
Times of Israel: Where are you for Seder? Website pairs Israeli hosts with new Ukrainian immigrants. “In an effort to help ease their integration into Israeli society and in response to many offers of assistance from Israeli citizens, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry, along with the Jewish People Policy Institute think tank and Army Radio, launched its new initiative, in which Israelis offer to host new immigrants for the Seder meal by filling out an online form (Hebrew)…. Alongside this initiative, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry also unveiled a new program to allow Israelis to offer various forms of assistance to the new immigrants from Ukraine, as well as those from Russia and Belarus, who have also been increasingly coming to Israel in the wake of Moscow’s war.”
UPI: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tests positive for COVID-19. ” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement Monday, a day after he met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.”
Jerusalem Post: COVID-19 in Israel: New variant similar to Omicron, no rise in serious cases. “The R-rate currently stands at 1.35, a slight reduction compared to late last week when it measured at 1.4, but still considerably higher than it had been in recent weeks. The increase in infections that is reflected in the R-rate can also be seen in the number of total new infections over the last seven days – around 88,500 – which were 85.3% higher compared to a week prior. Despite the considerable increase in daily infections, there has not been an increase in serious cases, they are, in fact, still continuing to decline.”
New York Times: Israel, Fearing Russian Reaction, Blocked Spyware for Ukraine and Estonia. “The Eastern European countries had sought to buy Pegasus, spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO, to carry out intelligence operations against Russia.”
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