By: Emily Jones – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel’s parliament on Wednesday passed a preliminary measure to dissolve the dysfunctional government coalition between Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu, setting the stage for Israel’s fourth election in two years.

The Knesset’s vote passed 61 to 54 with Gantz’s Blue in White Party voting in favor of the proposal and Netanyahu’s Likud Party voting against it.

Speaking at a prime-time television address on Tuesday, Gantz called Netanyahu a “serial breaker of promises” and said his Blue and White party would vote in favor of the no-confidence measure. A formal vote to dissolve the government could come as early as next week. Gantz’s decision is a warning that he has lost patience with Netanyahu but leaves the door open for emergency negotiations.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2020/december/israel-rsquo-s-govt-on-the-verge-of-collapse-pushing-israel-toward-fourth-election-in-two-years

By: Amanda Borschel-Dan – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com

To fight the worst Desert Locust threat in 70 years, Start-Up Nation delegation flies in with innovative techniques, utilizing drones and nighttime spraying

At the request of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a crack team of Israelis swooped into the war-, storm-, and famine-struck country earlier this month to aid in its fight against a further plague — desert locusts.

Currently on the ground in the country’s eastern Somali region, the Israeli delegation is testing out an innovative technique of using drone surveillance and targeted night-time spraying, which will reduce the amount of pesticides.

As the country faces civil war in the north and massive flooding from Cyclone Gati, the locust swarms have invaded the country and are affecting over 70,000 households.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-crack-team-combats-plague-of-locusts-in-war-torn-ethiopia/

By: Anna Ahronheim – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

Underground barrier almost complete; new “smart border” concept deployed along northern section of Gaza Strip.

The Hamas tunnel that stretched several meters into Israel and was discovered by the IDF last month near Kissufim forest was the deepest tunnel ever dug.

\While the military is not certain as to what its purpose was, it believes that it was intended to test the underground barrier or to be used for a cross-border raid by the terror group though not necessarily to abduct Israeli troops or civilians.

It was only dug recently and was not one of 20 terror tunnels used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and destroyed by the IDF since the end of the last war between Israel and Gaza in 2014.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/cross-border-attack-tunnel-discovered-last-month-was-deepest-ever-found-649598

• The CARES Act, which went into effect this spring, established a new above-the-line deduction for charitable giving.
• You can write off up to $300 in cash donations on your 2020 income tax return, which you’ll be filing next spring.
• Normally, you’d have to itemize deductions to write off charitable giving when you file your taxes. About 14.8 million households took a tax break for donating to charity in 2018, according to the IRS.

Giving a few bucks to your favorite charity in time for the holidays? You can finally collect a tax break for it.

The CARES Act, which was signed into law this spring, included a “partial above the line deduction” for charitable contributions.

This allows people who take the standard deduction — which is $12,400 for single filers and $24,800 for married-filing-jointly in 2020 — to claim a deduction of up to $300 in donations.

You’d claim this tax break when you file your 2020 return next spring.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/23/cares-act-added-a-300-charitable-contribution-deduction-heres-how-it-works.html

By: Raphael Ahren – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com

Speaking in Jerusalem, US secretary of state vows Washington to immediately take steps against anti-Israel boycott activists; Netanyahu hails move as ‘simply wonderful’

The United States government will formally designate the anti-Israel boycott movement “anti-Semitic” and immediately start cracking down on groups affiliated with it, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday during a visit to Israel, calling BDS a “cancer.”

“Today I want to make one announcement with respect to a decision by the State Department that we will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as anti-Semitic,” he said, standing next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint statement to the press.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-to-formally-declare-bds-anti-semitic-pompeo-says-announcing-crackdown/

Ynet News – ynetnews.com

Ex-IAF fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe to join International Space Station for 20 months of experiments as part of partnership between Ramon Foundation and State of Israel; Rivlin urges Stibbe to ‘continue and fulfil legacy’ of Ramon family

Israel will send its second astronaut into space at the end of 2021, with former IAF fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe set to join a scientific mission to the International Space Station.

The announcement of the mission was made jointly by President Reuven Rivlin, the Ramon Foundation and the Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday at the president’s Jerusalem residence.

Stibbe is due to start his mission at the end of 2021, as part of a partnership between the Ramon Foundation and the State of Israel, making him a pioneer in the global private space industry.

The Ramon Foundation is a non-governmental organization for young people named for Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who died during the Columbia space shuttle disaster in February 2003, his late son Assaf Ramon, who died in a 2009 training flight accident, and his wife Rona Ramon, who lost her battle with cancer in 2018.

The former pilot is set to spend 200 hours onboard the ISS, conducting an unprecedented range of experiments using Israeli technology and scientific developments, President Rivlin’s office said in a statement.

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BymOzC1cv

By: Chris Mitchell – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Perhaps the main threat facing Israel and the United States in the Middle East is a nuclear Iran. 

Before the proverbial ink was even dry on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in 2015, also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, Iran had pushed its limits. 

Israeli investigative journalist Ronen Bergman told CBN News that Iran has been slowly and consistently breaching the limits laid out in the nuclear deal.

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2020/november/how-close-is-iran-to-a-nuclear-bomb-closer-than-you-may-think

By: Times of Israel Staff – timesofisrael.com

PM says Israel will receive enough doses to inoculate 4 million Israelis, though reports say deal allows company to pull out of its promises if circumstances demand

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday announced that Israel signed a deal with Pfizer to purchase millions of coronavirus vaccine shots, days after the US pharmaceutical firm said data suggested the vaccine was 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.

The announcement came amid new worrying signs that infections in the country may be trending upwards again.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-seals-vaccine-deal-with-pfizer-amid-signs-pandemic-spreading-again/

By: Jerusalem Post Staff – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

Unemployment during lockdown in October was nearly double what it was in September.

Some 22.7% of Israelis, 938,000 people, were unemployed at the height of the second coronavirus lockdown, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Calcalist reported. The statistics refer to the first half of October and are based on a poll of the workforce.

In the month before the second lockdown, unemployment was at 11.5%, according to the bureau.

The definition of unemployment used in this report is the bureau’s broad definition of unemployment that includes those who are unemployed, those on unpaid leave (measured by the metric of if they have worked at in the week of the poll) and those who lost their job during the pandemic and are not currently seeking work.

Without accounting for those who are not currently looking for work, unemployment stands at 20.7%.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/unemployment-in-israel-at-227-percent-with-938000-people-jobless-648352

Jewish News Syndicate – jns.org

The legislation requires Iran to produce 120 kilograms (265 pounds) of 20 percent-enriched uranium a year, activate thousands of centrifuges and immediately reactivate the Arak nuclear reactor.

The Iranian parliament has passed a bill obligating the government to dramatically step up the country’s nuclear-related activity, Iranian media reported on Monday.

The legislation consists of nine articles, among which are a requirement that Iran produces 120 kilograms (265 pounds) of 20 percent-enriched uranium a year, according to Iran’s Channel 2.

https://www.jns.org/iranian-mps-chant-death-to-america-after-passing-law-to-increase-nuclear-activity/