The electronic surveillance is carried out via cellphone triangulation technology. The current extension is to last another three weeks.

Last month, the Knesset plenum, passed legislation to allow the Shin Bet to assist in the national effort to reduce to spread of the coronavirus, sparking debate about the possible infringement of privacy.

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Israel Hayom has learned that Facebook Israel has signed a deal to rent two additional floors in the central Tel Aviv tower where its offices are currently situated.

The deal is estimated to be worth NIS 750,000 ($220,000) a month and NIS 45 million  ($13 million) over five years.

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The same period saw 26,075 tests conducted. ‎

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Meanwhile, the number of COVID patients listed in serious condition rose to 304 on Friday, and the ‎death toll since the start of the epidemic in Israel stood at 443. ‎

As of Friday morning, there were 32,094 active or symptomatic patients, and 25,792 Israelis were listed ‎as "recovered" from the virus. ‎

Beit Shemesh, Elad, Betar Illit, Bnei Brak, Qalansawe, and Ein Mahal were all listed as "red" areas due to ‎high numbers of new cases among their residents. Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Lod, Jerusalem, Or Akiva, Kiryat ‎Malachi, and Nazareth have been downgraded to "orange," meaning the spread of the virus among ‎residents is slowing. ‎

Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis have been released from quarantine after new Health Ministry ‎guidelines took effect that shortened the period of mandatory quarantine for asymptomatic carriers to ‎‎10 days. ‎

In related news, the Health Ministry announced Friday that it has signed another deal to procure a ‎corona vaccine that is still in development – this time, with the California-based Arcturus Theraputics. ‎

The vaccine from Arcturus, LUNAR-COV19, is about to launch clinical trials in humans. Arcturus ‎previously announced its partnership with Duke-NUS in Singapore, in which its clinical trial application ‎was approved for Phases 1 and 2.   ‎

Arcturus is scaling up its manufacturing to enable it to produce hundreds of millions of doses across 2020 ‎and 2021, if the vaccine trials succeed and the product is approved for distribution. ‎

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The two-day program featured a wide array of panels and one-on-one conversations, as well as breakout sessions and online networking opportunities with other summit attendees, with the goal of gathering international educators to learn the best lessons and models to take and implement in informal and formal classroom settings.

The coronavirus pandemic, along with changing the day to day activities of governments, businesses, and individuals, has posed serious challenges to the future of education. However, despite the hardships, on an optimistic note, the panelists said the coronavirus pandemic has brought about an increased collaboration among Jewish organizations. They agreed that the crisis could and should be used as a stepping stone to improve and to strive for a "higher quality" of content and programming in Jewish day schools and summer camps.

"We definitely want to see this crisis end soon, but we don't want to miss the opportunity to keep all the great things that are currently taking place as a result. Expanding collaboration between organizations, elevating the quality of content of programs to a whole new level, making Jewish and Israel education affordable and accessible to all. Now that we have re-imagined education for two days, it is time to go ahead and build it," said IAC Co-founder and CEO Shoham Nicolet.

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Alarmed by a new spike in COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week ordered a slew of businesses to shut back down and disbanded some children's summer camps, dashing hopes for relief from record 21% unemployment.

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Protesters from across the political spectrum have taken to the streets with demands for speedier compensation from a coalition government they see as overstaffed. Less than half of $29 billion in pledged aid has been paid out.

Israeli police said there had been no sign of violence at protests, but Lapid cautioned that could change.

"We are talking to people who are becoming more and more desperate and angry, who feel, and rightly so, that the country has deserted them at their darkest hour," Lapid said.

"We are trying to be responsible, to calm things down, telling people, 'You know violence is not the answer'," he said.

"But it's getting harder by the day. I sympathize with the anger and I also worry about the possibility of violence as a result of this anger. What I am trying to do is not to encourage it but to raise a red flag as to what might happen."

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The number of new confirmed cases correlates with increased testing. In the same 24-hour period, 25,270 corona tests were conducted nationwide.

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However, the percentage of positive tests for the 24-hour period was high, with 5% testing positive for the virus. Betar Illit is seeing one of the country's highest percentages of positive test results, with 16% of tests conducted on residents of the city in the past seven days coming back positive.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz decided to quarantine himself citing concerns he had ‎been exposed to the virus earlier this week.  ‎

"Out of desire and responsibility to avoid the risk of spreading ‎infection and after consulting medical officials, Defense Minister and Prime Minister-designate Benny ‎Gantz has entered quarantine until he can be tested for coronavirus and an epidemiological ‎investigation can be completed," ‎a statement by his office said.

Gantz was reportedly "feeling well" and expected to continue overseeing the work of the defense ‎ministry and other matters from quarantine.

Tuesday saw a special ministerial committee order a week-long closure on Betar Illit, in Gush Etzion, to stop the spread of the virus. Since the city is located over the Green Line, responsibility for enforcing the closure falls on the IDF. Betar Illit Mayor Meir Rubenstein slammed the decision, accusing the Health Ministry of not giving the city enough time to prepare for the closure. The announcement about the closure was issued at 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Rubenstein said he "staunchly opposed" the closure and said he had sent an urgent letter to the ministry, asking that the decision be reversed. Rubenstein said that the ministry was using "bullying" tactics and making decisions without consultation.

The mostly-Haredi town of Rechasim, outside Haifa, also had an unusually high percentage of positive coronavirus results, with 17% of residents who were tested in the first seven days of July turning out positive for the virus.

Modi'in Illit saw 11% of coronavirus tests on its residents for the same seven-day period come back positive; Bnei Brak had 10% positive results, and Kiryat Malachi, outside Haifa, saw 9% of tests of its residents showing positive for coronavirus.

Raanana, east of Tel Aviv, which reported Tuesday that at least 25 students from its Metro West and Ostrovsky high schools had contracted coronavirus at private graduation parties, also saw a high percentage of positive test results in the first seven days of July, with 9% returning positive.

A total of 96 corona patients were listed in serious condition for the first seven days of July, compared to 103 for all of June, the Health Ministry reported Wednesday. The number of seriously ill patients on ventilators stood at 34 for the first seven days of July, the same number as in June.

As of Wednesday morning, the number of "active" or symptomatic patients in Israel stood at 13,841. A total of 343 corona patients have died of the virus or complications from it, and 18,376 have recovered. The country has carried out a total of over a million (1,144,742) tests since the start of the epidemic.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev, the National Security Council, and the Health Ministry have reached an agreement on new regulations for the nation's bus system.

The Transportation Ministry announced Wednesday that starting Thursday, July 9, buses would be restricted to 50% passenger capacity. City buses will be allowed to carry up to 32 passengers, and intercity buses will be allowed up to 30 passengers.

Buses will be allowed to operate air-conditioning, but with open windows. Public transportation will stop at 10 pm.

Bus drivers are saying that the issue of handling bus fares has yet to be solved, and complained that there is no oversight, with the drivers responsible for enforcing the restrictions.

Meanwhile, there is growing concern that the 2020-21 school year might not begin on time, or how schools will operate.

Winter weather eliminates the option of holding classes in the open air, whereas closed, heated classrooms could turn into coronavirus breeding grounds. But Israel does not have sufficient school structures or teaching staff to split students into smaller groups.

Education Minister Yoav Gallant was planning to meet with the top echelon of ministry officials to discuss how the ministry would prepare for a new school year under the cloud of corona, with less than two months to get things ready.

Expectations are that the 2020-21 school year will be handled with a great deal of improvised, last-minute solutions. This will require a hefty additional budget and considerable logistics because any small change will have to be implemented in thousands of schools.

One high-ranking official in one of Israel's large local authorities said, "The Education Ministry has no idea how it will start the school year, or if it will start the school year. No one knows how the virus will develop, not a month from now, and certainly not two months from now."

The official said he hoped that the plans for the new year would "arrive in time, not like what happened with the afterschool programs and schools for summer vacation."

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While nothing is certain, schools are being asked to prepare for three possible scenarios.

The first: A full closure that includes all schools or some individual schools, and distance learning. The second scenario would combine distance learning with in-school study. The third scenario is called the "corona routine," and entails schools remaining open but operating under public health regulations.

The Education Ministry said in response to reports that "We began preparing for the new school year six months ago [in January]. Given that, some of the framework and guidelines for next year have already been published. In addition, in the next few days, the ministry will continue to publish more parts [of its protocol] in an organized, orderly manner, while working on the launch of the school year with our educational partners." 

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Nevertheless, the virus and its knock-on effects have not influenced Hamas leaders at headquarters in the Gaza Strip, who continue to try and recruit operatives around the clock in the West Bank for attacks.

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"They haven't stopped trying to conduct terror attacks in the West Bank, and Israel hasn't stopped foiling them," Reuven Erlich, director of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, said.

Last month, the Shin Bet made an announcement that signified how constant the threat remains, albeit submerged from view for the most part. The agency stated that it broke up a Hamas terror cell that was plotting a series of bombing attacks in Jerusalem, including targeting the landmark Teddy Stadium. Other plots eyed Israel Defense Forces' positions, as well as roads near Ramallah with remote-controlled explosives. The terror suspects were arrested.

According to the investigation, they met during their studies at Birzeit University near Ramallah, where a Hamas student organization operates – the largest one in the West Bank. The organization, known at the "Kutla Islamiya," is devoted to "resistance" to Israel, and is often used by Hamas to promote its ideology and for recruitment.

Tens of thousands of shekels were transferred to the cell's members by a senior Hamas member, a resident of Ramallah, who is also an operative in the Kutla Islamiya of Birzeit University, according to the Shin Bet. "He was the liaison between the cell's member and Hamas, and he has been in prior administrative detention due to the risk that he posed to the security of the area," the domestic security agency said.

The break-up of the cell prevented a major series of armed attacks against civilians and soldiers and is part of a long line of plots thwarted by Israeli security forces in recent months.

In 2019, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, together with the IDF, foiled more than 500 significant terror attacks, including bombings, shootings and kidnappings, many of them planned by Hamas and many targeting Israeli cities.

At the same time, Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh threatened to kidnap more Israelis if a prisoner deal is not reached.

"A prisoner-exchange deal has a known price. Israel knows that. Either we will come to a respectable deal, or we will go to the other option, which is increasing our loot. Our arm is long," Haniyeh said.

End of a quiet period in Gaza?

Erlich noted that in Gaza itself, the security situation has been quiet with no border disturbances and isolated rocket incidents. He said two factors could end that. The first is the end of the pandemic era. The second potential route to escalation, he said, could be linked to a future outbreak of the disease in Gaza. In such a scenario, Hamas would face public pressure about its inability to care for critically ill patients, and in response, it could use violence to try and extort Israel to provide economic and medical assistance.

The Meir Amit Center has been releasing regular reports on how health authorities in Gaza and in the Palestinian Authority have been working to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Erlich gave Gaza's health authorities a good grade in their ability to avoid an outbreak thus far, citing very low infection numbers.

"In light of the fact that Gaza is highly crowded, has refugee camps and sewage flowing in the streets, Hamas's performance up to now has been effective," he said. "Why has it been able to stop the spread so far? Most importantly, because there are only two narrow entry points into Gaza. One is the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. And the second is the Erez border crossing with Israel, which has been almost completely closed from the start of the crisis. And Hamas has invested many resources in Rafah so that it can place all new arrivals in quarantine and monitor them," he added.

The lack of organized tourism and the fact that Gaza's population is relatively young have also helped.

Still, Erlich warned, if the virus does begin spreading in the community, it could "very quickly spin out of control. Because of Gaza's crowded conditions and because Gazans don't always listen to instructions about social distancing and masks. In addition, Gaza's health-care system is not prepared in terms of medical equipment, medicine and ventilation machines for dealing with outbreak in Gaza. Hamas is always living with this dichotomy. It has managed to stop it, but if the virus spreads inside the Strip, that will become a big problem."

As a result, Hamas has preemptively begun spreading a cover story as part of a messaging campaign, blaming Israel for Gaza's medical shortages and accusing Israel of destroying the medical system in Gaza. The Meir Amit Center quoted senior Hamas figures – among them Yahya Sinwar, [the military] leader of Hamas in Gaza – issuing threats, saying that if a shortage of ventilators and other medical equipment develops, Hamas will use force against Israel and "make six million Israeli settlers [sic] stop breathing."

Erlich said this narrative was designed to distract from the fact that Hamas has chosen by itself to massively neglect Gaza's civilian needs by investing most of its economic resources in military force buildup programs.

"Weapons, acquisitions, training, tunnel-digging – these and other military activities are very expensive. Hamas has allocated very little to the medical system. This is the reason for the shortage, not Israel," said Erlich. "If their budget had gone to civilian needs instead of military buildup, they would have a lot more money for medical needs. Israel would have helped them more; the international community would assist them more. Their situation could be completely different, and not only in the medical sector.

"But due to their ideology of destroying Israel and conflict with it, they made their choice," he said. "It projects onto everything else."

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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More and more unemployed continue to register with the Israel National Employment Service (INES), with 35,668 added to the rolls on Tuesday alone, a jump of 49% compared to Monday.

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A total of 843,945 registered for unemployment in March 2020. Nearly 90% (89.7%) are workers who had been assigned to unpaid leave, with another 6.4% who were laid off. These numbers – which have translated into an unemployment rate of 24.1% – are unprecedented in the history of Israel.

INES Director Rami Grauer said Tuesday: "Unfortunately, our predictions came true – we reached a million unemployed in March.

"We are working on creating conditions to enable next month to start with lower unemployment by restoring the economy gradually, insofar as we can in accordance with instructions. We are prepared to provide the public with solutions, with aid possibilities laid out as part of the national emergency plan we put together," Grauer said.

He also noted that the INES had mainly been discussing salaried employees.

"If a quarter of the workforce aren't working, then it's obvious that at least a quarter of the self-employed are in a similar situation, possibly even worse. The unemployment service estimates that there are at least 125,000 self-employed workers in Israel who have already been hurt badly by the crisis," he said.

Grauer added that while he welcomed the government's plans to provide compensation and grants to the unemployed, the main goal was to ensure that the nation's businesses and self-employed could get back on their feet and pay their employees.

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