The annual education conference hosted by Israel Hayom convened Wednesday at the Atid Raziel Youth Village in Herzliya, focusing on the education system's preparedness for the new school year and examining the war's profound effects on Israeli youth. Broadcast live on Israel Hayom's digital platforms, the event brings together a diverse array of voices from the field, including educators, administrators, Ministry of Education officials, and students, all sharing firsthand accounts of the challenging past year.

The conference serves as a crucial platform for hearing from those on the front lines of education – professionals, teachers, and principals from across Israel, alongside Ministry of Education representatives and students offering unfiltered perspectives on the tumultuous past year.

In an interview with Israel Hayom's education correspondent Noam (Dabul) Dvir, Education Minister Yoav Kisch hinted that there could be complications as to whether the school  year starts smoothly, noting that his staff have "just concluded three weeks of intense negotiations with the Israel Teachers Union. We're now heading into a decisive meeting. The gaps extend beyond personal contracts... There are other unresolved issues that need to be addressed."

Kissh emphasized the urgency of reaching an agreement: "We cannot allow the system to shut down at this critical juncture. We'll present a fair proposal to teachers, and I urge Ran Erez [who runs the union of high school and middle school teachers] to compromise. While he won't get everything, we'll offer an excellent package for parents that will enable us to start the school year under an emergency routine during wartime. Resorting to a strike would be utterly irresponsible."

Addressing the security situation, the minister said, "Israel should have sought a decisive outcome against Hezbollah last year. I see no way to safely return residents without an intense confrontation with Hezbollah. We are committed to bringing residents back to the north securely, and that will only happen through military action."

"Amid a leadership vacuum, individuals step up"

Opening the conference, Israel Hayom's Editor-in-Chief Omer Lachmanovitch reflected: "October 7 revealed the spirit of Israeli education in both life and death. We witnessed extraordinary Jewish solidarity in the southern communities under attack, and later throughout the ongoing campaigns in Gaza and the north. We've seen – and continue to see – unwavering dedication to the mission, massive waves of volunteerism, and a profound sense of mutual responsibility across civil society. In the face of a leadership crisis, we've watched individuals courageously step into the void and lead."

Lachmanovitch continued: "Israel Hayom, as a media organization deeply committed to national responsibility, views education as a cornerstone in Israel's journey to build and sustain an exemplary society. However, we must broaden our perspective on education beyond the confines of school walls. It's incumbent upon all of us to pursue continuous improvement and learning, thereby strengthening our communities, our society, our nation, and our people. As Janusz Korczak wisely noted, 'He who cares for days sows wheat, he who cares for years plants trees, he who cares for generations educates people.' We must think in generational terms and craft a vision for Israelis, especially in these challenging times."

"I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our partners who helped bring this vital conference to fruition. Special thanks to Yossi Mamo, CEO of the Atid Network, for our shared vision; to Avi Lugasi, director of the Atid Raziel Youth Village, our gracious host; to Ifat Ovadia-Luski, chairwoman of KKL-JNF; to Prof. Eliezer Shalev, president of Tel-Hai Academic College; and to Dr. Shira Hirsh, director of Escola at the Future Scientists Center.

"On a personal note, I'd like to express my appreciation to Amir Finkelstein, CEO of the Israel Hayom Group, and our exceptional conferences and events team, led by Or Dayan, for orchestrating this critical event that will benefit our youth and Israeli society as a whole," Lachmanovitch added.

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Israel's swift vaccination rollout has made it the largest real-world study of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. Results are trickling in, and they are promising. Older and at-risk groups, the first to be inoculated, are seeing a dramatic drop in illnesses.

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Among the first fully-vaccinated group there was a 53% reduction in new cases, a 39% decline in hospitalizations and a 31% drop in severe illnesses from mid-January until Feb. 6, Eran Segal, a data scientist at the Weizmann Institute said.

Video: Reuters

More will be known in two weeks, as teams analyze vaccine effectiveness in younger groups of Israelis, as well as targeted populations such as people with diabetes, cancer, and pregnant women.

More than a third of the population, 3,683,826 Israelis, have been fully vaccinated, 2,325,792 have been inoculated with the first dose.

Meanwhile, 5,540 Israelis have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Health Ministry reported Thursday morning. There are currently 67,808 active cases in the country. Some 1,027 Israelis are hospitalized in serious condition, 387 are in critical condition and 315 are on ventilators.

Nevertheless, according to National Security Council data, 1,027 constitutes the lowest number of serious cases in more than a month.

"We are beginning to see the impact of the vaccination campaign on coronavirus morbidity," Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch said. "I believe the number will continue to drop and we will reach less than a thousand daily serious cases."

The big question is whether vaccines can eradicate the pandemic.

Data from past decades suggest that viruses become endemic and seasonal, Michal Linial, a professor of molecular biology and bioinformatics at Hebrew University said. She predicted this coronavirus would become far less aggressive. "The virus is not going anywhere," she concluded.

Senior epidemic experts estimate that people would be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 once a year, just like the flu vaccine. The main reason behind the need to get vaccinated annually is the constant mutation of the virus, Christine Billings, a pandemic response manager at Jefferson County Public Health, explained.

Just like any other vaccine lasts a year, so does Pfizer's, Executive Director Dr. Mark Johnson added, noting that the elderly might need to receive two vaccinations a year as their immune systems require more strengthening.

At the same time, the Health Ministry is finalizing its plan to encourage more Israelis to get vaccinated by opening certain leisure and culture venues shortly. The ministry's plan is to limit access to restaurants, gyms, cultural and sports events for those who did not get vaccinated, while allowing free entrance for the inoculated who possess a so-called green passport. Access will also be available to Israelis who have tested negative for COVID in the last 48 hours.

In an attempt to encourage more Israelis to get inoculated, the Health Ministry might charge Israelis who refuse to get vaccinated for their COVID tests and reduce the number of testing sites.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein spoke of legislation that would enable employers to prevent unvaccinated employees from working at the office. The minister warned that the rule might apply to the education system as well.

In the meantime, US government researchers found that two masks are better than one in slowing coronavirus spread, but health officials stopped short of recommending that everyone double up.

The researchers found that wearing one mask – surgical or cloth – blocked around 40% of the particles coming toward the head that was breathing in. When a cloth mask was worn on top of a surgical mask, about 80% were blocked. When both the exhaling and inhaling heads were double-masked, more than 95% of the particles were blocked, John Brooks, a doctor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

Discussions about double-masking and higher-quality masks are important, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases scientist at the University of Toronto said. "But if a significant proportion of your population isn't wearing a mask in the first place, then you're having the wrong conversation," he added.

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Could the March 23 elections be postponed over the third coronavirus outbreak? Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch said Wednesday that "were anyone to ask the Health Ministry, now, in the middle of a lockdown, whether to hold the elections, any sensible person would say to postpone it until after the lockdown because there's great risk in holding elections with such a [high] morbidity rate."

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In an interview with local radio station 103FM, Kisch said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not addressed the issue at this time and that the responsibility falls on the Central Elections Committee.

Kisch later told Israel Hayom that he spoke out of concern for public health alone rather than a desire to postpone the elections. "From a health perspective, it would be very dangerous [to hold the elections now.] We are doing everything to bring down the morbidity rate."

A Likud statement said that this was not the party's official position and that it has no intention to postpone the elections.

Central Elections Committee Director-General Orly Adas refrained from commenting on Kisch's remarks that they might have to postpone the March 23 elections, saying only it was a political matter on which the Knesset must rule.

Adas said that the committee is preparing to hold the elections even in the case of thousands of new cases. To reduce crowds, they will increase the number of polling stations by about 30%, set up special voting booths in nursing homes and assisted living residences where those in sick or in quarantine will be able to vote, and open drive-through voting stations.

To postpone the election, the Knesset must pass a special law by an 80-MK majority vote.

Elections in Israel have only ever been postponed once, due to the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

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