A 63-year-old woman was rushed to Carmel Hospital in Haifa in critical condition on Tuesday after choking on a Hanukkah donut.

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Magen David Adom paramedic Shmuel Dror said, "When we got there, we saw the woman lying on the ground, unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing. We immediately started advanced CPR, which [cardiac] massage and drugs. While treating her, we used a special tool to pull a piece of dough out of her throat.

"We put her into the ambulance and took her to the hospital, continuing resuscitation efforts," Dror said.

This is the second such incident to occur in a 24-hour period. On Monday, a 63-year-old man was taken to the hospital in serious condition, in an induced coma and on a ventilator, after choking while eating a donut. His condition improved and on Tuesday his injuries were listed as minor.

Magen David Adom reminded the public that Hanukkah donuts can pose a risk to babies, children, the elderly, and anyone who has trouble swallowing, and recommends that the donuts be served in pieces.

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In an unprecedented move, the government has approved thousands of slots for Palestinian workers in Israel's high-tech field.

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To date, the state has largely approved work permits for Palestinians in the construction, agricultural, industrial, and service fields. With the approval of the pilot program, Israel's high-tech sector, which suffers from a severe shortage of skilled workers in recent years, will benefit from the addition of thousands of Palestinian workers in the coming years.

The move is an initiative of the Regional Cooperation and Economy and Industry Ministries, in cooperation with the Defense, Finance, and Science and Technology Ministries.

The pilot program will be split up into three separate phases, within the framework of which hundreds of permits will be issued: Up to 200 Palestinian workers will receive permits by 2022, followed by another 200 in 2023, and another 100 permits in 2024. In total, Israel will issue 500 such permits in the pilot stage.

The permits will not exceed those of the general cap on Palestinian work permits.

According to the framework, the salary of a Palestinian employed in the high-tech industry will be no less than 150% that of the average Israeli salary to allow Israeli companies to directly hire Palestinian workers with advanced training. The average national salary in August was 11,799 shekels (around $3,730), according to Central Bureau of Statistics data.

This initiative is meant to provide an alternative to hiring employees from overseas and Eastern Europe and India in particular. This move will also prevent harm from being done to Israeli employers in the field. Likewise, the government also approved a proposal to increase the caps on the service and industry fields to 8,550 Palestinian workers and increase the cap for the Atarot Industrial Area in Jerusalem to 3,600 Palestinian workers.

Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej said, "The Israelis and the Palestinians live in a common geographic space, and we must bolster cooperation and reciprocity between the citizens and economies. The absorption of high-tech workers expresses this desire to connect in all fields, and it opens gates not only to low-wage service and industry workers but also to white-collar workers in a leading field that suffers from a severe shortage of manpower. We hope the move bolsters the high-tech industry in the Palestinian Authority."

The move nevertheless sparked criticism, in particular among right-wing circles, where claims were made bringing in additional Palestinian workers would put lives at risk.

"This is a security threat to the State of Israel," Matan Peleg, the CEO of the right-wing Im Tirzu organization, said. "Who will guarantee these same Palestinians don't use the intelligence they acquire in high-tech and transfer it to Hamas? Instead of promoting employment in the Haredi and Druze sectors, they are hiring Palestinians at the core of our knowledge and progress. It's not even blindness, it's unprecedented foolishness."

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United Arab Emirates Rabbi Levi Duchman lit the Hanukkah candles at the Israeli pavilion at EXPO 2020 in Dubai on Sunday. A candle-lighting ceremony was also held at the Bahraini pavilion and was attended by former Bahraini Ambassador to the US Houda Nonoo and members of the Arab Gulf Jewish community.

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Over 2 million people have visited the fair, the world's largest fair, thus far.

The Dubai candle-lighting event, which would not have been possible prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords, took place thanks to the efforts of the Jewish National Fund in the UAE. Israel's Consul General in Dubai Ilan Sztulman and Commissioner-General of Israel's EXPO 2020 Pavilion Elazar Cohen were among those in attendance.

Duchman lit the Hanukkah candles in the presence of local leaders, businesspeople, Jewish residents of the UAE, and tourists from around the world.

The event included a performance by the members of the Jewish community's children's choir and was attended by students of the community's Hebrew school.

Thousands of Jews, none of them native-born, now live in the UAE and other Gulf states.

Dubai has one older, Ashkenazi synagogue known as "the Villa," which was opened around a decade ago in the private home of a South African attorney. Jews interested in praying there learned of its location by word of mouth. Another Sephardi synagogue is situated in the private residence of Chabad Rabbi Levi Duchman, who arrived in Dubai from Morocco seven years ago. A third, more imposing synagogue, along with a mosque and a church, will be opened as part of the Abrahamic Family Campus, to be established on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island. Alongside the three houses of worship, the campus will include a common garden in which a small museum and educational center will be built. The Abrahamic Family Campus is set to open in 2022.

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Hamas is furious with Egyptian mediators and believes Cairo is cooperating with Israel's foot-dragging on efforts to reach a deal for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip and a more permanent ceasefire with the terrorist group. This according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.

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The newspaper, which has close ties to Hamas, quoted a senior terrorist official as accusing Egypt of "not meeting even 5% of the commitments made to us at the end of the Saif al-Quds operation [the Hamas term for the Israel-Gaza conflict in May]."

According to the report, the Egyptians are dragging out talks with Hamas to lessen the demands the organization would make in a future deal with Israel for a prisoner exchange deal that would see the return of Israeli captives Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed and the remains of Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who were killed in 2014's Operation Protective Edge.

Meanwhile, Palestinian media outlets reported Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Ramallah to discuss joint regional issues as well as the Palestinian leader's upcoming meeting with Qatar's ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in Doha.

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Mansour Abbas, the head of the Islamist Ra'am party, said, "I don't see the Iranian nuclear issue as an existential threat to Israel. There is certainly a threat, but we'll leave that to the professionals."

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Speaking at a cultural event in Beersheba Saturday night, Abbas said he would not rule out a political collaboration with the Likud party in the future. He declined to reveal what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered him in the last election. "My political partners are also pushing me to release things," he said.

Asked for his opinion on Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman, a man many on the Left had once decried as a racist due to his positions on Arab Israelis, the Ra'am chief said, "There's no doubt that today, I see a stately finance minister and stately political leader who relates to everyone and tries to promote everyone's interests.

"I am familiar with all of Lieberman's opinions and slogans in the past, they are all in a process. A system of trust is beginning to develop with people. Lieberman and [Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett are partners and that is very much appreciated," he said.

Commenting on the Palestinian issue, Abbas said, "I hope that all the Palestinian factions will begin to look differently at the conflict with Israel and understand that there is a possibility to create something new. I believe our success, meaning Ra'am's [success], will also influence them."

Asked about President Isaac Herzog's planned participation at a Hanukkah ceremony in Hebron at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron Sunday, Abbas said, "We need to be incredibly careful when it comes to issues of religion because that's when politics stop working and only emotions come through. As soon as there is harm or such a game is played with religious sensitivities, people cease being rational. I am concerned by any act that tries to take advantage of religious beliefs – to try and turn it into a political tool. We will pay a price. We must be smart and not right."

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Over the past few months, essentially since the administration of US President Joe Biden entered the White House, officials in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have adopted a new strategy in terms of their foreign policies regarding Iran and renewing diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic.

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Initially, it was the Saudis who held a series of clandestine meetings in Baghdad with senior Iranian officials, attended among others by the Saudi ambassador to Iraq. Then the Emiratis opened a dialogue with the Iranians, even appointing former foreign minister Anwar Gargash to spearhead the efforts.

Gargash, who met with Ali Bagheri, Iran's deputy foreign minister and the man in charge of the Islamic republic's nuclear program, declared after the meeting in Abu Dhabi that its purpose "was to stabilize relations and reduce tensions with Iran." The senior Emirati diplomat added that a senior UAE delegation would soon reciprocate with a visit to the Iranian capital.

Aiming at Damascus as well

In the UAE, officials went further than dialogue with Tehran. After a phone call between UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan with the tyrant Bashar Assad, the UAE's foreign minister was dispatched to Damascus for a highly publicized meeting with the Syrian president. All of this, despite strong protestations from Washington that the UAE could be facing severe sanctions for violating the American "Caesar Act," which punishes bodies that do business with Syria.

In the Emirates, officials said the rapprochement with Damascus was meant to dislodge the rehabilitating Syrian regime from the tentacles of the Iranian octopus. Moreover, officials in Abu Dhabi stressed that they want good relations with all countries in the region and that within the framework of their country's policy of zero conflicts, al-Nahyan made a rare trip to Turkey this week, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign a series of commercial, economic and diplomatic cooperation agreements.

However, now senior officials in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, too, are clarifying the main reason behind their about-face toward Iran and their zero-conflicts strategy. The anti-Iranian regional coalition that took shape during the presidency of Donald Trump – which culminated in the signing of the Abraham Accords and included Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and indirectly Saudi Arabia – has disintegrated and no longer exists in practice.

"It's true that one of the purposes behind the joint military exercises and drills that were recently held was to send a clear message to Tehran," a senior official in Abu Dhabi said in a conversation with Israel Hayom. "But the coalition that was formed with the encouragement of Trump and his administration, which was essentially an unofficial regional defense pact with American backing between Israel and the Gulf states that fear a radical ayatollah regime with nuclear weapons – has evaporated."

'Biden's disrespectful approach'

According to senior officials in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, it was Biden's agenda regarding the Middle East and the Iranian threat that spurred their policy shift toward Iran. "We are still studying the nature of the relationship with the new government in Israel and its leader. But Israel, despite the changes to its government, has fulfilled all of its promises toward us," a senior source in Abu Dhabi told Israel Hayom.

"The problem is Biden and his administration," the source added, "which has done everything to squander Trump's achievements in terms of normalization with Israel and to drive a wedge in the regional defense pact against the Iranian threat. Cases in point, the administration suspended the deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, and Washington objected to and vetoed selling us arms we need. We weren't surprised by the Saudi attempt to engage in positive dialogue with Tehran in light of Biden and his administration's disrespectful approach toward the Saudi royal house and the kingdom in general."

Eyes to Sudan

The panicked US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the senior Emirati official said, didn't add to the sense of confidence in America among allies in the Middle East. The Biden administration's conduct vis-a-vis Sudan, meanwhile, and Washington's response to the coup carried out by the head of the transitional council, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, only exacerbated the concerns among Abraham Accords signatory states – including Sudan – that in the moment of truth, the American president and his administration won't give them the support and backing they need.

"The Biden administration is making every possible mistake, which could push Sudan toward political instability and even lead to Khartoum's resignation from the Abraham Accords," the senior UAE official said. "General Burhan worked to expel all the political elements in the country that undermined the military council and collaborated with radical Islamist elements that wanted to seize power. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok spearheaded this plot together with extremist political elements from the [Sudanese] Ba'ath party and Islamist political activists.

"Instead of supporting the steps Burhan took to form a liberal government, the Americans forced him to release Hamdok from detention and warned [Burhan] that if he didn't allow [Hamdok] to form a government, Washington would impose severe sanctions against Sudan. Burhan had no choice but to accept the American dictate," the UAE official continued.

"If Sudan again finds itself in the midst of a coup in which the jihadist and radical Islamist groups come out on top, no one will be surprised if they throw the normalization deal with Israel into the dustbin of history," the official added.

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Airstrikes attributed to Israel near Homs in central Syria overnight Tuesday resulted in two civilian deaths and at least six wounded, Syrian media reported.

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The SANA news agency claimed early Wednesday morning that two civilians had been killed in the strikes and that six Syrian soldiers and a civilian had been wounded.

Syrian state television said that the strikes were carried out by Israel and had targeted a few different sites in central Syria, causing material damage. Other Syrian reports said the strikes had targeted a shipment of weapons destined for Hezbollah as well as Syrian anti-aircraft systems.

"An Israeli air aggression targeted parts of the central region, and the air defenses are responding," state media claimed.

No comment was forthcoming from Israel.

A Syrian military official told SANA that at 1:27 a.m. Wednesday, a few points in central Syria had been attacked from the direction of northeast Beirut. Other Arab reports also said that the strikes had been carried out from eastern Lebanese air space and that targets included what was reported to be a "research institute" and a number of sites affiliated with pro-Iranian militias.

The Syrian official said that Syrian air defenses had intercepted most of the missiles. One Syrian anti-aircraft missile missed its target and crossed into Israeli airspace, detonating off the coast of Haifa, Israel's N12 news site reported Wednesday.

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Specifically, Hamas has infiltrated east Jerusalem under the disgracefully neglectful eye of the Israeli government and security forces, continually seizing more control of the Islamic holy sites in the city's east through legal supposedly NGOs that receive tens of millions of dollars in donations originating in Turkey.

These considerable funds are funneled by senior Hamas officials, namely Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, who heads the terrorist organization's "West Bank Department" – which sits in Turkey and whose staff enjoys broad freedom of activity granted to them by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. These Hamas operatives are also aided by members of the global Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has targeted east Jerusalem in general and the Temple Mount in particular as part of its national, religious, and ideological strategy.

One only needs to see and hear the people setting the tone at the various Islamic holy sites on the Temple Mount and Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to understand just how strong the Palestinian terrorist group's grip is in those places. Not only has Hamas placed its people in every possible religious position in east Jerusalem, but they are also prevalent in east Jerusalem's education system – all while collecting paychecks from the Jerusalem municipality or Education Ministry.

These are religious extremists who serve as teachers and educators, and who disseminate their radical Islamist, antisemitic, and anti-Zionist credo to their Palestinian students in east Jerusalem's schools. One of these so-called teachers was Fadi Abu Shahidam, who made sure in advance to move his wife and children to Jordan as he was devising his deadly plan.

Meanwhile, even though Shahidam's extremist views were known to the Israel Police and intelligence services, he was allowed to continue spreading his radical and terroristic creed and receive his monthly salary from the Jerusalem municipality. As a matter of fact, he attended numerous professional training seminars partially paid for by his employers at the Education Ministry and city hall.

It's safe to say that the Shin Bet and various intelligence services from the Israel Police and IDF are capable of disrupting terrorist machinations and networks before they materialize – as evidenced by the recent wave of arrests carried out by the Shin Bet and IDF in Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem. However, this activity is just a drop in the ocean against the well-oiled machine run by Hamas and the Turkish NGOs in east Jerusalem as they constantly chip away at Israel's sovereignty there. At the same time, the deterrence of Israel's security and intelligence services is being eroded, and law enforcement is essentially non-existent in east Jerusalem.

Hamas realized long ago that radical Islamist belief alone is not enough to maintain its grip in east Jerusalem, and that it also needs massive sums of money. Sans any legal methods of transferring funds from Gaza, the West Bank, or Jordan to its operatives in east Jerusalem, the Turks stepped into this gaping vacuum. With these millions of US dollars that are channeled through these supposedly legal organizations – which operate in the city's east as official Turkish governmental and non-governmental organizations – Hamas is enhancing its presence and foothold in east Jerusalem. All of this, suffice it to say, is out in the open, without fear of punishment or repercussion.

It is incumbent upon Israel to dry up these financial sources. Failure to do so by the relevant authorities in Israel means that sooner or later we will merely have superficial control of the Temple Mount in particular and east Jerusalem in general. Control of these places will, for all intents and purposes, belong to Hamas.

In fact, there are more than a few people in east Jerusalem who argue this is already the case and that it could get worse when some of the coalition funds promised to the Ra'am party are distributed to the NGOs and charity organizations in east Jerusalem that belong to the Islamic Movement – which doesn't hide its connections with the Turkish organizations operating there.

In Israel, officials tend to downplay and underestimate the value of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but it is well worth noting the determined manner in which the PA's security apparatuses act against Hamas activity in the West Bank. Any attempt by Hamas – and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well – to rise up and organize in areas controlled by the PA is put down with a heavy hand. And any money source belonging to Hamas and its proxy organizations in the West Bank is confiscated and appropriated by the PA.

This heavy hand employed by the PA's security apparatuses has produced more than a little cynicism and dark humor among Palestinian operatives, who admit with little reservation that given the choice between interrogation at the hands of the Israeli Shin Bet or in a PA Preventive Security Service cellar, Hamas operatives very much prefer the cushy conditions afforded by the Shin Bet. If this wasn't so sad, it really could be funny.

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The Palestinian Authority is likely to try and prevent Israel from again becoming a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization if Prime Minister Naftali Bennett indeed decides to pursue the move, Israel Hayom learned Monday.

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The issue was reportedly broached by several US officials in conversations with their Israeli counterparts, as it would go a long way toward facilitating the United States' own return to the agency – something the Biden administration would like to do.

The US and Israel pulled out of UNESCO in 2019 citing growing concerns that the organization fosters anti-Israel bias.

The Paris-based organization has been denounced by its critics as a crucible for anti-Israel bias following a series of puzzling decisions questioning Israeli presence in Jerusalem, naming ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites, and granting full membership to the Palestinian Authority in 2011.

Speaking with Israel Hayom, Ramallah officials said that the fact that Israel is "taking its time" on the matter reflects concerns that the PA will use its member status in the agency to block the request, thus significantly embarrassing both Israel and the United States on the global stage.

"Israel demands assurances that Ramallah will not oppose its request to rejoin UNESCO, but at the moment the Israeli demand is ignored," a senior Palestinian source said.

The PA's position "is causing much anger in Washington, and very strong messages have been delivered to Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] and his close advisers that they shouldn't dare to make a move that will embarrass Israel and the United States," he said.

Jerusalem sources expressed concerns that the PA will use the issue of UNESCO membership as part of its diplomatic and lawfare campaigns against Israel, which involve trying to discredit Israel or preventing it from joining various international organizations.

Much of this effort is also dedicated to trying to pursue legal recourse against the Jewish state at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

An international legal petition to prevent Israel from resuming its membership in the UN's cultural agency could make the process drag out for months, the Israeli source said.

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A 30-year-old Israeli man was killed and four people wounded in a combined shooting/stabbing terrorist attack at the Chain Gate near the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday morning.

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One of the victims sustained critical wounds and was evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Another man with moderate to serious wounds was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The remaining three victims sustained minor wounds.

Video: Social media

The name of the man who was fatally wounded was later reported by authorities as 26-year-old Eliyahu David Kay, a recent immigrant from South Africa. He was an employee of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation as a visitors' guide and was murdered on his way to work.

Arie Yaffa, a doctor who volunteers with United Hatzolah, said, "There is a wounded man in critical condition and another in moderate condition, but conscious. We administered first aid at the scene, while trying to resuscitate the critically wounded victim, who was taken to the hospital."

The Temple Mount was closed to Jewish visitors following the attack. Large contingents of security forces were scrambled to the scene.

The Israel Police said that the shooter used a homemade "Carlo" machine gun to open fire on civilians and security forces near the Chain Gate and was shot and killed by security forces. A second terrorist, armed with a knife, fled the scene, avoiding capture.

Visiting the scene of the attack, Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said, "The police neutralized the terrorist within 32 seconds, cutting off the attack. The terrorist is known to us, but not as someone involved in terrorist activity."

Police also stressed that despite earlier media reports, the terrorist had not been disguised as a Haredi Jew.

Shabtai briefed Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on the incident. Bennett instructed the police to be on high alert and increase deployment on the ground to prevent copycat attacks. He commended security forces for their swift action.

The terrorist has been identified as Fadi Abu Shahidam, 42, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp, who is affiliated with the Hamas terrorist organization.

Hamas praised the terrorists and called for more attacks. Spokesman Hazem Qassem said, "This is a commando action in occupied Jerusalem. The city will continue to wage war until the occupying entity is driven out."

Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said that the attacker had been a member of Hamas' political wing and that his wife had apparently traveled out of Israel before the attack could take place.

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