Netanyahu: Wear masks in public

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278155

Prime Minister Netanyahu said tonight that he is working to curb the Corona pandemic, "We are all putting in a huge effort day and night to overcome the virus."

He announced new movement restrictions on the Bnei Brak area.

"I instructed all the offices to provide special assistance to the city of Bnei Brak. We decided to reduce to the minimum necessary entry and exit from the city."

"It is for the good of their lives and for the lives of all Israeli citizens. This is a time for mutual responsibility among all the state's citizens."

The prime minister also added the duty of wearing masks in public. "We ask the citizens of Israel to wear masks in the public domain. If you don't have a mask, use a scarf or any other covering that will reduce the possibility of infecting others."

 

What Explains The Bump In Trump’s Approval Ratings?

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-explains-the-bump-in-trumps-approval-ratings/

Trump may be experiencing what political scientists call the “rally-around-the-flag” effect, when national leaders temporarily get more popular amid international crises. Usually, you hear about people rallying around the flag after terrorist attacks or outbreaks of war, but the coronavirus pandemic could qualify in that it too poses an imminent threat to American safety. “When a country is faced with a common threat that touches everybody, there is a tendency to unify and to look toward the leader,” Shoon Murray, a political scientist who has studied the rally-around-the-flag effect, told FiveThirtyEight. “The sense of emergency is now so high and widespread that it’s possible people could rally around the president if he was perceived as taking steps in a nonpartisan way to mitigate the crisis.”

Despite Trump’s solid approval numbers on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Americans aren’t as enthusiastic about it as residents of some other countries are about their leaders’ responses. That could explain why Trump’s overall approval rating hasn’t risen nearly as much as some other world leaders’. According to Morning Consult, Trump’s net approval rating rose 5 percentage points from March 11 (the day the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic) to March 24,¹ ranking sixth among the nine major world leaders Morning Consult polled. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all experienced increases of more than 20 points in their net approval ratings.

Israel’s chief rabbis say Passover Seder can’t be held via videoconference

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-chief-rabbis-say-passover-seder-cant-be-held-via-videoconference/

The Chief Rabbinate on Tuesday issued guidelines for Passover in the age of coronavirus, saying it was not permitted to hold the traditional Seder by videoconference and dismissing a previous ruling by several rabbis who said it was allowed.

In what may have been one of the boldest rulings issued on technology in recent years, 14 Sephardic Orthodox rabbis in Israel last week declared that families may conduct their shared Seder over videoconference, despite Orthodox religious law normally banning the use of electronic devices on Shabbat and festivals.

 

They also wrote that prayers should be held alone and at home, without a “minyan” [quorum of 10 worshipers]. However, they said each congregation should announce a specific time for everyone to start the prayer.

The chief rabbis said “mikveh” ritual baths for women would remain open and that they were under strict supervision regarding cleanliness and disinfection. Ritual baths for men are closed.

Prominent rabbi: Media trying to ‘slur’ Haredim in coronavirus reports

https://www.timesofisrael.com/prominent-rabbi-media-trying-to-slur-haredim-in-coronavirus-reports/

The Israeli media is trying to “slur” Haredim by creating the impression that they are responsible for spreading the coronavirus, a prominent Jerusalem rabbi claimed. 

“It’s one big lie from the media,” Nachum Eisenstein said, arguing that the phenomenon of Haredim flouting coronavirus rules is being exaggerated, while violations by others, such as beachgoers, are being downplayed.

 

Judge rules lawsuit alleging Trump threatened free press can move forward

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/489400-judge-rules-lawsuit-alleging-trump-threatened-free-press-can-move-forward

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that some of the claims in a literary advocacy group's lawsuit against President Trump over his threats to retaliate against critical media coverage can proceed. 
U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield wrote in a 24-page opinion that PEN America had a "constitutional standing" to pursue claims for declaratory relief against Trump's practice of "selectively barring access" to the White House press corps, including by "revoking or threatening to revoke press credentials due to hostility to the reporters’ speech."
Schofield also ruled that the case could proceed on allegations that Trump revoked or threatened to revoke security clearances for government officials he dislikes. 

Schofield noted that PEN America's claims against Trump had merit, given that the White House has a history of barring press access and that it revoked CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta's credentials in November 2018. Acosta's press pass was later reinstated, though the development caused former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to release new guidelines for reporters.

 

The only place where Israelis are gathering to party: Virus quarantine hotels

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-only-place-where-israelis-are-gathering-to-party-virus-quarantine-hotels/

With country locked down, social media footage shows patients making the most of their situation, dismissing criticism: ‘Being sad will not help’

Funeral of hardline rabbi’s wife obeys virus rules despite prediction of crowds

https://www.timesofisrael.com/funeral-of-hardline-rabbis-wife-obeys-virus-rules-despite-prediction-of-crowds/

Police said to reach agreement with leaders of Jerusalem Faction, whose members days ago defied orders, that burial would adhere to directives preventing large gatherings

 

Trump says he wouldn't have acted differently on coronavirus without impeachment

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/490503-trump-says-he-wouldnt-have-acted-differently-on-coronavirus-without

 

President Trump said Tuesday that he would not have acted differently or more quickly in addressing the coronavirus if he weren’t impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

“I don’t think I would have done any better if I had not been impeached,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room Tuesday evening. “I don’t think I would have acted any differently, or I don’t think I would have acted any faster.”

Trump was asked whether impeachment diverted his or his team’s attention from the coronavirus, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) earlier Tuesday blamed Democrats for distracting the federal government from the outbreak because of the push to impeach the president.

 

https://time.com/5813628/china-coronavirus-statistics-wuhan/

If you believe the Chinese authorities, the country’s battle against the novel coronavirus is all but won. But that claim is clouded by a fog of skewed data, political imperatives—and unreported cases and possibly deaths.

 

Mikvah-peeping Rabbi Barry Freundel set to be released early from prison

https://www.jta.org/quick-reads

 Rabbi Barry Freundel, a once-prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C., who was convicted for secretly videotaping women in his synagogue’s mikvah, is scheduled to be released early from prison.

First, however, an assistant U.S. attorney is asking his victims whether they object to Freundel getting his freedom before his scheduled release on April 15 because the coronavirus is accelerating the release of prisoners.

That's extraordinary.' Cooper reacts to what Trump told governors

Acosta to Trump: This may be an uncomfortable question ...

הגרי"ג אדלשטיין: תפילה במניין - זה חטא; בפסח - שבו לבד

https://www.kikar.co.il/353926.html

לאור המצב הקשה בהתפשטות נגיף ה'קורונה', ראש הישיבה הגאון רבי גרשון אדלשטיין, נשא הערב (שלישי) משא מיוחד בו הזהיר מפני תפילה במניין; באשר לליל הסדר - אסר לארח ולהתארח (חרדים)

 

Inside Trump's Coronavirus Theatrics on War Powers, Ventilators and GM

https://time.com/5813277/trump-emergency-powers-gm-coronavirus-theatrics/

But if Trump’s Friday performance conveyed urgency and action, four days later, neither is anywhere in evidence. Despite the tough talk and the invocation of presidential powers, Trump and his team by midday on Tuesday had yet to formally file a single order for a GM-made ventilator. While negotiations were ongoing, they had set no mandatory timeline for delivery of the machines, or even suggested a voluntary one. And they had not informed GM of what prices the federal government will pay for the machines under Trump’s executive order. For its part, GM has continued following the plan to produce ventilators that it had discussed with the White House for weeks prior to Trump’s order, a plan that was already well underway when he issued it, according to documents reviewed by TIME.

Whatever the logic behind Trump’s public statements about GM and his use of emergency powers, the company maintains that Trump’s tough talk resulted in no change from the Mar. 23 plan they presented to his government. After his Mar. 27 statements, on Sunday, Trump was asked at the White House how negotiations GM were going since he invoked DPA two days earlier. Although nothing had changed, he responded that the automaker was now doing a “fantastic job.”