The Mayor of Beit Shemesh, Aliza Bloch, visited the scene of the accident in which a 14-year-old boy drowned during a school trip."We hoped to breathe a sigh of relief at the end of this evening, but unfortunately the disaster occurred. The Beit Shemesh municipality will help the family and the community in whatever is required," Bloch said.

The government's coronavirus project manager, Prof. Nachman Ash, told Reshet Bet this morning that 227 people were diagnosed with coronavirus during the course of the previous day.He added that the positivity rate was 0.6% and that "it is possible that we will re-impose the requirement to wear face masks in enclosed spaces as early as today."

According to newspaper Haaretz, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid wants to recall Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, and appoint in her place a former minister from his own party, Yael German. Hotovely is a member of the Likud party.Sources from within the Foreign Ministry have expressed their criticism of the alleged plan to cut short Hotovely's tenure by two years, and several of them told Haaretz that doing so "would be legally impossible" and that Lapid would be unable to implement his plan.

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton (New Hope) is attacking the Ministry of Health and accusing it of inflating the number of verified cases of COVID-19 in order to accelerate the vaccination campaign.According to a report In Channel 12 News In Thursday, Shasha-Biton has been saying in closed conversations at the Ministry of Education that "there are elements in the health system who deliberately perpetuate the hysteria and sow panic in order to speed up the children's immunization project. They inflate the number of tests and the data skyrocket."

The bishops of Ireland In Thursday called In the Irish Government to recognize the "state of Palestine" at their summer conference.The bishops discussed the humanitarian crisis that exists "due to violence between Israel and Palestine," according to a statement released following their meeting.

As enemies of the West ratchet up their aggression, the more determined the Biden administration becomes to appease them.Op-ed.

American Jews mobilize in response to deadly building collapse in Surfside, Florida.

Gaining perspective In the antisemitic reactions to Operation Guardian of the Walls: how villifying Israel is exposed as Jew-hatred. Op-ed.