Israel News

“The government has never responded to our demands... From now on, we will pressure the government with a bigger group.”

The federation wants the price for a liter of diesel capped at 25 baht ($0.76), lower than the 30 baht per liter cap the energy ministry has maintained since October.

It says the real price is 35 baht per liter, which reflects the rise in prices globally.

Ministry spokesperson Sompop Pattanariyankool said truck drivers’ demands would require 18 billion baht ($546.8 million) per month in state subsidies, which “cannot be done.”

Vitamin D Helps to Fight Covid

Israeli researchers from Bar Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center have said they can predict how a person will fare if infected with Covid-19 based on their age and vitamin D levels alone.

The study, published recently in PLOS One, showed that a lack of vitamin D significantly raises the risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

The study is based on research conducted during Israel’s first two Covid-19 waves, before vaccines were widely available. Doctors emphasized that vitamin D is not a substitute for vaccination but a key in keeping immunity levels from falling.

According to a 2011 study, nearly four in five people in Israel are deficient in vitamin D.

Dr. Amiel Dror, a Galilee Medical Center physician, who was also one of the Bar Ilan researchers conducting the study, said, “We found it remarkable, and striking, to see the difference in the chances of becoming a severe patient when you are lacking in vitamin D compared to when you’re not.”

He told the Times of Israel, “What we’re seeing when vitamin D helps people with Covid infections is a result of its effectiveness in bolstering the immune systems to deal with viral pathogens that attack the respiratory system. This is equally relevant for Omicron as it was for previous variants.”

Dr. Dror added, “We checked a range of timeframes, and found that wherever you look over the two years before infection, the correlation between vitamin D and disease severity is extremely strong. Because this study gets such a good picture of patients’ vitamin D levels, by looking at a wide timeframe instead of just the time around hospitalization, it offers much stronger support than anything seen so far emphasizing the importance of boosting vitamin D levels during the pandemic.

“People should learn from this that studies pointing to the importance of taking vitamin D are very reliable, and aren’t based on skewed data,” Dr. Dror noted. “And it emphasizes the value of everyone taking a vitamin D supplement during the pandemic, which, consumed in sensible amounts in accordance with official advice, doesn’t have any downside.”

Bibi: Police Spying on Citizens

Opposition leader MK and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Israel Police of illegally spying on Israeli citizens.

The accusation follows allegations over the police’s use of the NSO group’s Pegasus software without a warrant, as part of Netanyahu’s Case 4000, as well as to spy on activists and public figures.

During a Knesset debate on Monday evening, Netanyahu said, “This is a black day for the State of Israel. Without addressing my issue – which, of course, has wide implications – I think this issue concerns all citizens of the country – not right, not left, all citizens of the country without exception.”

Bibi added, “Something unthinkable has happened here. Police officials have illegally used the most aggressive tools in the world to spy on countless citizens – journalists, social activists from right and left, mayors, businessmen, politicians, their families – who was not spied upon? The private lives of citizens were unveiled here. They followed them, listened to them, got into their most hidden secrets and who knows what improper use they made of this espionage. Spyware designed to thwart terrorism and fight our enemies has become an everyday tool used by police to spy on civilians in violation of any norm, in violation of any law.”

According to Netanyahu, “This is similar to the IDF using the F-35 planes we use against Iran and Hezbollah and Hamas to bomb the citizens of Israel. That never happened and under no circumstances could it be on the agenda.”

He asserted, “There is only one way to deal with it. Not with maneuvers and excuses and not in all sorts of ways that would not be acceptable to all the occupants of this house. The way to do this is through a strong and independent inquiry, which will be acceptable to both sides of this house. Only in this way will we restore the public’s trust in our country and in our democracy.”

Holocaust Survivor Dies of Gaza War Wounds

A 91-year-old Holocaust survivor who suffered serious wounds when a rocket hit her home last year during skirmishes with Gaza died on Sunday of her injuries.

Naomi Perlman was wounded in May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, when a rocket from

Gaza struck her home on Ashkelon’s Malkei Yisrael Street.

Naomi’s house collapsed, killing her caregiver on the spot, and riddling her own body with shrapnel. She was rescued by a neighbor and taken to the hospital.

Since then, Naomi has been in and out of the hospital. Recently, her condition significantly deteriorated, and she passed away.

Her death brings the number of Israeli victims from the war to 13.

3 Terror Suspects Killed

Three Palestinian terror suspects were killed by Israeli security forces on Tuesday in a rare daytime operation in the West Bank. The terrorists were about to shoot at officers from the Yamam police counterterrorism unit who ambushed them in Nablus before they were killed.

Israeli leaders heralded the news.

“Our forces proved today, again, that there is no immunity for terrorists,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. “Whoever hurts us will be hurt.”

The three gunmen were allegedly behind recent shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. They were apparently members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a coalition of armed groups associated with the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah party.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz praised the operation and called it “a preventive action.”

“I recently ordered that preventive actions against shooting attacks and troop presence in central arteries and areas of the [West Bank] be stepped up,” he wrote on Twitter. “We’ll continue with proactive operations, prevent [attacks] and capture anyone who tries to hurt people.”

The gunmen were identified as Ashraf al-Mubsalit, Adham Mabrouk, and Muhammad al-Dakhil by Palestinian media, which said they were affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. A Fatah spokesperson confirmed that the three were Fatah members.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a loose coalition of armed groups affiliated with Fatah, has been largely dormant since the Second Intifada two decades ago. In a 2007 agreement, hundreds of the terror group’s members surrendered their arms in exchange for amnesty from Israel.

Thousands of Palestinians participated in the funeral of the three men in Nablus on Tuesday afternoon.

“With blood and spirit, we’ll redeem you, o martyr!” the mourners chanted. Yellow flags affiliated with the West Bank’s ruling Fatah party dotted the procession alongside green banners associated with the Hamas terror group.

According to an unsourced report in the Walla news site, Israeli officials decided to order the operation after the Palestinians were seen getting in a car with guns and ammunition.

The report said undercover anti-terror police riding in a taxi and a car in Nablus surrounded the suspects’ car and opened fire on it. Other troops, some of whom were undercover, were also deployed to the area in case of problems.

Israel had received intelligence that the group had been planning an attack on Tuesday night.

Aligning with Bahrain