TIMES OF ISRAEL - April 20, 2020

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THE DAILY EDITION Monday, April 20, 2020

Sobbing falafel seller, symbol of virus’s financial toll, moves TV crew to tears BY TOI STAFF Yuval Carmi, banned from operating his shop amid pandemic and deep in debt, pleads for Netanyahu’s help: ‘I’m embarrassed from my children. I have nothing to give them to eat’

‘You touched my heart,’ Netanyahu tells falafel seller facing ruin from pandemic BY TOI STAFF   Teacher’s Union chief draws outrage, and support, after fiery TV appearance BY TOI STAFF

AUTHOR INTERVIEW RENEE GHERT-ZAND Letters reveal tie between Jewish refugee and Nazi-admiring IKEA founder Initially, IKEA’s Ingvar Kamprad was happy to cooperate with Elisabeth Åsbrink’s book on his Jewish friend. Then she found a 1943 file showing he’d been a Swedish Nazi party member

Dutch province seeks ‘smuggled’ Jewish children rescued by residents in WWII BY MATT LEBOVIC

‘Avenger’ Benjamin Levin, ‘Forrest Gump of Jewish history,’ succumbs to COVID-19 BY MATT LEBOVIC From killing Nazis in Lithuanian forests to jumping from flaming Altalena off Tel Aviv, young hero of Jewish Vilna participated in many of Jewry’s turning points

Virus spread scales down Warsaw Ghetto commemoration events BY AP   Germany marks Holocaust anniversary in shadow of virus BY AFP

Thousands rally in Tel Aviv, 2 meters apart, accusing PM of destroying democracy BY RAOUL WOOTLIFF Addressing protest in Rabin Square and online, Lapid and Ya’alon rail against Netanyahu, and against former partner Gantz

Israel media review / Broke as hell and not going to take it anymore: 6 things to know for April 20 BY JACOB MAGID

LIVE UPDATES Report: Likud, Blue and White resolve final sticking point, ready to sign deal BY TOI STAFF Two leading parties said to come to agreement on Judicial Appointments Committee, clearing way for coalition deal

TOI INVESTIGATES Behind PM-cited study showing Israel is safest place, a rabbit hole of weirdness BY SIMONA WEINGLASS The strange saga and curious origins of research hyped by Netanyahu that purports to prove Israel tops the world’s COVID-19 ‘safety rankings’

Israeli cybersecurity firm warns of rising COVID-19 phishing attacks BY TOI STAFF   ISAAC BEN-ISRAEL The end of exponential growth: The decline in the spread of coronavirus

Anti-Semitic sentiments seen rising as pandemic dredges up old hatreds BY ARON HELLER Tel Aviv University researchers say Jews are being accused of instigating pandemic to profit from it, find 18% jump in anti-Jewish attacks worldwide in 2019

Commemorating Holocaust in isolation, survivors say comparing eras is ‘indecent’ BY MICHAEL BLUM AND GUILLAUME LAVALLÉE   Minnesota high school students mock Auschwitz victims in TikTok video BY MARCY OSTER

INSIDE STORY SHOSHANNA SOLOMON Winners and losers in the coronavirus havoc ToI mulls over the state of Zoom, toilet paper shortages and Petri dish ships, then comes up with a purely subjective list of those who gained and lost in a locked down world

Small business owners rage at government, Netanyahu over handling of crisis BY STUART WINER   Inside story / The reaction of the rich to bubonic plague is eerily similar to today’s pandemic BY KATHRYN MCKINLEY

ANALYSIS JUDAH ARI GROSS Newly eased guidelines are almost unenforceable, but that may not matter If you can’t run more than 500 meters for exercise, but can run 5 kilometers for groceries, what’s the point of the restriction? To show people how to behave, one expert says

Virus deaths climb to 173, with increase in number of patients on ventilators BY TOI STAFF   Bnei Brak still has highest per capita infection rate as lockdown rolled back BY TOI STAFF

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY This Yom Hashoah, survivors to bear witness from comfort of their living rooms BY YAAKOV SCHWARTZ

TIMES OF ISRAEL PODCAST LISTEN: Gripping saga of teen’s escape from WWII death march to join partisans BY TOI STAFF To commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, we hear from two Holocaust survivors with very different tales of survival in war-torn Europe — and today

TOP OPS

RENA MAGUN Before the Corona and after the Corona My parents’ rules when I was growing up have taken on a whole new meaning: they lived in fear of infectious disease when they were eluding the Nazis, and I get it now