Government

The government approved the compromise proposal that the obligation to prioritize Israeli products in public procurement be expanded. Today there is an obligation to prioritize local produce in the procurement of government ministries amounting to up to 15% of the product price. The manufacturers and representatives of the business sector pushed for the expansion of compulsory procurement to other public bodies as well. On the other hand, the Ministries of Finance and the Competition Authority warned that the proposal could harm Israel's competitiveness and productivity. Prime Minister...

The Employment Service on Monday released data on doubling the number of income support plaintiffs - citizens whose economic situation is particularly difficult - according to which their number has doubled since the outbreak of the corona crisis and the number of claims now stands, towards the end of 2020, at 115,336. The last time the number of income support claimants was so high was in 2013 when 120,000 people received an actual income guarantee. On the eve of the crisis, March 2020, the number of plaintiffs was only 59,000. 18,387 income support claimants and 44,086 unemployment...

Throughout a decade, the achievements of Israeli students in mathematics and science have remained unchanged, but the gaps in Israel are still among the highest in the world. This is according to the International Times report for 2019, which will be published this morning. According to the report, there is a slight increase in the achievements of 8th grade students in Israel in mathematics and science, but the gaps between outstanding students and weak students remain among the highest among the countries that participated in the study. According to the study, the higher the...

The Corona Cabinet approved tonight (Tuesday) the operation of all malls from tomorrow, in accordance with the rules of the malls pilot. In addition, all markets and museums will be able to open, depending on the outline formulated for them. Also, in accordance with the opening of trading, it was approved to cancel the exception set during the closure period for operating stores for home maintenance and communication products and computers in the format of "essential stores", and to compare the occupancy conditions with those of other non-essential stores. Meanwhile, the decision to impose...

The Ministry of Health will consider starting easing the closure in about two weeks if the morbidity data continues to fall. During the progress of the vaccination program will also be taken into account. Meanwhile, there is controversy in the government over whether to allow a large-scale opening of the economy as soon as there are two and a half million Israelis who will be vaccinated in two doses or wait until the vaccination of five million Israelis is completed. Our correspondent Liel Kaiser submits that at the current rate of immunization, such a wait would last three to four weeks....

The Employment Service reports this morning (Monday) that in the last day 18,566 new jobseekers were registered, with 39,308 unemployed registered since the closure and since Sunday, 27.12.2020, the day the closure began, a total of 99,234 new jobseekers were registered. The update also shows that 81,923 of the unemployed were released on unpaid leave, and their share of all new job seekers is 82.5%, while 17,311 of them have been fired or resigned and their share stands at 17.5% of all registrants since the closure began

Data from the Employment Service published on Thursday show that already this week the ratio between those fired and those going on vacation without pay and those who have already returned has decreased. Thus, in the fourth week of quarantine for every ten registrants in the employment service, 1.3 job seekers returned to the labor force, while in the fifth week, the ratio almost doubled, with every 2.3 registrants returning to work 2.3 job seekers. Either way, it seems that the trend will be reversed as early as next week and more workers will return to work than go on vacation and be...

The Corona Cabinet has approved the updated traffic light index, according to which studies will be able to resume in cities defined as "bright orange" from next Tuesday. The localities where more studies are open are Gush Etzion, Gan Yavne, Ganei Tikva, Yokneam Illit, Kfar Yona, Mevaseret Zion, Ma'ale Adumim, Nahariya, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Rehovot and Ramat Gan. They will also be able to reopen their studies in the settlements of Yakir and Peduel in Samaria, Mevo Horon in Mateh Binyamin, and in Sde Nehemia in the Upper Galilee. In Eilat, the municipality announced that the institutions...

The heads of the local authorities are trying to reach an agreement with the government on the introduction of the return of studies to the middle schools. This follows the threat of the Local Authorities Forum to open its schools tomorrow. The government will convene after noon to discuss the matter. There is still no agreement between Blue and White and the Likud on this matter. Mayors from the 15th Forum announced at the begining of the week the opening of classes for grades 7 to 10 starting Wednesday, ahead of a date set by the government, are calling on teaching staff to cooperate...

The night closure on Purim took effect tonight (Thursday) at 20:30 and will last until 05:00. Among other things, it will be forbidden during these hours to leave the house for a distance of more than 1,000 meters and stay in other houses. Public transportation will also be reduced, and as always in Israel, the outline for restrictions on lines was published at the last minute. The night closure will also apply on Friday and Saturday, but not on Sunday - then Shoshan Purim will be celebrated in Jerusalem. The government has approved the restrictions for fear that as last year mass...