NOVEMBER 18 • 2021 | 41

ERETZ

A

m Yisrael recently
ended the period
of the Jewish High
Holidays, a traditional period of
reflection for the Jewish people.
It begins with Rosh Hashanah,
the New Year, followed by Yom
Kippur, a day of fasting and
repentance, and concludes
with Sukkot, the Feast of
Tabernacles, the holiday com-
memorating the 40 years of
biblical wandering in the desert
to the Promised Land.
The past year has seen
changes in the land that are
both promising and chal-
lenging, full of dramatic and
exciting events from politics to
sports, hi-tech to pandemics.
Here are few that dominated
the Israeli headlines.

NEW GOVERNMENT
On the political front, Israel
voted in a new government
and a new prime minister
after three elections failing
to reach conclusive results.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s
longest-reigning premier, and
his Likud party were sent to
the opposition by voters in the
fourth election, held in March
2021. The new coalition is
Israel’s most diverse government
to date, including parties from
both ends of the spectrum and,
for the first time ever, an Arab
party. The White House wel-
comed a new face to the Israeli-
USA relations arena when
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett,
on his first official state visit,
met with President Joe Biden at
the Oval Office in late August.
The Knesset also voted in a
new president, in accordance
with the national presidential
timetable of seven years. Unlike
the prime minister, the pres-
ident is largely a ceremonial,

apolitical figure. The popular
Reuven “Rubi” Rivlin ended
his term this summer and Isaac
“Bougie” Herzog took office
as Israel’s 11th president. He is
also the first president who is
the son of a former president;
his father, Chaim Herzog,
was installed as Israel’s sixth
president in 1983. As a teen-
ager, Isaac Herzog attended
high school in New York and
American Jewish summer
camps; and as a college stu-
dent he attended NYU and
Cornell. Herzog faced off
against Miriam Peretz, a prom-
inent educator, public speaker
and recipient of the Israel Prize.
Eighty-seven of the 120 Knesset
members voted for him, mak-
ing his election the largest victo-
ry in Israel’s presidential history.

BATTLING COVID
Eighteen months into COVID,
Israel is learning to live with
the pandemic. With one of
the highest vaccination rates
in the world, the first country

to vaccinate 12–16-year-olds
and a quick rollout of the
third booster vaccine, life in
Israel is approaching normal-
cy. Schools opened according
to schedule on Sept. 1, and
indoor and outdoor events are
taking place with precautions
and vaccination guidelines.
The holidays saw Israelis
enjoying their proximity to
Europe and traveling once
again. While infection num-
bers plummeted in the early
summer, they were on the rise
during the holiday period,
now reducing again. The most
encouraging news is the rela-
tively low number of seriously
ill patients, directly related to
the high vaccination rate and
the booster shot that over half
of Israeli adults have taken.
Thanks to the high vaccina-
tion rate, the reopening of the
economy and a robust hi-tech
market, the economy is push-
ing ahead in the shadow of the
pandemic, with the Bank of
Israel predicting a GDP growth

this year of 5.5%.
Israelis were elated with their
record results at both the Tokyo
Olympics and Paralympic
Games. The all-star national
judo team won bronze in
the mixed event, and Israeli
athletes brought home a bronze
in Taekwondo and two golds in
gymnastics. For the first time in
the country’s Olympic history,
Israel participated in baseball.
Israel wrapped up the
Paralympic Games ranked a
respectable 22 on the medal
ladder, bringing home six gold
medals, two silver and one
bronze. Swimmers Ami Omer
Dadaon and Mark Malyar
created new world records in
swimming, and swimmer Iyad
Shalabi is Israel’s first Arab
citizen to bring home a medal.
The outstanding athletes with
disabilities served as a wonderful
source of pride and inspiration
for the entire country.
The new year ahead holds
many challenges, but Israel is
off to a promising start.

Israel’s Year in Review

NAOMI MILLER
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Artem Dolgopyat, President Isaac Herzog and Linoy Ashram with their Olympic gold medals at the
President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Aug. 16, 2021.

ITAY BEIT-ON/GPO