4/17/20

* Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound closed to worshipers for Ramadan Body administering the compound said the decision was 'painful'.

* TIMELINE: What to expect after Knesset is tasked to form a gov't Negotiations are floundering between Blue and White and Likud and, as of Friday, the two parties continued to fail to reach an agreement to form a national unity government within the time allotted by President Reuven Rivlin.

* Israel 'heading towards record fourth election' Israel is facing the growing prospect of an unprecedented fourth election in just over a year after a deadline to form a government expired.

* Which way is Iran leaning as coronavirus, nuke embarrassments mount? Regime thought election win would stabilize power.

* The EU must not let the four horsemen of the Apocalypse weaken Europe's security Were there not four horsemen of the Apocalypse? Just as the virus was spreading in China, Europe was having to deal with the border crisis with Turkey, a humanitarian crisis in Syria, a civil war in Libya, keeping Russia at bay and responding to instability and terrorism in the Sahel.

* Jerusalem police clash with worshipers as they defy social-distancing rules Riots shook Jerusalem yesterday night (April 16) after police attempted to disperse a religious gathering that was infringing social-distancing rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Moscow rolls out digital tracking to enforce lockdown. Critics dub it a 'cyber Gulag' Moscow has introduced a digital tracking system to enforce a coronavirus lockdown -- but critics say the technology represents an unprecedented threat to privacy.

* Why Is Turkey Embracing Hamas? If the reports about Erdogan's readiness to invite Hamas leaders to live in Turkey are true, that would also turn Erdogan into the spiritual father of a terrorist group that seeks to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state.

* 10 Signs Revealing that the Messiah's Arrival is Imminent More than 1500 years ago, rabbis discussed many signs that would precede the coming of the Messiah and the inauguration of the messianic era.

* From Tel Aviv's Beaches to the World's Holiest Sites, Here's How to Take a Virtual Tour of Israel While it may not be safe to hop on a plane just yet that doesn't mean you can't still explore the world.