Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz underwent back surgery on Wednesday to treat a back injury he sustained years ago during his service in the IDF and has deteriorated in recent months.

Minister Michael Bitton is taking Gantz’s place in the Ministry of Defense until his recovery and release from the hospital.

Gantz’s office stated Wednesday that the Minister was feeling well and was being treated by a team of surgeons from the orthopedic department at Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv.

The IDF has scaled back the level of its alert and preparedness on the northern border after weeks of anticipation of an attack by the Hezbollah terror organization.

The IDF stated Monday evening that in accordance with its current situation assessment, some of the restrictions on the movement of military vehicles on the northern border have been lifted and some of the roadblocks have been removed.

Similarly, some of the units have been withdrawn, but the IDF is maintaining its deployment on the border in accordance with the situation assessment, and IDF forces in the northern region continue to maintain increased readiness for a possible attack by Hezbollah.

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon have been high in recent weeks following Hezbollah’s threat to attack Israel, after thwarting an attack by Hezbollah earlier this month and following threats by the group that more was to come.

The terror group carried out the attack on Har Dov after it officially announced the death of one of its men killed in an attack attributed to Israel on Iranian targets in Syria.

Hezbollah has previously threatened to respond to any death of its men killed by Israel, in Lebanon or Syria. This official recognition of the death of one of their men would require a response.

The IDF has since significantly boosted its deployment on the border with Lebanon, and reports indicate that the last time it was at this level of preparedness was during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Sunday night bombed a Hamas military target in the Gaza Strip in response to the renewal of the arson balloon attacks on southern Israel.

The IDF stated that it hit a Hamas observation post in the northern strip.

This is the second IAF attack in the Strip in recent days that was carried out in response to the arson balloon attacks.

Gaza-based terrorists in recent days have returned to launching arson attacks on Israel’s south, causing several fires in areas surrounding the Gaza Strip.

After months of relative quiet, terrorists in the Gaza Strip have relaunched their campaign to send balloons tied to flammable materials and explosive charges into communities in the vicinity of the Strip.

The arson attacks have ignited fires in open areas, but no one was injured in the attacks and no damage to property was caused.

Tensions on Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip have risen in recent days.

Gaza-based terrorists on Sunday fired at Israeli construction workers building a security barrier along the southern border with the Strip. No one was injured in the attack.

Work on the fence was stopped and the IDF launched mortars to raise a smokescreen in the area of the incident.

An IDF unit was dispatched to the area and was fired on upon arrival. No one was injured in this incident.

The IDF has shut down all roads near the border and has recalled all farmers working in fields adjacent to the border.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi met on Sunday and discussed the escalation in Gaza and the southern sector.

The two stated that if the incendiary balloon attacks continue, Israel will escalate its reactions.

Israel’s leadership expressed deep sorrow over the death of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the great commentator of the Talmud and one of the greatest Jewish minds in recent decades.

Rabbi Steinsaltz passed away of Friday at the age of 83 after suffering from acute pneumonia in recent weeks.

He was buried in Jerusalem on Friday in a small funeral due o the Coronavirus pandemic.

Rabbi Steinsaltz dedicated his life to Judaism and education, the study of Talmud and Chassidut, philosophy and writing on all religions. He was one of Judaism’s greatest commentators, Israel Prize winner, recipient of Israel President’s Medal and Beloved of Jerusalem Medal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “from the depths of my heart, I lament the passing of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, whose knowledge was vast, a Torah genius and a man of exemplary spirit.”

He recalled his conversations with Rabbi Steinsaltz which “always imparted knowledge to me. These were not lessons in the conventional sense but spiritually uplifting conversations that embraced the entire world – Tanakh, the wisdom of our sages, history, philosophy, culture, linguistics and more.”

“Rabbi Steinsaltz was an outstanding example of the persistent Jew. He invested unceasing effort in his commentaries, especially his explanation of the Talmud which made the study of gemara accessible to the public at large in clear and understandable language. His important works will stand for generations at the foundation of Jewish heritage, as an eternal flame in his memory,” he said.

President Reuven Rivlin stated that “our hearts mourn the passing of Rabbi Adin Even Israel Steinsaltz זצ”ל. He was a man of great spiritual courage, deep knowledge and profound thought who brought the Talmud to Am Yisrael in clear and accessible Hebrew and English, like a modern-day Rashi.”

Rabbi Steinsaltz was born in Jerusalem in 1937. After graduating in chemistry and physics from the Hebrew University, he began his career as an educator and worked as a school principal in Jerusalem and wrote a great many varied Jewish books.

In 1965, in conjunction with the Government of Israel, he founded the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, later the Steinsaltz Center, which became his life’s work – making Judaism and the heritage of Israel accessible, translating and explaining the Talmud to the whole world.

Rabbi Steinsaltz is considered one of the greatest, important Jewish religious commentators and thinkers of our time. His writings and philosophical works have been translated into 60 languages, to the benefit of millions of people from all over the world.

He authored around 60 books on various topics, including guides to and commentaries on the Talmud, the Torah, Jewish mysticism, Hasidism, Jewish philosophy and more.

One of the Rabbi’s most renowned and significant projects was the Steinsaltz-Talmud: a translation from the original Aramaic, alongside an annotated explanation to all 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud.

In recent years, the Rabbi completed the full commentary of the Tanakh, in both English and Hebrew, while his commentary on the Six Books of Mishnah is due to be published in the coming months.

His work earned him recognition and praise in Israel and around the world. Time magazine called him a “once-in-a-millennium scholar”, while the long list of awards and degrees he received included the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies in 1988, the President’s Medal in 2012, the Yakir Yerushalayim (Beloved of Jerusalem) Medal in 2017, and honorary doctorates from Bar Ilan University, Ben Gurion University, and Yeshiva University in New York.

The US Library of Congress recently announced the acceptance into its catalog of an English translation of an extensive work about the Steinsaltz Center and its work.

The Steinsaltz Center in Jerusalem has served as an umbrella organization, coordinating the Rabbi’s various activities and initiatives – and it will continue to do so in his memory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Corona Cabinet on Wednesday evening to discuss ways to lower the Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection rate in Israel while supporting the country’s efforts to get the economy back on track, as the infection rate remained high.

National coronavirus project manager Prof. Ronni Gamzu said that the morbidity situation was worrying and that the goal is to significantly lower morbidity by 1 September when the school year begins, but expressed opposition to the idea of a general lockdown.

“No country with as high a morbidity level as Israel has dealt with morbidity without a lockdown. The Government of Israel is sensitive to the delicate socio-economic situation and the hardships of the public; therefore, it has placed its confidence in me for a path that does not include a full lockdown,” he stated.

He cautioned that “it seems that this is the last opportunity for a moderate line. Should morbidity not decline within two weeks, we will be obliged to consider restrictions including the possibility of a local or nationwide lockdown.”

The use of nationwide or local lockdowns is not off the agenda and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Gamzu’s plan for ‘red and orange cities’ and ‘intensive intervention cities’ was presented and approved.

The program calls for massive and extensive support networks and assistance for the population while providing support under the aegis of the local council for areas with a high infection rate.

The restriction on opening businesses over the weekend was canceled.

The Corona Cabinet also authorized the Health Minister, Transportation Minister, Foreign Minister and the National Security Council, in consultation with the relevant ministries, to advance the outline for opening the skies on 16 August, which will be submitted for Corona Cabinet approval forthwith.

The plans were unanimously approved, and require government approval as well.

The Ministry of Health updated Thursday morning that it registered 1,683 Corona patients in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of active patients in the country to 25,956.

347 patients are hospitalized in serious condition, of them 105 are on life support.

A total of 77,919 cases have been recorded on Israel since the outbreak, the majority of them in the past month.

Over 51,400 of the patients have recovered while 565 have died.

The government aims to bring the number of daily infections to about 400 before September 1.