H EADLINES
ISRAELBRIEFS Israelis No Longer Required to Wear Masks Outside
AS OF APRIL 18, Israelis were no longer required to wear masks
outside, JTA reported.

Th e Health Ministry announced April 15 that Israel’s
COVID-19 case numbers have plummeted because of its
successful vaccination drive. Although Israel’s reported case
numbers were once among the world’s highest, the country since
has vaccinated more than half its population.

Th e rising vaccination pushed COVID-19 numbers down to
an average of a couple hundred cases a day among more than 9
million Israelis.

“Th e masks are intended to protect us from the coronavirus,”
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said. “Aft er professionals decided
this was no longer required in open spaces, I decided to enable
taking them off .”
Masks will still be required in indoor public spaces.

Israeli society is continuing to reopen, as schools will fully
reopen in the next week and, starting in May, vaccinated tour
groups will be allowed to visit Israel.

Forbes Lists 21 Billionaires in Israel
Th ere are 21 Israelis who are billionaires, according to Forbes, led by
Stef Wertheimer, who ranked 432nd at $6.2 billion, Globes reported.

Wertheimer, 94, amassed his fortune founding industrial parks.

Wertheimer displaced the Ofer brothers, who are now no longer
listed as Israelis, with Eyal Ofer (Monaco) ranked 197th worldwide
with a fortune of $11.1 billion, while Idan Ofer is ranked 440th with
$6.1 billion.

Two other billionaires with Israeli citizenship also ranked above
Wertheimer — Roman Abramovich (Russia) is in 142nd place with
$14.5 billion and Patrick Drahi (Switzerland) is 186th with $11.8 billion.

Others on the list include Teddy Sagi in 539th place with $5.2
billion and Frank Lowy, also with $5.2 billion; he returned to Israel
in 2019 aft er amassing his fortune in shopping malls in Australia.

Israel’s richest woman is former Bank Hapoalim controlling share-
holder Shari Arison, whose $4.4 billion landed her in 655th place.

Israeli Economy Shrinks 2.6% in 2021
Israel’s economy contracted 2.6% in 2020 in the fi nal revision
issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics, Globes reported, a
slight change in a prior estimate of a 2.4% contraction in gross
domestic product last year.

Th is fi gure does better than the Bank of Israel forecast of a
3.7% contraction and is much lower than the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development average for 2020, with
economies hit hard by the pandemic.

Private consumption in Israel in 2020 contracted by 9.5%.

Israel’s economy did grow at 6.5% on an annualized basis in
2020’s fourth quarter.

Three Israelis Win Medals at European Judo Championships
Th ere were three medalists among the 13-member contingent
Israel brought to the European Judo Championships in Portugal,
Th e Jerusalem Post reported.

Two of the eight Israeli men medaled, with Tohar Butbul
winning a silver medal in the under 73 kilogram weight category,
while Sagi Muki (under 83 kg) took home a bronze. Muki previ-
ously won European championships in both 2015 and 2018.

One of the fi ve Israeli women medaled, with Gefen Primo
winning a bronze in the under 52 kilograms weight group. ●
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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