Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Editor David Horovitz and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, marking one year to the Daily Briefing.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held a press conference early this week announcing the availability of a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose for those 60 and older. Why has opposition head Benjamin Netanyahu held off criticizing this policy -- as opposed to coalition member and Health Minister Nitzan Horovitz. Also, what is currently happening in schools across the nation?

We then hear about an in-depth interview Rettig Gur conducted with Michael Kaplan, an American-Israeli former NASA engineer who worked on the James Webb telescope, which was launched on December 25. Rettig Gur gets nerdy explaining the tech behind the challenging telescope mission and brings forward the unsurmountable professional obstacles Kaplan faced when attempting immigration to Israel in 2015.

We finish the program looking back at our first Daily Briefing episode, which hit ears a year ago.

Discussed articles include:

Two pilots killed in IDF helicopter crash off Haifa coast

Tens of thousands race for fourth COVID shot as Israeli campaign blazes ahead

Top health official says Israel has ‘no control’ over Omicron as cases keep surging

Health minister pans ‘apocalyptic scenarios’ after PM predicts 50k daily COVID cases

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IMAGE: (above) FILE - This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19. (NIAID-RML via AP) This photo provided by NASA, the James Webb Space Telescope is separated in space on Saturday, December 25, 2021. (NASA via AP)

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