The “Vaxx, Facts & Tax” Edition

The Promised Podcast

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Listen to this week's Extra Segment on Patreon

—The Vaxx—

When Pfizer announced last week that its vaccine looks good, PM Netanyahu got on the horn and negotiated a deal to buy a mess of vaccine at high-end boutique prices, even though six months ago, Israel entered a much cheaper deal for vaccines by Moderna. Was the PM showboating, politicking, or looking out for the health of his citizens?

—The Facts—

A crowdsourced campaign puts the faces and names of rapists and abusers on billboards and bus-side ads, in order to shame them. Cathartic, yes? But does it make our lives better or worse?

—The Tax—

When you buy stuff from overseas on the internet, you don’t pay tax, but when you go into a store in Tel Aviv, you do. Does that make any sense at all?

—Will the Slurpee® Succeed on Soil Sanctified by Solomon?—

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk about plans to bring 250 branches of convenience store 7-Eleven to Israel in the next two years. Will the Slurpee® succeed on soil sanctified by Solomon? Should it succeed? Also, in Israel, do they give away the free Slurpees on July 11, like they do in America (July 11 being 7-11 in America), or will it be on November 7 (November 7 being 7-11 in Israel)? So many important questions!

All that and the challenging genius of Kalkar.