Leaders of Israel’s Believer community were issuing prayer requests Wednesday for the health of former president Shimon Peres, who was listed in serious but stable condition Wednesday morning hours after suffering a severe stroke. The 93-year-old Peres is Israel’s senior statesmen and the last of the founders of the modern State of Israel, having served as an advisor to David Ben Gurion in 1948 and in a number of government positions over the decades.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s comments earlier this week that Israeli students need to study Jewish history and the Bible even more then they need to study math, science and English received strong support from Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) leaders. Supporters rejected criticism that he was denigrating the study of secular subjects, pointing to his record of encouraging them, saying instead that he is trying to increase the quality of all areas of study.

The IDF in cooperation with various national and local emergency response agencies conducted a massive drill in the Galilee region Tuesday meant to simulate responses to a ground incursion into the north of Israel by the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah. The drill focused on the evacuation of civilians and related problems.

Camp Rabin, the IDF’s most visited facility located in the heart of Tel Aviv, held the grand opening of a new archeological garden this week as part of renewed efforts to connect soldiers and visitors with their cultural heritage in the Land of Israel. “The exhibition, which we organized in the epicenter of the army, brings a reminder that spans thousands of years of history to the daily life of tens of thousands of soldiers and visitors that we are part of a chain of magnificent life,” said Israel Antiquities Authority director Israel Hasson.