We’re going to turn this week’s News and Schmooze over to JTA correspondent Marcy Oster, who has some choice tidbits out of Israel that missed the news wire.

Bibi’s million-dollar ride

Few luxury cars come with an anti-grenade defense system or bulletproof tires, or other serious security features such as a bulletproof armored cabin and an automated fire extinguishing system.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new official car, an Audi A8, has all of them, plus one more thing: a $1 million price tag.

The car also has a wide-screen DVD screen, a refrigerator and a humidor for cigars, according to reports, plus more mundane luxury items like a sun roof and leather interior.

Its 12-cylinder, 6-liter engine, with 450 horsepower, is the largest made by Audi for the A8. The car weighs nearly three tons.

‘Dancing’ takes a step

Israel’s “Dancing with the Stars” is kicking up its heels for a fifth season with same-sex partners for the first time.

Television sportscaster Gili Shem Tov, a lesbian married to a woman with whom she has a son, is paired with professional dancer Dorit Milman, who wasn’t aware that she had a female partner until Shem Tov walked into the studio for their first meeting. Based on the British “Strictly Come Dancing,” the show is the first of 35 versions broadcast in countries around the world to have same-sex partners.

So who will lead? The women said on the first show that they would take turns.

Government-issued weed?

A Health Ministry committee has recommended that medical marijuana be included in the country’s national health basket.

The committee cited the steep increase in the price of medical marijuana that unchecked could rise further if it does not join the list of included medicines.

The panel also recommended adding more Israeli doctors allowed to prescribe medical marijuana. About 5,000 prescriptions for marijuana are expected to be written during 2010, according to Haaretz. The number of patients using medical marijuana could rise to 50,000 if the committee’s recommendations are accepted.

And the winning numbers are…

A 10,000-to-1 event that occurred twice in one month has put some big bucks in the bank accounts of three Israelis, plus a bit of extra cash in the pockets of a handful of others.

The six main numbers hit twice in Israel’s state lottery in less than a month; the seventh strong number was different, however.

Three players guessed the seven numbers correctly and each won more than $1 million. Some 95 others played the six base winning numbers in the second drawing, according to reports, each winning $1,116 to $1,831.