Characterization of the Israeli P681H strain: The P681H strain presents as a cluster in a phylogenetic tree of all sequenced samples in Israel, distinct from the B.1.1.7 Pangolin lineage, which also contains the P681H mutation. The strain originates from the B.1.1.50 Pangolin lineage, in which the majority of the sequences are from Israel (70%), Palestine (12%) and the UK (12%) [1]. It is characterized by a non-synonymous mutation in the S protein – P681H (C23604A) and additional four synonymous mutations: Nsp3:C7765T, Nsp12b:C13821T, Nsp16:T21111C and C29545A. The strain carrying these mutations is unique to Israel, aside for 2 sequences originating in Palestine. A sub-clade of the strain contains an additional non-synonymous mutation in the S protein – A27S (G21641T)
