London (archive)Nati Shohat/Flash 90

Amid a terrifying and unchecked wave of antisemitism gripping the United Kingdom, a prominent leader of British Jewry has announced his decision to liquidate his assets and flee the country for Israel.

Jeremy Jacobs, the former chief executive of the United Synagogue charity, revealed in a letter to The Telegraph that he officially placed his family residence on the market to facilitate Aliyah. His lineage in Britain dates back to the 1850s, yet the profound societal decay in the UK has forced him to seek refuge in the Jewish State.

While Jacobs experienced isolated incidents of Jew-hatred during his youth in the 1960s and later at the London School of Economics, he noted that the domestic climate has devolved into an existential crisis following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacres. The triggering point, he recounted, occurred when radicalized students harassed him while he walked past University College London alongside his three young granddaughters.

“They shouted at me because I was wearing a kippah. It was so uncomfortable, having to push my three young granddaughters forward, hoping that they weren’t fully aware of what was going on," Jacobs recalled in the letter to The Telegraph.

Drawing chilling historical parallels, the communal leader warned that British academia has become ground zero for a dangerous ideological contagion reminiscent of pre-war Europe.

“I’m hesitant to refer to what happened in the 1920s and 1930s, but in Germany, it was in academia where the hatred really started to develop, before it was picked up by the political classes. That’s what is happening in the UK today," Jacobs stated.

The daily reality for British Jewish children has become untenable. According to Jacobs, local Jewish day schools have been forced to implement extreme security measures, including ordering students to conceal the identity badges on their blazers or completely banning school uniforms to prevent targeted street assaults.

Furthermore, the relentless, massive anti-Israel street marches paralyzing London have signaled a dark societal shift.

“Yet every time we come across these marches, or find Free Palestine stickers plastered everywhere, it suggests to me that we’ve passed the point of no return. I don’t think non-Jews quite understand how distressing it is. I see myself as British - a proud Brit - but Britain is no longer the country it was," he lamented.

Jacobs pointed to an institutional and cultural failure, exacerbated by a silent majority that refuses to intervene. He attributed the surge to classic scapegoating during national financial downturns, noting that the establishment inevitably resurrects antisemitic tropes regarding Jewish financial control.

Ultimately, the decision to relocate to the frontlines of the Jewish State is rooted in a search for genuine security and communal solidarity - elements he believes the United Kingdom has permanently surrendered. Recalling a visit to Israel in June 2025 during an Iranian missile offensive, he described a stark contrast to the alienation he experiences on the streets of London.

“The atmosphere was so strong, so collegiate. Everyone was so happy to work together, looking out for each other. This idea that people pull together in war - the spirit of the Blitz - that’s how it felt. When I walk in Israel, even in a war zone, I feel at home. In London, where we live, that feeling has gone," Jacobs explained in the letter to The Telegraph.

The letter comes amid a surge in antisemitic violence in the United Kingdom, culminating in the attack last month in which two Orthodox Jewish men were stabbed in nearby Golders Green.

The Golders Green stabbing prompted the United Kingdom to raise its national terrorism threat level from "substantial" to "severe" for the first time in over four years.

Last week, another Jewish man was assaulted in Golders Green simply because he was overheard speaking Hebrew.

Lebanese President Joseph AounAnadolu via Reuters Connect

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun declared on Monday that Israel’s complete military withdrawal from southern Lebanon is a “non-negotiable" prerequisite, even as Beirut finalizes preparations for a new round of US-mediated diplomatic talks with Jerusalem.

According to a report by the pan-Arab, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Aoun used the anniversary of Israel’s historical withdrawal from the region in 2000 to sharply criticize ongoing Israeli counter-terror operations against Hezbollah.

“This year, the anniversary of the liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality," Aoun asserted in an official statement. “Israeli attacks have not stopped, and our dear southern villages are still suffering under a renewed occupation," he claimed.

Conspicuously absent from the Lebanese leader’s address was any mention of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization, whose relentless, unprovoked rocket and drone barrages targeting northern Israeli communities directly necessitated the IDF’s defensive incursions across the frontier.

A temporary ceasefire framework has technically been in effect since April 17 in Lebanon, and was recently extended for several weeks, but the IDF has been forced to continue striking Hezbollah targets as the terrorist group continues to violate the ceasefire.

“Lebanon will not accept this reality," Aoun insisted on Monday, framing a total Israeli retreat as a “constant national demand" that his administration intends to push for at the bargaining table.

Despite the volatile security climate on the ground, rare bilateral talks between the neighboring states were initiated last month under American mediation. A fourth consecutive round of diplomacy is anticipated to convene in early June, closely following a high-level coordination meeting between respective military delegations scheduled for May 29 at the Pentagon.

After the initial April 23 meeting which was attended by Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s Ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, President Donald Trump expressed hope that a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon would be possible this year.

Trump also said he hopes to host a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Aoun in Washington within the next few weeks.

Aoun has made clear that a high-level summit with Netanyahu is currently out of the question, stressing that the cessation of hostilities must be the primary focus before any direct political engagement can be considered.

David BitanIsrael Bar Association spokesperson

Knesset Economic Affairs Committee chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) claimed Monday that the primary disagreement between the Likud and the haredi parties at the moment centers on the scheduling of the upcoming elections.

"We prefer October, while the haredi parties prefer September. I don't think it's feasible to hold elections during the High Holy Days themselves," Bitan said in an interview with Radio Kol Chai.

Addressing the security situation, Bitan noted that Israel remains in the midst of a multi-front campaign. "As the war has dragged on, matters have ceased to depend solely on us," he explained. He rejected allegations that Israel's military campaign had been in vain: "I don't accept the claim that we fought for nothing. We had no choice but to fight."

When pressed on the concept of "absolute victory," Bitan conceded that the objective has not yet been achieved. "Absolute victory was an aspiration, but we haven't reached that point yet. It is still a work in progress," he said.

Turning to the Draft Law, Bitan argued that the Likud should not bear sole responsibility for the legislative delays: "You cannot place the blame entirely on the Likud for the fact that the Draft Law did not advance over these past years."

"You cannot pass a law that the haredim themselves do not even support right now. Initially, there were legal hurdles that caused delays, then certain coalition members refused to back the phrasing, and we ultimately reached a point where the bill simply lacked a majority - and now, the haredim don't even want it anymore. Life goes on, and we will ultimately pass a fair law during the next term."

Donald TrumpWhite House Photo by Daniel Torok

As negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear stockpiles intensify, US President Donald Trump once again took to his Truth Social platform to reinforce his unyielding "hard power" doctrine.

In a graphic shared with millions of followers on Monday, Trump presented a stark visual comparison of American foreign policy toward the Islamic Republic. The image, styled as a “split-panel" meme, contrasts "Obama's Iran Policy" with "Trump's Iran Policy," perfectly encapsulating the current administration's total rejection of past appeasement strategies.

The left panel of the graphic features a towering stack of cash - specifically labeled "Pallets of Cash"- on wooden pallets, referencing the controversial Obama-era cash transfers to Tehran during the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Directly beside it, the panel representing "Trump's Iran Policy" depicts a powerful US Navy destroyer - the DDG 50 - firing missiles in a fiery naval battle. It is a potent illustration of overwhelming military force, signaling to the world that under Trump, America will choose strategic strength over financial concessions.

The meme was posted hours after Trump clarified that any final agreement with Iran will require the Atomic Energy Commission to physically witness and verify the total destruction of the regime's enriched uranium.

In a post on Truth Social, the president mapped out the strict logistical boundaries for dismantling Tehran’s nuclear inventory.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

On Sunday, US officials stated that the formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Iran could be delayed by several days.

According to a senior United States official quoted by CNN, the delay stems from a protracted and bureaucratic approval process required to obtain Tehran's official endorsement on the specific phrasing of the pact.

Masoud PezeshkianZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

An internal bureaucratic battle within the Islamic Republic has culminated in the looming collapse of Iran's sweeping digital blockade.

Iran International reported on Monday that President Masoud Pezeshkian has officially issued an executive directive to dismantle the months-long international web blackout, forcing even hardline paramilitary media outlets to reluctantly fall in line behind the decision.

According to a presidential spokesperson, Pezeshkian ordered the Ministry of Communications to fully restore international internet access to its pre-January status.

Following the directive, ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi confirmed to the Shargh daily newspaper that the technical process of reconnecting the country to the global network had already commenced, while the semi-official ISNA news agency projected that the order would be fully implemented by Tuesday.

The internet blackout began on January 8 as anti-regime protests continued across the Islamic Republic and a brutal crackdown on the demonstrations ensued. The blackout was temporarily lifted and then restored.

The decision on a rollback of the blackout exposes fractures between Iran's executive branch and the defense apparatus. Initially, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars news agency mounted a public challenge to the legality of the move. The hardline outlet fiercely argued that because the severe digital restrictions had been originally enacted by the supreme authority of the Supreme National Security Council, only that specific body possessed the constitutional power to formally reverse them.

However, in a striking about-face hours later, the news agency dramatically softened its tone. In a newly published editorial, Fars suddenly characterized the digital reopening as a necessary “technical and security" decision that was destined to occur “sooner or later" as general cyber conditions improved.

Seeking to justify the months of digital isolation inflicted upon the Iranian populace, the paramilitary outlet claimed that the restrictions had originally been imposed to prevent cyber espionage and protect critical infrastructure during wartime conditions and an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks. Fars further hit back at domestic critics, dismissing efforts to turn the issue into a political dispute while aggressively accusing reformist media networks of exploiting the shutdown to deepen internal divisions during what it described as a “full-scale war."

Mark CarneyREUTERS/Ints Kalnins

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticized Israel over last week’s interception of an anti-Israel Gaza flotilla during a telephone conversation on Monday with President Isaac Herzog, AFP reported.

According to an official government statement detailing the call, the Canadian leader denounced what he described as the "appalling treatment" of activists aboard the vessel, branding the actions of Israeli security forces as "unacceptable."

The conversation also followed the international uproar last week over National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s video of his encounter with participants in the pro-Hamas flotilla to Gaza, including 12 Canadians.

During his exchange with Herzog, Carney called for an independent investigation into the interception and "strongly condemned" remarks by Ben Gvir, the statement noted.

The phone call marks the latest escalation in Ottawa's response to the naval incident. Last week, Canada announced it was summoning the Israeli ambassador to formally demand explanations regarding the treatment of its citizens.

The fallout has also triggered ramifications for Ben Gvir on the European continent. France has officially banned Ben Gvir from entry to its territory, while Paris is concurrently aligning with Italy and Spain to pressure the European Union into leveling formal sanctions against the minister.

Carney, who replaced Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and as Prime Minister, has been criticized for previous anti-Israel comments he had made.

During an election campaign in Calgary last year, Carney was documented responding to a protester in the crowd who yelled, “Mr. Carney, there is a genocide happening in Palestine," by pausing and saying, “Thank you…I’m aware. Which is why we have an arms embargo."

Carney was later asked by reporters about the remark and walked it back, claiming that he had not heard the specific term “genocide" and was simply referencing existing arms restrictions imposed by the Canadian government.

“I didn’t hear that word," Carney said. “It’s noisy. If you’re up there you hear snippets of what people say and I heard Gaza, and my point was I’m aware of the situation in Gaza."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at Carney, saying, “Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney. But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state. Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible statement!"

Last summer, Carney announced that his government intends to recognize the “State of Palestine".

B'nai Brith Canada and a coalition of multicultural leaders later wrote a letter to Carney sounding the alarm over the move. The letter warned that such a move “could embarrass Canada, compound the crisis in the Middle East, and further push Israelis and Palestinians away from establishing a two-state solution."

Moshe GafniChaim Goldberg/Flash 90

Opposition figures have sounded out United Torah Judaism (UTJ) to gauge whether the party would support a constructive vote of no confidence to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Channel 12 News reported on Monday evening. The haredi party did not reject the idea out of hand.

According to the report, UTJ representatives made it clear that they would not support opposition leader Yair Lapid, and certainly not Yuli Edelstein of the Likud.

Instead, they proposed Benny Gantz as the candidate. The party's understanding is that the opposition would only agree to the move if Gantz commits to not running in the upcoming elections.

In terms of parliamentary math, the opposition currently holds 52 seats, and UTJ brings an additional seven seats. Together, they are just two votes shy of a Knesset majority. Blue and White dismissed the report, clarifying that no such discussions had taken place.

On Sunday night, Channel 12 News reported that "Yashar" leader Gadi Eisenkot and Degel Hatorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni met last week, shortly after Rabbi Dov Lando announced the dissolution of the right-wing bloc.

US Army in Strait of HormuzCENTCOM

American military forces executed a series of preemptive, defensive airstrikes in southern Iran on Monday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed.

"US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces," CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told Fox News.

He added, “Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire."

The American confirmation followed a wave of reports across state-controlled Iranian media networks. Tehran's press outlets initially reported that a pair of naval vessels belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been targeted and bombed by American fighter jets during an active deployment in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf.

According to those Iranian accounts, the targeted tactical engagement resulted in the deaths of four IRGC Navy operatives.

Other reports on Monday night indicated a series of explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas.

The incident comes despite the ceasefire announced by the US in Iran and amid the ongoing contacts between the sides on a deal to end Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

US President Donald Trump clarified on Monday that any final agreement with Iran will require the Atomic Energy Commission to physically witness and verify the total destruction of the regime's enriched uranium.

In a post on Truth Social, the president mapped out the strict logistical boundaries for dismantling Tehran’s nuclear inventory.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

On Sunday, US officials stated that the formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Iran could be delayed by several days.

According to a senior United States official quoted by CNN, the delay stems from a protracted and bureaucratic approval process required to obtain Tehran's official endorsement on the specific phrasing of the pact.

Donald TrumpWhite House Photo by Daniel Torok

US President Donald Trump clarified on Monday that any final agreement with Iran will require the Atomic Energy Commission to physically witness and verify the total destruction of the regime's enriched uranium.

In a post on Truth Social, the president mapped out the strict logistical boundaries for dismantling Tehran’s nuclear inventory.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote.

Trump’s post comes amid continued talks on a possible deal between the US and Iran.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

On Sunday, US officials stated that the formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Iran could be delayed by several days.

According to a senior United States official quoted by CNN, the delay stems from a protracted and bureaucratic approval process required to obtain Tehran's official endorsement on the specific phrasing of the pact.

Israel-Lebanon borderHadas Parush/Flash 90

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Monday night that, in coordination with the Home Front Command's ongoing situational assessment, it was decided to update the defensive guidelines starting Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. until Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m.

The Confrontation Line area and the communities of Meron, Bar Yochai, Or HaGanuz, and Safsufa will remain under the partial activity level with no change,.

Gatherings and services will be restricted to up to 50 people in an open area and up to 200 people within a structure, instead of 200 people in an open area and 600 people within a structure.

Educational activities - no change, except for the communities listed as exceptions in the attached exemptions document.

“The Home Front Command continues to conduct ongoing situational assessments. Any changes to the defensive guidelines will be updated to the public through the official platforms of the Home Front Command and the IDF," the IDF statement said.

The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement addressing the ongoing campaign against the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

“We are at war with Hezbollah. In recent weeks alone, our heroic soldiers have eliminated more than 600 terrorists. But we are not taking our foot off the gas pedal. I said we must press the pedal even harder," Netanyahu stressed.

He added: “Yes, they are launching cyber-guided drones at us. We have a special team working on this, and we will solve that too. We need to increase the strikes and the intensity. We will strike them hard."

Earlier, Rafi Milo, commander of the IDF Northern Command, delivered a sharp warning to Hezbollah leadership, making clear that the IDF would no longer tolerate attacks on Israeli civilian communities.

Milo made the remarks during a ceremony for the Golan Brigade (474), amid increasing launches of drones and explosive drones toward the Galilee and Golan Heights in recent days.

Hinting at further offensive activity in Lebanon, Milo declared: “Harming civilians and civilian areas is not a reality that can be accepted or treated as routine."

“We will not tolerate fire on the home front. Northern Command is at war. The Hezbollah terrorist organization deliberately chose to escalate the security reality in the north while directly targeting the civilian population. In doing so, the enemy has crossed a severe and unacceptable red line," he added.

His comments came shortly after several drones struck different points in northern Israel. One exploded near a children’s bus stop on the main road of the community of Shomera, though no injuries were reported.

Later, a fire broke out in an open wooded area near Rosh HaNikra after an explosive drone detonated. Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to contain the blaze.

US President Donald Trump mourned the deaths of 13 US military service members in the war with Iran during a Memorial Day remembrance on Monday.

“These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world’s number one state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon," Trump said after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

“Oh, and they won’t. They will never have a nuclear weapon. I’m sure you know that one."

“In two wars recently, we’ve lost a total of 13 service members," he said.

“In Venezuela, which was a complete and total victory … we took that over in one day, lost no one. In Operation Epic Fury, we lost 13 wonderful souls - wonderful, special people," added Trump.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

On Sunday, US officials stated that the formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Iran could be delayed by several days.

According to a senior United States official quoted by CNN, the delay stems from a protracted and bureaucratic approval process required to obtain Tehran's official endorsement on the specific phrasing of the pact.

Rabbi Eliezer Simcha WeiszCourtesy

At the end of Parashat Beha’alotcha, we encounter a deeply unsettling question. It is a story that shakes our assumptions about caring for others, the boundaries of leadership, and the subtle disguises the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) uses to mislead even good people.

The Jewish people are at a moment of extraordinary spiritual elevation. The Mishkan (Tabernacle) has been erected, the tribal banners stand proudly, and the nation is prepared to begin its journey into Eretz Yisrael. Then, in an instant, everything comes to a standstill. The Divine cloud ceases to move, and a heavy silence settles over the camp in Midbar Paran. Millions of people suspend their entire journey for seven days because of one private conversation between a brother and sister.

What exactly took place?

The Torah records the episode in a few brief but piercing words:

“Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, ‘Has Hashem spoken only through Moshe? Has He not spoken through us as well?’ And Hashem heard it." (Bamidbar 12:1-2)

If we read these verses superficially, we miss the entire foundation of the parashah. Miriam HaNeviah (the Prophetess) was certainly not a petty gossip seeking to undermine Moshe Rabbeinu. This was the devoted older sister who stood watch by the Nile to protect him as an infant. She was a towering spiritual figure who carried the pain of the Jewish women in Egypt and later led them in song after Kriyat Yam Suf (the splitting of the Sea).

The commentaries and the Midrash in the Sifrei explain that Miriam’s conversation with Aharon stemmed from sincere concern. She had learned that Moshe had separated from his wife, living a life of perishut (ascetic abstinence) so he could remain constantly prepared for prophecy. Miriam was distressed by this. She did not spread rumors or speak out of jealousy (mitoch kinah). She turned privately to her brother Aharon, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), to discuss what they believed was a painful and serious family issue.

Their reasoning appeared completely justified: “Has Hashem spoken only with Moshe? He speaks with us as well, yet we did not separate from our families. Why must Moshe adopt such an extreme path and cause pain within his home?" They genuinely believed they were acting l’shem shamayim (for the sake of Heaven), motivated by family concern and public responsibility.

But the Torah abruptly shifts from human reasoning to the perspective of the Ribbono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe):

“Suddenly Hashem said to Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam, ‘Go out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.’ And the three of them went out." (Bamidbar 12:4)

Hashem appears in a pillar of cloud and rebukes Miriam and Aharon for comparing their prophecy to Moshe’s. Moshe’s prophetic level was entirely unique. His separation from ordinary life was not a personal chumra (stringency) or an unnecessary stringency, but an essential requirement for his role as the Mechalek HaTorah (the Giver of the Torah).

Then the consequence appears immediately:

“When the cloud departed from above the Tent, Miriam was stricken with tzara’at, white as snow." (Bamidbar 12:10)

At that very moment, the Torah testifies that “the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth." Moshe was not insulted, nor was he seeking to defend his honor. Yet Divine justice took its course regardless.

Moshe himself responds with breathtaking humility. Rather than focusing on personal hurt, he cries out the brief tefillah (prayer) that echoes through the generations: “El na, refa na lah" - “Please, God, heal her, please."

Still, Miriam must remain outside the camp for seven days.

The Psychological Mask

Here lies a profound truth about human nature. Why was Miriam punished so severely if her intentions were sincere? She loved her brother. She believed she was helping.

The answer reveals one of the Yetzer Hara’s most dangerous disguises: the tendency to justify lashon hara (harmful speech) under the banner of “concern."

In everyday life - within families, friendships, workplaces, and communities - people rarely speak negatively out of pure malice. Most do not consciously set out to destroy another person’s reputation. The danger is that harmful speech often arrives wrapped in the language of responsibility, empathy, or constructive discussion.

People regularly begin conversations with phrases such as:

• “I’m only saying this because I’m worried about him. I honestly don’t know how he’s managing."
• “We really need to discuss her behavior; it’s affecting the whole family."
• “Did you hear what happened? I’m only trying to understand the situation so we can help."

Miriam’s story stands as an eternal warning. Good intentions do not automatically make words permissible. When we dissect another person’s choices, struggles, or private life behind their back - even in the name of concern - we may simply be satisfying curiosity, frustration, or ego at the expense of someone else’s dignity.

If we are not genuinely part of the solution, actively and privately helping the person involved, then our “concern" is simply a refined form of gossip.

Why Progress Comes to a Halt

The narrative concludes with a striking lesson about communal life. Miriam remains outside the camp, and the Torah emphasizes:

“And the people did not travel until Miriam was brought back." (Bamidbar 12:15)

Millions of people - elders, judges, men, women, and children - halted their journey in the scorching desert for seven full days, waiting for one individual to complete her isolation and healing.

Chazal (our Sages) explain that this delay was a beautiful reward for Miriam, mirroring the time she waited by the Nile for the infant Moshe. But on a deeper level, the Torah is teaching an enduring principle: a community cannot move forward when its members are occupied with speaking about one another.

When families, shuls, organizations, or communities develop a culture of criticism, analysis, and fault-finding - even when framed respectfully or constructively - momentum disappears. Energy that could have been invested in growth, building, and facing real challenges is drained into internal tension and division.

The camp cannot move forward without achdut (unity).

If we want our lives, families, and communities to progress, the first step is learning to stop the constant analysis and criticism of others. Before speaking about another person this week, perhaps we should ask ourselves one honest question:

Am I truly going to help this person directly and privately, or am I simply using the language of “concern" to give myself something to discuss?

When we learn to guard our words, we create the peace, dignity, and unity that allow the entire Machane Yisrael (Camp of Israel) to move forward and thrive.

Rabbi Weisz is a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council.

מיטת תינוקצילום: ISTOCK

There is a particular danger in negotiating with a state that is simultaneously aggressive and dying. Aggressive states can be deterred or defeated. Dying states can sometimes be outlasted. A state that is both at once tempts its adversaries into a third, far worse option: resuscitation.

That is precisely the trap Washington is now approaching as it entertains a ceasefire framework that would unfreeze billions in Iranian assets, leave the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intact, and hand the clerical regime exactly the financial oxygen it needs to survive its own structural collapse.

The administration should look past the missiles and read the birth records instead.

On May 24, the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that President Trump agrees any final agreement must fully dismantle Iran's nuclear enrichment infrastructure, Alireza Raisi, the Iranian Health Ministry's deputy for public health, issued a quiet but devastating admission: Iran's national fertility rate has fallen to a historic low of 1.35 children per woman. In Tehran province, the figure is worse still, with crude calculations suggesting the total fertility rate has dropped to between 1.15 and 1.2 births per woman, more than 40 percent below the replacement level of 2.1. Annual births across Iran have now fallen below one million for the first time in seventy years.

These are not the statistics of a civilization projecting power. They are the statistics of a civilization in free fall.

The same day Raisi delivered his warning, Mojtaba Khamenei, who quietly assumed the position of Supreme Leader following the February 28 precision strikes that killed his father, issued an urgent national directive demanding a state-sponsored baby boom. The regime's response to its demographic emergency reads as a portrait of institutional desperation: state-funded mass weddings with oversized portraits of the new Supreme Leader hung above the stages, IRGC-affiliated matchmaking stalls erected at pro-regime rallies, prohibitions on contraceptive distribution at state hospitals, and financial incentives that the regime's own parliament has admitted are being met at less than fifteen percent of their promised value.

Hyperinflation, sanctions, and the devastation of the 2026 war have left ordinary Iranians unable to afford children and unwilling to raise them under clerical rule.

The demographic data is not new. As demographer Nicholas Eberstadt has documented, Iran experienced one of the most dramatic fertility collapses in modern history between 1982 and 2002, a decline of over 70 percent in the total fertility rate. The country fell below replacement level in 1999 and has never recovered. The 2021 Family Support and Youthful Population Law, which promised interest-free loans, land grants, housing discounts, and utility subsidies to incentivize larger families, has been a legislative monument to regime incompetence. It changed nothing because no financial incentive can overcome the rational calculus of a population that has concluded the Islamic Republic offers its children no viable future.

By mid-century, more than one-third of Iran's population will be over sixty years old. In a developing economy whose industrial base has been ravaged by decades of mismanagement, sanctions, and now active military conflict, supporting that elderly cohort on the backs of a diminished, impoverished working-age population is a mathematical impossibility. This is the strategic horizon the clerical elite is actually operating against, and it explains what might otherwise appear as irrational regional adventurism.

As demographer David P. Goldman has argued, there is a direct relationship between Iran's shrinking demographic window and its drive for regional hegemony. The mullahs know their human resource reserve is evaporating. They know the youth population that staffs the IRGC, funds the clerical patronage network, and provides the regime its physical coercive capacity is not being replaced. The drive to lock in a Shia Crescent, to hold the Strait of Hormuz, to maintain proxy networks from Lebanon to Yemen to Iraq, is not an expression of civilizational confidence. It is an expression of civilizational panic. The aggression is a race against the clock.

IRGC commander Major General Ali Abdollahi declared a "historic victory" over the American superpower this week and promised that Iran would enforce permanent foreign exclusion from the Strait of Hormuz. The regime published an AI-generated image depicting President Trump submitting to Mojtaba Khamenei. This is not the behavior of a confident state. It is the behavior of a leadership class that understands, at some level, that the image is a fantasy, and is broadcasting fantasies because the reality it governs is unsustainable.

Washington must not be deceived by the noise. A sixty-day ceasefire that unfreezes twenty billion dollars in assets gives the clerical elite precisely the financial cushion needed to buy off domestic dissent, restart patronage networks, and purchase time against the structural forces that are otherwise working in America's favor. Time is the one resource the Islamic Republic genuinely cannot manufacture, and a premature deal would transfer it back.

The prescription is not complicated, though it requires strategic patience that Washington has historically found difficult to sustain. Maintain naval dominance over the Gulf to suppress oil revenues. Sustain maximum economic pressure. Enable the Iranian domestic opposition digitally and diplomatically. Prepare seriously for the post-clerical transition rather than treating it as a remote contingency. The regime will not be negotiated out of existence. But it can be outlasted, and the empty cradles of Tehran are the most honest evidence available that outlasting it is an achievable strategy.

The Islamic Republic is a zombie state: partially decapitated, economically shattered, demographically exhausted, and facing its deepest legitimacy crisis in forty-seven years, yet still capable of projecting lethal regional violence.

The correct response to a zombie state is not resuscitation. It is patience, pressure, and the refusal to mistake a dying regime's final aggression for enduring strength.

Washington holds the stronger hand. It must not fold it.

Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx

Fallen US servicememberWhite House

The American Democratic Party's official X page decided to commemorate US Memorial Day on Monday by publishing a political post, exploiting fallen US servicemembers to voice opposition to the war against the Islamic regime in Iran.

The post features a graphic with images and names of the 13 US servicemembers who fell during Operation Epic Fury, along with the words: "Remembering the Americans who died in Trump's war with Iran."

The post also includes the caption: "Today, we honor the American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s war with Iran."

The White House responded to the post, stating: "Today, we honor all Americans who made that ultimate sacrifice not in service to a person or party - but to their nation."

"Using these heroes’ deaths for politics on Memorial Day is truly disgusting."

Several commentators pointed out the higher number of casualties during the terms of Democratic presidents.

One X user commented with the names and photos of the 13 service members killed in one day during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan during President Joe Biden's presidency. Another left the photos of Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other three Americans murdered in the attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya.

It should be noted that the party's official page also posted a more solemn, non-cynical post reading: "This Memorial Day, we remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and defend our freedoms."

Zombie journalismAI generated

The New York Times still struts around draped in the fading moral velvet of "independent journalism," the walk of a zombie that hasn't yet noticed it's dead. Every outward function of a living newsroom remains intact: it moves, files, publishes, wins awards. What it lost somewhere along the way was the animating soul of the once honorable enterprise of journalism: honest skepticism, proportionate judgment, the willingness to follow evidence somewhere inconvenient. The body still works. The conscience is gone. And Jew-hatred abounds.

Whenever critics expose its frequent distortions, selective framing, manipulative headlines or ideological activism disguised as reporting, the paper erupts in ritualized indignation. Critics are accused of "threatening journalism," "attacking democracy" or "undermining the free press."

Most recently, a spokesperson for the Times accused Israel of attempting to "undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism" after the Israeli Prime Minister's Office threatened legal action over Nicholas Kristof's column alleging widespread sexual abuse of Palestinian Arab detainees, including the use of trained dog rapists. Israel's prime minister and foreign minister called it a defamatory "blood libel," while the Times wrapped itself in the usual reflexive sanctimony about its careful fact-checking and journalistic integrity.

The timing itself raised unavoidable questions. A moment before release of a heavily documented report about Palestinian Arab rape culture and the systematic sexual brutality unleashed during the October 7 massacre, the Times suddenly elevated grotesque and unsubstantiated counter-allegations portraying Israelis as the true sexual monsters. The effect was unmistakable: moral inversion, narrative displacement and reputational cover for one of the most barbaric atrocities committed against Jews since the Holocaust.

The Times invokes the sanctity of independent journalism, but the deeper problem is precisely that it is not independent. It is ideologically enslaved to a progressive moral framework that treats Israel, Jewish self-defense and Western power as inherently suspect, while filtering reality through perennial grievance, victimhood and anti-colonial redemption narratives. Zombie journalism does not suppress truth through censorship. It does something more insidious. It alters reality through a living-dead ideological digestive system until what emerges looks like reporting but functions as advocacy.

This is more than bias. Bias implies unevenness. What afflicts the modern Times is a uniquely perverse systemic moral and intellectual servitude. The paper does not merely lean left. It submits, reflexively, almost devotionally, to an ideological catechism in which Israel is guilty before evidence is weighed and Hamas-adjacent claims are dignified before verification.

Among the allegations elevated by the Times was the lurid claim that Israeli forces trained dogs to rape Palestinian terrorist prisoners. The allegation was so grotesque, so anatomically absurd and so perfectly calibrated for Hamas propaganda that any newsroom still possessing a functioning conscience should have treated it like radioactive waste. Instead, the Times elevated it into the bloodstream of respectable discourse.

Which raises a natural question: what comes next?

The Middle East has generated a rich and well-documented tradition of zoological conspiracy theories about Israel, none of which have ever been substantiated. Egypt accused Israel of deploying remote-controlled sharks to attack tourists in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia detained a griffon vulture on suspicion it was a Zionist spy. Hezbollah captured spy eagles. Iran's military accused Israel of sending lizards to sniff out uranium deposits. Hamas has repeatedly claimed to have captured killer dolphins trained by the Mossad. One waits, with diminishing patience, for the Times to assign a 4,000-word investigation into Israel's alleged army of aquatic assassins and feathered intelligence operatives. Given its recent editorial standards, the pitch would clear every desk in the building.

Unfortunately, the Kristof controversy is not an isolated embarrassment. It is the zombie mechanism laid bare. Kristof was not dealing with transparent evidence, neutral institutions or sources operating in anything resembling a free evidentiary environment. He was operating in the swampiest terrain of modern war propaganda, where detainee testimony, activist intermediaries, hostile "human rights" networks and Hamas-oriented information channels converge around atrocity narratives that are politically priceless. Yet the Times did not recoil from that convergence. It genuflected before it. A claim too obscene and too useful to enemy propaganda was not proven. It was deodorized, elevated and passed through the prestige source-laundering system of the New York Times until it emerged morally weaponized as a "serious allegation."

Today the Times inhabits an ideological ecosystem in which Israel is cast as the permanent oppressor class. Jews may still be tolerated as approved minorities, but Jewish sovereignty, Jewish military power and Jewish refusal to die quietly increasingly violate the emotional grammar of elite progressive culture. This is why the paper's coverage repeatedly bends reality into moral hallucination.

When Hamas massacres civilians, rapes women, burns families alive and kidnaps children, the Times instinctively searches for contextual mitigation. The emotional center of gravity shifts almost immediately toward Palestinian Arab grievance, rage or "cycles of violence." Israeli suffering is acknowledged briefly before being submerged beneath the larger emotional architecture of Palestinian Arab victimhood. The framing itself becomes the propaganda.

A synagogue attacker becomes "a neighbor" struggling with grief. Every Israeli military action is magnified through humanitarian optics while Hamas's embedding inside civilian infrastructure dissolves into atmospheric haze.

When an image of an emaciated Gazan child ricocheted across the globe as implicit proof that Israel was deliberately starving children, the emotional conclusion landed instantly. Later came additional context indicating the child suffered from serious pre-existing medical conditions, followed by quiet corrections buried with infinitely less emotional force than the original imagery.

Scream the accusation. Whisper the correction.

That is how the zombie sustains itself. Not through lies exactly, at least not usually, but through the relentless management of emotional weight: what gets amplified, what gets buried, what gets framed as outrage and what gets framed as context.

The dog rape allegation was something else entirely. It was not a matter of framing or selective emphasis. It was a blood libel, medievally grotesque, published under the Times masthead with minimal verification and maximum global impact. Even by the paper's elastic standards, it stands apart, a reminder that the zombie, given the right ideological conditions, is capable of anything.

The paper portrays itself as courageously speaking truth to power. In reality, hostility toward Israel is among the safest and most rewarded postures available across elite institutions. Universities reward it. NGOs reward it. International bureaucracies reward it. Entire media ecosystems reward it.

The paper is not resisting power. It is serving it.

The Times did not merely become biased. It became undead, still moving, still publishing, still self-righteously wrapping itself in the sacred language of a free press, while the conscience that once perhaps gave those words meaning rotted away long ago.

Zombie JournalismAI generated

Daniel Winston is an American-Israeli marriage therapist, trainer of therapists, lecturer and author. He volunteers in the IDF reserves, as a MDA medic, and in the Israel Police Search and Rescue Team. His articles have appeared in Jewish News Syndicate, Israel National News, The Jerusalem Post, Breitbart and elsewhere.

Hatred expressed at an US universityV. Sharpe

Dr. Alex Grobman is the senior resident scholar at the John C. Danforth Society, a member of the Council of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, and on the advisory board of The National Christian Leadership Conference of Israel (NCLCI).

History is again repeating itself in the lecture halls and quadrangles of Western academia. In his book The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower, historian Stephen H. Norwood showed how some of America’s most prestigious universities adopted a hear-no-evil attitude toward Hitler’s Germany that amounted, at times, to moral complicity. Administrators, alumni, faculty, and student leaders at elite institutions often treated Nazism not as a civilization-threatening ideology, but as an uncomfortable political development best managed through courtesy, exchange programs, and silence.

Norwood’s indictment is not that every university leader admired Hitler. Some did not. Harvard President James Bryant Conant, for example, formally opposed Nazi ideology. The deeper failure was institutional: from 1933 through 1937, Harvard still cultivated contacts with German universities and officials, even after those institutions had been “Nazified" and Jewish faculty had been purged. Nazi diplomats and scholars were welcomed onto campuses. Academic exchanges continued. Protesters who tried to expose Nazi brutality were treated as embarrassing disruptors rather than moral witnesses.

Columbia University offered another revealing example. Seven months after the Nazi book burnings of May 1933, Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler welcomed Dr. Hans Luther, Germany’s ambassador to the United States, to campus. When students objected, Butler dismissed their criticism. A year later, when he had the opportunity to appear with Gerhart Seger, an anti-Nazi refugee and former Social Democratic member of the Reichstag who had escaped Germany, Butler declined. Seger’s testimony could have helped alert students and faculty to the reality of Nazi rule. Butler chose distance instead.

This was not an isolated failure. Vassar, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, Barnard, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, the University of Delaware, and others maintained or participated in exchanges, receptions, or cultural engagements with German institutions. German departments and student clubs at American universities hosted Nazi diplomats. Some professors received German honors for promoting friendship between Germany and the United States.

At the University of Virginia’s Institute for Public Affairs, conferences and seminars gave German diplomats and sympathetic scholars an academic platform to soften Germany’s image and revise its responsibility for the First World War.

Until Kristallnacht, much of the academic world treated the Jewish catastrophe as a secondary issue, if it registered at all. Some Catholic universities viewed Soviet communism, not Nazism, as the greater civilizational threat. Others were more invested in cultural diplomacy than moral clarity. By the time the violence became impossible to deny, the habits of accommodation were already deeply entrenched.

The lesson is that elite academic institutions helped normalize a regime whose antisemitism was visible from the beginning. They transformed a moral emergency into an academic difference of opinion. They mistook politeness for sophistication and neutrality for wisdom.

That blindspot has returned.

Today, elite campuses are consumed by relentless, highly coordinated activism over Gaza. Students and faculty have every right to debate Israeli policy, criticize the conduct of war, and advocate for Palestinian Arab civilians. That is not the issue. The issue is the grotesque selectivity of the outrage. Gaza has become, for many activists, the defining moral test of the age, while vastly larger or clearer humanitarian catastrophes barely register.

The pattern is not universal compassion. It is ideological targeting.

Hamas is not a misunderstood civic movement. It is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization that governed Gaza, embedded itself among civilians, and launched the October 7 massacre that triggered the current war. Yet on too many campuses, these basic facts are minimized or omitted. Israel is treated as the sole author of Palestinian Arab suffering, while Hamas is treated as background noise.

That is not scholarship. It is narrative laundering, and distorting history.

Meanwhile, where are the encampments against the Islamic Republic of Iran? Where are the mass faculty petitions, divestment campaigns, and student occupations over a regime that hangs dissidents, brutalizes women, sponsors terror, and crushes its own population? According to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities carried out at least 2,159 executions in 2025 alone, more than double the previous year’s total and nearly 80 percent of known executions worldwide. This is not a disputed battlefield allegation. It is documented state murder at industrial scale. Yet Tehran does not inflame the academic conscience the way Jerusalem does.

The same silence surrounds Sudan. Since the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023, Sudan has become the world’s largest displacement crisis. UNHCR reports that some 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes, roughly one in four Sudanese. International humanitarian organizations report that more than 21 million people face acute food insecurity. Entire communities have been uprooted. Famine conditions have appeared. Civilians have been slaughtered, raped, starved, and driven across borders. Still, Sudan remains a footnote in Western academic life.

This disparity cannot be explained by humanitarian concern. If concern for human life were the governing principle, Iran and Sudan would dominate campus activism. They do not. If opposition to state violence were the governing principle, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and Nigeria would receive sustained attention. They do not. The academy’s moral imagination expands dramatically when Israel can be indicted and contracts just as dramatically when Jews are not the accused party.

This does not mean criticism of Israel is antisemitic. That argument is absurd and false. Democracies must be criticized, and Israel is no exception. But when Israel is singled out as uniquely evil, when Jewish national self-determination is treated as illegitimate, when Hamas atrocities are excused or contextualized, when Jewish students are told that their identity makes them complicit in genocide, and when chants for Israel’s destruction are rebranded as liberation rhetoric, the line has been crossed.

As demographer Gary A. Tobin argued, asking universities to confront antisemitism is not a demand for censorship. Universities already claim to reject racism, sexism, intimidation, and bigotry. The question is whether antisemitism is included in that moral vocabulary or exempted whenever it appears in the language of anti-Zionism. Academic freedom does not require universities to tolerate harassment, demonization, or speech that normalizes violence against Jews and the Jewish state. It requires intellectual honesty.

The failure of the 1930s was not merely that universities failed to oppose Hitler early enough. It was that they dignified the wrong actors and isolated the wrong witnesses. They hosted Nazi officials but cooled toward anti-Nazi refugees. They maintained exchanges with corrupted German institutions while treating Jewish protest as parochial agitation. They presented indifference as balance.

That is the danger today. University leaders insist they are managing complexity. Too often, they are managing cowardice. They issue careful statements, appoint committees, and hide behind procedural neutrality while Jewish students are intimidated and other mass atrocities are ignored. They teach students to confuse noise with conscience and fashion with morality.

Historian Ruth R. Wisse has observed that antisemites can often rely on the smallness of the Jewish people: persecution of Jews is unlikely to provoke retaliation of equal magnitude, and bystanders can persuade themselves that the matter is marginal to their own lives. The more lethal antisemitism becomes, the more many people prefer not to see it. That is how passive collusion works. It does not always march. Sometimes it merely looks away.

The academy failed that test once. It should not be allowed to fail it again.

Disturbing footage published by the Hezbollah terrorist organization on Monday shows, for the first time, the use of explosive FPV drones equipped with a thermal camera, an initial indication that the organization can strike IDF soldiers at night as well.

According to Kan News, the footage came from an incident that occurred at 9:40 p.m. near the village of Ras el-Bayada, in south-western Lebanon, during which two soldiers were moderately and mildly injured.

Until now, Hezbollah has used its explosive drones exclusively during the daytime, and the IDF adapted its operations to be conducted in the dark. While it was clear that it was only a matter of time, it appears that Hezbollah has obtained a new capability.

Earlier in the day, the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar television station broadcast thermal drone footage taken from a forest fire in Colorado six years ago.

The IDF stated that they have yet to find evidence indicating that Hezbollah used drones at night.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement Monday evening addressing the ongoing campaign against the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

“We are at war with Hezbollah. In recent weeks alone, our heroic soldiers have eliminated more than 600 terrorists. But we are not taking our foot off the gas pedal. I said we must press the pedal even harder," Netanyahu stressed.

He added: “Yes, they are launching cyber-guided drones at us. We have a special team working on this, and we will solve that too. We need to increase the strikes and the intensity. We will strike them hard."

Earlier, Rafi Milo, commander of the Israel Defense Forces Northern Command, delivered a sharp warning to Hezbollah leadership, making clear that the IDF would no longer tolerate attacks on Israeli civilian communities.

Milo made the remarks during a ceremony for the Golan Brigade (474), amid increasing launches of drones and explosive drones toward the Galilee and Golan Heights in recent days.

Hinting at further offensive activity in Lebanon, Milo declared: “Harming civilians and civilian areas is not a reality that can be accepted or treated as routine."

“We will not tolerate fire on the home front. Northern Command is at war. The Hezbollah terrorist organization deliberately chose to escalate the security reality in the north while directly targeting the civilian population. In doing so, the enemy has crossed a severe and unacceptable red line," he added.

His comments came shortly after several drones struck different points in northern Israel. One exploded near a children’s bus stop on the main road of the community of Shomera, though no injuries were reported.

Later, a fire broke out in an open wooded area near Rosh HaNikra after an explosive drone detonated. Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to contain the blaze.

הנשיא טראמפצילום: דניאל טורוק, דוברות הבית הלבן

Negotiations between the United States and Iran have reportedly slowed amid significant disagreements between the two sides, particularly regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

According to a report by Channel 12 News, Iranian officials are willing to commit to not developing nuclear weapons, but American negotiators do not trust the pledge.

The United States has reportedly offered Iran three possible options regarding its enriched uranium stockpile: selling the uranium, transferring it to a third-party country, or diluting the material.

On the issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is insisting on exclusive Iranian control and rejects alternative arrangements proposed by the Americans.

Despite the disputes, both sides reportedly agree that Lebanon will be included in any future agreement with Iran.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States is demanding clear commitments from Iran regarding its nuclear program, while Iranian negotiators are pressing for sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets. The report also noted that officials in Washington fear Iran could drag out the nuclear issue after receiving partial relief through a deal.

Earlier today, Donald Trump called for an expansion of the Abraham Accords following the end of the war with Iran.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that negotiations with Tehran were “progressing nicely" and confirmed that he held discussions over the weekend with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain.

“I stated that after all the work the United States has done, it should be mandatory for all these countries to sign the Abraham Accords," Trump wrote.

He added that he expects Saudi Arabia and Qatar to sign immediately, warning that countries refusing to join the initiative would demonstrate “bad intentions" and be excluded from the broader agreement.

Marc ZellArutz Sheva

In an attempt to understand President Donald Trump's actions, and particularly to know if there is a basis to the concerns in the defense and diplomatic establishments ahead of a possible deal with Iran, Arutz Sheva-Israel National News spoke with Marc Zell, the chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel and a vice president of Republicans Overseas.

"The President's modus operandi is always to leave the other side confused. That's how he was as a businessman, and that's how he is as President, and he always succeeds," says Zell. He believes that due to the US President's various statements, the Iranians have found themselves in a terrible position, and even their own responses are contradictory and confused, with the IRGC's position contradicting that of the Iranian President.

Zell is convinced that "Trump says that he hopes that now the Iranians are serious and that they want to reach a deal, but that the most important thing is the nuclear weapons and the Iranians must give up the enriched uranium. Immediately after that, the Iranians said they don't agree to anything and deny everything. It's all a trick." He points out that he believes the deal is unnecessary since he and President Trump know who he is dealing with. "With any ceasefire, they will take advantage of the time to rebuild their weapons, including their nuclear weapons."

This being said, Zell says that Trump is trying to create a framework where, if the Iranians were to surprisingly agree to such a deal, he would have several effective means to oversee the deal's implementation.

"The Iranians want the US to lift the blockade on the Persian Gulf since it prevents them from exporting their oil. They are drilling and manufacturing oil, but they have no place to put it, and it's filling the country and the sea, creating an economic and environmental disaster. Every day, they lose about half a million dollars in lost revenue. In practice, the US is currently continuing the war against Iran very effectively."

"The Iranians want to lift the blockade and the sanctions and release their assets that are estimated at billions around the world. Now, the Americans are freezing those assets. Trump says that without actual progress and fulfillment of promises regarding nuclear weapons, the proxies, and the ballistic missiles, Iran will not get a cent from its assets, and he will not lift the blockade." All these, according to Zell, were not part of Obama's nuclear deal.

Regarding Israel's concerns about the possibility of a partial deal, Zell says that one must remember that the US is coordinating with Israel. "We are not happy and satisfied with everything that Trump is thinking of doing, but they are known to us."

According to Zell, we must remember the critical significance of the upcoming midterm elections. At the moment, the Republicans have a majority of only two seats in the House of Representatives. If the Democrats win the majority, the only thing the Democratic representatives would do is shoot down all of Trump's moves in terms of the budget and politics, both domestically and against Iran. "It will be a tragedy for the American public," he insists, and states that in such a reality, the American voter votes with their wallet, and now, prices are only rising. Without an improvement in the economy, he is liable to lose his majority.

"Trump doesn't have all the time in the world. He needs to bring the goods to the American people within a few weeks if he wants to win in November. It's a race against time." In contrast, the Iranian side believes it has plenty of time and the power to stall matters for a few months, but "the problem is that they don't know Trump. In America, there are elections, but Trump says he's not pressured. For them (Iran), the economic clock is ticking with the accumulation of oil. Trump's aim is for them not to have nuclear weapons."

Regarding Trump's ability to work under pressure, Zell says that "Trump's veins flow with frozen water, not blood. I trust him. You have to remember what he's done for us, even if it was because of American interests. Never in history has Israel been in a situation as today, and that is thanks to the work by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Therefore, I'm optimistic. You've got to be alert, but not panic or be alarmed. It's not just against Iran and the oil issue, but also the China issue, the Arab States, food, relations with Europe, and Ukraine, and everything is packed up in the same package. Trump is managing it brilliantly.

Zell also notes that Israel and the US hold much more significant cards than Iran does, including Israel's means within Iran, which are designed to help the day 90 million citizens decide to rise against their oppressive regime. Now, the internal uprising is growing, adding pressure on the regime, its officials, and proxies.

Rafi MiloIDF spokesperson

Rafi Milo, commander of the Israel Defense Forces Northern Command, issued a sharp warning Monday evening to the leadership of Hezbollah, declaring that the Israeli military will no longer tolerate attacks on Israeli civilian communities.

Milo made the remarks during a ceremony for the Golan Brigade (474), amid an increase in drone and explosive drone launches toward the Galilee and the Golan Heights in recent days.

The Northern Command chief hinted at a possible escalation in offensive operations in Lebanon.

“Harming civilians and civilian areas is not a reality that can be accepted or treated as routine," he stated.

“We will not tolerate fire on the home front. Northern Command is at war. The Hezbollah terrorist organization deliberately chose to escalate the security situation in the north while directly targeting the civilian population. In doing so, the enemy has crossed a severe and unacceptable red line," Milo added.

His comments came shortly after several drones struck different locations in northern Israel. One exploded near a children’s bus stop on the main road of the community of Shomera. No injuries were reported.

Later, a fire broke out in an open wooded area near Rosh HaNikra following the explosion of an explosive drone. Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene in an effort to contain the flames.

ambulanceMDA spokesperson

A 12-year-old boy was critically injured Monday evening after falling from the sixth floor of a residential building in Ashkelon. He was evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center, where doctors were later forced to pronounce him dead.

The Israel Police said in a statement: “A short time ago, a report was received regarding a minor who fell from a height in a residential building in the city of Ashkelon. Police forces and medical teams arrived at the scene, and the minor was evacuated to the hospital in serious condition, where his death was determined."

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

סמל נהוראי לייזרצילום: באדיבות המשפחה

Sergeant Nehoray Leizer, aged 19, from Eilat, who was killed in an explosive drone strike in southern Lebanon, was laid to rest on Monday evening in his hometown.

Nehoray's mother delivered a tearful eulogy: "My Nehoray, my love, a successful boy, a boy with values, I am at fault for it all. I educated you to be the best. It is against the rules of nature. Where do you hear that a mother has to bury her 19-year-old son? I sent you healthy and whole, and they returned you in a casket. Look at all your friends, all your friends are here with you, surrounding you. They come to visit us on Fridays when you're not here. I don't know what I'll do and where I'll find the strength. G-d give me strength."

The mother added, "I knew that something was going to happen to you, and you also knew. Why did you go in? We will stay together. No one will forget you. Everyone who received something from you will carry you with pride. To all your friends from the Combat Engineering Corps, return home safely to your families, please. We will love you forever."

Tevel, Nehoray's girlfriend, parted from him: "You were the best person I knew. He is the best person in the world; his eyes say so. He loved everyone unconditionally. Not only me and the family, but also his friends - everyone."

"Inside, I knew, I felt that something would happen. He also knew. I will visit his family now alone. He will be with me, but not in person. I always told him, you will be my one. I waited for your release, for us to move in together," she added.

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Hezbollah terrorists launched a drone toward the area of the southern Lebanese village of Debel, where troops from the 401st Brigade were operating under the command of the 146th Division. The drone struck the Namera APC carrying the troops.

23 soldiers have fallen since the renewal of the campaign in the north about three months ago, with the launch of Operation Roaring Lion. Ten of them were killed after the ceasefire was declared. Since the start of the war in 2023, the names of 947 fallen IDF soldiers have been cleared for publication, including 473 soldiers killed in battles in the Gaza Strip and 71 killed in battles in southern Lebanon.

Eli Lankri, mayor of Eilat, said, “We received the bitter news with great pain. Nehoray was a leader in the city’s youth movements. He was a values-driven young man who chose to volunteer for a year of national service before his enlistment, and continued on to meaningful combat service out of a deep sense of mission and love for the people and the land. Nehoray leaves behind a tremendous void - a beloved family, relatives, friends, and an entire city in shock."

On Saturday night, it was cleared for publication that Sgt. First Class Noam Hamburger, 23, from Atlit, was killed Friday afternoon by an explosive drone strike at the Biranit outpost on the Lebanon border. Last week, Maj. (res.) Itamar Sapir, 27, from Eli, deputy company commander in Battalion 7008, was killed by gunfire from a Hezbollah terrorist who emerged from a church in the Lebanese village of Qouzah. Sapir was critically wounded, and medical teams that provided him with initial treatment were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene.

saved a lifeMDA spokesperson

A 74-year-old man from Israel’s Sharon region collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest in the duty-free area at Ben Gurion Airport while on his way to a flight to Greece.

Two El Al employees, who also volunteer as rapid-response medics with Magen David Adom, arrived at the scene within about a minute, began CPR, and successfully restored his heartbeat using a defibrillator.

At the time of the incident, the two El Al employees received the emergency alert through MDA’s responder app. Reaching the scene quickly, they found the man unconscious and immediately began resuscitation efforts.

At the same time, they asked another passenger to bring a defibrillator located in the airport’s public area. Within minutes, they administered two electric shocks with the device, and the man’s heart began beating again.

An MDA intensive care ambulance team that arrived shortly afterward continued life-saving treatment and evacuated the patient to Sheba Medical Center in stable condition.

The responders, emergency medical technicians Efraim Friedman of Petah Tikva and Yosef Zaks of Modi'in Illit, described the incident:

“We were standing near the elevator when suddenly we received an alert through the MDA responder app about an unconscious man. We went up one floor in the elevator and ran quickly to the scene. We performed resuscitation efforts, and within a short time his heart started beating again."

They added: “He gradually regained consciousness and did not understand what had happened around him. We explained that we were taking him to the hospital, and he said he couldn’t because he was on his way to a flight. After we explained his medical condition, we evacuated him to the hospital in stable condition. It’s an emotional event - being in the right place at the right time - and thanks to the defibrillator placed in the public area at Ben Gurion Airport, we were able to save his life."

צפו: קפיצת הראש של צבי סוכות בבריכות שלמהצילום: דוברות

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Haredim on the Temple MountTemple Mount Authority

The Amshinov hassidic court published a clarification on Monday following controversy caused by the publication of the Rebbe's remarks, which appeared to permit entry to specific areas of the Temple Mount.

An official statement published by the Rebbe's son, Rabbi Moshe Milikowsky, stressed that the interpretation given to the halachic words spoken in the Rebbe's house was totally distorted.

According to Rabbi Milikowsky, "We were amazed by how the Rebbe's words about the Temple Mount were taken out of context. The Rebbe did not, G-d forbid, allow the ascention to the Temple Mount in opposition to the opinions of all the halachic scholars. They took an internal halachic discussion held at the Rebbe's home a year ago, which was published in an internal publication of the hassidic court, and was meant for those who understand the Rebbe's style of answers, and dishonestly published it as if the Rebbe permits or instructs to visit the Temple Mount in practice, something that would never cross his mind."

The Rebbe's son further clarified that the Rebbe's position is in line with that of all halachic scholars, that it is currently forbidden to enter the Temple Mount in practice, an action that, according to the statement, could easily lead to sins bearing the punishment of "Kareth."

The uproar follows statements first published on Arutz Sheva, which included quotes from the Amshinov court's newspaper, Yirah Vesimcha.

The newspaper published a conversation between the Amshinover Rebbe and his son, regarding the issue of ascending the Temple Mount during the current period.

During the conversation, the Rebbe was asked whether it is forbidden today to ascend the Temple Mount, and he replied that there are areas deep in the territory of the mount that are forbidden to enter. However, certain areas, close to the entrance, are permissible after immersing in a ritual bath.

"Can someone who immerses in a regular mikveh (ritual bath) enter the Temple Mount?" his son asked. The Rebbe answered: "Yes, but again, only the beginning of the Temple Mount." The son pressed further: "Where is the beginning - where today’s Temple Mount is?" The Rebbe replied: "Not deep inside. Deeper inside is already the cheil (the perimeter outside the outer courtyard of the Temple)."

When asked whether the Western Wall is connected to the Temple, the Rebbe answered that "the Western Wall is connected to the wall of the Temple Mount," as brought in Kaftor Vaferach, chapter 6. To the question of whether "behind the wall of the Kotel is already the Temple Mount," the Rebbe said, "Apparently, yes. But the Temple Mount is not the Temple courtyard. The Temple Mount is the Camp of the Levites," the Rebbe explained. Therefore, it is permitted to enter the area at the beginning of the Temple Mount after proper immersion for purification according to Jewish law.

The conversation also dealt with the issue of waving the Two Loaves on the Temple Mount, as they said was done on the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) holiday. "Seemingly, there is a mitzvah (Torah commandment)," the Rebbe replied. However, he noted that "it must be baked inside," adding, "I do not understand how they take it out" after the waving. Seemingly, he said, "there is a problem that it becomes invalid by being taken out." The Rebbe also raised additional questions such as priestly lineage, various colors mentioned on the subject, and the location of the altar.

The Rebbe’s son asked whether "this is like the Passover sacrifice," and his father responded, "The Passover sacrifice is required of each and every individual; the Two Loaves are a communal meal-offering." He also stressed that "for the Passover sacrifice, an altar is needed."

"Are they carrying an altar with them too?" he asked with a smile, referring to Temple service activists who entered the Mount, 13 of whom were arrested after waving the Two Loaves.

Elkana BohbotYossi Aloni/FLASH90

Elkana Bohbot, one of the producers of the Nova Music Festival who endured 738 days in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, shared a harrowing account of severe psychological abuse carried out by his captors.

Speaking in an interview with the podcast “Voice of Nova," Bohbot described how Hamas terrorists used a lavish meal as part of a cruel emotional manipulation tactic.

“One day we had this meal he prepared for us," Bohbot recounted. “They brought us lamb shank - it’s called mandi. It’s the richest meal in Gaza."

He described how the captors unexpectedly served the meal in the middle of the day. “Suddenly, in the middle of the day, he brings you a tray with lamb shank and rice. They cook it underground, and it’s delicious, rich - a very rich Arab dish - and he gives it to us."

Bohbot said that he and two other hostages, Ohad and Bar, ate the meal quickly out of fear the terrorist might change his mind and take it away.

After finishing the meal, Bohbot told the captor that the food was a sign of great respect. “Listen, this is very honorable, this is food with a lot of respect," he said.

According to Bohbot, the captor then replied: “Come, come, I’ll show you what respect is. I’ll show you why you ate this."

The terrorist then played a video showing a deadly bombing attack in which Israeli combat engineers were killed by an explosive device, telling the hostages: “Today we killed thirty of your soldiers - bon appétit."

Bohbot concluded: “He shows you the video, and you throw everything up. I’ve never experienced abuse like that in my life."

courtroom (illustration)Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

Juvenile Court Judge Noam Shilo has apologized after comparing underage illegal Palestinian Arab entrants to Jews who stole potatoes during the Holocaust.

The remarks were made in response to an inquiry from the Judicial Complaints Commissioner, Judge Asher Kula, who contacted Shilo following a complaint filed by the Movement for Governability and Democracy.

Judge Shilo expressed regret over his comments, saying: “I deeply regret what was said. I should not have said anything. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was hurt."

In his ruling, Commissioner Kula stated that it would have been better had the judge’s comments never been made during the legal proceedings. He added that the “outrageous comparison" could damage public trust in the judicial system, but noted that he accepted the judge’s apology and considered the matter closed.

The Movement for Good Government and Democracy responded by saying: “We certainly hope the judge’s apology is sincere and genuine, and that he understands the severity of his mistake. We thank the commissioner for handling the complaint and for the unequivocal determination that statements of this kind harm public confidence in the judicial system."

The controversy began last month after i24NEWS reported that the judge had decided to close proceedings against two 15-year-old Palestinian minors who entered Israel illegally, without conviction or punishment.

The two youths were caught by police one day after climbing over the security barrier. Judge Shilo reportedly took into account their age, thin physical appearance, and the fact that they giggled during the hearing, ultimately deciding to end the case without a conviction.

When the police, in coordination with prosecutors, requested a stay of execution in order to file an appeal, Judge Shilo made the statement that sparked the public and legal uproar, saying of the defendants: “They remind me of Jews who stole potatoes during the Holocaust."

State prosecutors expressed serious concern that the ruling could create a dangerous precedent that would weaken deterrence against illegal entry into Israel.

Following the appeal, the District Court accepted the state’s position, overturned Judge Shilo’s ruling, convicted the two minors, and sentenced them to prison terms.

Itamar Ben-GvirYonatan Sindel/Flash90

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir delivered remarks on Monday at the start of the Otzma Yehudit faction meeting, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop what he called "the routine of terrorism" in northern Israel.

Ben-Gvir demanded that Netanyahu pressure US President Donald Trump to resume the war at full intensity and to announce the creation of a new security perimeter in southern Lebanon.

The Minister opened his remarks by describing the tough security reality facing the residents of northern Israel. He warned against the dangers of attempting to reach diplomatic agreements instead of a clear military victory. "Sirens, UAVs, explosive drones, this reality may not be accepted and may not be normalized," he attacked. "We already know how it ends when we tolerate and adapt to a routine of terrorism. Not this time. This absurdity must stop now."

Later in his remarks, Ben-Gvir laid out a list of demands. "I call on the Prime Minister - pick up a phone, call Trump, go to him, and bang on his desk. Make clear that the State of Israel is not ready to accept and is not ready to tolerate. Make clear that we don't want to continue campaigns, but rather win them."

According to Ben-Gvir, "We need to turn off the electricity in Lebanon, to shut the switch, to occupy up to the Zaharani River, and even more than that, and to resume the intense war. If the Lebanese government can't control the terrorists, the territory south of the Litani River, and more than that, south of the Zaharani, will become the State of Israel's security perimeter. We have to tell the residents of southern Lebanon the truth: you're not going home. You won't return home until there is quiet by us."

The National Security Minister concluded his remarks by directly addressing the Prime Minister, emphasizing his confidence in the military's abilities: "The security of the residents of northern Israel is not on the negotiating table; it is in the IDF's operations. The IDF can and must win. The time has come to win, the time has come for total victory. And I tell the Prime Minister with all the love I have for him: we must win in Lebanon too."

Ben-Gvir also discussed the possibility of running together with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party in the upcoming elections and said that "we must maximize the right-wing votes."

According to Ben-Gvir, "Bezalel must run as the Religious Zionist party. I believe and know that he can pass the electoral threshold."

Bank of IsraelYonatan Sindel/Flash90

The Bank of Israel has decided, for the second time this year, to lower the country’s interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, bringing it to 3.75%.

Bank economists explained that the move was driven by declining inflation and the strengthening of the Israeli shekel.

This marks the second interest rate cut since the beginning of the year, following a previous quarter-point reduction in January.

Galit Distel-AtbaryanYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Likud Knesset Member Galit Distel-Atbaryan announced on Monday that she would not run in the upcoming elections for the Knesset.

A few months ago, Arutz Sheva-Israel National News reported that the Knesset member was considering her political future and that officials in the Prime Minister's Office offered her positions outside of the Knesset.

In closed conversations she held with her inner circle at the time, Distel-Atbaryan claimed that she had exhausted her work in the Knesset and was looking for new horizons.

During a session on Monday, Distel said of MK Shlomo Karhi: "I am full of appreciation, and this appreciation is built up more every day for the talented, brave, smart, bright elected official who holds on to his ideological positions with determination."

She added, announcing her departure: "I say, from my humble position, as one who is leaving the world of politics, Likud members, this man needs to be in the first five positions on the list."

Donald TrumpWhite House Photo by Daniel Torok

United States President Donald Trump published a message on the Truth Social network in which he revealed that as part of the negotiations with Iran, he was discussing membership in the Abraham Accords with a number of countries.

The countries with which the American president held discussions are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain.

Trump noted that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are already members of the agreement, adding that most countries should be willing, interested, and able to make the agreement with Iran a historic event.

President Trump emphasized in his remarks that the Abraham Accords have proven themselves for the countries involved, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan, as a financial, economic, and social event, even in the current period of conflict and war.

He said that none of the current members of the agreement had raised the possibility of leaving or taking a short break from the partnership. He demanded that the current move begin with the immediate signing of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and stated that the other countries should follow suit.

"Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all - Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before - And nobody wants that!" Trump wrote at the start of his statement.

"During my discussions on Saturday with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain, I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords. Those Countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (already a Member!), Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain (already a Member!)." he said.

Trump stated that "it may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be."

He noted that "the Abraham Accords have proven to be, for the Countries involved (The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kazakhstan), a Financial, Economic, and Social BOOM, even during this time of Conflict and War, with the current Members never even suggesting leaving, or taking so much as even a pause. The reason for this is that the Abraham Accords have been great for them, and will be even better for everybody, and bring true Power, Strength, and Peace to the Middle East for the first time in 5,000 years."

According to Trump, the planned move is expected to lead to the creation of a united, strong, and economically powerful Middle East that surpasses other regions of the world. "It will be a Document respected like no other that has ever been signed, anywhere in the World. Its level of Importance and Prestige will be unparalleled! It should start with the immediate signing by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and everybody else should follow suit. If they don’t, they should not be part of this Deal in that it shows bad intention."

"In speaking to numerous of the Great Leaders mentioned above, they would be honored, as soon as our Document is signed, to have the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of the Abraham Accords. Wow, now that would be something special! This will be the most important Deal that any of these Great, but always in Conflict Countries, will ever sign. Nothing in the past, or in the future, will surpass it." he said.

"Therefore, I am mandatorily requesting that all Countries immediately sign the Abraham Accords, and that, if Iran signs its Agreement with me, as President of the United States of America, it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition. The Middle East would be United, Powerful, and Economically Strong, like perhaps no other area, anywhere in the World! By copy of this TRUTH, I am asking my Representatives to begin, and successfully complete, the process of signing these Countries into the already Historic Abraham Accords. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump concluded.

Rabbinical Court. ArchiveYossi Zamir/Flash90

The Tel Aviv Rabbinic Court has ordered a get (divorce document) to be given to S. after a long struggle with her husband, a famous personality, who refused to divorce her for four years.

The decision came after the court posed an ultimatum to the husband, that if he did not grant the get, harsh legal and financial sanctions would be considered. Among the sanctions on the table were the termination of his employment with his employer and the publication of his name in public.

The couple married 22 years ago and had children during their time together. Four years ago, they separated, but, according to the wife, the husband refused to grant the halachic divorce and demanded significant monetary concessions in exchange, while using verbal and economic violence.

In recent years, the woman resided overseas, and last summer, she decided to reach out to Or Torah Stone's "Yad La’isha" organization, which represents those whose husbands refuse to grant a get.

Attorney and rabbinic advocate Tehila Cohen, who represents the woman in the process, asked the court to apply direct pressure on the get refuser.

She asked that his place of work fire him and that his identity be cleared for publication to end his refusal. Later in the hearings, the husband's employer appeared before the court to consider the possible steps.

The judge, Rabbi Shlomo Shtessman, notified the husband that he was to issue the get by April 30th. The judge made clear that if he did not do so, he would consider the attorney's request for sanctions positively.

According to sources involved in the case, a short time before the ultimatum expired, the husband announced that he was prepared to grant the get and appointed a messenger to deliver it to his wife.

On Thursday, the wife officially received her get at the Tel Aviv Rabbinic Court after arriving in Israel to complete the process.

Cohen stated: "We are witnesses to another case that proves that only uncompromising and unequivocal action against get refusers is the key to quickly free get refusees."

עו''ד תהילה כהןצילום: ג'ארד ברנשטיין

IDF strike on Beirut, Lebanon (illustrative)ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee on Monday afternoon warned that the IDF will soon operate against Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the Tyre region.

In an urgent warning issued to "residents of Lebanon and specifically residents of the city of Tyre and its surroundings," Adraee wrote, "In the wake of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire, the Defense Army will be forced to act forcefully in the coming hours against its affiliated terrorist infrastructure in the area of the city of Tyre and the surrounding camps."

"We call on residents whose buildings will be marked in red on the known maps, which will be published later, to immediately evacuate their homes to ensure their safety, as the Defense Army does not intend to harm them."

He warned, "Anyone present near Hezbollah elements or facilities, infrastructure, or combat means exposes their life to danger."

Earlier on Monday, an explosive drone launched by the Hezbollah terror group hit a home in Metula, northern Israel, on Monday afternoon.

This is the first time since the start of a war that an explosive drone has directly struck a residential structure in Israeli territory.

The strike caused physical damage to the building, and medical teams are treating one person at the site, who suffered from shock.

The drone which hit Metula was part of a larger attack which included a number of explosive drones launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli territory. The other drones launched during the attack did not hit targets or built-up areas.

The IDF confirmed: "Following the sirens that sounded regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration in several areas in northern Israel, the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched a number of explosive drones toward IDF soldiers and Israeli territory."

"As a result, an explosive drone impact has been identified in Metula. The incident is under review."

Xi JinpingReuters

State media reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing on Monday, as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that Sharif’s meeting with Xi took place after talks he held earlier the same day with Premier Li Qiang, the country’s second-highest-ranking official.

Sources told Al Arabiya/Al Hadath that Pakistan’s army chief joined the Prime Minister in his meeting with the Chinese Premier, and that Islamabad is insisting that Beijing serve as the guarantor in any agreement between the United States and Iran.

Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, the chief negotiator in the talks between the United States and Iran, arrived in China together with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to meet with Chinese diplomats, Pakistani television reported on Monday.

China expressed its intention to cooperate with Pakistan "in order to contribute positively to restoring peace and stability in the Middle East at the earliest opportunity."

Last month, The Telegraph reported that since the outbreak of the war, four ships from China have arrived in Iran carrying precursor materials used to manufacture solid fuel for missile engines.

According to the report, the vessels departed from the Gaolan port in Zhuhai, a hub that houses some of China’s largest liquid chemical storage facilities.

Experts estimate the shipments may have included enough sodium perchlorate to enable the production of hundreds of ballistic missiles. However, it remains unclear whether Iran currently has the capacity to manufacture such weapons following recent strikes on its facilities by the United States and Israel.

Isaac Herzog affixes mezuzah to Chazon Ish visitors centerArutz Sheva

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on Monday affixed a mezuzah at the home of the Chazon Ish in Bnei Brak, where the new “Chazon Ledorot" visitors center has been established.

The center was established in cooperation between the Bnei Brak Municipality, the Heritage Ministry, and the Government Tourism Company. The goal of the project is to make the legacy of the Chazon Ish, Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, accessible to the general public and to future generations.

During the visit, the President toured the site, saw the unique educational display up close, and was impressed by the investment in preserving the heritage and the way the Chazon Ish's legacy was made accessible.

The President was moved by the fact that this is a unique heritage project intended for the haredi public, giving significant expression to the spiritual, Torah, and historical world of one of the major Torah sages of recent generations.

The mezuzah-affixing ceremony was also attended by Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Zeibert, Heritage Ministry Director General Itai Granek, Government Tourism Company Director General Elazar Arbel, and city Director General Yisrael Ehrentreu.

After the mezuzah was affixed, participants were taken on a journey through time into the character and work of the Chazon Ish, through an experience-based program presented to them.

The President expressed his appreciation for the connection between past and present and for the effort to pass on the heritage to future generations in an experiential, accessible, and respectful manner. He also noted the connection between the Chazon Ish and his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Herzog.

יומהולדת לישראלצילום: ללא

Yeshiva high school students in Ramat Gan celebrated the 100th birthday of Yisrael, a Holocaust survivor and neighbor of the yeshiva, who was born in the Polish city of Łódź exactly a century ago.

The students decided to mark the special occasion and organized a festive and moving reception for him within the walls of the school.

When Yisrael entered the room, where many of the yeshiva students were gathered, the boys welcomed him with song. They sang “Happy Birthday" to him and then presented him with a large birthday cake decorated with balloons bearing the number 100.

During the meeting with the students, Yisrael shared with them his painful memories from the war and from the selection process carried out at the concentration camp.

“Mengele, the man in charge of the camp who conducted the selections - I wanted to go with my father. Everyone told me: go where he tells you. He kicked me. After I lost my father, I was alone," Yisrael recounted.

ישראל מספר על מנגלהצילום: ללא

Itamar Ben GvirYonatan Sindel/Flash90

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act vis-à-vis US President Donald Trump and announce a return to high-intensity fighting on the Lebanon front.

Ben Gvir’s remarks come against the backdrop of the increasing use of explosive drones and the recent strikes in northern Israel - including a direct hit to a home in Metula - and strike on Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon.

In his statements, Ben Gvir made clear that the current situation cannot continue as it is.

"We must not normalize the reality of explosive drones," he wrote, adding that "the time has come for the Prime Minister to bang on Trump’s table and inform him that we are returning to war in Lebanon."

He then detailed the operational and strategic steps he believes the State of Israel should take against the State of Lebanon and the Hezbollah terrorist organization. According to him, "We need to cut off the electricity in Lebanon, conquer the Zahrani [River], and return to high-intensity fighting."

Metula Council head David Azulay told Kan News on Reshet Bet that he is disappointed with the conduct of the political and military leadership in the face of the threat from Lebanon to northern residents.

"They are deceiving us, lying to us," he said. "The previous general who headed Northern Command also said it was safe to return and that we should return, as did this Prime Minister and the Defense Minister. Enough. We want only one thing - give us security," he said.

He slammed, "I do not remember voting for Trump in the last elections. I voted for this Prime Minister, and that is what saddens me. I am very disappointed with the political leadership. The Prime Minister is disconnected."

"If this is the situation, then let’s close up shop, add another star to the American flag, and become the nation-state of the American people," he said.

Chasing the thievesPolice Spokesperson

Be’er Sheva police officers over the weekend arrested two suspects, residents of the Bedouin diaspora in their 20s, on suspicion of involvement in the robbery of a Wolt delivery driver.

The arrest came at the end of an operational activity and a chase on the Hatzerim road. The detention of the two suspects was extended by the court to allow investigators to continue their work.

The arrests followed an investigation into a robbery that took place in Be’er Sheva earlier this month. Officers conducted intelligence and investigative activity that led to the identification of the two suspects.

Over the weekend, as part of a proactive operation by detectives in cooperation with patrol forces, the vehicle in which the suspects were traveling was located in the Hatzerim road area.

When officers attempted to arrest them, the suspects fled in their vehicle, endangering other road users. Police launched an operational chase while maintaining continuous visual contact with the fleeing vehicle.

After operational measures taken by the forces, the vehicle was stopped, and the two suspects attempted to flee on foot, but were caught a short time later and arrested at the scene.

The suspects were taken for questioning at the Be’er Sheva police station on suspicion of robbery and endangering human life on a transportation route. Following their initial interrogation, they were brought before the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court, which granted the police request to extend their detention.

Be’er Sheva police station commander Chief Superintendent Kfir Solomon commented on the arrest, saying: “Officers from the Be’er Sheva police station acted quickly, decisively, and with determination until the suspects were arrested, while safeguarding the public and road users. We will continue to use all tools at our disposal against criminals who endanger public safety and security."

Explosive drone launched by HezbollahAyal Margolin/Flash90

A drone launched by the Hezbollah terror group hit a home in Metula, northern Israel, on Monday afternoon.

This is the first time since the start of a war that an explosive drone has directly struck a residential structure in Israeli territory.

The strike caused physical damage to the building, and medical teams are treating one person at the site, who suffered from shock.

The drone which hit Metula was part of a larger attack which included a number of explosive drones launched by Hezbollah towards Israeli territory. The other drones launched during the attack did not hit targets or built-up areas.

The IDF confirmed: "Following the sirens that sounded regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration in several areas in northern Israel, the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched a number of explosive drones toward IDF soldiers and Israeli territory."

"As a result, an explosive drone impact has been identified in Metula. The incident is under review."

The IDF later confirmed that the drone which struck the home in Metula was not an explosive drone.

Bezalel Smotrich (L) and Benjamin Netanyahu (R)Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Israel's inner Cabinet convened Sunday night for a lengthy security discussion that lasted about five hours.

The discussion dealt with the emerging agreement between the United States and Iran, as well as the threat of Hezbollah's explosive drones, which has claimed the lives of several IDF soldiers on the Lebanon front.

During the meeting, a heated argument developed over the response to the drone threat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

According to a report by Ynet, Netanyahu demanded protective solutions from the military, and repeated his directive to the IDF to work quickly and formulate a response to the serious problem. Smotrich opposed the defensive approach and told Netanyahu, "We cannot protect ourselves to death. We need to bring down ten buildings in Dahieh in response to every drone."

The Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut is home to Hezbollah's elite members and military headquarters.

The Prime Minister did not like the solution proposed by the Finance Minister and asked, "What are you suggesting? That every time there is a drone, we bring down ten buildings? And when there is a drone in Gaza, we bring down ten buildings in Gaza? And when there is a drone from Judea and Samaria, we bring down ten buildings in Judea and Samaria? And then when there is a drone from a crime family, we bring down ten buildings in Ramle?"

Smotrich replied that he supported that approach and argued, "Absolutely yes. A war is won through deterrence and exacting a price. Protecting ourselves to death is October 6. Draw for me where you want to stretch the defense nets in the skies of the country. Over Kfar Saba? Ra’anana as well, or only Ramle and Lod?"

During the tense discussion, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir expressed a position supporting a harsher response in order to create deterrence: "We cannot work with tweezers. We need to create a different equation that also includes striking buildings in Beirut and Tyre in order to deter."

Earlier, Smotrich visited the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria and inaugurated the "Rimon" system for land registration in Judea and Samaria.

During his visit, Smotrich noted the drone threat from Lebanon and said, "This week I approved a huge budget of about two billion shekels for technological solutions to the drone threat. Among other things, the money will allow civilian bodies to offer solutions and out-of-the-box ideas. But the truth is that we will not defeat the drones through defense, but through offense."

He added, "For every explosive drone, ten buildings in Beirut need to fall. A strategic threat is not answered only with protection, but with a change in the rules and the equation. We will not be able to spread nets over the entire State of Israel, nor cover it with automatic machine guns. We cannot protect ourselves to death. Exacting a disproportionate and deterrent price from the enemy must be part of the effort to defend our soldiers."

At the end of the visit to the Civil Administration, Smotrich concluded: "We are standing here in the Judea and Samaria Division. Our presence here is the reason there are not yet explosive drones in Jerusalem and Kfar Saba, in Afula and Be’er Sheva. The physical hold on the ground, the intelligence, the determined military activity, and the deterrence we create here, day by day and hour by hour, is the State of Israel’s security zone, because settlement brings security. Period."

The Vizhnitzer RebbeYehoshua Fruchter

The Torah reading of the Vizhnitz Rebbe, Rabbi Mendel Hager, at the Great Study Hall in Bnei Brak was sold during the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) holiday for the enormous sum of $4 million.

The prestigious reading was purchased by a private donor who asked to remain anonymous and not reveal his identity to the public.

The large sum raised during the sale will be transferred directly toward the continued development of the hasidic sect’s institutions in the city.

According to the plan, the large donation will be fully designated for the project to build a new mikveh (ritual bath) in the Great Study Hall. The construction of the mikveh is being carried out as part of extensive work on the establishment of the "Vizhnitz World Center," which is currently being built in Bnei Brak.

Before the start of the holiday, the Rebbe held a comprehensive professional tour of the construction site in order to closely follow the work. The large complex is now in advanced stages of construction and is expected to be completed soon.

On the night of Shavuot, before dawn, a special event was held in the study hall, attended by a large crowd of hasidim.

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

credit: יהושע פרוכטר

Haredim on the Temple MountTemple Mount Administration

The Amshinov hasidic newspaper Yirah Vesimcha, published a conversation between the Amshinover Rebbe and his son, regarding the issue of ascending the Temple Mount during the current period.

During the conversation, the Rebbe was asked whether it is forbidden today to ascend the Temple Mount, and he replied, "A person who is impure from contact with the dead is permitted to enter the Temple Mount itself. Only the cheil, which is beyond the Temple Mount, is forbidden."

"Can someone who immerses in a regular mikveh (ritual bath) enter the Temple Mount?" his son asked. The Rebbe answered: "Yes, but again, only the beginning of the Temple Mount."

The Rebbe’s son pressed further: "Where is the beginning - where today’s Temple Mount is?" The Rebbe replied: "Not deep inside. Deeper inside is already the cheil."

When asked whether the Western Wall is connected to the Temple, the Rebbe answered that "the Western Wall is connected to the wall of the Temple Mount," as brought in Kaftor Vaferach, chapter 6.

To the question of whether "behind the wall of the Kotel is already the Temple Mount," the Rebbe said, "Apparently, yes. But the Temple Mount is not the Temple courtyard. The Temple Mount is the Camp of the Levites," the Rebbe explained. Therefore, it is permitted to enter the area at the beginning of the Temple Mount after proper immersion for purification according to Jewish law.

The conversation also dealt with the issue of waving the Two Loaves on the Temple Mount, as they said was done on the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) holiday.

"Seemingly, there is a mitzvah (Torah commandment)," the Rebbe replied. However, he noted that "it must be baked inside," adding, "I do not understand how they take it out" after the waving. Seemingly, he said, "there is a problem that it becomes invalid by being taken out." The Rebbe also raised additional questions such as priestly lineage, various colors mentioned on the subject, and the location of the altar.

The Rebbe’s son asked whether "this is like the Passover sacrifice," and his father responded, "The Passover sacrifice is required of each and every individual; the Two Loaves are a communal meal-offering." He also stressed that "for the Passover sacrifice, an altar is needed."

"Are they carrying an altar with them too?" he asked with a smile, referring to Temple service activists who entered the Mount, 13 of whom were arrested after waving the Two Loaves.

Temple Mount Administration director Rabbi Shimshon Elboim welcomed the publication of the Amshinover Rebbe's remarks, saying, "This is a major step forward in the Jewish progress of Israel’s return to the Temple Mount, which will significantly advance the renewal of the Temple service there, and even the building of the Temple."

The Administration noted that police currently also allow a short route for those who wish to enter only the area near the entrance to the Mount from the gate at the wooden bridge by the Kotel, walking close to the Western Wall from the inside and immediately exiting through the exit gate used by all those leaving the Temple Mount, without completing the full circuit around the Mount.

They also mentioned additional recent statements by haredi rabbis who discussed the possibility of ascending the Temple Mount. Last week, Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz also published his position on the issue.

The Administration expects that following the publication of the Amshinov Rebbe’s remarks in the community newspaper, there will be a growing wave in the number of Jews ascending the Temple Mount according to Jewish law, after the number already crossed 35,000 since the start of the year.

The Temple Mount is open this week for Jewish ascents during days following Shavuot only from Sunday to Tuesday. This is due to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Wednesday this week.

The Administration still hopes the closure will be canceled, and hopes for a repeat of the opening during Eid al-Adha, as occurred during the tenure of Minister Gilad Erdan when it coincided with the Jewish date of Tisha B’Av.

Pro- and anti-Israel protesters in BrooklynZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

Steve Apfel was once an economist and the founder and director of the School of Management Accounting. Now he writes full time. A veteran authority on anti-Zionism, his 2012 book, ‘Hadrian’s Echo: the why and wherefores of Israel’s Critics’ was acclaimed by top Middle East scholars. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PIVM6G

A Jewish American, the story goes, asked an Israeli how many Palestinian Arab prisoners the IDF had raped. None that he knew of, he said. “You IDF soldiers don’t rape Palestinians because Israelis are too racist and disgusted by them to even touch them." (There was actually a prize winning paper - read the entire article - written in 2007 for Hebrew U. claiming that IDF soldiers do not rape Arab women because they are racist, ed.)

It’s a reminder that the anti-Zionist brand of hatred is implacable.

Except that in Hadrian’s day there were no Zionists to hate, things were no different. Jews there were, and they too could never satisfy the Emperor of Rome. Once a member of the tribe passed the Imperial train and saluted him. “_You a Jew dare to greet the Emperor! You shall pay with your life."_Later another Jew passed the train and, warned by example, did not acknowledge the tyrant. “You a Jew dare to pass the Emperor without a greeting. You shall forfeit your life." To bewildered courtiers he explained: “I hate the Jews. Whatever they do I find intolerable."

He was honest - today’s anti-Israel mobs are anything but. For one thing they confuse Zionists with Jews. That go-to source Wikipedia, tries to differentiate the two. Antisemites must tick three boxes: hostility to Jews; prejudice towards them; discriminatory against them. So far so good - no one quarrels with the obvious. But introduce Israel into the argument and everyone quarrels.

The bugbear is obvious. Jewish people and the Jewish state don’t have one identity. It is this which seems to permit Jew-hating to be unhooked from Israel-hating. And introduces a pig in the poke: Jewish haters. The identity split clarifies why cocksure Stefanie Dox of Jewish Voice for Peace can stoop to declare a fatwa on the Jewish state. Over and above this, the split between Zionists and Jews accounts for Israel advocacy taking a beating.

So long as anti-Israel Jews can monetise and martyr their “speaking out as Jews in solidarity with a free Palestine" so long will antisemites exploit those dandy human shields. Long after the wars on Israel’s borders and beyond are fought and archived, the other war - on legitimacy - will drag on.

The chameleon is not a better adaptor than Israel-haters. Grappling with their ridicule is akin to handling a slithery fish.

• “Whenever Israel comes under international pressure to resolve the conflict its apologists cry that the world is awash in antisemitism." (Norman Finkelstein. ‘Beyond Chutzpah")
• “The government of Israel is placed on a pedestal, and to criticise it is to be immediately dubbed anti-Semitic." (Archbishop the late Desmond Tutu)

If the Jerusalem Post gets confused what hope is there? “When anti-Israel and often antisemitic demonstrations roiled US campuses, Iran’s leader expressed support for them." It would help had the reporter divulged how to differentiate one type from the other, because it seems impossible. And that’s without Jewish-antagonism.

That diseased mind is nothing new. In 1936 Labour Zionist leader Berl Katznelson pondered if there was another nation so emotionally twisted that everything their own people did was despicable, while they supported murder and rape committed by their existential enemies. He worried that Jewish children who come to Palestine would “catch the virus of self-hate."

Do anti-Israel Jews know they act as doormats. Normal antisemites can hardly get by without them - or better Holocaust survivors. Today Amnesty-UK is promoting one who marches in anti-Israel protests and calls Israel’s war on Gaza, ‘genocide.

Kapos (real name) makes Amnesty’s double case. As a Holocaust survivor he knows genocide when he sees it. Second, as a survivor of genocide his moral credentials are impregnable. What Amnesty tweeted about Kapos was a tribute more fitting for a saint’s beatification than for a demented old coot.

“Right now, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos is at the Nakba Day demonstration in London. The 88-year-old has attended almost every demonstration in the last two year’s protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Stephen stands and sits with family and members of his group the ‘Holocaust Survivors & Descendants Against the Genocide in Gaza’.

"He told us: "Today, we commemorate not only the 1948 violent displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs during the creation of the State of Israel, but the unlawful occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Justice for the Palestinians must be demanded and fought for by peoples of the world to force their own governments to act to end Israel's genocide, occupation and apartheid. That is why these marches have been attacked so much - it is the threat we pose to injustice. And the symbol of solidarity and hope we represent."

Observe that the 99% of survivors who are pro-Israel are thrown off the frame. Worse, the “good" one exposes others as Zionists who love it when Palestinian Arabs get killed. Amnesty adores old Kapos, as a puppet and prop.

There are many benefits in letting Jews curse Israel.

• Jewish testimony gives credibility to the most outrageous libel.
• A Jew protects antisemites from the charge of hate speech.
• There’s the sheer delight in watching Jew turn upon Jew.
• It acts like a slow-release valve to confound and demoralise a whole Diaspora community.

Oct 7 brought them out in full regalia. A South African communist, Ronnie Kasrils reacted with glee. “They swept on them, and they killed them, and damned good! I was so pleased." Said Norman Finkelstein: “It warms every fibre of my soul. If we honor the Jews who revolted in the Warsaw Ghetto-then moral consistency commands that we honor the heroic resistance in Gaza. I, for one, will never begrudge - on the contrary, Gaza’s smiling children as their arrogant Jewish supremacist oppressors have, finally, been humbled."

Admittedly Jewish feminist, queer philosopher and gender scholar, Judith Butler found Oct 7 “anguishing and terrible." Yet she understood it as “armed resistance," not terrorism and definitely not antisemitism.

It took a non-Jewish French playwright to unlock the psychology. In a thin but seminal book released during the Holocaust, ‘Anti-Semite and Jew’ Jean-Paul Sartre laid its bedrock bare.

“The anti-Semite has murderous instincts but has found a means of sating them. His thunderous diatribes at the ‘Yids’ are really capital executions.. He is a murderer who represses and censures his tendency to murder without being able to hold it back, yet dares to kill only in effigy."

What that means is that in human instinct an Oxford don is no different to the Hamas hang gliders who invaded Nova Festival. The former is a closet Jew killer while the latter enact the killer instinct. Alan Dershowitz, visibly shocked, asked, “Why do so many progressives support the rape and murder" of Israeli families? Now it should be clear. .

Psychoanalysis confirms that antisemitism is not an opinion but a personality. What is known is that there’s a ‘Jewish inferiority complex’. This is caused by the Jew being persuaded by antisemites to be their victim of propaganda. This is how Jean-Paul Sartre describes such a personality:

“He has allowed himself to be poisoned by the stereotype of Jews, and he lives in fear that his acts will correspond to this stereotype. He then over-adjusts, to be distinguished radically from acts catalogued as Jewish. If he does not do more than everybody else - much more - he is guilty, a dirty Jew."

Guilt and overcompensation go together. If the prevailing culture is anti-Israel, the Jewish hater feels compelled to be extremely anti-Israel. Emotions gather strength from antisemitic feeling which redoubles on itself. The Jew hates other Jews but even more, he hates the Jew in himself. Sartre explains it thus: “He plays at not being a Jew. But while he forces himself by his conduct to deny the traits ascribed to him, he feels that he can see the traits in others, and they return to him indirectly." In short he develops into a double antisemite.

All of this must not be confused with clinical illness. Political and moral corruption are not psychiatric diagnoses. Nevertheless deception is part of the game.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter picked out Obama’s old favorite, the J Street organization about its devious way. At a National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism in Washington, he accused it of undermining Israel while presenting itself as pro-Israel. Leiter said that,

“The worst thing about J Street is (it being) duplicitous. How can you be pro-Israel and advocate for an arms embargo on a state that’s fighting a seven-front war against Iranian proxies?"

The rabid antisemitism of our day is intrinsically fascist. Bertrand Russell, himself no Jew-lover, might as well have been reflecting on it when he explains how fascism is spread:

"First, they fascinate the fools. Then, they muzzle the intelligent."

Sent to Arutz Sheva by the author. Originally posted in the American Spectator

David BitanYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Likud MK David Bitan has warned that Israel will likely have no choice but to go to war with Iran every year and a half to two years.

In a Monday morning interview with 103FM Radio, Bitan explained, "They are always manufacturing missiles. We have no other option: They will reach a large number of missiles and then if there is a war, it will be an existential threat. We will need to deal with this issue every year and a half or two years. "

He added, "No matter what is in the agreement, I do not believe there will be an agreement that will tie Israel’s hands and feet and prevent it from dealing with things."

Asked whether he is satisfied with the current situation and Israel’s achievement of the campaign’s goals, Bitan answered honestly: "It does not depend only on us. We cannot deal with Iran alone, especially not with the nuclear issue, so we are dependent on the US. That is a fact; it cannot be changed."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said, "succeeded in enlisting the US in this matter. On the nuclear issue, he pushed it back by years."

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Thursday reflected on the moment President Donald Trump informed him of his appointment, describing the call as both unexpected and deeply meaningful, as he addressed the Atlas Award event honoring outstanding Israeli innovation. Huckabee also spoke of Israel’s transformation over the decades, praising the country’s rise as the “startup nation" and expressing optimism about its future.

“He doesn't say, ‘Would you or could you or would you think about?’ No. He calls and he says, ‘Hi, Donald Trump, you'regoing to be my ambassador. Ambassador to Israel. You're going to go. You're going to be ambassador there. You're going to be great. You'll be great."

“That's howit happened," he continued. “There was no way I was going to say no to him. Number one, you don't say no to President Trump. Number two, if he'd asked me to do anythingelse, be a cabinet secretary, didn't matter what it was, I would have said, "No, sir. Thank you very much. I love my life and I'm enjoying it and I don'tneed a federal job."

“But when he said, "You're going to be ambassador to Israel," I realized that it truly was,as said in the book of Esther, ‘For such a time as this.’

“And I felt it was for me an Isaiah moment, ‘Here am I, Lord.Send me’."

"I came because I believe that there is an opportunity to see something that was not evenvisible in 1973, fifty-three years ago when I first arrived here because it was not the startup nation. It was anything but."

He concluded his speech by saying that despite the wars surrounding it on all sides, Israel had succeeded in building an economy that shows "real growth in gross domestic product."

Iranian missile display in TehranReuters

Tehran is refusing to allow the US to link the release of its frozen assets to progress on the nuclear issue, an Iranian source told Tasnim.

The source added that instead, Tehran is insisting that some of its frozen assets be released immediately upon reaching any agreement.

According to the source, Iran has not given any commitment regarding to the details of discussions on its nuclear program, instead emphasizing that releasing assets in the first stage of a deal is not connected to the nuclear program. Iran also does not trust the US, due to "past experience" and is therefore both "careful and pessimistic" at this stage.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

Zohran MamdaniLiri Agami/Flash90

The annual Salute to Israel Parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan will take place this year, for the first time since 1964, without the participation of New York City’s mayor - the city that is home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani officially confirmed that he will not participate in the parade, which will be held on Sunday. As a result, this year’s event is expected to see a record number of participants, along with an unprecedented presence of Israeli public officials traveling especially for this event from Israel.

Mamdani is the first Muslim mayor in the city’s history. He supports the BDS movement and previously stated that he would instruct the New York Police Department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to the city, based on warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

The Salute to Israel Parade, held annually since 1964, has become a central tradition in New York City. As part of the event, Jewish residents of the city march together along Fifth Avenue alongside allies from all backgrounds and faiths, with the aim of expressing love, solidarity, and support for Israel, its people, and its culture.

Among those expected to participate this year are New York Governor Kathy Hochul, city public officials, as well as delegations and public figures from Israel. Organizers say the event is not only the world’s largest display of support for Israel, but also the biggest annual event of New York Jewry - and perhaps of Diaspora Jewry as a whole - a community numbering approximately 2 million people.

“Unfortunately, New York City’s new mayor is not acting as a unifying and calming force, but as a figure who fuels disputes and deepens divisions among residents. Instead of strengthening the sense of unity and stability in the city, he contributes to escalating tensions and encouraging conflict, while rejecting a cornerstone of our heritage - the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people," said Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York.

It should be noted that Mamdani’s wife is also known for her strong positions against Israel and the Jewish people. She previously wrote that “Tel Aviv should not have existed in the first place." In addition, she praised Palestinian “freedom fighters" and commended the activities of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In another post, she shared an antisemitic article by a pro-Palestinian activist who described Jews as “cockroaches" and “parasites."

In other posts, she used the racial slur “n****r." She also previously “liked" a post claiming that allegations of rape on October 7 were largely a hoax. Dawaji’s posts were published by the conservative media outlet Free Beacon.

A broad initiative is currently being advanced to completely ban National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from entering all European Union countries, following the publication of a video in which he is seen together with participants in the pro-Palestinian flotilla to Gaza.

While Ben Gvir visited the detainees, one of the activists shouted, "Free Palestine," before being whisked away by the prison guards. Ben Gvir directly addressed the detainees while waving an Israeli flag, and then said to the camera: "The summer camp is over, whoever acts against the State of Israel will find a determined country, Am Israel Chai."

Meanwhile, Channel 12 News reported that European diplomats are finding that the decision to sanction Ben Gvir is not so simple and is encountering opposition precisely from some of the countries that are less fond of Israel. These countries worry that imposing personal sanctions on Ben Gvir would only strengthen his standing among his supporters and increase his power in Israel’s upcoming elections.

The move is being led, among others, by Italy and France. The Italian Foreign Minister has already announced that he will act to impose EU sanctions against Ben Gvir, and the French Foreign Minister has barred Ben Gvir from entering France.

However, after further consideration - mainly due to the understanding that such a decision would generate international media attention and opposition from countries in the EU that support Israel - the implementation of the move is now in doubt. The greatest concern among those promoting the decision is that while sanctions would be supported internationally, in Israel they would spark a wave of sympathy for Ben Gvir and his party.

Donald Trump and Mohammed bin SalmanREUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Senior officials in the US administration report that President Donald Trump is demanding that Arab countries without ties to Israel - led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan - immediately join the Abraham Accords and sign formal peace agreements.

Channel 12 News reported that Trump held a conference call with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain. The original purpose of the call was to secure the support of Sunni states for a deal with Tehran aimed at ending the war.

The various leaders, including UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed - who had previously taken a far more hawkish stance regarding confrontation with Iran - expressed sweeping support for the US president. “They all told him: we’re with you on this deal, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll still be with you," a senior administration official said.

The dramatic turn in the conversation came when Trump directly linked security arrangements with Iran to diplomatic recognition of the State of Israel. According to those present, Trump made clear that once the campaign ends, he expects every country at the table that has not yet done so to open embassies and normalize relations with Israel, while focusing primarily on a historic peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The direct and unexpected demand reportedly stunned some of those on the call, particularly Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan’s prime minister. “The moment those words were spoken, there was complete and awkward silence on the line. Trump immediately noticed the discomfort, joked aloud, and asked with a smile if they were still with him on the call," a senior official said.

To underscore his seriousness, the president added that he intended to contact Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately and expressed hope that in the near future Netanyahu would join them on the same conference call. He also announced that his special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, would begin a dedicated round of talks on the issue in the coming weeks.

טאקר קרלסון, Tucker Carlsonצילום: REUTERS

No self-respecting media outlet in Israel should be interviewing a brazen Jew hater like Tucker Carlson, which means that he will probably follow up his interview with Channel 13 with several others. Carlson has been dubbed by President Trump as a “Low IQ person" and “not very bright" and nothing he said in his most recent interview challenges those characterizations.

The interviewer Udi Segal occasionally tried to push back but also refrained from refuting some of the more outrageous statements and implications.

What should Segal have countered? And how can we repudiate Carlson’s rhetoric and immorality?

Take first the low-hanging fruit. Carlson excoriated the beeper operation that wounded several thousand Hezbollah terrorists and the elimination of leaders such as in Lebanon, Gaza or Iran as “political assassinations" that are wrong and immoral. But by what stretch of his fevered imagination is killing terrorists immoral? Must they be killed only in the act of terror - or after the act?

These are organizations funded by a terror state whose avowed goal is to destroy Israel and that goal has been hardly theoretical. Iran and its proxies have spent the better part of forty years trying to murder as many Israelis and Jews as possible and have long threatened - even boasted about - Israel’s impending destruction.

It comes out that according to Carlson’s twisted logic, a nation cannot defend itself by assassinating the leadership of its foes nor by killing terrorists.

The worst of Carlson’s distortions is his repeated references to the murder of innocents, especially children. “Killing innocents is never acceptable." “Killing children is never allowable… it is evil." Although he has other times labeled such actions genocide, this time he sufficed to call them “atrocities." As such, he concluded, Israel is as much a terror regime as is Iran or any of the terror entities it purports to fight against.

“You can't kill people who haven't done anything wrong." That is true in normal times, but the morality of war is different. Certainly, one cannot target civilians intentionally, but how would Carlson combat terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah who hide among civilians, including children, store their weapons in violation of international law in civilian homes, hospitals, schools, and houses of worship? If killing children is “never allowed," do terrorists then gain total immunity when they use children or other civilians as human shields?

That would seem to be Carlson’s only conclusion, which qualifies him to be a good Quaker and a pacifist, but not much of a Christian. Even Christianity understands the concept of a “just war" and only a nation with a death wish bent on national suicide would adhere to such a morally bankrupt standard. That is one reason why no country does. Carlson’s approach gives evildoers an insurmountable advantage. Would he want to live in a country that followed his rules? I doubt it.

It comes out that war according to Carlson cannot be waged against terrorists who hide among civilians nor against their leadership that dispatches them to murder real innocents. If you can’t fight the leaders and you can’t fight the terrorists, whom can you fight? Apparently, wars can only be fought against terrorists who volunteer to be killed. In the alternative, in Carlson world, Israel should remain morally pristine and allow itself to be destroyed. That will show ‘em! But no thank you.

Labelling something evil presumes evil intent. The very notion of collateral damage reflects the idea that wars always cause unwanted suffering to innocent people. (I set aside for a moment the cogent point that most of these civilians are not innocent at all but part of the terror operation and planning, nor is a child suicide bomber or decoy entirely innocent.) The death of innocents in war is tragic - but tragic is not the same as evil. He is, to be kind, simplistic in his reasoning.

Carlson sounds like someone who denounces as “evil" the act of cutting into the flesh of another human being and cannot distinguish between the surgeon and the stabber. If he doesn’t realize that, then Trump’s assessment of his intelligence is accurate.

In Carlson’s world, terror will always win. It could be that as long as the only victims are Jews, that is a price he is willing to pay to remain morally pure. But there is no such thing as a casualty-free, non-lethal war, and if he thinks he has the moral high ground by claiming such purity, then he is the terrorist’s best friend.

In Carlson’s world - as in many other haters of Israel - Israel has the absolute right of self-defense, as long as we never use it or as long as no one has to die if we do use it. He called Israel the world’s most violent country - a patent falsehood - but revealing no appreciation of the constant terror we experience and the relentlessness of our enemies.

He lamented Israel’s “loss of morality." He shouldn’t; the truth is, we never lost it, while he never had it. His moral compass is askew. Perhaps he is also missing the idea that we need not subscribe to his moral notions that are based on “universal principles." But G-d’s word goes forth from Jerusalem; our moral scruples and conduct should be based on the Torah. If anything, we wage war in a way that dilutes the Torah’s imperative that protecting Jewish life is our priority and our possession of the entire land of Israel is a fundamental Torah objective.

“Israel is not a democracy because millions of Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza do not vote," and according to Carlson, nor is America because Trump embarked on an unpopular war. If only the interviewer spoke a better English and countered with the obvious:

1.The Arab residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza are not citizens of Israel and no more entitled to vote in Israeli elections than are illegal aliens in the USA, against whom Carlson has railed for years. Those Arabs are citizens of the PA and entitled to vote there, but do not blame Israel if elections there never take place.

2. And the USA is a republic, technically, not a democracy. The citizens vote for their representatives. Those representatives do not take polls before making decisions but are elected to make decisions. If Carlson does not know this, and he should, then see Trump: Above.

Finally, Carlson asserted repeatedly and quite aggressively that the USA has no “obligation" to give Israel either arms or money. Of course, no one ever claimed that the US has such an “obligation" so this was an easy straw man to browbeat. Here, too, Carlson - whose poor grades prevented him from graduating with his college class - betrays an ignorance about statecraft:

No nation has an obligation towards any other nation but only to its own citizens and those who legally seek succor in its borders. Nevertheless, nations do have interests, and in pursuit of those interests they establish alliances, have foreign relations, and trade with other countries, including the sale of weapons. (The US does have an unfortunate record of, from time to time, arming countries that became their adversaries or were otherwise hostile.)

Arguably, Israel has been the USA’s most reliable ally in the world, if you consider support for US global objectives, common enemies, provision of vital intelligence, and symmetrical voting patterns in the United Nations. If the US sells weapons to Israel, it does so in furtherance of American interests (which, by the way, certainly do not include the bolstering of Islamic terrorists). The proof is that when certain presidents - misguided as they were - decided it was in the US interest to halt weapons sales, they did. (Read: Biden.)

If the US subsidizes part of those weapons sales, it is to shore up America’s arms industry and ensure that Israel does not seek weapons elsewhere or manufacture its own, which would undercut the US defense establishment. It doesn’t bother him that the US trades with a host of unsavory actors across the world, including China which is now buying American oil while tormenting its own people. Apparently, no Jews, no news.

But a future president may determine that a pacifist USA is an ideal and that arms sales should be halted, just as the current president may cave in to pressure from the likes of Carlson and others and sign a deal with Iran heavy on rhetoric, light on substance, and with little chance of implementation of anything that remotely protects our interests.

We would do well to remember that the interests of Israel and the USA are often aligned but are never identical. Will our prime minister have the strength to rain on the Trump parade and refuse to agree to a cease fire in Lebanon that leaves Hezbollah armed and dangerous? Ditto with Hamas in Gaza? Will he succumb to pressure to withdraw from these territories or do the right thing and settle them with Jews, once and for all? And the "no obligation" mantra should mean that Israel retains complete freedom of action against any regional enemy, despite American wishes for a cease fire.

Yes, let us remember that nations have interests, not obligations, and remember further Lord Palmerston’s dictum that nations have no permanent allies, only permanent interests. That applies to us as well. Our interests are not merely survival but building a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

If anything, Carlson’s diatribes should alert Israelis to Palmerston’s truism and its consequences.

Indeed, he is not that bright and not that moral. I wish that Tucker Carlson hated true evil as much as he hates Jews and Israel. But we will survive him too, and this era’s history will easily be written without reference to his angry words, his caustic opinions, his shallow reasoning, and his vile hatreds.

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Esq., former pulpit rabbi and attorney, serves as the Senior Research Associate for the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP.ngo), the Israel Region Vice-President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, and is the author of six books including “The Jewish Ethic of Personal Responsibility" (Gefen Publishing).

Naim QassemReuters

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated his firm opposition to the demand by the US, Israel, and the Lebanese government that the terror organization disarm.

In a speech broadcast on Al-Manar, Qassem said that disarming Hezbollah would mean harming Lebanon’s defensive capabilities at a time when it is facing Israel, which he described as an "enemy" seeking to expand its control in the region.

Qassem called for "an end to the aggression, a full Israeli withdrawal, the release of prisoners, and the return of residents," noting that only afterward "we will discuss the defensive strategy."

He also claimed that the Lebanese government is unable to enforce the ceasefire agreement with Israel from November 2024, and accused it of a series of political concessions that harmed the legitimacy of the Lebanese "resistance," namely Hezbollah.

Qassem then called to overthrow the Lebanese government, which includes two ministers from Hezbollah.

"The people have the right to take to the streets and bring down the government, and to bring down the American-Israeli project," he said.

In addition, Qassem claimed that there is no political sovereignty in Lebanon, and that the country is effectively under American patronage. According to him, the negotiations being conducted by the Lebanese government also play into Israel’s hands.

Therefore, Qassem called on the Lebanese government to abandon the path of direct negotiations and reject the American demands outright.

He also expressed hope that the negotiations between the US and Iran would lead to a complete end to the war, and that the ceasefire agreement would also apply to Lebanon.

A dramatic mid-air collision between a small sightseeing plane and a paraglider in northern Austria was caught on camera, showing a woman narrowly escaping death after her canopy was sliced apart high above the ground.

The incident occurred on May 23 as Sabrina, 44, was paragliding in clear skies when a small aircraft, identified as a Cessna 172, suddenly flew into her path. Harrowing footage posted to Instagram shows the plane’s wing and propeller tearing directly through her paraglider canopy just feet above her head, shredding the fabric and sending her spiraling toward the earth.

With the main canopy destroyed, Sabrina was forced into a rapid descent as tangled parachute lines wrapped around her. In a remarkable display of composure, she managed to deploy her emergency reserve parachute and free herself from the entanglement before landing safely, narrowly missing a tree.

“I still can’t believe that I’m sitting here typing this," Sabrina later wrote on Instagram, saying she escaped with bruises and minor injuries despite the terrifying ordeal.

Police said the paraglider’s canopy was severely damaged in the collision, prompting Sabrina to activate her reserve chute. She was later airlifted by police helicopter to a local airport for medical evaluation.

The 28-year-old pilot of the small plane also landed safely at Zell am See Airport and reportedly told authorities there was no way he could have avoided the paraglider.

Officials said both survived without serious injuries, with Sabrina’s quick thinking likely saving her life.

Pres. Trump and PM NetanyahuWhite House

It is critical to prepare for an Iran-US Deal also covering Lebanon and Gaza

Were it not for the following sentence, I would not be writing this: "He (Netanyahu) will do whatever I want him to do." (President Trump to reporters, 20.5.2026)

And this in comparison to Trump's remarks before the Knesset on 13.10.2025: "He's not easy, I'm telling you. He's not the easiest person to work with -but that's exactly what makes him great."

We must prepare ourselves for the challenge posed if the reports are correct regarding an imminent agreement between Trump and Iran and if it is implemented.

An agreement that includes - in the best-case scenario - a return to "quiet for quiet" vis-a-vis Hezbollah and Hamas, and in a more realistic scenario, the paralysis of IDF operations on both fronts so as not to interfere with "the completion and implementation of Trump's historic achievements for peace," despite "disturbances by the enemies of the peace that is approaching."

With all the respect and appreciation I have for Benjamin Netanyahu, I do not believe that he alone can formulate and implement the difficult decisions that will be required to meet this challenge.

Decisions that will once again make Netanyahu a leader who is "not the easiest person to work with" in Trump's eyes, to put it mildly.

What is not required are many hours of meaningless discussions merely to allow ministers to blow off steam. What is required are many hours of serious discussions that lead to the decision that we are not returning to "quiet for quiet" and that we are setting out to complete the job in Lebanon and Gaza.

Dr. Aaron Lerner he_ads_ IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis, since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations.

Gadi EisenkotYossi Zeliger/TPS

The chairman of the "Yashar" party, Gadi Eisenkot, and the chairman of Degel Hatorah, MK Moshe Gafni, met last week for a secret meeting, Channel 12 News revealed.

The meeting took place shortly after the leader of the Lithuanian haredi community, Rabbi Dov Lando, announced the dissolution of the right-wing bloc.

According to the report, the atmosphere during the meeting was highly positive, signaling a surprising strengthening of ties between the former IDF Chief of Staff and haredi party leadership.

The sit-down between the two has generated significant interest across the political spectrum, particularly against the backdrop of the Draft Law controversy currently at the center of public debate. While Eisenkot publicly asserts that equal burden of service is a red line for him, behind the scenes, haredi politicians view him as the most pragmatic partner for a compromise.

Sources close to Eisenkot declined to confirm or deny the meeting but hinted that he is "working in numerous ways to advance the elections and bring down the government."

Gafni's office issued a vague response, stating that they "do not comment on meetings Gafni holds with various public figures."

Sergeant Nehoray LeizerCourtesy of the family

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit cleared for publication on Monday morning that Sergeant Nehoray Leizer, aged 19, from Eilat, fell in combat in southern Lebanon.

Sergeant Leizer was killed on Sunday around 3:00 p.m. when an explosive drone launched by the Hezbollah terror organization detonated near IDF soldiers

During the incident in which Sergeant Leizer fell, an additional IDF soldier was severely injured.

The soldier was evacuated to receive medical treatment at the hospital, and his family has been notified.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned, "Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I mourn Combat Engineering fighter, Sgt. Nehoray Leizer, of blessed memory, who fell in battle in southern Lebanon."

"Nehoray, of blessed memory, a wonderful young man from Eilat, fought with heroism and dedicated his soul to defending our northern border against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

"We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and his many friends, and share in their deep sorrow. May his memory be a blessing."

IllustrationiStock

The Islamic Republic of Iran executed a citizen convicted of espionage on Sunday, marking the first time the regime has carried out a capital sentence for a spying offense committed during the ongoing war against Israel and the United States, AFP reported.

According to a report published by the Iranian judiciary's official Mizan Online website, the condemned individual was identified as Mojtaba Kian. Mizan Online stated that Kian, "who sent information related to the country’s defense industry units to the enemy, was hanged early this morning."

The state-run media platform reported that the individual covertly funneled sensitive data regarding Iran's domestic military production capabilities throughout the roughly 40-day conflict.

While the regime has systematically accelerated its execution of individuals accused of treasonous collaboration with the "Zionist-American enemy" since the outbreak of hostilities, all previous executions had targeted individuals whose alleged offenses predated the war.

Sunday's hanging represents a dramatic shift as the first case tied directly to wartime intelligence gathering.

Judicial documents allege that Kian "sent multiple messages to hostile networks affiliated with “the Zionist-American enemy", including coordinates and information on facilities producing parts related to the country’s defense industries."

State authorities claimed that Kian utilized foreign satellite television channels to transmit the intelligence. While the judiciary refused to name the specific networks involved, the Ayatollah's regime has a long history of accusing independent, expatriate Persian-language broadcasters of operating as direct intelligence conduits for Israel.

Iran regularly accuses Israel of acts of sabotage on its soil, and regularly captures and executes individuals accused of spying for Israel.

Iran is the world's second most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups based outside the country, which accuse the Islamic Republic of using capital punishment as a tool to instil fear throughout society.

Amnesty International published a report last week finding that Iran executed more than 2,150 individuals last year.

The organization confirmed that at least 2,707 executions took place globally in 2025. Of that international total, an astounding 2,159 hangings were carried out by Tehran alone, a number that more than doubles the Iranian regime's execution metrics from 2024.

Netanyahu and HerzogFlash 90

President Isaac Herzog has decided to completely freeze all further review of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official pardon request, Kan 11 News reported Sunday evening.

According to the report, Herzog's decision was made after the Prime Minister's team failed to respond to an initiative to open a direct channel of communication aimed at exploring an agreed-upon compromise framework for his trial.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was briefed on the details and expressed her support in principle for the move. However, Netanyahu chose not to reply to the President's overture.

Sources close to the President interpreted Netanyahu's silence as a lack of willingness to cooperate, leading to the decision to remove the matter from the agenda and freeze the process.

Legal experts note that this decision carries critical significance, as Netanyahu's testimony in his criminal trial is expected to conclude shortly - and once it does, the pardon request may become obsolete.

TehraniStock

The formal completion of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and the Islamic Republic of Iran could be delayed by several days, CNN reported on Sunday.

According to a senior United States official quoted in the report, the delay stems from a protracted and bureaucratic approval process required to obtain Tehran's official endorsement on the specific phrasing of the pact.

The caution from administration insiders represents a tactical shift from the optimistic timeline presented over the weekend. While President Donald Trump confidently proclaimed on Saturday that an agreement was imminent, diplomatic officials moved on Sunday to lower expectations regarding a breakthrough announcement before the end of the weekend.

The remaining timeline hinges entirely on the speed with which Iranian representatives react to specific wording adjustments submitted by American negotiators, the official explained, according to CNN.

While Washington maintains that Tehran has consented in principle to the overarching core provisions of the framework, active diplomatic friction persists over the precise legal terminology.

The US official characterized this linguistic fine-tuning as an arduous approval operation on the Iranian side. Furthermore, the source indicated that American negotiators are still actively working to solidify the exact phrasing regarding "a couple of points."

Once a comprehensive consensus is reached by all negotiating teams, a formal, face-to-face signing ceremony is scheduled to be convened between American and Iranian dignitaries. That diplomatic event is expected to serve as an immediate springboard into an ensuing round of comprehensive negotiations targeting the subsequent phase of the international treaty.

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

שריפה פרצה בחדר הילדים, בני המשפחה נמלטוצילום: דוברות כבאות והצלה

A miracle in Modi'in Illit: A fire broke out in a local apartment, but family members inside noticed the danger in time and managed to flee the building - seconds before the apartment became a death trap.

Firefighters and volunteers from the Binyamin Regional Station were dispatched in large numbers after neighbors reported thick, black smoke billowing from the building's windows.

The severity of the situation became clear as soon as the first units arrived on the scene. Crews identified open flames and dense smoke raging inside the third-floor apartment. Firefighters quickly rushed upstairs with gear and discovered that the fire had originated in a drywall extension adjacent to the children’s bedroom.

The firefighting teams split up, deploying hoses toward the seat of the fire in the extension and the children’s bedroom while simultaneously conducting meticulous, high-speed sweeps through the heavy blanket of smoke to ensure no one was left behind.

Concurrently, tactical ventilation fans and specialized systems were deployed to clear trapped smoke from the stairwell and adjacent apartments.

Station Commander Yotam Sela of the Binyamin Fire and Rescue District summarized the incident: "This fire could have easily ended with severe injuries or fatalities, if not for the quick thinking of the family members. They didn't hesitate; they simply evacuated the apartment the moment the fire broke out and the initial smoke appeared. This incident proves once again the life-saving importance of installing standalone smoke detectors in every home."

Marco RubioREUTERS/Kylie Cooper

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched a blistering attack against Hezbollah on Sunday, slamming the Iranian-backed terrorist organization for attempting to push Lebanon "back into chaos."

In an official statement quoted by AFP, America's top diplomat strongly condemned the group's destabilizing behavior.

Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah's "reckless call to overthrow Lebanon's democratically elected government" and said the pro-Iran armed group was "actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction."

The Secretary of State's sharp rebuke follows a provocative speech by Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem. Addressing his followers earlier on Sunday, Qassem declared that "the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government."

The terror chief's call for an insurrection comes as the group faces intense pressure from targeted Israeli airstrikes and severe American economic sanctions.

Washington's financial restrictions have heavily targeted the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution, a crucial banking firm linked directly to Hezbollah. While the organization claims it functions merely to grant interest-free loans to financially struggling, predominantly Shiite Muslim communities caught up in Lebanon's internal economic meltdown, the US has long recognized it as a financial lifeline for terror operations.

Defending the targeted financial network, Qassem claimed, "The aggression against Al-Qard al-Hassan is an aggression against hundreds of thousands of poor people and those with limited income."

For months, the White House has been applying steady diplomatic pressure on the official government in Beirut to dismantle the illicit financial firm as part of a broader Western strategy to squeeze the Iranian proxy's resources. Secretary Rubio made it clear that the US will not tolerate the group's thuggery.

"Hezbollah’s threats of violence and overthrow will not be allowed to succeed," Rubio declared. "The era in which a terrorist group held an entire nation hostage is coming to an end."

The sharp diplomatic crossfire occurs as the US is trying to mediate talks between Israel and Lebanon. The US State Department recently announced that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by 45 days to allow for further talks between the sides.

The announcement followed a third round of talks mediated by the Trump administration that was held in Washington, DC.

On the ground, the reality remains highly volatile. The IDF continues to execute precision strikes against Hezbollah strongholds and military infrastructure inside Lebanon, while the terrorist organization continues to launch retaliatory attacks against Israeli positions across the southern front.

Hezbollah was to have laid down its arms as part of the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel in November of 2024.

However, the terrorist group has condemned the Lebanese government's plan to disarm it and has repeatedly vowed to keep its arms.

Mojtaba KhameneiReuters/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA

US intelligence reveals that Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is effectively holed up in an undisclosed location with little access to the outside world, CBS News reported on Sunday.

According to American officials with knowledge of the matter who were cited in the report, the isolation is so severe that he can only be reached through a convoluted labyrinth of couriers.

This extreme isolation has paralyzed the regime's bureaucracy. Iranian officials authorized to work with the Trump administration have been having a difficult time communicating inside of their own government system - a breakdown that sources identify as a central reason why the details of a potential deal with Iran and past agreements have been slow to emerge.

When Washington transmits proposed diplomatic details, the logistical nightmare of reaching the top despot results in a bottleneck. Two officials noted to CBS News there can be a long delay before the US receives a response.

When pressed for confirmation, a White House spokesperson declined to comment on intelligence on the Supreme Leader's whereabouts or Iranian communication methods.

Despite the communication blackout, some progress has reportedly been made. A senior administration official stated Sunday the Supreme Leader had agreed to the contours of the current draft agreement. Simultaneously, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he anticipated final word in the next few days.

Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in US and Israeli strikes in Operation Epic Fury, is taking extreme measures to avoid the strikes similar to the ones that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran from 1989 until Feb. 28. Indicating the severity of his hiding, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been officially seen or heard in public since before the start of the war.

The hiding reflects a deep fear of Allied intelligence penetration. US and Israeli intelligence obtained from inside the Iranian government has made it possible to locate and eliminate much of the Iranian senior leadership during the war, one of the officials told CBS News.

Consequently, the remaining echelons of the regime are living like hunted animals. At this point, most Iranian leaders don't see daylight, spending weeks inside highly fortified bunkers and avoiding speaking to each other unless absolutely necessary, the sources said.

"Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated," one official remarked.

The most cautious measures are being taken by the Supreme Leader. By design, even officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government don't know where he is and have no way to contact him directly. Instead, messages are slowly funneled through a network of couriers created to obscure the supreme leader's location.

"This is why you see people saying things like, 'The Supreme Leader has agreed to the framework,' or 'We're waiting to hear back on the final deal points.' Every piece of information he receives is dated and there's a lot of latency to his responses," an official explained.

Prominent pro-Israel advocate Dov Hikind is demanding that New York Governor Kathy Hochul deploy the National Guard to New York City to shield participants at the upcoming Israel Day Parade following a disturbing surge in local antisemitic incidents, The New York Post reports.

Hikind, the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism and a former New York State Assemblyman who represented heavily Orthodox Jewish areas in Brooklyn, made the urgent appeal ahead of the massive annual gathering scheduled for next Sunday.

While emphasizing his strong backing for the New York City Police Department, Hikind argued that local law enforcement requires military reinforcement. He warned that the danger extends beyond the primary Fifth Avenue parade route, noting that individuals commuting to the event while carrying Israeli flags or wearing identifying Jewish items could become prime targets for violent agitators.

“We need to make sure bad things don’t happen," Hikind stated. “We want to make sure there is safety for the Jewish community. I’m calling on Governor Hochul to bring in the National Guard to help the New York City Police Department."

Joining Hikind’s request are assembly members Kalman Yeger, D-Brooklyn, Michael Navakov, R-Brooklyn, Lester Chang, R-Brooklyn, David Weprin, D-Queens and Ari Brown, R-Nassau County, as well as council member Jim Gennaro, D-Queens.

Governor Hochul has previously utilized National Guard soldiers to patrol major New York transit hubs to combat crime and boost public security.

However, the organizers of the event - the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) - formally stated stating they are not seeking a military deployment. Mark Treyger, the CEO of JCRC-NY, expressed unconditional confidence in the city's internal security apparatus to protect the 61st annual march.

“I have full faith and confidence in the greatest police department in the world, the NYPD, under the exceptional leadership of Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has done a tremendous job ensuring the safety and success of major events and parades across New York City, including the Israel Day on Fifth parade in recent years," Treyger told The Post. “Commissioner Tisch, the NYPD, and all of our law enforcement partners have left no stone unturned in preparing for next Sunday’s parade."

Treyger explained that the Community Security Initiative - a collaborative security partnership operated by the JCRC-NY and the UJA-Federation of New York - is working seamlessly alongside regional law enforcement to implement comprehensive counter-measures.

The White HouseiStock

A detailed examination into the background of Nasire Best - the 21-year-old gunman eliminated by the US Secret Service on Saturday night after a shootout at a White House security checkpoint - has exposed a severe history of mental instability and repeated security breaches targeting the executive mansion, The Washington Post reported.

According to judicial records and testimonies from acquaintances, the suspect's life spiraled down a dark path following his graduation from Dundalk High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, where he had competed as a track athlete.

An anonymous school companion described Best as a historically apolitical individual who was consumed by internet gaming and running. However, his senior year in 2023 was severely disrupted by constant bullying and a physical altercation that triggered a suspension, barring him from senior festivities and halting his athletic season.

By May 2025, Best's behavior grew profoundly erratic, according to The Washington Post report. He systematically severed ties with his social circle and cut off communication with close peers after becoming enraged when they refused to validate his delusional assertions that he was Jesus Christ.

Despite his escalating psychological deterioration, his mother, Rhonda Melvin, expressed shock over the fatal encounter outside the White House, claiming she only learned of her son's death via social media platforms.

“I’m still in disbelief right now," Melvin said when reached by phone. She said that Best “was never violent, regardless of what people are posting."

Federal law enforcement authorities confirmed that Best was the armed assailant who initiated the firefight at 17th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, positioned immediately adjacent to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

“A preliminary investigation indicates that as the individual approached, he removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers," Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. “Secret Service police officers returned fire, striking the suspect, who was transported to an area hospital, where he later died."

The agency noted that a civilian bystander was struck during the chaos, though investigators are still determining whether the round originated from the perpetrator's weapon or the defensive fire returned by law enforcement.

Saturday's fatal encounter occurs amid a heightened climate of security threats surrounding the American president. On April 25, authorities thwarted what they described as an attempted assassination against Trump at a Washington hotel hosting the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

Days later, on May 4, Secret Service personnel shot another armed suspect after he allegedly opened fire on law enforcement officers near the Washington Monument. A teenage bystander was wounded during that confrontation.

Donald TrumpWhite House Photo by Daniel Torok

US President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to issue another warning to Iran, posting to Truth Social a picture of a bomb under a fighter jet with the words, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!" which he often uses at the end of his posts.

The meme looks to be a message from the White House clear that any foot-dragging on the part of Iran will result in immediate force.

Trump earlier published a post on Truth Social, assuring that a deal with Iran would be a positive one and lambasting critics, saying that it has not yet been fully negotiated.

"If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet," the President claimed.

Addressing critics, he wrote: "So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about."

Trump concluded: "Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals."

Trump's post echoes one he published earlier on Sunday, in which he wrote: "One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon. Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!"

According to the President, "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side."

He noted that the blockade of Iran will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is "reached, certified, and signed."

Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

Mansour AbbasYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Three of the Arab parties, Hadash, Balad and Ta'al, held a meeting tonight (Sunday) that capped a series of intensive consultations in recent weeks, with the aim of removing the final obstacles and announcing the re-establishment of the Joint List.

The three parties declared ideological and political agreement on the central issues, and sent a clear message to Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, that they are ready to run as a technical bloc.

The central point of contention in the talks remained the inclusion of Ra'am. In their statement the parties referred openly to the complexity in dealing with MK Mansour Abbas, who adopts a pragmatic line different from that of the other factions.

"We would like Ra'am to also be a partner in the political agreement, but we are aware of significant gaps between our positions regarding the character and course of the Joint List," the statement said. "Despite this, and in recognition of the importance of unity in the face of existential dangers, we expressed willingness to reach an agreement with Ra'am on the basis of a technical joint list for the elections."

A technical bloc, under the Israeli system, would run only a single ballot, but not necessarily maintain any agreements after the party has been allotted its seats in the Knesset. This prevents splitting the vote between component factions and potentially losing seats from both parties. Officials close to the parties say that the chief goal of the technical bloc, if realized, is to maximize their strength at the ballot box and to significantly raise voter turnout in Arab communities.

Trump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmanbandar aigaioudqcourtesy of saud, Reuters

US President Donald Trump told leaders of several Arab and Muslim countries during a conference call on Saturday that if a deal is reached to end the war with Iran, he wants their countries to establish peace agreements with Israel, Axios reported, citing two US officials familiar with the conversation.

According to the report, Trump views expanding the Abraham Accords as a major objective following the conclusion of the conflict with Iran. His primary focus is said to be a potential agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, although regional tensions and Israel’s upcoming elections are seen as major obstacles to progress.

Trump held the call with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain to discuss the developing agreement with Iran.

One US official said leaders on the call, including UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, voiced support for the initiative. “They all said we are with you on this deal. And if it doesn't work, we will be with you too," the official said.

A US official familiar with the discussion said Trump informed the leaders that he planned to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu afterward and expressed hope that Netanyahu would eventually participate in a similar call.

The officials said Trump also told the leaders that countries that have not yet joined the Abraham Accords or established diplomatic relations with Israel should do so after the Iran war ends.

According to the officials, leaders from countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Pakistan were surprised by the request, and there was a pause on the line before Trump joked about whether they were still present.

Trump later told the leaders that his envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, would continue discussions on the issue in the coming weeks.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he wanted to thank Middle Eastern countries for their “support and cooperation," adding that ties would be strengthened through participation in the Abraham Accords.

Trump also suggested that Iran could potentially join the Abraham Accords in the future, a move that would require Tehran to recognize Israel.

Senator Lindsey Graham expressed support for Trump’s proposal in a post on X on Sunday. Graham said that if Arab and Muslim countries agreed to join the Abraham Accords as part of negotiations to end the conflict with Iran, the agreement could become one of the most consequential developments in the region’s history.

Graham also urged Saudi Arabia and other countries to accept Trump’s proposal, warning that rejecting the initiative could affect future relations with the United States.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had previously indicated openness to normalization with Israel, but his position has reportedly become more cautious over the past year.

According to the report, Trump raised the issue of joining the Abraham Accords during a White House meeting with bin Salman last November, but the Saudi leader resisted the proposal.

Saudi officials continue to insist that Israel commit to an irreversible and time-bound path toward a Palestinian state before normalization can move forward, a condition the current Israeli government rejects.

Israeli and US officials believe Saudi Arabia is unlikely to make progress on the issue before Israel’s elections in September and before a new government is formed.

נתניהו במפגש המרגש עם הילדיםרועי אברהם, לע"מ, סטילס: קובי גדעון

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, on Sunday met at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem with children who have experienced social ostracism.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Chair of the Committee for Children's Rights MK Kati Sheetrit also participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, the children shared their experiences of social ostracism and exclusion within educational frameworks, as well as their personal coping mechanisms and how they overcame the difficulties.

Netanyahu addressed the children and said, “It starts with you, the children. It starts with you, because what I see here is that you are different, that is completely clear, but you don't realize how you are different: You possess immense strength."

“Because if you manage to live the way you live, to draw strength from within yourselves, to fight this wickedness and evil, and to constantly keep trying to move forward, you have special powers. It is not a given that other children have this. It is clear that you do," he added.

The Prime Minister continued, “Despite all the hardships, despite all the suffering, recognize this: You have something special that is immense. I see each and every one of you; it is something amazing. And I hear you, I listen to you, my heart opens up to you; you have immense strength."

Sara Netanyahu said, “The issue of boycotts and social ostracism is a very ancient one. It is not a new issue, nor is it related to any specific culture. It is an international issue."

“That is to say, it happens among children, and among adults as well, people being people. It is not unique to the State of Israel. I encountered this when meeting with other psychological services around the world, including in the United States, and they always talk about it," she added.

She continued, “This thing is, first of all, a phenomenon of the human inclination. Just like many other things. It is very ancient, long-standing, and people deal with it. Sometimes less successfully, sometimes more, but they deal with it, and it is also international."

“So it does not belong to one society or another, religious, secular, this or that nation, it belongs to everyone. What is new is social media, and the issue of cyberbullying and online boycotts," said Sara Netanyahu.

“There is no scenario where a child should not receive a response from their teacher, counselor, or psychologist, it is a must. But violence on social media, which is also very severe, is what is being studied now, it is the new element, and people are learning how to cope with it," she stated.

“Even when I experience such things with children I work with in professional settings, I always say - turn to your parents. Because even in these cases, a large part of the tragedies that occurred happened because the children did not turn to their parents. And the parents only found out after, G-d forbid, a tragedy had already occurred," Sara Netanyahu added.

Photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO; Sara Netanyahu

Terror fundingISTOCK

Israeli security forces have been operating in recent months against civilian organizations that support terrorism operating in Judea and Samaria.

Al-Araby al-Jadeed reported that last week, IDF forces raided the offices of a charity fund in Jenin, seized documents, and closed the offices.

Nasri Hamamra, a member of the Jenin Charity Committee, told the newspaper that the reason for the closure was aiding terror and terrorist activity.

He denied aiding terror or any connection to militant organizations, and claimed that "the NGO deals only with humanitarian activities and helps the Palestinians stand strong."

Previously, Israeli forces raided the offices of the Madid Charitable Association in Shechem (Nablus) and the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron.

The chairman of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron was detained and released after interrogation. Jawid al-Tamimi, a member of the society's management, said that "all the Palestinian charitable societies operate under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority."

The NGOs acted as fronts for Hamas and other terrorist organizations to raise money to fund their operations. Dozens of NGOs were outlawed for providing aid to terrorist organizations. Documents seized by the IDF during the war in Gaza showed the connection between the charity NGOs and the al-Qassam Brigades.

Itamar ben GvirFlash 90

Nachum Kaplan is a journalist and commentator with 25 years media experience. He held senior international roles at Reuters and IFR. He holds a B.A. in Politics and Indonesian from Monash University and is also a practising psychotherapist.

The West has developed a moral vision so grotesquely malformed that it now reacts more strongly to mockery than to mass homicidal ideology. That is the real outrage behind the vehement criticism directed at Israel’s Far Right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ben-Gvir ridiculed anti-Israel flotilla activists that Israel intercepted at sea, and this triggered predictable convulsions among Western diplomats, journalists, NGOs, and the broader managerial priesthood of professional mourners. His comments were declared cruel, inflammatory, provocative, unbecoming, destabilizing, and presumably responsible for climate change.

It was an ugly display, and I have no time for the thuggish Ben-Gvir - except that his analysis of national security is often correct - yet it is simply deranged that Ben-Gvir being obnoxious provokes more outrage than the two million Hamas supporters in Gaza who call for the genocide of Jews.

In what moral universe does that make sense?

This amorality is so glaring that even Palestinian Arab polling data admits it before Western governments avert their eyes like nervous adulterers spotted leaving a brothel.

The disparity is dishonest, pathological, and intellectually degrading.

One Israeli politician says something rude about activists sailing toward a war zone to perform moral theater for Western cameras, and the diplomatic class collapses onto its fainting couch in horror. Meanwhile, entire generations of Palestinian Arabs are raised to loathe Jews and hold eliminationist hatred toward them.

Then we are told we must “understand the context." The context apparently matters only when Jews are the target.

When Israelis express anger, resentment, suspicion, tribal defensiveness, or contempt after decades of terrorism, rocket attacks, massacres, hostage-taking, stabbings, shootings, suicide bombings, and openly declared genocidal ambitions, the West demands emotional perfection from them.

Israelis are expected to react to existential threats with the emotional regulation of a Buddhist monk floating in a sensory deprivation tank.

Palestinian Arabs, meanwhile, are treated like permanent moral juveniles. Their hatred is endlessly contextualized, sociologized, psychologized, historicized, and aestheticized until exterminationist ideology becomes a form of indigenous self-expression.

The modern Western mind has become incapable of distinguishing between offensive language and civilizational pathology.

That distinction matters. A great many people in Gaza do not just oppose Israeli policies, dislike settlements, and hate the military operations, they oppose a Jewish state’s existence under any borders whatsoever.

This is not something they hide. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad state it openly, and the Palestinian Authority believes the same thing while maintaining the diplomatic nous to lie about it in English. Clerics state it openly. Television programming has stated it openly for years. Polling repeatedly demonstrates support for October 7-style atrocities at levels that would produce mass panic if observed anywhere else.

Imagine if two million Germans in a neighboring enclave supported massacring French civilians while educational institutions glorified the killers and children’s television celebrated exterminationist fantasies. Europe would not react by sending flotillas and lecturing France about proportionality.

Yet when Jews are involved, the West suddenly develops the pattern-recognition abilities of a heavily sedated wombat.

The obsession with Ben-Gvir’s rhetoric reveals something deeper and uglier about Western psychology. It is not hatred that disturbs the West. It is Jewish retaliation, anger, tribal consciousness, and Jews refusal to remain morally decorative victims.

Ben-Gvir understands this and engages in these vulgar stunts precisely because they provoke this kind of reaction, which his supporters adore. Ben-Gvir’s critics do not seem bright enough to grasp that they are doing his bidding for him. This is why one Israeli politician’s vulgarity receives more scrutiny than an entire polity steeped in Palestinian Arab eliminationism.

The Jew is allowed to suffer, or even die, and to make solemn speeches at Holocaust memorials delivered by European leaders whose grandparents were hiding behind curtains whenever moral courage was required.

What the Jew is not permitted to become is emotionally unconstrained. That terrifies the West to its bones marrows.

The ideal Jew in the Western imagination is dead, endangered, apologetic, displaced, intellectualized, or symbolic. The living Jew with military power, territorial instincts, historical memory, and ethnic solidarity produces acute psychological discomfort in the Western minds.

Ben-Gvir infuriates these people not because he is uniquely offensive. Western politics is overflowing with vulgar narcissists, demagogues, and performative populists. Europe itself manufactures them in industrial quantities. America exports them like soybeans.

No. Ben-Gvir’s deeper offense is that he represents Jewish defiance stripped of the submissive etiquette the West prefers. One may disagree with his style, rhetoric, or politics, but the scale of outrage directed toward him compared to the near-indifference shown toward genocidal antisemitism in Gaza exposes a civilization suffering from an advanced moral inversion bordering on cultural dementia.

Western governments know perfectly well Hamas’ evil nature. They know what large segments of Palestinian Arab society believe, and that October 7 was not some mysterious “cycle of violence" that emerged spontaneously from the atmosphere like seasonal humidity.

They saw civilians cheering as mutilated Jewish bodies were paraded through Gazan streets. They saw children raised inside a culture where murdering Jews is framed as heroic transcendence rather than moral depravity.

Yet still they obsess over flotilla activists being mocked. It is difficult to overstate how wicked and decadent this is.

Civilizations nearing exhaustion often lose the ability to prioritize threats correctly. They begin confusing symbols for realities. Tone becomes more important than substance, manners more important than survival, and emotional aesthetics more important than truth.

That is where much of the West now finds itself.

Western elites inhabit environments so insulated from existential danger that they interpret harsh rhetoric as more alarming than annihilationist ideology. They react to poor-taste sarcasm as though violence was an unfortunate sociological phenomenon requiring another symposium, another NGO white paper, and another panel discussion moderated by someone with the moral seriousness of a decorative houseplant.

The result is moral illiteracy on a civilizational scale.

Yet no serious international effort exists to deradicalize Palestinian Arab society at scale. Very little pressure is exerted on the educational, religious, media, and political systems that normalize antisemitic hatred. The world spends more energy condemning Israeli zoning permits than confronting cultures that openly celebrate the murder of Jews.

Even now, after October 7 shattered every remaining illusion about Hamas and the ideological ecosystem surrounding it, much of the West still behaves as though Israeli anger is the central pathology requiring urgent management.

The West is in the grip of moral senility.

The flotilla activists themselves embody this pathology perfectly. They sail toward a territory governed by Islamist fanatics whose rulers massacre civilians, oppress dissent, brutalize women, persecute homosexuals, and call for genocide. Yet somehow the emotional focus always returns to Israeli responses.

One suspects that if Israel’s enemies announced tomorrow that they intended to murder every Jew between the river and the sea - which many effectively announce every second Tuesday before lunch - Western diplomats would respond with another symposium on “de-escalatory language" while condemning Israelis for insufficient sensitivity toward the emotional needs of aspiring mass murderers.

The sickness runs that deep.

There is something profoundly diseased about a civilization that devotes more outrage to an Israeli politician mocking activists than to mass social hatred directed toward Jews across an entire political culture.

Only a moral pauper could conflate a sneer with slaughter.

The West increasingly does exactly that.

UTJ leader Moshe GafniChaim Goldberg/Flash90

The haredi Degel HaTorah faction, part of the UTJ party, clarified this evening (Sunday) to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the faction will not support passing the draft bill before the elections.

The implication is that the bill to dissolve the Knesset will move into high gear and is expected to pass soon in three readings in the Knesset plenum.

Channel 12 commentator Amit Segal, who reported this, estimated that it is highly likely the elections will be held on September 15, two days after Rosh Hashanah.

As recalled, two weeks ago, haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando instructed Degel HaTorah's Knesset members to act to dissolve the Knesset as soon as possible, and declared, "There is no longer confidence in Netanyahu."

The directive was given during a meeting in which the party's Knesset members reviewed the current political situation and Prime Minister Netanyahu's clarification that he would find it difficult to pass the draft law at this time.

"From now on we will do only what is good for haredi Jewry and the yeshiva world," Rabbi Lando's office said, adding, "The concept of 'bloc' no longer exists for us," referring to the right-wing bloc that has long seen the Likud and haredi parties as firm allies.

US President Donald Trumpצילום: מולי ריילי, הבית הלבן

US President Donald Trump published a post on Truth Social on Sunday, assuring that a deal with Iran would be a positive one and lambasting critics, saying that it has not yet been fully negotiated.

"If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet," the President claimed.

Addressing critics, he wrote: "So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about."

Trump concluded: "Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals."

Trump's post echoes one he published earlier on Sunday, which he wrote: "One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon. Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!"

According to the President, "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side."

He noted that the blockade of Iran will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is "reached, certified, and signed."

Trump explained that "both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes! Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb."

He added: "I would like to thank, thus far, all of the countries of the Middle East for their support and cooperation, which will be further enhanced and strengthened by their joining the Nations of the historic Abraham Accords, and who knows, perhaps the Islamic Republic of Iran would like to join, as well!"

In a post on X earlier in the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu detailed a conversation he had with US President Donald Trump the previous night about the memorandum of understanding to reopen the Straits of Hormuz and the upcoming negotiations toward a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu stated that he expressed his "deep appreciation to President Trump for his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, including during Operation Roaring Lion and Epic Fury, when American and Israeli forces fought shoulder to shoulder against the Iranian threat."

According to the Prime Minister, "President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger. That means dismantling Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and removing its enriched nuclear material from its territory."

"President Trump also reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon."

Netanyahu stressed that "the partnership between us and our two countries has been proven on the battlefield and has never been stronger."

He concluded: "My policy, like President Trump’s, remains unchanged: Iran will not have nuclear weapons."

Alex Miller OBMCourtesy of the family

Alex Miller, a former Kfir Battalion soldier, put an end to his own life at the age of 23 in the United States.

His family and friends tell of a young man who, for a long time, fought demons that remained with him since the ramming attack in which he was injured in 2022, along with the pain following the loss of his close friend, Noam Shemesh, in battle in the Gaza Strip.

His father, Dani Miller, spoke of his son's silent internal battle. "I don't get it. I have invested my entire life in raising and nurturing him. We had a lot of conversations about the attack, but apparently, the attack and Noam's death broke him. Even though he didn't admit it, he suffered a lot," he said.

In 2022, Miller was lightly injured in a ramming attack near the Nebi Mousa training facility while he waited with his fellow soldiers. Despite the injury and trauma, he fought to recover and insited on returning to service with his peers in the Kfir Battallion.

The Katzrin Local Council, where he grew up, eulogized him, describing a man driven by a sense of mission and a love of Israel. "As an only child, he insisted on serving in a combat unit through a true love for the country. Behind the strength hid great pain," the statement read.

The council further stated that the death of his friend, Noam Shemesh, hurt him deeply, and he carried the pain for a long time without revealing it. "The transparent traumas he silently carried with him eventually overwhelmed the young warrior who had his entire life ahead of him."

Yaakov MargiYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Former minister and MK Yaakov Margi informed Shas chairman Aryeh Deri that he will not run in the upcoming Knesset term, thereby ending his parliamentary career after many years in the Knesset and in senior public roles.

Margi, a veteran of Shas, served over the years in key positions in the Knesset and the government, and is regarded as one of the faction's most experienced and senior figures.

In a statement he released upon his retirement, he said, "The reports about my leaving the Shas movement are not correct. In recent days I spoke with the movement's chairman, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, and expressed my desire not to be placed on the list for the next Knesset, after 23 years in which I served as a member of Knesset, director-general of the movement and Minister of Religious Affairs and Welfare. The movement chairman asked me to wait on the decision. I wish to clarify: I am not leaving the Shas movement. The Shas movement is my home. Any position assigned to me by the Council of Torah Sages and the movement chairman, I will fulfill with dedication and a sense of mission."

MK Margi is the second member of the Shas faction to announce his retirement from the party and from political life. A week earlier, MK Moshe Arbel submitted a resignation letter from the Knesset.

Arbel noted in his letter that his decision to step down comes as the current Knesset's term is ending. He explained that he intends to devote time to his family, to Torah study and to completing a doctoral degree in law at Reichman University. Shortly thereafter he was appointed chairman of the Mehadrin company.

Benjamin NetanyahuChaim Goldberg/Flash90

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle is working to advance a strategic move designed to fully disqualify the United Arab List (Ra'am) from running in the upcoming election cycle, Channel 13 reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the goal is to lead to the designation of the party's parent movement, the Southern Faction of the Islamic Movement in Israel, as a terrorist organization. The decision's reasoning would be the transfer of donation funds to the Gaza Strip during the war.

The move, which is in its initial stages, comes amid the political uncertainty regarding the exact date of the elections.

Sources in Netanyahu's circle claim that during the war in Gaza, the movement transferred funds and aid to the enclave, deeming it, according to the sources, a body that supports and aids terrorist organizations during a war.

To implement the complex process, the political echelon will have to overcome several significant legal and security hurdles. Classifying the Southern Faction as a terror organization would demand legislative adjustments in the Knesset and a change of definitions in the Counterterrorism Law.

The move would also require official professional opinions from the relevant security bodies, particularly the Shin Bet.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's office did not comment on the report.

Iranian terroriStock

There is a category error embedded in how Western governments have responded to Iran's assassination campaigns inside Europe. They have treated the problem as a law enforcement challenge, a matter of arrests, indictments, extraditions, and judicial proceedings. The German indictments filed this month against two IRGC-linked operatives plotting to kill prominent Jewish and pro-Israel figures in Hamburg make the inadequacy of that framework impossible to ignore.

The central suspect, Ali S., a 54-year-old Danish citizen of Afghan origin, is alleged to have worked directly for the IRGC's intelligence service and maintained operational contact with the Quds Force. The targets were Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Volker Beck, the former lawmaker who heads the German-Israeli Society. Prosecutors say the suspects conducted surveillance on both men in preparation for assassination and arson attacks. A second operative had already been tasked with weapons procurement.

This was not intelligence gathering. It was operational preparation for political murder inside a NATO member state.

The German case reflects a continental strategy that has been documented exhaustively and addressed inadequately. Iran International reported that the IRGC's Quds Force has established dedicated assassination squads, known as the German Network, tasked with targeting Iranian dissidents abroad and Jewish citizens across Europe, operating under Unit 840, a secretive Quds Force division responsible for overseas assassinations targeting Westerners, Israelis, and Iranian dissidents.

The Netherlands has documented assassinations of Iranian dissidents attributed to Tehran. Denmark disrupted a plot against an opposition figure. Sweden exposed the regime's use of criminal networks to threaten Jewish, Israeli, and opposition targets. A Berlin Court of Appeal established as far back as 2017 that the Quds Force runs its own intelligence division operating agents abroad with significant autonomy, not dependent on centralized command.

The operational implication of that last finding is critical. The Quds Force's European networks were built to function with a significant degree of autonomy, meaning that disruption of Tehran's leadership does not necessarily deactivate these cells. It may even unshackle them. Law enforcement successes, however competent, are therefore structurally insufficient. They interdict individual operatives while leaving intact the command architecture, the funding streams, the criminal proxy networks, and the ideological authorization that generates the next cell.

Tehran has refined a particular model of grey-zone warfare on European soil. Iran has increasingly outsourced its operations to state-linked criminal intermediaries, giving the regime plausible deniability while maintaining operational direction. In the United States, the Department of Justice confirmed that members of an Eastern European organized crime group were contracted by IRGC-linked operatives in a failed murder-for-hire scheme against a US-based dissident.

Of 54 documented plots in Europe, sixteen involved criminal perpetrators: six of them targeting Iranian dissidents or journalists, seven targeting Israeli diplomats or embassies, and four targeting Jews or Jewish institutions. The outsourcing model is deliberate. It creates judicial complexity, complicates attribution, and allows European governments to frame each incident as a criminal rather than a military matter.

In July 2025, 14 governments including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada issued a joint statement condemning Iranian intelligence services for plotting to kill, kidnap, and harass individuals across Europe and North America, and for their deepening collaboration with international criminal organizations. The statement was diplomatically significant. It changed Iranian behavior not at all. The networks publicly described in that statement remain largely intact.

The EU's decision in February 2026 to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization was the correct step, arriving roughly three decades late. But designation is a legal status, not a policy. The question is what follows. If designation is used primarily to facilitate prosecutions of individual operatives while the IRGC continues to operate its European infrastructure with Iranian diplomatic cover and state funding, the designation changes the juridical landscape without altering the strategic one.

What a genuine hardline transatlantic response requires is a willingness to impose costs on the Iranian state itself, not merely on the expendable operatives it deploys.

-That means using the IRGC's terrorist designation to sanction the entire financial ecosystem that funds external operations, including European banks and companies that continue to process transactions connected to IRGC-linked entities.

-It means expelling Iranian diplomatic personnel identified as intelligence covers, as several European governments have done selectively but none systematically.

-It means treating Iranian grey-zone attacks inside NATO borders as an Article 5-adjacent challenge, not a bilateral law enforcement matter between Germany and Iran.

-And it means that Washington, which retains the greatest leverage over Tehran's financial exposure, must integrate Europe's assassination crisis into its broader Iran posture rather than treating them as separate files.

Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir in northern IsraelIDF Spokesperson

The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir, conducted a situational assessment and approved operational plans for the continuation of combat in the Northern Command on Sunday together with the General Staff Forum.

Later, Zamir visited the headquarters of the 401st Brigade, where he met with the acting commander of the brigade, Col. (res.) H., and spoke with commanders and troops.

During the visit, Zamir expressed appreciation to the brigade’s commanders and troops and wished a speedy recovery and return to duty to brigade commander Col. Meir Biderman, who was injured in an incident in southern Lebanon last week.

“The IDF continues to monitor regional developments, and is prepared to resume to intense combat operations immediately and to further weaken the Iranian terror regime and its capabilities," Zamir said.

“We will maintain readiness and operational flexibility for as long as required. In the Northern Command, we continue to strike Hezbollah’s terror across all dimensions. I emphasize - the security of the residents and the security of our troops are above all else," he added.

Zamir stated that Israeli forces had left “behind a battered and beaten enemy fighting for its survival" in every area in which they operated.

“There is no power in the world comparable to the courage of our troops; the spirit of commanders leading from the front is what guides them," Zamir said.

He referenced former commander of the 401st Brigade Col. Ehsan Daxa, who fell in battle, and current brigade commander Col. Meir Biderman, who was severely injured while commanding troops from the front.

“The 401st Brigade is a brigade made up of strong people with tremendous spirit. It is a brigade with both a distant and recent history that has never been broken," Zamir stated.

The Chief of Staff also said he had approved plans for the continuation of combat in the north.

“We are determined to deepen the blow against Hezbollah across all of its terror systems. I have full confidence in you. You are operating powerfully on the front lines," he said.

“Our mission is clear - to thwart every enemy, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, and serve as the front line defense for the communities of the north. We are operating to ensure and strengthen the security of the residents of the north," Zamir added.

He concluded by saying that “the damage inflicted on the Hezbollah terrorist organization is systematic and consistent" and that Israeli forces continue “to strike and eliminate Hezbollah terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure, which threaten the residents of the north and our troops."

Sgt. Noam HamburgerIDF

Family, friends and fellow soldiers gathered to lay Sgt. Noam Hamburger to rest. The 23-year-old technology and maintenance combat soldier in Battalion 9 of the 401st Brigade was killed in a Hezbollah explosive drone strike in northern Israel over the weekend.

Lt. Col. Rotem Bornstein, commander of a unit in Battalion 9, paid tribute to Hamburger during the funeral ceremony.

“Throughout your service you regarded your work as a mission of utmost importance," Bornstein said. “In a month you were supposed to finish your mandatory service and continue into career service, but even in the final moments you performed your duties with love, devotion and in a way that inspires."

His sisters, Yuval, Adi and Roni, tearfully eulogized their brother, describing him as deeply principled and devoted to the country.

“Noam, our brother, how can you be summed up in a few seconds? How did we get to this situation?" they said. “We miss you so much. You were the most principled person, the best brother we could ask for. From the moment the war began you enlisted and did not stop. You chose your country, you chose the people, you chose to defend. We are so proud of you."

Earlier in the day, Hamburger’s mother spoke emotionally in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, recalling the shock of losing her son.

“No one believes that something like this can happen," she said. “He enlisted into a war. He spent almost two and a half years inside Gaza. He fought and was proud. Recently they moved north, and like every mother here, every time he went in our hearts raced with fear."

“This time," she added, “we were calmer because he was at the base, and we did not imagine such a terrible scenario. And it really hurts the heart and is sad to a degree that’s hard to describe. And then boom, after 23 years of raising a child, suddenly he is no more."

She also described their final conversation before his death. “We spoke to him the day before and arranged that we would come to the outpost in Birnit for the holiday, and said we would bring the guys Shavuot foods that Noam loved so much. I called on video - like every time, because he is so missed here. He was a child with so much presence and charisma. He didn’t answer and that was suspicious. I started calling and he did not pick up, I started texting and he did not reply. Until the news arrived."

Remembering her son, she described him as kind, wise and independent. “Noam was as his name suggests - simply pleasantness. A good boy, kind-hearted, a good friend, a devoted son who was his mother’s child. I never heard the word ‘no’ from him. A smart child, so wise. I looked at him with admiration at how he would overcome every obstacle in life with a smile. I would be anxious from the side and he would tell me, ‘Mom, let me, I've got this.’ And he achieved everything."

“He was my best teacher in this life," she said. “Many times I wanted to intervene, and wanted to do, and wanted to say, and he would tell me, ‘Mom no, it’s mine.’ And I listened to him. He taught me so many life lessons, but this lesson - of how to live now without him - that I no longer know how to do. I hope someone teaches me how to do it."

Yuval Inbar and Itai TalmiCourtesy of the family

Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Yuval Inbar, aged 50, from Hagor, and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Itai Talmi, aged 70 from Kibbutz Hasolelim, have been identified as the victims of the light aircraft crash in the Jezreel Valley.

Inbar, a former fighter pilot and squadron commander, is survived by his wife and three children. He is currently an active reservist.

The Southern Sharon Regional Council stated: "Yuval, married to Lou, and father of Liah, Shalev, and Nevo, worked for years with dedication, responsibility, and a sense of mission for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens."

Council Head Oshrat Gani Gonen eulogized: "My heart is with the Inbar family and with the Hagor community at this difficult time. Yuval was a man of values, a true citizen, a beloved and dedicated family man who, for many years, dedicated himself to significant and extraordinary work for the security of the State of Israel. This is a huge loss to his family, friends, and the entire community."

Itai Talmi is survived by his wife, three children, and seven grandchildren. He served for decades as an IAF fighter pilot, served in several senior positions in the force, and later worked as a pilot for El-Al.

The crash occurred on Sunday morning. The light plane went down in an open area near Tel Adashim in the Afula area. The two victims were evacuated from the scene in critical condition to the Emek Hospital in Afula, where they were pronounced dead.

MDA paramedic Maor Atedagi said, "This is a serious incident. We arrived at the scene with ambulances, intensive care vehicles, and immediate response motorcycles. They led us through the field to the plane that crashed. The plane had severe damage to the fuselage and two men were lying nearby."

Atedagi added, "They were unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing. We immediately began performing advanced CPR and evacuated them in MDA intensive care units to the hospital in critical condition."

Mendelevich: Struggle for Europe's JewsAI generated

Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich is a prominent former Prisoner of Zion who spent 11 years in Soviet Gulags for his involvement in "Operation Wedding" (a 1970 Zionist attempt to hijack a plane and escape to Israel). Today, he is a sought-after speaker, educator, and vocal advocate for global Jewish identity and emergency Aliyah

Tzvi Fishman is a longtime contributor to INN. He has published over twenty books and novels on a wide range of Jewish themes. Two of his recent publications, "Like Father, Like Son," and the "Torat Eretz Yisrael Anthology" are available at Amazon Books and bookstores in Israel.

Question:
Your background as a former Prisoner of Zion in the Soviet Union and as a leading activist in the struggle for Soviet Jewry is widely known. Today, throughout the Diaspora, Jews are facing a tremendous rise in antisemitism. While I am sure the current wave of hatred is different from the oppression you experienced in Russia, can you point to several similarities?

Answer:
I prefer to point out a sharp difference. In Russia, it was clear that our enemy was the Soviet regime. Today, in Europe for example, the Jews stand opposite two enemies. One is Islamic extremism and its non-Arab supporters. The second is the official governments, which throughout history have oppressed Jews and now tremble in fear before their Arab immigrant populations. One cannot rely on them to protect the Jews. It is not unreasonable that they will choose to turn their backs on them.

And then where will we be? Can the Jews of Europe be certain that Belgium, France, England, Germany, and others will allow El Al to operate emergency rescue flights for hundreds of thousands of Jews who have nowhere to flee except Israel?

Question:
You and your friends in the Jewish underground demanded that the Soviet authorities allow Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel. Why did you not focus on a more practical demand, such as insisting that Jews be allowed to live as free citizens in the Soviet Union? For example, in today’s Europe, the weak voice of Jewish leadership - if any voice is heard at all - appeals to the authorities to protect the right of Jews to live as free and secure Jews in Europe.

Answer:
In the new era, it is impossible to live as a Jew in Exile. As Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun of Yeshivat Har Etzion wrote: “The Holocaust was a sign from Heaven that the Exile had come to an end." Things will surely only get worse.

Question:
For many years we were neighbors in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, where both of us had sons who studied in a school where Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, today the Chief Rabbi of Britain, served as a teacher. I remember that on several occasions he met with you to discuss matters of education and the general condition of the Jewish People throughout the world. In light of the explosive situation in England and Europe today, what advice would you give him in his role as Chief Rabbi?

Answer:
The rabbis of the Exile are dependent on their communities. They cannot say things that the community is not prepared to hear. In my humble opinion, in this time of turmoil and confusion, Rabbi Mirvis is called upon to give a brave and bold sign to his community and return to the Land of Israel, pointing the way to salvation through his personal example.

Question:
Recently an “Aliyah Fair" was held in London, organized by the aliyah agencies of the Government of Israel. While enthusiastic spokesmen reported a dramatic rise in attendance compared to previous years, the number still represents a very tiny percentage of England’s Jewish population. In your opinion, what are some of the major reasons that Diaspora Jews still dwelling in foreign countries do not choose to return home?

Answer:
The religious are paralyzed by material considerations. The Torah of Exile is not powerful enough to inspire them to ascend to the Land of Israel. As for the secular, those who remain in Exile today are Jews who have assimilated. Still, more and more Jews are awakening to the eternal truth that the place of every Jew is in the Land of Israel, but people cling to their livelihoods and businesses and the inertia of life. It is our duty to cry out to them: “You are in danger of extinction - flee." Whoever remains is bringing destruction upon himself and his children.

Question:
Do you think that the Government of Israel has adopted the proper strategies needed to encourage a greater rate of aliyah?

Answer:
I do not know what the State of Israel is doing to bring Jews to the Land. Nobody asks me. I think the mayor of New York understands this more than we do. Whoever does not comprehend the writing on the wall and does not listen to the age-old call of the Prophets of Israel bears responsibility himself.

One cannot blame the State of Israel if people do not want, or are unable, to understand the tragedy of their own situation - just as many Jews dug pits into which they later fell from German bullets. If our brothers and sisters come to Israel and their situation is difficult, I take upon myself, together with my friends, responsibility for struggling to improve their condition.

Certainly there will be difficulties. I had challenges too. But that is no reason for Jews to remain in exile and wait for the hangman’s rope to be pulled tight around their necks.

תיעוד מחיסול המחבל בעזהצילום: דובר צה"ל

The IDF has confirmed that over the weekend (Friday), it eliminated the terrorist Louay Hisham Mahmoud Basal, who posed an immediate threat to IDF troops and was eliminated in a precise strike.

Basal served as a sniper in the Hamas Zeitoun Battalion of the Gaza City Brigade.

Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance.

Intelligence analysis indicates that the terrorist Louay Hisham Mahmoud Basal infiltrated the Zikim base during the brutal October 7th massacre and has recently been operating to execute attacks against IDF troops.

Protest against haredi draft, illustrationYonatan Sindel/Flash90

MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) submitted a bill to guarantee religious conditions for detainees and prisoners in the military system, following cases that, he says, involved violations of the religious rights of haredi detainees.

The bill stipulates that every detainee or prisoner is entitled to appropriate conditions to maintain his religious way of life, and that he will not be prevented from observing the commandments of his religion or faith, and it obliges the Defense Minister to enact regulations that will ensure religious conditions comparable to those provided by the Israel Prison Service.

The law details basic conditions: provision of kosher food; allocation of adequate time and access to a designated prayer place; the right to possess and use personal religious articles; avoiding requiring the detainee to perform actions contrary to his religion; and providing the option to speak with a clergy member within 24 hours of the request.

The law will require the IDF to establish a dedicated division at the detention base for detainees and prisoners who declare they maintain a religious or faith-based lifestyle.

The proposal also includes an enforcement and oversight mechanism under the authority of the military court. If one of the detainee's religious rights was violated, the court is empowered to order appropriate remedies, including the possibility of reducing the period of detention or imprisonment.

The explanatory remarks to the bill state, "The purpose of this bill is to enshrine in primary legislation the fundamental rights that ensure the preservation of a religious way of life for detainees and prisoners in a military prison or a military detention camp. Today, there is a legislative gap that leaves the regulation of freedom of religion in the military detention facilities to command discretion and internal orders."

It also says, "While religious conditions are regulated in the civilian prison system (IPS), the situation in the military detention facilities is not the same. The need to amend this law has intensified in light of the accumulation of testimonies and serious complaints about infringements on the basic religious rights of haredi detainees in the army's detention facilities."

MK Porush said, "It would have been better if this bill had not been required. It is shocking that in the Land of Israel we are required to deal with the detention conditions of prisoners whose only transgression is that their souls yearn for the Torah. But alongside our struggle against the conscription law, I came to understand from my visits to detainees in the military prison the urgent need to guarantee the religious rights of the prisoners."

Ben-Gvir and HerzogFlash 90/GPO

President Isaac Herzog hosted the awards ceremony for the Jerusalem Unity Prize 2026 at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Unity Prize was established as a social initiative by the bereaved families of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Sha’er, and Naftali Fraenkel, together with former Mayor of Jerusalem and MK Nir Barkat, following the abduction of Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali in the summer of 2014, in honor of the extraordinary unity that enveloped Israeli society and world Jewry at that time.

President Herzog stated: “Twelve years have passed since the entire people of Israel mobilized to search for Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali. And in all the years since, this prize has been awarded to preserve that very energy of unity."

“I wish I could speak today only about unity. But to my great sorrow, we are living through days in which violence is not the only thing rearing its head. Alongside it, at the margins of our magnificent Israeli society, a terrible process is creeping in - a terrible process of brutalization. It is a slow and disturbing process, one that threatens to enter the mainstream of Israeli society, and we will not allow it."

“There are segments amongst us that are barely shocked by violence anymore. Certain other segments treat it lightly. Almost a day does not pass without a murder in Arab society, and there is no longer anyone who is shocked, or even surprised. At the margins of our society, there are parts that have normalized violence, and there are, sadly, those who go further and even celebrate it, who take pride in it."

"We are witnessing a terrible wave of violence carried out by a lawless mob in Judea and Samaria. Acts that defile our home and depart from every basic norm - moral, legal, or Jewish. We are exposed to disgraceful and ugly conduct by extremists against Christians and Muslims who live among us, as if the basic morality of human beings, the commandments of the Torah of Israel regarding the love of the stranger who dwells alongside us, carry no meaning whatsoever. And we are exposed to brutal acts by a handful of people who think that detainees, those under interrogation, or suspects have no human rights at all. ‘Beloved is the human being, created in the image of God,’ our sources teach us."

“I stand here and say aloud: unity begins with humanity. Preserving human dignity, the image of God in every person, is the foundational condition for the entire edifice we are building. Even in the most just of all wars, we must preserve the image of God within us, and within every person who lives among us, or alongside us."

“Our people is a magnificent people, with tremendous strengths. But in order to act with those strengths, we must draw red lines. *It is forbidden to abuse detainees, however contemptible they may be. It is forbidden to take the law into one’s own hands. It is forbidden to harm people of other faiths and their symbols. And we cannot tolerate this brutalization that is emerging from the margins of our society and threatening us all."

Minister Ben-Gvir replied, "A head of state who calls hundreds of thousands of citizens of the State of Israel beasts is unfit to be president. Period. I am proud of the changes I have led in the prisons, of ending the summer camps for terrorists, of prisons becoming real prisons - and the fact that the State of Israel no longer turns the other cheek to supporters of terror." Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf left the ceremony in protest of the president's remarks in his speech.

Several years ago President Herzog was booed by some of the audience when he criticized IDF soldiers' treatment of an elderly Arab in his speech at the 40 year memorial evening for Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook ZT"L.

The Jerusalem Prize this year focused on a sharp call to set moral red lines in Israeli society. The 2026 Jerusalem Unity Prize laureates were:

• National category: Edat HaTzofim - the Religious Division of the Israeli Scouts Movement

• Local category: The Negev-Hebron Hills Covenant Initiative

• International category: The Straus-Amiel Institute

• Educational institutions category: Netur Integration Beit Midrash

• Local authorities category: The Municipality of Eilat

Certificates of Merit were also presented to:

-- Rabbi Yonatan Reiss, founder of the Chedvata network of Haredi hesder yeshivot, for his work promoting the integration of young Haredi men into meaningful national service and Israeli society.

-- Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, for his contribution to advancing shared life and strengthening the bond between the Druze community and Israeli society.

Netanyahu and TrumpREUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared on Sunday that he spoke with US President Donald Trump the previous night about the memorandum of understanding to reopen the Straits of Hormuz and the upcoming negotiations toward a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu stated that he expressed his "deep appreciation to President Trump for his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, including during Operation Roaring Lion and Epic Fury, when American and Israeli forces fought shoulder to shoulder against the Iranian threat."

According to the Prime Minister, "President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear danger. That means dismantling Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites and removing its enriched nuclear material from its territory."

"President Trump also reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on every front, including Lebanon."

Netanyahu stressed that "the partnership between us and our two countries has been proven on the battlefield and has never been stronger."

He concluded: "My policy, like President Trump’s, remains unchanged: Iran will not have nuclear weapons."

Netanyahu's statement comes only a few minutes after President Trump published a post promising that the emerging deal would stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon. Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!" Trump wrote.

According to the President, "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side."

He noted that the blockade of Iran will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is "reached, certified, and signed."

Trump explained that "both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes! Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb."

Israeli navy takes over flotilla shipsIDF Spokesperson

The world has developed a uniquely obsessive moral standard when it comes to Israel.

When Europe uses force, it is called law enforcement.

When America uses force, it is called national security.

When almost any other democracy uses force, it is considered regrettable but understandable.

But when Israel uses force - especially in defense of Jewish lives - it instantly becomes a global moral emergency.

And nowhere has this hypocrisy been more visible than in the recent international reaction to Israel’s handling of anti-Israel flotilla activists and its self-critcism compared to the near silence surrounding the far harsher treatment some of those same activists later allegedly received at the hands of Spanish police.

The contrast is staggering.

Israel intercepted activists attempting to challenge a wartime naval blockade around Gaza during an ongoing war against Hamas after the barbarity of October 7.

The activists were detained.

Processed.

Fed.

Questioned.

Then deported.

Yes, some of the rhetoric surrounding the operation - much of it from figures associated with Itamar Ben-Gvir - was intentionally abrasive and politically theatrical. Israel clearly wanted to send a message that activists attempting to challenge Israeli wartime security measures would not be treated as heroic freedom fighters.

One can argue Israel could have handled the optics more gracefully.

One can argue the tone could have been less confrontational.

One can argue that Israeli officials sometimes speak with unnecessary harshness.

That is fair criticism.

But facts still matter. Israel did not invite a single flotilla terror supporter. Not one.

“Israel may have bruised feelings. Spain bruised bodies."

Because despite the hysterical international condemnation directed at Israel, not one flotilla activist emerged bloodied, clubbed, hospitalized, or battered by Israeli forces.

No videos emerged of Israeli police smashing heads with batons because they didn't.

No footage showed activists sprawled on sidewalks after Israeli riot police charges because there were none.

No images surfaced of Israel violently dispersing crowds with the kind of force routinely seen in European capitals.

Then some of those same activist circles returned to Spain.

And suddenly, reports and videos emerged of Spanish police using riot gear, aggressive crowd-control tactics, physical force, and batons against demonstrators.

And the world barely noticed.

No emergency UN condemnations.

No global media hysteria.

No accusations that Spain was a fascist apartheid regime.

No endless television panels discussing the morality of European state violence.

Why?

Because when Europe swings clubs, it is policing.

When Jews defend themselves, it becomes barbarism.

“The Jewish state is expected to defend itself with one hand tied behind its back while the rest of the world swings freely."

This double standard is not new. It is ancient.

For centuries Jews were condemned when weak and condemned when strong.

When Jews lacked power, they were despised as rootless parasites.

Now that Jews possess sovereignty and military strength, they are despised as oppressors.

The accusation changes. The obsession remains.

And modern Israel lives under a moral microscope no other democracy on earth experiences.

When America fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, civilian casualties numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

When Russia flattened Grozny and Aleppo, much of the world eventually normalized it.

When China interned over a million Uyghur Muslims, global outrage remained cautious and restrained because China is powerful.

When Syria slaughtered hundreds of thousands of its own citizens, the international system largely shrugged in exhaustion.

But when Israel intercepts activists attempting to violate a wartime maritime blockade, the Jewish state becomes the embodiment of evil.

The scale of the obsession is astonishing.

And to understand the hypocrisy fully, we must first understand what these flotillas actually are.

They are not serious humanitarian missions.

If activists genuinely wished to deliver aid to Gaza, there are established mechanisms for transferring humanitarian supplies after inspection.

The flotillas are political theater. Their purpose is confrontation. Their purpose is spectacle. Their purpose is to provoke images of Israelis in uniform stopping self-described “peace activists."

Everyone understands this.

The activists understand it. Israel understands it. The media understands it.

The flotillas are designed not primarily to feed Gazans but to starve Israel of legitimacy.

“The flotillas are not humanitarian missions. They are propaganda operations designed to criminalize Jewish self-defense."

And this is what makes the hypocrisy so unbearable.

Israel is not fighting Canada.

Israel is fighting an openly genocidal organization whose leaders celebrated the murder, rape, burning, mutilation, and kidnapping of Jews on October 7.

Hamas has repeatedly promised future massacres. Its leaders openly vow to repeat October 7 “again and again."

Any nation on earth facing such an enemy would impose maritime restrictions and aggressive security measures.

America would.

Britain would.

France would.

Spain certainly would.

In fact, Spain’s own behavior proves the point.

The same Europe that endlessly lectures Israel about “proportionality" routinely deploys riot police, mass arrests, batons, tear gas, and force whenever unrest erupts within its own borders.

French police crack down brutally during riots.

German police disperse demonstrations aggressively.

British police conduct mass detentions.

Spanish police have repeatedly used baton charges against demonstrators in Catalonia and elsewhere.

Yet these actions rarely provoke international hysteria.Whynot?

Because Europe is judged like a normal collection of states.

Israel is judged like a permanent defendant in a global morality trial.

And that trial often has less to do with policy than with something much older and darker.

“Israel is not condemned because it behaves worse than other democracies. Israel is condemned because it is the Jewish state and refuses to remain powerless."

Many Jews are uncomfortable saying this openly. They fear it sounds paranoid.

But history suggests otherwise. The Jewish state violates a deeply rooted historical expectation: that Jews remain vulnerable.

For nearly 2,000 years Jews survived largely through powerlessness.

-The old Jew begged kings for mercy.

-The old Jew fled pogroms.

-The old Jew marched defenseless into ghettos and camps.

Israel changed all that.

-The Israeli Jew carries weapons.

-The Israeli Jew flies fighter jets.

-The Israeli Jew sends commandos.

-The Israeli Jew fights back.

And the world still does not entirely know how to process Jews with power.

This psychological discomfort becomes especially visible in moments of war.

After October 7, Israelis experienced something profoundly clarifying. They watched much of the world respond to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust not with unequivocal solidarity but with moral equivocation.

Before Israeli victims were even buried, protests erupted condemning Israel rather than Hamas. University students celebrated “resistance." International institutions rushed to scrutinize Israel’s response before Israeli blood had even dried.

Israelis concluded something painfully familiar:

The world sympathizes most comfortably with dead Jews. Armed Jews make the world uneasy.

And this explains the wildly disproportionate reaction to flotilla activists.

Had Israeli police used the same level of visible baton force reportedly used later by Spanish police, the headlines would have screamed:

* “Israeli fascism"

* “State terror"

* “War crimes"

* “Brutality against human rights activists"

There would have been emergency UN sessions.

Human rights organizations would have issued furious condemnations.

Social media would have exploded for weeks.

Instead, Israel detained provocateurs at sea during wartime, fed them, processed them, and deported them.

Spain allegedly used riot tactics against activists in peacetime.

And Spain barely became a story.

That contrast exposes everything.

“Either all democracies possess the right to maintain security, or only Israel is denied that right."

This does not mean Israel is above criticism. No democracy is.

Israel sometimes handles public diplomacy poorly.

Israeli politicians sometimes speak recklessly.

Israelis themselves debate these issues intensely because Israel remains a loud, chaotic democracy.

Indeed, many Israelis themselves criticized aspects of the flotilla operation’s public messaging.

But criticism becomes morally unserious when standards are applied selectively.

And increasingly, Israelis no longer take international outrage seriously because they see how inconsistently it is applied.

When European police crack heads with clubs, the world shrugs.

When Israel detains activists during wartime, the world convulses.

The inconsistency is too obvious to ignore. And beneath that inconsistency lies a deeper truth many refuse to acknowledge:

The world remains uncomfortable with Jewish power. For centuries, Jews were admired only when helpless, scholarly, stateless, wandering, and vulnerable.

The sovereign Jew unsettles people. The armed Jew unsettles people. The Jew who refuses slaughter unsettles people.

Israel represents the end of Jewish helplessness. That is why Israel provokes such emotional intensity globally.

Israel shattered a historical pattern that lasted nearly two millennia.

And after Auschwitz, after Munich, after suicide bombings, after intifadas, and after October 7, Israelis have reached a collective conclusion:

They would rather be condemned alive than pitied dead.

That does not mean Israel should abandon morality. On the contrary. Israel must remain moral precisely because it is Jewish.

But morality cannot mean national suicide.

No country would permit activists to challenge wartime naval restrictions after enduring the equivalent of October 7.

No country.

And the fact that Israel is uniquely condemned for actions other democracies would take automatically reveals the profound double standard at work.

The issue is not whether Spain was right or wrong in its policing.

Every state maintains order. Every democracy sometimes uses force.

The issue is whether the world applies equal moral standards. Clearly, it does not.

Israel is expected to behave with superhuman restraint while confronting enemies openly dedicated to its destruction.

No other nation lives under such expectations.

And no other people have spent centuries learning what happens when Jews are denied the right to defend themselves.

The lesson of Jewish history is brutal but simple:

The world often mourns murdered Jews beautifully. But it condemns Jews who refuse to be murdered in the first place.

Israel was created precisely to end that condition forever.

And no flotilla, no European lecture, no UN resolution, and no international hypocrisy will ever persuade Israelis to return to helplessness again.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the international bestselling author of thirty-eight books, translated into more than twenty languages. He has been hailed as “the most famous rabbi in America" (The Washington Post, Newsweek), “arguably the most famous Orthodox Jew on earth" (The New York Observer), and named one of the fifty most influential Jews in the world (The Jerusalem Post). A fearless public intellectual and one of Israel and Jewry’s most eloquent defenders, Rabbi Boteach has appeared on virtually every major television network and media platform across the globe-from the United States to Europe to Asia to Australia-bringing his unapologetic voice to hundreds of millions.

Rabbi Boteach is the only rabbi ever to receive the London Times Preacher of the Year Award, and remains the competition’s record-holder.

He lives in New Jersey with his Australian wife, Debbie, and together they have, thank God, nine children and twelve grandchildren. Follow him on Instagram and X @RabbiShmuley.

MK Tzvika FogelCourtesy

A special caucus meeting focused on strengthening Jewish construction in the Galilee was held Sunday at the Knesset, led by MK Tzvika Foghel and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member MK Amit Halevi, in cooperation with the Forum for the Judaization of the Galilee headed by Dr. Ruth Kabsa-Abramzon.

During the meeting, participants presented a framework for a comprehensive master plan aimed at encouraging Jewish occupancy in the Galilee amid what organizers described as growing security, demographic and national challenges in the region.

Among those attending were Minister Amichai Chikli, Minister Ze'ev Elkin, World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, Hatzor HaGalilit Regional Council head Michael Kavesa, and representatives from several organizations involved in Jewish occupancy and regional development initiatives.

Foghel said the Galilee had become a critical test of Israeli sovereignty and warned that the region faces mounting threats due to illegal weapons, the departure of young residents and years of neglect. “This is not a struggle between right and left. It is time to move to a Zionist offensive of construction, Jewish occupancy, and governance in order to secure the future of the Galilee and the State of Israel."

Halevi said the situation in the Galilee requires a major policy shift, adding that the caucus intends to place Jewish occupancy back at the center of the national agenda. “We will work to establish policies that preserve national lands and reshape planning, occupancy and enforcement systems. This is essential for the future and security of the state."

Chikli sharply criticized past policies involving the Israel Land Authority, claiming previous leadership had harmed efforts to strengthen Jewish occupancy in the Galilee. He pointed to the recent appointment of Yehuda Eliyahu as head of the authority as a major development. “In recent years we fought on every front to change a reality that poses an existential danger."

Elkin told participants that preserving a Jewish majority in northern border communities is a strategic national interest. He highlighted government goals to bring 100,000 new residents to northern Israel while also strengthening communities in the Golan Heights. He also referenced legislation aimed at encouraging donations for Zionist occupancy initiatives and tax incentives designed to support development in the Galilee.

Ilan Rubin, CEO of the organization Lev BaGalil, argued that Israel must adopt a new national approach to address demographic decline among Jewish residents in the Galilee. “This is a strategic challenge no less important than the military fronts Israel is currently dealing with. There are solutions available to stop the trend and keep young people in the region, but they must be implemented immediately."

Hagoel said the north has suffered from population decline and called for concrete timelines to achieve the stated goal of adding 100,000 Jewish residents to the Galilee. “We are working to bring new immigrants to the Galilee, but there must also be a clear national plan."

Dr. Kabsa-Abramzon said the initiative’s primary goal is to secure a Jewish majority in the Galilee, which she described as central to Zionist objectives and Israel’s future. Her proposed plan includes accelerated planning and construction approval processes, the creation of a dedicated headquarters within the Prime Minister’s Office, expanded development of Jewish communities and new legislation to encourage occupancy in northern Israel.

Kabsa-Abramzon warned that many young Jewish residents are leaving the Galilee because of high housing costs, limited employment opportunities and inadequate infrastructure. "Strengthening the Galilee must become a national mission led by the entire government with a long-term strategy. Young families cannot be expected to remain in the region without meaningful support from the state."

Donald TrumpWhite House Photo by Daniel Torok

US President Donald Trump took to social media on Sunday morning to reassure that the deal being advanced with Iran is a good one.

"One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon. Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!" Trump wrote.

According to the President, "The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side."

He noted that the blockade of Iran will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is "reached, certified, and signed."

Trump explained that "both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes! Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb."

He added: "I would like to thank, thus far, all of the countries of the Middle East for their support and cooperation, which will be further enhanced and strengthened by their joining the Nations of the historic Abraham Accords and, who knows, perhaps the Islamic Republic of Iran would like to join, as well! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Earlier on Sunday, CBS News reported that US President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran negotiations.

According to the report, President Trump said he's insisting on dismantling the Iranian nuclear program and removing the enriched uranium from its territory, and that he won't sign a final agreement without these conditions.

A short time later, Prime Minister Netanyahu posted an AI-generated image showing him alongside US President Donald Trump, with text reading "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon."

The emerging agreement between the US and Iran reportedly centers on a 60-day memorandum of understanding aimed at preventing further escalation while allowing negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program to continue. Under the reported framework, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and Iran would clear mines from the waterway, while the US would ease restrictions on Iranian ports and provide sanctions waivers to permit oil sales.

According to Axios, the proposed arrangement would also include Iranian commitments not to pursue nuclear weapons and discussions over suspending uranium enrichment and removing highly enriched uranium stockpiles. US officials cited in the report said additional sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iranian funds would depend on verifiable progress during the negotiations.

Mediators and President Trump indicated the deal could be announced as early as Sunday, although final details were still under discussion. Axios further reported that the draft understanding includes provisions tied to ending the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while US forces would remain in the region during the initial 60-day period.

תיעוד: זיהוי ארבעה מחבלים וחיסולם בדרום לבנוןדובר צה"ל

The IDF on Sunday published footage filmed by a camera mounted on a missile that struck Hezbollah terrorists. Yesterday (Saturday), IDF soldiers identified four Hezbollah terrorists who had entered a terror infrastructure site.

Following the identification, the soldiers struck the infrastructure and eliminated the terrorists operating from within it.

One video published by the IDF shows the elimination of a Hezbollah terrorist who was operating on a motorcycle near IDF soldiers.

In addition, the soldiers identified and struck multiple pieces of surveillance equipment used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to track and direct attacks against IDF soldiers.

Captain (Res.) Yehuda WeitzmanChaim Goldberg/Flash90

An image published by photojournalist Chaim Goldberg of a haredi IDF soldier on his way to base carrying a Torah scroll is drawing emotional responses online.

The photo shows Captain (Res.) Yehuda Weitzman en route to his military base, dressed in hassidic garb, carrying a rifle, and dragging a suitcase topped with a bulletproof vest.

The detail that drew the attention of social media users more than anything else is the Torah scroll, wrapped in a prayer shawl, being carried on Weitzman's arm.

Cpt. Weitzman has served as a battalion rabbi in the reserves continuously since the war broke out on October 7th, 2023. In the past, he served as a regular soldier and later joined a special Military Rabbinate officers' training course.

When the war broke out in 2023, Weitzman was called up to the reserves and served at the Shura Camp, identifying casualties.

Later in his service, he was assigned as the rabbi of several combat battalions operating in the various arenas, where he currently serves.

Captain (Res.) Yehuda Weitzman Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

The chargé d’affaires of the Spanish embassy in Israel, Francisca Pedros, was summoned today (Sunday) for an urgent clarification meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.

The summons was issued at the direct instruction of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, and follows a global controversy sparked by videos and photographs published in the past 24 hours showing severe acts of violence by the Spanish police against participants in the flotilla to Gaza, who had been previously expelled from Israel.

The Spanish government had previously summoned Israeli diplomats for rebuke following the interception of the flotilla and the videos published by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir showing himself taunting the passengers while they were restrained. Minister Sa'ar denounced those videos as well, calling them 'deliberate damage to Israel, not for the first time.' The condemnation was echoed by numerous other Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The clarification meeting was led by the head of the Foreign Ministry's political division, Ambassador Yossi Amrani, who presented Israel's firm position to the Spanish chargé and during the meeting stressed the hypocrisy of the Spanish government.

He stressed, "The hypocrisy of the Spanish government that sends its provocateurs to Israel and then condemns Israel for its lawful actions to uphold a legal maritime blockade is made evident while Spanish police use severe violence against those flotilla participants."

"The head of the division demanded to understand why until now, nearly 24 hours since the severe acts of violence by the Spanish police, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez or any of his ministers have not deemed it appropriate to condemn the officers' violence, while they are always quick to condemn Israel on any pretext."

The head of the division clarified to the chargé that the Spanish authorities only dealt with provocations carried out by some of the flotilla participants toward Israel, while Israel faced far more serious provocations by many hundreds of participants in each of the six most recent flotillas.

He emphasized that nevertheless the Spanish authorities used severe violence not employed by Israel. In addition, Amrani demanded an explanation as to why the Spanish government has not yet acted regarding flotilla activist and Spanish citizen Saif Abu Keshk, who is alleged to have ties to Hamas and was subjected last week to U.S. sanctions.

Trump, inset: the postWhite House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

US President Donald Trump posted an Artificial Intelligence-generated image on Truth Social on Sunday, as an apparent hint to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

In the image, a US drone is seen striking Iranian-flagged ships, apparently in the Strait.

The image is topped by a caption reading: "Adios," "goodbye" in Spanish.

The puzzling post comes amid reports of an imminent agreement between the US and Iran, which, according to the President, would see the Strait reopen.

Trump wrote on Saturday that an agreement with Iran has "been largely negotiated and that "final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly."

He added that "in addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened."

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the ongoing negotiations and stated that significant progress had been made in the talks.

Rubio said that additional details are expected to be released later and hinted that agreements could be reached soon. He emphasized the current American administration’s position and its commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Rubio also addressed recent security threats from Tehran involving international shipping routes, stating: “Iran is threatening to destroy ships crossing through an international maritime passage - that is unacceptable. This precedent cannot be accepted."

MK Amit HaleviYonatan Sindel/Flash90

MK Amit Halevi (Likud), a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, addressed the threat of explosive drones, the campaign against Hezbollah, and the possibility of a US-Iran agreement in an interview with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News.

According to Halevi, “The main thing is to move toward decisive, not defensive, action." He added and emphasized that “we must stop playing games with Hezbollah with all kinds of strange equations."

Halevi noted that the State of Israel is currently in a better position than it was before October 7, but made clear that another significant stage is needed in the current campaign. “We made a tremendous move, and Netanyahu made a tremendous move from the defensive battle after October 7," he said, “but we need to take another step - the next step - toward offensive action."

Addressing the drone threat, he argued that defensive measures alone are not enough. “There is no such thing as a drone launching from a village and leaving it at that. All of Hezbollah’s infrastructure must be dismantled. The drone is not the enemy, and the missile is not the enemy."

He added that if the US ultimately signs an agreement with Iran, Israel will need to adjust its policy in Lebanon accordingly.

According to Halevi, “Israel must move toward control, take hold of significant territory up to the Litani River, and destroy all of Hezbollah’s centers of control. The concept that still exists in our security systems is a concept of defense-plus, and nothing beyond that."

He argued that Israel cannot continue living alongside what he described as “neo-Nazi neighbors," and called for separating the Lebanese and Gaza fronts.

“If there is indeed a terrible agreement of this kind with Iran, we need to move from the good stage we are in today to a stage of decisive action," he said.

Later in the interview, Halevi also addressed the election campaign and the “The Majority Decides" campaign he is leading. According to him, “These elections are truly fateful," both because of the security threats and because of what he described as “attempts by anti-democratic elements to overturn the public’s choice."

Halevi called on right-wing activists to mobilize voters to go to the polls and said that “the largest party in Israel is the party of those who do not vote," adding that, “Every vote matters, and every small action on election day can have enormous significance afterward."

Nadia MatarYosef Mizrahi / Arutz Sheva

The personal handgun of Nadia Matar, one of the leaders of the Sovereignty Movement, has been returned to her following a legal battle led by the Honenu.

The licensed firearm had been confiscated by the Israel Police after Matar participated in protests against the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. Following the conclusion of legal proceedings in her case, the weapon was returned.

The confiscation stemmed from protests held in January 2025, when Matar participated in demonstrations organized by the Tzav 9 against the passage of aid trucks.

Two weeks after the protest, she was summoned for questioning by the police’s Lahav 433 unit, where investigators informed her that her personal handgun was being confiscated.

Following the decision, Matar turned to Honenu, and attorney Adi Keidar launched a legal campaign challenging the confiscation.

Matar commented on the decision, saying: “I have held a firearms license for decades. During all the demonstrations I organized against the Oslo Accords, I was arrested many times and my handgun was never confiscated. There is no connection between protest activities and the police’s puzzling decision. I thank Honenu and attorney Adi Keidar, who accompanied my struggle through to its successful conclusion."

Keidar also criticized the police’s conduct in the case, stating: “The police’s decision to confiscate Nadia’s weapon after she participated in a lawful and legitimate protest was highly questionable, and we welcome the fact that her firearm has been returned to her."

Recipe booksiStock

The National Library of Israel has obtained a rare original copy of what is believed to be the world’s earliest kosher cookbook, an English-language volume published in 1846 that provides a unique look at Jewish cooking and household life in Victorian England.

Titled "The Jewish Manual of Modern Cookery, With a Collection of Valuable Recipes & Hints Relating to the Toilette", the book was published anonymously under the name “A Lady" and is widely attributed to Lady Judith Montefiore, wife of noted British Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore.

Acquired ahead of the Shavuot holiday, the volume includes some of the earliest known cheesecake recipes in Jewish culinary literature, along with a variety of dairy dishes that align with the holiday’s traditional foods.

The cookbook was first identified in the Jewish Division of the New York Public Library by researchers Ruth L. Gales and Lila T. Gold and later republished in facsimile form in 1983. Subsequent research, including work by the late Chaim Raphael, connected the anonymous author to Lady Judith Montefiore, one of the few Jewish women in Victorian England to hold the title “Lady."

Scholars have pointed to similarities between the recipes in the book and dishes known to have been served in the Montefiore household, lending weight to the attribution, though definitive proof has never been established.

The collection features recipes ranging from cheesecakes and dairy dishes to “Palestine soup," made with veal, chicken, Jerusalem artichokes and spices. It also contains household guidance and beauty advice, including milk-based “cosmetic baths" that were popular among Europe’s upper classes during the period.

In the introduction, the author states that the book was intended “to guide the young Jewish housekeeper in the luxury and economy of ‘The Table,’ on which so much of the pleasure of social interactions depends."

Dr. Chaim Neria, curator of the Haim and Hanna Salomon Judaica Collection at the National Library of Israel, said the acquisition was particularly meaningful because the library previously had access only to a digital copy.

“Its acquisition fits the library’s mission to collect, preserve and make accessible collections of knowledge, heritage and culture of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Land of Israel," Neria said.

Judith Montefiore died in Ramsgate in 1862 at the age of 78 and was buried in a mausoleum built by Sir Moses Montefiore near the synagogue he founded there.

Military vehicle (archive)Gili Yaari/FLASH90

An officer in the Egoz Unit was questioned last week on suspicion of committing a serious security offense after military equipment - including a classified communications device - was stolen from his vehicle.

According to a report Sunday by Kan Reshet Bet, the officer had previously been removed from operational activity in the Gaza Strip due to a non-combat-related injury and was at home receiving medical treatment.

The stolen items reportedly included a tactical vest, ammunition magazines, and a small classified radio device.

After discovering the theft, the officer filed a complaint with the police. Following the complaint, the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened a criminal investigation against him on suspicion of harming state security.

Under Israeli law, the offense carries a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison.

According to the report, the officer was surprised that the incident had escalated into a criminal investigation and by the severity of the security-related suspicions attributed to him by investigators. At one stage of the investigation, the possibility of filing a serious indictment against him was reportedly considered.

However, the report noted that following discussions between officials involved in the case and the investigating unit, it now appears likely that the matter will ultimately be handled through military disciplinary proceedings rather than a criminal trial.

The Israel Defense Forces said in response: “Following the incident, an investigation was opened by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, and upon its completion, the findings will be transferred to the Military Advocate General for review. Naturally, we cannot provide details regarding an ongoing investigation. We emphasize that the risk to state security created by the loss of the sensitive communications device has been taken into account and is reflected in the management of the investigation."

Staff sergeant Noam Hamburger z"lIDF Spokesperson

Liat, the mother of Staff sergeant Noam Hamburger, of blessed memory, who was killed yesterday in an explosive drone blast on the Lebanon border, was interviewed this morning (Sunday) on Kan Reshet Bet and shared the difficult emotions and deep pain gripping the family following the sudden loss.

“We have woken up to a nightmare. Our hearts are burning," she said. “No one believes something like this can happen. He enlisted into a war. He spent almost two and a half years in Gaza. He fought and was proud. Recently they moved north, and like every mother in Israel, every time he went in, our hearts pounded with fear."

She added that this time, the family had actually felt more at ease because he was on base, and such a tragic scenario never crossed their minds.

“We were calmer because he was on base, and we never imagined something this terrible. It has truly broken our hearts, and the sadness is beyond words. And then, in an instant, after 23 years of raising a child, suddenly he is gone."

Speaking about her final contact with her son, she said: “We spoke with him the day before and arranged that we would come to see him over the holiday at the Biranit outpost, and we said we’d bring the guys Shavuot foods that Noam loved so much. I called him on video - like I always did, because we were missing him so much. He was a child with so much presence and charisma. He didn’t answer, and that was suspicious. I started calling and he didn’t answer. I started texting and he didn’t answer. Then the news came."

According to Liat, Noam loved his military role repairing tanks. “He loved it very much. On the one hand, he wasn’t in a combat role, but on the other hand, he truly loved everything he did. He loved knowing that because of his electronics skills and his gifted hands, he was helping and supporting the fighting by fixing tanks."

She described the nature of his service: “The work was very hard. To think that they were constantly calling him to go into Lebanon, come out of Lebanon, be inside Gaza, come out of Gaza, repairing under missile fire. He would tell me, while under fire, that he was getting into a tank and helping our guys move forward. Every time I heard those stories, my heart would shrink with fear, while his eyes would light up with happiness and joy that he was contributing. That was his pride."

Concluding, she said of Noam: “Noam truly lived up to his name - he was simply Noam [meaning 'pleasant, good natured']. A good boy, kind-hearted, a good friend, a devoted son who was his mother’s child. I never heard the word ‘no’ from him. A smart boy, so wise. I looked at him with admiration - he knew how to overcome every obstacle in life with a smile. I would panic on the side, and he would tell me, ‘Mom, let me, this is mine.’ And he achieved everything."

She added: “He was the best teacher I ever had in this life. Many times I wanted to intervene, I wanted to act, I wanted to say something, and he would tell me, ‘Mom, no, I'm doing it.’ And I listened to him. He taught me so many lessons in life, but this lesson - how to live without him now - that one I no longer know how to do. Someone needs to teach me how to do that."

Netanyahu and TrumpAmos Ben-Gershom (GPO)

A senior Israeli official said that the United States is keeping Israel updated on negotiations over a memorandum of understanding aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as well as talks toward a final agreement on the issues still under dispute.

According to the official, during a conversation last night with Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that Israel will preserve its freedom of action against threats on all fronts, including in Lebanon. President Trump reportedly reiterated his support for that principle.

The official added that Trump made clear he would stand firm in negotiations on his longstanding demand for the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian territory.

According to the statement, Trump emphasized that he “will not sign a final agreement" unless those conditions are met.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also reiterated his appreciation for President Trump’s “longstanding and exceptional commitment" to Israel’s security, the official said.

US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the final details of an impending agreement with Iran would be announced "shortly."

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, "I am in the Oval Office at the White House where we just had a very good call with President Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of The United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, and Minister Ali al-Thawadi, of Qatar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, of Pakistan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of Türkiye, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, of Egypt, King Abdullah II, of Jordan, and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, of Bahrain, concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all things related to a Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE."

"An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed. Separately, I had a call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, which, likewise, went very well.

"Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Reuters reported that the plan would include three stages: the official end of the war, resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, and opening a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, with the option to extend the window.

Later, the New York Times reported that the core framework of a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran hinges on a major concession regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities.

According to two US officials quoted in the report, the emerging deal requires Iran to completely forfeit its dangerous stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Iran has committed to.

Marco RubioOlivier Fitoussi/POOL

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the ongoing negotiations with Iran today and stated that significant progress has been made in the talks.

Rubio said that additional details are expected to be released later and hinted that agreements could be reached soon. He emphasized the current American administration’s position and its commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“I believe more news will come out later today, and I’ll leave it to the president to address it," Rubio said of the talks with Iran. “Suffice it to say that progress has been made - perhaps not enough yet - but we are getting closer. The ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon…they will never possess a nuclear weapon - certainly not as long as Donald Trump is president."

He added that the administration believes progress toward an agreement is being achieved in close cooperation with partners in the Persian Gulf region.

Rubio also addressed recent security threats from Tehran involving international shipping routes, stating: “Iran is threatening to destroy ships crossing through an international maritime passage - that is unacceptable. This precedent cannot be accepted."

He continued, “President Donald Trump wants to reach a solution. He would prefer the State Department to lead rather than the Defense Department, but a solution will be achieved."

Concluding his remarks, Rubio rejected criticism of the administration’s policy and praised Trump’s approach to Iran.

“We believe progress toward an agreement has been achieved in cooperation with our Gulf partners. I don’t think anyone has been tougher or stronger on the Iranian nuclear issue than President Trump. He is the only one who actually did something," Rubio said.

“It is absurd to underestimate his commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. It is ridiculous to think that such a president would agree to a deal that benefits Iran’s military nuclear ambitions. There is hope that something can be achieved - good news in the coming hours."

Some of the weapons that were caughtPolice Spokesperson

The State Prosecutor’s Office has filed indictments against six southern residents for smuggling weapons, drugs, and cigarettes from Egypt and Jordan into Israel.

The indictments describe a smuggling network that operated, among other methods, using drones. The defendants are: Azzeldin Abu Alqoma (25) and Yahya Alorqan (26) from Bir Hadaj; Fouad Alziadat (30) and Fouad Sawarqa (25) from Mas’udin al-Azazma; Ahmad Abu Bader (22) from Ar’ara; and Hammad Al Abayat (29) from Rahat. They are charged with various offenses, depending on their individual involvement.

The charges include weapons importation, carrying and transporting weapons, arms trafficking and purchase, drug offenses, use of a vehicle to commit a crime, attempted weapons offenses, and violation of a lawful order.

In addition, a separate indictment was filed with the Magistrate’s Court against Mohammed Abu Lakima (22) from Segev Shalom for drug offenses, after he was involved in an attempted smuggling operation from Jordan using a drone, in which he was told it involved drugs only, although weapons were also included.

According to the indictments, the defendants were involved in numerous smuggling operations that included dozens of weapons such as machine guns, rifles, and pistols.

Some of the defendants also traded the weapons after receiving them, selling them for tens of thousands of shekels. In one case, two pistols were sold for 40,000 shekels, and in another, a MAG machine gun was sold for tens of thousands of shekels.

In one of the charges, it is alleged that one defendant traveled to Jordan several times and returned to Israel with pistols concealed in the wheels of his vehicle, which he then transferred to others in exchange for tens of thousands of shekels.

It also emerged that in one case about 10 kilograms of hashish were smuggled from Egypt to Israel via drone and later sold for tens of thousands of shekels. In another incident uncovered during the investigation, drugs that arrived from Egypt were transferred from Israel to Jordan using a drone.

In detention requests filed until the end of proceedings, the prosecution stated that the defendants repeatedly engaged in weapons and drug smuggling, thereby posing a serious risk to public safety and to residents of the state.

The prosecution also noted that in recent years, and especially since 2024, there has been a significant increase in weapons smuggling across borders, and that the flooding of the country with illegal arms poses a real risk of enabling terrorist attacks.