Gazan refugees in Antwerp, Belgium, in an explosive interview by the Israeli outlet N12 News, made shocking statements.

One suggested that it would be a good idea for Israel, rather than Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, to take control of Gaza and that unarmed civilians should be allowed to leave for their own safety until the takeover is completed.

“Every day a Hamas leader is killed,” another said. “How long can Hamas hold the people hostage? Just how high a price is Hamas willing to pay on our behalf?” Later in the interview, he said that while in Gaza, he saw a Hamas terrorist assembling a rocket launcher in front of his apartment building and told him to move, saying that he was putting 95 human beings at risk. The man moved the rocket launcher, but that night the Gazan was visited by Hamas thugs, who beat him for interfering with the “resistance.”

When another Gazan was asked how he viewed Hamas, he said, “I view Hamas as an entity holding two million human beings hostage alive in Gaza. Any of them who dare to speak their mind or say anything at all will lose their lives immediately.”

These statements reflect growing dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the terror group, whose Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis unleashed a wave of death and destruction on Gaza the likes of which it had never before imagined. As one Gazan said, as soon as he heard the news of Oct. 7, he was devastated, knowing that Israel would launch a massive retaliatory campaign against Hamas that would exact a terrible toll on Gaza.

The people of Gaza who are sick and tired of Hamas are showing their disgust in different ways. Recent protests broke out in what activists termed the “June 26 Revolution,” named for the date they were scheduled to begin. A video showed a man leading children in chants expressing how much they hate Hamas and blaming Hamas for putting them in tents. And another video showed Gazan amputees shouting at journalists for not doing their jobs and reporting what’s really going on.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) says support for Israel is his “red line,” warning that he would leave the Democratic Party if it officially embraces an anti-Israel platform.

“That’s my red line: If the Democratic Party becomes officially anti-Israel, that’s when it would force me out.”

Fetterman also reaffirmed his unwavering support for Israel, stating:

“I’m always going to stand proudly with Israel. I think it’s fantastic that they’re killing Hamas leadership and Hezbollah leadership.”

His remarks come just one day after a House vote exposed the growing divide within the Democratic Party over Israel. A failed amendment to eliminate $3.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel received the support of 104 House Democrats, a majority of Democrats who voted on the amendment, marking one of the strongest congressional rebukes of U.S. aid to Israel in recent years.

The divide is also playing out on the campaign trail. In Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Haley Stevens has come under fire from opponent Abdul El-Sayed over her pro-Israel voting record, with U.S. support for Israel becoming a central issue in the race.

While Fetterman has not announced plans to leave the Democratic Party, his comments are among his strongest yet, signaling that continued movement away from support for Israel could ultimately push him to become an independent or seek another political path.

If Fetterman were to eventually leave the Democratic Party, it could have significant implications for the balance of power in the closely divided U.S. Senate, where every seat carries outsized importance

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Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, gave the lie to his own words in an unintentionally hilarious interview on Nigerian TV.

The interviewer asked him if it’s true that Israelis return bodies missing organs. Instead of answering the question, he presented a detailed breakdown of the numbers of civilians killed during the Israel-Gaza conflict.

He said that the numbers of those killed break down as follows:

• 13,000 children
• 10,000 women
• 127 journalists
• 160 medical workers
• 35 people who worked in civil defense
• 112 U.N. employees

Then came the kicker. The interviewer asked him how many members of Hamas were killed. And he said it’s impossible to document that number during a war.

“But I don’t know what is the accurate number of Hamas fighters who were killed by the Israeli side, because it is not easy to be there,” he declared without a shred of irony or self-awareness. “You know that situation is an area of war. No one can count, can know, can make investigation.”

The Hamas number of civilians killed by Israel has been disputed due to several problems:

• It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
• It includes males younger than 18, classified as children, whom Hamas recruits as soldiers or scouts.
• It includes a significant percentage of natural deaths.
• It includes people killed by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups, whether through extrajudicial killings or rocket misfires.

Linda Sarsour, the anti-Zionist firebrand viewed by many Jewish groups as a straight-up antisemite, called for replacing the Declaration of Independence during the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

The video, taken during Ramadan last winter, has recently surfaced and was posted Friday on social media by Jewish groups.

“This is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Sarsour said. “This is, quote unquote, America’s birthday, and the question historically is going to be: What were we doing on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? Do we have the audacity to sit around and say that we want to build a document that is our values and our principles and bring millions of Americans around it?”

The activist said she sees minorities, the marginalized, and people of color meeting the moment and saying, “‘I’m the leader that I’ve been waiting for,’ and seeing people rally around those leaders. And so, don’t give up hope, folks.”

Sarsour concluded her video statement with the words, “We will win.”

The anti-Zionist agitator has a history of being accused of inflammatory antisemitic rhetoric by mainstream Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

For example, Sarsour banned Jewish women from the Women’s March in 2017, contending that Zionism is incompatible with feminism. She has called Zionism “creepy.” And she supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, whose goal is to eliminate the State of Israel.

Sarsour has also said that the strategy Muslims should take against Israel must avoid “humanizing” Israelis (the “oppressors”). She has led anti-Israel protests in which she led chants to block weapons sales to Israel. She has also said she would be proud to die a martyr. As a result of her anti-Israel activity, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs, Amichai Chikli, barred Linda Sarsour from entry into Israel in June.

The IDF have eliminated Anas Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan, a Hamas company commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade who played a central role in the terrorist organization’s hostage operations and propaganda campaign.

Hamdan, the grandson of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Nimr Hamdan, was responsible for the brigade’s propaganda activities and was directly involved in holding Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity. Israeli officials say he also oversaw the filming and documentation of hostages during Hamas’ staged release ceremonies, which Hamas used as psychological warfare and global propaganda.

Hamas-affiliated channels confirmed that Hamdan was the commander who led the hostage release ceremony for Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderón, one of the terrorist organization’s most widely publicized propaganda events.

Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon handed over to Red Cross in Khan Younis

According to Israeli authorities, Hamdan was also involved in the prolonged captivity of Israeli civilian Avera Mengistu, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for more than a decade before his release.

Avera Mengistu

Photos circulated before his death showed Hamdan attending the funeral of another Hamas terrorist. He was eliminated in an IDF strike in Khan Yunis as Israel continues targeting those responsible for the kidnapping, imprisonment, and exploitation of Israeli hostages.

Israel has repeatedly vowed to hunt down every terrorist involved in the October 7 massacre and the hostage enterprise, declaring that “Israel will reach every single one of them.”

Nearly two decades after Israeli father Ido Zoldan was murdered in a carefully planned roadside ambush, military prosecutors have charged a Palestinian terrorist accused of helping execute the attack.

Shadi Juma was indicted in a military court in Judea & Samaria for intentionally causing death while acting with others, the military-law equivalent of murder. Israeli forces arrested him in central Qalqilya shortly after the Palestinian Authority released him from nearly 19 years in custody. The operation followed an extended intelligence effort involving the IDF, Shin Bet and the Israel Police’s elite Gideonim Unit 33.

Zoldan, 29, was a former Golani Brigade officer, a resident of Shavei Shomron and the married father of two young children. He was driving home from a Torah study session when the terrorist cell targeted his vehicle near the Samaria village of Funduq.

According to the indictment, Juma and two accomplices obtained weapons, prepared a getaway vehicle and coordinated how the attack would be conducted. The terrorists agreed to confirm that their intended victim was Jewish before opening fire. After identifying Zoldan’s car, they pulled alongside it and one of the terrorists shot him at close range before the cell fled.

A previous military appeals-court ruling involving one of Juma’s alleged accomplices provides an even more disturbing account. The cell first attempted to shoot another Israeli motorist, but the attack failed because the rifle magazine had been inserted incorrectly. The terrorists then returned to the junction, followed Zoldan’s vehicle and fired approximately nine rounds from roughly three meters away. They later hid the weapon and vehicle and collected the shell casings.

Israeli security officials identified the three terrorists as members of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces. Two members of the cell, Abdullah Barham and Dafer Barham, were captured by Israel, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. They were later released in a 2025 hostage agreement with Hamas, according to Israeli reports. Juma remained imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority and was never transferred to Israel for prosecution.

Israeli forces were waiting when Juma emerged from PA custody. Undercover officers tracked his vehicle from the ground while aerial surveillance followed above, before armed units moved in and arrested him inside Qalqilya. He was transferred to the Shin Bet for interrogation.

The military prosecution said it has maintained contact with the Zoldan family and is ensuring that they receive the rights provided to victims under Israeli law.

The indictment does not undo the release of Juma’s convicted accomplices or return a husband and father to his family. It does, however, send a clear message: Israel’s pursuit of terrorists does not expire with time.

Malaysia’s government has escalated anonymous online allegations into a national-level investigation and an explicit threat to deport Israelis from a prominent technology community, even after its own immigration sweep found that every foreign national inspected possessed valid documentation.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said any Israeli citizens discovered at the Network School in Johor’s Forest City would be expelled immediately. The investigation began after social media accounts alleged that Israelis were living at the startup enclave after entering Malaysia with passports issued by other countries.

Evening aerial view of the KLCC Park and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The urban park in Kuala Lumpur City Center is a popular tourist attraction of Asia. Kuala Lumpur skyline.

“If there are Israeli nationals involved, they will be deported immediately,” Anwar said, citing Malaysia’s refusal to recognize Israel. Authorities have not publicly identified a single Israeli citizen at the site.

Immigration officials inspected 266 foreign nationals from 40 countries and found that all held valid travel documents. Further inquiries are continuing into permit conditions, identities, the school’s licensing and whether participants’ activities match the purposes stated when they entered Malaysia.

Malaysia bars travelers using Israeli passports, but Reuters reported that the country has no specific law preventing an Israeli dual national from entering on a second country’s passport. That distinction has placed the government’s sweeping deportation threat on uncertain legal ground.

GAZA CITY, -: Members of Hamas’s armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, give a press conference in Gaza City 03 November 2006. Before dawn, four members of Hamas’s armed Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Israel and the West, were killed in a pre-dawn air strike in eastern Gaza City. Twenty-five Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began two days ago, at least 13 have been militants. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Network School was founded by American investor and former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan. It describes itself as a physical community for technology entrepreneurs, engineers and digital nomads seeking to turn online communities into startup-focused societies.

The project operates in Forest City, a massive reclaimed-land development across the Johor Strait from Singapore. Once promoted as a futuristic urban center, Forest City struggled to attract residents before becoming part of Malaysia’s effort to draw international investors and technology talent.

Johor officials demanded the federal investigation examine the nationalities and immigration status of participants, alleged use of second passports and whether the school required additional authorization from Malaysia’s education and digital regulators. The probe was launched despite the accusations originating from an anonymous social media account and immigration officers finding no document violations.

President Isaac Herzog used a rare interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya to deliver an unusually direct appeal to Riyadh, declaring that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia remains one of his central hopes for the Middle East.

Speaking from the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Herzog praised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said Israelis want to see a genuine rapprochement between the two nations. He called for direct Israeli-Saudi negotiations supported by the United States and expressed hope that he would eventually meet the kingdom’s leadership officially.

“It is my dream to see peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” Herzog said.

The president framed normalization as something larger than a diplomatic transaction, describing the opportunity as a potential “dialogue between Jerusalem and Mecca.” Jews and Muslims, he argued, should be able to live together peacefully and build a region defined by cooperation rather than perpetual war.

The interview’s venue was significant. Saudi Arabia remains the most consequential Arab country outside the Abraham Accords, and official relations with Riyadh could transform Israel’s regional position, unlock major economic opportunities and strengthen a broader coalition against Iran and its terrorist proxies.

Israel and Saudi Arabia were moving toward a possible U.S.-brokered agreement before Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the war that followed. However, Riyadh continues to insist that normalization will require a clear and credible path toward an independent Palestinian state. A Saudi source reiterated that condition in May, indicating that Herzog’s outreach does not yet represent an imminent diplomatic breakthrough.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on during his meeting with the US Secretary of State in Riyadh on October 23, 2024. (Photo by Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Herzog also addressed Palestinian civilian suffering in Gaza, saying his heart aches for every innocent person killed and stressing that civilian deaths are neither Israel’s objective nor its desire. Gazans, he said, deserve a good life. The comments allowed Herzog to express compassion for civilians while presenting Israel’s broader message to an Arab audience after years of war against Hamas terrorists.

The president’s vision extended beyond Saudi Arabia. Herzog said he dreams of traveling by car to Beirut and visiting Damascus, arguing that peace with Lebanon and Syria should become major regional objectives. His comments come as Israel and Lebanon engage in direct talks and Syria’s leadership signals limited openness to a new relationship, although serious security disputes remain unresolved.

Buildings / Landmarks

Herzog also discussed Iran, saying he was not surprised that Tehran violated its memorandum of understanding with Washington. He accused the Iranian regime of repeatedly breaking agreements and manipulating their terms, while expressing confidence in President Donald Trump and welcoming the firm American response to Iran’s violations.

He notably voiced respect for Vice President JD Vance despite Vance’s recent accusations that figures inside Israel were attempting to undermine American diplomacy with Tehran. Herzog avoided escalating the dispute, instead emphasizing the strategic importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship as the confrontation with Iran continues.

President Donald Trump announced that newly declassified intelligence documents allegedly show the People’s Republic of China obtained approximately 220 million U.S. voter files over a period beginning during the 2020 election cycle, describing it as what he called “the largest compromise of election data in history.”

According to Trump, the stolen information included voters’ names, addresses, phone numbers, political party affiliations, and other personal data that he said could be used to register voters or conduct other malicious activities.

Trump further claimed the intelligence indicates China established a dedicated data exploitation unit to analyze and use the information. He also alleged that elements within the U.S. government deliberately concealed the intelligence from the public, though he did not provide additional evidence for that claim in his remarks.

If confirmed, the alleged breach would represent one of the most significant election-related cybersecurity incidents ever disclosed. The newly declassified documents are expected to face intense scrutiny as lawmakers and intelligence officials review the claims and their potential implications for U.S. election security.

Noa Avishag Schnall, a Jewish anti-Zionist, explained in a maddening video why she renounced her Israeli citizenship and is proud to be a Jewish anti-Zionist.

Schnall is an activist journalist who participated in two flotillas attempting to breach the naval blockade on Gaza and who claimed to have been tortured while detained in an Israeli prison.

Critics say her smug moral superiority is only matched by her ignorance.

For example, in her video, she explains that her grandparents “were born in Yemen, and then my mother was born in occupied Palestine in Tiberias.”

Hen Mazzig, an advocate for Israel, Zionism, and the Jewish people, posted this question alongside her video: “Hey, sorry, just a little confused, why didn’t your mother’s family stay in Yemen? You seem very upset that she was born in ‘Occupied Palestine,’ so why didn’t her parents just stay in Yemen and have her there? Have you asked them?”

The answer Schnall is missing is this:

The millennia-old community of Jews in Yemen once numbered around 50,000, but that number dwindled as persecution drove Jews to migrate beginning in the 19th century. A mass exodus occurred following Israel’s War for Independence, when deadly riots and massacres resulted in a rescue by the Israeli government called Operation Magic Carpet, in which nearly 50,000 Yemeni Jews were airlifted out of Yemen and brought to Israel.

A handful of Jews remained, but in the 2010s they too left for Israel when persecution by the Houthis intensified. Today, it is estimated that only a handful of elderly Jews remain in Yemen.

Schnall’s mother was born in Israel because Israel saved her grandparents’ lives by bringing them out of Yemen.

In her video statement, Schnall referred to Israel as “the European colony known as Israel,” saying that “I have an American passport, and I renounced my passport from the European colony known as Israel. And I’m here speaking about my participation in two flotillas and Direct Action for Anti-Zionism in the future.”

“I am an anti-Zionist Jew, loud and proud, and have been for a while,” she declared.

Critics call this type of behavior among anti-Zionist Jews “tokenization,” in which anti-Zionist antisemites use token Jews to prop up their hateful ideology.

Identified only by her first name, Sarah, the woman who has accused International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan of sexual assault, emphatically declared in an interview with CNN that she is not an Israeli agent.

The allegations surfaced around the time that Khan issued arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, providing a ready-made cover for the ICC to accuse Israel of attempting to discredit Khan. Fortunately for Israel, Khan proved perfectly capable of doing a fine job of discrediting himself.

A subsequent investigation found that Sarah’s allegations were credible. Her increasing anxiety about going on work-related travel with her boss led her colleagues to express concern about her mental well-being, which is when she confided in them about the repeated, escalating sexual assaults. Ultimately, the ordeal inflicted mental strain to the extent that she was put on a suicide watch.

A U.N. watchdog report found that “multiple credible witnesses dismissed the notion that she was a spy,” and one of her colleagues mocked the idea as “a load of bull.”

Sarah told CNN that she had to undergo extensive background checks for security clearance in order to work at her job. “If ever there was even a hint of suspicion that I was a state agent of any kind, I would have been dismissed,” she said.

The ICC will vote this month on whether to permanently remove Karim Khan from his role at the court, following his suspension while the investigation into his conduct was ongoing.

A disturbing new poll from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate shows that nearly one-third of young Americans believe that Jews pose a threat to the United States.

The study opens with these ominous words:

“Two years ago, Blue Square Alliance research revealed that antisemitic attitudes had increased
across the United States, driven by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the war that followed.
By mid-2024, that increase had plateaued. Our hope was that the plateau marked a turning point.”

“It did not.”

The survey found that antisemitic attitudes had reached their worst levels since the group began tracking antisemitism in June 2023.

On Erev Pesach, Nazi graffiti was found in the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/ Corbis via Getty Images)

“The issue our research reveals is not simply one of more hate. It is one of more entrenched
confusion and openness to believing harmful tropes, which in turn creates barriers to allyship,” the group wrote.

The findings of the poll included the following:

• Twenty-nine percent of respondents aged 18 to 44 perceived Jews as a threat to the unity of American society compared with 13 percent of those aged 60 and older.
• Thirteen percent of those aged 18 to 29 believed that Jews “cause problems in the world,” compared with 3 percent of those 60 and older.
• About 20 percent of all those surveyed did not believe slurs against Jews were harmful to them.
• Only 52 percent of the 18-to-29-year-old cohort believed Israel has a right to exist.
• Although the number of people who believe antisemitism is a problem increased from 40 percent to 46 percent, the number of respondents who believe Jews can handle problems on their own increased from 40 percent to 55 percent.

The survey also divided respondents into haters, the unengaged, and allies, saying that there is hope of pushing the unengaged into allyship.

“The broader findings of this report make the case for urgency. Antisemitism has risen to its worst levels
since we began tracking perspectives in 2023,” the survey authors wrote in the conclusion. “Belief in antisemitic tropes has nearly doubled. Young Americans are moving in the wrong direction. And yet the unengaged, the largest segment of the American public, remain responsive to the right messages delivered consistently.”

The leader of Alberta’s New Democratic Party, Naheed Nenshi, apologized for taking a picture with Israeli Ambassador to Canada Iddo Moed, provoking a fierce backlash from Jewish groups.

“I want to speak to you from the heart about a photo going around from last weekend. I’m so sorry for the harm it caused,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

He said he met the ambassador at the Calgary Stampede, an annual 10-day festival featuring rodeos, chuckwagon racing, concerts and agricultural events. After a brief discussion in which he said he does not recall what was said, the two posed for a photo.

“After talking to many people in the community over the last couple of days, I better understand the immense hurt that has been caused to a lot of folks,” he said.

“The Alberta NDP strongly believes in human rights and international law. Our position on this has never changed,” he added, citing Israel’s supposed killing of 20,000 children and military campaign in Lebanon, which he called the “ancestral home of many Albertans.” He failed to give any context for these actions.

“Even here at home, we’re seeing increases in anger, hatred, anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Semitism,” he declared unironically, apparently ignorant of how much his apology helped to increase antisemitism.

HonestReporting Canada slammed Nenshi for his apology.

“This statement from Nenshi, the leader of the NDP in Alberta, is beyond unacceptable,” the group wrote in a statement posted on X. “Not only do you kowtow to anti-Israel activists by apologizing for taking a photo with the Israeli ambassador, you seemingly appear to place virtually all of the blame for the conflict in the Middle East on Israel.”

The statement went on to describe all the context missing from Nenshi’s apology, such as omitting all mention of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It also accused Nenshi of stigmatizing all Israelis by apologizing for taking a photo with the Israeli ambassador and for spreading unsubstantiated claims and misinformation about the Gaza war.

“You need to apologize for writing this apology,” the group concluded.

One X user poked fun at the idea that people were hurt by the photograph.

“I’ll be needing a statement from the Israeli ambassador about why he would be seen with a monstrous character such as Naheed Nenshi,” he quipped. “I am very hurt and need closure.”

Speaking to reporters Thursday ahead of President Donald Trump’s primetime address to the nation, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) took a question about Israel.

“How would you handle the Israel issue in the next Congress if you’re in the majority?” a reporter asked. “I’m just curious what that looks like practically. Will you not whip votes on Israel if you’re in the majority? Will you not bring so many of these bills to the floor? What does that look like to you?”

In his answer, Jeffries attempted to walk the tightrope between the establishment Democrats who support Israel and the anti-Israel progressive left flank of the party. Referring to his “Dear Colleague” letter urging House Democrats to oppose the amendment introduced by Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to end military aid to Israel, he said that the values spelled out in the letter would guide policy.

“I think the letter pretty clearly laid out, as I amplified in my remarks earlier today, how we plan to proceed in terms of fundamental values on these issues,” he said. “The situation relative to the United States’ relationship with Israel, the Palestinian people, and policy in the Middle East has to change because the current status quo is unsustainable.”

“Our approach will be one that is broadly inclusive. [It will be based on] the values that I talked about in the letter,” he added, stressing that “Israel is an ally of the United States of America in the fight against terrorism,” and that the ultimate goal is to secure “a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.”

Massie’s amendment failed to pass the House Wednesday, with Democrats split nearly in half on the measure, while Massie was the only Republican to vote for it.

Shomrim in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York City alerted the New York Police Department to the location of a mail thief who had repeatedly returned to the area to steal mail. The police followed him in a car, but he jumped into the East River in the Domino Park area to escape pursuit.

The NYPD Harbor Unit was alerted and a boat was sent out, whose crew fished the man out of the water and subsequently arrested him.

Mail theft frequently plagues the Williamsburg area, with thieves using stolen master USPS keys to gain access to residential buildings and even, in one incident, the Williamsburg Post Office. To protect your mail, the United States Postal Service recommends handing mail with sensitive material enclosed within directly to a mail clerk at a post office or putting it into a designated mail slot, rather than dropping it into a public USPS collection mailbox.

The postal service also advises reporting missing mail immediately.

An anti-Israel protester dressed as a Holocaust victim standing outside Parliament in London Wednesday was respectfully approached by a police officer, who asked for her details but gave her permission to decline to answer. The woman was also holding up a sign that said, “Genocide in Gaza. Shame on you, Netanyahu.”

“We have had a couple of people who find how you’re dressed to be offensive, OK?” he began. “You’re not being arrested, although it is fairly borderline offensive. I think you know why. OK, now we’re going to ask if you’d like to provide some details to us. You do not have to. We would just like to make an incident report that people find how you’re dressed offensive. OK?”

The deference turned into outright obsequiousness with the next question.

“Would you like to give us your name?” the officer asked. The woman refused, saying that he knows her name. When he said he didn’t, the protester said that she’s known to the police.

“You’re well known, aren’t you?” he asked politely. “Yes. OK. But you don’t want to give us your details right now.” Then he said thank you, though for what is not clear from the video.

The woman is indeed known to police. She was arrested in January after accosting Nick Timothy, who had recently been appointed to the post of shadow justice secretary, when he stepped outside of Parliament on Wednesday, Jan. 28.

Writing about the experience on X, Timothy, who is not Jewish, said, “This morning as I left Parliament an anti-Israel protester shouted at me,” he wrote. “I turned and saw she was wearing the striped outfit the Nazis made Jews in concentration camps wear.”

The woman was arrested by the Metropolitan Police, who said in a statement, “We can confirm this woman was arrested outside Parliament earlier today on suspicion of a racially/religiously aggravated public order offense. She remains in custody.”

Timothy argued that the arrest was fair.

“You can argue about whether this should be illegal or not,” he wrote. “But when others are arrested and charged using public order legislation for causing offense to followers of Islam – like in the case of Hamit Coskun – why is this deemed OK?”

Hamit Coskun, a half-Kurdish and half-Armenian man from Turkey, was arrested last June for burning a Quran and was ultimately convicted of disorderly behavior and fined.

Timothy posted a picture of the woman, who bore on her chest and hat a yellow crescent with a star in the middle in a grotesque mimicry of the yellow star Nazis forced Jews to wear, and wrote, “I understand this is the woman in the outfit. She appears to make a habit of her disgusting behavior.”

A Muslim was stabbed earlier this week at a Utah shopping center for his religion.

Police arrested Peter Michael ​Larsen, 48, after he was treated at a hospital following the incident for wounds sustained from bystanders who had stepped in to restrain him until police arrived. They were holding him down when the police got there.

The victim, identified by friends as Syed Sohail Uddin, was working at a mall kiosk when Larsen approached him. According to Imam Shuaib Din, an Islamic cleric who has been in touch with Uddin’s family, Larsen asked the victim about his religion, then said he wanted to purchase a bottle of water. When the victim turned to get the item, Larsen started stabbing him.

By the time police arrived, he had been stabbed 15 times and was “bleeding profusely,” according to police.

West Valley City Police Department posted a statement on X about the incident.

“This afternoon, just before 3pm, a male suspect approached a male employee working at a kiosk at Valley Fair Mall,” the police department stated. “After a brief interaction, the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing him multiple times. A few bystanders interfered, and were able to separate the suspect from the victim and subdue the suspect until police arrived,” adding that the victim was undergoing surgery and the suspect had been arrested.

Larsen was charged with attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon conduct.

Police deemed the suspect, who told them that he “intends to kill Muslims,” a danger to the public, saying he posed “a substantial danger to the public if released based on his violent actions today, ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events.”

Muslim advocacy groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the attack, as did Jewish advocates such as Hen Mazzig.

President Donald Trump announced that Iran has released American hostage Dena Karari, who had been trapped inside the Islamic Republic since December 2024.

Karari, a 53-year-old California resident, had traveled to Shiraz to visit relatives when the Iranian regime accused her of espionage over her nonprofit work. Karari was repeatedly interrogated, stripped of her ability to leave Iran and effectively held hostage by the regime under what her attorney described as fabricated charges.

“She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” Trump announced, thanking Tehran for what he called a “gesture of goodwill.”

Human rights attorney Jared Genser confirmed that Karari was safe and traveling back to the United States, thanking the Trump administration for its efforts to secure her freedom.

Dena Karari (RIGHT) at human Rights charity dinner in 2019

However, several other American hostages remain in Iranian custody.

Detainee advocates reported in March that Iran was holding at least six U.S. citizens or permanent residents, either in prison or under restrictions preventing them from leaving. The identities of three were being withheld from the public. 

Among the publicly identified hostages are:

Kamran Hekmati, a Jewish Iranian-American suffering from bladder cancer. Hekmati was imprisoned after being accused of illegally visiting Israel, despite documentation reportedly showing his last trip occurred outside the period prohibited under Iranian law. The United States officially designated him wrongfully detained, meaning Washington considers him a political hostage held on false charges to pressure the U.S. government.

Kamran Hekmati

Reza Valizadeh, an Iranian-American journalist arrested after returning to Iran in 2024 to visit his elderly parents. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for alleged “collaboration with a hostile government” and has been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Shahab Dalili, a U.S. permanent resident arrested in 2016 after traveling to Iran for his father’s funeral. He was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly cooperating with a foreign government and has remained imprisoned for nearly a decade. (

Iran has a long history of arresting Americans and dual nationals on disputed espionage or national-security charges before using them as bargaining chips in negotiations with Western governments.

Karari’s freedom marks a major victory, but the Trump administration continues facing pressure to secure the release of every American still being held hostage by the Iranian regime.

Two Israeli defense-technology companies have combined airspace command with real-time electronic-warfare intelligence, giving drone operators the ability to identify GPS jamming and radio-frequency interference before launching a mission.

Airwayz has embedded Tenna Systems’ spectrum-intelligence technology directly into OVERWATCH, its command-and-control platform for managing crowded low-altitude airspace. The integration is already operating in the field after its initial deployment through Israel’s National Drone Initiative, with additional intelligence layers under development.

OVERWATCH functions as a digital control tower for drones and other autonomous aircraft. It tracks aerial activity, coordinates flight paths, prevents collisions and gives commanders a single operational picture across military, law-enforcement and critical-infrastructure environments.

The new Tenna layer adds something previously missing: visibility into the invisible electromagnetic environment beneath those aircraft.

Operators can select an area and examine its real-time probability of jamming before sending a drone into the air. During an operation, the system can flag interference zones, help locate hostile emitters and allow commanders to reroute or modify missions before navigation or communications are lost.

“The ability to see the spectrum before you fly changes everything,” Tenna CEO Avner Bendheim said.

The threat is becoming central to modern warfare. Drones, precision weapons, aircraft and intelligence systems increasingly depend on GPS and wireless communications. An adversary does not necessarily need to shoot down a drone if it can jam its navigation, sever its connection or transmit false positioning data that sends it off course.

The integration does not make aircraft immune to electronic attack. Instead, it gives operators the intelligence needed to avoid interference, understand where it originates and maintain control in environments where GPS can no longer be assumed to work.

Tenna’s software fuses data collected by aircraft, drones, satellites, ships and terrestrial systems into a continuously updated map of the radio-frequency spectrum. The company says it can pinpoint interference sources within approximately 50 to 200 meters while using sensors already installed on existing platforms, reducing the need for specialized additional hardware.

Founded by Israeli brothers Avner and Gabriel Bendheim, Tenna emerged from their experience in signals intelligence and electronic warfare. The Tel Aviv- and New York-based company raised $13.5 million earlier this year to expand its work with American defense agencies, aerospace operators and allied militaries.

Airwayz brings the command layer. Its OVERWATCH platform is used by organizations including the IDF, the Port of Rotterdam and Israel’s National Drone Initiative, allowing different sensors, aircraft and counter-drone systems to operate through one interface.

The platform recently received a SAPIENT interoperability certificate from the NATO Communications and Information Agency after connecting systems from 13 countries during a major counter-drone exercise. OVERWATCH consolidated radar, acoustic sensors, passive radio-frequency systems, jammers and interceptors into one recognized air picture.

Satellite internet communication to Earth from space. (City Lights 2012 – Flat map – https://images.nasa.gov/details-GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001589)

Israel’s dense, tightly controlled airspace has made the country a demanding testing ground for such technology. The National Drone Initiative was established to develop regulations and infrastructure for safely operating large numbers of autonomous aircraft over cities, transportation networks and critical facilities. Its demonstrations have included hundreds of daily sorties in managed airspace.

That civil aviation project is now producing technology with clear battlefield applications.

As drones increasingly fill the skies and electronic interference becomes routine, controlling altitude and flight paths is no longer enough. Commanders must also understand the spectrum carrying every navigation signal and operational instruction.

By placing both pictures on the same screen, Airwayz and Tenna are attempting to give Israel and its allies a decisive advantage: seeing the electronic threat before an autonomous aircraft flies directly into it.

A British court has ordered the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians to pay £82,130 in legal costs to a British-Israeli IDF reservist after its attempted private prosecution collapsed under sweeping judicial criticism.

Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring ordered the ICJP to cover the reservist’s full criminal defense costs within three months. The award was assessed on the more favorable “indemnity” basis after the judge found what he described as culpable and profound breaches of the organization’s duty to present the court with all relevant information. He ruled that the amount was reasonable given the complex legal response the reservist had been forced to mount.

The ICJP had attempted to prosecute the unnamed reservist under Britain’s Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870, arguing that he unlawfully joined a foreign military when he returned to Israel the day after the October 7 massacre and reported to his IDF unit.

The court rejected the case at its foundation. Goldspring ruled that Israel cannot be treated as a “foreign state” for an Israeli citizen serving in his own country’s armed forces. He also found that the man had not newly enlisted after October 7; he was already an IDF reservist and had simply returned to fulfill an existing military obligation. The Victorian-era law was designed to prevent British subjects from acting as mercenaries and compromising British neutrality, not to criminalize dual nationals serving in the military of their second country.

The judgment went considerably further than rejecting the ICJP’s legal interpretation. Goldspring described the application as legally flawed, evidentially deficient and procedurally defective. He concluded that its dominant motive was the advancement of a political and ideological agenda rather than the pursuit of justice for a specific criminal offense.

Protesters carry placards and Palestinian flags as they gather in Parliament Square with the Houses of Parliament in the background in London on September 17, 2025 during a national march organised by the Stop Trump Coalition against the State Visit of US President Donald Trump. US President Donald Trump arrived in Britain for an unprecedented second State Visit, with the UK government rolling out a royal red carpet welcome to win over the mercurial leader. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

“The courts must not be used as a vehicle for political debate,” the judge wrote, finding that the proceedings amounted to an abuse of process.

The court identified serious disclosure failures, including the ICJP’s failure to present repeated British government statements indicating that dual nationals may serve in the armed forces of their other country. The ruling also criticized undisclosed links between the organization, its former solicitors at Bindmans LLP and an expert witness whom the judge characterized as a campaigner and activist rather than an independent expert.

Goldspring declined to impose separate “wasted costs” penalties on Bindmans or the barristers involved, ruling that the demanding legal threshold for personally sanctioning the lawyers had not been met. Bindmans nevertheless disclosed that it had reported the matter to Britain’s Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The flag of Israel and the Union flag above the UK Government Queen Elizabeth House building in Edinburgh. Picture date: Friday October 13, 2023. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

The judge also formally expects the ICJP to attach complete copies of both adverse rulings to any future court applications it files in England and Wales. Although he concluded that he lacked the power to make that requirement a binding nationwide injunction, he warned that ignoring the expectation could invite severe judicial scrutiny.

The ICJP said it accepts the ruling and the costs order but maintained that the court did not determine whether crimes had been committed in Gaza. The organization said it would review its procedures while continuing to pursue allegations against Israelis through other legal channels. It previously claimed to have gathered material concerning more than 10 British nationals who served in the IDF.

The result represents a major defeat for a broader campaign seeking to expose ordinary IDF soldiers to prosecution abroad. It does not prevent legitimate criminal complaints supported by admissible evidence, but it sends a costly warning: British courts will not tolerate politically driven private prosecutions built on defective law, incomplete disclosure or activist testimony presented as independent expertise.

Israeli doctors have begun testing a potentially transformative treatment for enlarged prostate that targets obstructive tissue without inserting instruments into the body, making an incision or hospitalizing the patient.

The first-in-human clinical trial is underway at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, where urologists are testing the LOTUS-1 system developed by Israeli medical technology company NINA Medical. The device combines ultrasound imaging with high-intensity focused ultrasound, known as HIFU, to destroy selected prostate tissue through the skin.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is a noncancerous enlargement of the prostate that becomes increasingly common as men age. Because the prostate surrounds part of the urethra, its growth can obstruct urine flow, causing urgency, a weak stream, repeated nighttime bathroom visits and difficulty fully emptying the bladder.

An estimated 94 million men aged 40 and older were living with the condition globally in 2019. U.S. health data indicate that BPH affects roughly 29% to 33% of men aged 65 and older, making it the most common prostate problem among men over 50. In advanced cases, prolonged obstruction can contribute to urinary retention, infections, bladder stones and damage to the bladder or kidneys.

Medication is usually the first line of treatment, either relaxing the muscles surrounding the prostate or gradually shrinking the gland. However, the drugs do not work adequately for every patient and can produce side effects, including sexual dysfunction.

Patients whose symptoms continue may undergo procedures in which surgical instruments are passed through the urethra to cut, vaporize or remove obstructive tissue. Those procedures can require anesthesia, hospitalization and catheterization, while carrying risks that include bleeding, infection, scarring and changes in sexual function.

NINA Medical’s system attempts to achieve the same fundamental result without entering the urinary tract. The patient sits in a specialized treatment chair while the device is positioned externally against the perineum, the area between the genitals and anus.

Conventional ultrasound first maps the prostate and surrounding structures. Focused sound waves are then directed toward selected points inside the gland, producing controlled heat that destroys targeted tissue. As that tissue contracts, researchers hope pressure on the urethra will decline and urine flow will improve.

A central innovation is the system’s ability to display the path and focal point of the therapeutic beam at low intensity before the full ablation energy is delivered. Developers say this allows doctors to confirm precisely where the energy will land, reducing the risk of damaging nearby healthy tissue.

Each activation can reportedly treat an area ranging from approximately the size of a pea to an olive in about one minute. Including preparation, the entire procedure lasts roughly 20 to 30 minutes. Patients can then get dressed and return home without hospitalization, and the procedure could potentially be repeated when necessary.

Israel Tel Aviv business downtown skyline cityscape aerial view night

Three patients have undergone treatment at Rambam and have been monitored for approximately three months. Researchers are assessing both patient-reported improvement and objective measurements of urinary function and quality of life.

The results remain preliminary. The small trial is primarily designed to establish safety and feasibility, not to prove long-term effectiveness. Larger clinical studies and longer follow-up will be required before the technology can receive regulatory approval or be considered an alternative to established treatments.

Still, the trial marks a significant step for a system NINA Medical has been developing since the company was established in 2019. The company remains in the research-and-development stage and has received support through the Israel Innovation Authority.

Should the technology prove safe and effective, treatment for one of the most common conditions affecting older men could shift from the operating room to a routine outpatient appointment, without incisions, urethral instruments or a hospital stay.

Israel’s annual inflation rate has fallen to 1.6%, its lowest level in more than five years, as declining fuel, transportation and fresh produce prices offset continued increases in housing, food and other services.

The Consumer Price Index remained unchanged in June, leaving prices 1.2% higher since the beginning of the year. The annual rate fell from 1.9% in May and now sits comfortably inside the Bank of Israel’s target range of 1% to 3%.

The flat monthly reading was driven by sharp price reductions across several major household expenses. Fresh fruit and vegetable prices fell 5.2%, clothing and footwear declined 2.7%, transportation dropped 0.7%, and furniture and household equipment decreased 0.5%.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – SEPTEMBER 25: A man counts his money after exchanging U.S. dollars at a money changer September 25, 2002 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The buy (NIS4.82/US$) and sell (NIS4.94/US$) rates are prominently displayed on the store’s signage. The shekel weakened by 1.2 percent in nervous trade to a representative NIS 4.89 to the dollar during the day, with dealers blaming the shekel’s slide on growing fears of a credit rating downgrade for Israel as well as on the possible scenario of a U.S.-led attack on Iraq. Since the start of the month, the dollar has strengthened by NIS 0.23, which is a gain of 4.9 percent against the shekel. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)

Fuel, vehicle charging and motor oil prices fell 3.1%, while overseas travel became 1.6% cheaper. Among fresh produce, watermelon prices plunged 33.8%, melons dropped 24.1%, apricots fell 23.7% and tomatoes declined 8.6%.

Those reductions were enough to cancel out increases elsewhere. Culture and entertainment prices rose 1%, housing increased 0.7%, health costs climbed 0.6%, and food excluding fresh produce rose 0.4%. Dairy products increased 1.1%, while meat, poultry and fish rose 0.4%.

Housing remains the clearest pressure point. The rental index increased 0.3% during the month, while the cost of owner-occupied housing services rose 0.9%. Tenants renewing leases faced an estimated 2.6% increase, while contracts involving a change of tenant were 6.6% higher.

That divide means the inflation slowdown will not feel equal across Israeli households. Drivers, travelers and families purchasing seasonal produce received noticeable relief, but renters and households facing higher food, health and leisure expenses are still seeing costs rise.

New prices are displayed as a vehicle refuels at a petrol station in central Jerusalem on April 1, 2026. In the wake of the Middle East war, Israel’s energy ministry said that petrol would hit eight shekels ($2.50) a litre for the first time in two years. Israel already has some of the highest fuel prices in the world. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

The figures could strengthen the case for additional interest-rate reductions. The Bank of Israel recently lowered its benchmark rate to 3.5%, its second consecutive cut and the fourth reduction in the current easing cycle. Governor Amir Yaron said the bank’s baseline forecast envisioned the rate reaching approximately 3% within a year, provided inflation remains controlled.

Still, further cuts are not guaranteed. The central bank has stressed that its decisions will depend on inflation, economic activity, government spending, the exchange rate and regional security developments. Renewed fighting with Iran has already pushed international oil prices higher, raising the possibility that some of June’s fuel-driven relief could prove temporary.

For now, the latest figures represent a significant improvement in Israel’s cost-of-living picture. Inflation has returned below the midpoint of the official target, price increases have stalled on a monthly basis, and borrowing costs may continue to ease. But the sharp rise facing new renters shows that the broader cost-of-living crisis is far from over.

Sofas, refrigerators and boxes packed with belongings rolled into the new community of Eival this morning as its first families began building their lives on Mount Ebal.

The community was established in a rapid overnight operation led by the Samaria Regional Council and Amana following government approval. Its first stage included an agricultural yeshiva affiliated with Elon Moreh, near the biblical site identified as Joshua’s Altar.

“This land waited empty for construction for thousands of years,” Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan declared. “Six hundred families will live here.”

Eival is a key part of the council’s “One Million in Samaria” plan, aimed at transforming the region through new communities, infrastructure and large-scale population growth. What began with caravans on an empty ridge is now becoming a permanent Jewish community.

Her father gave his life saving others. Now she’s carrying on his legacy

Staff Sgt. Ella Ram was just 10 months old when her father, Elad Ram, was killed while rescuing wounded soldiers during the Second Lebanon War.

Nearly 20 years later, Ella now serves in the IDF’s Home Front Command Search and Rescue Brigade, the very mission her father died carrying out.

“My father was killed while rescuing other people. Many of the soldiers who were with him that day are still alive because of what he did,” she said. “I knew this was the path I wanted to continue. I’m sure he would have been proud of me and of the person I became.”

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In Israel, the legacy of fallen heroes doesn’t end with them. It lives on through the next generation, who continue to protect, rescue, and serve.

The House passed a resolution Wednesday as part of the appropriations bill calling for freedom of worship at the Temple Mount for people of all faiths.

 Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced the resolution last October calling for “equal access and religious freedom for Christians, Muslims and the Jewish people at one of the world’s most sacred sites.”

“The resolution recognizes the Temple Mount as the holiest site in Judaism and a revered place for all three Abrahamic faiths” and “reaffirms that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel and calls for the protection of the right of all people to worship freely and peacefully,” she said at the time.

In prepared remarks Wednesday, Tenney recounted the experience of one of her staffers at a visit to the Jews’ holiest site.

“When one of my staffers ascended the Temple Mount last year, he was harassed by Muslim onlookers, restricted from visiting most of the site, and was only allowed to be upon the Temple Mount for a very short duration of time,” she said.

“Madam Chair, it’s unconscionable that Jews do not enjoy the same access rights to visit and pray at their holiest site, that other religions do. This is a basic tenet and principle of religious freedom, and the U.S. must do more on this issue,” she added.

In a social media statement posted alongside a video of her remarks, the congresswoman wrote, “Today, the House adopted my amendment calling on the U.S. to defend religious freedom and equal access at the Temple Mount.”

“Jews are denied the freedom to pray at their holiest site while Muslims and Christians worship freely. They deserve that same right. This should not be controversial,” she declared.

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel delivered control over the Temple Mount to the Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. While Israel maintained security control, the site was restricted for non-Muslims, and non-Muslim worship was banned.

Although the purpose of keeping the status quo was to preserve the peace, critics have argued that its acceptance by the international community demonstrated an unfair double standard: While Jews have been banned from praying at their holiest site without a hint of protest from activists worldwide, if the roles were reversed, global condemnations of Israel would surely be forthcoming. They argue that the idea itself that Israel would prevent Muslims from worshiping at their holy sites is unimaginable.

Nearly 150 wildfires are ripping across northwestern Ontario, Canada, forcing evacuations and leading authorities to warn people to stay inside as much as possible and to avoid travel.

Train workers were trapped in a cab Wednesday near Armstrong, Ont., pleading for help to come quickly as the inferno raged around them. All of the employees were rescued and are now safe.

In response to a question from CBC News, the Canadian National Railway said in an emailed statement, “As a safety measure, CN employees in the area and residents of the Town of Armstrong were evacuated Monday night.” The railway company also said that it had halted all operations as a safety precaution due to the wildfires.

Wind gusts have directed the smoke into the United States in the Midwest and Northeast, adding to the already extreme heat in those regions. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged people to stay indoors in air-conditioned spaces.

“Avoid unnecessary outdoor activities, head to a cool space indoors with AC if possible, and follow City guidance. Free masks are available at locations citywide,” he posted on social media.

“Air quality has reached unhealthy levels in parts of NYC due to smoke from Canadian wildfires,” he wrote in a separate statement. “Poor air quality affects everyone, but some people are more sensitive to it than others, including people with heart or lung conditions, older adults, pregnant New Yorkers, and infants and children.”

The heat and smoke are expected to increase Wednesday and Thursday but will be dispelled, at least partly, by rain on Friday.

Speaking Hebrew has become a liability for Israelis traveling abroad. A group of Jew haters overheard Israeli tourists in Cyprus speaking their native tongue, prompting the only natural reaction, of course: harassment. But these Israelis were not taking the bullying lying down.

One of the tourists knocked out one of the aggressors in a single, Krav Maga-type of move. The guy was unconscious before he hit the ground. Nevertheless, if you’re an Israeli, the security authorities recommend not speaking Hebrew when traveling outside the country. Relying on your IDF training is risky when traveling in hostile territory.

Incidents of harassment and sometimes violent attacks on Israelis have been recorded in various countries since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. For example, a group of Israelis at a ski resort in Bansko, Bulgaria, was subjected to a violent antisemitic assault when a bystander heard one of them singing to himself a song in Hebrew with the words “Tel Aviv.”

VIOLENCE WARNING

When the bystander heard “Tel Aviv,” he administered a shoulder strike to the singer, shouting, “F*** Tel-Aviv!” A father tried to separate the two, but instead was knocked down, and the attacker kicked him in the face with a ski boot. He was hospitalized with fractures to the skull and sinuses.

In another incident, a man filmed himself calling a group of Israelis vacationing in Montenegro “baby killers” and accused them of genocide. While filming, a couple of women in burqas walking by also shouted “baby killers” and “shame on you.” Then the man, offended that his nasty comments were not well received, called them “a—holes,” leading to an intense verbal confrontation.

 Israeli tourists were attacked in Thailand after being overheard speaking Hebrew by French tourists in February. In June of last year, an Israeli tourist was violently attacked by a mob after he was heard speaking his native language. A family of Israeli tourists who were heard speaking Hebrew in Thessaloniki in July 2025 were attacked, with assailants following them to their car after they were told by staff to leave a restaurant.

The situation has worsened to the point that the Israeli National Security Council has been warning Israeli tourists not to speak Hebrew when traveling abroad. They have also advised removing all external signs of Jewishness, such as Stars of David, before going out in public, to keep mum about their military service, and to stay away from unsecured, unmonitored sites.

Anti-Israel activists complain about the daily indignities Israel visits on ordinary, peace-loving Arab civilians just trying to get to work, go about their day, eat dinner and do all the normal everyday things that normal people do. One of the terrible humiliations and inconveniences they say Arabs have to endure is being stopped at checkpoints.

While this may be true of a lot of Arabs, it’s not true of all of them. That’s why Israel has checkpoints. A dramatic video circulating online drives this point home. In the video, a car is stopped at a checkpoint. An IDF soldier stands behind the car as the lift gate slowly rises to reveal two people lying in the trunk, trying to sneak in.

Who knows what they planning? One thing is for sure, though: People who hide in trunks to sneak into Israael are not going there for an innocent jaunt in the park.

Israeli outlet Kan News reported Wednesday that an Arab diplomat with knowledge of the matter told the news channel that Arab leaders in recent conversations with President Donald Trump have said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

The diplomat said they have been pressing the issue with the president ahead of Israel’s elections in October, saying they have no confidence in the prime minister and his government. Trump has reportedly been swayed by these conversations, which may be why he has refrained from endorsing Netanyahu outright while still calling him a “strong wartime prime minister.”

Trump and Netanyahu have shared some tense moments during the U.S. negotiations with Iran, including when Israel pushed back against being forced into a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which Trump believed was needed for the talks to proceed. The two, however, downplayed those disagreements and presented a united front publicly.

Nearly half of all House Democrats support ending aid to Israel. And with a new cohort of Democratic candidates who belong to the progressive left flank of the party poised to win the midterm elections, that balance will tilt to the anti-Israel side.

The House voted Wednesday overwhelmingly, 314-104-10, to defeat an amendment to the appropriations bill proposed by Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to end military aid to Israel. Democrats split fairly evenly over the vote, with 103 voting against the amendment, 98 voting for it, and 10 voting present. Massie was the only Republican to vote to block aid to Israel.

The vote shows how the issue of Israel is changing the political dynamics of the Democratic Party. Leading the Democratic contingent who opposed the measure was Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who wrote a letter yesterday urging his colleagues to vote nay.

Jeffries argued that the bill would restrict U.S. humanitarian efforts in the region and undermine the security of both the United States and Israel.

“It is overly broad in that it prohibits or would limit the use of funds for longstanding initiatives related to humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building and U.S. Embassy operations,” Jeffries wrote.

The amendment “would restrict our country’s ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region who are sworn enemies of both the United States and Israel,” he added.

“America’s commitment to Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and homeland for the Jewish people must remain ironclad,” he stated. “Equally significant, the United States must strongly support the creation of an independent Palestinian state that provides dignity, respect and self-determination for the Palestinian people,” he added, while calling for more humanitarian aid in Gaza and an end to settler violence.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) voted for the amendment, explaining that “the status quo is not tenable. We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests and values,” Clark said. “The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard. I will be voting yes, not because I agree with the entirety of the amendment, or the GOP’s cynical motivations for its consideration, but because I believe we must change course.”

In a shocking turn, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also supported the measure, despite her current stated commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and past record of strong pro-Israel support, which shows that she consistently voted for military aid to Israel.

“The United States must be a force for security and stability,” she said. “The American people are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course. Therefore, while this amendment is ill-conceived, I vote yes for the message that it sends.”

The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that it eliminated two Hamas Nukhba Force commanders during a precision strike in northern Gaza, thwarting operatives the military says were involved in planning future terrorist attacks.

Among those killed was Ali Shamlak, deputy commander of a Hamas Nukhba company. According to the IDF, Shamlakh was responsible for training Hamas terrorists and preparing them to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces operating in the Gaza Strip.

The military said the second Hamas commander, Nasser Louh, who was also targeted in the strike, played an operational role within the terror organization. Both were identified as active members of Hamas’ elite Nukhba Force.

The IDF said it will continue targeting Hamas terrorists and commanders throughout Gaza as operations against the terror group continue.

Israel is moving from planning approvals to physical construction with a NIS 1.3 billion ($434 million) program designed to establish and develop 34 Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria.

The first phase will use prefabricated construction to place up to 15 homes and two public buildings at each location, allowing residents and essential services to arrive while permanent neighborhoods move through the longer planning and construction process. If every location receives the maximum allocation, the opening phase could deliver as many as 510 homes and 68 public buildings.

MA’ALE ADUMIM, WEST BANK – OCTOBER 16: New houses are seen under construction October 16, 2003 in the Jewish settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, West Bank. The first phase of the road map requires Israel to stop confiscating Palestinian land and to freeze all settlement activity. Ma’ale Adumim has grown from 23 families and a few tents and mobile homes in 1975 to nearly 30,000 residents, most of whom commute to work in nearby Jerusalem. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

From a real-estate perspective, however, the temporary buildings are only the visible starting point. The larger shift is the creation of a state-financed development pipeline covering statutory planning, land allocation, public infrastructure and budgets for permanent construction.

The Settlements and National Missions Ministry and the Construction and Housing Ministry will lead the program under a senior government steering committee. The communities are spread across Samaria, the Binyamin region, the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion and the Dead Sea area, placing new residential inventory across several distinct regional markets rather than concentrating it around a single population center.

View of the southern part of the Dead Sea from Israel towards Jordan.

The government is also advancing a separate NIS 1.075 billion transportation program for roads serving the new communities. Planned over three years, it includes new routes, upgrades to existing roads and security infrastructure intended to provide safer, more reliable access.

That road investment may ultimately matter more to the housing market than the initial construction allocation. Better access can shorten commutes, connect previously remote areas to Jerusalem and central Israel, and make larger residential projects commercially viable. Roads, schools and public buildings are often what transform a small hilltop community into a functioning commuter town capable of attracting young families, developers and businesses.

Givat Zeev, view from the wadi

The decision is part of a wider real-estate expansion already reshaping Judea and Samaria. Israeli planning authorities recently advanced 2,162 additional homes, including more than 1,000 units in Gevaot, 922 in Har Bracha and 234 in Kiryat Arba. Gevaot is being positioned as a future urban center that could eventually accommodate thousands of additional homes.

Karnei Shomron has also signed an extensive “Roof Plan” for approximately 6,000 housing units, infrastructure, schools, commercial centers, employment zones and public spaces. The project is intended to increase the Samaria town’s population from roughly 11,000 to about 40,000, creating a larger regional hub connected more closely to central Israel.

Nearby Givat Ze’ev, with more than 35,000 residents, was recently granted city status, giving its municipality additional capacity to manage continued growth. Together, these moves suggest that the government is pursuing more than scattered construction: It is building a network of larger, better-connected residential markets across Judea and Samaria.

BEKA’OT, WEST BANK – SEPTEMBER 11: A sign warning Israelis from entering to Palestinian Area A is seen near the Jewish Settlement of Beka’ot in the Occupied West Bank Jordan Valley on September 11, 2019 in Beka’ot, West Bank. Netanyahu pledges to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, if he is re-elected during the Israeli Elections on September 17. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

For developers and buyers, the opportunity will depend on execution. Permanent neighborhoods will still require completed master plans, building permits, utility connections and dependable transportation. The government’s willingness to finance those early stages reduces some development uncertainty, but delivery schedules and the final number of marketable homes remain unclear.

The projects will also face international political and legal opposition. The United Nations, Palestinian officials and many foreign governments consider Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria illegal under international law, a position Israel rejects, describing the territory as disputed and emphasizing the Jewish people’s historic and legal claims. That dispute remains a source of regulatory and diplomatic risk even as construction accelerates.

A directive from leading Bnei Brak rabbis calling for men and women to use separate sidewalks near major event halls has ignited a new controversy over religious standards, municipal authority and the boundaries of Israel’s public space.

The instructions apply to crowded sections of Shlomo Hamelech and Ezra streets, where large wedding halls generate heavy pedestrian traffic. Men would walk along one side of the street and women along the other, particularly during major celebrations and other high-attendance events.

BNEI BRAK, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 29: Supporters wait for former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to attend a campign event on October 29, 2022 in Bnei Brak, Israel. Israelis return to the polls on November 1 for a fifth general election in four years. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Channel 13 initially reported that the Bnei Brak Municipality planned to actively implement the arrangement through new signs and physical changes to the area. Municipal officials were quoted as saying that the initiative had been under consideration for years and could eventually be expanded to other crowded streets.

The municipality initially appeared to endorse the directive, saying the rabbis’ letter “speaks for itself” and that residents who follow the city’s leading religious authorities would comply.

However, after the report triggered widespread criticism, the municipality issued a more cautious clarification. It said the call for separation came directly from the rabbis and was addressed to the public, insisting that it was “not a municipal directive or policy.” The city said its involvement was limited to expanding and improving physical infrastructure around the halls because of severe crowding.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MAY 28: Ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim) block a main road and disrupt traffic during a protest against military conscription notices sent to yeshiva students in the Bnei Brak area near Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 28, 2026. Israeli police intervene as demonstrators protest the lack of a legal arrangement exempting Torah school students from mandatory military service. (Photo by Gideon Markowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

That explanation leaves a central question unresolved, whether the city will install signs or otherwise use publicly funded infrastructure to facilitate the separation while formally describing it as a voluntary religious arrangement.

Supporters argue that the plan reflects the lifestyle of Bnei Brak’s overwhelmingly Haredi population and would help control large crowds outside wedding halls. Critics counter that sidewalks are public property and that a local authority cannot effectively divide them according to gender, even when most nearby residents may voluntarily follow the arrangement.

BNEI BRAK, ISRAEL – DECEMBER 28: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men clash with police officers as they block a main highway during a demonstration against drafting into the Israeli army on December 28, 2025 in Bnei Brak, Israel. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, including the extremist Jerusalem Faction, are protesting the reported arrests of Haredi men who have recently refused conscription to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The demonstration is taking place as a draft bill is being considered by lawmakers in Israel’s Knesset, which would end the conscription exemption for military aged ultra-Orthodox men, known as Haredi, who are enrolled in yeshivas for full-time religious study. Last year Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that the IDF must begin drafting Haredi men after the exemption law expired in June 2023. The controversial issue has split the nation following Israel’s military occupation of Gaza in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, and threatens the viability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

The legal backdrop could also create problems for the initiative. In a previous case involving Beit Shemesh, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered municipal authorities to remove signs telling women to avoid particular sidewalks. The court repeatedly demanded enforcement after the signs were restored and instructed the municipality to remove notices and graffiti connected to the exclusion of women.

Similar signs directing men and women toward different sidewalks have appeared before in isolated Haredi neighborhoods, including Bnei Brak’s Kiryat Vizhnitz area. The latest proposal is more significant because it involves prominent city rabbis, major streets and reported municipal infrastructure work rather than an unofficial neighborhood practice.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to fly to Washington on Saturday night for the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, setting the stage for a potentially consequential meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump amid renewed regional warfare and mounting strategic decisions.

Netanyahu is scheduled to remain in the American capital through Tuesday, when Graham’s funeral will be held. Israeli officials are working to finalize a meeting with Trump, which is expected to take place early next week but has not yet been formally added to the president’s schedule.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 15: Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) uses a cell phone while walking through the Senate Subway platform on Capitol Hill on January 15, 2026 in Washington, DC. Senators arrived to vote on a Minibus spending bill late Thursday morning. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

The visit would be Netanyahu’s first official trip to Washington since the latest war with Iran and his first since meeting Trump in February. During a recent phone call marking America’s 250th Independence Day, the two leaders agreed to meet in the United States in the near future.

Although Graham’s funeral prompted the trip, the possible Trump-Netanyahu meeting could quickly become its most strategically significant element.

The United States has resumed strikes against Iranian military targets as Tehran attacks American forces, allied states and commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. Washington and Jerusalem are also navigating decisions surrounding Iran’s remaining missile and nuclear capabilities, Israel’s security presence in Lebanon and Syria, and the future shape of the regional campaign against Iran-backed forces.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 29: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Graham announced the Senate had failed to reach an agreement on government funding as lawmakers continue to work to prevent a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Any meeting would therefore offer Netanyahu an opportunity to coordinate directly with Trump as both countries determine whether the widening confrontation with Tehran will end through a new agreement or escalate into a more extensive military campaign.

The trip will also carry deep personal significance following Graham’s sudden death at 71. A preliminary medical report attributed his death to an aortic tear. Graham served in Congress for more than three decades and became one of Israel’s most outspoken and dependable defenders in Washington.

He repeatedly demanded that Israel receive the weapons and diplomatic backing needed to defeat Hamas after the Oct. 7 massacre. Graham also championed aggressive action against Iran’s nuclear, ballistic missile and terrorist proxy networks, becoming a rare bridge between Trump’s “America First” movement and the traditional Republican commitment to an assertive American role overseas.

Netanyahu mourned Graham as a leader who understood that American and Israeli security were inseparable.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,” Netanyahu said.

Graham’s death removes one of Israel’s most influential allies from the Senate at a moment when parts of both major American parties are questioning longstanding U.S. commitments abroad. Netanyahu’s presence at the funeral will honor that alliance, but his expected talks with Trump may help determine how the partnership Graham defended will confront its next major test.

An active-duty IDF soldier has been sentenced to five years in military prison after admitting that he accepted money from an Iranian operative and sent him videos documenting missile interceptions and impact sites inside Israel.

The case began when the soldier received messages through his private Telegram account from several individuals offering paid work. Some were later identified as being connected to Iran. One Iranian handler asked whether he wanted to earn money by completing photography assignments. The soldier agreed.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – JUNE 18: Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system responds to incoming Iranian ballistic missiles as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel on June 18, 2025. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

During Operation Rising Lion, he filmed two videos showing Israeli air defenses intercepting Iranian missiles over civilian areas and sent them to the handler. He received payment for one of the clips. He also forwarded additional footage from civilian locations, including a video showing the aftermath of a direct missile strike that he had found online.

The soldier eventually came under intense pressure over his actions and disclosed the contact to a member of his unit. He was arrested by the Shin Bet the following day. A joint investigation was conducted by the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the Military Police’s special investigations unit. His identity and military unit remain under a court-imposed publication ban.

Credit: Shin Bet

He pleaded guilty to contact with a foreign agent and transmitting information liable to benefit the enemy. Military prosecutors sought a seven-year prison sentence, warning that the conduct carried serious security risks and that a substantial punishment was needed to deter other Israelis from cooperating with Tehran.

The military court stressed that the crimes were committed by a serving soldier while Israel was at war. However, the judges also considered that he had not provided classified military intelligence, information obtained through his IDF position or footage of military installations. They further noted that he ended the contact himself and reported it to his commanders.

Alongside the five-year prison term, the soldier received a suspended sentence, a NIS 1,000 fine and a demotion to private, the IDF’s lowest rank.

The case exposes one of Iran’s most persistent intelligence tactics against Israel, approaching ordinary Israelis on Telegram and other social platforms with seemingly harmless offers of money. Recruits are often first asked to photograph public locations, distribute materials or perform acts of vandalism before handlers escalate their demands toward sensitive intelligence, weapons procurement or attacks.

Dozens of Israelis, including soldiers and reservists, have been charged in Iranian espionage cases over the past two years. The volume of arrests became so significant that authorities established a dedicated wing at Damon Prison for Israelis accused of working on Tehran’s behalf.

One of the worst tragedies of Oct. 7 was the long wait for the IDF to come to the rescue and the slaughter that took place while kibbutzim waited for help.

Israelis are determined to never let that happen again. Magen48, a group that took its name from the 48 first responders killed on Oct. 7, is working with the IDF to train Israeli civilians who live in the kibbutzim near the southern border with Gaza to neutralize terrorists while keeping the residents safe until the IDF can arrive in case of another Oct. 7-style infiltration.

Fox News Digital, which attended the eighth training session with the group, reported reported that civilians were warned of the exercise in advance, and all weapons were emptied to prevent accidental discharge. Included among the participants were IDF soldiers and medics.

One scenario simulated an infiltration into a kindergarten. Participants were trained to neutralize the terrorists while safely evacuating the children, with added challenges such as limited visibility. Participants learned how to manage their firearms behind cover in every conceivable position: sitting, lying down, standing and moving. They were trained to work in different-sized groups and to communicate effectively.

The outlet reported that the scenarios that were presented grew increasingly complex. For example, they were trained to fight under continuous alerts.

“The civil defense squad was made up of soldiers who had served in special forces alongside others who had never held combat roles in the military,” an instructor from Magen48 told Fox News, describing the initial challenges the group faced. “Some were issued weapons they had never used during their service. Training begins with weapons familiarization, covering the basics of firearm operation and how to manipulate the weapon’s safety mechanisms.”

He said that they learned from the failures of Oct. 7 that responding alone turned out to be dangerously ineffective. “Whoever ran alone was not able to fend off terrorists,” the instructor said. “The idea behind this project is to establish a unified operational language, so that if an incident occurs, nearby communities can join the response and coordinate effectively.”

“The idea is that they are able to manage the event until forces arrive, then hand over control in an orderly manner while continuing to work together,” he added. “They know the kibbutz, they work well as teams and they have undergone high-quality training that sharpened their skills.”

In a letter to House Democrats Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he would oppose an amendment to the appropriations bill by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to bring the current roughly $3 billion in annual military aid to Israel down to zero.

Jeffries argued that the bill would restrict U.S. humanitarian efforts in the region and undermine the security of both the United States and Israel.

“It is overly broad in that it prohibits or would limit the use of funds for longstanding initiatives related to humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building and U.S. Embassy operations,” Jeffries wrote.

The amendment “would restrict our country’s ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region who are sworn enemies of both the United States and Israel,” he added.

Rep. Thomas Massie. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

He also said that opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should take the shape of pushing for preferred policies rather than cutting off aid. While he promoted the idea that Israel should gradually wean itself off dependence on U.S. military aid, he nevertheless warned that Israel must be allowed to preserve its military superiority in the region.

“Israel’s qualitative military edge against Iran and other malign actors in the region” must be sustained, he wrote, and “mutually beneficial joint technology, innovation, research and further development of defensive programs like Iron Dome, Arrow and David’s Sling” must also be maintained.

“America’s commitment to Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and homeland for the Jewish people must remain ironclad,” he stated. “Equally significant, the United States must strongly support the creation of an independent Palestinian state that provides dignity, respect and self-determination for the Palestinian people,” he added, while calling for more humanitarian aid in Gaza and an end to settler violence.

Surprisingly, the progressive left-wing organization J Street joined AIPAC in opposing the amendment as well.

In a message to lawmakers, AIPAC explained why opposition to Massie’s proposal is crucial.

“U.S. assistance to Israel, along with cooperative defense programs, has been massively successful,” the group wrote. “It has ensured Israel can defend itself. Assistance has created tens of thousands of jobs in the United States and helped Israel develop its own industrial base.”

Mahmoud Khalil, the anti-Israel activist who led protests at Columbia University, filed a lawsuit Tuesday under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 against the Trump administration and several Jewish groups.

Khalil spent several months in a Louisiana detention center awaiting deportation before a judge ordered his release and another judge blocked his deportation while his case makes its way to the Supreme Court. He has alleged that officials in the Trump administration conspired with the Heritage Foundation, Canary Mission and Betar USA to identify and “nominate” anti-Israel activists to be targeted for deportation. The lawsuit names Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House adviser Stephen Miller, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Today, I sued the Heritage Foundation, Stephen Miller, a Columbia affiliate, and others under the KKK Act. I will not stop fighting until everyone who willingly contributed to my missing the birth of my son—and 104 days of my life—answers for it,” Khalil posted on X.

“More actions will come soon,” he promised, adding that the lawsuit is not only about personal revenge but also to prevent what he claims is the silencing of anti-Israel activists.

“This lawsuit is about far more than what was done to me,” he wrote. “It is about a coordinated, ongoing plot to punish, silence, and intimidate everyone who dares to dissent and speak out for Palestinian liberation. We will hold them accountable.”

Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, fired back at the use of the KKK Act in this way.

“That statute was written to stop armed conspiracies from terrorizing Black Americans out of their rights,” he wrote in a social media statement. “Khalil has aimed it at the Secretary of State for enforcing immigration law, and at Canary Mission and Betar, two Jewish civil rights groups whose offense was documenting antisemitism.”

Filitti noted the irony of using the KKK Act to punish people “who track Jew-hatred.”

“A Reconstruction civil rights law, pointed at the people who track Jew-hatred and at the government that moved to deport him,” he declared. “This is not a civil rights case. It is the template for lawfare.”

The Klan Act requires a conspiracy driven by invidious, class-based animus. Enforcing the immigration laws is not that. Cataloging antisemitism is not that. On the text, the case should not survive a motion to dismiss,” he concluded.

The House passed a bill with broad bipartisan support to keep daylight saving time year-round, obviating the need for Americans to change their clocks twice a year.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House by a vote of 308 to 117 and now awaits a verdict by the Senate. As he read out the number of votes, Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) played “Here Comes the Sun,” a Beatles song, on his phone.

President Donald Trump had pushed for the new law, writing on Truth Social in May that he was “going to work very hard to see The Sunshine Protection Act signed into Law.”

“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production. It will also be a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it!” he wrote.

The House GOP’s official X account posted a flyer with the words, “It’s time to lock the clock,” turning all the “o’s” into clocks against a sunburst background.

“PASSED! The Sunshine Protection Act makes daylight saving time permanent and eliminates biannual time changes. Congratulations, Rep. Vern Buchanan!” the group posted, referring to the Florida Republican who sponsored the bill.

Former climate activist and current Hamas supporter Greta Thunberg was detained Tuesday for the second time in as many days in Berlin for blocking the roads leading to Rheinmetall’s plant in Berlin’s Wedding District.

Rheinmetall is a defense contractor that serves as a key supplier of military equipment to Ukraine but which Thunberg claims sells weapons to Israel. Thunberg was escorted away from a protest at the company’s corporate headquarters Monday after gluing herself to the ground.

The group Peacefully Against Genocide staged a similar protest Tuesday near Rheinmetall’s plant, in which some of the activists again glued themselves to the ground but were subsequently removed by German police.

Thunberg was also spotted during one of these protests wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Yalla Intifada,” which sparked outrage from Jewish groups and activists.

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s final joke was to say, “I can’t die now” when telling an unnamed source about chest pains he was experiencing.

“I can’t die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization,” Axios reported Graham as saying, telling an unnamed source that although he felt unwell, he wanted to first push through a scheduled appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” before seeing a doctor.

A staffer working for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) may have been the last person Graham spoke to. While on the phone with the staffer, Graham described his chest pains.

“My former scheduler was Lindsey’s scheduler, and one of my staff members was with that scheduler the night Lindsey called,” Tuberville said. “He called [and] basically said, ‘Listen, I’m having chest pains. You know, I need to do something.’ ‘Did you call 911?’ And he goes, ‘No, that’s the reason I called you.’”

“And so she called 911… By the time she got there, 911 had knocked the door down, and they were working on him,” he continued.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune paid tribute to Graham Monday in an emotional speech.

“I am comforted by the knowledge that, in the end, he has just changed his address,” Thune said.

“And that one day, Mr. President,” he added, breaking down in tears, “we will laugh together again.”

Graham died Saturday from an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, shortly after returning home from a visit to Ukraine. He was 71.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster picked Graham’s sister Darline Graham Nordone to finish out the late senator’s term, which ends in January. She was sworn in to her new office Tuesday and became the first woman to ever represent South Carolina in the Senate.

StopAntisemitism, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting Jew hatred, posted a video of an Israeli man asking an Iraqi refugee girl living in the United States what she thinks of Jews. “Hitler killed y’all for a reason,” she stated, after opening the video with “F— Israel, free Palestine.”

The Israeli, who identified himself as Yoav, asked the girl why she is living in the U.S. if she’s from Iraq, pointing out that the U.S. helps Israel.

“I’m a refugee,” the girl, who said her name is Maryam, told him. “I mean, like, what could I do, man?”

“What do you think about the Jews?” Yoav asked.

“I mean, like, Hitler killed y’all for a reason,” she answered.

“So, like, you’re on the side of Hitler?” he asked.

“Mmhmm,” she said, nodding her head. “I mean, like, all heil Hitler,” she added, pronouncing “heil” like “hail.”

Critics say that by not properly vetting refugees from regions of the world that are steeped in Jew hatred, the U.S. is importing that hatred and allowing it to spread unchecked.

Rolla Selbak, an award-winning Palestinian American filmmaker who teaches screenwriting at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, has created a video in which she shows people how to identify Israeli restaurants.

She pronounced “Israeli” the Arabic way throughout the podcast, except for when she called an Israeli restaurant to ask if its menu contains Israeli dishes.

“How do you know if a restaurant is undercover Israeli? I’m telling you, dude, I can sniff these out,” she said. “First of all, the name, Miz La La. What is it? But I’m like, okay, maybe they’re trying to be fashionable or something like this.”

“So then you go to their website,” she explained. “Oh, fresh take on classic Mediterranean grill. There it is again. That word, Mediterranean. It’s not specific. It’s not Palestinian. It’s not Lebanese. It’s not Moroccan.”

Selbak then instructed her viewers to use the Wayback Machine, a digital archive of past website versions, to discover what the restaurant used to be called. In the case of Miz La La, the restaurant name used to boast the word “Israeli.” It’s not hard to imagine why, in the wake of Oct. 7 and the surge of antisemitism and hatred of Israel that swept across the world, an Israeli restaurant would change its name. As the activist Heidi Bachram, who posted the video, said, “Never once she considers that maybe Israelis are masking their national identity because of haters like her.”

Selbak has also claimed that a small center of power in Israel controls the world, using child sacrifice to maintain their hold on power. Right, it doesn’t make sense.

Israir has won a government tender to operate regular, year-round flights connecting Eilat with central Israel, promising at least five daily flights and heavily subsidized fares for residents of Israel’s southernmost city.

Residents of Eilat and the Hevel Eilot region will be able to purchase one-way tickets for NIS 99, with dedicated seats reserved for eligible passengers. The tender requires at least four daily flights, divided between morning and evening service, but Israir committed to operating a minimum of five.

The airline must launch the new schedule within 45 days. The initial contract will run for one year, guaranteeing a consistent service for residents, workers, students and visitors rather than leaving the route entirely dependent on changing commercial demand.

The agreement is particularly significant for Eilat, whose geographic isolation makes dependable air travel far more than a tourism convenience. Residents regularly travel to central Israel for specialist medical treatment, academic studies, employment and other essential services.

“Ensuring continuous air service to and from Eilat is a fundamental prerequisite” for residents’ access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities, Eilat Mayor Eli Lankri said. He called on Israir to provide a reliable service that restores public confidence in the city’s flight network.

Exterior view of Passenger Terminal. Ramon Airport, Eilat, Israel. Architect: Mann Shinar Architects, 2019. (Photo by: View Pictures/Hufton+Crow/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev described Eilat as a strategic center for tourism, employment and commerce, saying its residents deserve an affordable and accessible connection to the rest of Israel. The tender was issued jointly by the Transportation Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority.

Unlike a temporary discount campaign, the arrangement creates a guaranteed minimum schedule, fixed resident pricing and reserved seat allocations. If implemented as promised, it will give Eilat residents a more predictable link to central Israel while strengthening the city’s economy and year-round accessibility.

Israel Police launched a large-scale emergency exercise across Jerusalem, simulating terrorist attacks and other major crisis scenarios while testing how security and rescue forces would respond under pressure.

The Jerusalem District drill ran from approximately 7 a.m. until noon and formed part of the district’s annual operational training program. Police units practiced rapid command decisions, field coordination and synchronization between law enforcement, emergency services and rescue organizations.

JERUSALEM – DECEMBER 28: A view of the scene after a police officer was struck by a vehicle near the Dahiya Junction, close to the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem on December 28, 2025. Israeli forces sealed off the area and carried out investigations. While no official statement has yet been released regarding the background of the incident, uncertainty remains as to whether the case is being treated as a criminal or security-related matter. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Heavy movement of police officers, security forces, patrol cars and emergency vehicles was expected throughout Jerusalem and along the major roads leading into the capital. Authorities warned motorists of possible temporary delays and instructed the public to follow officers’ directions in areas affected by the exercise.

Police stressed that the activity was a preplanned drill rather than an unfolding security incident. The exercise included multiple extreme scenarios, including hostile terrorist activity, and was designed to test whether commanders could quickly deploy forces, maintain control and coordinate an effective response across several agencies simultaneously.

Jerusalem presents one of Israel’s most complex operational environments. The capital contains densely populated neighborhoods, major government institutions, transportation corridors and some of the world’s most sensitive religious sites. A major attack or mass emergency could require police, Border Police, firefighters, medical teams and municipal authorities to act together within minutes.

JERUSALEM – NOVEMBER 12: Religious Jews dance and sing ahead of a wedding ceremony at the Western Wall in the Old City on November 12, 2023 in Jerusalem. A month after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, the country’s military has continued its sustained bombardment of the Gaza Strip and launched a ground invasion to defeat the militant group that governs the Palestinian territory. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

The drill was intended to expose weaknesses before a real emergency, particularly in communications, command-and-control procedures and the movement of forces through congested urban areas. Israel’s emergency services have continued expanding joint exercises following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre and the subsequent years of regional conflict, which demonstrated how rapidly multiple security incidents can unfold across separate locations.

Israel Police’s emergency hotline remained fully operational throughout the exercise. Residents were instructed to continue reporting any genuinely suspicious or unusual activity through the regular emergency channels.

The United States has frozen the planned withdrawal of its aerial refueling tankers from Ben Gurion Airport as fighting with Iran intensifies, reversing an arrangement intended to clear critical parking space for Israel’s peak summer travel season.

Four additional American tankers landed in Israel overnight, bringing the number parked at Ben Gurion to approximately 33. Another 18 aircraft that were scheduled to leave during the second half of the month will remain for now.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – MARCH 08: U.S. Air Force refueling tankers sit at Ben Gurion International Airport on March 08, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Iran fired waves of missiles at Israel after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran early on February 28th. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency, as Israelis braced for the retaliation. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

The move carries clear military significance. Refueling aircraft allow U.S. fighter jets and bombers to fly deeper, remain airborne longer and sustain repeated operations across Iran. CENTCOM announced another wave of strikes against Iranian military targets as Washington expands its campaign against Tehran’s missile, drone and maritime capabilities.

But keeping the tankers at Israel’s main civilian airport has revived an immediate aviation crisis. Ben Gurion’s military parking areas overlap with stands required by commercial aircraft, limiting the airport’s ability to handle the summer flight schedule.

Israel has now instructed air traffic controllers not to approve the arrival of additional American tankers at Ben Gurion. The aircraft already present will remain, but officials are attempting to prevent the military deployment from expanding further.

25 May 2026, Israel, Tel Aviv: US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling aircrafts are seen on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Avivl. The presence of US military aircraft highlighted ongoing security cooperation during the ceasefire period. Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen/dpa (Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Israel Airports Authority Director General Sharon Kedmi warned that unless the withdrawal plan resumes, the airport could be forced to cancel approximately 10 flights per day beginning July 23, potentially affecting around 50,000 tickets. The warning remains prospective, but the window for finding alternative parking is rapidly narrowing.

The tanker withdrawal had begun after weeks of pressure from Israeli transportation officials, who sought to transfer the aircraft to military bases and protect civilian aviation. The renewed escalation with Iran has now placed operational readiness ahead of those plans, leaving Ben Gurion caught between America’s regional war posture and Israel’s busiest travel season.

Greta Thunberg, the former climate activist and current Hamas supporter, was spotted walking around Germany sporting a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Yalla Intifada.”

For Jews and Israelis, the word “intifada” calls to mind the approximately 150 suicide bombings in Israel during the Second Intifada that claimed the lives of over 1,000 men, women, children and babies from 2000 to 2005. For Thunberg to wear that shirt in the Holocaust’s place of origin is seen by many not so much as callous and tone-deaf as it is malicious.

The woman who, as a teenager, took the world by storm with her climate activism is, according to her critics, surely smart enough to know what the word “intifada” evokes in the hearts and minds of Jews and what wearing such a shirt in Germany, of all places, signifies. According to Thunberg’s critics, she is effectively calling for the genocide of the Jewish people, the very crime she accuses the Jewish state of committing.

Jewish activists posted their reactions on Facebook.

“For Jews and Israelis, the Intifadas were terrifying periods of senseless violence that left hundreds of civilians dead. To Greta, it’s a fun novelty tee,” wrote Hen Mazzig.

“This may be a giant game to her but for Jews and Israelis it’s a deadly threat,” Heidi Bachram noted.

Rabbi Poupko, host of The Jewish World Podcast, said, “Greta Thunberg has been prancing around Berlin today with a t-shirt that says Yalla Intifada. I narrowly escaped death after a double suicide bombing that was part of the Palestinian Intifada.”

“I urge Polizei Berlin to stop the open incitement for the murder of Jews in Germany and to hold Greta accountable,” he added.

In a separate incident, Thunberg was escorted away by police for illegally occupying Rheinmetall’s office in Berlin, a defense company that serves as a key supplier to Ukraine for its wartime military needs. According to Thunberg, the defense contractor will be sending weapons to Israel, hence the need to glue herself to the ground outside the company office.

The glue, however, did not stop the police from extracting her from that spot and pulling her away.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has picked Darline Graham Nordone, sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), to finish out the remainder of his term after his sudden death from a heart attack at the age of 71 on Saturday.

Graham assumed the role of legal guardian for Nordone after the death of their parents, taking care of her and raising her until adulthood. Though he himself never married, the two were very close, with Nordone often appearing at his side at campaign events, sometimes with her children and grandchildren.

Nordone will be sworn in this week and will become the first woman to represent the state in the United States Senate.

“It is such an honor,” Nordone said. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words,” she added emotionally. “But I’m going to do this. I got it.”

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said, after explaining that he had spoken to Nordone after Graham’s death early Sunday morning and asked her to serve. He also said that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea.” The president had posted earlier in the day his support for such a move.

The Saudis signaled last week to the Trump administration their concern about a broader conflict with the Houthis, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting the Saudi ambassador Thursday and the Saudi foreign minister Friday. Following these meetings, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) spoke to President Donald Trump by phone Friday.

During this phone call, MBS requested Trump’s support to conduct military operations against the Houthis, which may widen the war with Iran, and Trump granted it, according to two U.S. officials.

Tensions escalated 10 days ago when a Mahan Air plane, an Iranian plane, picked up a delegation of Houthis from Sanaa International Airport for Khamenei’s funeral. This was highly unusual because Saudi Arabia had blocked flights from Sanaa to Iran to prevent the funneling of weapons to the Houthis.

“Mahan Air is the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] airline. It was designated and sanctioned by the U.S. government,” a U.S. official said.

The Houthis claimed that the Saudis attempted unsuccessfully to prevent the Iranian airplane from landing and threatened to strike the Saudis if they made another similar attempt. In response, the Saudis bombed Sanaa International Airport before the Mahan Air jet could land there. The internationally recognized government of Yemen also claimed responsibility for the attack. The plane was forced to change course and land in Al Hudaydah on the Red Sea coast.

The U.S. official claimed that military equipment was stashed aboard the plane.

The Houthis retaliated by bombing Abha International Airport in southwest Saudi Arabia and warning airlines not to fly in Saudi airspace until the Saudis granted them freedom of the skies.

A United Nations official finally said what Israel has been saying all along: Hamas terrorists have been commandeering aid trucks, stealing aid, and intimidating and harassing aid workers.

Video footage from Gaza shows armed, masked men riding atop aid trucks, randomly shooting their rifles in the air as the trucks are driven recklessly and wildly down the street.

U.N. Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Ramiz Alakbarov said in a statement that Hamas’ interference with humanitarian operations “endangered humanitarian personnel, intimidated workers delivering life-saving food assistance and disrupted life-saving humanitarian operations,” adding that armed Hamas operatives forced their way into a food distribution center in northern Gaza over the weekend.

They “also entered a WFP [World Food Programme] warehouse and reportedly assaulted two truck drivers who were delivering humanitarian supplies,” he said.

The U.N. peace process coordinator noted that “these incidents are not isolated” and “reflect an increasingly dangerous pattern of intimidation, violence and obstruction, including smuggling attempts, targeting and abusing humanitarian operations.”

COGAT welcomed the statement, saying that “This constitutes further clear evidence that Hamas cynically exploits the humanitarian space and the aid intended for the residents of the Gaza Strip for its own purposes.”

While Israel has insisted that Hamas has obstructed humanitarian efforts, stealing vast amounts of aid for itself, others have argued that desperate, starving Palestinians were the ones who were looting. That argument was always hard to make, and now it just got a whole lot harder.

Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) was caught in a huge whopper Monday when video footage of his supposed detention by settlers showed him not being detained.

Standing against the backdrop of a wealthy Arab neighborhood with a mansion towering behind him, Khanna complained about his alleged detention.

The congressman had refused to coordinate with the Israeli embassy and refused to meet with Israeli survivors of the Oct. 7 massacre, instead coordinating his trip with the Israel-hating organization J Street and other anti-Israel activists.

“I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers, 21- and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us,” he complained. “The arrogance of those young IDF soldiers that my tax dollars are funding, having no respect for the fact that they were detaining Americans, no respect that there was an American congressperson in that bus, and laughing when our translator told them that there are Americans there, and the American embassy is concerned.”

“It is the arrogance of power, of a power that has had no accountability, total impunity, and has created a toxic culture of oppression,” he sniffed.

Unfortunately for Khanna, video footage released Monday by his very own activists showed nothing of the kind, just an argument between the Breaking the Silence activist accompanying Khanna and local security, who simply insisted on waiting for the police to show up to sort everything out.

In addition, a Fox News anchor expressed astonishment in an interview with Khanna over the fact that he hadn’t expected to be detained after entering a restricted military zone without prior coordination with the IDF.

“What a glorious self-own,” Eitan Fischberger, an OSINT investigator and former IDF sergeant, posted on X.

Yemenis aboard an airplane that was delayed Monday due to the attack on Sanaa International Airport shouted imprecations at Israel and the Jews, despite believing the attack was launched by Saudi Arabia, though the internationally recognized government of Yemen ultimately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Video footage shows shouts of “Death to Israel! Curse upon the Jews!” filling the air as passengers shake their fists in the air.

Earlier in the day, the Yemeni defense minister said that Yemen’s diplomatic efforts to convince the Houthi delegation to Khamenei’s funeral not to violate Yemeni airspace failed, leaving the government no choice but to bomb the airport.

“The terrorist Houthi militias — backed by the Iranian regime — prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, while insisting on allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted,” the defense ministry said.

Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, Yemen’s information minister, also accused the Houthis of holding hostage a pilot and copilot from the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport whose aircraft they had detained. Meanwhile, the Houthis said they had landed the Iranian plane in Yemen, though they did not specify where.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed to go after the International Criminal Court and dismantle it, laying out his case in a recorded video message.

The escalation against the ICC comes after the international court filed a lawsuit against the United States claiming that U.S. sanctions against ICC officials are unlawful. In February 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions and visa restrictions on ICC officials who had launched investigations into U.S. and Israeli officials. In December of that year, two ICC judges were sanctioned for targeting Israeli leaders.

The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, but while 125 countries signed on to the Rome Statute, the statute that established the court, the U.S. did not sign it.

Rubio argued that the court’s overreach threatens American sovereignty.

“For 250 years, Americans have governed ourselves as a free and sovereign people. We choose our own leaders, we determine our own laws, and when we’re accused of a crime, we stand for judgment before a jury of our own peers. This is the essential and indispensable feature of our form of government. It is the foundation of our shared way of life,” he said in a video statement.

“But today, powerful people in faraway places want to take that away from us,” he added, arguing that people halfway around the world whose names no one even knows “are waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes and compacts and the force of so-called international law.”

Rubio said that the court was established to prosecute the worst crimes, but it turned out that it claimed for itself a much larger mandate that “threatens every aspect of our political and legal system: border patrol agents removing violent criminals from our country, American Marines risking their lives to defend our homeland, prosecutors working to dismantle terrorist plots to attack and kill Americans.”

“If we stand idle, all of them would be at the mercy of foreign judges thousands of miles away, facing the constant risk of prosecution and even imprisonment for the so-called crime of defending their own country,” the secretary of state warned. “The American people never agreed to any of this, and they never will.”

“Independence is our birthright. We will never let foreign bureaucrats take that away from us,” he declared. “This administration will not sit by as the ICC and its allies seek to threaten our people. If they believe they can deprive us of our sovereignty, we will teach them the full meaning of American resolve.”

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday that he recommended to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster that Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sister should be appointed as interim senator, adding that it would be a tribute to the senator, who deeply loved his sister.

“I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” he wrote.

Just hours after a phone call with the president Saturday after returning from a trip to Ukraine, Graham (R-S.C.), suffered cardiac arrest and died at the age of 71. The cause of death was an aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, but toxicology and microscopic tests are still pending.

The senator was widely mourned across the Jewish community in the United States and Israel, where he was seen as a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people.

To fill Graham’s shoes, McMaster will appoint an interim senator who will serve for the remainder of the term, which ends Jan. 3, 2027. Meanwhile, Republicans will hold a special primary in August to select a new nominee to face off against the Democratic candidate in November.

Israel spent years cultivating one of its most notorious enemies as a potential intelligence asset and future leader of post-regime Iran, according to an explosive New York Times investigation.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust-denying former president who called for Israel’s destruction and accelerated Iran’s nuclear program, was reportedly drawn into a clandestine relationship with Israeli intelligence. The extraordinary project ended not with Ahmadinejad taking power, but with a Mossad extraction inside Tehran, a secret safe house and his apparent return to IRGC custody.

The operation reportedly began behind the cover of academic travel. Ahmadinejad visited Budapest for events at Ludovika University of Public Service, an institution closely associated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. During one trip, members of Ahmadinejad’s security detail noticed that he disappeared at least twice for lengthy meetings. He told them he had been speaking with university professors.

Instead, then-Mossad Director David “Dadi” Barnea had personally traveled to Hungary to meet him, according to former U.S. officials cited by the Times. Israeli operatives allegedly continued meeting Ahmadinejad outside Iran during trips in 2024 and 2025. Mossad later informed the CIA that contact had been established, while Israel reportedly covered some of Ahmadinejad’s housing and travel expenses.

Israel’s Mossad Director David Barnea speaks during the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) World Summit in the central coastal city of Herzliya on September 10, 2023. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)

The choice was almost unimaginable. Ahmadinejad spent two presidential terms turning himself into an international symbol of the Islamic Republic’s antisemitism and aggression. He denied the Holocaust, promoted a “world without Zionism,” oversaw the brutal suppression of the 2009 Green Movement and championed the nuclear enrichment program that brought Iran closer to weapons capability.

But Ahmadinejad later fell out with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the regime’s clerical establishment. Authorities arrested allies from his inner circle, restricted his movements and repeatedly blocked him from returning to the presidency. Israeli planners reportedly saw an experienced regime insider with national recognition, a populist following and enough familiarity with Iran’s political and military machinery to potentially hold the country together after the ayatollahs fell.

BEIRUT, LEBANON – OCTOBER 14: In this image released by the Hezbollah Media Office, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (R), visits with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon October 14, 2010 at the Iranian embassy in Bir Hassan southern Beirut, Lebanon. The controversial visit is being seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah and their are reports Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel. (Photo by Hezbollah Media Office via Getty Images)

Earlier reporting indicated that some American officials viewed Ahmadinejad as a possible Iranian version of Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez, not a democratic revolutionary, but an established insider who could preserve essential state structures while cooperating with Washington. Some U.S. officials were deeply skeptical of the entire concept.

The operation reached its climax on the opening day of the war. An Israeli strike hit Ahmadinejad’s residential compound in Tehran’s Narmak neighborhood, destroying the building used by his IRGC guards and reportedly striking his armored vehicle. The attack was not intended to kill him, according to the investigation. It was designed to eliminate the forces controlling him and clear the way for an extraction.

Minutes later, four senior Iranian officials said, a black Peugeot arrived at the compound. Mossad operatives inside the car collected Ahmadinejad and sped away, moving the former president to a secret Israeli safe house somewhere inside Iran.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 26: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, addresses the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2012 in New York City. The 67th annual event gathers more than 100 heads of state and government for high level meetings on nuclear safety, regional conflicts, health and nutrition and environment issues. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

The strike had initially been interpreted as an assassination attempt. Iranian reports even claimed Ahmadinejad had been killed. Satellite imagery later showed that his house remained mostly intact while the security outpost controlling access to his street had been destroyed. Three IRGC members assigned to his security detail were killed. What appeared to be an attempt on Ahmadinejad’s life was, according to the Times, an audacious jailbreak.

But the political operation collapsed almost immediately. Ahmadinejad was reportedly shaken by the violent extraction and unhappy with Israel’s rushed plan to return him to power. He eventually left the safe house under circumstances that remain unclear.

TEHRAN, IRAN – MAY 12: Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registers his candidacy for Iran’s presidential elections at the Interior Ministry on May 12, 2021 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Apart from a brief appearance during Khamenei’s funeral procession, Ahmadinejad has largely vanished from public view. Four senior Iranian officials now say he is being held under house arrest by the IRGC Intelligence Organization after Tehran uncovered a significant portion of his alleged contacts with Israel.

The story carries an extraordinary final irony. Ahmadinejad publicly claimed in 2024 that Iran’s unit responsible for fighting Mossad had itself been led by an Israeli agent, with roughly 20 additional operatives compromised. If the new investigation is accurate, Ahmadinejad may already have been involved with the same Israeli intelligence service whose penetration of Iran he was publicly exposing.

The New York Times based its investigation on U.S. and Iranian officials familiar with the operation. Mossad and Ahmadinejad’s spokesman declined to comment, and Israel has not publicly confirmed the account.

Yet the details reveal both the extraordinary reach and the limits of Israeli intelligence. Mossad could allegedly meet a former Iranian president in Europe, finance his movements, penetrate his Tehran compound, extract him in broad daylight and conceal him inside Iran. It could not force him to cooperate, manufacture political legitimacy or guarantee that the Islamic Republic would collapse.

Britain is committing more than £250 million, approximately $335 million, to a sweeping three-year security operation protecting Jewish communities after a wave of antisemitic violence shook the country.

More than 500 additional police officers will be deployed across England and Wales, concentrating on Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues, schools and community centers. Around 300 officers will serve in London, while approximately 80 will be stationed in Greater Manchester.

Metropolitan Police officers speak to man holding up a poster reading ‘Hamas Is Terrorist’ at a small static pro-Israel counter-protest in Pall Mall to the pro-Palestinian National Demonstration for Palestine on 27th April 2024 in London, United Kingdom. The event had been promoted under the name Enough Is Enough. (photo by Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The package follows a series of increasingly violent attacks. Four ambulances belonging to the Jewish emergency service Hatzola were torched in London, while two Jewish men were later stabbed in Golders Green in an attack authorities classified as terrorism. Britain subsequently raised its national terrorism threat level to “severe,” meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

Greater Manchester has also remained on heightened alert following the deadly terrorist attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, where two Jewish worshippers were killed. The attack triggered an immediate surge in antisemitic incidents across Britain.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 24: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Royal Marines and the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps take part in an on-the-water capability demonstration, on the River Thames, watched by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on day two of their State Visit to the UK on October 24, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands accompanied by Queen Maxima are staying at Buckingham Palace during their two day stay in the UK. The last State Visit from the Netherlands was by Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus in 1982. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

London’s Metropolitan Police will receive £86 million, while £59 million will strengthen national counterterrorism policing. Another £43 million will be distributed among forces serving significant Jewish populations in Hertfordshire, Essex, Sussex, Thames Valley, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Northumbria.

The funding will also continue Project Servator, which places specialist uniformed and plainclothes officers in public areas to identify suspicious behavior and disrupt potential attacks before they can be carried out. Police patrols are expected to increase further during holidays, major communal gatherings and other periods of heightened vulnerability.

Jewish security organizations welcomed the announcement while warning that physical protection alone cannot defeat the extremism driving the attacks. Community Security Trust chief executive Mark Gardner said the investment “comes not a moment too soon.” The Board of Deputies of British Jews also called for aggressive prosecutions of those inciting antisemitic hatred and stronger action against extremist networks.

The scale of the crisis is reflected in official community data. The CST recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in Britain during 2025, a 4% increase and the second-highest annual total since monitoring began. Antisemitism has remained dramatically elevated since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the war the terrorist organization triggered.

A newly exposed handwritten document reveals that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar believed his planned invasion of Israel could provoke an overwhelming response, potentially even the use of a nuclear weapon. He proceeded anyway, describing the coming confrontation as a “battle of life or death” and accepting the possibility that Gaza would be devastated.

The document, written in August 2022 and obtained by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, provides one of the clearest accounts yet of Sinwar’s thinking as Hamas prepared the Oct. 7 massacre. “It may even use a nuclear bomb,” Sinwar wrote while assessing how Israel could respond after recovering from the initial shock.

Sinwar believed a massive surprise attack would initially throw Israel into chaos, creating a short window in which Hamas could seize territory, block an Israeli counteroffensive and transform the conflict before the IDF regained control.

GAZA CITY, GAZA – MAY 24: Yahya Sinwar, the elected leader of Hamas appears during a ceremony for fighters killed by Israeli air strikes at Yarmouk football Stadium on May 24,2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. On May 20,2021, Israel’s cabinet and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, agreed on a ceasefire starting in the early hours of this morning. The recent fighting began on May 10th after rising tensions in East Jerusalem. (Photo by Laurent Van der Stockt/Getty Images)

The blueprint called for 2,500 trained Hamas terrorists to breach the border simultaneously at 25 locations and capture strategic junctions. Each assault force was to contain approximately 100 terrorists. Sinwar’s broader plan envisioned mobilizing 10,000 trained fighters for an invasion far larger than the one Hamas ultimately launched.

The proposed force allocation included 2,210 terrorists assigned to 221 kibbutzim and smaller communities, 1,600 targeting eight larger communities, 1,200 attacking Israeli cities and another 2,000 storming military bases.

The document also exposed the planned treatment of Israelis captured during the assault. Women and children were to be driven out, men between the ages of 17 and 50 were to be taken hostage, and victims’ phones and documents were to be confiscated. Sinwar additionally envisioned crowds crossing into Israel behind Hamas forces to symbolically “reoccupy” communities.

KFAR AZA, ISRAEL – JANUARY 04: A view of a house left in ruins after an attack by Hamas militants during the October 7th massacre on January 04, 2024 in Kfar Aza, Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed, with several hundred taken hostage, during Hamas’s surprise cross-border attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Many of those towns and kibbutzim remain completely evacuated, with their residents having relocated to other parts of Israel. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)

Other captured Hamas documents show how the terrorist organization intended to create the conditions needed for the invasion. Sinwar ordered Hamas forces to conduct intensive movements before the attack so Israel would begin viewing them as routine. He stressed that Hamas had to exploit the first six to 10 hours before Israel could stabilize the battlefield and launch a counteroffensive.

Sinwar also explicitly instructed commanders to manufacture and broadcast scenes of terror. The IDF previously published handwritten directives calling for close-range executions, the slaughter of soldiers, the burning of entire communities and the rapid dissemination of the footage to terrify Israelis while igniting celebrations and unrest across the region.

GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP – NOVEMBER 4: Search operations for the bodies of Israeli hostages continue as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas at the Shujaiyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza on November 4, 2025. Egyptian heavy machinery, accompanied by teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, continued their third day of work around Baghdad Street to recover the bodies of Israeli captives killed during the conflict. (Photo by Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The newly revealed document further dismantles claims that Oct. 7 was a spontaneous border raid. Hamas spent years developing a coordinated conquest operation built around mass infiltration, attacks on civilian communities, the seizure of military positions, hostage-taking and psychological warfare.

Most strikingly, Sinwar understood that the attack could bring catastrophic consequences upon Gaza. Rather than reconsider the operation, he treated that destruction as an acceptable price for his ideological vision. The massacre was not launched because Hamas failed to anticipate Israel’s response. It was launched despite anticipating the possibility of the most devastating response imaginable.

Israel has formally elevated Givat Ze’ev from a local council to a city, marking a major milestone for one of the fastest-growing Jewish communities surrounding Jerusalem.

The declaration became official after IDF Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth signed the final order, completing a process previously approved by the Defense Ministry’s Settlement Administration and the Interior Ministry. Givat Ze’ev is now the fifth Jewish city in Judea and Samaria.

Located roughly three miles northwest of Jerusalem, Givat Ze’ev is home to more than 35,000 residents. Its rapid expansion and increasingly urban character led government professionals to conclude that the community had outgrown its decades-old classification as a local council. A geographic committee convened by the Interior Ministry had earlier recommended the upgrade, finding that Givat Ze’ev already functioned as a city in practice.

The new designation is intended to give the municipality a structure better suited to managing continued residential growth, infrastructure development and expanding public services.

Mayor Yossi Asraf described the change as a historic turning point and “a major growth engine” for the community. He said the municipality would pursue further development while working to preserve the close-knit atmosphere that has long distinguished Givat Ze’ev.

The move also carries broader national significance. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the declaration forms part of the government’s wider effort to strengthen Jewish communities across Judea and Samaria through new construction, the recognition of additional communities and farms, and expanded development on state land.

Givat Zeev, view from the wadi

Givat Ze’ev joins Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim, Modi’in Illit and Beitar Illit as the region’s five officially designated Jewish cities. Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz said the decision demonstrated that the government’s settlement policy was being advanced through concrete action rather than declarations alone.

The community was developed in the early 1980s as part of an Israeli government plan to establish a ring of satellite communities around Jerusalem. It was named for Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky at the request of then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and its first families arrived shortly afterward.

Its transformation into a city reflects the dramatic growth that has taken place along Jerusalem’s northern approaches. What began as a relatively small community has become a major residential center connecting the capital with the Binyamin region.

Attention will now shift toward how the new municipality uses its upgraded status to expand services, manage future construction and improve transportation and public infrastructure. For Israel’s leadership, however, the message is already clear, Givat Ze’ev is no longer merely a growing Jerusalem suburb. It is Judea and Samaria’s newest city.

Pro-Pals gathered on Tower Bridge in London Sunday to unfurl a Palestinian flag and drop a banner proclaiming “Free Dr. Safiya,” the Hamas colonel who doubled as the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza. This protest follows other protests across the city, including on Downing Street, demanding that the British government take action to free the Hamas terrorist from Israeli custody.

Video footage shows them chanting and spraying red and green mist across the River Thames.

Hussam Abu Safiya was arrested in December 2024 and has since been moved to solitary confinement. The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, he has also served in the dual role of colonel in the Hamas Medical Military Services, a common tactic for terrorists: terrorist by night, ordinary civilian job by day; then when Israel nabs them, the international community denounces Israel for arresting and/or striking medical workers, journalists and others.

Safiya has also published opinion articles in The New York Times in his guise as a Gazan doctor, lending credibility to Hamas propaganda against Israel.

As one would expect, human rights groups have demanded his release, claiming he is merely a physician and not a terrorist. In addition, his lawyer alleged that his client endured severe abuse at the Sdei Teiman military base. Indeed, human rights groups are urgently demanding his release, saying his life is in immediate danger.

Haaretz, which can reliably be expected to defend terrorists, posted on X a teaser from an editorial: “A doctor belongs in a hospital, not a prison cell: Free Abu Safiyah now.”

The FBI is assisting local authorities following the sudden death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Washington’s most influential foreign-policy voices and among Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress.

Graham’s office announced that the South Carolina senator died after a “brief and sudden illness,” but officials have not released a confirmed cause of death. FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau had made every necessary resource available, while giving no indication that investigators suspect foul play.

Emergency responders were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home at approximately 8:30 p.m. after receiving a report that someone inside was suffering from chest pains. Dispatch audio later indicated that Graham had gone into cardiac arrest and that CPR was underway before he was transported to George Washington University Hospital. His death was announced several hours later.

Cardiac arrest describes the moment the heart stops functioning, but authorities have not publicly identified what caused it. The FBI’s assistance has fueled intense online speculation because of Graham’s high-profile international role, though no evidence has emerged connecting his death to a foreign government or any outside actor.

President Donald Trump said Graham called him at approximately 7 p.m., less than two hours before emergency services were dispatched. Graham had just returned from Ukraine and sounded “a little tired, but perfect,” according to the president. Trump described Graham as being like a member of his family and ordered American flags nationwide lowered to half-staff in his honor.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: A man with a Ukrainian flag stands on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the Russian invasion on February 25, 2022 in Washington, DC. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Graham had been photographed in Kyiv shortly before his death, meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and visiting military facilities. It was his 10th trip to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, and he had just announced progress on a new package of sanctions targeting Moscow.

The timing of his death also drew attention to the threats Graham faced from the Iranian regime. Days earlier, mourners at Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral carried placards showing Graham and other prominent American and pro-Israel figures with red crosshairs over their faces. Graham publicly mocked the threat. Iranian state media later celebrated his death, but authorities have announced no evidence linking Tehran to what happened.

For Israel, Graham’s death removes one of the Jewish state’s most committed and outspoken defenders in Washington. He consistently argued that American and Israeli security were inseparable, championed military pressure against Iran and forcefully defended Israel’s right to destroy the Hamas terrorist organization following the October 7 massacre.

Graham served in Congress for more than three decades, entering the House of Representatives in 1995 before joining the Senate in 2003. A former Air Force lawyer who retired from the reserves as a colonel, he became a central figure in debates over Iran, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, national defense and the federal judiciary.

A massive fire tore through a popular restaurant in Bangkok in the wee hours of Monday morning, killing at least 27 people. Most of the victims were trapped in the restrooms in the back of the restaurant.

Video footage online shows people running, screaming, away from the flames as thick black smoke billows out of the pub. Emergency responders arriving at the Na Ladprao pub in the northern part of the Thai capital were able to get the fire under control within half an hour.

Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that 27 had been killed and others taken to a hospital for treatment, adding that the cause of the fire is under investigation. Anutin said that a musician performing at the restaurant told him that he saw a circuit breaker start smoking before the power went out; then he heard an explosion as smoke filled the venue.

A comprehensive investigation by The Australian revealed ongoing mistreatment and harassment of Jewish patients and staff at hospitals in Australia, such as repeated, painful, failed attempts to insert an IV, for example. It’s an easy way to torture a patient while pretending to have a hard time finding a vein.

“It is an easy way to make someone suffer, and there is always an explanation: ‘I couldn’t find the vein,'” said Nurit Haddad, a mental-health nurse in New South Wales, who said she had heard such stories several times.

This was the case for Charlotte Frajman, the daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, who said that when a Muslim nurse saw her religion listed as Jewish, it took her four attempts to insert an IV, leaving painful and extensive bruising. She alleged that similar incidents happened at other hospitals.

Orit Brand, an Israeli patient, said that staff took over after eight unsuccessful IV insertion attempts. While deliberate mistreatment could not be proved, hospital staff said that the nurse failed to follow protocol, exceeding the allowed number of unsuccessful attempts.

In another harrowing example, a woman who delivered a baby via cesarean section was left for hours without pain medication in a pool of her own blood while her baby cried beside her. When a nurse finally came to assist her, she performed her duties with harshness.

Jewish staff, such as doctors, nurses and medical students, also reported harassment and intimidation. Many did not report it out of fear of retaliation, and those who spoke to The Australian did so anonymously out of fear of hurting their careers.

The report further alleged that staff who challenged the genocide narrative or pointed out that Hamas operated out of hospitals in Gaza faced disciplinary proceedings, whereas those who espoused a pro-Hamas narrative at the workplace were left alone.

The report also took the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to task for failing to respond adequately to these complaints.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry reacted to the investigation on X.

“This investigation paints a deeply troubling picture and should serve as a wake-up call,” the ministry wrote Sunday. “We call upon the Australian government to confront antisemitism forcefully. Every reluctance, every excuse, and every failure to act sends extremists the same message: they can keep pushing the boundaries. No Jew should ever feel compelled to hide their identity to receive medical care in an Australian hospital.”

The investigation took place against the backdrop of two medical workers who had been suspended after telling an Israeli influencer that they would kill Jews under their care, and one of them hinted that he had done so. A judge later ruled the video inadmissible as evidence because it was obtained in violation of local surveillance laws. That decision has been appealed.

Iran planned to assassinate President Donald Trump during his visit to Turkey, but foreign intelligence uncovered the operation and urgently warned U.S. officials, according to Channel 12.

The intelligence reportedly triggered an immediate change to Trump’s return flight. Instead of leaving Ankara aboard the newly converted, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, presidential security officials placed him aboard the older, heavily fortified aircraft for the most sensitive portion of the journey.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT – OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders in what’s being billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Evan Vucci – Pool / Getty Images)

Other reports identified Israel as the source of the warning. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee publicly confirmed that Israeli intelligence had alerted Trump and senior administration officials to a “very specific plot” designed to kill the president. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Israel had obtained fresh intelligence pointing to an Iranian assassination plan.

Trump departed Turkey aboard a legacy Boeing VC-25A, the familiar blue-and-white Air Force One equipped with advanced defensive countermeasures and secure wartime communications. He flew to RAF Mildenhall in Britain before transferring back to the newer aircraft for the final journey to Washington. Flight trackers were unable to follow the older plane immediately after takeoff, indicating that its transponder had been disabled as an additional security precaution.

IN FLIGHT – FEBRUARY 16: President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media aboard Air Force One while flying from Palm Beach International Airport on February 16, 2026 en route to Washington, DC. President Trump returned to Washington after a Presidents Day weekend in Florida. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

The decision exposed serious concerns surrounding the new Boeing 747-8, which Qatar donated before the U.S. spent roughly $400 million converting it for presidential use. The aircraft does not appear to carry all the missile-detection and defensive systems installed on the older presidential jets. According to reports, the Secret Service, White House Military Office and national security officials concluded that the older aircraft offered greater protection while Trump was flying near Iran during renewed hostilities.

Trump publicly denied that the switch was caused by a specific security threat, saying he used the older plane “for old time’s sake” while the new aircraft was flown to Britain for American troops to view. However, he acknowledged that Iran considers him its top assassination target and suggested that the unusually strict precautions during the flight were connected to Tehran. The White House said the new aircraft was secure while noting that presidential protection sometimes relies on distraction and misdirection.

TOPSHOT – US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, May 4, 2025, as he returns to the WHite House after spending the weekend in Florida. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The alleged operation fits a broader Iranian campaign targeting Trump in retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. In 2024, the Justice Department charged an Iranian asset accused of being tasked by the regime with organizing another plot to assassinate Trump.

The newly revealed Turkey plot appears far more immediate, intelligence connected the threat to an active presidential trip and caused security officials to alter Trump’s movements in real time. The exact attack method, operatives involved and how close Iran came to executing the plan have not been disclosed.

What is clear is that Israeli intelligence delivered a warning Washington considered serious enough to abandon the president’s preferred aircraft and activate some of America’s most sensitive protective measures.

Norway lost to England in the World Cup, but Norwegian fans didn’t let that get their Viking spirit down. Celebrating their heritage as Vikings, they arrived rowing their pretend longboats, they left rowing, they were even greeted at the Dallas airport by police rowing (they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), and finally, they rowed themselves home on the airport carousel last week.

Norwegians fill the airport with good cheer as they row home on the carousel after their loss to England in the World Cup.

Unlike other losers who rioted over their loss or acted like sore losers (witness Egypt blaming Israel for its loss to Argentina), the Norwegians’ good cheer won the hearts of World Cup fans all over the world.

“They did not riot. They did not burn cars. They did not smash bus stops or the glass windows of shops,” a fan posted on social media. “They smiled. They laughed. They saw the positive in their performance. They celebrated their heritage. They were proud of who they had been in the past and who they are today.”

Dallas police greet the Norwegian team on the tarmac with the Viking row.

“Norwegian fans are rowing home after being eliminated from the World Cup,” wrote another. “Thank you, Norway. You brought something very special to the FIFA World Cup with fun and sportsmanship. The Vikings go home!”

It’s not about Israel anymore, if it ever really was. A man on a run outside Lisbon, Portugal, took a video of a pole scrawled with the words “Expel the Jews,” saying he’s been seeing these pop up all over.

After Jews fled Spain during the 1492 expulsion, many made their way to Portugal. They were greeted by the king’s tax collectors, who levied a heavy entrance fee on Jews trying to enter the country. Those who could not pay were stripped of their belongings and forced into temporary servitude.

According to myth, when the Jews arrived in Portugal, monks came out to meet them with a loaf of bread in one hand and a cross in the other, with a clear message: Convert or die. The reality was in fact much worse. Jews were dragged into the town square, sprinkled with water, and forcibly baptized, after having chosen to leave Spain rather than convert. Children between the ages of four and 14 were kidnapped, baptized, and distributed among Catholic families to be raised as Christians.

But all this was not enough for Portugal. In December 1496, an edict of expulsion was signed, giving them until October of the following year to leave. However, they were given permission to leave only from Lisbon, and when they gathered at the port, King Manuel intentionally held the boats back until the deadline passed, then forcibly converted the remaining Jews. Only a small number managed to escape.

Portugal felt bad for about five minutes, when in 2015 it passed a law of return granting citizenship to the descendants of Jews who had been expelled, then phased it out after it faced controversy tainted by Jew hatred. Now calls to expel the Jews are back, along with horrific levels of antisemitism detailed by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

“From secret plots to poison Israelis to public chants of expelling Jews, antisemitism in Portugal is intensifying and metastasizing,” the group wrote, citing a KAN News exposure of a plot to poison Israelis with strychnine and antisemitic riots blaming Jews for the rising cost of housing.

With 29 percent of its flights delayed, Ryanair has the worst on-time record, but one man found out Friday that the airline literally sucks.

After a piece of an engine broke off and shattered a window, the 61-year-old Serbian national in the window seat was sucked out up to his shoulders. His wife grabbed hold of his legs and held him there for five minutes to keep him inside the plane. He was observed to be bleeding and slipping in and out of consciousness, likely due to the lack of oxygen from the decompression caused by the gaping window.

Oxygen masks were deployed, and the airplane, which had only just taken off from an airport in Thessaloniki, Greece, 10 minutes earlier, heading toward Memmingen, Germany, returned safely to Greece, where the injured man was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Michalis Giannakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees, said he was being treated for friction burns, “is in shock, and remains conscious.”

Ryanair said in a statement that the flight returned “shortly after take-off when a passenger window dislodged in flight.”

“The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to the terminal. One passenger requested and received medical assistance on the ground in Thessaloniki,” the airline said, adding that several hours later, “a replacement aircraft was arranged to bring passengers to Memmingen.”

The airline did not say what caused the incident, but passengers told local media that a piece of the engine had broken off and smashed into the window.

“We immediately realized there had been a decompression. There were screams … for a moment I thought someone had accidentally opened the emergency door,” said Christina, one of the passengers on the flight, in an interview with a local radio station.

“The masks dropped and there was a strong smell. The head and shoulders of one passenger were outside the window. Fortunately, he hadn’t taken off his seat belt,” she added.

“When the oxygen masks dropped, we had no idea what was going to happen,” Sofia, another passenger, told the radio station. “We didn’t know whether we would make it back. We were sitting at the back of the aircraft, and we realized there had been some kind of explosion.”

“We thought the plane was going down. The decompression was extreme. It felt like we couldn’t breathe,” she explained. “The man who was injured was bleeding and then lost consciousness several times, most likely because of the lack of oxygen and the shock.”

French anti-terror prosecutors have opened an investigation after police discovered loaded firearms inside a stolen vehicle near a synagogue in Sarcelles, north of Paris.

France’s internal intelligence agency, the DGSI, had flagged the car over concerns it could be used in a violent operation targeting the city’s large Jewish community. Authorities have not yet confirmed that an attack was actively being prepared, but the warning triggered an immediate security operation that may have disrupted a deadly plot before it could unfold.

Police located the unoccupied vehicle at around 9:30 p.m. on Rue Henri-Dunant, close to a synagogue and a busy entertainment district. Officers established a wide security perimeter and evacuated approximately 300 people from a nearby cinema and several restaurants.

Military Security on Christmas day-Notre Dame Cathedral-Paris

Bomb disposal specialists examined the vehicle and completed their operation shortly before midnight. No explosives were found. However, officers searching the trunk discovered a loaded rifle containing seven cartridges and a handgun carrying ten rounds of ammunition.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the rifle as a long “military weapon.” Police later confirmed that the vehicle had been reported stolen, adding another layer of concern surrounding its presence near the synagogue.

No arrests have been announced, and investigators have not identified the people connected to the car or established their motive. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has taken control of the case as authorities work to determine who placed the weapons there and what they intended to do.

PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 04: General view of the Eiffel Tower and Jardins du Trocadero on June 04, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Sarcelles is home to one of France’s largest Jewish communities and has long been known as a major center of Jewish life outside Paris. The city has also faced serious antisemitic violence in the past, including riots that targeted a synagogue and Jewish-owned businesses.

The discovery comes as French Jews continue to face historically elevated levels of antisemitism. France recorded 1,320 antisemitic incidents in 2025. Although that represented a decline from the previous year, the Interior Ministry said the figure remained at one of the highest levels recorded in the past quarter-century.

Russian bombs struck a residential area of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine last week, killing five, including a child, and injuring 17. A camera captured the terrifying moment when the bombs exploded, sending parents huddling over their children’s bodies to protect them.

Russia has stepped up its attacks in recent weeks, targeting residential areas such as apartment buildings in Kyiv and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to call on the international community for help in bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses.

At last week’s NATO summit, the United States pledged to send Patriot missiles that Ukraine desperately needs to thwart Russian ballistic missile attacks. After two devastating attacks on Kyiv that killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had implored the West for more aid and had specifically requested Patriot missiles. Trump said that the U.S. would also fulfill Ukraine’s request to license them to make their own Patriot air defense systems.

Trump also praised the wartime president, saying that Zelensky has “done an amazing job” and has “been very effective” against Russia.

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe,” Trump said.

NATO also pledged an $80 billion package of military aid to Ukraine for this year and next year.

Iran’s regime dramatically widened its confrontation with the United States overnight, launching missiles and drones toward Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar in one of its broadest regional barrages since the war began.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it struck U.S.-linked military infrastructure across the four countries, including command facilities and drone hangars in Jordan, a radar site in Kuwait, aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman, and a jet-maintenance center and command facility in Qatar. The extent of the claimed damage has not been independently verified.

Jordan said three Iranian missiles landed across the kingdom, causing minor property damage but no injuries. Kuwait reported intercepting hostile aerial targets inside its airspace. In Qatar, three people, including a child, were wounded by falling interception debris. Doha condemned the attack as a “dangerous escalation” and declared Iran fully responsible.

Oman reported drone attacks in two regions, including the strategically vital Musandam Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. The normally cautious sultanate summoned Iran’s ambassador and issued a formal protest, denouncing the strikes as irresponsible violations of sovereignty. The attack came only hours after Oman hosted Iranian officials for negotiations over maritime security and shipping through the strait.

The wider barrage also activated defenses elsewhere. Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, while the United Arab Emirates initially reported engaging threats before clarifying that the detected missiles remained outside its territory. Iran had avoided striking Qatar since April, making the renewed attack particularly significant because Doha has served as a central mediator between Washington and Tehran.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – APRIL 06: A rocket intercepting an Iranian ballistic missile explodes near other smoke clouds that formed following interceptions on April 06, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel. This was the fourth salvo of missile fire today. Iran has continued firing waves of drones and missiles at Israel after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran early on February 28th. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

The Iranian retaliation followed a massive U.S. assault against approximately 140 military targets. U.S. Central Command said American aircraft, drones and naval vessels struck missile and drone positions, naval capabilities, ammunition depots, communications networks and coastal-surveillance sites. More than 300 Iranian targets have now been struck during three nights of American operations.

Washington launched the latest wave after Iranian forces attacked the Cyprus-flagged container ship GFS Galaxy near Oman, causing a fire and significant engine-room damage. Omani authorities rescued 23 crew members, while one Indian national remained missing. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the ship had ignored its instructions governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary… pic.twitter.com/FS3TUBOZEj

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 12, 2026

The confrontation is increasingly centered on control of the strait, the narrow international waterway that carried roughly one-fifth of globally traded oil and liquefied natural gas before the war. Tehran says the passage will remain closed until American “interference” ends and has attempted to force vessels to seek Iranian authorization.

CENTCOM rejected that claim, declaring that Iran does not control the waterway and that commercial traffic continues through a southern route near Oman. American forces say they have helped more than 800 commercial vessels carrying approximately 400 million barrels of crude oil transit the strait since early May.

A gay man who was denied entry into Egypt bizarrely blamed the incident on the Trump administration.

“As a gay man, it’s just — it’s really hard to hear,” he said in a video posted online. “I know that this kind of prejudice is not new to these kind of countries, and obviously, I don’t want to go anywhere that shares those kind of views.”

Being that he attempted to do just that, it’s not obvious at all.

“But you just can’t help but feel that with this current administration, people around the world feel more emboldened to do these kinds of things,” he added, ignoring the culture of the Middle East where being gay is a death sentence.

“I would like to hope that the world is moving forward, but just kind of feels like we’re moving backwards,” he said.

This is all of a piece with “Queers for Palestine,” people who stridently support Hamas and hate on Israel, with no sense of the irony in their stance. Whereas they would be thrown off tall buildings in Gaza (before the war; no tall buildings are left now), in Israel they would not only be tolerated but celebrated for who they are.

Indeed, memes have circulated online comparing “Queers for Gaza” to “Jews for Nazis” or “Chickens for KFC.”

Germany has taken a major step toward criminalizing the public denial of Israel’s right to exist, as the Bundesrat approved a landmark proposal carrying penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine.

The measure, introduced by the state of Hesse, now moves through the federal legislative process before reaching the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house. It is expected to be considered after parliament’s summer recess and is not yet law.

💪🏼 🇩🇪 WATCH: Police in Berlin, Germany, arrested violent pro-Hamas protestors earlier this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/wJjVC3NQ8y

— Jewish Breaking News (@JBreakingNews) July 11, 2026

The proposed amendment would add a new provision to Section 130 of Germany’s Criminal Code, which covers incitement of the public. It would punish anyone who publicly, or during an assembly, denies Israel’s right to exist or calls for the Jewish state’s elimination “in a manner capable of encouraging” antisemitic violence or arbitrary acts.

The bill’s explanatory text identifies several examples that could fall under the proposed law, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” calls for a return to “Palestine ’48,” images showing Israel erased from maps and depictions of the Israeli flag or Star of David being thrown into a garbage can.

A candle is lit next to an Israel’s national flag and a placard reading “Never forget Oct 7th” during a vigil to remember the victims of the Hamas attack in front of Brandenburg gate in Berlin on early October 7, 2025, the second anniversary of the Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz / AFP) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Those expressions would not automatically produce a conviction. Prosecutors and courts would still need to determine whether the statement was capable of encouraging antisemitic violence or persecution. The proposal also says peaceful debate over a one-state solution, federation or confederation would remain protected when it does not reject Jewish self-determination or promote violence.

Hesse argued that the legislation is needed to close a gap in German law. Denying Israel’s right to exist is not currently an independent criminal offense. Existing statutes may apply when a slogan explicitly endorses terrorism, approves a specific crime, calls for an identifiable criminal act or directly incites hatred against Jews, but statements formally directed against Israel can evade prosecution.

Participants hold up flags, among them the historic Iranian “Lion and Sun” national flag, as well as posters depicting Iran’s former crown prince and now key opposition figure Reza Pahlavi and US President Donald Trump, during a demonstration of the Iranian opposition on February 14, 2026 at the Theresienwiese fair grounds in Munich, southern Germany, on the sidelines of the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC). (Photo by Michaela STACHE / AFP via Getty Images)

The proposal describes that language as a form of “indirect communication” in which antisemitism and an acceptance of violence against Jews are disguised as political criticism of a state. Its authors argue that Germany’s responsibility following the Holocaust gives the protection of Jewish self-determination a unique constitutional significance.

Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor welcomed the vote, declaring: “Those who deny Israel’s right to exist and spread antisemitic incitement will not get away with it unpunished.” He urged the Bundestag to enact the amendment quickly.

Ich begrüße den heutigen Beschluss des @bundesrat ausdrücklich. Das Signal ist klar: Wer das Existenzrecht Israels leugnet und antisemitische Hetze verbreitet, kommt damit nicht ungestraft davon.
Mein aufrichtiger Dank gilt Ministerpräsident @Boris_Rhein für sein entschlossenes…

— Ambassador Ron Prosor (@Ron_Prosor) July 10, 2026

The legislation comes as Germany confronts a sustained wave of antisemitism following the Hamas-led October 7 massacre in Israel. Germany’s RIAS monitoring network documented a record 8,725 antisemitic incidents in 2025, averaging nearly 24 every day. Sixty-eight percent were classified as Israel-related antisemitism, while 178 assaults, 257 threats and four incidents of extreme violence were recorded.

Israel’s government has approved an urgent extension of the nationwide “Special Situation on the Home Front,” preserving the military’s ability to impose immediate civilian restrictions as renewed fighting with Iran destabilizes the region.

The declaration will remain in force through July 28, subject to approval by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Defense Minister Israel Katz requested the two-week extension before the existing declaration expires, and ministers approved it through an urgent telephone vote.

The decision does not impose new restrictions on Israelis. Schools, businesses and public events can continue under the current Home Front Command guidelines. Instead, it maintains the legal framework allowing the IDF to rapidly restrict gatherings and civilian movement, alter educational activity or order residents into protected spaces if the threat changes.

That distinction is critical as the government is not announcing that an attack is imminent. It is ensuring that commanders will not lose valuable time seeking new legal authorization if Iranian missiles or drones are again directed toward Israel. Any actual change to civilian instructions would be issued separately by the Home Front Command.

Security agencies wrote in the proposal’s explanatory notes that there remains a “high likelihood” of an attack against Israel’s civilian population, arguing that the risk is sufficient to justify maintaining the declaration. Defense officials simultaneously assessed that the immediate probability of renewed Iranian fire against Israel remains very low, while warning that the picture could change quickly. The IDF is therefore maintaining heightened defensive and offensive readiness.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – JUNE 16: Iran’s ongoing retaliatory attacks with ballistic missiles towards Israel are seen from Tel Aviv, Israel on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The extension follows the collapse of calm between Washington and Tehran. U.S. Central Command said American forces struck approximately 140 Iranian military targets in their third round of attacks in a week, using aircraft, drones and naval vessels against missile sites, drone infrastructure, naval capabilities, ammunition depots, communications networks and coastal surveillance positions.

Those strikes followed an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attack on the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy in the Strait of Hormuz. One civilian crew member was reported missing, while fire and severe engine-room damage left the vessel unable to continue its voyage. Iran has also declared the strategic waterway closed and launched attacks against American-linked targets and Gulf states, further increasing the danger of a wider regional confrontation.

Israel initially activated the nationwide home-front declaration when Operation Roaring Lion began against Iran. Although the most severe civilian restrictions were later lifted, the declaration has repeatedly been extended as Tehran and its terrorist proxies retained the ability to launch long-range attacks.

The Jewish world is mourning the loss of one of Israel’s most steadfast allies in Washington.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a veteran lawmaker who served in Congress for more than three decades and became one of the strongest champions of Israel and the Jewish people in the U.S. Senate, died Saturday following a brief and sudden illness. He was 71.

Statement from the Office of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). pic.twitter.com/CQ5yVvqTH1

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 12, 2026

His office announced the news in a statement, saying:

“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”

Throughout his career, Graham earned a reputation as one of America’s leading voices on national security, confronting threats from Iran, Russia, terrorism, and other global adversaries. He was widely respected for his willingness to take firm positions on foreign policy and defense.

For Israel, Graham was far more than a political supporter. He was among the Jewish state’s most vocal and consistent advocates on Capitol Hill, repeatedly backing military aid, opposing efforts to isolate Israel internationally, and calling for tough action against Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime. Following the October 7 Hamas massacre, he forcefully defended Israel’s right to eliminate the terrorist organization and restore security for its citizens.

Graham was a close friend of the late Sen. John McCain and later became a prominent ally of President Donald Trump after initially opposing his 2016 presidential campaign. Their relationship evolved into one of the Republican Party’s most influential political partnerships.

He briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2015 before returning his focus to the Senate, where he remained a leading figure on foreign affairs and national defense. At the time of his death, Graham had recently secured the Republican nomination to seek a fifth Senate term.

Tributes are expected to pour in from leaders across the United States, Israel, and around the world, many remembering Graham not only as a longtime senator, but as a loyal friend of Israel and a steadfast defender of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

May his memory be a blessing.

A video circulating online shows the insane volume of bombardment that Israelis have had to endure since Oct. 7, 2023, from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the IRGC. These groups represent four of the seven fronts in the war that Israel is waging for its survival: Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.

For decades, Israelis have accepted life under threat of rocket fire from Gaza, occasionally “mowing the lawn” when the bombardments became severe. “Mowing the lawn” is the term Israelis use for striking Gaza enough to degrade Hamas’ military capabilities and buy peace for a few years.

The Oct. 7 attack on Israel shattered the illusion that such a status quo was sustainable. It also shattered the illusion of safety, waking Israel to the fact that it was surrounded by a ring of fire, literally and figuratively, as rockets, missiles and drones have rained down on the tiny country continually for the past almost three years.

One of the people who posted the video, Jewish pro-Israel activist Jonah Platt, wrote that the level of severity demonstrated in this video showcases the ignorance of those who believe Israel should just accept this as a normal way of life.

“Imagine how many of the antizionist bigots who hate Israel have literally no idea these attacks even occurred, nor thought for a second what it’s like to live under this insanity, and yet feel entirely confident espousing ignorant takes devoid of reality,” he wrote.

Last week, JBN reported on the unfurling of a huge banner reading “Destroy Israel” at the famous Running of the Bulls at the San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, Spain.

“The San Fermín Festival, home to the world-famous Running of the Bulls, opened today with a shocking display of anti-Israel hostility, as a giant banner reading ‘Destroy Israel‘ was unfurled during the official noon opening ceremony,” Eitan “Eddie” Dvir, JBN’s editor-at-large, reported.

“The banner was only one part of a broader anti-Israel demonstration that dominated the opening celebrations. Balconies throughout Pamplona’s historic center were draped with messages including ‘Stop the genocide,’ ‘No place for genocide,‘ and ‘Zionists are not welcome,‘ while Palestinian flags and anti-Israel slogans were prominently displayed,” he wrote.

But Pamplona was not content to stop there. “Zionists Are Not Welcome” signs have been springing up throughout the city, on walls, balconies and doorposts.

There is no significant Jewish population in Pamplona today. While a Jewish quarter thrived in the city from the 10th to the 15th centuries, the Jews never returned to that part of the country after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. That’s why overt displays of Jew hatred go unchallenged in Pamplona: There are no Jews in the city to protest, and no one else cares.

The ceremony of the Running of the Bulls last week was marked by anti-Jewish hostility from start to finish, as detailed by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

“The firework rocket signaling the beginning of the festival was launched by members of ‘Yala Nafarroa con Palestina,’ a pro-Palestinian group chosen by public vote,” CAM reported. “Just before the chupinazo [fireworks] soared over the tens of thousands of revelers gathered in Plaza Consistorial, Yala Nafarroa con Palestina’s Dyna Kharrat shouted ‘Stop genocide’ and ‘Free Palestine.'”

The group warned that this reflects an emerging societal trend.

“What happened in Pamplona fit into a broader emerging European phenomenon — public cultural events being repurposed to deliver messages of hate singling out Jews and Israel,” CAM wrote, citing such examples as the London concert in which the lead singer of the Irish band Fontaines D.C. led the crowd in a chant of “Free Palestine” while a digital display on the stage lit up with the words “Israel is committing genocide.”

“Festivals like San Fermín should be spaces for celebration, unity, and cultural pride, where solidarity doesn’t come at the expense of Jewish safety. This year, Pamplona failed that test,” the group concluded.

CENTCOM: At 7:15 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage.

Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed.

In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief.

Israel’s specialized NILI task force has eliminated 2,561 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre, according to newly disclosed security figures. The Shin Bet estimates that several hundred additional participants remain alive, and the hunt for them is continuing.

Approximately 1,000 of the terrorists included in the count were killed during the initial battles inside southern Israel, as Israeli forces fought to retake invaded communities, military bases and major roads on Oct. 7 and 8. The remaining terrorists were tracked and eliminated during subsequent operations in Gaza.

GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP – NOVEMBER 4: Search operations for the bodies of Israeli hostages continue as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas at the Shujaiyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza on November 4, 2025. Egyptian heavy machinery, accompanied by teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Hamas‘ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, continued their third day of work around Baghdad Street to recover the bodies of Israeli captives killed during the conflict. (Photo by Khames Alrefi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Four Oct. 7 terrorists were eliminated over the past week alone. Among them was Yahya Hamdan, a Hamas Nukhba cell commander who led terrorists into the Re’im military base during the invasion. The IDF said Hamdan had recently been planning attacks against Israeli troops and working to restore Hamas’s operational capabilities before he was killed in a precision strike in southern Gaza.

Another target, Waheed Abu Salam, previously commanded Hamas’s Western Company in Khan Yunis. Israeli authorities said he invaded Israel during the massacre, participated in the abduction of Israeli civilians and later helped hold hostages captive in southern Gaza. He was also involved in rebuilding weapons capabilities intended for attacks against IDF troops.

Credit: Shin Bet

NILI was established by the IDF and Shin Bet after the massacre with a sweeping mission, identify, capture or eliminate every terrorist involved, from the Hamas commanders who planned the assault to the gunmen, kidnappers and drivers who crossed into Israel. Its name is an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “Netzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker,” meaning “The Eternal One of Israel will not lie.”

The operation combines conventional intelligence with advanced technology. Investigators have analyzed footage recorded by terrorists’ GoPro cameras, surveillance systems in Israeli communities and videos uploaded to social media. Facial-recognition systems, intercepted communications, cellular-location data and interrogations of captured terrorists have also been used to build the target list. According to an earlier Wall Street Journal investigation, at least two pieces of evidence were required to establish that an individual participated in the atrocities.

10/24/2023 Ramle, Israel. Israeli soldiers at the forensic center in the Shura military base near Ramle, where more than 600 deceased bodies have been received since the commencement of the war with Hamas on October 24, 2023. (Photo by Dima Vazinovich / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by DIMA VAZINOVICH/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

The campaign reaches far beyond Hamas’s senior leadership. Israel has already eliminated many of the architects of the massacre, including Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, but NILI’s mandate also covers lower-ranking terrorists directly involved in murder, rape, kidnapping and the breach of Israel’s border. No participant is considered too insignificant to pursue.

The new figures emerged as Israel reportedly decided to reinforce its forces in Gaza and intensify operations against Hamas, which has continued attempting to restore its military infrastructure. Israeli security officials view the manhunt as both an operational necessity and a moral commitment to the victims, survivors and families devastated by the massacre.

The Nova music festival memorial site, established at the original location of the festival held on October 7, 2023, displays photos of every individual who was killed or kidnapped by Hamas on that tragic day. (Photo by Ori Aviram / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by ORI AVIRAM/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas’s invasion killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages into Gaza. Nearly three years later, Israel’s message through NILI remains unchanged, time will not provide immunity to those responsible, and the pursuit will continue until the remaining terrorists are found.

New satellite imagery obtained by CNN indicates Iran may be repairing and rebuilding sensitive facilities linked to its nuclear weapons program, potentially violating its agreement with the United States.

Vantor images from late June and early July show reconstruction at Taleghan 2 inside the Parchin military complex, including work around craters left by U.S. and Israeli strikes. The heavily fortified facility has previously been associated with high-explosive testing relevant to nuclear weapon development.

Vehicles were also observed entering and leaving tunnels at Pickaxe Mountain, an undeclared underground complex near Natanz that Western analysts suspect could eventually house centrifuge production or uranium enrichment operations. The IAEA has never inspected the site.

The U.S.-Iran MOU requires Tehran to maintain the “status quo” of its nuclear program while negotiations continue. The imagery does not conclusively prove Iran has restarted weapons work, but any construction intended to restore or advance its nuclear capabilities would directly violate that commitment. No comparable activity was detected at Fordow, Natanz or Isfahan.

A Maryland man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years for targeting Jews and supporting ISIS after pleading guilty in January.

Michael Sam Teekaye, Jr., 22, was sentenced in federal court after being convicted of providing support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

According to Teekaye, who revealed his plot to an undercover agent, he planned to join the Islamic State-Somalia Province, a fast-growing terrorist group in northern Somalia, where he hoped to become a “mujahid,” a fighter. He had already booked flights for a route that would have taken him from Maryland to London to Turkey to Ethiopia, and from there to Somalia, he told the agent. But if that didn’t work out, he would fall back on his alternative option: killing Jews in the United States, he said.

He had studied groups in his area that were pro-Israel or supported Israel and discovered which buildings were affiliated with those groups, with the intention to “gun down key members or anyone involved.”

Teekaye also told the agent that he bought a gun and ammunition and trained himself in the use of the firearm at a local gun range. He said that he failed in his attempt to purchase a Kalashnikov K-9 9mm assault rifle, which was denied because he had served probation for past unlawful conduct.

The would-be terrorist sent a photograph of himself to the undercover agent wearing a mask and brandishing a knife. He said he wanted to join IS to gain “victory.”

“You either do it here or there or both,” he added.

“He took real-world steps to carry out a terrorist attack in Maryland, including attempting to purchase an assault rifle and researching locations where he could kill Jews and supporters of Israel,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Kelly O. Hayes in his announcement of the guilty plea.

Upon his arrest, Teekaye struggled with the officers and spat at them. His parting words were, “I’m just [going to] get out in 20 years and I’m just [going to] do it here … It will never stop. Jihad will never stop … You think 20 years is something? I’ll be like 40 when I get out; then I’ll just do it. I don’t care. It will never stop. Jihad will never stop.”

“I’ll come and I’ll kill your soldiers. I’ll kill you,” he said.

The 22-year-old vowed to try again after his release.

A black bear who got the shopping bug strolled into a mall in Alaska to inspect the offerings on sale.

Earlier this week, the bear wandered into the commissary mall (the shopping hub at U.S. military bases) at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. After wandering around for a bit checking out various stores, it snagged a peach. Then it took care of some personal business on a hallway floor before wandering back out again.

The bear wanders through the mall. (Credit: Joint Base Elmendorf Exchange)

Officers from Conservation Law Enforcement were on hand to redirect the lost bear back to its natural habitat, toward a river and into the woods.

Kory Godbout, a barber who works at the mall, heard his coworker shout that there was a bear.

The bear checks out the barbershop. (Credit: Joint Base Elmendorf Exchange)

“I looked up from my phone and the bear was walking into the barber shop right in front of me,” he said. “And we all ran into the break room and shut the door behind us.” They then left the breakroom and watched the bear steal a peach and eat it. But then the bear decided to examine the barbershop more closely. As it returned, the employees fled back to the break room and closed and locked the door, Godbout recounted.

“And then we were watching him from the window and then that’s when he decided to, you know, use the restroom in the hallway,” he added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday the deportation of an illegal immigrant who was a convicted sex offender.

“Laotian national Tou Lue Vang was convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota,” Rubio wrote on X alongside a video statement. “He was set to be deported until Governor Tim Walz issued him a pardon.”

“Then, I revoked his legal status,” he added. “ICE has removed him from the U.S. and he will never endanger another American.”

Officials in Minnesota drew condemnation for pardoning the 42-year-old sex offender in a bid to prevent his deportation. Vang had committed the crime more than two decades ago and wrote a letter to the Minnesota Board of Pardons in his application for clemency saying that “The shame and regret carry-especially as my children have grown older and learned about my past-run deep. If it were possible to undo what happened, would do so without hesitation.”

The board said that a victim-support letter influenced its decision to pardon the sex offender.

“What happened to me was wrong, but I have had many years to think about this. I have made my peace with it. I forgive him,” the victim wrote.

Tou Lue Vang was deported by ICE due to a conviction for a sex offense. (Credit: Department of Homeland Security)

The three-person board includes the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.

Acting Assistant Secretary for DHS Lauren Bis lashed out at the governor for moving to upend Vang’s conviction to prevent his deportation.

“Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting.”

Vang was granted legal status when he entered the country in 1994, but that status was revoked after his onviction in 2006.

An ad reading “Dismantle the Zionist war machine” was displayed on a London subway train, known as “the Tube” or “underground” in London and called a “subway” here.

This chillingly reflects the normalization of antisemitism in Western countries that a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

The ad drew condemnation from Jewish groups.

“We strongly condemn the hijacking of public spaces to spread hatred and glorify terrorism. Those responsible must be identified, apprehended, and held accountable under the full force of the law,” the Israeli Embassy in the United Kingdom stated.

Campaign Against Antisemitism identified the organization behind the ad as Direct Action Training and called on Transport for London, the city’s transportation authority, to remove the ad.

“A paid advertising space in one of TfL’s Underground train carriages has been hijacked by activists, displaying a violent call to destroy the world’s only Jewish state,” the group wrote in an online post. “The organization behind the poster, Direct Action Training, encourages Britons sympathetic to ‘Palestinian liberation’ to register for training to ‘dismantle the Zionist supply chain’ in the U.K.”

“Its webpage includes posters which urge supporters to carry out potentially criminal property damage, from ‘Pick[ing] up a sledgehammer’ in Manchester to ‘Fire[ing] that extinguisher’ in London,” the group continued, describing actions that specifically target British Jews. “Hateful rhetoric serves no purpose other than to demonize Jewish Londoners. It has no place in this country.”

Urging action, the group called on TfL and the police to address the situation.

“This poster was doubtless unauthorized, and we ask Transport for London to remove it. If there is CCTV footage that may help police to identify those behind the campaign, it should be provided to them,” the group said.

Combat Antisemitism Movement said that the authorities shouldn’t leave it up to individuals to take action.

“London Underground ad spaces were hijacked with antisemitic posters reading ‘Dismantle the Zionist war machine.’ A poster was removed by a passenger who took action,” CAM wrote in a social media post. “TfL: Londoners shouldn’t have to remove antisemitic propaganda themselves.”

Israeli security forces say they dismantled a Hamas-inspired terror cell accused of plotting a mass-casualty shooting at Beersheba’s Central Bus Station and additional attacks against police and security forces in the Negev.

Prosecutors filed indictments against four young Bedouin Israeli citizens from Segev Shalom and nearby communities following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police Southern District’s central investigative unit. The suspects were arrested during undercover Border Police operations conducted in recent weeks.

One of the suspects was reportedly captured while on his way to carry out an attack, although authorities did not publicly identify the intended target in that specific incident. Officials said the broader plot was stopped before the cell could take concrete steps to execute its most destructive plans.

JERUSALEM – DECEMBER 28: A view of the scene after a police officer was struck by a vehicle near the Dahiya Junction, close to the Beit Hanina neighborhood of East Jerusalem on December 28, 2025. Israeli forces sealed off the area and carried out investigations. While no official statement has yet been released regarding the background of the incident, uncertainty remains as to whether the case is being treated as a criminal or security-related matter. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

According to the indictment, the alleged cell initially considered carrying out a mass stabbing targeting civilians at Beersheba’s crowded central station. The suspects later abandoned that plan because they believed knives would not produce the number of casualties they sought, and instead began discussing a shooting attack using a firearm.

The cell allegedly considered several targets, including Beersheba’s bus station, the police station in Segev Shalom and security forces operating throughout the area. The central station is regularly packed with civilians and soldiers traveling between Beersheba and military bases across southern Israel, making any shooting there potentially catastrophic.

Investigators say the plot developed from an online radicalization network established by the principal suspect. He allegedly operated a public Instagram account that repeatedly glorified Hamas, its Al-Qassam Brigades, the Lions’ Den terrorist group and other jihadist organizations.

GAZA CITY, -: Members of Hamas’s armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, give a press conference in Gaza City 03 November 2006. Before dawn, four members of Hamas’s armed Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Israel and the West, were killed in a pre-dawn air strike in eastern Gaza City. Twenty-five Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive began two days ago, at least 13 have been militants. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

The account reportedly featured footage from the October 7 massacre, praise for terrorists and senior Hamas commanders, and messages promoting armed jihad and martyrdom. Prosecutors allege that the suspect had wanted to create a local terrorist organization since the 2021 Guardian of the Walls conflict.

He allegedly opened private social-media groups, recruited the other defendants and assigned them positions inside a hierarchical cell. He referred to himself as the organization’s “commander,” while another member was designated its “engineer.”

The alleged “engineer” downloaded a practical video explaining how to construct an explosive device. Authorities say the groups also circulated jihadist propaganda, encouragement to commit terrorist attacks and instructions related to bomb-making. Some of the conduct described in the indictment allegedly began while members of the cell were still minors.

A picture taken on March 8, 2014 show a partial view of the Dimona nuclear power plant in the southern Israeli Negev desert. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The intended target carries particular significance. Beersheba’s central station has previously been struck by terrorists. In one of the most recent attacks, a gunman opened fire inside the station, murdering 19-year-old Border Police officer Shira Suslik and wounding 10 others.

The four defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and training or instruction for terrorist purposes. The principal defendant also faces charges of incitement to terrorism and publicly identifying with a terrorist organization.

Jerusalem is preparing for one of its most significant waves of high-rise redevelopment, with the district planning committee advancing five urban-renewal projects that would deliver approximately 1,430 apartments across Gila, Pisgat Ze’ev, Ramat Sharet, Kiryat Moshe and Beit Hakerem.

The plans would replace aging residential blocks with towers reaching as high as 38 stories, while adding commercial space, public buildings, kindergartens, synagogues, pedestrian routes and new open areas. Most of the construction is concentrated near Jerusalem’s expanding light-rail network, reflecting a broader strategy of placing denser development along major public-transport corridors.

The largest project is planned for the Tirosh and Odem complex in Gila, near two future light-rail stations. Four buildings containing approximately 120 apartments would be demolished and replaced by three towers of up to 38 stories and two additional 10-story buildings, creating roughly 530 homes. The development would also include commercial and employment space, public facilities and a central 2.1-dunam public park.

In Pisgat Ze’ev, 65 existing apartments near the Red Line would make way for approximately 290 homes in a tower reaching up to 35 stories and two smaller buildings. The plan also includes a commercial frontage, expanded pedestrian routes and a new public space connecting sections of the neighborhood.

JERUSALEM – DECEMBER 03: The Western Wall stands in afternoon light in the Old City during increased tensions between Palestinians and Israelis on December 03, 2023 in Jerusalem. Gunmen, claimed by Hamas to be members of their group, shot numerous people at a bus stop on Thursday morning on the outskirts of Jerusalem before being shot dead. Israel and Hamas have resumed fighting following a truce that lasted nearly a week. Both sides had agreed on the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Ramat Sharet would receive approximately 250 apartments in a 25-story tower and two 10-story buildings, replacing a six-story block containing 62 homes. Two kindergartens, a synagogue, community facilities and a pedestrian connection to the light-rail station on Golomb Street are also included.

Near Jerusalem’s western entrance, the Reines complex in Kiryat Moshe would replace two older housing blocks with a 29-story tower and two 10-story buildings containing approximately 222 apartments. Plans call for a commercial frontage, three kindergartens, two synagogues, upgraded public space and an expansion of Beit She’arim Street.

In Beit Hakerem, four buildings containing 40 apartments would be demolished for a 24-story residential tower built above six floors of commercial and employment space. The project would provide approximately 135 homes, two kindergartens, community facilities and a new connection between Farbstein Street and Herzl Boulevard.

Approximately 20% of the apartments across the five developments are expected to be smaller units, expanding options for young couples, smaller households and residents seeking more affordable entry points into Jerusalem’s expensive housing market.

The projects will also incorporate a mechanism for dedicated long-term maintenance funds. The provision is designed to help preserve the towers and their shared systems over time, addressing concerns that residents moving from older, lower-cost buildings could otherwise struggle with significantly higher maintenance expenses.

Jerusalem District Planner Dan Keinan said the developments are intended not only to increase housing supply, but also to reinforce older buildings, improve protective infrastructure and upgrade streets, paths and public spaces around the capital’s light-rail corridors.

The committee’s decision advances the plans to the deposit stage rather than granting final construction approval. The proposals remain subject to publication, public objections, possible revisions and additional planning procedures before developers can begin seeking permits.

Taken together, the five projects would substantially reshape Jerusalem’s skyline, replacing low-rise housing blocks with dense, transit-oriented neighborhoods. The result will be thousands of new residents living within walking distance of the light rail, and a markedly taller capital city.

An Israeli defense-tech startup founded by veterans of Israel’s most advanced air-defense programs has emerged from stealth with a $36 million seed round and an ambitious objective, defeating hundreds of attacking drones simultaneously without exhausting expensive missile stockpiles.

Skapion is developing what it calls the world’s first “native counter-swarm” system, a mobile defense platform designed from the ground up for mass drone attacks rather than individual interceptions. The company says the system will detect, engage and neutralize hundreds of unmanned aerial threats at once, including in areas where communications are disrupted or unavailable.

Unlike conventional air-defense batteries built primarily to stop aircraft, rockets or missiles, Skapion’s platform is expected to launch dozens of smaller, lower-cost interceptors against incoming swarms. The company says the interception cost could fall below $10,000 per target, compared with at least approximately $40,000 for a single Tamir interceptor used by Iron Dome. Those figures remain company estimates while the system undergoes development and validation.

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, on July 15, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

“The question is no longer whether a single drone can be detected or hit,” Skapion CEO and co-founder Ido Bar-On said. Modern militaries, he argued, must be able to defeat large numbers of coordinated threats with sufficient speed and at a sustainable cost.

That challenge has become increasingly urgent. Cheap first-person-view drones and one-way attack UAVs have transformed battlefields from Ukraine to the Middle East, allowing hostile forces to threaten soldiers, bases and critical infrastructure at a fraction of the cost required to stop them. Hezbollah terrorists have also deployed inexpensive fiber-optic drones against Israeli troops and military platforms in Lebanon, exploiting an area where systems designed for isolated aerial threats can struggle.

Skapion says its system is intended to accompany maneuvering forces, protect forward operating bases and defend fixed strategic sites. It is also being engineered to operate during poor weather and in contested environments where electronic interference, damaged communications or deliberate jamming could limit other defensive systems.

The startup’s leadership draws heavily from Israel’s air-defense and military-technology ecosystem. Co-founder Brig. Gen. (res.) Pini Yungman previously headed Rafael’s Air and Missile Defense Systems division and contributed to the development of Iron Dome and David’s Sling. Bar-On previously led international defense and government activity at Israeli drone company XTEND and served as an IDF special-operations lieutenant colonel in the reserves.

The founding team also includes CTO Gal Goren, Enlight Renewable Energy co-founder Zafrir Yoeli and veteran defense entrepreneur Yaron Karp. Although Skapion was established less than a year ago, it has already recruited more than 20 specialists in aerospace, robotics, autonomy, engineering and defense technology.

The unusually large seed round was co-led by UP.Partners and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Fusion VC, Stratos Ventures, TBD VC and q Fund. Skapion will use the money to accelerate engineering, expand its workforce and validate the system with government agencies, defense organizations and strategic partners in Israel, the United States and allied countries.

The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., while its research and development operation is based in Ramat Gan. It has not publicly disclosed a deployment timetable, a launch customer or whether the system has completed operational testing.

The concept remains unproven in combat, but the potential impact is significant. If Skapion delivers on its promises, Israel could add an entirely new defensive layer built specifically for an era in which enemies attempt to overwhelm air defenses not with one sophisticated missile, but with waves of inexpensive, coordinated drones.

A Scottish content creator named Morgan Cunningham is introducing millions of people to one of the most beloved Jewish songs ever recorded.

In her now-viral videos, Morgan sits in her car and, just before the iconic beat drops, turns to the camera with her unmistakable Scottish accent and says:

“I don’t know what this song is called because I don’t speak Hebrew… but come on, David Hershkowitz (the soloist) take it away!”

The song is “Jerusalem” by the Miami Boys Choir, and despite not speaking Hebrew or being Jewish, Morgan belts it out with impressively accurate pronunciation, captivating viewers around the world and introducing countless people to the beauty of Hebrew and Jewish music.

Founded in 1977 by legendary composer, conductor, and producer Yerachmiel Begun, the Miami Boys Choir has become one of the most influential and beloved children’s choirs in Jewish music history. Begun has written dozens of timeless Jewish classics that have inspired generations with messages of faith, hope, unity, and Jewish pride. The choir has performed across the globe and sold hundreds of thousands of albums, becoming a cherished part of Jewish life for nearly five decades.

Their remarkable resurgence began a few years ago when archival performance clips were uploaded to TikTok, introducing a whole new generation to the choir’s unforgettable harmonies, choreography, and youthful energy. Many on the internet have covered the sing with their own version and some music coaches have even broken down the entire song marveling about it.

A heartfelt thank you to Morgan for helping bring this beautiful piece of Jewish culture to millions of people around the world.

Morgan has shared that she is currently dealing with medical complications and is unable to work. If you’ve enjoyed her content and would like to support her during this difficult time, you can do so via PayPal.me/morganlibertymusic.

🎤 JBN family: What Jewish or Hebrew song should Morgan sing next? Drop your requests in the comments—we’d love to see her tackle more Jewish classics!

Critics are warning that when Andy Burnham succeeds Keir Starmer as Labour leader and eventually becomes the UK’s next prime minister, Israel will face an even more hostile government than it did under Starmer.

Speaking today, Burnham apologized for what he described as Labour’s failure to take a tougher stance on Israel after the Gaza war began, saying, “I am sorry.” He also accused Israel of continuing to kill innocent Palestinian children and argued that Labour should have acted more forcefully against Israel.

Andy Burnham unveils sculpture of himself by Anthony D Padgett at Manchester Art Fair 2025

Burnham outlined a series of proposals that would significantly increase pressure on Israel if he were to lead the government, including:

• Restricting UK arms licenses for the IDF.
• Saying there is increasing evidence Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, while adding that international courts should make the final legal determination.
• Pledging to fully follow the rulings of international courts.
• Imposing sanctions on members of the Israeli government.
• Exploring a ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements in Judea & Samaria. (BDS)

13/04/2026. Manchester, United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School with Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. Picture by Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street

Burnham also said Labour “didn’t get it right” in its initial response to the Gaza war because it was not tough enough on Israel, promising that under his leadership the party would take a much firmer approach.

His remarks drew sharp criticism from pro-Israel voices, who argue that his proposals would punish Israel for defending itself following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 massacre, the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, when approximately 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. Critics say the measures would place increased pressure on Israel while Hamas continues to replenish and wage war against the Jewish state.

A City Journal report alleges that the top official in NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office for International Affairs, Ana María Archila, was slated to meet Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, on Tuesday, while hostilities between the two countries are ongoing.

The meeting was blocked as soon as the State Department got wind of it. State Department officials told the Mamdani administration that the meeting was unacceptable. Apparently, Archila did not consult with anyone, not even Mamdani, before scheduling the meeting, calling her judgment into question.

Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir-Saeid Iravani (left), and Ana María Archila, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. (Credit: Getty Images)

The Office for International Affairs was not established to shape foreign policy but to establish and maintain diplomatic ties with cities around the world to bring business to the Big Apple.

“Its purpose is to exchange best practices with other global cities, bring foreign businesses to the city, and support city government’s relationship with the entire diplomatic community residing in New York City, without regard to political ideology or party,” the City Journal stated.

Archila, however, was not selected for her experience, of which she has none in this area, but for being a left-wing activist. She has also opposed the war with Iran. What’s more, Mamdani, who has been outspoken about foreign policy and said he would have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he arrived in New York, perhaps sees his role as extending beyond New York City.

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a discussion by phone Thursday night in which they discussed U.S. strategy on Iran and Netanyahu aired his concerns about maintaining security borders and the sale of F-35s to Turkey.

The prime minister warned Trump that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rhetoric on Israel is growing increasingly dangerous, with Erdoğan recently saying that Zionism is a “dangerous ideology” that threatens Turkey’s survival. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said in an interview with the CNN affiliate in Turkey that Israel has become an international problem and a “burden that humanity can no longer bear.”

Netanyahu reiterated that the potential sale of F-35s to Turkey could shift the power balance in the Middle East and asked Trump to consider selling a downgraded version so that Israel would still be guaranteed air superiority.

In response to a recent statement by Trump that the IDF will withdraw from southern Lebanon, Netanyahu emphasized the crucial need for Israel to maintain its security border with Lebanon.

Trump updated Netanyahu on U.S. operations against Iran. Israel is not expected to participate during this phase, but Israeli officials said they are prepared for any scenario.

After the phone call, the prime minister’s office issued a statement saying that the call was part of the “continuous contact” between the two leaders and that “continued coordination between the countries in various sectors was established.”

Israel has reportedly shared fresh intelligence with the United States indicating that Iran may be preparing a new plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to sources familiar with the matter. If accurate, the intelligence would represent a major escalation in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, an operation ordered by Trump during his first term.

US President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on December 29 for crucial talks on moving to the next stage of the fragile Gaza truce plan.
The two leaders also discussed Iran, with Trump saying that if Tehran rebuilt its nuclear facilities the United States would “knock them down.” (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

The Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the report, while Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House referred reporters to remarks Trump made on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Trump acknowledged the alleged threats, saying: “They want to take out the U.S. leader—me. I’m on every list. I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”

Trump on Iran:

I'm on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I've been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn't last very long.

Because that's the way it goes, but we have great people.

But these are evil, sick people, and we have to rid their cancer. That… pic.twitter.com/ly4aflEL5V

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 8, 2026

The report comes as relations between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly become more strained over their differing approaches to Iran. Netanyahu has pushed to continue military operations against the Islamic Republic, while Trump has favored finding an off-ramp to the conflict, citing concerns over the global economic impact. The two sides reached a fragile ceasefire last month.

Despite those differences, Trump and Netanyahu spoke by phone on Thursday. According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the two leaders agreed to continue close coordination, with Trump also updating Netanyahu on recent U.S. operations in the Gulf.

Meanwhile, anti-American rhetoric has continued in Iran. At a recent funeral ceremony for senior Iranian leaders, crowds chanted “Death to Trump,” and banners threatening the U.S. president were displayed.

Although Trump and Netanyahu remain in regular contact, recent conversations have reportedly reflected growing disagreements over the future direction of the conflict with Iran.

Three weeks ago, emergency responders performed CPR on someone at the residence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), possibly for cardiac arrest. Although the identity of that person has not been confirmed, it almost certainly is the 84-year-old senator, who has remained hospitalized since then.

The Democratic governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, requested a full disclosure of McConnell’s health in a letter to the lawmaker.

“As governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” he wrote, saying that the people of Kentucky are growing increasingly concerned about McConnell’s health and his capacity to serve as senator.

Although his staff has said nothing about the details of his health, last week they released a statement saying that the senator “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital” and that he “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

That is doubtful, considering that McConnell has missed 20 votes during his absence, including a crucial one on limiting the president’s war powers that passed by a razor-thin majority.

Laura Loomer, a right-wing political activist, claimed earlier this week that McConnell is “brain dead.”

“Mitch McConnell is being kept ‘alive’ by life support machines, but my White House source told me McConnell is in organ failure, and as I reported, [the] source told me he has allegedly been declared a vegetable (brain dead) by doctors and the White House has been told ‘McConnell isn’t ever coming back,'” she wrote on X.

“Officially brain dead, organ failure is accelerating, life support machine is keeping him ‘alive’ but his brain is officially dead,” she added, repeating that the lawmaker is brain dead three times to drive home her point.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump said he had no idea how McConnell was doing.

Nevertheless, several people said they held extended discussions with McConnell by phone during his prolonged hospitalization.

Scott Jennings, a former advisor to the senator, said Tuesday that he spoke to him by phone for nearly 20 minutes.

“We talked for just shy of 20 minutes … about IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history,” he said pointedly on X.

McConnell and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) “had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” a spokesperson for Thune said in a statement Tuesday.

Kate Noyes, a spokesperson for Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), also said the two held a lengthy, nearly 20-minute talk by phone in which they covered “the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits.”

“Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” she added.

But when asked by reporters Wednesday if he knew McConnell’s status, President Donald Trump said, “I have no idea how he’s doing.”

But without details of his current health status, and given his past history of frequent falls and of freezing while talking to reporters, speculation about his actual condition is running rampant.

A terrorist captured from Kamal Adwan Hospital described the operations to an interrogator, explaining why terrorists hide in hospitals and what they do there. This hospital is the same one that Hamas Colonel Hussam Abu Safiya directed.

Safiya was arrested in December 2024 and has since been moved to solitary confinement. The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, he has also served in the dual role of colonel in the Hamas Medical Military Services, a common tactic for terrorists: terrorist by night, ordinary civilian job by day; then when Israel nabs them, the international community denounces Israel for arresting and/or striking medical workers, journalists and others.

Safiya has also published opinion articles in The New York Times in his guise as a Gazan doctor, lending credibility to Hamas propaganda against Israel.

Hussam Abu Safiya in his guise as a doctor, left; Safiya in a Hamas uniform, right. (Credit: YouTube screenshot; Hamas Military Medical Services)

Below is the transcript of the interrogation of al-Sharif.

Interrogator: What is your name?

Terrorist: Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif, 21 years old. I work at Kamal Adwan Hospital as a cleaning supervisor. I joined the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas) in 2021 in the Nukhba Forces in the Western Battalion.

Interrogator: Where were you arrested?

Terrorist: Inside Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Interrogator: When you were at Kamal Adwan Hospital, who else was there?

Terrorist: There were people there, the staff, the medical team I work with daily and directly. There were also operatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Al-Nasser division and other organizations in northern Gaza.

A terrorist is interrogated about Hamas operations in a hospital. (Credit: Eylon Levy)

Interrogator: Why were you hiding in Kamal Adwan Hospital?

Terrorist: They believe it is a safe haven for them because the military cannot directly target it.

Interrogator: What do you mean when you say it is a safe haven?

Terrorist: Because there are civilians and patients there. They think the military cannot bomb it, such as with a missile from an F-16 or by demolishing the building.

Interrogator: Now, when the operatives were in the hospital, what were they doing?

Terrorist: The operatives were there, transporting equipment and weapons like AK-47s and pistols. The weapons were transferred to and from the hospital, from the outside in and from the inside out, within the hospital. It was used for observation and patrols. They leave the hospital late at night; they arrive at the hospital in the morning. Inside the hospital, they distribute the grenades and mortars and equipment for attacking tanks, for ambush positions and for tunnels underground, to the command and control center, whether at Kamal Adwan, Faluja [Jabaliya Camp] or in new locations where the operatives are located.

A Delaware County man is facing felony charges after police say a dispute over a small tax issue turned into an antisemitic threat to burn down Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion.

Richard John Franklin, 65, of Brookhaven Borough, had gone to the office of State Rep. Leanne Krueger seeking help with outstanding taxes, according to Pennsylvania State Police. While a staffer tried to assist him, police say Franklin used an antisemitic slur and communicated a threat of arson against the governor’s residence. The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing the criminal complaint, reported the dispute involved an unpaid tax bill totaling just $19.

The alleged threat was not treated as a routine outburst. Members of the Pennsylvania State Police Political Violence Threat Unit went to Franklin’s home, where police say he gave multiple inconsistent accounts, admitted using the ethnic slur, and claimed his comments about the governor’s mansion were meant in a “sympathetic and positive” way because Shapiro and his family survived a previous arson attack. Franklin was arrested without incident.

He was charged with terroristic threats, ethnic intimidation, threats and other improper influence in official and political matters, harassment, and disorderly conduct. NBC10 Philadelphia reported that bail was set at $100,000 and that Franklin is being held at Delaware County Prison. Online court records cited by local media did not list an attorney for him.

A Philadelphia PD police officer in front of a squad car in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 2, 2025

The case lands against a disturbing backdrop. Shapiro, one of the most prominent Jewish elected officials in the United States, already survived a violent attack at the governor’s residence. Cody A. Balmer later pleaded guilty to attempted murder, aggravated arson, 22 counts of arson, burglary and related offenses after prosecutors said he entered the residence with Molotov cocktails and a sledgehammer while Shapiro, his family, guests and state troopers were inside. He was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Balmer cited Israel’s military actions in Gaza as a motive and stated that if he had encountered Shapiro, he would have struck him with the hammer. That earlier attack made the new alleged threat more than ugly language. For law enforcement, it was another warning sign in a climate where antisemitism and political violence are increasingly colliding.

Franklin is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Officers from the New York Police Department scaled the Brooklyn Bridge to talk down a person from the Brooklyn Bridge after receiving multiple 911 calls about a person in distress on top of the bridge.

“You okay? My name is Chris,” an officer told the woman, who sat perilously close to the edge. “What’s your name? I just want to talk. What’s happening today? I want to help you. That’s why I’m up here right now. I genuinely care. I do.”

“It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It really is,” the officer urged. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but I want to understand … we have services … the strongest thing you can do right now is accept help. I promise you, that’s the strongest thing you can do.”

Credit: Jessica Tisch

As several officers carefully converged on the woman, a note of panic crept into the officer’s voice when the person started to move, as though about to slip down.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it, please, please, everything is going to be okay,” he implored her. “You’re not in trouble.”

Assuring her that they got her, the group pulled her back off the ledge.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch commended the officers for their courage and compassion.

“This video of a rescue last night on the Brooklyn Bridge will take your breath away,” Tisch wrote in an emotional post. “High above the East River, NYPD ESU officers climbed onto the Brooklyn Bridge to reach a woman in crisis who was threatening to jump.”

“For nearly an hour, they stayed with her, spoke with her, and waited for the moment they could safely pull her back from the edge,” she recounted. “The care, courage, and compassion these officers showed was just extraordinary. May God bless them.”

Palm Beach International Airport has officially been renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport as of Thursday morning. Eric Trump, the president’s son, was on the first plane to touch down at the airport after the name change at 5:01 a.m.

The law, which was passed in March, was due to take effect July 9. The airport code will change from PBI to DJT in one month, after more than half a century of operating under the Palm Beach International name.

It is rare for airports to change their codes, but the International Air Transport Association said it had received a request to change the code from major airlines, including Delta, United, American Airlines, JetBlue and Southwest. 

“IATA has acted on a request from airlines serving Palm Beach International Airport to change the airport’s IATA 3-letter code from PBI to DJT, along with the change of the location name to President Donald J. Trump International Airport,” a spokesperson for IATA said. 

Eric Trump expressed his excitement over being the first to land at the airport under its new name on Fox News.

“There’s no way in hell I was letting UPS be the first plane to land,” he said. “So we got on Trump Force One … and then air traffic control comes on, and you know, welcome to Trump Force One. You’re the first plane to ever land, you know, at this airport.”

“And so we touched down at exactly 5:01 a.m. this morning, and it was a beautiful day,” he added. “I don’t think there’s anybody more synonymous with Palm Beach than Donald Trump, and maybe all of Florida.”

A New York mother who had recently moved to Killarney, Ireland, with her 13-year-old daughter, was found dead in her home Tuesday.

The girl found 43-year-old Jamey Carney in her bed, with a duvet covering her head and torso and blood splattered on the walls, and called a friend for help. Following an autopsy, the investigation was upgraded to a murder, and Irish police are seeking a man of Middle Eastern origin who may have already fled Ireland, possibly to Northern Ireland or Britain.

He is said to be in his 20s or 30s and has lived in Ireland for about a year as he sought asylum after spending time in France and Turkey. He was known to Carney, and the two had last seen each other Sunday and Monday. Neighbors reported hearing an argument between a man and a woman coming from Carney’s apartment. Police are exploring jealous rage as a possible motive for the murder.

Carney was originally from Westchester County, N.Y., and was known for her pro-Palestinian activism.

Pro-Israel activists implored their followers to show compassion rather than glee over the horrific crime. She may have been in a romantic relationship with her killer, and videos circulating on social media show romantic videos of her with a Middle Eastern-looking man.

“I’m horrified by people here who are joyful about the death of an American pro-Palestine activist who was beaten to death allegedly by her Middle Eastern boyfriend in Ireland,” Jewish Zionist and activist Hen Mazzig wrote on X. “She didn’t deserve it no matter where she stood on anything. Can we not lose our humanity, please? May she rest in peace.”

Joe Slyper, the oldest Jewish man in the United Kingdom, is preparing to celebrate his 107th birthday on July 15 after a remarkable life defined by service, resilience, and optimism.

Born in East London, in 1919, Joe has witnessed some of history’s most defining moments, from the World War II to the arrival of smartphones and artificial intelligence. A lifelong Tottenham Hotspur supporter, he has lived through the reigns of five British monarchs and served under 24 prime ministers, from David Lloyd George to Keir Starmer.

Before the war, Joe worked in the textile and fashion industry. In 1939, he was among the first to volunteer for the British Army, training as a signaller before rising to the rank of Sergeant with the 9th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. He later became a basic training instructor.

In 1940, Joe married his sweetheart, Rose, at East London Synagogue. Their marriage lasted an extraordinary 73 years until her passing. After the war, he returned to the fashion and interior design business, raised a loving family, and today is a proud grandfather and great-grandfather to nine great-grandchildren.

Joe also devoted decades to the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women (AJEX), serving as chairman of the Finchley and Hampstead Garden Suburb branch and proudly marching in remembrance parades until he was 100 years old.

Despite witnessing a dramatic rise in antisemitism in recent years, Joe remains hopeful. Speaking to Jewish News, he encouraged younger generations to stay positive, saying, “Just work hard and make the best of life.” He also laughed about modern technology, admitting, “I’ve got an iPad, but I don’t know how to work it.”

Joe’s remarkable life has also been recognized by Britain’s Royal Family. He received a congratulatory birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II on his 100th birthday and another from King Charles III when he celebrated turning 105.

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From helping defend Britain during World War II to becoming one of the nation’s oldest living Jewish veterans, Joe Slyper’s extraordinary journey is a testament to courage, perseverance, and the enduring strength of an incredible generation.

Mazal Tov, Joe! May you continue to enjoy good health, happiness, and many more years.

Following a 15-year investigation by the IDF Missing Persons Unit, the burial site of Private Yaakov Zaryan, who was killed during Israel’s War of Independence, has finally been identified.

Zaryan immigrated from Morocco in 1947 and enlisted as an operational driver. On April 20, 1948, he was killed while transporting a supply convoy to besieged Jerusalem during the fierce Battle of Sha’ar HaGai.

He was buried alongside seven fellow soldiers at Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim, but the exact location of his grave remained unknown for 77 years.

Using extensive archival research, archaeological excavations, and advanced soil analysis, the IDF was able to confirm his final resting place.

His sister, Yvonne Cohen, welcomed the long-awaited discovery, saying: “For me, finding his burial place means everything. I will call my sons so they can say Kaddish for the first time at his grave.”

A state military ceremony will be held at Kibbutz Kiryat Anavim to dedicate his headstone.

May his memory be a blessing.

In Switzerland, if you are underage and commit the most heinous crime known to man, the worst you can expect is one year in prison, and the most likely outcome is that it will be commuted to compulsory therapy. Also, the most outrage the judge will be able to muster will be to call the crime “unscrupulous.”

A Swiss Muslim teen, born in Tunisia and naturalized as a Swiss citizen as a baby, stabbed an Orthodox Jewish man 17 times outside Synagogue Agudas Achim in Zurich in March 2024, puncturing and collapsing his lung and inflicting other serious injuries. Miraculously, the 50-year-old man survived after undergoing emergency surgery.

The then-15-year-old declared his intention to enter the synagogue and kill as many Jews as possible. Unable to get in, thanks to heightened security following the wave of antisemitic violence unleashed after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, he turned his attention to a visibly Jewish man outside. He also claimed the attack in the name of ISIS.

Despite all that, the youth, who is now 17, was sentenced Tuesday to one year in prison, which was then commuted to mandatory therapy in a youth care facility.

“Killing Jews simply because they are Jews is unscrupulous,” the judge wrote in the summary of the case.

Local Jewish leaders were outraged by the sentence the youth received for a crime that is better described as “heinous,” arguing that the sentence does not match the seriousness of the crime.

A short while ago, officers from the Judea Regional Police in the Judea and Samaria District were dispatched to the Gush Etzion area following reports of a suspected abduction involving an IDF female soldier carrying her service weapon, who was seen entering a vehicle with Palestinian license plates.

Police immediately launched a search for the vehicle and intercepted it on Route 375 near the town of Beitar Illit, where they found the soldier inside the car, safe and unharmed.

A preliminary investigation determined that the soldier and the driver were in a relationship. The incident was referred to the Military Police for further handling.

The soldier’s weapon was confiscated, and both she and the Palestinian driver were taken to a nearby police station.