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Lockheed Martin has unveiled its MORFIUS X-Rotor system, an airborne high-power microwave (HPM) platform designed to disable large numbers of hostile drones in a single mission.

Announced at the Farnborough International Airshow, the company says the system can neutralize more than 50 unmanned aerial systems (UAS) per flight and is built for recovery and reuse to reduce operational costs. 

MORFIUS is a ground-launched system that is sensor-agnostic and compatible with existing command-and-control systems without requiring dedicated fire-control radars. The system builds on earlier MORFIUS variants that have flown since 2017 and uses the same family of HPM effectors.

Unlike missiles or lasers, which target drones one by one, HPM systems emit bursts of powerful electromagnetic energy that can disable the electronics of multiple drones simultaneously –  making them ideal for countering swarm tactics by offering rapid, wide-area neutralization without expending costly interceptors.

“MORFIUS sets a new benchmark for counter-drone capability – delivering a high kill rate while keeping the cost per kill low,” said Randy Crites, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Advanced Programs.

“By leveraging a lightweight, field reusable high-power microwave architecture, we provide the most effective, low-cost solution on the market today and demonstrate Lockheed Martin’s ability to field innovative, affordable technologies at the speed our American and allied troops need.”

The company is accelerating prototype production and preparing additional flight tests following recent demonstrations in Arizona, California, and Oklahoma, where “it also demonstrated interception and lethal capabilities,” Lockheed said.

The introduction of MORFIUS comes as high-power microwave counter-drone systems gain traction across the defense industry. 

Epirus, a US defense tech company, has developed the Leonidas HPM system, which has undergone testing with the US Army and is being delivered to government customers. Leonidas is a ground-based platform designed to disable drones and electronic systems using software-defined microwave pulses. 

Other programs have explored high-power microwave technologies, including Boeing’s Phantom Works, which has been working on the CHAMP project along with the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Thales’s ThunderShield already demonstrating operational potential.

Israel has invested in multiple counter-UAS technologies, including working on HPM capabilities due to persistent drone activity from regional adversaries. While most publicly known Israeli programs emphasize laser-based interception, high-power microwave systems are being evaluated for their ability to disable multiple drones simultaneously and reduce collateral damage.

The prosecution filed a precedent-setting request on Wednesday to revoke the Israeli citizenship of two security prisoners convicted of plotting to help Hamas disable Cellcom’s communications infrastructure during a future war or military operation.

The request against Rani Awf and Shadi Aidi was submitted to the Central District Court at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds the interior minister’s authority for the matter, and with the approval of the attorney-general.

According to the prosecution, it is the first time the state has sought to revoke citizenship through a special procedure that allows the request to be brought before the same court that handled the criminal case.

That procedure was added to the Citizenship Law in 2011. It allows a court that convicts someone of terrorism or certain serious security offenses to revoke their citizenship, in addition to imposing a criminal sentence, if the interior minister requests it and the attorney-general approves.

Previously, the state would have had to begin a separate case in an administrative court.

Israeli courts can revoke citizenship upon terrorism conviction

“The offenses of which the defendants were convicted justify revoking their citizenship,” the state wrote, calling the case an “extreme and exceptional” violation of the basic loyalty citizens owe to the country.

Awf and Aidi worked at Cellcom and had extensive access to the telecommunications company’s computer systems and infrastructure.

According to the prosecution, the two took a series of steps to advance a plan to shut down Cellcom’s computer and information systems during a war or military operation in order to assist Hamas.

Awf maintained prolonged contact with senior Hamas officials in Turkey and, with Aidi’s assistance, passed along sensitive information about Israeli communications infrastructure, Cellcom’s cybersecurity systems, and ways of bypassing them.

The two also planned to install technological tools that could later be used to disrupt or disable Cellcom’s communications network during wartime.

The network serves both civilian customers and Israeli security forces, meaning that a successful attack could have damaged a major national communications system at a particularly sensitive time.

The two suspects were convicted of assisting an enemy, treason

Awf and Aidi were convicted, based on their confessions, of conspiring to assist an enemy during wartime and providing information to an enemy with the intention of harming state security.

Awf was also convicted of disclosing an intention to commit treason and maintaining contact with a foreign agent.

In 2024, the court sentenced Awf to 11 years in prison, a suspended sentence, and a fine. Aidi was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison, a suspended sentence, and a fine.

The state filed the citizenship request after they were sentenced, as a continuation of the criminal proceedings against them.

In its request, the prosecution argued that the two had acted for nationalist and ideological reasons and had sought to assist Palestinian terrorist organizations by targeting one of Israel’s central communications networks.

The state described their actions as “acts of treason in the fullest sense” and a severe violation of their most basic obligation of loyalty to the country.

It also stressed the potential damage that could have been caused had the planned cyberattack been carried out.

“The steps taken by the two were intended to damage a central Israeli communications network during a military operation, in order to help the enemy in its war against the state,” the prosecution wrote.

Their conduct therefore represented “a clear and extreme breach of allegiance,” it said.

The state argued that citizenship-revocation provisions were intended for precisely such exceptional cases, in which a citizen’s actions amount to turning against the country and severing their most fundamental connection to it.

“Their actions continued over many years, involved advance planning, and were carried out consistently and systematically,” the prosecution wrote.

The two exploited information they had obtained through their work and intended to use it to assist “the most dangerous of Israel’s enemies,” it added.

The fact that they planned for the communications network to be disrupted specifically during a war or military operation made their conduct particularly serious, according to the state.

Afghan Christian convert and former government official Ziba Mastoor says she fled to Qatar earlier this month after Taliban intelligence operatives pursued her from Afghanistan into Pakistan, leaving her dependent on a temporary visa and fearful that deportation could place her life in danger. 

Her case reflects the risks confronting Afghan women and members of religious minorities who fled to neighboring countries after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan and Iran have accelerated the expulsion of Afghans over the past year, raising concerns that vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers could be returned to Afghanistan to face further persecution. 

Since retaking power, the Taliban has largely excluded women from public life. Girls are barred from secondary schools and universities, while women have faced sweeping restrictions on employment, travel and access to public spaces. Women who protest have reported arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. 

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and prominent Islamic scholars have rejected the Taliban’s restrictions on women as lacking a basis in Islamic law. Rights advocates accuse the Taliban of using a rigid interpretation of Islam to enforce its rule while persecuting religious minorities. 

Reports of intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence and discrimination have prompted members of minority communities to flee or conceal their identities. 

Mastoor says she held a senior government position during the administration of former President Ashraf Ghani. She told The Media Line that Taliban intelligence operatives targeted her because of her faith and attempted to arrest her during a nighttime raid on her home, but she escaped. 

Mastoor alleged that Taliban authorities later issued what she described as a sentence of “stoning to death” because she had converted to Christianity. She said officials also harassed and intimidated her parents while searching for her. The Media Line could not independently verify the existence of such a sentence. 

Responding to a question from The Media Line, Mastoor said, “I converted to Christianity in 2019. My faith guided me to make this genuine and personal choice.” 

Her parents, who are ethnic Tajik Muslims, opposed her decision, she said. 

Persistent harassment by Taliban intelligence operatives eventually forced Mastoor to flee Afghanistan for Pakistan, according to her account. Yet she said she found no lasting safety there and lived alone under the constant threat of forced return. 

A trusted contact in Kabul later warned her that Taliban operatives were attempting to locate her in Pakistan, Mastoor said, prompting her to flee again. 

She arrived in Qatar on a temporary visitor visa only days ago. Mastoor fears that she could be deported to Afghanistan when the visa expires, which she said would place her life at grave risk. 

Afghanistan’s Christian population is believed to be extremely small, and it is difficult to document because believers generally practice in secret. Mastoor estimated that only a few hundred Christians remain in the country. 

She has appealed to Christian organizations worldwide for help in preventing her return to Afghanistan. 

Fazal Ur Rehman Zadran, a Kabul-based political analyst, told The Media Line that determining the size of Afghanistan’s Christian population was difficult because openly practicing or promoting Christianity is prohibited. 

Zadran said that dozens of families from the Hazara Shiite community had converted to Christianity in previous years. Hazaras have long faced persecution, including attacks by the Islamic State group, and he suggested that such experiences may have contributed to some conversions. 

After the Taliban returned to power, many Christian families were forced to conceal their religious identities, Zadran said. According to the information available to him, some fled to Pakistan and Iran in disguise. 

Stricter deportation policies in both countries have left those families living in hardship and uncertainty, fearful that they could be returned to Afghanistan at any time, he explained. 

Qaiser Khan Afridi, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan, expressed concern about Pakistan’s policy of deporting Afghan refugees and asylum seekers. 

He told The Media Line that while the UNHCR appreciates the people and government of Pakistan for “hosting millions of Afghan refugees with generosity for more than 45 years, despite facing their own economic and social challenges,” refugees should not be compelled to return to a country where their lives or freedom could be endangered. 

The UNHCR is particularly concerned about the risks facing women, girls and other vulnerable groups if they are sent back to Afghanistan, he said, and urged Pakistani authorities to ensure that any repatriation is voluntary, safe and dignified. 

The Media Line also spoke with Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, who categorically denied that a Christian community exists in Afghanistan. 

Because there is no Christian community, Mujahid said, Christians have no official status in the country, and no churches are available for worship. He did not address Mastoor’s allegations concerning her attempted arrest or reported sentence. 

‘The international response to Afghanistan’s crisis has been marked by half-measures’

Rebecca Trotter, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based human rights activist, is the co-founder and co-director of Food for Thought Afghanistan, a US and Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization supporting Afghan civil society. 

She told The Media Line that “the international response to Afghanistan’s crisis has been marked by half-measures, symbolic gestures, and rhetorical condemnations rather than meaningful action.”   

She said that even measures imposed during the Taliban’s first rule have largely not been reinstated, arguing that “the global community’s commitment to defending fundamental human rights stands in stark contrast to the Taliban’s determination to enforce its own agenda.” 

Trotter added that she believes the international community would have already openly normalized relations with Afghanistan’s de facto authorities “had it not been for the relentless efforts of Afghan civil society, both inside the country and abroad, to resist such a course.” Genuine international support for those efforts could fundamentally alter Afghanistan’s future, she argued. 

According to Trotter, “Food for Thought Afghanistan is working to relocate 60 at-risk Afghan women’s rights activists from Pakistan to safe third countries.” The organization successfully resettled 31 families last year, she said, while the remaining families continue to live in safe houses it established. 

She said the organization had also pressed Pakistan to recognize the women’s protection claims under international, Pakistani and Islamic law. 

Hadia Sahibzada, the Tehran-based founder of the Afghanistan Women’s Voice Movement and an advocate for Afghan refugees in Iran, told The Media Line that “women’s rights in Afghanistan have become one of the world’s gravest human rights crises.” 

Gender apartheid and a blatant violation of fundamental human rights

She described the Taliban’s policies as gender apartheid and a blatant violation of fundamental human rights. Forced deportation places Afghan women at immediate risk of persecution, arbitrary detention, retaliation and severe punishment after their return, she said. 

Repeated condemnations by the United Nations and foreign governments have failed to curb the Taliban’s abuses, Sahibzada argued, while the absence of accountability has allowed violations to continue. She called for those responsible to be prosecuted under international law. 

Sahibzada also urged governments not to normalize relations with the Taliban. Instead, she called for stronger diplomatic pressure, accountability measures, protection for Afghan women and the immediate reopening of schools and universities to girls. 

For Mastoor, those debates are no longer abstract. Her immediate future depends on whether she can secure protection in Qatar or another country before her temporary visa expires. Without a safe destination, she fears that the long journey from Afghanistan through Pakistan may end where it began—under the authority of the Taliban. 

Ed Miliband, who’s set to be Britain’s new foreign secretary, said he would strive to honor the memories of his Holocaust refugee parents in a post to X/Twitter on Monday.

“My parents came to Britain as Jewish refugees from the Nazis,” Miliband stated, just hours after Prime Minister Andy Burnham named him to the post. “To them, Britain was both a sanctuary and a beacon of hope in the global fight against fascism. I will carry my parents’ faith in that spirit of Britain to my role representing our country.”

The appointment by the new prime minister positions Miliband as the highest-ranking Jewish official in the British government, assuming a role once held by his older brother David and at a time when questions of the country’s relationship to Israel are a pressing priority. Miliband has long decried antisemitism, including within his own party, and is also known as a critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Among the priorities facing the office is whether Britain should move forward with an effort to ban imports from West Bank settlements, which has support across the political spectrum, and how to handle surging anti-Israel and anti-Jewish violence that authorities say has been orchestrated by actors abroad.

Ed Miliband led the Labour Party when it was in opposition from 2010-2015; his brother was among the candidates he bested in the party’s 2010 leadership race.

pic.twitter.com/FSZJKhI963

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) July 20, 2026

Miliband’s Israel stance has faced criticism

He has said he has no Jewish practice or formal education and that his parents favored politics over religion. His mother, Marion Kozak, who died last month, was an early supporter of Jews for Justice for Palestinians, a British group, but ceased speaking out publicly as her sons ascended in British politics. 

David Miliband, now the president of the International Rescue Committee, has also said his career choices stem from the suffering their parents endured as Jewish refugees.

Ed Miliband’s stances on Israel have caused consternation among British Jewish groups in the past. In 2014, he led his party in a symbolic vote to recognize a Palestinian state and also criticized the toll of Israel’s operations during that year’s Gaza war.

“I defend Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks,” he said then. “But I cannot explain, justify or defend the horrifying deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, including children and innocent civilians.”

He also told the Jewish News at the time that he did not eschew the “Zionist” label. 

“I am proud to be Jewish,” he said. “I’ve no issue with people calling me a Zionist.” He described Israel as “the homeland for the Jewish people.” 

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said they recognized Miliband’s overall support of Israel, but also chided him for his comments about the Palestinian civilian death toll.

“These comments regrettably ignore the ideology of Hamas, the psychology of Hamas, the actions of Hamas and thus the reality faced by Israel,” they said then in a joint statement at the time.

Miliband was succeeded as Labour Party leader by Jeremy Corbyn, whose strident pro-Palestinianism and perceived insensitivity to Jewish sensibilities marked the worst relations between the party and the Jewish community in decades.

Miliband continues to condemn Israel’s government, despite claiming to be a Zionist

Miliband was cautious about criticizing his successor but made clear his unhappiness with how Corbyn was handling the antisemitism charges in 2018 when he took the organized Jewish community’s side in lambasting the party leadership for rejecting a definition of antisemitism that includes some forms of anti-Israel rhetoric and activity.

“Labour should adopt the full IHRA definition,” he said then, referring to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. “The argument that it is somehow incompatible with criticizing the actions of the Israeli government is wrong. The views of the vast majority of the Jewish community are very clear.

Miliband condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, but also persisted as one of Labour’s most forceful critics of Israel’s government. 

During the 2024 general election campaign, he called Oct. 7 “an appalling terrorist atrocity,” saying, “We in the Labour leadership are completely committed to the security for the people and security for the state of Israel.” 

However, he added that “the continuing Israeli action in Gaza is not either beneficial now for Israel, or for the people of Gaza.” 

One of the first questions Miliband will face is how he will handle relations with US President Donald Trump, who is famously averse to people who have criticized him in the past.

“These are dark days for America and the world,” Miliband wrote in 2017, as Trump assumed his first term of office. The same year, Miliband also said Trump had “lowered the bar for idiocy.”

Border Police rescued a donkey who was tied up in the trunk of a private vehicle on Tuesday night after pulling the car over for inspection at the Tunnels Checkpoint outside Jerusalem. 

The driver, a 28-year-old resident of Beitar Illit who was coming from Gush Etzion into Jerusalem, claimed that the donkey was unwell and that he was taking it to the Neve Yaakov farm in east Jerusalem.

He was subsequently detained while authorities investigated the matter, and the donkey was taken to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for further treatment. 

Donkey seen awake, alert, and walking

In a video distributed by the police, the donkey is seen awake and alert as an officer unties the restraints around his two front legs; restraints are also seen tied around his two back legs.

The donkey is then seen walking normally as someone leads him away from the vehicle. 

Two residents of Wadi Ara are suspected of possessing and carrying a variety of illegal weapons, which constitutes a threat to national security, police said on Wednesday at the conclusion of the investigation into the matter. 

The police investigation, conducted alongside the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), uncovered photographic evidence proving that the two men, brothers aged 24 and 27, possessed and had carried an M16 rifle, multiple handguns, and ammunition. 

The two brothers were detained early on in the investigation, and their detention was continuously extended as the investigation wore on. Once the police investigation concluded, a prosecutor’s statement was filed against the two suspects, and the State Attorney’s Office is expected to file an indictment in the near future, along with a request to extend their detention until the end of the legal process. 

One of the photographs found in the investigation and published by police showed an infant propped up on a sofa next to an M16 rifle. Other images showed the suspects holding various weapons, while some displayed the weapons laid out on the floor alongside the ammunition. In one picture, a rifle appears to be laid out on top of a Muslim prayer mat. 

Police arrest two Wadi Ara residents after they throw gun, attempt to hide evidence

In a similar incident in April, two men from the Arab-Israeli town of Wadi Ara were arrested during a police raid on an apartment as part of an effort to crack down on illegal weapons and reduce Arab sector crime. 

When police entered the apartment, the two suspects threw the weapons in an attempt to hide the evidence. Consequently, obstruction of justice was added to their list of charges. 

Police seized a weapon that was suspected of being used for criminal purposes, along with ammunition. 

Jews around the world are set to mark Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av) on Wednesday night and throughout Thursday, the anniversary of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and of several other calamities in Jewish history.

Tisha B’Av is first and foremost a fast day, during which Jews abstain from all food and water for approximately 25 hours, from sunset until nightfall the next day. It is also the time when the Jews read the Book of Lamentations (Megillat Eicha), in which the biblical prophet Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile from the Land of Israel.

What do we mourn on Tisha B’Av?

While most commonly associated with the destruction of the First and Second Temples, Tisha B’Av actually marks a number of calamities throughout Jewish history. Chronologically, the first such tragedy is believed to have been the sin of the spies. According to some traditions, the day that the 12 spies gave a slanderous report about the Land of Israel to the Jews in the desert, leading to that generation being forbidden from entering the land, is traditionally believed to have occurred on Tisha B’Av.

The Talmud recounts that when the Jews cried out in response to the spies’ report and even expressed a desire to return to slavery in Egypt, God responded, “You wept needlessly, and I [will] establish for you [a night] of weeping for [future] generations.”

 A number of other events are often cited as being calamities befalling the Jewish people that occurred on or near the ninth of Av, including the Roman destruction of Betar and crushing of the Bar Kochba revolt; expulsion of the Jews from England, France, and Spain; the beginning of World War I; the formal approval of the Nazi’s Final Solution; the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; the First Crusade; the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AIMA) in Argentina by Hezbollah; Israel’s 2005 Disengagement from the Gaza Strip; and most recently, Israel’s passing of the controversial judicial reform legislation, the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard.

What are the rules for Tisha B’Av?

On Tisha B’Av, the rules traditionally observed by Orthodox Jews include washing only up to the knuckles after using the bathroom or in the morning; however, if your hand is dirty above the knuckles, it may also be washed.
 
Studying Torah, except for melancholy passages, laws of mourning, and Tisha B’Av or Musar (Jewish morals), is forbidden on Tisha B’Av.
 
Many Jews also hold that they should not exchange verbal greetings on Tisha B’Av. Sitting on a chair is forbidden until after halachic midday (shortly before 1 p.m. in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Thursday). Sitting on the floor or in a low chair is permitted.
 
On the morning of Tisha B’Av, men do not wear a tallit (prayer shawl) or tefillin (phylacteries). The tallit and tefillin are put on during the Mincha (afternoon) prayers.

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington on July 21 is part of a new strategy that the White House is pursuing. Trump has met with Syrian leader Ahmed al Shara’a and also Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi in recent weeks. This shows how the US is now cementing its ties to key countries in the historic Levant.

Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are all part of the heartland of the Arab world. Damascus and Baghdad are historic cities around which the whole of the region’s civilization has revolved over the last 1,000 years.

Lebanon is now key to US policy. Trump wants to see movement toward peace and also wants to help Lebanon move forward with deploying its armed forces into pilot zones. Trump has pledged to help Lebanon “a lot.”

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country, and we’re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves,” Trump told Aoun. “We’re gonna help it a lot.”  

The US has been involved in 11 nights of strikes on Iran as of July 22, meaning that while Iran is on the defensive, Washington is moving to shore up Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. This is a key frontier. All of these states have common interests against Iranian influence and Iranian attempts to destabilize them.

Trump shows devotion to Israel-Lebanon talks

The US has also helped broker rounds of talks between Lebanon and Israel, signaling historic levels of engagement. A US president has never been so devoted to Israel and Lebanon and trying to make things actually work. Aoun is the first Lebanese leader to visit the White House in almost 20 years. Previous US administrations essentially sat on the sidelines and let things percolate in the wrong direction in Lebanon.

“Lebanon hopes the talks result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and the Lebanese military receiving support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah had held sway,” the London-based Asharq al-Awsat noted.

Speaking about Israel and the IDF redeploying, Trump said, “they’re in the process of doing that. They’re in the process of redeploying.” Israel is clear that it won’t withdraw from everything it has taken. Aoun said to the American president, “your vision is peace,” calling it Trump’s “legacy.”

The goal now is for the Framework Agreement announced on June 26 to move forward. The agreement is supposed to see Lebanon deploy in pilot zones and remove Hezbollah, and, eventually, there could be normalization with Israel. Trump has suggested he might even speak to Hezbollah. This shows the deep US commitment.

Direct flights to Beirut on the table in US-Lebanon relationship

As part of the new US-Lebanon relationship, there could be direct flights to Beirut. There will likely need to be some reforms at Beirut International Airport. This means making sure Hezbollah is not present at or near the airport. This will be complex because Hezbollah has long sought to use the airport.

Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counter Terrorism on the National Security Council, wrote on X/Twitter that “eighteen years ago, Colonel Joseph Aoun was my student at National Defense University as a Department of War Counterterrorism Fellow.”

He noted that Aoun was “an exceptional student at that. It was, therefore, a deeply personal moment to see him represent Lebanon as their President today in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump.” He added that these are “two true leaders fearlessly committed to their people and to Peace in the Middle East.”

Israeli companies are on track to register a record year in the public transaction market, with approximately 30 new Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) expected by the end of 2026 and some $4.1 billion raised in the first half of the year, the Transactions Report by Grant Thornton Israel, published on Tuesday, revealed.

In total, 325 deals were made between public and private offerings, totaling $32 billion in half a year, making 2026 the third-best year in the last decade, behind 2021 and 2022.

“The first half of 2026 reflects the maturity of the Israeli transaction market. Despite a complex macroeconomic and security environment, the market continues to show strong activity, significant transactions, and high confidence from international investors, primarily American investors,” said Shlomi Bartov, CEO of Grant Thornton Israel.

Additionally, the report revealed that technology still dominates the market, with 66% of companies that made deals in the last year being from this sector.

It also showed a strong presence of AI-centered companies, which are those that have AI development as a core attribute of their business model, with one-third of the deals being made around them.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on the rise after Iran war

Another key detail of the report shows that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reported a record year, with a 38% rise in the last six months.

Some analysts point out that this was a product of the Iran war, of investors diversifying into other markets that do not depend on oil imports, and of reliance on the defense sector due to the ongoing conflict.

The report also mentions these, explaining that after the ceasefire was declared, the TASE saw a slight downward trend after several weeks of growth.

“Israeli companies are coming to the market more mature, with more established business models and the ability to generate larger deals,” said Bartov.

The report also noted that current trends in companies going public differ from those of other years, with most companies pursuing public offerings at multi-billion-dollar valuations.

Scientists and wildlife preservationists have spent the past five years attempting to save the northern spotted owl in the US, no matter the cost – which has so far included killing thousands of other birds, according to an article published in Science. 

The spotted owl’s population has been declining due to the arrival of barred owls in the western US, which has pushed them out of their habitats and further towards extinction. 

The barred owl and the spotted owl share many similarities and are closely enough related to mate and produce fertile offspring. But when barred owls arrive in spotted owls’ territory, the result is not always a union. 

Barred owls have an aggressive streak not present in the spotted owl, and will drive spotted owls away from their nesting sites, according to Eric Forsman, a US Forest Service wildlife biologist. 

“You get this population of old birds with no young coming on,” he said. 

Killing barred owls may be only option

While killing so many birds feels antithetical to many of these conservationists’ ideals, shooting the barred owls appears to be the only option to save the spotted owls, according to Science.

It is also one that’s working. 

In 2009, wildlife biologist Lowell Diller and the timber company Green Diamond Resource began a five-year experiment shooting barred owls on land in Northern California. At the conclusion, Diller found that spotted owl numbers stabilized in areas where the barred owls had been killed. 

Larger experiments have since mirrored the results. 

Across Washington, Oregon, and California, 2,485 barred owls were killed in tests ending in 2019. Again, spotted owl numbers stabilized in areas where barred owls were shot, but dropped by 12% per year in untouched areas, according to Science. 

The study was enough to convince the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to take a more drastic step, releasing a plan to use specially trained teams of owl shooters to create spotted owl refuges across the three states in 2024. 

While the plan is voluntary for landowners and public land managers and the shooting has been limited, at maximum scale, the plan would cover over 50,000 square miles and kill 450,000 owls over 30 years, Science wrote, continuing indefinitely. 

Owl saved from extinction before

This is not the first time federal action has been taken to save the spotted owl. In past decades, widespread logging was pushing the species towards extinction, Science wrote. 

However, in 1990 it was listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act, and courts halted most logging in the old forests that form the owl’s habitat on federal land. 

In 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan put large areas of the owl’s habitat off-limits to logging. 

The threat then shifted to the influx of barred owls. 

While it is unclear exactly what led to their expansion across the US, the FWS stated that it is believed to have begun around the turn of the 20th century. 

One leading theory is that as European settlers planted trees on farms and suppressed Indigenous fire-setting practices and traditions, a bridge of trees was created across the prairie. 

Others believe that global warming made forests in new areas more hospitable to the owls.

The manager of a movie theater in suburban Portland, Oregon, is defending a cryptic marquee message about Jews and The Odyssey by saying modern-day antisemitism is “exaggerated” to help Israel.

“Before there were the Jews, there was … ‘The Odyssey,’” said the marquee at the Lake Theater and Cafe in Lake Oswego.

Local Jewish clergy, as well as Portland’s Jewish federation, have sharply objected to the message even as many admitted that, initially, they didn’t understand its intention.

The manager, Jordan Perry, whose theater has a history of provocative messaging, didn’t respond to Jewish Telegraphic Agency requests for comment. He told the Portland Tribune he would remove the signage – and said he intended it as an “intentionally subtle” commentary on what he believes is an overemphasis on antisemitism.

“Through the media I consume, I believe modern-day antisemitism is exaggerated, mostly as a defense for Israel’s actions in the Middle East and its involvement in our politics,” Perry told the Tribune. “My intention in referencing Jewish people on the marquee was to prod at everything being seemingly antisemitic with a statement that couldn’t possibly be construed as antisemitic.”

Perry also said he wanted “to push back culturally on what constitutes antisemitism, to signal, in solidarity, that it’s not about ‘the Jews,’ that it’s about Israel, and Palestine, and Lebanon, and Iran, and AIPAC,” the pro-Israel lobby that has become a flashpoint for political criticism of Israel.

Portland Jewish Federation receives dozens of complaints about marquee

Portland’s Jewish federation has received more than 40 complaints about the marquee, according to its chief community relations officer. 

“Any reference to ‘the Jews’ at this point in time, with the climate of antisemitism, makes it suspect already, not to mention of course that it was historically inaccurate,” Bob Horenstein said in an interview. (Historians have traced the Jewish community’s existence to ancient times predating Homer’s authorship of The Odyssey in the eighth century BCE.) 

Horenstein asked the theater to change the marquee; the reaction from local Jews, he said, was largely “unsettled” and “unnerved.” Perry ignored him, he said. “And our suspicions proved positive because he made it very clear what his intention was.”

Perry’s fuller comments were even more offensive, Horenstein said, particularly his assertion that claims of modern antisemitism are exaggerated. “It’s not for anyone outside of our community to tell us whether we’re overreacting to antisemitism,” the federation leader said.

The marquee was later reportedly altered, with a reference to the navigation app Waze replacing “The Jews” – a possible joke about the meandering nature of Odysseus’s journey, though Horenstein noted the app was also created by Israelis. 

Eventually the messaging was removed altogether, replaced with a simple advertisement for the film.

Lake Theater marquee raises painful question for Oregon Jews

Eve Posen, a rabbi at Conservative Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland, wrote on Facebook before the revelation of Perry’s motives that the marquee had distressed her. She saw it as of a piece with the recent US House of Representatives vote on ending military aid to Israel, which none of Oregon’s five Democratic members of Congress voted against, as well as a recent account of a local Jew whose car was recently been vandalized with swastikas.

“It raises a painful question: why invoke Jews at all?” Posen wrote. “In a moment when antisemitism is already at historic levels, casually inserting Jews into a narrative where we do not belong doesn’t feel harmless.”

The theater’s peculiar sense of humor has raised eyebrows in the past. Upon the recent release of the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, the marquee made a reference to the singer’s child sexual abuse allegations. And earlier this year a marquee message about the First Lady documentary Melania led that film’s distributor, Amazon Studios, to pull the film from the theater.

This story has been corrected to reflect that historians trace the existence of Jewish communities in general, rather than in Greece, back to ancient times.

Thirteen people are dead and seven missing after heavy rains hit much of Chile, authorities said on Tuesday, while the government said it would seek sanctions on electricity distributors for sustained power outages.

Storms have struck from the country’s central region down to the south, causing widespread flooding, road closures, and damage to homes.

“Waterways, streams, and riverbanks have been weakened by the rainfall over the past few days; there is still a risk of rising water levels in some of them,” said Alicia Cebrian, head of Chile’s Senapred emergency office.

Cebrian added that, in addition to the casualties, 2,281 people have been displaced, 81 homes have been destroyed, and 2,761 have sustained major damage, while 87,000 people remain without electricity.

The minister of the interior, Claudio Alvarado, said the government plans to initiate disciplinary proceedings against electricity distribution companies for delays in restoring service.

Rainfall disrupts schools, mining companies in Chile 

Lessons were suspended in schools across several municipalities in four regions.

Although most of the major copper and lithium mining companies are located in the northernmost part of the country, which has not been affected by the bad weather, some operations in the region have had to temporarily scale back their activities due to the conditions.

Pro-Israel Rep. Greg Stanton easily won his Arizona Democratic primary on Tuesday night, staving off a challenge from activist and democratic socialist Kai Newkirk, who had made Israel and AIPAC a focal point in his campaign.

“This campaign presented voters with a real choice about how Democrats should lead,” Stanton said in a statement posted on his election campaign page after initial results reported by multiple media outlets showed he received 68.1% of the votes compared to Newkirk’s 31.9%.

“Tonight,” Stanton continued, the voters “chose proven leadership that fights back, delivers real results, and brings our party together.”

Stanton to face Republican challenger Zuhdi Jasser in November

Stanton, a former Phoenix mayor who was first elected to Congress in 2018, will now face Republican challenger Zuhdi Jasser in November’s general election.

Newkirk, 45, whose organizing has largely focused on campaign finance reform, has repeatedly blasted Stanton’s support from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. He has also accused the Israeli government itself of “trying to interfere in our elections,” including in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District where he is running and which covers parts of Phoenix and Maricopa County.

He pointed to a $45 million text message campaign to improve Israel’s image in the US as a sign of such interference, and posited that “they may be targeting areas where AIPAC is more invested or where these issues are more at stake.”

“I’ve been arrested over 25 times in civil disobedience — and I’ll go to jail for justice again before I ever take a dime from AIPAC,” Newkirk wrote on X last week, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The result comes as a number of left-wing congressional candidates with sharply critical Israel stances have won the Democratic nomination around the country, and as Israel and AIPAC grow increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters.

Newkirk’s platform includes ending all military aid to Israel

The most recent poll on the Arizona race, commissioned by a group that favors Newkirk, had Stanton up by 8 percentage points, while another poll, conducted two weeks earlier by a group favoring Stanton, showed the incumbent ahead by 33 points.

Newkirk’s platform includes ending all military aid to Israel and imposing an arms embargo on the country, which he accuses of genocide.

Stanton, 56, a four-term incumbent, voted against Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment to cut military aid to Israel last week. Newkirk criticized Stanton, saying that he would have voted for the amendment, and suggested that Stanton’s vote was the result of his support from AIPAC.

“Greg Stanton has taken over $300K from AIPAC,” Newkirk wrote. “And today — as so many Americans in our district and across the country struggle to get by — he just voted to send billions more of our tax dollars to Israel to fund their war crimes and genocide. Disgraceful.”

Among AIPAC’s endorsees in Congress, more than a dozen voted to cut aid to Israel last week; AIPAC has since removed the option on its website to donate to those candidates.

Stanton explained his vote on X, saying that the amendment “would undermine America’s ability to counter real threats from Iran” and weaken the ability to promote long-term stability across the region. He also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wrote that “clear change is necessary” as the US-Israel security agreement, which includes $3.8 billion in annual military subsidies for Israel, nears its expiration in 2028.

Newkirk is endorsed by progressive groups such as Our Revolution, Track AIPAC and the Progressive Democrats of America.

Also among Newkirk’s endorsers is Cenk Uygur, the host of the Young Turks who has spread conspiracy theories about Israel. “Kai is Israel Free and has fought to get money out of politics his whole life,” wrote Uygur last month.

Newkirk has faced turbulence in establishing broader support.

The Young Democrats of Arizona pulled its endorsement of Newkirk earlier in July, writing that it had been “made aware of some concerning patterns of behavior” displayed by Newkirk, without specifying what it meant.

Newkirk did not respond to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s request for comment. After the Young Democrats of Arizona retracted its endorsement, Newkirk wrote that the withdrawal of the endorsement was based on a false report amid “a wave of wins by democratic socialists” and called it a “weaponization of … disavowed misinformation.”

Newkirk did speak out against last year’s killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. “I stand always with my beloved Jewish siblings against the scourge of antisemitism just as I will never stop in the nonviolent struggle to end the genocide in Gaza, release all hostages, and open the way to just, lasting peace,” he said.

Ukraine has recaptured 700 sq km (270 sq miles) of its territory this year, outgoing Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday, confirming he was leaving the top military job.

“I am handing over to my successor an army that is not only holding the defense but is also on the offensive,” Syrskyi said in a statement on Telegram.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that a young major general, Mykhailo Drapatyi, would replace Syrskyi after days of street protests.

The move followed the ousting, in a wider government reshuffle last week, of tech-savvy reformist defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which brought the deep divisions in the Ukrainian defense leadership into the open.

Syrskyi has held the commander-in-chief position since early 2024, after playing key roles in Kyiv’s defense in the early days of the war and in a lightning counteroffensive to retake swathes of the northeastern Kharkiv region in 2022.

Syrskyi faced backlash for his command style

But he has faced harsh criticism for a rigid command style which some service members have said resulted in unjustifiably high troop losses.

In his statement, he highlighted his track record, including stopping a Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region and an operation in Russia’s Kursk region in 2024.

The State Attorney’s Office on Monday filed an indictment with the Nazareth District Court against 10 defendants, including Asaf Buskila, Adir Ben Hamo, and Meir Amar, accusing them of operating an organized criminal network that allegedly operated for years in Migdal HaEmek and the surrounding area.

According to the indictment, the organization was led by Buskila, an inmate at Shita Prison, who allegedly directed the gang’s activities from behind bars while instructing members operating outside the prison.

The defendants include Migdal HaEmek residents Asaf Buskila, 30; Adir Ben Hamo, 23; Meir Amar, 64; Liel Malka, 23; Shani Cohen, 32; Aliza Buskila, 48; Moti Levy, 26; Elimelech Perido, 26; and Oded Davit, 25. Lian Neiman, 29, of Kiryat Haim, was also charged.

Prosecutors allege that over the course of nearly four years, the group operated a structured criminal enterprise involved in illegal gambling, loan sharking, debt collection through threats, exploitation, and money laundering. The indictment, filed by attorneys Shani Malul and Tehila Bernes of the Northern District Attorney’s Office, states that the operation generated at least NIS 3 million.

Gambling ring head orchestrated debt collection efforts from behind bars

Despite being incarcerated, Buskila allegedly remained in daily contact with members of the organization, issuing instructions and directing debt collection efforts. Prosecutors say borrowers and gamblers who fell into financial distress were intimidated into repaying their debts through fear and threats.

The indictment further alleges that Buskila, together with Ben Hamo, Amar, and Davit, rigged roulette games at a gambling apartment they operated in Migdal HaEmek. According to prosecutors, the roulette table was equipped with a remotely controlled magnetic mechanism that enabled the group to manipulate the outcome of games at will in order to increase their profits.

In one alleged incident, after a debtor accumulated a debt of at least NIS 100,000, members of the organization conspired to assault him to force repayment. Prosecutors say they lured him to the gambling apartment under false pretenses, where several members of the group were waiting with an attack dog. Once inside, they allegedly locked the door, beat him, and set the dog on him, causing bite wounds to his arms and legs.

The indictment also describes a separate case in which the defendants allegedly provided a NIS 50,000 loan carrying monthly interest payments of NIS 3,000. After the borrower struggled to keep up with the payments and was repeatedly threatened, prosecutors say he ultimately paid the defendants at least NIS 128,700.

Defendants charged with exploitation, aggravated assault

The defendants are charged, each according to their alleged role, with offenses including organizing and operating illegal gambling, maintaining gambling premises, extortion by threats, extortion by force, exploitation, providing credit without a license, issuing loans at usurious interest rates in violation of the Fair Credit Law, money laundering, conspiracy to commit a felony, obtaining property by fraud, aggravated assault, and additional offenses.

The State Attorney’s Office has also asked the court to keep the defendants in custody until the conclusion of the legal proceedings against them.

Elbit Systems of America has been awarded contracts by US Customs and Border Protection worth a combined total of more than $370 million.

The deliveries and installation work are scheduled to be completed by May 2029.

Elbit, which manufactures a range of sensors and border surveillance systems, did not disclose the scope of the contracts. 

Through previous contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Elbit is already responsible for securing sections of the US-Mexico border as part of the “Smart Border” project.

Elbit America’s continued contribution to strengthening US security and defense

As part of the project, the company has deployed and operates dozens of electronic surveillance towers, radar systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles in Arizona. 

These systems monitor the border and provide real-time surveillance data to the US Border Patrol.

“These new awards demonstrate Elbit America’s continued contribution to strengthening the security and defense capabilities of the United States,” Bezalel Machlis, president and CEO of Elbit Systems, said. 

Our advanced, combat-proven technologies are designed to provide reliable, real-time situational awareness and help our customers address complex operational challenges.”

Three days after the Israeli Air Force intercepted a drone near the Syrian border, the IDF is still trying to determine who sent it. 

The military has ruled out the possibility that Iran or the Houthis were behind the launch and is examining other leads.

On Sunday evening, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the Air Force had intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle detected in the Syrian border area, adding that the source of the launch was under investigation. The IDF also said that, in accordance with policy, no alerts were activated.

Three days have passed since the incident, and the IDF remains uncertain who operated the drone that was downed.

Military confirmed that drone was not of Israeli origin

A military source familiar with the details of the incident said that, under standard procedure, before intercepting a drone, the military verifies that it is not an Israeli aircraft that has strayed from its route or lost control. 

The source added that once it is determined that the drone is not Israeli, and it enters airspace where it poses a threat to IDF forces deployed in Syria or along the Israeli border, a decision is made to shoot it down.

By examining debris collected from the drone, footage of the aircraft, and additional data gathered from Israeli systems, the military is seeking to determine whether it was an American drone, an assessment considered unlikely, a Saudi drone that had lost control, or an aircraft operated by another party active in the area.

A separate security source stressed that the possibility that the drone had been launched by Iran or the Houthis had been ruled out, even as the incident remains under investigation.

Foreign drones and unmanned aerial vehicles breached European airspace 144 times between August 2024 and February 2026, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.

The breaches have resulted in the violation of air sovereignty of 12 countries, repeatedly forcing the closure of major airports, disrupting military activity, and flying over sensitive military installations, including nuclear weapons sites and Germany’s first Arrow-3 battery.

The report estimated that the overwhelming majority of the incidents involved Russian platforms launched from ships. Their mission was to expose response times, radar frequencies, and interception procedures used by Europe’s air defense network. 

Nuclear facilities, key strategic sites, and logistical hubs

Another objective was to map critical infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, key strategic sites, and logistical hubs supporting Ukraine, such as bases where Ukrainian troops train on Patriot air defense systems and Abrams tanks.

Several European countries have already acquired Israeli-made air defense systems. Germany has deployed the Arrow-3 system, while Slovakia and, according to foreign reports, Cyprus have acquired the Barak-8. 

Romania and the Czech Republic have purchased the SPYDER system, while Finland has procured David’s Sling, all produced by Rafael. Greece is in the advanced stages of approval for a major procurement deal expected to include the Barak MX, David’s Sling, and SPYDER systems.

Additionally, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled a new soft-kill defense system designed to counter aerial threats. Unlike kinetic interception systems, the new capability does not physically destroy incoming platforms. Instead, it disrupts threats that rely on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), providing an additional layer alongside conventional interception systems.

The psychological impact of the repeated incursions was considered no less significant than their intelligence-gathering value. According to the report, the operations were intended to undermine public confidence in governments’ ability to provide security, reflecting a classic Russian psychological warfare strategy that exploits the cost imbalance between inexpensive drones and the much higher cost of intercepting them, while simultaneously denying Russian involvement.

Although attention has increasingly focused on fiber-optic drones, such as those Hezbollah has launched against IDF troops in Lebanon, which are immune to satellite navigation jamming, military planners remain equally concerned by the growing number of unmanned systems, ranging from small drones to larger UAVs and loitering munitions that rely on satellite navigation.

Such systems are difficult to detect and expensive to defeat using missiles or artillery. Electronic interception could also provide an effective response against large numbers of simultaneous threats, including drone swarms that are already appearing on the battlefield in Ukraine and are expected to spread to other theaters.

HYPNOSIS counters coordinated attacks involving multiple threats

The new system, named HYPNOSIS, employs advanced jamming and deception capabilities while integrating a network of distributed end units under a single command-and-control center to protect critical infrastructure and strategic assets, including energy facilities and air defense systems. 

The system is designed to counter coordinated attacks involving multiple threats arriving simultaneously from different directions and can operate autonomously through a networked command-and-control center without requiring operator intervention.

“Israel Aerospace Industries is a global leader in developing air defense solutions against evolving aerial threats, based on the understanding that the modern battlefield requires integrated, multilayered defense capabilities capable of addressing a wide range of threats simultaneously,” IAI Chairman Boaz Levy said.

The system as a whole “represents a significant leap forward in the ability to protect strategic assets,” Guy Bar-Lev, IAI executive vice president and general manager of the Systems, Missiles and Space Group, added.

“Integrating it with hard-kill defenses strengthens the multilayered defense concept by adding another effective and cost-efficient layer of protection.”

Nearly 40% of tech companies that operated in northern Israel before October 2023 have resumed activity in the region, according to new figures presented at Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee’s 12th Food Innovation Conference. 

With a shaky ceasefire with neighboring Lebanon holding, the data points to a rebound in northern Israel’s technology sector.

Before the war, 204 hi-tech companies were active in the Eastern Galilee, including 80 in the field of AgriFood Tech. But during close to three years of war, many companies left the area and moved away from the front lines. Only seven companies remained, including two in the field of AgriFood Tech.

Coordinated work by Tel-Hai University, MIGAL, regional municipalities, and philanthropic partners has helped bring 80 companies back, among them 27 AgriFood Tech firms.

“We are working intensively to bring hi-tech companies – including FoodTech and AgriTech start-ups – back to the Galilee, and to attract new ones,” said Ofer Rivlin, CEO of the AgriFood Tech Northern Partnership. “This is critical because it is the main growth engine for the Eastern Galilee. It will allow entrepreneurs and industry leaders to turn the Galilee into a global leader in food and agriculture innovation.”

At the conference, Tel-Hai University outlined its strategy for strengthening the Galilee as an AgriFoodTech hub where research and entrepreneurship intersect. Students presented new food products inspired by trends in nutrition, sustainability, and health, including a knafeh-inspired breakfast cereal, vegan fish sauce, plant-based jerky, and ketogenic bread.

The conference marked the opening of the NIS 30 million FoodTech Boulevard in Kiryat Shmona, a new space designed to bring together scientific research, technological development, entrepreneurship, and industry. The facility is part of the planned NIS 55 million National Food Institute, which aims to anchor the Galilee’s role in advancing food-security solutions.

Prof. Eyal Shimoni, deputy vice president for research and development at Tel-Hai University, told The Jerusalem Post that the center is “trying to create supportive infrastructure, a hub, for companies that are returning to the North.”

During the close to three years of deadly war with Hezbollah, northern Israel was largely deserted and many companies decided to pack up and leave. The relative quiet along the border has seen many companies return, but not all.

“Not everyone is going to come back,” Shimoni said. “We live in Israel and many are not convinced that it’s the end of the war. We created this supportive environment to bring companies back, there’s no other way. We should keep doing what we do, no matter what.”

Situated a few kilometers from the Lebanese border, Tel-Hai University is a growing research institution that is focused on food security, sustainable agriculture, engineering, artificial intelligence, and related fields. 

And as the world’s population approaches nine billion, the new facility, Shimoni explained, is “very focused” on AgriFood Tech and will attempt to position the Galilee as a center for global food-security innovation.

A widespread outbreak of chickenpox has been reported in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, primarily among children living in densely populated displacement camps in the Khan Yunis area.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 9,000 cases were reported across more than 130 medical facilities throughout the Strip over a two-week period. Data provided to news agencies indicated that the number of reported infections had reached nearly 9,300, with more than half of the cases identified in Khan Yunis.

The UN said overcrowded living conditions, accumulated waste, shortages of clean water, and damage to sewage infrastructure have made it increasingly difficult to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In camps where large families are living in tents or temporary structures, isolating sick children from other family members and reducing close contact is often impossible.

How does chickenpox spread?

Chickenpox is a highly contagious viral disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a member of the herpesvirus family. The virus spreads through airborne respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes, as well as through direct contact with the fluid inside the characteristic blisters.

The illness often begins with fever, fatigue, headaches, and a loss of appetite. An itchy rash typically appears shortly afterward, usually beginning on the face, scalp, chest, or back before spreading to other parts of the body. The red spots rapidly develop into fluid-filled blisters, which later dry out and form scabs.

People infected with chickenpox can transmit the virus even before the rash appears. They remain contagious until all blisters have dried and crusted over. Because of the virus’s high transmissibility, individuals who have not been vaccinated and have never had the disease are at significant risk of infection after spending time in an enclosed space with an infected person.

What kind of complications are associated with chickenpox?

For most otherwise healthy children, chickenpox resolves on its own within several days to about a week and usually does not require specialized treatment. Care generally consists of rest, maintaining adequate hydration, fever reduction, and relieving itching. Antibiotics are ineffective against the virus itself but may be required if a secondary bacterial skin infection develops.

Although often regarded as a mild childhood illness, chickenpox can lead to serious complications. The most common complication in children is a bacterial infection of the skin and soft tissues, often resulting from scratching the blisters. Other potential complications include pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, impaired balance, bloodstream infections, and, in rare cases, life-threatening illness.

The risk of severe disease is higher among infants younger than one year, adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. Infection during pregnancy may increase the mother’s risk of developing pneumonia and, in some cases, may also harm the fetus or newborn.

Vaccination is considered the most effective way to prevent chickenpox. In Israel, the vaccine is administered as part of the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella immunization program. It is given in two doses as part of the routine childhood vaccination schedule and significantly reduces the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death.

Vaccinated individuals can still become infected in some cases, but the illness is generally milder and shorter in duration, with fewer blisters and either a low-grade fever or no fever at all.

At this stage, no comprehensive data have been released regarding the ages of those infected, vaccination rates among children in Gaza, or the number of patients hospitalized because of the outbreak. Aid organizations continue to monitor the situation amid parallel reports of rising rates of skin diseases, infections, and waterborne illnesses.

The United States is still willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis, but Tehran is not serious about talks, as the widening conflict disrupted two of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

Rubio made his comments in a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers a day after three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the war which has killed thousands of people across the Gulf since it began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

With Iran already threatening shipping through the Strait of Hormuz leading out of the Gulf, the Red Sea has served as the main alternate route out for millions of barrels of Saudi oil per day.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in efforts to salvage the interim ceasefire agreement signed by the US and Iran in June, which replaced an earlier April ceasefire.

Rubio doubts Tehran’s commitment to diplomacy

In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran’s Interior Minister, Eskandar Momeni, has visited the mediating Pakistan and asked Islamabad to continue its efforts.

Rubio said Washington was “always committed to diplomacy” but doubted whether Tehran was equally committed to negotiations.

“The problem we’re having right now is that they’re not serious about talks. If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies,” Rubio said in Manila.

He stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it would create a dangerous precedent for the world, including Southeast Asian countries, many of which have territorial disputes in the South China Sea with China.

“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent, which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” Rubio said.

With no diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night on Tuesday. Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday as Iran activated its air defenses over the capital, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said.

Explosions were also reported in the southeastern coastal cities of Chabahar and Konarak, and two blasts were heard in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

Earlier, Iran targeted US military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, and a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it had struck infrastructure belonging to Amazon in Bahrain, where the US tech company operates a regional data center. Amazon did not comment, and Reuters could not verify the report.

US service members killed in escalations with Iran

US President Donald Trump confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed so far in the war, including four in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq over the last few days.

Oil prices rose further in Asian trade on Wednesday after climbing more than 2% on Tuesday following the Houthi threats, with Brent crude hovering above $91 a barrel and US gasoline back over $4 a gallon.

In a letter to shippers, the Houthis on Tuesday threatened to attack any ships that load or discharge Saudi oil.

Trump said the Houthis had not yet shut the Bab el-Mandeb, the “Gate of Tears” strait leading into the Red Sea, and threatened to act against them if they did.

“So far it hasn’t happened,” Trump said. “If something like that happens, we take care of it.”

Three oil tankers loaded with Saudi crude for China and India made U-turns in the Red Sea on Tuesday, heading towards the Suez Canal rather than braving the Yemeni coast at the sea’s mouth.

Throughout the war, Saudi Arabia partially escaped the shipping disruption by piping oil to Yanbu on the Red Sea instead. But a full closure of that alternative route by the Houthis could reduce global oil supply as it would leave most Saudi oil exports trapped.

On Tuesday, Trump renewed his threats to again attack Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz “pretty soon”, which he said in June 2025 had been “totally obliterated” after the US military bombed the facility, buried in a mountain range, that month. Iran promised it would retaliate.

Fifty civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in the recent US strikes on Iran, a health ministry official said.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the war with Iran has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, while arguing that Congress should approve a $1.5 trillion defense budget to adequately defend the country.

“Not funding this department at $1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces,” Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The hearing was briefly interrupted by protesters shouting, “Stop bombing our children in Iran and Palestine!” and “End this war right now!” Capitol Police removed the demonstrators after Sen. Susan Collins called for security.

Hegseth stressed that the military would require an additional $67 billion in supplemental funding for the war with Iran, arguing that “the best way to create peace is to prepare for war, to deter it, and that’s exactly what the [Department of Defense] is doing, building a force so capable that it would be absurd for anyone to challenge it.”

“Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls that threaten our ability to also simply pay our service members, rapidly replenish equipment and munitions, and sustain vital operations without disruption,” he said.

Hegseth: Supplemental funding cannot replace long-term defense spending

Hegseth argued that emergency funding alone would not provide the long-term investment needed to maintain US military superiority, insisting that the $1.5 trillion would be necessary for defense, and is “what the President seeks.”

“The members of this committee understand better than most that long-term strategic dominance cannot be funded through one-off supplementals,” he said.

“On the readiness front, we requested $21 billion. This will fund military pay, replace much of the equipment utilized during recent operations, sustain forward-deployed forces, and grow personnel and strength while stabilizing mission-critical fuel shortfalls and supporting the National Guard,” he said.

He added that the supplemental package would also support modernization efforts and replenish equipment depleted during recent operations.

“This supplemental request serves two purposes: Sustain our military readiness to meet this year’s new demands, and accelerate critical capabilities to replace and augment those we have used in contingencies.”

Hegseth blames Biden administration for weakened military

Hegseth also accused the Biden administration of leaving behind an underfunded military that required urgent investment.

“President Trump inherited a set of global and domestic crises. Deferred maintenance almost across the board. Instead of steering the ship through gathering storms, former leaders let our military languish through social experiments and globalist appeasement, sheer weakness.”

Continuing on, the defense secretary said that “The Pentagon is no longer run by bureaucrats; instead, it’s led by combat-tested veterans and world-class business leaders, who are running the department like a business. And tech titans who are bringing lethal innovation to the battlefield. We’re also at a different moment, and we cannot afford inaction. If we don’t make critical investments right now in tech, in compute, in AI, in autonomy, in space, our adversaries who are already making these types of investments could outpace us.”

Hegseth’s $37.5 billion estimate is substantially lower than other public estimates. Earlier this month, NBC News reported that the total cost of the war could ultimately reach between $80 billion and $100 billion once repairs to damaged US bases and the replacement of destroyed or expended aircraft, missiles, and other weapons are included.

Israeli teams won more than a dozen medals, including 5 gold medals, at the 2026 International Science Olympiad competitions, where competitions in physics, biology, and chemistry held around the world throughout July.

Israel competed alongside more than 90 other countries at the International Physics Olympiad in Colombia, where the Israeli delegation won five medals. Tenth-grader Ruth Kozlovsky won a gold medal, while 12th-graders Noam Fleissig, Ahaya Kellner, Eitan Rotman, and Elad Agmon each earned silver medals.

To secure their medals, participants completed two examinations: a practical experiment in thermodynamics and a theoretical examination covering subjects including optics, particle physics, and nuclear physics.

The students trained for the competition at the Jusidman Science Center for Youth at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The team was led by academic director Oleg Krichevsky and head coach Pavel Radzivilovsky.

The president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said the Israeli physics team’s success in Colombia “is clear proof of the high caliber of science education in Israel.”

Biology Olympiad in Lithuania

Israel’s success continued at the International Biology Olympiad in Lithuania, which was attended by nearly 80 nations. Students who trained at Tel Aviv University won four medals, including two gold medals.

Olga Besova and Yehuda Lester earned the gold medals, while Yarden Hoch and Saar Paperni each won bronze medals.

Competitors completed both practical and theoretical examinations. The practical section focused on molecular biology, biochemistry, plants, and animals, while the theoretical portion covered topics including cells, plants, animals, genetics, and more.

Chemistry Olympiad in Uzbekistan

Israel also performed strongly at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Uzbekistan, where students competed alongside participants from more than 90 other countries. The Israeli delegation won four medals, including two gold medals.

The gold medals went to 12th-graders Itamar Ben Shmuel and Yogev Cohen Ben Zaken, while Yehonadav Marienberg and Daniel Granovsky each earned silver medals.

The chemistry team trained at the Technion under head mentor Eyal Barnea and mentor Yury Andreev. As with the other Olympiads, students completed both theoretical and practical examinations covering physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry. During the practical portion of the competition, they were also required to demonstrate their knowledge through laboratory experiments.

In a message to the students, chemistry team academic director Zeev Gross wrote, “We represented the country with great honor and received immense appreciation thanks to your achievements: 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and a global ranking of 8th place in the world. So thank you, and well done to all of you.”

“In just over a week, Israel’s teams have won 13 Olympic medals across three different scientific fields,” Education Minister Yoav Kisch said.

“This is a clear expression of the depth of excellence that has been built here over the years and the ongoing investment in nurturing science education in Israel…We will continue to invest in nurturing the next generation of science and innovation leaders in Israel.”

The Maimonides Fund’s Future Scientists Center invests in these competitions to ensure their success, working in partnership with the Ministry of Education and various academic institutions.

“The accomplishments of the team members reflect dedication, perseverance, and a genuine love for science,” said Yarom Ariav, chairman of the Center, adding that extraordinary and talented students “repeatedly represent the State of Israel with great honor on the international stage,” and that their achievements are “a source of personal and national pride.”

Senior Saudi and United Arab Emirates officials on Tuesday shared similar social media posts affirming their close historical ties and “wise leadership,” a move that follows months of tensions owing to a rift between the two Gulf monarchies.

The posts on X/Twitter by Saudi Minister of Media Salman Al-Dosary and Abdulla bin Mohammed Alhamed, Chairman of the UAE National Media Authority, were both released at 7 p.m. Riyadh time.

“Emirati-Saudi relations are an extension of a shared history and deep-rooted fraternal ties between two brotherly peoples, united by a single destiny,” Alhamed wrote.

“The relationship between the Kingdom and the Emirates is a relationship between two peoples united by a shared history and heritage, and wise leadership in both countries,” Al-Dosary’s post said.

Both posts said media should reflect those aspects of the relationship and avoid undermining them.

Diverging interests dovetail again

The two Gulf heavyweights have seen their interests diverge for years on everything from oil quotas to geopolitics, with the disagreements coming into the open late last year over their support for opposing sides in the war in Yemen.

That culminated in a Saudi airstrike on what it said was a shipment of UAE military equipment to the Yemeni faction Abu Dhabi backed.

Since that time, influential Saudi and Emirati social media accounts, pundits and some media organizations have engaged in unusually open debate and criticism.

In March, the UAE banned Saudi TV Al-Arabiya’s X accounts.

Their divergence continued during the Iran war, which threatened Gulf security, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE often differing on what they saw as the right response to the conflict.

In May, the UAE left OPEC, the oil producers’ group effectively led by Riyadh.

“I think what we witnessed was a storm in a cup. We have seen worse before, but it was never strategic,” said Mohammed Baharoon, director-general of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center.

“I am sure there has been adaptation from both parties, but the reality remains that what we have in common far outweighs our divergences,” he said of the Saudi-UAE relationship.

Gulf officials have in recent weeks called for unity among the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the face of Iranian attacks and, most recently, threats by the Iran-aligned Houthis against Red Sea shipping.

Saudi officials did not respond to texted questions on what had led to Tuesday’s posts.

‘Brotherly relations’

One hour ahead of the posts by senior media officials, Turki Alalshikh, a close confidant of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), shared a photo on X that he said had been taken days earlier.

It showed Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin-Salman, MBS’ brother, and United Arab Emirates Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, their arms over each other’s shoulders and smiles on their faces.

He captioned it: “Saudi Arabia and the UAE: a story of brotherly relations and a deeply rooted partnership.”

Commenting on the post, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the United Arab Emirates president, said, “Spears, when together, refuse to be broken… and break if they part.”

Border Police officers near Jerusalem seized 8,600 eggs allegedly smuggled into Israel from the West Bank and arrested a suspect during a routine patrol last week, Israel Police said.

The vehicle was stopped during a routine patrol near Beit Horon. Officers found thousands of eggs allegedly brought into Israel from the Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa without the required oversight or sanitary controls.

Police arrested the driver, a 41-year-old Jerusalem resident, at the scene. Other suspects allegedly involved in loading the shipment fled before they could be apprehended. Officers also seized the vehicle and its cargo.

The suspect was questioned at the Modi’in Illit police station in the Judea and Samaria District, while the vehicle and eggs were transferred for further processing.

Egg smuggling from the West Bank has remained a persistent challenge for Israeli authorities, with law enforcement increasingly focused on preventing the illegal cross-border movement of the contraband. Last month, officials seized more than 200,000 smuggled eggs, while police intercepted about 90,000 eggs in a similar operation in 2024.

Smuggled eggs raise public health concerns

Authorities warned that eggs smuggled without veterinary supervision or proper refrigeration may pose a serious public health risk by increasing the likelihood of bacterial contamination and foodborne illness.

Police said the investigation is continuing to identify and locate the remaining suspects.

It’s sometimes easy with the sensory overload on the news and social media to forget that all that has transpired was born on October 7 and the massacre of some 1,200 Israelis and abduction of some 200 more into Gaza at the hands of Hamas.

There’s been extensive documentation of that heinous day and of the harrowing experiences the hostages endured in captivity, and most former hostages have come forth and related their life-affirming stories of survival.

However, even now, some two and a half years later, every new disclosure and personal story offers another vital chapter in chronicling the living history of the attack that prompted the wars we’ve been involved in ever since and in keeping memories of what caused it at the forefront.

That’s why Rimon Buchshtab-Kirscht’s decision to come forward and tell her story for the first time about her and her husband’s abduction by Hamas and her consequent captivity and release is so important.

The 39-year-old Buchshtab-Kirscht and her husband, Yagev B., were taken captive by Hamas from Kibbutz Nirim. Rimon was released during a week-long deal on November 28, 2023; Yagev’s death in captivity in Gaza was announced by the IDF on July 22, 2024.

‘I just spoke to him the way they deserve’

Buchshtab-Kirscht became a symbol of Israeli resilience when she defiantly glared at her captor upon her release as the entire nation watched live on TV. The image of her angrily saying something to her masked captor before taking the arm of older female hostage Meirav Tal and proudly walking to freedom went viral, but only this week, in an extensive interview with Ynet, did she reveal what she had said.

“I just spoke to him the way they deserve, like the sons of b***** they are,” she told Ynet. “I shouted at him, ‘Just because you’re masked doesn’t mean I can’t see you, and just because your eyes are covered doesn’t mean I don’t recognize your voice or remember what you did to me, and ‘kul kalb biji yomo’ [every dog has his day in Arabic].”

‘If you need to stab a terrorist, you stab a terrorist’

In the interview, Buchshtab-Kirscht recounted how she and Yagev, who married in 2021, were brutally rousted from their home and incarcerated in cages in Gaza, a period that included beatings and sexual assaults. In another interview with Channel 12 on Monday, she recounted that she stabbed her captors on multiple occasions, both during her abduction and in captivity.

“If you need to stab a terrorist, you stab a terrorist,” she said.

When hostage releases began in late November, during a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the couple’s captors declared that Rimon would be released without Yagev.

Buchshtab-Kirscht told Ynet that she begged her captors to release a different hostage instead, pleading: ‘I don’t ask for much, not for medicine, not for toilet paper, I’m ready to stay here, with all the fleas, with my broken tooth and my broken face.’ But they insisted it had to be me.”

Buchshtab-Kirscht made it home, but her husband didn’t. It has taken her until now to publicly talk about her harrowing ordeal and the tragic aftermath. Since October 7, the IDF has made it its mission to carry out the declaration that Buchshtab-Kirscht made to her captor upon her release, and it has, one by one, been eliminating every terrorist who was connected with October 7 and the subsequent inhumane holding of the hostages.

‘Keep your head up’

That long memory is how Israel has survived and how we manage to carry on amid the atrocities of October 7. In her interview, Buchshtab-Kirscht also recounted what she said to her fellow captive Tal as they began their short walk to the awaiting Red Cross and their freedom: “Keep your head up. We’re going to walk through this as two strong women, together.”

Today, some two and a half years later, it’s all the more imperative for all of us to take a few moments to get off the breathless news treadmill and reflect on the pure evil events of that day – and more importantly, on the heroism of Rimon Buchshtab-Kirscht, whose advice we could all take a moment to internalize.

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and prosecutors with the US Justice Department on Tuesday proposed a June 2027 start date for Maduro’s US criminal trial on drug trafficking charges.

The joint proposal came in a court filing ahead of a hearing in Maduro’s case scheduled for Wednesday at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) in Manhattan federal court. The filing provided a rough blueprint of the possible next steps in one of the most high-profile and consequential criminal cases in recent US history.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, must ultimately set the schedule. The parties said in the filing that they may seek changes to the schedule.

US Special Forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas during a nighttime raid in January and brought them to New York to face the charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

In the filing, lawyers for both sides proposed that Maduro’s first round of legal motions to try to have the case dismissed would be due on September 2. That would likely include a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.

Maduro prepares further motions in US drug trafficking case

Maduro would then file a second round of legal motions by January 11, after prosecutors hand over any classified evidence for the defense’s review, according to the filing.

Maduro, a socialist who had an antagonistic relationship with Washington while leading Venezuela from 2013 until his capture, referred to himself as a “prisoner of war” during his January 5 appearance. He has long accused the United States of seeking his ouster to gain greater control of the country’s vast oil reserves.

The United States calls Maduro a corrupt dictator whose mismanagement of the economy led to an economic collapse, and accuses him of rigging his reelection votes in 2018 and 2024. It stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president in 2019.

Maduro and Flores have been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn since they were brought to the US in January.

The US military said late on Tuesday it began its latest strikes on Iran, marking the 11th consecutive night of American attacks.

“The strikes are designed to continue degrading Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command said in a statement on X/Twitter.

CENTCOM forces began striking military targets in Iran at 7 p.m. ET today for the 11th consecutive night. The strikes are designed to continue degrading Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 21, 2026

Explosions reported in Bushehr, home of nuclear power plant

CENTCOM later announced that it had concluded its strikes at 8:15 p.m. EST. The post stated that CENTCOM targeted “Iranian military operation centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure.”

https://t.co/EeB7qK4aYX

— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 22, 2026

Loud explosions were heard in parts of Iran’s Bushehr County, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.

Bushehr is home to the Bushehr Power Plant, Iran’s first and only commercial nuclear reactor. The region also houses a naval base that is critical for the functioning of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN).

Regime-affiliated Fars News Agency cited East Azerbaijan officials saying that a military site was struck near Tabriz in a US air attack.

Iranian state TV also said that air defenses were activated throughout the capital of Tehran.

Limmud LA will return to Los Angeles over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in January 2027, offering more than 100 sessions covering Jewish religion, culture, history and contemporary life, Limmud North America announced.

The festival will run from January 16 through January 18, beginning with a Saturday night celebration followed by two full days of programming on Sunday and Monday. Organizers said they expect more than 1,000 participants from across the Los Angeles area.

Limmud LA has also opened a call for presenters, inviting members of the public to propose sessions on subjects including Torah, Jewish history, comedy, cooking, music and other areas of Jewish interest.

Every participant can be both a student and a teacher

The Limmud model is based on the principle that every participant can be both a student and a teacher, allowing community members and established experts to lead sessions alongside one another.

Proposals can be submitted through the Limmud LA website. Presenters selected for the festival are expected to be announced in the fall, when participant registration will also open.

Festival to honor Alex Shwarzstein

The 2027 festival will be presented by Meyer Shwarzstein and Susan Kahn in memory of their daughter, Alex Shwarzstein, a longtime Jewish community volunteer and former co-chair of Limmud NY.

Shwarzstein was also involved in developing Limmud communities in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. She described Limmud as “a unique and open space that is truly pluralistic,” according to organizers.

“It is a rare and beautiful thing to see teenagers, parents and grandparents all engaging and sharing ideas side by side,” Meyer Shwarzstein said.

Opportunities for people from different backgrounds to exchange ideas

Organizers said the festival would seek to continue her commitment to pluralistic Jewish learning and to creating opportunities for people from different generations and backgrounds to exchange ideas.

Rabbi David Singer, CEO of Limmud North America, said such spaces were especially important at a time of growing division within Jewish communities.

“The Jewish world needs more places where people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives can come together with curiosity, humility and a genuine desire to learn from one another,” Singer said.

“That’s what Limmud does, and that’s what makes Limmud LA such an exciting moment – not only for Los Angeles, but for Jewish life across North America.”

Major sponsors of the festival include the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Alex Shwarzstein Foundation, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles and Jewish National Fund-USA.

Community partners include Hillel at UCLA and BJE: Builders of Jewish Education, along with other Jewish organizations in the Los Angeles area.

Organizers are also accepting inquiries from additional sponsors and community partners ahead of the festival. Registration and further program information are expected to be released in the fall.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday named a young general, Mykhailo Drapatyi, as the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership as the war with Russia is in its fifth year.

Zelensky replaced former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, 60, with Drapatyi, 43, a respected and experienced commander who led the country’s land forces from 2024 to 2025.

The change follows days of street protests sparked by a surprise governmental reshuffle that ousted the popular defense minister. It also reflects tensions between Ukrainians who see the use of technology as key to winning the war and an old guard with a traditional approach.

Zelensky last week dismissed tech-savvy reformist Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, who led an effort to advance drone innovation and had clashed with Syrskyi, accusing him of sabotaging his work.

Drapatyi was supported by some of the protesters who rallied outside Zelensky’s office for several days demanding Fedorov be brought back, and Syrskyi removed.

‘Operations ongoing and continue steadily’

“The operations of the Ukrainian Defense Forces are ongoing and must continue steadily. Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions and our program of middle-range strikes will be carried out with absolute precision,” Zelensky said.

The reshuffle came as Ukraine seeks to gain the upper hand in the war by heavily striking Russia’s energy sector – its main source of budget revenue – and logistics. Fedorov’s dismissal stirred concerns among military analysts that Ukraine’s recent battlefield momentum could be lost.

“I will work responsibly, with full focus, and with respect for the people who are defending our country today,” Drapatyi said on Facebook.

Syrskyi played a key role in Kyiv’s defense in the early days of the war and has been in his top post since early 2024.

But he has also faced harsh criticism for a rigid command style which some service members have said results in high troop losses.

Zelensky did not mention any new post for Syrskyi, saying he discussed with the four-star-general his future service.

He also said that he had offered Fedorov – who previously said he only wants his former job back – a “decent post” to oversee the technological component of the state.

Nearly 400 New Jersey residents who were not US citizens cast ballots after thousands of non-citizens were accidentally registered to vote between 2023 and 2024 due to a software error, Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill said on Tuesday.

The White House seized upon the disclosure to press Republican President Donald Trump’s longstanding claim that voting by non-citizens is widespread, for which he has not presented evidence. Studies show such incidents are rare and often a result of error rather than fraudulent intent.

Trump has increasingly warned that November’s midterm elections could be compromised unless stricter safeguards are adopted. Last Thursday, he delivered a prime-time speech from the White House focused on election security. The president and his allies claim that Democrats benefit from non-citizen voting, although they have provided no supporting evidence.

He has been pushing Republican members of Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Democrats, who have stymied the bill in the Senate, and voting rights groups argue the legislation is intended to disenfranchise legitimate voters, especially younger voters, people of color and lower-income workers who are more likely to lack the required documentation.

White House: Democrats wrong to suggest non-citizen voting not a concern

Democratic leaders have accused Trump of laying the groundwork for interfering with the midterms, which polls show are likely to result in Democratic gains in a closely divided Congress.

In a statement, the White House said the New Jersey discovery proves that Democrats are wrong to suggest non-citizen voting is not a concern.

“As President Trump has said, there is nothing more important than the integrity of our elections,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “And this latest incident underscores the absolute necessity of the SAVE America Act.”

Sherrill said the software glitch added about 6,600 non-citizens to the state’s voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024 even though they answered “no” when asked whether they were US citizens while applying for driver’s licenses or ID cards.

The state’s preliminary analysis showed fewer than 400, including Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters, actually voted, Sherrill said.

Democrat Governor Sherrill denies implications of election integrity failure

Sherrill said she has ordered the removal of those individuals mistakenly added to the voter rolls and will replace the vendor responsible for the error, which occurred before she took office in January. The software glitch itself was corrected in 2024, the governor said.

“As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring that we protect our elections,” she said at a press conference. “Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity…  The difference between my administration and this White House is stark: we don’t deflect, deny, or exploit problems for our own gain. We find them, and we fix them.”

In his Thursday speech, Trump asserted that his administration had discovered more than 275,000 non-citizens registered to vote in four states, including New Jersey, though he did not provide evidence regarding how many had actually voted.

More than 4 million people voted in New Jersey in the 2024 presidential election, meaning that if around 400 non-citizens all voted in that contest, they would represent less than 1 in 10,000 ballots cast.

“We have no evidence at this time that any elections were swayed,” Sherrill said.

Trump raises doubts on electoral outcomes for years

Trump has spent years raising doubts about electoral outcomes. He falsely asserted that his ​2020 loss to Democrat ⁠Joe Biden was rigged due to non-citizen voting, mail ballot fraud and voting machine tampering.

Numerous courts and vote recounts found no evidence of large-scale fraud in the 2020 election. A Reuters data analysis revealed that voting violations by noncitizens occur extremely rarely and were often the result of misinformation from others or confusion on their part.

On Friday, US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent a letter to the four states Trump mentioned in Thursday night’s speech: New Jersey, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania. He asked them to review their voter rolls and respond within two weeks.

Sherrill said she learned of the software error on Wednesday, a day before Trump’s speech.

Asked about Mullin’s letter, she said the state requested evidence for Trump’s claims about tens of thousands of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey but has not received a reply.

A spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s top election official noted that evidence shows non-citizen voting is “extremely rare” but said the state would review “any information provided by DHS so we can evaluate the validity of these claims.”

Representatives for Nevada and California’s top election officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will arrive at the White House, the first official visit by a Lebanese president in 17 years. At a time when the Middle East is undergoing profound change, this visit should not be viewed as a routine diplomatic engagement. It represents a rare opportunity to ask a question that has seemed impossible for generations: can Lebanon and Israel finally begin building a different future?

We write this from opposite sides of a border that has too often been defined by fear, conflict, and missed opportunities. Our experiences are different, but our hope is shared.

Avital is a former senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and someone who has spent years living under the threat of Hezbollah rockets and attacks. She has witnessed firsthand the human cost of perpetual conflict and understands the necessity of security.

Ahmed is a Lebanese citizen who grew up in the shadow of a hijacked state. He has watched his country’s vibrant potential be systematically suffocated by an armed terror organization that operates completely outside the law.

Since October 7, 2023, Lebanon has been dragged, twice, into wars that led to humanitarian and financial catastrophes. The first was initiated by Hezbollah on October 8, 2023, as a ‘support front’ for Hamas’ war in Gaza. The second began in March 2026, after Hezbollah decided to avenge Ali Khamenei’s assassination. Both wars had nothing to do with Lebanese interests and came as Lebanon was contending with both social divisions and economic hardship.

Lebanon must break the cycle of Iranian influence and conflict

These two recent cases alone are enough to show how Hezbollah is being led, guided, and funded by Iran and will inevitably bring war to Lebanon. As a Lebanese citizen living in this country, I find it irrational and unfair for me and millions like me to stand and watch this never-ending cycle, from the PLO to Hezbollah. It is time to take a clear stance to put an end to this cycle and build a nation where dreaming about a better future should not clash with a terror organization’s foreign affiliations and the interests of the countries it’s associated with.

We are standing at a historic crossroads: either the Lebanese people and our elected government reclaim our state institutions and monopoly on force now, or we allow our nation to permanently dissolve. True independence means having the courage to decide our own foreign policy based entirely on Lebanese national interests that begin with ending Iran’s hegemony and end with securing peace across our southern border.

Lebanon and Israel have already begun a negotiation process hosted by the United States, before which the flags of the two nations were not allowed to be seen together due to outdated local policies. With President Aoun in the U.S this week, we believe the negotiations must be escalated to serious peace talks with an eye on a permanent peace agreement that will be a win for both sides. 

Israel has paid a heavy price as well. Communities in northern Israel have endured years of rocket attacks, cross-border infiltration attempts, and repeated wars. Families have spent countless nights in bomb shelters, never knowing when the next escalation would come.

Neither nation has benefited from this reality.

Our stories are different, but they lead us to the same conclusion: the people of Lebanon and Israel deserve something better than endless confrontation.

The Abraham Accords demonstrated that former adversaries can build meaningful partnerships. Countries where the most basic diplomatic relations were once forbidden now cooperate in trade, technology, tourism, investment, and security. The old assumption that peace in the Middle East is impossible has already been disproven.

Lebanon should not be left behind.

Israel has much to offer a peaceful Lebanon, not as an act of charity, but as the foundation of a mutually beneficial partnership.

The potential of Israeli Lebanese cooperation

Israel has become a global leader in innovation, water management, agriculture, healthcare, cybersecurity, and renewable energy. Lebanese entrepreneurs, engineers, physicians, and students are among the most talented in the Arab world. Imagine what could happen if these strengths complemented one another rather than remained separated by hostility.

Tourism offers another remarkable opportunity. Lebanon’s mountains, coastline, cuisine, history, and culture once attracted visitors from around the world. Israelis already travel throughout the region following the Abraham Accords. One day, they could contribute to Lebanon’s economic recovery while discovering a neighboring country that many know only through decades of conflict.

Energy cooperation, environmental protection, academic exchanges, medical partnerships, and joint business ventures could benefit both societies. Instead of investing billions in preparing for the next war, our countries could invest in building shared prosperity.

This opportunity, however, is not guaranteed.

History teaches us that geopolitical windows are temporary. Leadership changes. Regional priorities evolve. International attention shifts elsewhere. The decisions made over the coming months may shape the next generation of Middle Eastern history.

Americans understand better than most that peace is rarely achieved simply because enemies grow tired of fighting. It requires courageous leadership, strategic vision, and citizens willing to imagine a future different from the past.

That is precisely what this moment demands.

We recognize that peace cannot erase decades of pain. It cannot immediately heal trauma or eliminate distrust. It cannot ignore legitimate security concerns or political realities.

But peace has never required forgetting history.

It requires deciding that history should no longer dictate the future.

One of us carries memories of Holocaust survival passed down through family. The other carries the experience of watching Lebanon struggle under the weight of a terrorist organization, repeated wars, and economic collapse. Those histories are different, but they lead us to the same belief: our children deserve to inherit a region defined by opportunity instead of fear.

President Aoun’s visit to Washington should be remembered not simply because it is the first in 17 years.

It should be remembered as the moment when Lebanon began reclaiming its sovereignty, when Israel extended its hand in partnership, and when both nations chose to invest in hope instead of hostility.

History rarely offers second chances. This is one of them. We cannot afford to let it slip away.

Lt.-Col. (res.) Avital Leibovich is the director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Israel. She served as the IDF’s foreign media spokesperson and is a lieutenant colonel. 

Ahmed is a Lebanese activist. His full name has been withheld for his safety.

The Tel Aviv District Police Central Unit arrested a new suspect on Tuesday in connection with the grenade attack on a Japanika restaurant in Kiryat Ono in the early hours of July 13, following developments in the investigation.

The suspect, a Bat Yam resident in his 20s, was taken for questioning by the Tel Aviv District Central Unit and will be brought before the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday for a hearing on extending his detention.

This is the second resident of Bat Yam to be arrested in connection with the Japanika attacks. On Thursday, an 18-year-old from Bat Yam was also arrested on suspicion of being involved with the attack in Kiryat Ono. 

Police arrest crime boss Yossi Musli in connection with Japanika restaurant attacks

On Monday, July 13, a fragmentation grenade was thrown at the Kiryat Ono branch as part of the wave of grenade attacks on Japanika chain branches in central Israel. 

In the span of a few hours, police announced two grenade explosions, a pipe bomb attack, and an attempted arson. Three of the incidents targeted branches of the Japanika restaurant chain, owned by businessman and Beitar Jerusalem owner Barak Abramov.

The day after the first wave of attacks, police arrested Musli crime family boss Yossi Musli in connection with a series of attacks targeting the Japanika restaurant chain. 

For years, brothers Yossi and Eli Musli have managed to stay ahead of police, who suspect them of involvement in a long series of murders and attempted murders targeting their rivals. 

Most Israelis already know, at least to a large extent, which party they will vote for in the upcoming election, but the group of undecided voters that could determine the outcome is concentrated primarily in the political center, according to the Jewish People Policy Institute’s Israeli Society Index, published ahead of the election expected in the fall.

According to the index, 53% of Israelis are completely certain whom they will vote for, while another 29% are fairly certain of their decision. Some 14% are still waiting for the political map to become clearer, and 4% say they will not vote.

Certainty is particularly high at the political extremes. On the Left, 71% are already completely certain of their choice, compared with 58% on the Right. The proportion of undecided voters rises closer to the center. On the Center-Right, 22% are still waiting to see which parties will run, while only 44% of centrists are completely certain whom they will support.

The figures indicate that the main electoral battle is expected to focus on centrist voters.

Identification with the Right continues to strengthen among Jewish Israelis. Some 66% of Jewish respondents defined themselves as belonging to one of the categories on the Right, compared with 63% in July 2025. The proportion defining themselves as “exactly in the center” rose from 10% to 13%, while the proportion identifying with the Left fell from 22% to 19%.

Only 3% of Jewish respondents described themselves as being on the “Left,” while an almost negligible proportion placed themselves on the “far Left.”

Among Arab respondents, by contrast, half placed themselves on the Left, compared with 47% last year. At the same time, the proportion of Arab respondents who said they could not place themselves anywhere on the political spectrum fell from 21% to 15%, a change the institute said could indicate increasing political organization ahead of the election.

Security, justice system among key topics for Israelis

The index also examined the main consideration expected to determine respondents’ votes. Security ranked first among 28% of all respondents. It was followed by relations between the government and the judicial system, at 18%; advancing Israel as a more liberal country, at 15%; and promoting unity and reducing divisions, at 13%.

Behind the national figures are sharply different sets of priorities.

Among right-wing voters, security led with 40%, followed by relations between the government and the judicial system at 30%. In the Center, Center-Left and Left, the most important issue was advancing Israel as a more liberal country, with support ranging from 35% to 38%.

Among Arab respondents, security ranked first with 34%, followed by the economy with 26%. Among Jewish respondents, by contrast, the economy was barely viewed as a decisive consideration, with only 5% ranking it first.

The connection between the judicial system and support for the right-wing bloc was particularly pronounced. Some 70% of respondents who identified relations between the government and the judicial system as the issue most important to them preferred a right-wing coalition.

Of those respondents, 41% wanted a government based on the current bloc, while 29% supported adding a centrist party.

The institute said the figures showed that the judicial system was expected to remain a central election issue and serve as a unifying focus for right-wing voters.

Most Israelis have fixed preferences

Jewish People Policy Institute President Prof. Yedidia Stern said that “most Israelis are entering the election campaign with established preferences, and therefore the political battle will focus on the votes of those in the centrist bloc.”

He said the judicial system remained a central component of the Right’s political identity, even after nearly three years in which the war dominated the public agenda.

“Israeli society continues to engage with fundamental questions concerning the state and its character, and not only with security,” he said.

Stern added that previous institute surveys had shown that the public views internal division as one of the main threats facing Israel.

Against this backdrop, he called for the formation of the broadest possible coalition after the election, one that would establish agreed-upon rules for managing political disputes and advance the idea of a “thin constitution,” which the institute is drafting with a team of experts from across Israeli society.

The survey was conducted through the Israeli Society Index panel and, among the Arab public, through the Afkar research company. The data were weighted according to voting patterns and level of religious observance in an effort to represent the views of the Israeli public as a whole.

The index was prepared by Shmuel Rosner and Noah Slepkov. Research and production were conducted by Yael Levinovsky, and statistical consultation was provided by Prof. David Steinberg.

Somewhere in the past few months, JD Vance stopped being a politician Israelis argue about and turned into a demon. The man Israeli ministers brief against, sometimes on the record, which takes a special kind of strategic genius.

The subject of a thousand furious WhatsApp forwards, including, I’ll admit, in groups I’m in. Even Fox turned. Brian Kilmeade, the Fox and Friends co-host who has spent two decades as one of the friendliest voices Israel has on American morning television, went after him on air.

When Kilmeade is rough on you, you’re officially in the doghouse of the pro-Israel world.

Maybe he earned it. Some of what Vance says lands badly, and is meant to. When the Iran deal was signed in June, I wrote in these pages that Israel had just met the post-Trump America: colder, interest-driven, personified by Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

I stand by every word. What surprised me was our response. Faced with a new kind of America, we reached for the oldest tool in the drawer. The effigy.

Before we finish building it, two uncomfortable facts.

First: the verdict was reached by people who, overwhelmingly, never watched the three-hour Joe Rogan interview that triggered it. They watched 40-second clips with furious captions. I know because I asked around, including in my own newsroom.

American politics lives on Rogan’s podcast now, in front of tens of millions of listeners, most of them young men who will never open this newspaper, and who ask, without embarrassment, whether Jeffrey Epstein worked for the Mossad. That’s the room Vance walked into. Judging what he did there from a clip is like reviewing a boxing match from a photo of one punch.

Second: I spent recent days with people close to the administration who did watch all three hours, some more than once. Their account annoyed me and persuaded me in places, and you should hear it before you decide.

Their version

Vance, they argue, walked into the most conspiratorial room in America and refused to feed it.

When Epstein came up, he skipped the routine we’ve come to expect from Mike Huckabee, the evangelical former Arkansas governor serving as Washington’s ambassador in Jerusalem, for whom Israel can simply do no wrong. That act would have died in Rogan’s studio anyway.

Vance said the obvious, that Epstein was a criminal, then went out of his way, several times, unprompted, to insist there was no connection between Epstein and the Israeli government. Try to name another American politician who spent hours arguing with the Mossad conspiracy crowd on their home turf. I’ll wait.

The chill from Washington, in their telling, is a campaign decision. Elections are coming, theirs and ours, and somebody decided the administration needs air between itself and Jerusalem until November. One of my interlocutors reached for the word “daylight,” Barack Obama’s old word, with a straight face. Until further notice, I asked? Until further notice.

They walked me through the Republican map to make the point. The national camp of President Donald Trump, Vance, and Rubio. The party’s liberal wing, where most Jewish Republicans live. And the corner belonging to Tucker Carlson, the former Fox host turned podcast baron whose flirtations with anti-Israel material are by now a genre of their own, and who has quit the party to build something new.

In a base tired of the Iran war and marinating in talk of Washington serving Israeli interests, Vance’s job is to keep those voters without signing their story. When the aid package came to the floor, exactly one Republican voted no: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the libertarian gadfly who votes no on nearly everything and whom Carlson has adopted as a cause.

Watch the rhetoric if you want, my interlocutors said. They count the votes.

The shift the demon story hides

Here’s what the effigy-building blinds us to, and it will outlast Vance and probably this whole argument.

The line that scandalized Israeli ears was Vance calling Israel “an ally, like Britain and France.” We heard a demotion. Listen to the vocabulary instead.

For 50 years, American presidents spoke about Israel in the language of family. Bill Clinton loved us. George W. Bush loved us. Joe Biden told anyone who’d listen that you don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. Lindsey Graham, may he rest in peace, built a Senate career on Genesis 12:3. And the love always arrived with an invoice, usually itemized in Jerusalem neighborhoods and a Palestinian state.

Vance talks like Lord Palmerston, the Victorian foreign secretary who gave diplomacy its most durable one-liner: no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, permanent interests. In that vocabulary, Britain and France sit at the top of the ladder. There is no higher rung.

Where interests align, we work together. Where they clash, we say so, as friends. Cold? Sure. But nobody ever handed Britain an invoice made out in love.

I started telling this story in June, and the Rogan interview is a chapter of it, one man’s tone in one very long conversation. The bigger book is the arrival of a post-covenant generation of American leadership. It was Vance himself, remember, who described Trump as the only head of state in the world sympathetic to Israel.

We heard a warning about our isolation. He was telling us the era of automatic sympathy retires with his boss. Burn every Vance effigy you can build; the shift stays.

His successors will speak the same language, because his voters do.

Where I get off the train

My interlocutors’ theory has soft spots, and I’d be a poor journalist if I buried them.

The campaign explanation explains too much. Every cold word is strategy, every warm gesture is the real Vance, and a theory that wins every argument should make you nervous.

Campaigns change the men who run them, too. The base Vance is courting sticks around after election night and becomes the coalition he answers to.

When Ariel Kahana and Omer Lachmanovitch of Israel Hayom interviewed Trump in March 2024, he told them that 15 years ago an American politician who spoke against Israel was finished on the spot, and that today it’s nearly the reverse.

Trump was describing the weather.

Politicians hear a forecast like that as permission. And the people making Vance’s case to me spent decades building the movement he now fronts, so when they defend him, they’re defending their life’s work. They may still be right. Motivated witnesses sometimes are. You just check their math twice.

The homework

I’m writing this because we’re embarrassing ourselves, and doing it expensively.

Every thin-skinned outburst from an Israeli minister confirms the exact story Vance’s base already tells about us, and it burns capital with an administration we’ll need on the next October 7, whenever that comes.

Graham is dead. The Bidens and Bushes are history. The Americans who loved us out loud are aging out of politics, and the ones replacing them talk about interests and mean it.

After a joint war against Iran, our shared-interest file with Washington has rarely been thicker.

That’s the relationship on offer, and by any sober measure it’s a good one.

But 50 years of being loved taught us to hear anything less as betrayal. That’s a hearing problem. And it’s on our side of the ocean.

A US appeals court on Tuesday overturned a 2025 ruling that ordered the Trump administration to release pro-Palestinian advocate Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention, finding that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

Mahdawi, 35, was one of several non-citizen students who were placed in deportation proceedings last year after taking part in demonstrations against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The arrests prompted court challenges that placed US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration against the right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Tuesday’s decision from a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals stopped short of backing the Trump administration’s push to deport non-citizens in the US lawfully on the basis that their presence in the country runs counter to US foreign policy – a practice that rights groups say infringes on free speech.

But taken together with another decision earlier this year in the case of pro-Palestinian advocate Mahmoud Khalil, the ruling could make it more difficult for non-citizens detained in immigration jails to quickly seek their release on the grounds of an alleged violation of their First Amendment rights.

Decision hinges on jurisdiction

Mahdawi, a West Bank-born Columbia University student, was arrested in April 2025 upon arriving for an interview for his US citizenship petition. Vermont-based US District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered him released on bond two weeks later, ruling that he enjoyed the same First Amendment free speech rights as US citizens.

In overturning that ruling, the 2nd Circuit panel said Crawford lacked jurisdiction over the case because it should have been resolved in immigration court first. The judges did not order Mahdawi’s re-arrest.

US immigration courts, which conduct deportation proceedings, are overseen by the Justice Department. District courts like Crawford’s, by contrast, weigh constitutional issues and are independent of the executive branch.

The panel included two judges appointed by Trump in his first term and a third appointed by former President George W. Bush.

Neither the Justice Department, which represents the federal government in court, nor the Department of Homeland Security, which handles immigration enforcement, immediately responded to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Mahdawi, had no immediate comment.

Similar ruling in Khalil’s case

Earlier this year, the Philadelphia-based 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals reached a similar conclusion in the case of Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who spent more than 100 days in immigration detention before his release on bond by a federal judge in New Jersey.

Khalil has asked the US Supreme Court to review the divided 3rd Circuit’s conclusion that his claims should have been heard through an appeal of a removal order from an immigration court.

Both Khalil and Mahdawi were authorized to be in the United States, and neither has been charged with a crime.

A Swedish Jewish consultant has claimed he suffered antisemitic abuse from a colleague at a Meliva health clinic in Stockholm, and that his contract was ended after he reported it.

In an interview with Swedish paper Expressen last week, Gregory-Zvi Wirschubsky, 69, recounted an incident that took place in a cafeteria of a Meliva clinic.

A colleague of Middle Eastern descent publicly asked him if he was Jewish, and when he affirmed, she asked: “Why are you killing Palestinian children?”

“I said ‘I am not killing any Palestinian children. I came here when I was seven years old. I am Jewish, but I do not live in Israel and have nothing to do with the Israeli army,'” he told Expressen.

Wirschubsky added that several colleagues witnessed the incident but remained silent. She then allegedly said: “Go to hell, you damn Jew.”

He allegedly faced repurcussions for speaking out

Wirschubsky reported the incident to his manager.

“I felt that it was discrimination, and I brought up that we had agreed not to discuss the Israel conflict at the workplace. The manager then says that they will handle the matter themselves. And then I found out that I was no longer allowed to stay. It was very strange,” he told Expressen.

Wirschubsky was employed through a staffing company and not by Meliva directly. The agreement, which Expressen reviewed, stated that the client has the right to terminate the contract early with one month’s notice. It did not state that any reasons must be provided.

Wirschubsky told Expressen that he does not believe that he lost his assignment because he was Jewish, but he believed it was related to the conflict

Linn Christiernin, Meliva’s communications manager, told Expressen that they “are aware that there was a conflict between him and another person within the organization.”

“Decisions regarding consulting assignments and their extensions are always made on operational grounds. We have reviewed the matter carefully. The person’s background or religion had no impact on the decision,” she said.

Meliva claims that his contract was not terminated because he is Jewish

Christiernin said that, following a review, Meliva found no evidence that Wirschubsky’s Jewish background influenced the decision not to extend the consulting assignment.

“Neither of the two individuals involved is currently working at Meliva,” the statement said.

“Beyond this, we cannot comment on individual personnel matters or individual people’s accounts of one another,” Christiernin concluded.

The case is reminiscent of a previous case in Sweden involving a Jewish doctor at Karolinska University Hospital.

In a landmark victory in July 2025, the doctor reached a substantial settlement in his case about systemic anti-Jewish discrimination and unlawful retaliation.

Dr. Svensson (not his real name) detailed a pattern of anti-Jewish exclusion, harassment, and intimidation he endured during his time at Karolinska, culminating in his termination after he reported the abuse.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Karolinska agreed to pay SEK 3,000,000 (approximately USD $315,000) to him in a clear acknowledgment of the serious harm suffered.

President Isaac Herzog said that he was warned about “various threats to the integrity of the elections, both internal and external,” in a Tuesday speech. 

Herzog claimed that Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head David Zini and Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg warned him of the threats to Israel’s upcoming elections in a recent meeting. 

“In the age of social media, the dangers are great. All of us must be thoughtful, careful, and responsible in the content we consume, and all the more so in the content we broadcast,”said Herzog. “I call on all of the law enforcement authorities to stand firmly and effectively against these threats.” 

The presidents called on Israeli citizens to pay attention to the election and make informed decisions when voting. 

“I call on the people of Israel, in a clear voice: remember that elections are not a civil war.”

Herzog tries to bridge divisions within Israeli society

Herzog then acknowledged the sharp divisions within Israeli society and urged citizens not to allow these divisions to endanger the democratic process.

“In recent days,” he explained, “we have once again seen dangerous violence rearing its head across the country.

I turn to elected representatives, activists, and all candidates from all parties, and demand that you do not cross red lines! Do not turn rivals into enemies!”

Ahead of Tisha B’av on 

“Baseless hatred destroyed our home,” he says. “Twice in the history of our people, we merited independent sovereignty in our land. Twice we failed. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Evangelical Christian Zionist leader Laurie Cardoza-Moore called on US President Donald Trump on Monday to publicly distance himself from recent statements by Vice President JD Vance concerning Israel, Iran, and alleged Israeli influence in American politics.

Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations (PJTN), said Vance’s remarks risked legitimizing antisemitic conspiracy theories and damaging relations between Israel and its Christian supporters in the United States.

“As one of the millions of Evangelical Christians who stand with Israel and our Jewish brethren, I call upon President Trump to immediately distance himself from the vice president’s recent statements on Israel and the Jews,” she said in a statement released by PJTN.

Cardoza-Moore, who hosts the Christian television program “Focus on Israel,” described herself and her supporters as “Zionist, patriotic American Christians” and cited biblical passages supporting Israel.

Cardoza-Moore criticizes Vance’s Rogan interview

Her criticism followed Vance’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, during which the vice president said a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign” had attempted to derail US negotiations with Iran.

Vance said some members of the Israeli government opposed the agreement and referred to reports of an Israeli government-funded effort involving conservative influencers. He nevertheless rejected the broader argument that foreign interests determine Washington’s Iran policy.

Cardoza-Moore said linking Israel to disproportionate influence over the US government echoed longstanding antisemitic accusations.

“It is interesting to note that many of the accusations, hurled at Israel by JD Vance, are the same as those hurled at Israel by enemies at home and abroad. Is this a coincidence? I think not.”

“Suggesting that Israel wields disproportionate power over our government or clinging onto bizarre conspiracy theories around the Epstein files reeks of age-old medieval Jew-hatred,” she said.

Vance tells Rogan that Epstein was intricately connected with high-level Israeli intelligence, the “Israeli Deep State,” in particular Ehud Barak’s government.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/23ylPxkN03

— AF Post (@AFpost) July 15, 2026

During the same interview, Vance claimed that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had connections to senior figures in both American and Israeli intelligence.

No evidence has established that Epstein worked for Israeli intelligence. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett has also publicly rejected allegations that Epstein operated for Israel or the Mossad.

Cardoza-Moore accused Vance of using rhetoric that could appeal to figures on the isolationist and antisemitic fringes of the American Right, including commentator Tucker Carlson and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

“Some have suggested that Vance is attempting to appeal to the likes of Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes with these antisemitic dog whistles, but that only makes it worse,” she said. “Our Republic’s future and the make-up of our government cannot be paved on the backs of our Jewish Brethren. These attacks have been so potent that they have led me to ask whether the initials JD now stand for Jew Defamer?”

Cardoza-Moore previously resigned from the Heritage Foundation’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism after the organization defended Carlson following his interview with Fuentes. At the time, she called Carlson “a threat to Jewish communities.”

Cardoza-Moore also criticized comments Vance made during a June White House briefing, when he warned Israeli officials against attacking Trump over the administration’s proposed agreement with Iran.

Vance said Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world” sympathetic to Israel and argued that much of Israel’s defensive weaponry had been supplied with US support. His comments prompted criticism from Israeli officials and American Jewish Republicans.

The vice president’s remarks have also drawn criticism from Republican Jewish voters and officials, some of whom said his approach had undermined confidence in his support for the US-Israel relationship.

Cardoza-Moore said Vance had wrongly blamed Israel for seeking to prolong the conflict with Iran. She argued that the United States should have supported a more decisive campaign against Iran’s leadership and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Her statement came after an Iranian attack on US forces in Jordan on last week. According to US Central Command, two American service members were killed, one remained missing, and four others were wounded in Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.

Warning over consequences for Jewish communities

Cardoza-Moore said rhetoric alleging secret Israeli control or conspiratorial influence could contribute to rising hostility toward Jewish communities in the United States and abroad.

“As the global plague of Jew-hatred continues to grow on our shores, we must be extremely careful, as people of influence, to measure our words very carefully,” she said.

She also rejected Vance’s assertion that some Israeli officials wanted the war with Iran to continue indefinitely, saying he had not identified any specific official who held that position.

Cardoza-Moore concluded by calling on Trump to publicly reject Vance’s statements and urging the vice president to apologize.

“Now is the time for the president to publicly distance himself from JD’s words and for Vance to apologize and switch gears,” she said.

Democrats Party leader Yair Golan on Tuesday laid out his party’s plans ahead of the upcoming elections, pledging to advance legislation barring politicians with criminal records from serving as prime minister or being a part of the next government, arguing that Israel needs “a fundamental change.”

The statements came at a party press conference following the recent primaries that were held after the Democrats Party finalized its Knesset slate on Monday. More than 97,000 of its registered members voted in the primaries to determine which candidates would be on the Knesset slate ahead of the upcoming elections, set for October 27.

“We are not satisfied with slogans about a ‘better government’ or ‘good governance.’ We have come to repair and change the very system that made this disaster possible in the first place,” Golan said.

Multiple coalition MKs and ministers in the current government are under criminal investigation.

Golan said that “we are committing today that, from our very first moment in government, we will advance legislation barring criminal defendants from serving in office.”

Golan: ‘zero criminal defendants’

“In our government, there will be zero criminal defendants. Zero.”

“This is a fundamental principle of democracy. Anyone under criminal indictment cannot serve as prime minister or as a government minister,” he added.

Golan also noted that, if such a law had been passed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not have served as premier over the past four years, due to his ongoing criminal trial.

“Israel would have been spared much of the security, political, institutional, and moral devastation it has endured [if the law had been enacted],” Golan said.

The left-wing Democrats are one of the core parties in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the upcoming elections. The party was established in 2024 by the merging of the Labor and Meretz parties.

“Israel needs, this time, a fundamental change. A change to the rules of the game. A state that strengthens and protects its democracy, so that no one can ever again dismantle it from within,” Golan said.

The parties’ primaries placed Democrats MK Naama Lazimi in the second slot on the list, after Golan. She was followed by fellow Democrats MKs Gilad Kariv in third place and MK Efrat Rayten in fourth.

The fifth through 10th slots went to social and political activist Yaya Fink, former Meretz MK Gaby Lasky, social activist and reservist Omri Ronen, former Meretz MK Michal Rozin, judicial reform protest leader Moshe Radman, and Israeli-Arab activist Soumaya Bashir.

The candidates for the primaries included 17 leaders involved in protest movements and public activism, 12 former IDF officers, 11 candidates with backgrounds in the civil service, 19 women, nine candidates under the age of 45, eight former Knesset members, four candidates from the Arab community, three from the Druze community, and two members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Golan referred to the list on Tuesday as “the best, the most determined, principled, and professional slate in Israeli politics.”

“It combines experience, leadership, and a record of public struggle. The people standing here beside me have proven themselves through an uncompromising fight for the country,” he added.

 “Anyone who truly wants that change, anyone who wants a government that is not afraid to make difficult decisions and will not retreat at the decisive moment, needs strong Democrats,” Golan said.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack a site linked to Iran’s nuclear program known as Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Tehran’s main nuclear sites.

“We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready,” Trump said in a July 13 interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

The threat reflects escalating tensions as Tehran and Washington trade fire in the Gulf, setting back efforts to end the conflict.

Where is Pickaxe Mountain? 

Pickaxe Mountain is located 220 km (140 miles) south of Tehran and 2 km (1.2 miles) from the Natanz nuclear complex.

The Natanz site, where two of Iran’s uranium enrichment plants were located, was bombed during the war started by the United States and Israel on February 28, and during last year’s 12-day war.

The tunnel facility under construction at Pickaxe Mountain wasn’t targeted in either of those wars, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a US-based think-tank focused on nuclear non-proliferation.

The peak rises to some 1,600 meters above sea level.

There were two enrichment plants in operation at Natanz – one above and one below ground. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said the above-ground one was destroyed. The other, underground one was likely at least badly damaged.

What’s the site’s history?

The site is linked to Iran’s nuclear program, which has long caused tension between the West and Iran, which denies seeking an atomic bomb.

Construction of the facility at Pickaxe Mountain began in 2020, according to ISIS, following what Iranian authorities reported at the time as an explosion caused by an act of sabotage at the Natanz facility.

Iran said at the time the Natanz sabotage had caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges.

In September that year, Iran’s then-nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Iran had started building “a more modern, larger and more comprehensive hall in all dimensions in the heart of the mountain near Natanz” for making advanced centrifuges.

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the U.N. nuclear ​watchdog, in an interview with PBS Frontline in March, noted that Iran had previously announced its intention to have nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain.

“This was part of their quite systematic intention to put their most sensitive facilities underground,” he said.

What has Iran built there?

ISIS, which has analyzed satellite imagery of the site, says it features two pairs of entrances, which are assumed to lead to one facility estimated to be at least 100 meters under the mountain.

The physical defensive measures consist primarily of a large security perimeter and the extensive hardening of tunnel entrances, ISIS said in a July 14 report.

The pair of eastern tunnel portal entrances have been partially backfilled since the wars to obstruct ground vehicle access but they have not been sealed fully, the ISIS report said.

Sam Lair, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who also reviewed recent satellite imagery of the site, told Reuters that increasing the strength of the tunnel entrances would complicate “targeting with penetrating munitions like bunker busters.”

Is it still functional?

Trump, in his July 13 remarks, said Washington was watching Pickaxe Mountain closely.

“We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation. Every time we hear about it, we blow it up. So they don’t like talking about it. But we’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon,” he said.

ISIS, in its report, said its assessment “is that the facility is not yet operational, but construction continues,” and that it was unclear when it could be operational, based on satellite imagery alone.

“It is also unclear if Iran still plans on installing a large-scale assembly facility, given the destruction of Iran’s centrifuge program, including Iran’s ability to make centrifuge components needed for an assembly plant.

“Nonetheless, if Iran starts to rebuild its centrifuge manufacturing capability, it could plan to install a smaller centrifuge assembly facility in Pickaxe Mountain able to serve a nuclear weapons program,” ISIS said.

How might the site be attacked?

Experts assess the deeply buried complex is beyond the reach of the most powerful bunker buster bombs in the US arsenal.

ISIS said the site “would be more suitable for ground forces to attack or sabotage.”

“However, vulnerabilities may also exist that can be exploited by deep earth penetrating weapons via aerial attacks,” it said.

Lair said: “We can infer that there are ongoing activities at Pickaxe Mountain the Iranians wish to continue but are still concerned enough about a potential attack that they are taking steps to bolster their defenses.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that by passing a slew of laws favorable to the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) at the end of the Knesset’s current term, he would solidify his alliance with them and go into October’s elections confident in the inviolability of his right-wing haredi bloc.

Instead, those very concessions are looking increasingly like a political liability.

The release Sunday of a recording of Rabbi Dov Lando, the preeminent leader of Lithuania’s haredi community, accusing Religious Zionists pushing for haredi conscription of “inciting murder” has only reinforced that danger.

In other words, what looked like a successful effort to lock down his coalition partners may now complicate his effort to hold onto some voters within his own party and bloc.

By delivering the haredim nearly everything they wanted – including legislation, since blocked by the High Court of Justice, freezing the arrest of haredi draft evaders – Netanyahu has tied himself even more closely to the haredi parties’ agenda on military conscription, an issue deeply unpopular among many of his own voters.

If that issue was already an electoral burden, Lando’s remarks made it considerably heavier. In the recording, he appeared to equate encouraging military service with encouraging murder.

“The wicked people are here – what can you do?” he noted. “There are wicked people, including among those who wear knitted kippot, no less than the others. I’m talking about those in the knitted kippah community who insist that people must enlist. I would ask them, according to their own approach… if the state sends soldiers to war for the honor of the state and people are killed, is that also permitted? That is actual murder. They are inciting murder. They wage wars not only for survival, but for the honor of the state.”

For Netanyahu, publicly criticizing the spiritual leader of one of the haredi parties on which he has relied for years is almost unheard of, regardless of how provocative the remarks. But this was apparently a bridge too far.

Without mentioning Lando by name, Netanyahu issued an unusually pointed response.

Netanyahu: IDF soldiers deserve profound appreciation

“I strongly reject the shocking statements made against IDF soldiers from the Religious Zionist community. IDF soldiers – religious, secular and haredi – leave their homes, their jobs and their families, and risk their lives to defend the State of Israel, its citizens, and the entire Jewish people. They deserve profound appreciation, gratitude and full support from every segment of the public, and certainly also from the Torah world.”

The statement was remarkable not because Netanyahu defended the IDF – he routinely does – but because he publicly rebuked, albeit indirectly, the spiritual leader of one of the parties on which his political survival has long depended.

Degel HaTorah immediately pushed back, warning Netanyahu against criticizing its rabbinic leadership and reminding him where the party’s loyalties lie.

“The words of the great Torah sages are the Holy of Holies of the Jewish people, and we live by their teachings. Those who do not live within the Torah world and do not understand the depth of their words would do well not to rush to interpret them – and certainly not to attack them. Beware of their burning embers.”

The exchange appeared to signal a rupture between Netanyahu and one of his closest political allies. That impression was reinforced when Netanyahu’s senior adviser, Yonatan Urich, responded on X/Twitter: “Do not speak ill of IDF fighters. I repeat and emphasize: Do not speak ill of IDF fighters. Not maybe. Not near. Not because. Not at all. We have zero tolerance for this.”

But the perception of a rupture, for Netanyahu and the Likud, may be good politics. 

After associates of Lando argued that the rabbi had merely been engaged in a theoretical halachic discussion regarding a war fought “for the state’s honor” rather than one of survival, Urich responded again.

“Here’s a suggestion: the party activists will shut their mouths for 99 days so that we can win the elections.”

That exchange gets to the heart of Netanyahu’s political calculation. He and Urich know that the haredi issue has become an electoral liability. Religious Zionist voters, angered by Netanyahu’s repeated concessions to the haredim and the failure to broaden military conscription, are increasingly eyeing new right-wing parties that could ultimately align with Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett.

The flames of this anger were only fanned by Lando’s recent remark.

The timing of Netanyahu’s response is revealing. He waited roughly 24 hours before issuing it, suggesting that the statement was not an emotional reaction but a calculated political decision. And what is that political calculation? According to a Channel 11 report, it is to publicly increase the distance between Likud and the haredi parties as Election Day approaches without rupturing the alliance altogether.

Netanyahu plans to now distance himself from the haredim

“As we get closer to the elections and begin campaigning, Netanyahu plans to deepen the separation from the haredim and try to publicly distance himself from them,” one senior Likud official was quoted as saying. Another senior official added that the prime minister “will have to walk a fine line so as not to directly attack the haredim and damage the bloc.”

There is already evidence that strategy is underway. During the Knesset’s final votes on the legislation suspending the arrest of haredi draft evaders and on the Basic Law: Torah Judaism, Netanyahu conspicuously was not in the plenum to cast a vote. His absence deprived the opposition of footage of him personally raising his hand in favor of measures that are deeply unpopular with much of the electorate and almost certain to feature prominently in opposition parties’ campaign advertisements.

Whether Netanyahu can pull off that balancing act is another question. The opposition parties are certain to ensure that every debate over military service, reserve duty, and haredi exemptions becomes, in effect, a debate about Netanyahu himself and the concessions he has made to keep the haredim at his side.

Lando, meanwhile, sought to walk back his remarks Monday night, telling a conference that they had been taken out of context.

“As was proven over the past day, when remarks I made in a private conversation were published, they were treated – with the hatred of amei ha’aretz, [‘those ignorant of Torah’] with distortion and with a complete lack of understanding.”

But the damage was already done.

The recording is now part of the public record. Israel’s critics abroad are unlikely to concern themselves with whether Lando was engaged in an abstract halachic discussion.

They will hear only a leading Israeli rabbinic authority apparently saying that the state sends soldiers to war for its own honor rather than out of military necessity. They are unlikely to spend much time trying to understand the theoretical halachic discussion in which sources close to Lando said those remarks were made. In addition to damaging Netanyahu politically at home, the comments provide additional ammunition to those seeking to demonize Israel and the IDF abroad.

But that is not what prompted Netanyahu’s unusually sharp response. That was prompted by politics.

As Election Day approaches, the haredi conscription issue – and Netanyahu’s far-reaching concessions to the haredi parties – are shaping up to be an albatross around the prime minister’s neck. Lando’s comments simply made that albatross heavier.

Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara’s immediate dismissal and replacement a threshold condition for his party to join the next government, in a letter he sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

In the letter, Ben-Gvir made clear that, from his perspective, Baharav-Miara’s continued tenure was incompatible with continued coalition cooperation. He said the issue of the attorney-general would be a precondition for Otzma Yehudit’s entry into the next government.

The move comes against the backdrop of prolonged clashes between Ben-Gvir and Baharav-Miara throughout the current government’s term over a series of legal and policy issues. The disputes included the national security minister’s authority, police policy, senior appointments, and various government decisions.

Ben-Gvir has repeatedly claimed that the attorney-general exceeds her authority and acts in a manner that prevents the elected government from implementing its policies. Baharav-Miara, for her part, has stressed throughout her tenure that her role is to ensure that government decisions are made in accordance with the law and the principles of administrative law.

Ben-Gvir: Fire AG or Otzma Yehudit stays out of coalition

“At the beginning of the current government’s term, after I quickly identified that the attorney-general appointed by the Bennett-Lapid-Abbas government, Gali Baharav-Miara, was acting in an adversarial manner against the elected government and with appalling unprofessionalism, I asked you to have the government act to remove her immediately from office,” he wrote in his letter to Netanyahu. 

“In your response, you told me that ‘I am a young minister’ and that ‘this is not how things are done.'”

The minister went on to write that, since that conversation: “the attorney-general has not ceased acting to thwart government policy, manufacturing cases against its elected officials and the public servants it appointed, and trying to block senior appointments the government sought to advance, as well as attempting the unprecedented removal of me from my position as national security minister through a petition filed with the High Court of Justice.

“I hereby inform you unequivocally that the initial threshold condition for Otzma Yehudit to enter the next government is the removal of Gali Baharav-Miara from her position immediately upon the government’s formation, and the immediate appointment of an attorney-general who does not rebel against the elected leadership and who works to help the government implement its policy, rather than thwarting it and its members,” Ben-Gvir wrote. 

“Alongside this, we will demand the establishment of an investigative committee with criminal investigative powers to investigate all the actions taken by Baharav-Miara and her staff. Without this condition being met, we will not be able to join the government.”

An external review conducted by the Gates Foundation has found no evidence of payments made or participation in criminal activities linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the philanthropic group said on Tuesday.

The foundation’s investigation was conducted by the law firm WilmerHale and commissioned by CEO Mark Suzman, with the support of the foundation’s Chair, Bill Gates, and the independent members of the Board, the foundation said in a statement.

Some 50 interviews were conducted in total, with both former and current employees, while extensive written materials were also reviewed during the investigation.

Gates Foundation ties with Epstein

According to the investigation, the foundation only had contacted Epstein in two instances between 2011 and 2014. The first time was through a “proposed donor-advised fund (DAF) that would pool contributions from high-net-worth individuals to support global public health.”

The foundation finally rejected the proposal, according to the statement.

The second instance involved the International Peace Institute (IPI), a nonprofit Epstein introduced to the Chair. 

“The foundation subsequently provided grant funding to IPI, following internal diligence and review, for polio eradication support,” the statement read. 

This is a developing story.

Israel First Party leader MK Sharren Haskel launched a campaign calling on right-wing figures to join her new party as part of an effort to form a “broad Zionist government,” telling The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday she would consider joining a government after the elections with parties from “both sides of the aisle.”

The first figure she called on to join her party was MK Yuli Edelstein, who recently announced that he would be leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, stating that he was planning a new political path.

Haskel noted that her new campaign would extend in the coming days to appeal to additional figures on the political Right that were falling below the electoral threshold in polls, calling on them to join her as well.

Her campaign comes amid reports that former Israeli UN ambassador Gilad Erdan has been considering forming a new party on the Right to compete with the Likud as well.

After launching the campaign, Haskel told the Post that she would sit with parties from both the opposition and coalition, not ruling out sitting in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

October 7 bridged political divides

Speaking on Netanyahu, Haskel said that the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023 bridged past divides of “coalition versus opposition.”

“‘Anyone but Bibi ‘ [Netanayhu] collapsed on October 7. Today’s test is not personal. It is based on values.”

Haskel explained that a broad Zionist government would put “the state ahead of sectoral interests.”

“This means a partnership of everyone who believes in an equal sharing of the burden, security, and national responsibility,” she added.

Haskel also noted that while her party would not boycott individuals, there would be “substantial red lines.”

“Parties that promote draft evasion or anti-Zionist elements will remain outside. Our goal is to unite the national and Zionist camp.” 

“Anyone guided by these values can find a home with us, and their place is right alongside us at the cabinet table,” Haskel explained.

“Now is the time to mobilize. This is an emergency [military-like] call-up order for the national camp and for everyone who believes in a Zionist, statesmanlike, and service-oriented state. Now you have a home too,” she said.

Haskel’s resignation from government

Haskel announced the formation of her new party last week shortly after she resigned from the government in her position as deputy foreign minister.

Her resignation came following the Knesset’s passage of contentious legislation freezing the arrests of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft evaders.

 She had said that the reason for her resignation was that she could no longer stand behind the government’s decisions.

“I feel that I can no longer support a government that harms the security of the country during wartime,” she said, announcing her resignation.

Haskel has been a fierce critic of the series of legislation that was advanced by the haredi parties – with government backing – which critics argue encourages draft evasion, even amid the IDF’s severe manpower crisis.

Other figures who have called for a broad Zionist government include Blue and White Party leader MK Benny Gantz and the newly formed political alliance between Reservists Party leader Yoaz Hendel and former Blue and White MK Chili Tropper.

Those figures have also been falling under the electoral threshold in recent polls and have indicated that they would not object to sitting in a government with Netanyahu.

Gantz has been distanced from the opposition bloc seeking to oust the premier in the upcoming election, which is set for October 27.

As global crises push nations to rearm with advanced military technologies, Dun & Bradstreet’s Duns 100 index has published Israel’s first comprehensive ranking of defense-industry companies, mapping 60 firms across the country’s expanding defense-tech ecosystem. 

The rankings span six categories: defense integrators, defense manufacturing, unmanned and autonomous systems, homeland security, intelligence and cyber, and tactical and ground equipment. 

Of the 60 ranked companies, 23 belong to the defense industry and manufacturing category, and another 19 are classified under unmanned and autonomous systems, showing the central focus of Israel’s defense-tech ecosystem.

The list highlights both established industry leaders and emerging start-ups that have been reshaping Israel’s defense landscape. Elbit Systems, Plasan Sasa, Aeronautics, Magal, Cellebrite, and Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) lead their respective categories.

Among the companies ranked by Duns 100 are Aeronautics, D-Fend Solutions, ThirdEye Systems, Parazero Technologies, High Lander Aviation, Controp Precision Technologies, Bagira, Cellebrite, Smart Shooter, and MeproLight. The companies focus on autonomy, unmanned systems, operational AI, robotics, advanced sensing, data processing, and tactical logistics.

Alongside the main ranking, Duns 100 introduced the Emerging Industry Leaders Award, recognizing companies positioned to significantly influence the future of Israel’s defense sector. This year’s recipients were Aero Sentinel, AIR VEV, Axon Vision, Kela AI, and XTEND. According to Duns 100, these companies provide solutions that are central to modern battlefield transformation.

According to Duns 100 – the world’s largest business information company – the methodology behind the ranking combines quantitative and qualitative indicators, including business strength, technological innovation, global activity, positioning within the defense value chain, and operational relevance. Companies were assessed relative to their field and stage of development, allowing comparisons across diverse segments of the industry.

Shift in the defense sector

Sheila Zavaro Weiss, senior director at Duns 100, said the new index reflects a shift in how Israel’s defense sector should be understood. According to her, the industry is no longer defined solely by traditional manufacturing but by a broader defense-tech model.

“For the first time, we are unveiling a dedicated ranking of Israel’s defense industry companies – a move designed to map the Israeli defense ecosystem broadly and on a data-driven basis,” she said.

“The ranking reflects a profound shift in how the industry should be viewed: not merely as an industry that manufactures systems and components but as a broad defense-tech ecosystem in which value is created through the integration of industrial capabilities, software, data, AI, autonomy, sensors, and operational relevance. In this sense, the ranking does more than show who operates in the field – it signals how Israel’s defense industry is evolving and where it is heading.”

Data collected for the ranking show that Israel’s defense ecosystem extends far beyond its three largest corporations. Of the 60 companies listed, 23 operate in defense manufacturing and 19 in unmanned and autonomous systems. Together, they represent roughly 70% of the ranking, underscoring the central role of advanced production capabilities and next-generation technologies.

Many of the companies ranked on the list operate extensively overseas, with exports accounting for significant portions of revenue – sometimes approaching 90% – highlighting Israel’s growing presence in the global defense market. 

In June, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that the country’s defense export for 2025 was at $19.2 billion – a record broken for the fifth consecutive year and a surge of nearly 30% compared to 2024. Over half of the deals (53%) were valued at $100 million or more each. 

The director-general of the Defense Ministry, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, was quoted as saying at the time that “the sharp surge in defense exports reflects the quality of Israel’s defense industry, global demand, the IDF’s operational successes, and our unique ecosystem.”

The list released by Duns 100  comes shortly after it was announced that Israeli defense-tech start-ups working with the Defense Ministry raised nearly $3 billion in the first six months of 2026.

According to figures presented at the Haifa DefenseTech Startups and Investors Forum, the amount is three times the $1b. raised during all of 2025.

During the same period, defense-tech and dual-use companies accounted for almost 30% of the $8.4b. in private investment in Israel’s hi-tech sector. Approximately 800 start-ups are currently fulfilling direct procurement orders for the ministry.