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When IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir finished 2025, he was on track as one of the most popular IDF chiefs in recent memory.

He had stormed onto the world stage in June 2025 leading Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s remarkably successful massive strike on Iran’s nuclear program, radars and air defenses, top military officials, and some ballistic missile sites.

Next, he was the IDF chief in October 2025 when a deal was struck with Hamas to end the Gaza War, including the return of all remaining living and deceased hostages.

But 2026 is still a work in progress, with some of Zamir’s legacy in the balance.

Iran is weaker, but the threat is far from gone

Israel’s early 2026 Operation Roaring Lion is viewed by most in Israel and globally as less successful than the 2025 operation. This is true even as the IDF did destroy significant aspects of Iran’s ballistic missiles program, caused between $200-300 billion dollars of damage to its broader military industrial complex, and assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Regardless of the military successes, it has been highly problematic diplomatically, turning even more of the world against Israel. Also, Israel has lost additional important measures of support from the Trump administration over gas prices and the crisis in the Straits of Hormuz as well as over the fact that the Iranian regime survived and with an intransigent attitude.

So what is the overall strategic and specific threats picture?

In the view of the IDF high command, which Zamir directs, The Jerusalem Post has learned that biggest strategic win for Israel and which has been ignored by much of the global media, is Israel’s advantage over Tehran after the 2026 war both in learning and advancing the other side’s tactics and regarding capabilities, meaning gaining an upper hand in resupplying weapons and the ongoing arms race.

Much of the global media has focused on the US’s using up significant amounts of its air defense interceptors and attack bombs, which may leave it less able to block a theoretical Chinese move to take over Taiwan.

While this is a critical debate for the US, Israel has no such disconnected second front where it would need to defend against an imminent and massive aerial enemy attack.

Rather, Israel only needs to “race” against the Islamic Republic when it comes to the volume of offensive and defensive weapons needed to prosecute an extended new offensive or defensive war.

In numbers, the Post understands that in the view of Israeli intelligence, this means that Israel has been racing ahead with new military surprises and tactics to unleash against Tehran in any potential future new conflict.

In contrast, Iran’s ability to embrace and prepare new tactics is limited two-fold. It is limited by its lack of funds and preoccupation with trying to stay above water militarily after having been so severely battered. Further, it is limited by the absence of any near-term horizon or moment in which it will be economically saved and be able to fully reopen up a process for recovery and for developing new projects. 

The Post understands that Zamir and the IDF high command view Israel as jumping years ahead in these areas, even if there are some other specific select areas where Iran may be able to remain more formidable.

There is another crucial development in holding Iran back from restoring its former ballistic missiles and other sources of threat power. It is a mix of the 2026 war’s destruction of Iran’s future production capabilities in tandem with the US’s stronger than expected post-war success in blocking China from resupplying ballistic missile technology and supplies to the Islamic Republic.

The Post learned back in April that one of the greatest concerns of Israeli intelligence was to what extent China might hand over critical items to restore Iran’s ballistic missile threat capabilities on a more wholesale basis.

If without Beijing, Iran was viewed as being pushed back years backward, Israeli intelligence worried that China could hand over enough ballistic missile items rapidly enough to jumpstart the recovery process forward much faster.

Although Israel does maintain that China has helped Iran recover some capabilities in this area, Zamir and the high command’s view is that Washington has succeeded in blocking the vast majority of this assistance through its counter-blockade of the Straits of Hormuz. This is something which in April, no one expected would last into September or beyond.

This means that after Israel destroyed Iran’s planetary mixers in 2026, which were viewed as the key to rapid mass production of ballistic missiles, that the Islamic Republic could be left with trough mixers or other slower and inferior production processes.

In contrast, if China had provided new planetary mixers and other items directly to Iran, the situation could have been much more dangerous.

Due to the damage to ballistic missile production and the US success so far with the Chinese, the IDF expects Iran to remain under 2,000 missiles even at the end of 2026, the Post has learned.

On one hand, that almost 2,000 number is very disturbing.

There were earlier hopes that Iran could be held under or around 1,000 for a longer period, and Iran has shown impressive resiliency to rebuild aspects of its missile production in a very short time after the 2026 war.

But in another sense, this is a significant near and medium term win for Zamir and Israel.

All of this comes after Tehran had somewhere between 2,500-3,000 such missiles prior to the June 2025 war.

It means that more than 18 months after that war, Iran will still have significantly fewer missiles than it had at the time.

This is even more significant when one takes into account that the pace at which Iran was moving with ballistic missile production prior to June 2025 was expected to get it to over 6,000 missiles at an earlier point in 2026 and 8,800 missiles by August 2027.

The existential ballistic missile threat has not been removed.

But it has been delayed already more than two years, and by some estimates given to the Post by as many as four years, though those most optimistic estimates make certain assumptions which could evolve.

Hezbollah is weaker, but Israel has no clear exit from Lebanon

If after the 2023-2024 war, Hezbollah was down from 150,000 rockets and mortars to 30,000-50,000, the Post has learned that it is now as low as 10,000 following the IDF’s war on it in 2026.

That means Hezbollah’s current arsenal is weaker than Hamas’s was on October 7, 2023, when once the Lebanese terror group dwarfed the Gazan terror group in power (Hamas meanwhile has almost no rockets and has not succeeded in firing a rocket to harm Israelis in years, with its last major effective attack coming in January 2024.)

The IDF also has made it currently impossible for Hezbollah to invade Israel by seizing an approximately 10 kilometer deep security zone in southern Lebanon.

This does not mean Israel is safe from Hezbollah. There is currently no real process to disarm the group unlike in Gaza where there may be such a process with Hamas.

The Lebanese army is still terrified of having a direct conflict with Hezbollah and the Post understands that as long as the army views the 1970s Lebanese civil war as its low point, and not the recent round of fighting with Israel, this is unlikely to change.

Long-term this could leave Israel stuck in Lebanon like it was 1982-2000, something it does not want, due to military vulnerabilities and diplomatic harm from an extended occupation, and with no apparent exit strategy.

Earlier hopes that the positive relations between the Lebanese and Israeli governments might be enough to pressure Hezbollah into even partial disarmament currently look like pipedreams in the eyes of Zamir and the IDF high command, the Post understands.

But the IDF can only manage the military playing field, and converting military wins into strategic diplomatic gains, is the role of the civilian government.

In Gaza, military gains collide with political limits

This same issue is present in Gaza where the IDF has done its best to keep Hamas from making a comeback, but has no ability to force Israel’s government to allow other Palestinian or international authorities into the Strip to try to replace Hamas.

If the Netanyahu government does eventually allow the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) peacekeepers and the NCAG Palestinian technocratic committee into Gaza after months of delay (by both him and Hamas), it will be only due to pressure by the Trump administration.

In the meantime, Zamir has warned that if Hamas’s threat is not reduced either by diplomatic-political means or by a new major operation, the group could eventually start to reconstitute itself as a threat to Israel after years on the run.

Eyal Zamir faces a two-front battle in the West Bank

Through all of this, Zamir has inherited a multi-headed problem of terror emanating from the West Bank since early 2022.

He has tried to order harsher crack downs on certain more problematic Palestinian areas, reducing aspects of the terror threat substantially – by some estimates as much as 80% – but nothing close to stopping the threat.

At the same time, Zamir, along with the police, the Shin Bet, and the government more broadly, have lost control over several hundred violent Jewish extremists who have been regularly attacking both Palestinians and soldiers alike.

Zamir has not fought with Defense Minister Israel Katz to restore administrative detention of violent Jews, a tool the Shin Bet has consistently demanded be returned to them for use.

Rather, he has been strategic about public fighting with the defense minister, with a focus on keeping control of key IDF appointments and on pressing the government to draft more haredim. This has been despite pushes by Katz to make political-friendly appointments and to protect haredi political parties from any substantial concessions on drafting more young men from their sector into the military.

Possibly Zamir’s most dramatic moment was a leak in March of a private speech he made to the cabinet about the need to draft more haredim in which he said, “I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself.”  

More recently, he has also been more public lately about demanding government backing for combating Jewish extremist violence.

On August 27, Zamir announced that he was expanding the Israeli forces being used to maintain public order in the West Bank leading into the upcoming fall Jewish holidays.

The Post understands that the volume of forces will be more than double the pre-October 7 force size of around 11 battalions, which at times has grown to 15-20 battalions, but will temporarily grow even more.

Zamir warned the government that Jewish extremist violence has run out of control and that greater backing is needed from the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others actively restraining political officials from provocative actions.

All of this takes place as IDF officials have said Jewish extremist violence has reached new levels, with hundreds of extremists recently drawing out a conflict with the IDF at the Palestinian village of Kusra for multiple weeks.

It also takes place as IDF and Shin Bet officials say that the police, after three years under Itamar Ben-Gvir, have reached highly problematic lows in terms of arresting and helping indict Jewish extremists in the West Bank.

None or almost none (the police have been at a low also in terms of transparency) of those involved in the Kusra actions were arrested.

Accordingly, Zamir has brought in the Golani Brigade and the Paratroopers Brigade to supplement the standard forces in the area, some of which have appeared too sympathetic to Jewish extremists attacking Palestinian villages.

However, without more backing from the government, Zamir has warned that even increased military forces will be insufficient.

Looking into 2027, in some ways, Zamir has succeeded in making Israel more secure than it was in the 2023-2025 period. But almost every front remains a challenge, such that he will continue to have his work cut out for him.

For a shorter version of this profile as it appears in The Jerusalem Post‘s 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 list, click here to read Zamir’s entry.

This post was originally published on here. 

Shoppers spent nearly NIS 459 million on card payments during Friday morning ahead of Rosh Hashanah, but supermarkets remained unusually quiet compared with previous holiday eves, with retailers attributing the trend to earlier shopping, overseas travel, and economic pressures.

While people expected the heavy crowds typically seen on the morning before the Jewish New Year, with checkout lines stretching to the entrance of stores, the reality was completely different: Traffic at supermarket chains was especially light, even compared with a regular Friday.

“I have never seen anything like this,” a branch manager at one of the retail chains told Walla. “We were just talking about it as a team, that there are barely any people. Either everyone already did their shopping earlier, or everyone flew abroad. They said Ben-Gurion Airport is crowded.”

According to data from Shva, Israel’s Automated Banking Services company, Israelis made NIS 459.06 million in credit card purchases between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. This marked a slight 2.7% increase compared with the same period before Rosh Hashanah last year, when spending totaled NIS 446.77 million.

The peak minute was recorded at 10:56 a.m., when more than NIS 3.44 million was spent through 18,000 transactions in a single minute.

Higher prices drive spending despite quieter stores

However, the slight increase in spending does not appear to reflect a surge of consumers filling stores. Instead, it likely stems mainly from price increases in major holiday products.

The surprising quiet on the morning before the holiday capped a trend seen throughout recent weeks, as traditional holiday shopping waves were barely noticeable due to a combination of low national morale, the timing of the holiday falling across the weekend, and the heavy financial burden of the summer vacation period.

The sparse activity in supermarket aisles was accompanied by fewer deep discounts from retailers seeking to protect profit margins. An examination by the Institute for Retail Research found that while the overall shopping basket did not rise across the board, key products for the holiday table became significantly more expensive compared with the same period last year.

Avocado prices jumped by 44.3%, dry onions rose by 39.3%, fresh chicken liver increased by 21.3%, and packaged carrots became 19.6% more expensive. Overall, fruit and vegetable prices rose by an average of 7.3%, while wine prices increased by 6.3%.

Large price gaps found between supermarket chains

The examination also found major price gaps of around 40% between different retail chains for products such as whole fresh chicken and fresh chicken schnitzel.

As a result, Israelis who reached the checkout counters faced weaker competition and higher prices on key products, better explaining the rise in total spending despite the unusually empty supermarkets.

This post was originally published on here. 

Norway’s Princess Astrid, an older sister of the late King Harald, died on Friday at the age of 94, the royal palace said in a statement.

Astrid’s brother Harald died last month, aged 89, after more than 35 years on the throne, and the princess made her last public appearance at his funeral on Wednesday.

“Throughout her long life, Princess Astrid represented the Royal House in a warm and dutiful manner,” King Haakon VIII said in the statement.

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

Germany’s federal prosecutor charged seven men accused of being Hamas terrorists on Friday for procuring weapons and planning an attack against the Jewish community and Israel-linked individuals in Germany or Austria.

According to a statement released by the prosecutor, the suspects were tasked by high-ranking Hamas terrorists with gathering weapons and ammunition in preparation for the attack.

The suspects were identified as German national Abed Al G., Danish national Yousif C., Lebanese-born Borhan El-K., Lebanese-born Wael FM, German national Ahmad I., Lebanese-born Kamel M., and Bulgarian national Mohammad S.

At the time of the arrests of Abed Al G., Wael FM, and Ahmad I. in October 2025, the suspects had already acquired over 700 rounds of ammunition, a fully automatic rifle, and 13 pistols for use in the planned attack.

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

As dynamics in Israel’s political sphere continue to shift rapidly, several key figures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and the opposition bloc have played significant roles.

Following the October elections, the influence of these figures could change dramatically, depending on the balance of power between Netanyahu’s camp and the opposition bloc, as they battle to form the next government.

Netanyahu’s coalition bloc

From within Netanyahu’s coalition, two far-right figures have held highly influential roles in the government while continuing to make international headlines: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Bezalel Smotrich

Bezalel Smotrich is the leader of the Religious Zionist Party and has voiced his commitment to remaining in Netanyahu’s bloc.

Smotrich has pushed to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with over 100 initiated during his tenure, creating tension for Israel’s diplomatic efforts, and leading him to also be declared persona non grata by several European countries.

He serves as the head of the Settlements Administration, a Defense Ministry body that manages matters in West Bank settlements and advances construction and housing in the area.

The far-right minister’s statements calling for West Bank annexation often drew sharp international condemnation, as well as criticism for harming Israel’s global standing.

As finance minister, Smotrich had also faced criticism over state budgets approved during the government’s term, which allocated significant amounts of funding to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector.

Smotrich pushed for sweeping reforms in the country’s dairy sector, calling for lower milk and cheese prices by addressing monopolies that dominate the market. The government did not pass the reforms during its term because of opposition within the coalition.

Smotrich has aimed for continued efforts to advance the reforms and called for addressing the high cost of living by increasing free market competition.

Itamar Ben-Gvir

Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, has also been a controversial and highly influential figure.

Internationally, Ben-Gvir’s statements and actions, including repeated trips to the Temple Mount with calls to break the status quo, have led multiple European countries to declare him persona non grata.

One condition of Otzma Yehudit’s coalition agreement with Netanyahu was a law mandating the death penalty for terrorists. The controversial legislation, which is largely aimed at Palestinians convicted of terror offenses, was passed in March 2026.

As national security minister, Ben-Gvir also led reforms in Israel’s prison service, significantly worsening conditions for Palestinian inmates, arguing that both the death penalty and harsher prison conditions create deterrence.

Otzma Yehudit had repeatedly pushed against hostage deals during the Israel-Hamas war. In January 2025, the party briefly left Netanyahu’s coalition over disagreements on a ceasefire deal.

Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has been criticized for the spike in crime during the government’s term, specifically in the Arab sector.

He remains a key Netanyahu ally, pushing for a far-right stance and the formation of another right-wing government. His party has been polling at approximately eight seats in most recent polls.

Arye Deri

Another key figure is Arye Deri, who leads the haredi Shas party and is one of Netanyahu’s most vital coalition partners.

Deri has been sharply criticized for his position regarding haredi conscription to the IDF amid the IDF’s severe manpower crisis.

He visited arrested haredi draft evaders in military prison in June. Shas stated that he “sought to encourage the detainees,” emphasizing that the party supports them and was working for their swift release and the regulation of their status.

The Sephardic haredi party was able to make numerous demands throughout the government’s term while threatening to halt coalition voting when haredi-backed bills were not advanced rapidly enough.

Two of the contentious bills supported by Shas, which passed in the Knesset recently, were a bill to enshrine Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s Basic Law, along with a bill to temporarily freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders.

Shas also resigned from the government in July 2025 following the fallout in negotiations when developing a bill to enforce conscription to the IDF.

Deri has been a fierce critic of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and the decisions made by the High Court ordering the state to take concrete steps to revoke key financial benefits from draft evaders and to move toward criminal enforcement against them.

The alliance between Netanyahu and Shas is expected to continue. Prime ministerial candidate Gadi Eisenkot, who heads the Yashar party and is part of the opposition bloc, has also indicated that he would be willing to form a coalition with Shas.

Meanwhile, most opposition party leaders have vowed not to sit in a government with the haredi parties.

Gideon Sa’ar

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has held the crucial role of managing the country’s international diplomacy and external relations. He continues to be an ally of Netanyahu and sits in his government, despite previously refusing to be part of it.

Sa’ar resigned from the Likud in 2020 after heavily criticizing Netanyahu. He then formed his own party, which merged with Benny Gantz’s political alliance, before ultimately splitting from Gantz and forming his current New Hope-United Right party.

However, in 2025, Sa’ar announced that he would return to the Likud ahead of the elections.

Before the Likud primaries in August, it was decided in a controversial move that Netanyahu would have the ability to reserve eight slots for his own picks. Sa’ar was one of three ministers to receive a reserved slot.

As foreign minister, Sa’ar has taken on countries after they adopted an anti-Israel approach, such as Spain, Ireland, and Turkey.

He has also urged the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

The government voted in June to formally recognize the Armenian genocide, following a resolution proposal put forth by Sa’ar.

Sa’ar has consistently held diplomatic meetings with foreign leaders throughout the world. In January, he met with the president of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, after Israel was the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent state.

Opposition bloc and anti-Netanyahu camp

Two key figures in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu in the upcoming elections have played prominent roles in challenging the government: opposition leader Yair Lapid and Yisrael Beytenu chairperson Avigdor Liberman.

Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid has led the centrist Yesh Atid party, which currently has 24 Knesset seats. As opposition leader, he has consistently rallied against the government and pushed against it on many issues.

He has held Netanyahu responsible for the October 7 Hamas massacres, calling for him to be removed from office and demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry to probe government failures surrounding the attacks.

Lapid has also accused Netanyahu of falsifying official security protocols to deflect blame during investigations into the government’s handling of the attacks.

The Yesh Atid party merged with prime ministerial candidate Naftali Bennett’s B’yachad party in April, with Lapid agreeing to the number two slot in the party. Yesh Atid now has a limited slate of candidates on the B’Yachad Knesset list.

Lapid has stated that he was putting his ego aside and taking the second slot due to the importance of uniting the political camps in the opposition bloc.

He briefly served as prime minister while in a rotation government with Bennett, which was formed in 2021.

Avigdor Liberman

Avigdor Liberman, another fierce critic of Netanyahu and his government, has been open about his aim of becoming prime minister in the upcoming election.

He served in key security and diplomatic positions in previous governments, including as defense minister, foreign minister, and finance minister. He has been in the political sphere for over three decades.

Liberman holds a hawkish security stance and advocates for expanding settlements in the West Bank. He also strongly advocates for a separation of religion and state.

Throughout the Israel-Hamas war and the most recent rounds of conflict with Iran, Liberman has sharply criticized Netanyahu’s military approach, arguing that it was indecisive and failed to eliminate the threats facing the country on multiple fronts.

Liberman has taken a hard-line stance on haredi conscription to the IDF, making the issue a key part of his party’s platform.

He has called for legislation that would ensure there are no exemptions from IDF service and that those who evade service would be barred from receiving financial assistance from the state.

Yuli Edelstein

While former Likud MK Yuli Edelstein was part of the ruling party throughout the government’s term, he was consistently a fierce critic of Netanyahu’s coalition and the legislation it advanced.

Edelstein initially served as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but was ousted from the position last July after leading efforts to advance legislation on haredi conscription.

Edelstein was then part of the small group of lawmakers in Netanyahu’s coalition to speak out and vote against the series of legislation that was later advanced by the haredi parties – with government backing – which critics argue encouraged draft evasion.

He stated in July that he was leaving Likud to forge a new political path, subsequently announcing that he was running in the elections with former Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan’s Unity party.

The former Likud members sought to provide an alternative to right-wing voters dissatisfied with Likud and Netanyahu’s coalition partners. They vowed to uphold right-wing principles and fight for universal IDF conscription.

Recently, the party ultimately dropped out of the election race, when polling indicated that it would not pass the electoral threshold.

Amid the instability of Israeli politics, particularly during elections, it will soon become clear how the political influence of Netanyahu’s various challengers and partners will shift.

No. 14: Isaac Herzog >>

<< No. 16: Bill Ackman

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

This post was originally published on here. 

There is no real job description for the president of Israel. It’s not a 9-5 profession. Nor can it be fully planned on a daily or weekly basis. There are always surprises that were not anticipated in advance.

In addition to all the duties inherited from his 10 predecessors, President Isaac Herzog has dedicated much of his time over the past three years to visiting kibbutzim, moshavim, villages and urban areas that suffered heavy losses of life and severe property damage resulting from Hamas and Hezbollah attacks. While hostages languished in Gaza, Herzog met frequently with their families, and when hostages were released, he also met with them. He visited hospitals to boost the morale of wounded soldiers, and met several times with ambassadors of countries whose citizens had been abducted from Israel by Hamas.

“I meet thousands of Israelis each week from all walks of life, and they never cease to inspire me and fill me with hope for the future for our wonderful nation.”

During his ongoing presidency, Israel has faced unprecedented challenges ranging from the coronavirus epidemic to the societal rift over judicial changes, plus the October 7 massacre and the war that followed. “The war brought out the very best in Israelis who have demonstrated heroism, resilience, and love of our country. It has also had a devastating impact on so many people, families and communities. My wife Michal and I have met with over 2,000 bereaved families.”

To Herzog, one of the most moving moments of the past year was the wedding of Sasha Troufanov and Sapir Cohen, who were kidnapped by Hamas from his family’s home in Nir Oz. “The incredible sight of seeing the triumph of life and love under the huppah after all they and their families had been through was a powerful moment that epitomized the exceptional strength and character of the Israeli people,” says Herzog.

Turning to antisemitism, Herzog emphasizes that as president of the world’s only Jewish state, “I care for every Jew everywhere. Where one Jew is harmed – whether in Jerusalem, Sydney or New York – we all feel a shared pain. My visit to Australia after the Bondi Beach terror attack was one of the most moving moments of the past year.”

Before taking office in July, 2021, Herzog served as cabinet secretary, legislator, minister, chairman of the Labor Party and chairman of the Jewish Agency. Unlike Israel’s fifth president Yitzhak Navon, he has no intention of returning to politics at the conclusion of his term. Instead, he hopes to become a teacher and to join in shaping Israel’s next generation.

He noted that his term will conclude just after Israel celebrates its milestone 80th anniversary of Independence. His hope is that by then “Israel will be more secure and more united than ever.”

On September 22, Herzog will celebrate his 66th birthday. The fourth Israel-born president, he is the first to be born after the establishment of the state. He is also the first and only second-generation president. His father, Chaim Herzog, was Israel’s sixth president.

No. 13: Stephen Miller >>

<< No. 15: Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Aryeh Deri, Gideon Sa'ar, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Lapid, and Yuli Edelstein

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

This post was originally published on here. 

Few people who held senior positions during US President Donald Trump’s first term have remained in similarly influential roles during his second. Fewer still wield as much influence over the direction of the administration as Stephen Miller.

Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security, has evolved from a young, uncompromising immigration adviser into one of the president’s most powerful aides – and perhaps one of the central architects of Trump’s agenda in his second term.

One of Miller’s greatest sources of power is his longstanding proximity to Trump. He first emerged as a prominent speechwriter and policy adviser during Trump’s initial campaign and first administration. Unlike many of his former colleagues, Miller has remained a constant presence in Trump’s inner circle, helping translate the president’s political instincts into government policy.

Raised in a Jewish family in Santa Monica, California, Miller embraced conservative politics as a teenager, later worked for then-sen. Jeff Sessions, and joined Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016. After leaving the White House in 2021, he co-founded America First Legal, using litigation to challenge Biden administration policies, before returning with a broader mandate.

In May 2025, Miller and then-Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem told ICE leaders to aim for at least 3,000 arrests a day – roughly triple the early-term pace, underscoring Miller’s authority in the White House. The administration’s broader immigration campaign has targeted both illegal and aspects of legal immigration, including visa policies, asylum procedures and birthright citizenship – reflecting Miller’s longstanding view that the US immigration system has been far too permissive. But while Miller is best known for advancing Trump’s mass deportation agenda, his influence extends well beyond immigration.

Reporting in 2025 and 2026 placed him among the senior officials helping shape the administration’s approach to Venezuela and to drug cartels in Latin America; in March, Miller argued publicly that the cartels could be defeated only through military power.

In his White House role, Miller has also been deeply involved in domestic policy and in the administration’s efforts to exercise presidential authority more aggressively. He is no longer simply an immigration specialist. Miller has become a senior administration official helping shape its broader governing philosophy: a powerful presidency, extensive use of executive authority and a willingness to challenge institutional constraints that have been accepted for decades.

In a January 2026 Bloomberg Businessweek profile, former House speaker Newt Gingrich – described as a close Trump adviser – said Miller “seems comparable to a cabinet member,” adding that the president treats him as a journeyman able to play “six or seven different positions.”

Some later accounts described a partial shift of day-to-day immigration operations away from Miller after changes at the Department of Homeland Security. Still, he has remained a principal center of policy power in the West Wing.

His critics view his influence with concern, arguing that Miller’s hard-line approach is pushing the administration toward policies that threaten constitutional protections and civil rights. His supporters, by contrast, see him as one of the few advisers capable of turning Trump’s broad political promises into concrete government policy.

Miller’s Jewish identity has itself become part of the debate around him. He has described himself as a practicing Jew and an American Jew. Jewish organizations and rabbis have sharply criticized immigration policies associated with him, invoking Jewish values and American Jewry’s long history of advocacy for immigrants and refugees.

And that may be Miller’s greatest significance. Trump makes clear what he wants to happen. Miller helps turn those instincts into policy.

No. 12: Jessica Tisch and Julie Menin >>

<< No. 14: Isaac Herzog

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

This post was originally published on here. 

At a time when New York’s Jewish community is navigating rising antisemitism and an increasingly polarized political landscape, Jessica Tisch and Julie Menin occupy two of the city’s most powerful positions: one overseeing its police force, the other its City Council.

Jessica Tisch

Tisch, the New York Police Department commissioner, and Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, are both prominent Jewish figures in a city with one of the largest Jewish populations outside Israel. Their influence has become particularly significant as concerns over Jewish safety have moved to the center of New York’s political debate.

Tisch became the second woman to lead the NYPD in November 2024. Protecting Jewish New Yorkers has been a visible feature of her tenure. The NYPD has mounted extensive security operations around major Jewish events, including the annual Israel Day Parade, while Tisch has repeatedly spoken publicly about the threat posed by antisemitism.

A longtime member of Manhattan’s Central Synagogue, Tisch addressed the congregation following an August attack during a Shabbat service, describing herself as a “proud Jew” with a “deeply personal” commitment to keeping her community safe. Earlier this year, she installed a mezuzah on her office at NYPD headquarters, calling it a symbol of “faith and resilience.”

Julie Menin 

Menin, meanwhile, made history in January when she was unanimously elected the first Jewish speaker of the City Council. A veteran of New York government and a centrist Democrat, she has emerged as an important Jewish voice in the city’s new political landscape, particularly following the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Menin’s own Jewish history has shaped her politics. Her mother and grandmother survived the Holocaust in Budapest, while her grandfather was murdered. She has on many occasions emphasized the importance of confronting antisemitism and preserving Holocaust memory, while seeking to maintain political dialogue across an increasingly divided New York.

Together, Tisch and Menin represent two very different forms of Jewish power in New York: one through law enforcement and public safety, the other through political leadership. At a moment when Jewish New Yorkers are asking whether they can continue to live openly and confidently in the city, both have become increasingly important figures in answering that question.

<< No. 11: Larry Fink

No. 13: Stephen Miller >>

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

This post was originally published on here. 

Larry Fink was born and raised in Van Nuys, California, to a Jewish family that emphasized identity, responsibility, and participation in communal life. Those early influences have remained central throughout his career and have shaped both his philanthropic priorities and his engagement with Jewish and Israeli institutions.

After earning a BA in political science from UCLA and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Fink began his career at First Boston, becoming one of the early pioneers of mortgage-backed securities. A major trading loss pushed him toward a deeper focus on risk management, which defined his next chapter. Two years later, he co-founded BlackRock under The Blackstone Group.

When BlackRock became independent in 1994, he remained CEO and later chairman, guiding the firm into becoming the world’s largest asset-management company, with more than $10 trillion under management. As he built the company, Fink also became one of the most visible Jewish figures in global finance, with a public profile that extends across markets, governments, and Jewish communities worldwide.

Fink’s connection to Israel has been expressed through philanthropy, institutional involvement, and sustained engagement with Israeli leaders and business sectors. Over the years, he has supported Jewish educational initiatives, communal organizations, and programs aimed at strengthening Israel diaspora ties.

His participation in global Jewish forums and his presence on the boards of major Jewish and international institutions have positioned him as a bridge between financial power centers and the broader Jewish world.

BlackRock’s investment posture under Fink has had significant implications for Israel’s economy. The firm holds major positions in Israeli technology and pharmaceutical companies, and has maintained investments in Israeli-related securities even when activist shareholders have pushed for divestment. With Fink’s pro-Israel standing, BlackRock has also opposed anti-Israel BDS-aligned resolutions, reinforcing its stance against politically motivated divestment campaigns.

At the same time, Fink’s role requires navigating complex geopolitical realities. BlackRock manages assets for governments and sovereign wealth funds across the Middle East, including states historically hostile to Israel. His ability to maintain BlackRock’s commercial relationships while sustaining personal and institutional connections to the Jewish world illustrates the balancing act required of global financial leaders operating across diverse political landscapes.

With a net worth estimated at $1.2 billion as of April 2024, Fink is one of the most prominent Jewish business leaders in the world. Through BlackRock’s investments, board-level involvement in major Jewish and international institutions, and his visibility as a global Jewish leader, Fink has become a central figure linking the world’s largest financial networks with the priorities and resilience of the Jewish community.

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The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

This post was originally published on here. 

Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. The fate of individuals is weighed, and the course of nations and empires is determined. We stand before God, examining our conduct, appealing for mercy, and praying to be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Yet Rosh Hashanah carries a wider significance. It marks the anniversary of Creation, when God brought the world into existence. By judging humanity, He reasserts His sovereignty over creation. We therefore turn beyond our own lives to the movement of history, asking how clearly God’s presence can be discerned in His world.

History begins with Creation and moves toward redemption. At the end of that journey, God’s presence will become unmistakable, as humanity comes to recognize Him.

Each Rosh Hashanah, as history advances along its difficult path toward that destination, we consider the year that has passed. Which developments have made God more visible, and which have pushed His presence further into concealment?

We cannot decode providence or confidently explain why particular events occur. Yet people of faith can still ask whether the broader movement of history has made God’s presence easier or harder to discern.

Rescue, victory, and divine intervention

Perhaps the most moving event in which we sensed divine intervention was the return of our hostages.

Their abduction was among the most agonizing elements of Oct. 7, compounded by the unimaginable suffering many endured in captivity.

For much of the war, the return of every hostage seemed beyond hope. We assumed Hamas would retain some as bargaining chips or human shields. 

Yet 168 hostages were brought home alive, and ultimately every hostage who had been murdered or died in captivity was returned for burial in Israel. Again and again, we welcomed home people whose names and faces had become seared into our consciousness, and for whom we had prayed for months or even years.

Their return reminded people of faith that history is never limited by what appears possible at a particular moment.

We also continue to sense His hand guiding us through history as we return to our homeland and reclaim our place within the historical arena.

Over the past year, Israel achieved remarkable military successes. Iran, our most dangerous enemy, was severely weakened, while much of the “ring of fire” it had constructed around Israel through murderous proxies was dismantled or substantially degraded.

The contrast with the days following Oct. 7 is striking. Israel then appeared painfully vulnerable, surrounded by enemies and threatened on multiple fronts. Three years later, the strategic landscape of the Middle East has been dramatically altered.

None of this should obscure the terrible cost of the war or suggest that every danger has disappeared. Yet developments that once seemed improbable became reality, and for many of us the hand of God felt unusually close as the regional landscape was transformed.

Faith resurfaces after being tested

We have also witnessed renewed visibility of faith. 

Israel today is very different from the country founded nearly eight decades ago. Even among Israelis who are not observant, many speak comfortably about faith, prayer, Jewish destiny, and God’s presence in our national story. 

This shift had been developing for years, but Oct. 7 accelerated it dramatically. Faith has been tested under harsh conditions and has repeatedly surfaced in public life among soldiers, bereaved families, hostage families, and ordinary Israelis confronting fear and uncertainty. God has become a more explicit part of the language many Israelis use to understand their lives and the history unfolding around them.

These currents of faith in Israel have been mirrored by a strengthening of Jewish identity among Jews abroad. The hatred unleashed after Oct. 7 forced many Jews to reconsider identities they had previously worn lightly. Many became more conscious of their Jewishness, more attached to Israel, and more determined to display an identity they once kept private.

This awakening does not always take an explicitly religious form. Yet Jewish identity is never entirely detached from God. To identify more deeply with the Jewish people is to reconnect, even indirectly, with our people whose history and destiny were shaped by a divine covenant.

Every strengthening of Jewish consciousness creates another opening through which God can reenter Jewish life. Hopefully, this renewed peoplehood will mature into deeper spiritual and religious commitment.

Other developments, however, have obscured God’s presence. On Rosh Hashanah, we pray that these trends will be reversed.

An ancient hatred

Antisemitism is raging at levels unseen since the Holocaust. More disturbing, it has moved from the fringes toward the mainstream, voiced openly by prominent politicians, activists, and influencers.

Antisemitism has social, economic, political, and cultural causes, but beneath them lies a deeper spiritual impulse. We were chosen to represent God in history, and hostility toward God’s presence expresses itself toward our nation which carries His name. The resurgence of antisemitism therefore reflects a retreat of God’s presence from our world.

Yet, without romanticizing antisemitism, this hatred has clarified an important truth: the State of Israel lies at the heart of the Jewish future.

Much of today’s antisemitism is expressed through hostility toward Israel, extending beyond criticism of particular policies to denial of Israel’s legitimacy and right to exist. That hostility is directed at Jews regardless of whether they personally place Israel at the center of their identity. 

Our enemies are teaching us a truth that some Jews have not yet fully embraced: the future of Israel and the future of every Jew are inseparably bound.

Fractures reappear between Jewish communities

Unfortunately, we have not preserved the unity that emerged immediately after Oct. 7. Many old divisions have returned, while new tensions, especially surrounding haredi non-enlistment, have deepened fractures within Israeli society.

When the Jewish people stands together, God’s presence is felt more powerfully among us. Our unity testifies that beneath our differences lie a deeper covenant and shared destiny.

When legitimate disagreements harden into bitterness and estrangement, that divine presence recedes. Rosh Hashanah should remind us that even deep disagreement cannot erase the covenant that binds us to one another.

The assault on truth

Finally, we live in a world in which truth itself is becoming difficult to discern. The rise of individualism has helped fuel moral relativism, in which truth and morality are reduced to perspective and context. Even acts of obvious evil are sometimes explained away by the setting in which they occurred.

God’s signature is truth, and when confidence in truth erodes, His presence becomes more obscured.

At the same time, artificial intelligence is making the distinction between fact and fabrication increasingly fragile. Photographs can be manufactured, videos fabricated, and voices reproduced with remarkable accuracy. We are entering a world in which seeing and hearing may no longer provide reliable evidence of what actually occurred.

It is therefore no surprise that AI-generated falsehoods have already been weaponized by those who demonize Israel and spread hatred of Jews.

The Jewish people represents God in history, and our return to our homeland is part of the divine drama of Jewish destiny.

Those who seek to delegitimize that return often distort not only our history but truth itself. There is something deeply troubling about this convergence. The assault on the people who carry God’s name is increasingly accompanied by an assault on truth, which is God’s own signature.

The year leaves us with a divided picture: God’s presence has felt startlingly close, even as it has grown more obscured in the moral and cultural world around us. The task of 5787 is to make His presence harder to miss.■

The writer is a rabbi and educator at Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush). Find his latest book, Reclaiming Redemption, Vol. II: Faith, Identity, Peoplehood, and the Storms of War, at mtaraginbooks.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. The fate of individuals is weighed, and the course of nations and empires is determined. We stand before God, examining our conduct, appealing for mercy, and praying to be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Yet Rosh Hashanah carries a wider significance. It marks the anniversary of Creation, when God brought the world into existence. By judging humanity, He reasserts His sovereignty over creation. We therefore turn beyond our own lives to the movement of history, asking how clearly God’s presence can be discerned in His world.

History begins with Creation and moves toward redemption. At the end of that journey, God’s presence will become unmistakable, as humanity comes to recognize Him.

Each Rosh Hashanah, as history advances along its difficult path toward that destination, we consider the year that has passed. Which developments have made God more visible, and which have pushed His presence further into concealment?

We cannot decode providence or confidently explain why particular events occur. Yet people of faith can still ask whether the broader movement of history has made God’s presence easier or harder to discern.

Rescue, victory, and divine intervention

Perhaps the most moving event in which we sensed divine intervention was the return of our hostages.

Their abduction was among the most agonizing elements of Oct. 7, compounded by the unimaginable suffering many endured in captivity.

For much of the war, the return of every hostage seemed beyond hope. We assumed Hamas would retain some as bargaining chips or human shields. 

Yet 168 hostages were brought home alive, and ultimately every hostage who had been murdered or died in captivity was returned for burial in Israel. Again and again, we welcomed home people whose names and faces had become seared into our consciousness, and for whom we had prayed for months or even years.

Their return reminded people of faith that history is never limited by what appears possible at a particular moment.

We also continue to sense His hand guiding us through history as we return to our homeland and reclaim our place within the historical arena.

Over the past year, Israel achieved remarkable military successes. Iran, our most dangerous enemy, was severely weakened, while much of the “ring of fire” it had constructed around Israel through murderous proxies was dismantled or substantially degraded.

The contrast with the days following Oct. 7 is striking. Israel then appeared painfully vulnerable, surrounded by enemies and threatened on multiple fronts. Three years later, the strategic landscape of the Middle East has been dramatically altered.

None of this should obscure the terrible cost of the war or suggest that every danger has disappeared. Yet developments that once seemed improbable became reality, and for many of us the hand of God felt unusually close as the regional landscape was transformed.

Faith resurfaces after being tested

We have also witnessed renewed visibility of faith. 

Israel today is very different from the country founded nearly eight decades ago. Even among Israelis who are not observant, many speak comfortably about faith, prayer, Jewish destiny, and God’s presence in our national story. 

This shift had been developing for years, but Oct. 7 accelerated it dramatically. Faith has been tested under harsh conditions and has repeatedly surfaced in public life among soldiers, bereaved families, hostage families, and ordinary Israelis confronting fear and uncertainty. God has become a more explicit part of the language many Israelis use to understand their lives and the history unfolding around them.

These currents of faith in Israel have been mirrored by a strengthening of Jewish identity among Jews abroad. The hatred unleashed after Oct. 7 forced many Jews to reconsider identities they had previously worn lightly. Many became more conscious of their Jewishness, more attached to Israel, and more determined to display an identity they once kept private.

This awakening does not always take an explicitly religious form. Yet Jewish identity is never entirely detached from God. To identify more deeply with the Jewish people is to reconnect, even indirectly, with our people whose history and destiny were shaped by a divine covenant.

Every strengthening of Jewish consciousness creates another opening through which God can reenter Jewish life. Hopefully, this renewed peoplehood will mature into deeper spiritual and religious commitment.

Other developments, however, have obscured God’s presence. On Rosh Hashanah, we pray that these trends will be reversed.

An ancient hatred

Antisemitism is raging at levels unseen since the Holocaust. More disturbing, it has moved from the fringes toward the mainstream, voiced openly by prominent politicians, activists, and influencers.

Antisemitism has social, economic, political, and cultural causes, but beneath them lies a deeper spiritual impulse. We were chosen to represent God in history, and hostility toward God’s presence expresses itself toward our nation which carries His name. The resurgence of antisemitism therefore reflects a retreat of God’s presence from our world.

Yet, without romanticizing antisemitism, this hatred has clarified an important truth: the State of Israel lies at the heart of the Jewish future.

Much of today’s antisemitism is expressed through hostility toward Israel, extending beyond criticism of particular policies to denial of Israel’s legitimacy and right to exist. That hostility is directed at Jews regardless of whether they personally place Israel at the center of their identity. 

Our enemies are teaching us a truth that some Jews have not yet fully embraced: the future of Israel and the future of every Jew are inseparably bound.

Fractures reappear between Jewish communities

Unfortunately, we have not preserved the unity that emerged immediately after Oct. 7. Many old divisions have returned, while new tensions, especially surrounding haredi non-enlistment, have deepened fractures within Israeli society.

When the Jewish people stands together, God’s presence is felt more powerfully among us. Our unity testifies that beneath our differences lie a deeper covenant and shared destiny.

When legitimate disagreements harden into bitterness and estrangement, that divine presence recedes. Rosh Hashanah should remind us that even deep disagreement cannot erase the covenant that binds us to one another.

The assault on truth

Finally, we live in a world in which truth itself is becoming difficult to discern. The rise of individualism has helped fuel moral relativism, in which truth and morality are reduced to perspective and context. Even acts of obvious evil are sometimes explained away by the setting in which they occurred.

God’s signature is truth, and when confidence in truth erodes, His presence becomes more obscured.

At the same time, artificial intelligence is making the distinction between fact and fabrication increasingly fragile. Photographs can be manufactured, videos fabricated, and voices reproduced with remarkable accuracy. We are entering a world in which seeing and hearing may no longer provide reliable evidence of what actually occurred.

It is therefore no surprise that AI-generated falsehoods have already been weaponized by those who demonize Israel and spread hatred of Jews.

The Jewish people represents God in history, and our return to our homeland is part of the divine drama of Jewish destiny.

Those who seek to delegitimize that return often distort not only our history but truth itself. There is something deeply troubling about this convergence. The assault on the people who carry God’s name is increasingly accompanied by an assault on truth, which is God’s own signature.

The year leaves us with a divided picture: God’s presence has felt startlingly close, even as it has grown more obscured in the moral and cultural world around us. The task of 5787 is to make His presence harder to miss.■

The writer is a rabbi and educator at Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush). Find his latest book, Reclaiming Redemption, Vol. II: Faith, Identity, Peoplehood, and the Storms of War, at mtaraginbooks.com.

This post was originally published on here. 

Bone fragments from the sword hand of a medieval Russian prince who won a famous victory over the Mongols have been sent to the front in Ukraine to raise army morale in the Russian Orthodox Church’s latest show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

The sarcophagus of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who died in 1389 and is revered by Russian nationalists for defeating the Mongol Golden Horde at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo, was uncovered this summer during restoration work at Moscow’s Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin.

Putin personally inspected what experts said were the prince’s well-preserved remains in August, hailing them as “an absolutely unique and marvelous discovery” which reinforced the foundations of Russian history.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which has backed Putin throughout the conflict, said it had dispatched a fragment of Donskoy’s right hand to Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions Putin said he had incorporated into Russia in 2022, a move Kyiv rejected as an illegal land grab.

Referring to Donskoy as “the holy commander,” the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church said part of his remains had been sent to the front to stand invisibly shoulder-to-shoulder with Russian troops.

“A fragment of the Grand Prince’s right hand – the very same right hand with which he wielded his sword on Kulikovo Field – has been sent to the front to strengthen the soldiers’ spirits,” it said in a statement.

The relic, held in a small ornate casket beneath toughened glass, will be shown to Russian combat units along the more than 1,000-km front line, it said.

Donskoy, whose name was given to a Soviet tank column funded by the church in World War Two, was declared a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.

Patriotic push

The carefully choreographed effort to use his remains in a public relations exercise to boost patriotism and morale comes ahead of a parliamentary election later this month.

Russian military and church officials have presented the discovery as a fortuitous find that could help Russian forces prevail in Ukraine, now in the fifth year of a grinding war.

The tour also comes as Russian forces seek full control of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine and as diplomatic efforts to end the war have yet to yield a breakthrough.

Donskoy’s relics were carried through the streets of Moscow at the weekend in a huge Orthodox procession.

At a ceremony at a World War Two memorial in Donetsk on Tuesday, Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy Kremlin chief of staff, joined military commanders and the Russian-installed regional head in kissing the relic and making the sign of the cross as a priest read a prayer.

“Both our military personnel and the people who live in Donbas need strengthening from above, need God’s help and the blessing of our saints,” Metropolitan Vladimir of Donetsk and Mariupol, a senior Moscow-appointed cleric, said. Donbas is a broader area incorporating Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk which Russia controls almost in its entirety.

Elsewhere, commanders have presented Donskoy’s remains as evidence that God is on Russia’s side.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday released footage of troops in the Sverdlovsk region attending a church service carrying icons and Orthodox flags, alongside an interview with a commander who said the relics would support Russia’s victory.

Breaking religious protocol to please the Kremlin

Critics, however, have accused the Church of breaking with religious protocol to please the Kremlin. They have also questioned why Donskoy’s remains, whose location was broadly known for decades, were recovered and venerated only now, 38 years after he was declared a saint.

“By the fifth year of war, the Church leadership in Moscow began to wonder what else it could do to show its support for what Russia terms its ‘special military operation’,” Alexander Zanemonets, an Orthodox priest and historian based outside Russia, wrote in a note for the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center whose director Russia has designated a “foreign agent.”

“It had already sent priests to the front lines, instituted mandatory prayers for Russian victory in every church, and flown icons over cities. A state embroiled in war will try to compel all institutions, including religious ones, to participate in it.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Bone fragments from the sword hand of a medieval Russian prince who won a famous victory over the Mongols have been sent to the front in Ukraine to raise army morale in the Russian Orthodox Church’s latest show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

The sarcophagus of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who died in 1389 and is revered by Russian nationalists for defeating the Mongol Golden Horde at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo, was uncovered this summer during restoration work at Moscow’s Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin.

Putin personally inspected what experts said were the prince’s well-preserved remains in August, hailing them as “an absolutely unique and marvelous discovery” which reinforced the foundations of Russian history.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which has backed Putin throughout the conflict, said it had dispatched a fragment of Donskoy’s right hand to Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions Putin said he had incorporated into Russia in 2022, a move Kyiv rejected as an illegal land grab.

Referring to Donskoy as “the holy commander,” the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church said part of his remains had been sent to the front to stand invisibly shoulder-to-shoulder with Russian troops.

“A fragment of the Grand Prince’s right hand – the very same right hand with which he wielded his sword on Kulikovo Field – has been sent to the front to strengthen the soldiers’ spirits,” it said in a statement.

The relic, held in a small ornate casket beneath toughened glass, will be shown to Russian combat units along the more than 1,000-km front line, it said.

Donskoy, whose name was given to a Soviet tank column funded by the church in World War Two, was declared a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.

Patriotic push

The carefully choreographed effort to use his remains in a public relations exercise to boost patriotism and morale comes ahead of a parliamentary election later this month.

Russian military and church officials have presented the discovery as a fortuitous find that could help Russian forces prevail in Ukraine, now in the fifth year of a grinding war.

The tour also comes as Russian forces seek full control of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine and as diplomatic efforts to end the war have yet to yield a breakthrough.

Donskoy’s relics were carried through the streets of Moscow at the weekend in a huge Orthodox procession.

At a ceremony at a World War Two memorial in Donetsk on Tuesday, Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s first deputy Kremlin chief of staff, joined military commanders and the Russian-installed regional head in kissing the relic and making the sign of the cross as a priest read a prayer.

“Both our military personnel and the people who live in Donbas need strengthening from above, need God’s help and the blessing of our saints,” Metropolitan Vladimir of Donetsk and Mariupol, a senior Moscow-appointed cleric, said. Donbas is a broader area incorporating Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk which Russia controls almost in its entirety.

Elsewhere, commanders have presented Donskoy’s remains as evidence that God is on Russia’s side.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday released footage of troops in the Sverdlovsk region attending a church service carrying icons and Orthodox flags, alongside an interview with a commander who said the relics would support Russia’s victory.

Breaking religious protocol to please the Kremlin

Critics, however, have accused the Church of breaking with religious protocol to please the Kremlin. They have also questioned why Donskoy’s remains, whose location was broadly known for decades, were recovered and venerated only now, 38 years after he was declared a saint.

“By the fifth year of war, the Church leadership in Moscow began to wonder what else it could do to show its support for what Russia terms its ‘special military operation’,” Alexander Zanemonets, an Orthodox priest and historian based outside Russia, wrote in a note for the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center whose director Russia has designated a “foreign agent.”

“It had already sent priests to the front lines, instituted mandatory prayers for Russian victory in every church, and flown icons over cities. A state embroiled in war will try to compel all institutions, including religious ones, to participate in it.”

This post was originally published on here. 

The IDF released new footage and details on Friday from its latest operation in southern Lebanon, in which it secured and destroyed Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure on the Ali al-Taher ridge.

Among the items released by the military was a clip from the body camera of a Yahalom Unit soldier inside one of the underground tunnels, as well as drone footage from inside the tunnels, and a video of two terrorists being killed.

Hezbollah attempted to build a heroic myth around the fighting on the Ali al-Taher ridge, portraying it in the style of the “Battle of Karbala.” However, at the conclusion of a determined military operation by fighters from the IDF’s 36th Division, the Commando Brigade, and the Yahalom special engineering unit, Hezbollah was defeated, and Israel captured and destroyed the organization’s most important facility in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said on Friday morning that what remains of the Ali al-Taher ridge, beneath which Iran spent two decades building Hezbollah’s last and most significant line of defense in southern Lebanon, is “nothing more than a sandbox.” Hezbollah and Iran suffered a major blow overnight. The operation to capture the ridge lasted months, as dozens of terrorists, estimated to number around 50, were entrenched inside the tunnels.

The destruction of the 14 tunnel routes on the ridge, stretching about 5.4 kilometers in total, was given the IDF codename “Chisel of Flames.”

The commander of the 36th Division, Brig.-Gen. Yiftach Norkin, told troops shortly before the tunnels were detonated on Thursday, “The Commando Brigade and the Yahalom Unit, together with the Fire Brigade, Golani, and Brigade 7 forces, led one of the most complex operations we have ever carried out, under the command of the Northern Command. We operated above and below ground, facing threats from near and far, with determination and while maintaining strict protection of our forces. Along the way, we dealt with obstacles and collapses, but continued to strive to complete the mission, the destruction of the underground tunnels on the Ali al-Taher ridge and the enemy infrastructure in the area.”

For months, IDF forces fought against dozens of Hezbollah terrorists who had fortified themselves inside a massive underground system on the Ali al-Taher ridge, in what the military described as one of the most complex operations in recent years. Now, after the tunnels were destroyed using 1,100 tons of explosives, a senior military official said the strategic infrastructure built over more than 20 years had been eliminated and that Hezbollah’s ability to command and control the area had been dramatically damaged.

“You have to be there to understand the scale of the event and its significance, both psychologically and physically, for Hezbollah,” the senior military official said. According to him, the compound served as a “nerve center” for the Badr Unit, and north of it Hezbollah does not have infrastructure of a similar scale until reaching the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, where the terror group’s facilities were also severely damaged.

IDF surprised Hezbollah after crossing Litani River

According to the official, the operation began with the crossing of the Litani River and an attempt to surprise Hezbollah. The IDF carried out deception operations designed to make the organization believe that forces were preparing to cross in another area, while at the same time opening a hidden, bypass route over several days. The Golani Reconnaissance Battalion and the Egoz Unit began clearing the area, with additional forces joining later.

When the forces reached the rear of Hezbollah’s defensive network, the official said, the surprise among the organization’s operatives was evident. “We saw their kitbags, their weapons thrown along the roads and in the orchards,” he said. However, as the forces advanced toward the central infrastructure, resistance intensified.

According to the senior official, around 50 terrorists were inside the underground system at the start of the operation. “The organization fought for this ridge like it did not fight for other places,” he said. He added that most of the terrorists were killed, some inside the tunnels and others while attempting to flee. In some cases, clashes developed between Egoz fighters and terrorists at distances of only a few meters.

At the same time, Hezbollah attempted to transfer supplies to the terrorists entrenched underground and send additional operatives to rescue and reinforce them. According to the official, at least 10 terrorists who attempted to reach the ridge for these purposes were hit. Supplies that were delivered included communication equipment, food, water, cigarettes, and chocolate.

The official said the terrorists entrenched at the site were given the option to surrender and leave with a white flag, but they refused, and some fled in violation of the organization’s orders. The IDF emphasized that, contrary to some reports, no Iranians were found at the site.

After ground control was established, the center of gravity shifted to the tunnel system. The underground network included more than 5.4 kilometers of routes, into which Yahalom fighters from the Combat Engineering Corps inserted approximately 1,100 tons of explosives in a lengthy and complex process. “The entire work of more than 20 years of building such a significant infrastructure collapsed into nothing,” the official said.

Hezbollah called for Iranian assistance, received cold response

The IDF said the operation was also conducted while attempting to prevent a broader escalation. According to the official, Hezbollah repeatedly called on Iran to assist it. “Desperate calls, including publicly and secretly: come help us, do something, at least make a statement,” he said.

The latest appeal by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem to Iran last week received a cold response from Tehran. Reactions in Lebanon toward Hezbollah have described the organization’s loss of the ridge as a humiliation in domestic discourse.

According to a military source, the IDF has not identified an operational Iranian move in response at this stage, but is not taking risks. “Anything can happen. We do not see anything operational here, but you cannot know.” The military is preparing accordingly with defensive systems against both Iran and Hezbollah.

Despite completing the destruction of the infrastructure, the IDF clarified that it does not intend to leave the area of the Yellow Line. Forces will redeploy to positions that allow control of the territory, and the military emphasized that it will continue enforcing the line and preventing Hezbollah from returning to it.

“We are not leaving it,” the senior official said.

This post was originally published on here. 

The IDF released new footage and details on Friday from its latest operation in southern Lebanon, in which it secured and destroyed Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure on the Ali al-Taher ridge.

Among the items released by the military was a clip from the body camera of a Yahalom Unit soldier inside one of the underground tunnels, as well as drone footage from inside the tunnels, and a video of two terrorists being killed.

Hezbollah attempted to build a heroic myth around the fighting on the Ali al-Taher ridge, portraying it in the style of the “Battle of Karbala.” However, at the conclusion of a determined military operation by fighters from the IDF’s 36th Division, the Commando Brigade, and the Yahalom special engineering unit, Hezbollah was defeated, and Israel captured and destroyed the organization’s most important facility in southern Lebanon.

The IDF said on Friday morning that what remains of the Ali al-Taher ridge, beneath which Iran spent two decades building Hezbollah’s last and most significant line of defense in southern Lebanon, is “nothing more than a sandbox.” Hezbollah and Iran suffered a major blow overnight. The operation to capture the ridge lasted months, as dozens of terrorists, estimated to number around 50, were entrenched inside the tunnels.

The destruction of the 14 tunnel routes on the ridge, stretching about 5.4 kilometers in total, was given the IDF codename “Chisel of Flames.”

The commander of the 36th Division, Brig.-Gen. Yiftach Norkin, told troops shortly before the tunnels were detonated on Thursday, “The Commando Brigade and the Yahalom Unit, together with the Fire Brigade, Golani, and Brigade 7 forces, led one of the most complex operations we have ever carried out, under the command of the Northern Command. We operated above and below ground, facing threats from near and far, with determination and while maintaining strict protection of our forces. Along the way, we dealt with obstacles and collapses, but continued to strive to complete the mission, the destruction of the underground tunnels on the Ali al-Taher ridge and the enemy infrastructure in the area.”

For months, IDF forces fought against dozens of Hezbollah terrorists who had fortified themselves inside a massive underground system on the Ali al-Taher ridge, in what the military described as one of the most complex operations in recent years. Now, after the tunnels were destroyed using 1,100 tons of explosives, a senior military official said the strategic infrastructure built over more than 20 years had been eliminated and that Hezbollah’s ability to command and control the area had been dramatically damaged.

“You have to be there to understand the scale of the event and its significance, both psychologically and physically, for Hezbollah,” the senior military official said. According to him, the compound served as a “nerve center” for the Badr Unit, and north of it Hezbollah does not have infrastructure of a similar scale until reaching the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, where the terror group’s facilities were also severely damaged.

IDF surprised Hezbollah after crossing Litani River

According to the official, the operation began with the crossing of the Litani River and an attempt to surprise Hezbollah. The IDF carried out deception operations designed to make the organization believe that forces were preparing to cross in another area, while at the same time opening a hidden, bypass route over several days. The Golani Reconnaissance Battalion and the Egoz Unit began clearing the area, with additional forces joining later.

When the forces reached the rear of Hezbollah’s defensive network, the official said, the surprise among the organization’s operatives was evident. “We saw their kitbags, their weapons thrown along the roads and in the orchards,” he said. However, as the forces advanced toward the central infrastructure, resistance intensified.

According to the senior official, around 50 terrorists were inside the underground system at the start of the operation. “The organization fought for this ridge like it did not fight for other places,” he said. He added that most of the terrorists were killed, some inside the tunnels and others while attempting to flee. In some cases, clashes developed between Egoz fighters and terrorists at distances of only a few meters.

At the same time, Hezbollah attempted to transfer supplies to the terrorists entrenched underground and send additional operatives to rescue and reinforce them. According to the official, at least 10 terrorists who attempted to reach the ridge for these purposes were hit. Supplies that were delivered included communication equipment, food, water, cigarettes, and chocolate.

The official said the terrorists entrenched at the site were given the option to surrender and leave with a white flag, but they refused, and some fled in violation of the organization’s orders. The IDF emphasized that, contrary to some reports, no Iranians were found at the site.

After ground control was established, the center of gravity shifted to the tunnel system. The underground network included more than 5.4 kilometers of routes, into which Yahalom fighters from the Combat Engineering Corps inserted approximately 1,100 tons of explosives in a lengthy and complex process. “The entire work of more than 20 years of building such a significant infrastructure collapsed into nothing,” the official said.

Hezbollah called for Iranian assistance, received cold response

The IDF said the operation was also conducted while attempting to prevent a broader escalation. According to the official, Hezbollah repeatedly called on Iran to assist it. “Desperate calls, including publicly and secretly: come help us, do something, at least make a statement,” he said.

The latest appeal by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem to Iran last week received a cold response from Tehran. Reactions in Lebanon toward Hezbollah have described the organization’s loss of the ridge as a humiliation in domestic discourse.

According to a military source, the IDF has not identified an operational Iranian move in response at this stage, but is not taking risks. “Anything can happen. We do not see anything operational here, but you cannot know.” The military is preparing accordingly with defensive systems against both Iran and Hezbollah.

Despite completing the destruction of the infrastructure, the IDF clarified that it does not intend to leave the area of the Yellow Line. Forces will redeploy to positions that allow control of the territory, and the military emphasized that it will continue enforcing the line and preventing Hezbollah from returning to it.

“We are not leaving it,” the senior official said.

This post was originally published on here. 

Fun fact: Nowhere in the Torah do we find the term “rosh hashanah.”

Leviticus 23:24 refers to the festival of the first day of the seventh month as zichron teruah (memorial of sounding the horns), while Numbers 29:1 calls it yom teruah (day of blowing [the horn]). 

“Rosh hashanah” does appear once in Tanach, in the Book of Ezekiel (40:1), but it has a different meaning: either a general reference to the beginning of the year, a possible reference to Yom Kippur, or even referring to the month of Nisan (when the Hebrew calendar begins).

In our prayer books – the siddur or mahzor – Rosh Hashanah is also called Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance (not to be confused with the modern Israeli Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims).

Rosh Hashanah is one of the four Jewish New Years, this one being the new year for calculating ordinary calendar years, sabbatical years, jubilee years, and dates inscribed on legal deeds and contracts. It also commemorates the creation of humankind, which allowed God to form a relationship with all creations and be crowned as King over them. 

High Holy Days encompass events of whole year instead of one event

All of the Jewish holidays – with the exception of the High Holy Days – focus on a specific event. Passover relates to the Exodus; Sukkot connects to our journey through the desert; Shavuot recalls the giving of the Torah; Hanukkah, the battle against the Syrian-Greeks; Purim, the threat of Haman to commit genocide against us.

But Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur employ a wide, 360-degree lens that encompasses all we do, all year long. Their universal, timeless message of sin and forgiveness is conveyed by sound – by Rosh Hashanah’s shofar and Yom Kippur’s extensive prayer. And sound is pervasive. It fills the entire room, and it fills the senses, inspiring us and bringing the Almighty into our souls.

There is another message regarding the “rosh” of Rosh Hashanah. If our prayers are going to be answered; if we truly want God to bless us in the months ahead, we need to use our rosh, our head. We need to think very seriously about where we have been, where we are going, who we are, and how we can best influence others and sanctify this life which has been granted to us.

I WANT to share a story from my past as a synagogue pulpit rabbi, a story that emphasizes just how crucial it is to see the bigger picture and utilize our head, our sechel (common sense), to make the right choices.

The story is true, though the names have been changed to protect the innocent. I will leave it to you to judge just who is innocent and who is not. 

The story starts with Marlene. She was the president of my shul’s ladies’ auxiliary. Though not fully Orthodox, she was a very committed Jew, and she gave generously of herself in wonderful service to the synagogue. She was a major asset to our congregation and quite popular, with many friends.

Marlene had a younger brother, Max, a brilliant young man who graduated at the top of his high-school class. He was on his way to China – to study Chinese in its natural habitat before beginning his university classes – when he decided to stop en route in Israel. 

Max never made it to China. When he came to visit the Kotel, he was befriended by a young rabbi (one of the energetic “Wall-nuts” who reach out to the unaffiliated) who invited him to spend a Shabbat in Jerusalem before moving on to Beijing. Max loved that Shabbat so much that he canceled his flight, enrolled in a yeshiva, and went on to study for quite some time. He would be ordained and start a successful rabbinic career. The Land of the Rising Sun had lost out to the Land of the Rising Soul.

Lessons learned from Marlene’s story

Fast-forward several years. Marlene’s daughter is approaching bat mitzvah, and the family is planning the accompanying celebration. I visited Marlene and asked her whether she was planning to make this party kosher.

She put her head down and nervously said, “Rabbi, you know we are not fully observant, and just how expensive kosher catering is, compared to non. Yes, we would like to make it kosher, but it’s just not in our budget.”

“Marlene,” I said, “if finances are the problem, I will provide a generous amount from my discretionary fund to help you with the added cost.

“You are a community leader; your decision will undoubtedly influence many others to make their own parties kosher.

“And think of something else – you have a deeply religious brother; I’m sure he will refuse to join in if the event is nonkosher. Don’t you want him to be included? Won’t it be wonderful if he is also able to attend?”

Marlene promised to think about what I had said, and I felt confident she would do the right thing. But when the invitations came out a few weeks later, I was saddened to read that the party was indeed to be held at a nonkosher venue.

I immediately called Marlene.

“What happened?” I asked her. “I really had hoped you would reconsider and opt for the kosher catering!”

Marlene sighed, and then said: “Rabbi, I really was impressed by your words, and I was ready to make the function kosher – especially to accommodate my brother so that he and his family would attend.

But then he told me that it didn’t matter if the food was kosher; if there wouldn’t be separate seating at the meal, then he and his family would not attend. So I thought, Why should I go to all that expense if Max won’t come anyway?!”

I was stunned; shocked really, both at my own failure to convince Marlene, and at her brother’s total lack of vision and failure to seize a golden opportunity.

I could not just let this moment pass without doing something, so I picked up the phone and called Max. But try as I did, I could not convince him to change his position. 

Finally, I left him with this message. “Max,” I said, “you will no doubt accomplish amazing things in your career and achieve a high position.

“Yet no matter what good things you will do, how many people you will reach, you can never atone for this decision you have just made, for you will never know how many waves of positive acts you could have generated had you seen the bigger picture, had you put aside your personal desires for the spiritual good of the community.”

THE SHOFAR is a deeply personal, elemental experience. Some of us hear the sound of victory; others hear the sound of struggle.

But at its core, the shofar is the sound of self-sacrifice. It echoes Abraham’s willingness to sublimate his own wishes to those of God, prompting all of us to submit to a greater good, one that is beyond our own personal wants and desires. 

So do not ask for whom the shofar blows. It blows for us.■

The writer is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana. rabbistewart@gmail.com

This post was originally published on here. 

Fun fact: Nowhere in the Torah do we find the term “rosh hashanah.”

Leviticus 23:24 refers to the festival of the first day of the seventh month as zichron teruah (memorial of sounding the horns), while Numbers 29:1 calls it yom teruah (day of blowing [the horn]). 

“Rosh hashanah” does appear once in Tanach, in the Book of Ezekiel (40:1), but it has a different meaning: either a general reference to the beginning of the year, a possible reference to Yom Kippur, or even referring to the month of Nisan (when the Hebrew calendar begins).

In our prayer books – the siddur or mahzor – Rosh Hashanah is also called Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance (not to be confused with the modern Israeli Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims).

Rosh Hashanah is one of the four Jewish New Years, this one being the new year for calculating ordinary calendar years, sabbatical years, jubilee years, and dates inscribed on legal deeds and contracts. It also commemorates the creation of humankind, which allowed God to form a relationship with all creations and be crowned as King over them. 

High Holy Days encompass events of whole year instead of one event

All of the Jewish holidays – with the exception of the High Holy Days – focus on a specific event. Passover relates to the Exodus; Sukkot connects to our journey through the desert; Shavuot recalls the giving of the Torah; Hanukkah, the battle against the Syrian-Greeks; Purim, the threat of Haman to commit genocide against us.

But Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur employ a wide, 360-degree lens that encompasses all we do, all year long. Their universal, timeless message of sin and forgiveness is conveyed by sound – by Rosh Hashanah’s shofar and Yom Kippur’s extensive prayer. And sound is pervasive. It fills the entire room, and it fills the senses, inspiring us and bringing the Almighty into our souls.

There is another message regarding the “rosh” of Rosh Hashanah. If our prayers are going to be answered; if we truly want God to bless us in the months ahead, we need to use our rosh, our head. We need to think very seriously about where we have been, where we are going, who we are, and how we can best influence others and sanctify this life which has been granted to us.

I WANT to share a story from my past as a synagogue pulpit rabbi, a story that emphasizes just how crucial it is to see the bigger picture and utilize our head, our sechel (common sense), to make the right choices.

The story is true, though the names have been changed to protect the innocent. I will leave it to you to judge just who is innocent and who is not. 

The story starts with Marlene. She was the president of my shul’s ladies’ auxiliary. Though not fully Orthodox, she was a very committed Jew, and she gave generously of herself in wonderful service to the synagogue. She was a major asset to our congregation and quite popular, with many friends.

Marlene had a younger brother, Max, a brilliant young man who graduated at the top of his high-school class. He was on his way to China – to study Chinese in its natural habitat before beginning his university classes – when he decided to stop en route in Israel. 

Max never made it to China. When he came to visit the Kotel, he was befriended by a young rabbi (one of the energetic “Wall-nuts” who reach out to the unaffiliated) who invited him to spend a Shabbat in Jerusalem before moving on to Beijing. Max loved that Shabbat so much that he canceled his flight, enrolled in a yeshiva, and went on to study for quite some time. He would be ordained and start a successful rabbinic career. The Land of the Rising Sun had lost out to the Land of the Rising Soul.

Lessons learned from Marlene’s story

Fast-forward several years. Marlene’s daughter is approaching bat mitzvah, and the family is planning the accompanying celebration. I visited Marlene and asked her whether she was planning to make this party kosher.

She put her head down and nervously said, “Rabbi, you know we are not fully observant, and just how expensive kosher catering is, compared to non. Yes, we would like to make it kosher, but it’s just not in our budget.”

“Marlene,” I said, “if finances are the problem, I will provide a generous amount from my discretionary fund to help you with the added cost.

“You are a community leader; your decision will undoubtedly influence many others to make their own parties kosher.

“And think of something else – you have a deeply religious brother; I’m sure he will refuse to join in if the event is nonkosher. Don’t you want him to be included? Won’t it be wonderful if he is also able to attend?”

Marlene promised to think about what I had said, and I felt confident she would do the right thing. But when the invitations came out a few weeks later, I was saddened to read that the party was indeed to be held at a nonkosher venue.

I immediately called Marlene.

“What happened?” I asked her. “I really had hoped you would reconsider and opt for the kosher catering!”

Marlene sighed, and then said: “Rabbi, I really was impressed by your words, and I was ready to make the function kosher – especially to accommodate my brother so that he and his family would attend.

But then he told me that it didn’t matter if the food was kosher; if there wouldn’t be separate seating at the meal, then he and his family would not attend. So I thought, Why should I go to all that expense if Max won’t come anyway?!”

I was stunned; shocked really, both at my own failure to convince Marlene, and at her brother’s total lack of vision and failure to seize a golden opportunity.

I could not just let this moment pass without doing something, so I picked up the phone and called Max. But try as I did, I could not convince him to change his position. 

Finally, I left him with this message. “Max,” I said, “you will no doubt accomplish amazing things in your career and achieve a high position.

“Yet no matter what good things you will do, how many people you will reach, you can never atone for this decision you have just made, for you will never know how many waves of positive acts you could have generated had you seen the bigger picture, had you put aside your personal desires for the spiritual good of the community.”

THE SHOFAR is a deeply personal, elemental experience. Some of us hear the sound of victory; others hear the sound of struggle.

But at its core, the shofar is the sound of self-sacrifice. It echoes Abraham’s willingness to sublimate his own wishes to those of God, prompting all of us to submit to a greater good, one that is beyond our own personal wants and desires. 

So do not ask for whom the shofar blows. It blows for us.■

The writer is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra’anana. rabbistewart@gmail.com

This post was originally published on here. 

An Israeli flag, expected to receive official recognition as the largest mobile flag in the world, was raised in Haifa on Friday as part of an initiative aimed at strengthening a sense of unity, belonging, and Israeli pride.  

The flag, which measures approximately 40 meters in height, was recently submitted as a candidate for the Guinness World Records and is displayed permanently at the Flag House in Kfar Shmaryahu.  

The Haifa Municipality, Haifa Port, and Boaz Hayon joined together to bring the flag to Haifa and raise it on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The flag was placed near the Palmer Gate at Haifa Port and can be seen from many parts of the city and bay, as well as from the sea and approaching ships.  

The public is invited to visit the area and view the flag during the holiday. 

Flag symbolizes Haifa’s resilience, mayor says

“There is something symbolic and moving about the fact that, on the eve of the new year, the Israeli flag is flying above Haifa Port, visible from many parts of the city and from the sea. Haifa has experienced difficult days in recent years. Our city was attacked in the recent wars, and we faced sirens and threats, but we remained standing, strong and proud,” Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said. 

This post was originally published on here. 

An Israeli flag, expected to receive official recognition as the largest mobile flag in the world, was raised in Haifa on Friday as part of an initiative aimed at strengthening a sense of unity, belonging, and Israeli pride.  

The flag, which measures approximately 40 meters in height, was recently submitted as a candidate for the Guinness World Records and is displayed permanently at the Flag House in Kfar Shmaryahu.  

The Haifa Municipality, Haifa Port, and Boaz Hayon joined together to bring the flag to Haifa and raise it on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. The flag was placed near the Palmer Gate at Haifa Port and can be seen from many parts of the city and bay, as well as from the sea and approaching ships.  

The public is invited to visit the area and view the flag during the holiday. 

Flag symbolizes Haifa’s resilience, mayor says

“There is something symbolic and moving about the fact that, on the eve of the new year, the Israeli flag is flying above Haifa Port, visible from many parts of the city and from the sea. Haifa has experienced difficult days in recent years. Our city was attacked in the recent wars, and we faced sirens and threats, but we remained standing, strong and proud,” Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed that Israel may join a broader campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi terror group in Yemen, Lebanese newspaper Al Akbar claimed on Friday, citing US sources. 

According to the report, Israel would be joining a larger regional effort to combat the threat to shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. 

US diplomatic sources claimed that Netanyahu offered Israeli aid to countries in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Akbar wrote, signaling that Israel may be willing to join a broader war. 

This comes as the Houthis advance in western Yemen, reaching the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world’s vital shipping routes.

Official warns Houthi control over al-Mandab could be worse than Hormuz

An Israeli official warned that Houthi control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait could lead to a more dangerous situation than the one in the Strait of Hormuz while speaking to N12 on Friday. 

The official pointed to the gap in size between the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz, saying that where the Houthis are, they would be able to fire on ships without relying on advanced radar systems. 

“They will be able to fire at whatever they want with anti-tank missiles. They will be able to see the ships with their own eyes,” the official said, adding that the situation “gives enormous power to the terror organization.” 

Israel continues to monitor Houthi movement

Israel is closely monitoring Houthi movements following the group’s capture of the Yemeni port city of Mocha, near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, Maariv reported on Thursday.

Israeli officials are concerned that the Houthis could consolidate their control over the port, enabling them to increase pressure on oil tankers and commercial vessels in the area. Such a development could disrupt shipping into the Red Sea and further threaten regional trade and energy routes.

A military source said Israel was closely monitoring the fighting in Yemen and shifts in the balance of power along the coast.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Israel Navy commander V. Adm. Eyal Harel issued direct warnings to the Houthis and Iran this week.

“We removed and pushed back existential threats that had been built up against us for years,” Zamir said. “We will not allow existential threats to emerge from radical enemies, and we will not allow terrorist organizations to establish themselves along our borders.”

Addressing Israel Navy operations, Zamir added, “In Bab al-Mandab, in the heart of Beirut, in Lebanon’s ports and off the coast of Gaza, we proved that the IDF’s long arm is powerful, determined and reaches everywhere to strike those who seek to harm us.”

“In the new maritime arena, there is no longer such a thing as a distant front,” Harel said, stressing that distance would not provide immunity to anyone seeking to harm Israel.

Meanwhile, the IDF completed a large-scale divisional exercise led by the 80th Division in Eilat and the surrounding area on Thursday, including the waters off the city.

The exercise simulated a mass infiltration into Eilat by sea, air and land involving Houthi fighters and pro-Iranian militias. It tested the military’s ability to respond to the seizure of hotels, schools, shopping centers and tourist sites, as well as widespread hostage-taking incidents.

This post was originally published on here. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed that Israel may join a broader campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi terror group in Yemen, Lebanese newspaper Al Akbar claimed on Friday, citing US sources. 

According to the report, Israel would be joining a larger regional effort to combat the threat to shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. 

US diplomatic sources claimed that Netanyahu offered Israeli aid to countries in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Akbar wrote, signaling that Israel may be willing to join a broader war. 

This comes as the Houthis advance in western Yemen, reaching the strategic island of Perim in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world’s vital shipping routes.

Official warns Houthi control over al-Mandab could be worse than Hormuz

An Israeli official warned that Houthi control over the Bab al-Mandab Strait could lead to a more dangerous situation than the one in the Strait of Hormuz while speaking to N12 on Friday. 

The official pointed to the gap in size between the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz, saying that where the Houthis are, they would be able to fire on ships without relying on advanced radar systems. 

“They will be able to fire at whatever they want with anti-tank missiles. They will be able to see the ships with their own eyes,” the official said, adding that the situation “gives enormous power to the terror organization.” 

Israel continues to monitor Houthi movement

Israel is closely monitoring Houthi movements following the group’s capture of the Yemeni port city of Mocha, near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, Maariv reported on Thursday.

Israeli officials are concerned that the Houthis could consolidate their control over the port, enabling them to increase pressure on oil tankers and commercial vessels in the area. Such a development could disrupt shipping into the Red Sea and further threaten regional trade and energy routes.

A military source said Israel was closely monitoring the fighting in Yemen and shifts in the balance of power along the coast.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Israel Navy commander V. Adm. Eyal Harel issued direct warnings to the Houthis and Iran this week.

“We removed and pushed back existential threats that had been built up against us for years,” Zamir said. “We will not allow existential threats to emerge from radical enemies, and we will not allow terrorist organizations to establish themselves along our borders.”

Addressing Israel Navy operations, Zamir added, “In Bab al-Mandab, in the heart of Beirut, in Lebanon’s ports and off the coast of Gaza, we proved that the IDF’s long arm is powerful, determined and reaches everywhere to strike those who seek to harm us.”

“In the new maritime arena, there is no longer such a thing as a distant front,” Harel said, stressing that distance would not provide immunity to anyone seeking to harm Israel.

Meanwhile, the IDF completed a large-scale divisional exercise led by the 80th Division in Eilat and the surrounding area on Thursday, including the waters off the city.

The exercise simulated a mass infiltration into Eilat by sea, air and land involving Houthi fighters and pro-Iranian militias. It tested the military’s ability to respond to the seizure of hotels, schools, shopping centers and tourist sites, as well as widespread hostage-taking incidents.

This post was originally published on here. 

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi terror group on Friday reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world’s vital shipping routes and further increasing the threat to energy markets in the widening Middle East war.

Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.

If the Houthis gain full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their backer Iran a critical advantage in the war with the US, reducing supplies through a second major transit corridor and sending oil prices surging.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil used to flow.

This comes a day after two military sources told Reuters that the Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi terror group reached the Red Sea islands of Hanish.

Yemeni government forces plot counter-offensive

Yemeni government forces, meanwhile, indicated they would try to retake areas captured by the Houthi militants in their lightning offensive this week along the Red Sea coastline.

They announced they would deploy weapons and aircraft to eliminate any movement of the terrorist Houthi militias in strategic areas, including the road leading to the coastal city of Mocha, which the militant group captured on Thursday along with the Red Sea islands of Hanish.

Arab media outlets first reported that Yemeni government forces had withdrawn from Mocha on Thursday morning as the Houthis advanced, and online social media posts displayed photos and videos of Houthi fighters within the city.

The capture of Mocha represents a significant achievement for the Houthis, enabling them to deepen their control over the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.

عاجل وكارثة على الشرعية:

مدينة الخوخة على ساحل البحر، على وشك السقوط بيد الحوثيين إن لم تكن قد سقطت بالفعل

يظهر فيديو انسحاب قوات الشرعية باتجاه المخا والفيديو الاخر تواجد الحوثيين في الخوخة pic.twitter.com/F7u63ROjhH

— الأحداث العالمية (@A7dath_77) September 10, 2026

Anti-Houthi forces claim contingent sent to reinforce Mocha, reported clashes with Houthi navy

However, the National Resistance Front, a coalition of anti-Houthi forces led by former Houthi ally and senior member of the Yemeni government, Tareq Saleh, said that a force commander led a military contingent into Mocha on Thursday morning.

“Force reorganization and consolidation [of Mocha’s defenses] are underway in coordination with the anti-Houthi coalition,” NRF’s official media outlet reported.

The NRF forces clashed with Houthi naval forces, the outlet added.

Houthis claim ‘Red Sea operations are defensive’

Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said later on Thursday that navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb remained safe and regular, as fighting with Saudi-backed government forces intensified.

In a post on X, Abdulsalam said Yemen posed no threat to shipping and that ongoing Houthi operations were defensive and limited to previously announced targets. He stated that the operations would end once attacks on Yemen stopped and a blockade was lifted.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Adalah organization, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, clashed with Israeli universities after it published a harsh report on Monday titled “Apartheid in Israeli Academia: Arab Students After October 7, 2023,” which claims that Israeli higher education institutions have implemented discriminatory disciplinary policies since the start of the war.

Adalah claimed that the universities effectively created two separate tracks: a stricter track for Arab students, referred to as “Palestinian” students in the report, most of whom are Israeli citizens, and a more lenient track for Jewish students.

The report, authored by Adalah attorneys Lubna Touma, Adi Mansour, and Mai Diab, and edited by Dr. Fadi Khoury with assistance from Tom Mahager and Dr. Hassan Jabareen, reviews proceedings against Arab students at around 40 academic institutions, primarily over posts published on their private social media accounts.

Adalah said that international supporters contributed nearly NIS 1 million to provide legal representation and assistance to dozens of students following the proceedings. According to the report, the Galilee Foundation provided support that enabled its writing and publication.

According to the report, on October 8, 2023, less than 24 hours after the massacre carried out by Hamas and other armed groups in the Gaza border communities and the start of what the report calls the “war of extermination of the nation over the Gaza Strip,” the University of Haifa issued its first decision to suspend Arab students from their studies.

Adalah claims the university’s then rector made the decision without prior proceedings or a hearing, based on posts students had uploaded to their private social media accounts in the hours before the decision. Within days, additional academic institutions followed.

“By mid-October 2023, a broad pattern could already be identified: immediate suspensions of Palestinian students from their studies, the opening of disciplinary proceedings against them, and the classification of their posts as expressions of support for terrorism or identification with Hamas’s attack,” the report states.

The organization said it received 132 complaints from male and female students at nearly 40 institutions, in what the report describes as “large-scale suppression of Palestinian students’ freedom of expression in Israel.” According to the data presented in the report, 76% of the students who faced disciplinary proceedings were young Palestinian women.

Arab students suspended prior to hearing, Adalah claims

Adalah provided legal representation or advice to 100 of those who contacted it. In more than 80 cases, the report claims, temporary suspensions were imposed before a hearing took place. In 20 cases, students were expelled permanently or suspended for periods ranging from one to five years. In some appeals handled by the organization, the decisions were overturned or the punishments were significantly reduced.

The report links the measures taken against students to political pressure from state officials, including the education minister, who called for student suspensions and expedited disciplinary procedures. According to Adalah, in several cases institutions also reported students to police, leading to arrests.

The range of content that led, according to the organization, to complaints or proceedings was broad: criticism of government policy, the IDF, or the war in Gaza; references to the October 7 attack; sharing reports about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip; Quranic verses and prayers; and symbols of Palestinian identity. The report claims that in some cases, merely liking a post, displaying a Palestinian flag or the word “Palestine” on a profile, sharing a news report, or praying for Gaza residents was sufficient to trigger action.

At the center of the organization’s argument is the claim that the burden of proof was reversed: instead of the institution proving that a post constituted a disciplinary offense, students were required to prove that their statements did not constitute support for terrorism. According to Adalah, institutions expanded their authority to cover private posts unrelated to academic studies, almost exclusively in relation to Arab students. At the same time, the report claims, they avoided taking similar action against Jewish students who published racist or inciting content.

The report’s conclusion follows from this argument: according to Adalah, Israeli academia has shifted from being an institution that regulates conduct related to studies into one that monitors private expression and determines which expressions of Palestinian identity, religion, solidarity, or political criticism are legitimate.

The organization describes the track applied to Arab students as an emergency “administrative track,” involving expanded authority, reduced procedural protections, and the use of vague tests of loyalty and “enemy” status. In contrast, it claims that Jewish students have retained a “constitutional track,” in which limits on institutional authority and freedom of expression are more strongly protected. Adalah warned of a “chilling effect” that would lead to self-censorship and “harm the sense of security and belonging of Palestinian students on campuses.”

Haifa University denies report of Arab student discrimination

“The Adalah report presents a partial, biased, and highly inaccurate picture,” the University of Haifa said in response to the allegations against it. “The correct picture is this: the proceedings against students who were suspended following October 7 publications were conducted in accordance with disciplinary regulations, and the students were represented by attorneys.”

The university added that “following the recommendation of the panel that heard the disciplinary proceedings, the parties agreed to pursue mediation before a retired judge, a former vice president of the Nazareth District Court, in which the students were also represented by attorneys. At the conclusion of the process, during which agreements were reached with the assistance of the mediator, two students were expelled from the university, five apologized and carried out community service at nonprofit organizations according to an agreed number of hours, and two students were acquitted.”

The Education Ministry did not respond to the allegations and referred the inquiry to the Council for Higher Education (CHE). The CHE declined to comment on the report.

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Mediators between Israel and Hamas had warned that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was considering launching a major kidnapping operation for years before the October 7 massacre, Col. (res.) Doron Hadar told Kan News on Thursday. 

Hadar, who participated in negotiations over hostages held by Hamas before October 7, said that mediators said that the stalemate would lead Hamas to consider a major attack. 

“The understanding was that in the absence of a hostage deal, there would be no other choice, and Hamas would take a game-changing step to alter its situation,” he said.

“Over the years, we received messages, including from the various mediators, that if we did not make progress toward a deal, Sinwar was considering launching a major kidnapping operation in order to obtain other assets,” Hadar said, although he gave no indication that any specifics were given in any of the warnings. 

Netanyahu under scrutiny after report of UAE Oct. 7 warning

This comes amid controversy over a Haaretz report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warning from the UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel days before the October 7 massacre. 

Netanyahu reportedly dismissed the warning despite MBZ urging him to take the threat seriously, the report said, citing three senior foreign sources familiar with the contents of the conversation.

Netanyahu has strongly rejected the allegations and has instructed his lawyers to issue a libel lawsuit against Haaretz, the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Wednesday. 

The lawsuit will also target Shlomi Eldar, the Haaretz journalist who covered the story.

The PMO stated that the story was completely fabricated and that there had been no communication between Netanyahu and the UAE from the start of September 2023 until the October 7 attack.

Shir Perets and Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report. 

This post was originally published on here. 

The United Arab Emirates is quietly revising plans for a 5-gigawatt AI data center project – one of the biggest outside the US – after the Iran war prompted a rethink of how and where critical infrastructure should be built, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Originally envisaged as a 10-square-mile (26-square-kilometer) campus in Abu Dhabi, the project will now likely comprise a network of data centers spread across the UAE, according to four of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.

Authorities are also considering ways to better protect the facilities from drone and missile attacks, including air defenses and building some underground, they said. The likely modifications to the project’s blueprint have not previously been reported. 

Data center project central to UAE’s global AI ambitions

Plans for the UAE-US AI Campus, which is being built in partnership with American tech companies, were announced during US President Donald Trump‘s visit last year to the wealthy Gulf state.

The project is central to the UAE‘s ambitions to become a global AI powerhouse as it shifts its economy away from oil. It is led by G42, an AI firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser and brother of its president.

In return for access to Nvidia AI chips and other advanced US technology, the UAE agreed to cut AI ties with China and invest in the Stargate initiative’s American data centers. Stargate is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank to build AI infrastructure.

The people who spoke to Reuters included a US official, a Western diplomat and industry executives briefed on the deliberations. The news agency could not determine how close Emirati authorities are to finalizing a new masterplan or the extent to which the proposed changes might affect construction costs and timelines.

Construction on the first phase of the project, a $30-billion, 1-gigawatt compute cluster known as Stargate UAE, began last year, with the first 200 megawatts of capacity due to come online this year. When completed, it will have enough capacity to connect every UAE government agency and commercial institution to the world’s most advanced AI models, according to Larry Ellison, chairman and chief technology officer at Oracle, which is partnering with G42 on the project.

Responding to Reuters questions about potential revisions to the project, G42 said work on the AI campus was progressing as planned.

“The project’s specifics are subject to continuous review in line with the security, resilience and operational standards expected of critical infrastructure at this scale,” the company said without elaborating.

OpenAI said it was working with the UAE to achieve its AI vision and making “good progress on the infrastructure and adoption priorities needed to deliver it.”

The Emirati advanced technology ministry and the project’s other American partners – Nvidia, Oracle and Cisco – did not respond to comment requests. Japan’s SoftBank declined to comment.

Iran targets US-linked tech infrastructure

Emirati officials began reviewing their AI infrastructure plans soon after Tehran started firing missiles and drones at Gulf neighbors that host American forces in retaliation for US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran, the sources told Reuters.

Two Amazon Web Services data centers in the UAE were damaged in the attacks in March along with one in Bahrain. The company’s cloud computing services in the region are still disrupted, according to the latest updates on its website.

In April, Iran’s armed forces issued a video warning that Stargate UAE was also a potential target. The video included a map purporting to show where the complex is being built, with the caption: “Nothing stays hidden from our sight.”

Two people familiar with the matter confirmed the location at a site near Al Dhafra Air Base, which was not publicly known. The base on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi hosts US troops and has been targeted during the war, which began in February.

Daniel Benaim, who served as US deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula affairs under President Joe Biden, said the conflict has been an “economic earthquake” for Gulf states, which had long marketed themselves as safe havens.

“Changes to harden critical infrastructure are vitally necessary,” said Benaim, a fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank. “Every country in the region is going to look at what they can do to reduce the risk” and reassure international partners and investors.

The first phase of construction at the UAE’s AI campus is expected to continue as planned, although with some modifications to protect the site from aerial attacks, according to an industry executive and another person briefed on the matter. The rest of the project will likely be spread across multiple locations, they said.

In addition to building underground, officials are considering putting facilities that host the most sensitive data, such as that used by the military, inside mountains, the two said. In the United States, China and Europe, data centers have been built inside disused mines, Cold War-era bunkers or caves.

The UAE, located on the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, is mostly flat, desert terrain. But mountain ranges run through parts of the north and northeast in the Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah emirates. 

Air defense systems are being incorporated into the redesign, including drone and missile interceptors and electronic jamming equipment, three sources said. Other likely measures include the use of blast-resistant concrete and the addition of backup power and cooling systems, another said.

This post was originally published on here. 

One of the unique traditions of the Jewish people is “sanctifying the new month” (kiddush hahodesh). Each month, on the final Shabbat of that month, known as “Shabbat mevarchim,” we stand and bless the coming month, announce it, and prepare for it. 

This expresses the special role of the Jewish people in determining the times of holiness.

Yet there is one month of the year that we do not bless: the month of Tishrei, in which Rosh Hashanah falls. 

It is the only holiday in the Jewish calendar that occurs at the beginning of the month, at the time of the moon’s rebirth – which symbolizes the Jewish people, who are constantly renewing themselves.

The month in which the entire year begins does not enter the year through announcement and publicity. Rather, it seems to arrive quietly on its own. The simple reason that Rosh Hodesh Tishrei does not require an announcement is that everyone knows when it occurs, since it is also Rosh Hashanah. 

Another reason cited by the halachic authorities is that this is intended to confuse Satan so that he will not know when the Day of Judgment is. Jewish philosophers explain that the creator Himself sanctifies the new year and creates it anew.

We learn that Rosh Hashanah falls on Rosh Hodesh Tishrei from the following verse: “Blow the shofar at the New Moon, at the appointed time for our festival” (Psalms 81:4).

Our Sages expound upon this: “Which is the festival on which the month is concealed? You must say: this is Rosh Hashanah” (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 8a).

Later, halachic authorities wrote (HaLevush, section 581; Magen Avraham, section 417:1) that for this reason we do not recite the blessing birkat hahodesh on the Shabbat before Rosh Hodesh Tishrei, so that the month will remain concealed.

Timing of Rosh Hashanah teaches us about the nature of the holiday

The fact that Rosh Hashanah is a festival on which the month is “concealed” is not merely a detail of the calendar. It teaches something fundamental about the nature of the day and the inner work required of us. 

Rosh Hashanah is a day of concealment, and in a certain sense, precisely because of this, it is a day of revelation. It is the day on which a person is called upon to remove the coverings that accompany him throughout the year and to look inward, toward the place where he truly exists.

Throughout the year, a person lives to a great extent in a world of outward appearances. He is preoccupied with his actions, his roles, his achievements, and his relationships with others. 

He moves within a world of tasks and decisions, of work and family, of successes and failures. Even when he thinks about himself, he often does so through the image he projects of himself. 

He knows what he does and what he says, what others think of him, and what kind of person he seeks to present to the outside world. 

But within every person there is an inner world that is not equally exposed, and at times the person himself hardly encounters it.

Rosh Hashanah is the time when a person is required to glimpse into his soul and not flee from what is hidden there.

This is a profound meaning of the Day of Judgment. 

The past year is revealed as each person enters judgment

ON ROSH HASHANAH, when a person enters before his creator for judgment, the covering is removed. Each person enters judgment alone, behind the curtain, and there the truth of the past year is revealed. 

It is not merely a list of deeds that stands before him, but the person himself – as he truly is.

What occupied his thoughts throughout the year? What was truly important to him? Where did he draw closer to God, and where did he move away? 

These questions are not always comfortable, because they require a person to move from the outside to the inside. 

Yet this is precisely the work of Rosh Hashanah: not to be satisfied with looking at what happened, but to try to understand who you were within everything that happened.

This sheds particular light on the custom of not blessing the month before Rosh Hodesh Tishrei, since the concealment itself is part of the character of the day. 

The “month” itself is concealed, as though Rosh Hashanah is not asking us to engage in publicity and outward appearances, but to reach a deeper, inner place.

This is also one of the profound meanings of the sounding of the shofar. The shofar does not speak. It contains no words explaining what a person wishes to say; rather, it produces a simple sound.

The Rebbe of Sochatchov writes about this in his book Shem Mishmuel (Rosh Hashanah 5679): “The shofar therefore seeks to reach a place that comes before words, the place where a person does not merely know, but feels. 

“A person can know very well what he needs to correct, and can even formulate those things precisely for years, yet that knowledge can remain external. 

“There is a distance between what a person holds in his mind and the place where something becomes part of his heart. The sounding of the shofar seeks to cross that distance and reach ‘the concealed point of his heart.’”

This is the message that emerges from the verse that teaches us about Rosh Hashanah: “Blow the shofar at the New Moon, at the appointed time for our festival.” 

The month is concealed, but precisely through that concealment, revelation becomes possible. Concealment and revelation do not contradict one another. On the contrary, concealment itself makes revelation possible. 

A person is not required to expose himself to the world, but to encounter what lies beneath everything the world sees. God does not need a person’s outward presentation. He seeks his truth.

Rosh Hashanah invites us to remove, even if only for a moment, the coverings that conceal us throughout the year, and to look inward, toward the place where our soul resides. 

There, in a place unseen by others and sometimes unfamiliar even to the person himself, the true work of the new year begins.■

The writer is rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites.
ROSH HASHANAH 5787

This post was originally published on here. 

This column is slated for publication on September 11 – 9/11. It’s an unforgettable date – or should be. This year, the 25th anniversary brings added significance.

A quarter of a century has passed since the planes hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon in Washington; another plane was brought down by courageous passengers and crew in Pennsylvania before it could hit its intended destination, the Capitol. 

The targets were carefully chosen as the very symbols of the United States of America and strategic sites where chaos and terror would have the greatest impact.

We owe it to the nearly 3,000 victims never to forget what happened in the multiple attacks that day. Never forget and never distort.

The recent storm over Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s reporting guide is just one example of how history can’t be changed, but the narrative can. A leaked memo by Basem Boshra, whose title is, incongruously, “senior director of journalistic standards and public trust,” instructed CBC journalists not to refer to “the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks” without attributing the label to an outside source.

Instead, Boshra said reporters should note that “hijackings led to passenger jet crashes,” as if the planes abducted themselves on autopilot before spontaneously combusting as they by chance hit crucial and iconic American sites.

Following a backlash, Boshra noted that CBC had “… decided to adjust [its policy] to clarify that direct attribution is not required for describing the historic events of 9/11 as terrorism.”

It wasn’t just terrorism – it was war!

Israel has since had its own 9/11 – October 7, 2023. It’s another date that doesn’t require a year to qualify it. The October 7 mega-atrocity – when Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Gazan civilians invaded Israel in a frenzy of rape, mutilation, arson, kidnapping, and murder – left Israel with 1,200 dead and 251 hostages in Gaza, and sparked a war on seven fronts.

The CBC memo reminded me of the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas as terrorists.

‘Terrorism is a loaded word’

Referring to Hamas “gunmen” and “militants,” world affairs editor John Simpson explained on October 11, 2023: “Terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”

Not for the first time I wondered how Britain would have fought and beaten Nazi Germany in today’s social climate.

Palestinians, by the way, celebrated the 9/11 attacks the same as they cheered Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s Scud missiles the previous decade. 

September 2026 marks another noteworthy anniversary: While Israel was undergoing a wave of lethal terrorist attacks collectively labeled as the “Second Intifada,” it was also dealing with the first Durban Conference. The full name of this UN-sponsored event was, ironically, the “World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.” It turned into a venomous anti-Israel and antisemitic hate fest that set the tone for the next quarter of a century, and probably well into the future.

There have been ongoing attempts to downplay the horrors or blame the victims. Blaming the Jews has been a feature of Western life for centuries. Today, the word “Jews” is replaced by “Zionists” to try to make the blood libel more palatable.

The beginning of the millennium was the decade of al-Qaeda. Subsequently, the focus moved to ISIS (Islamic State), but their quest is the same – as is their willingness to use martyrs for the cause.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has supported both Shi’ite and Sunni terror proxies, and launched missiles on Israel and across the Gulf states. Stop for a minute to consider why Iran is still intent on achieving nuclear capabilities and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could deliver the warheads to the US and Europe.

What happens if unconventional weapons end up in the hands of terrorists dedicated to martyrdom? What will deter Iran from using nuclear weapons if its leaders believe that citizens killed in a second strike will go straight to heaven? Remember, the same regime killed a reported 30,000 Iranian protesters at the beginning of the year.

Those who provided the weapons to the terrorists in Gaza harbor no sympathy for any Western nations. Attempts to appease them by singling out Israel for boycotts and sanctions might buy time but can’t buy safety.

The world that looks the other way when Islamists from various jihadi movements commit appalling massacres in Africa and parts of Asia, is not turning the other cheek; it’s ignoring a threat that will only grow. Calling out Islamist extremism is not Islamophobic. It saves lives – of all religions, including Muslims. One of the lessons of 9/11 was that anyone could become a victim.

September 11, 2001, was not just about the US. It was an assault on the West. It wasn’t a reaction to US actions; it was the trigger. October 7 was not an act of “resistance” against Israeli occupation; it was the invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip, where every last Jew had been evicted 18 years before. 

An entire generation has grown up that doesn’t remember firsthand the events of that awful day. It’s a generation subjected to endless manipulation via social and conventional media.

The world has grown 25 years older, but not sufficiently wiser. Despite all the jihadist terror attacks that have hit cities across the globe in the intervening years, the message has not yet hit home. It’s called “global jihad” for a reason. Nowhere is safe from the extremists fueled by a fanatic religious ideology that elevates the status of “martyrdom.”

What Hamas perpetrated on pastoral communities in southern Israel on October 7 stems from the same perverted jihadist ideology that brought down the World Trade Center on 9/11; blew up London buses and trains on 7/7; and inflicted horrendous casualties at the Bataclan theater in Paris in 2015, a Bastille Day parade in Nice in 2016, and on the teenage audience of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in 2017.

Terrorists who murder thousands of people are not looking to resolve conflicts; they are seeking to start wars and destroy a civilization. If you’re too scared to call a terrorist “a terrorist,” they’ve won. You can’t wage war on terrorism if you’re too afraid to name it.

Here’s another atrocity from another September that should have served as an early warning: At the Munich Olympics in September 1972, Palestinian terrorists held members of the Israeli team hostage in the Olympic village, where they mutilated and murdered two victims. Nine more Israeli hostages were killed during a botched German rescue attempt at an airfield.

It was the first time an international event was hijacked by terrorists. The need for massive security today at everything from sporting events to concerts can be traced back directly to Munich, September 1972. Those chanting “Globalize the Intifada” are either too stupid or too wicked to see what that means.

The antisemitism of the far-left and the far-right is strong enough to unite them in a radical, dangerous alliance.

Just how far we’ve come – in the wrong direction – can be seen in Zohran Mamdani presiding as mayor of New York City at the 25th commemoration of 9/11. The stridently anti-Israel mayor is obsessed with the events in Gaza but is unable to name the terrorists or ideology responsible.

This weekend marks another significant date. It is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Israel’s National Security Council has issued a warning of terror threats against Israelis and Jews abroad ahead of the religious holiday season. Not that we were oblivious to the dangers: a war was launched in 1973 on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, and October 7 coincided with Simchat Torah, a festival of joy.

The Western world can’t afford to ignore these threats. Twenty-five years after the Durban Conference, there is a tidal wave of antisemitic attacks; 25 years after 9/11, Christian communities are being targeted no less than the Jews.

When Rosh Hashanah and 9/11 coincide, the sound of shofar should serve as a wake-up call for all. From Ground Zero, you can choose to go up or down. You can’t afford to look away and pretend it was just some horrible accident in history.

This post was originally published on here. 

Our person of the year 5786 must be an Israeli.

Yes, the year’s foreign news was dominated by a non-Israeli – Donald Trump – but unlike 5776, when this column crowned him person of the year, this year he did not represent a new era, as he sure did 10 years ago this fall.

The rest of the world also failed to offer such a figure in 5786. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been up to his neck in the Ukraine war. Britain again replaced its prime minister, but neither left much of an imprint on any front. France’s Emmanuel Macron entered his presidency’s twilight as his quest to marginalize radicals from the Right and Left clearly failed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has fared no better. Out in Asia, the leaders of China and Japan, while effective at home, have shaped nothing abroad; the same goes for leaders across Africa’s 55 states.

The statesmen’s underperformance was not offset by a cultural figure – say, an artist, a scientist, a writer, or an athlete – whose inspiration, or notoriety, might have stirred the entire world.

The same goes for the Middle East.

Why is Netanyahu unfit to be Israel’s Person of the Year?

There were years when political dramas in the Arab world mattered globally and, while at it, produced gripping images of their victims and heroes.

That is how, in 5763, our person of the year was Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian greengrocer whose self-immolation sparked the upheaval that unseated four Arab leaders, including Egypt’s. Similarly, when that upheaval produced multiple civil wars and a mass exodus that took thousands of lives, our person of the year 5765 was five-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose photo of him lying dead on a Turkish beach encapsulated war-torn Syria’s despair.  

There was no shortage of misery in the Middle East this year, but it produced no such iconic image. Nor was there a leader whose figure towered above the Middle East’s dramas, whether for better, the way Emirati leader Mohamed bin Zayed did before becoming our person of the year 5780, or for worse, the way Syria’s Bashar Assad did as our person of the year 5773.

This sense of political void was underscored by events in Iran, where the killing of its leader was not followed by the rise of a successor who shaped subsequent events. Similarly, consecutive Iranian attacks on multiple Arab countries did not give rise to an Arab leader who seized control of events, least of all by leading an Arab counterattack that the Iranian missile and drone attacks demand.

That is why our person of the year is an Israeli. This is not to say that Israel produced this year the kind of doer that other countries did not.
 
Last year’s person of the year, Benjamin Netanyahu, shaped 5785’s roller-coaster events. Militarily, he ordered Operation Rising Lion, alongside attacks on the Houthi government in Yemen and the Palestinian leadership in Qatar. He also fired the defense minister, the head of the Shin Bet, and the chairman of the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee. Netanyahu thus shaped that year’s Israeli events, on all fronts.

This cannot be said of 5786. Politically, it was a year of paralysis, underscored by Netanyahu’s failure to pass the draft-dodging legislation he promised his ultra-Orthodox allies.

Militarily, the year was dominated by Operation Roaring Lion, ostensibly a repetition of the previous year’s attack, and thus reason to name Netanyahu person of the year once again. But in fact, in their circumstances and results, the two attacks were entirely different.

This year’s attack on Iran was not an Israeli move with an American epilogue, but an American move with an Israeli partner. Second, this attack was inconclusive. That is why this attack’s main Israeli hero, then-air force commander Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar, cannot be our person of the year, despite successfully preparing the IDF’s pilots for the complex and daring task they carried out as impressively as they did.

Despite its military drama, as Israelis experienced it 5786 was first and foremost a political year. That is why our person of the year, besides being Israeli, must be a political figure. And since Netanyahu did not shape the political year, the question is who did, and the answer is Gadi Eisenkot.

The choice of Eisenkot is problematic because he did nothing beyond field a party and a list of candidates.

Eisenkot did not present a single bill, articulate an original idea, unveil a program of action, or say anything substantial about major domestic problems like the judicial crisis; the political system’s structure; the shortage of doctors, nurses, and hospital beds; or the education system’s standards, resources, and norms.

Even so, during the most fateful political year in Israel’s history, Eisenkot came to be seen, on both sides of the political aisle, as the harbinger, symbol, and potential engine of change.

Whether the polls that flatter him are valid will only become known next month, but whatever the outcome of his effort to replace Netanyahu, he has already become the de facto leader of the opposition. The reasons for this emergence are clear.

In his humble character and unassuming appearance, Eisenkot brought a humility that contrasts with Netanyahu’s telegenic pizzazz, boastful rhetoric, and soloist management. As the son of working-class immigrants from Morocco, Eisenkot is a light-year away from Netanyahu’s upbringing in an Ivy League professor’s affluent home.

Above all, as the father and uncle of three soldiers who fell in Gaza, he has come to personify the sense of victimhood, defiance, and outrage that connected millions of Israelis over the past three years. That is how Gadi Eisenkot, our person of the year 5786, came to stoke the ruling coalition’s fears and personify Middle Israel’s pain, wrath, and hope.

www.MiddleIsrael.net

The writer, a Hartman Institute fellow, is the author of the bestseller, The Jewish March of Folly (Yedioth Books 2026), now available in English on Amazon.

This post was originally published on here. 

When Danny Danon returned to New York two years ago for his second stint as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, he described the organization as a far more ferocious lion’s den than the one he had left four years earlier.

Danon borrowed the image from the title of his 2022 memoir, In the Lion’s Den, itself a nod to his biblical namesake, Daniel. But the UN he reentered after October 7 bore little resemblance even to the inhospitable institution in which he served from 2015 to 2020 – a period that, from the vantage point of the Gaza war, looked almost like a diplomatic golden age.

The atmosphere Danon returned to in 2024 was extraordinarily hostile. Israel’s enemies were highly motivated, its allies exhausted, and ambassadors who had once met him regularly reluctant to be seen with him publicly.

Two years later, the lions have not exactly become lambs. Yet Danon, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post ahead of this month’s UN General Assembly gathering, sounded a surprising note: Things are getting better.

“When I came back after October 7, I was shocked by the level of hostility and the hatred – the isolation,” he said. “I think now the situation is improving.”

Improving is, of course, a relative term at the UN when it comes to Israel. The automatic majorities have not disappeared, nor have traditional friends necessarily returned to their former positions. Canada and Australia, whose diplomats he worked closely with during his first term, remain, in his understated words, “problematic.” Britain – as it proved this week with its boycott of settlement products and accusations of “ethnic cleansing” – has moved in the wrong direction.

A change behind closed doors

Still, Danon sees a change – less in public votes and statements than behind closed doors. Following Israel’s operations against Hezbollah and Iran, he said, diplomats – including from Muslim countries – quietly admired Israel’s capabilities even while remaining publicly hostile.

That gap between private praise and public condemnation is hardly new. The obvious question is what value private admiration has if those same countries continue voting against Israel when the lights are on and the cameras are rolling.

Danon’s answer is that it produces concrete results away from the UN floor: intelligence cooperation, trade, and growing interest in Israeli defense technology. Some deals are public; others remain discreet.

The pager operation in Lebanon and Israel’s ability to maneuver over Iran and rapidly establish air superiority were closely studied by military attachés in New York, he said. They may not praise Israel publicly, but they took notice, and he said this helped Israel regain both respect and deterrence.

“We paid a heavy price, and we are still paying,” Danon said, referring to the international criticism, demonstrations, and wave of antisemitism generated by the war. “But I think we also have to be grateful for the fact that we regained the respect of many nations.”

Respect is not affection, and it does not automatically translate into votes. But it, along with deterrence, is a critical asset.

Danon’s task is to convert private respect into bilateral cooperation and eventually multilateral support. “It’s not really sufficient for us yet on the multilateral track,” he acknowledged. “But I think it can come.”

One place where he says it is already coming is Latin America.

That, too, represents a striking reversal. When Danon returned to the UN in 2024, he cited Venezuela and Colombia, along with Brazil, as examples of the hostility then emanating from the region. Today, he describes Latin America as a diplomatic bright spot.

Last week, he said, he held a productive meeting with Venezuela’s ambassador. Caracas, he added, has gone from being “one of the hostile forces against us in the UN” to “an ally of Israel.”

Colombia’s shift could be even more consequential because it holds a seat on the Security Council. Danon said Israel is awaiting the arrival of the new Colombian ambassador and expects the change from the previous, deeply hostile government to be felt quickly.

The lesson is that UN alignments change rapidly when governments change. Danon cited Slovenia and Colombia as countries that moved toward Israel after elections, while Britain moved in the opposite direction. Ambassadors may conduct diplomacy at the UN, but their instructions come from home.

Relations with the Abraham Accords countries have proved more durable. Danon said wartime cooperation with the UAE and Bahrain reached levels unimaginable before the accords, and at the UN, he also maintains good relations with Morocco.

Danon, however, holds out little hope for Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords anytime soon, saying that Hamas’s October 7 attack sabotaged that move.

“I think eventually it will happen, but it will take more time,” he said.

Israel’s view of UNIFIL

If the diplomatic map has shifted since Danon’s return, so has Israel’s view of UNIFIL.

In 2024, despite the UN force’s glaring failure to keep southern Lebanon free of Hezbollah personnel, weapons and infrastructure, Danon said in an interview with the Post that Israel did not necessarily want it withdrawn. Rather, Jerusalem wanted its mandate strengthened and fulfilled.

Today, his position is completely different: UNIFIL must go, and Israel will oppose efforts to replace it with another international force operating under a different name.

Danon expects France, other countries, and UN officials to press for an extension or successor mechanism. Lebanon has already requested an extension, he said, and the coming weeks will bring considerable pressure.

“They don’t care about stability or about the interests of the Lebanese people,” he said of those seeking to preserve the international presence. “They just want to be present and to remain in the region.”

Israel prefers direct coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces, similar to its arrangements with Egypt, Jordan and, Danon said, even Syria. Temporary extensions are no solution, he warned, because at the UN, temporary arrangements tend to become permanent.

Another change Danon is eagerly awaiting is the departure of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term expires at the end of the year.

Asked if Israel has a preferred candidate, Danon said, “Anyone would be better than Guterres. The way he is conducting the UN today is shameful.”

The bitterness is sharpened by the warmth of their earlier relationship. During Danon’s first term, he brought Guterres to Israel and hosted him for Shabbat dinner. After Guterres was reelected, Danon said he “exposed his true face,” appointed hostile figures to key positions, and yielded to the organization’s anti-Israel pressures.

For Danon, the central failure was Guterres’s refusal to visit Israel after October 7. Guterres said he was waiting for a formal invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an explanation Danon dismisses as ridiculous.

In October 2024, after Guterres failed to unequivocally condemn an Iranian missile attack on Israel, then-foreign minister Israel Katz declared him persona non grata.

Danon said this was only a “declaration,” and that the government did not pass a resolution on this, so that had the secretary-general wanted to come to Israel, he would not have been barred. Danon said Guterres inexplicably never expressed interest in coming to Israel after October 7 or going to the ravaged border communities and meeting the hostage families.

Israel is not endorsing a candidate to replace Guterres, but is examining the contenders’ records and looking for someone strong enough to reform the UN and stop the organization’s “obsession with Israel.”

Yet Danon rejects responding to UN hostility by abandoning the arena. Two years ago, he argued that just as Israel patrols its physical borders, it must defend its “diplomatic borders.” If Israel is absent, its adversaries can spread accusations more easily and its friends will be left to fight alone.

He makes the same argument today. “If we are not in the room and our allies are not in the room, it is much easier to isolate us,” he said. “We have to be there. We have to be vocal, we have to build coalitions, and we have to demand changes in this organization.”

That effort will be on display when Netanyahu arrives immediately after Yom Kippur for an unusually brief visit to the UN General Assembly. He is expected to stay only one night, leaving little time for bilateral meetings and apparently no opportunity to meet US President Donald Trump, who speaks two days earlier.

Netanyahu is coming primarily to deliver his speech, a platform he prizes and prepares for meticulously. Coming just a month before the elections, the targeted audience this year will be more the Israeli voter than the gathered diplomats.

Outside the hall, Danon expects more demonstrations than usual thanks to the encouragement of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Mamdani, who threatened to arrest Netanyahu and said he would if he could, but does not have the authority to do so, has not expressed a similar wish regarding Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is also expected to attend. Nor has he called for protests against the Iranian leader whose government gunned down tens of thousands of its own civilians.

While Danon has spent recent weeks preparing for Netanyahu’s visit, his Likud colleagues back home have been competing in primaries that many expected him to contest.

Why did he not run?

Danon said October 7 convinced him that his experience could be put to greater use at the UN than in the Knesset. He does not regret the decision, but neither does he sound like a man who has renounced politics.

“Politics is not going to disappear, and I will come back,” he said.

Danon challenged Netanyahu for the Likud leadership in 2007 and again in 2014. Asked whether he might compete for the leadership in the post-Netanyahu era, he replied: “It’s not a secret that I have aspirations.”

For now, he presents his ambassadorship as both a national mission and valuable preparation – an opportunity to handle strategic questions, build relationships and meet world leaders.

“I’m gaining a great deal of experience in this position,” he said.

What he intends to do with the experience afterward is a question he is not yet ready to answer fully, but one whose answer is not difficult to imagine.

This post was originally published on here. 

Five years ago, Bari Weiss left The New York Times after accusing the newspaper of allowing ideological conformity to narrow the boundaries of acceptable opinion. In 2026, she sits atop one of the most famous news organizations in the world.

That remarkable reversal is the clearest measure of Weiss’s influence. In October 2025, Paramount Skydance acquired The Free Press, the independent media company she founded, for a reported $150 million and named Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News. The journalist who had built her reputation challenging legacy media was suddenly responsible for reshaping one of its most storied institutions.

Weiss, 42, is a Pittsburgh native who grew up in the city’s Jewish community and became a bat mitzvah at the Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 worshipers were murdered in the 2018 antisemitic attack. Her Jewish identity and support for Israel have long been central to her public voice. Her 2019 book, How to Fight Anti-Semitism, won the National Jewish Book Award and argued that Jew-hatred had become increasingly acceptable across different parts of the political spectrum.

Her career had already taken her through some of America’s most influential publications: Tablet, The Wall Street Journal, and, from 2017 to 2020, The New York Times. After leaving the Times, she launched a newsletter, initially called Common Sense, that grew into The Free Press. What began as an experiment in independent journalism became a serious media business. By January 2026, Weiss said it had reached two million subscribers, while developing a roster of writers, podcasts, investigations, and live events.

The past year, however, has moved Weiss into an entirely different category of influence. At CBS, she has set out to remake a network she argues must adapt to changing audiences and declining trust in traditional news. She has brought independent writers and podcasters into the CBS orbit, pushed the network toward digital platforms, and undertaken a sweeping overhaul of 60 Minutes, replacing senior figures and bringing in new correspondents and contributors.

Critics inside and outside CBS have questioned her lack of experience 

Those changes have been controversial. Critics inside and outside CBS have questioned her lack of television experience and accused her of shifting the network politically; supporters see a long-overdue challenge to an establishment media culture that has lost touch with large sections of the American public. Weiss herself has said she wants CBS to speak to the Center-Left and Center-Right rather than one political tribe.

For Jewish audiences, her prominence is especially significant. Since October 7, The Free Press has emerged as one of the most forceful American outlets covering antisemitism, Israel, and the ideological battles surrounding Zionism. Weiss has used her platform to insist that support for Israel and concern over antisemitism should not be pushed to the margins of respectable discourse.

Whether her CBS experiment ultimately succeeds remains an open question. But in the space of a year, Bari Weiss has gone from running an influential digital publication to helping determine the editorial direction of a major American television network. Few journalists have accumulated that kind of power so quickly.

No. 9: Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg >>

<< No. 11: Larry Fink

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

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The artificial intelligence revolution is on the way, influencing markets, changing jobs, and even reaching beyond the digital restraints it seemed to have in its early years, thanks to physical AI. Leading this change are two names that now represent innovation in this field: Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. Both of them are leading some of the world’s largest companies, shaping the future of society with their innovations.

Sam Altman

OpenAI’s founder and CEO, Sam Altman, has been leading the AI revolution for almost half a decade now. In a July interview with the Relentless podcast, Altman said that he was “working on the singularity,” which represents the moment when AI becomes better than humans at generating results for the tasks it’s asked. He described the current moment of working with such a powerful model as something that used to be a “far-off dream at best, while now it’s actually the moment that we used to talk about in a very not serious way.”

One of the best examples is the recent “escape” of some of OpenAI’s most advanced models from a testing environment, where they used a backdoor to connect to the internet and complete the assigned task. Altman said this was possible and promised to keep the company’s development in check to avoid safety issues.

At the same time, Altman is preparing OpenAI for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), expected to be one of the biggest ever recorded, with the company currently valued at $850 million. According to recent reports, the IPO’s prospectus was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June, with the company not detailing the exact date for its public debut. Executives have publicly said that it will happen before 2027, with Altman now working to maximize the profit that it can get from its AI services.

Mark Zuckerberg

The last couple of years of Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s life were focused on one word: Metaverse. The creator of Facebook saw the future of social media and social interactions as a whole in a digital universe that could be accessed through virtual reality. Last year, he pivoted toward the implementation of AI in this digital universe, with projects like LLaMA (Large Language Model Meta AI) allowing for more democratic access to the creation of AI models. And now, in 2026, the main focus has been to erase the line between the digital world he made and the reality where all of us live.

The main way to do this is with more processing power, reflected in Meta’s multi-billion-dollar data centers announced throughout the year. In total, the company is to spend just under $150 billion on AI infrastructure to power its AI models. Additionally, Meta is also planning to expand the base of its Metaverse to the mobile market, with the mobile version of Horizon Worlds (the virtual reality video game created by the company as the main push toward the Metaverse) reportedly being developed.

But to really blur this line, Meta announced a series of new products focused on hardware that bring AI and Augmented Reality (AR) together into daily life. While the Malibu 2 Smartwatch is expected to be released later this year, the main product is the Orion AI Glasses, a revitalized version of the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses that includes a transparent screen inside the lens and allows users to have a more seamless experience with the digital world.

No. 8: Howard Lutnick >>

<< No. 10: Bari Weiss

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

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‘We talk most nights, often around 1 a.m.” That’s how Howard Lutnick has described his phone calls with President Donald Trump – conversations that range from Canadian steel tariffs to politics and television, and that have placed him at the center of trade talks with major partners including Canada and Japan.

A longtime Wall Street executive who co-chaired the Trump-Vance transition, Lutnick entered office as an outspoken advocate of the president’s tariff agenda. The New Yorker dubbed him Trump’s “tariff dealmaker-in-chief,” a cabinet secretary who has spent much of his tenure fielding demands from foreign governments and corporations seeking relief.

As commerce secretary, Lutnick has turned one of Washington’s lower-profile cabinet posts into a command center for Trump’s effort to reshape global trade, with a portfolio stretching from tariffs and foreign investment to semiconductors, export controls, and artificial intelligence.

The administration uses tariffs not only to protect American industry but as leverage to draw manufacturing and investment into the United States – an approach that has drawn criticism, including from some Republicans, who argue it has disrupted trade and risks raising costs for American consumers and businesses.

The controversy itself underscores Lutnick’s importance: Foreign governments and corporate leaders seeking to understand – or change – the administration’s trade policy frequently must deal with him.

Commerce Department’s reach extends well beyond tariffs

The Commerce Department’s reach extends well beyond tariffs. It oversees critical export controls and semiconductor policy and has become a key player in Washington’s technological competition with China. Under Lutnick, it has also taken a larger role in artificial intelligence, where economic competitiveness and national security overlap.

Lutnick’s tenure has brought personal controversy as well. Files released in 2026 showed that he had lunch on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island in 2012, years after he had said he cut contact with the convicted sex offender. Lutnick denied wrongdoing, saying the lunch took place during a family vacation, as he faced bipartisan calls to resign.

His public life was shaped long before Washington by September 11. Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 960 New York employees that day, including his brother Gary. The relief fund Lutnick created afterward distributed $180 million to the families of colleagues who were killed. He has explicitly linked that experience to his support for Israel after October 7.

Lutnick and his wife are longtime supporters of Birthright Israel and United Hatzalah, and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund committed $7m. to aid those affected by the war. On the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks, he accompanied Trump to the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Queens, where they met relatives of an American hostage then still held in Gaza.

No. 7: Assaf Rappaport >>

<< No. 9: Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

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With Wiz sold, Assaf Rappaport, 43, has become one of Israel’s most active private tech investors. A Calcalist investigation found he is now invested – often alongside his fellow Wiz co-founders – in dozens of start-ups, primarily in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

He has also expanded well beyond tech. Through the Merit Spread Foundation, which he backs with his Wiz partners, Rappaport’s group agreed in March 2026 to acquire a 74% stake in Channel 13 from Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries for about $25 million, committing another $100 million to $120m. over three years. The group framed the deal as an “impact investment” meant to secure the channel’s editorial independence. In July, the foundation acquired a 60% stake in the parent company of Israel Bidur.

Rappaport remains the CEO of Wiz, which keeps its brand within Google Cloud.

The record-breaking exit

In 2024, Rappaport turned down Google’s $23 billion offer, betting his company would grow far larger – and he was right. In March 2026, a year after it was announced, Google completed its $32b. all-cash acquisition of Wiz, the largest deal in Google’s history and the largest purchase of a venture-backed start-up. The transaction cleared US regulators in November 2025 and the European Union in February 2026.

The platform Rappaport built uses agentless APIs to map cloud environments, identify security risks, and provide real-time developer feedback. According to Wiz, it became the first CNAPP (cloud-native application protection platform) to “fully integrate native AI security into its platform.”

From a napkin to a $32b. exit

Founded in 2020, Wiz scaled from roughly $1m. ARR to $100m. ARR in about 18 months – one of the fastest paces on record for a software company.

Rappaport’s straightforward approach convinced Gili Raanan, a prominent Israeli venture capitalist, to invest in the company. According to Calcalist, Raanan recalled calling Rappaport for a meeting and being turned down because the entrepreneur heard he “changes CEOs after meeting them.” “This guy is special,” Raanan said. They eventually met at a gas station and signed their deal on a napkin.

From that napkin-signed seed round to a $32b. exit six years later, Rappaport’s arc marks a point of strength for Israel’s tech sector. In an op-ed for The Jerusalem Post, Dan Perry called the deal a “testament to Israel’s enduring tech prowess and a defiant vote of confidence in a country in crisis.”

No. 6: Miriam Adelson >>

<< No. 8: Howard Lutnick

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

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US President Donald Trump was in the middle of his Knesset speech when he stopped to thank a woman sitting in the room. She loves Israel, he said. She has $60 billion in the bank. Then he told the Israeli parliament that she had shaped some of the decisions he made about their country.

That was last October, and nobody flinched. A few years ago, we would have.

Miriam Adelson was No. 26 on this list last year. She is in the top five now, and her fortune did not move. What moved was us.

For two decades, we filed her under politics. She and Sheldon were donors, Israel Hayom was Netanyahu’s paper, and every check they wrote got read backward from there. It was a convenient way to avoid thinking about her.

Then the hostages.

While the government briefed and the talks stalled, Adelson worked the one phone line in the world that mattered. Channel 12 named her. Hostage families named her. In the end, Trump named her out loud, from our own parliament. Nobody here had to guess anymore.

Herzog gave her the Presidential Medal of Honor that same month, and she used her remarks, delivered on behalf of all the recipients, to talk about the hostages. In May, the Israeli-American Council gave her a lifetime award in Los Angeles. She said the day they all came home was the best day of her life, that it fell near her birthday, and that God had handed it to her.

The politics have not softened. Forbes puts the family at close to $38b. She is still the largest individual donor in Republican politics, and at the White House Hanukkah reception in December, she was reported to have pushed Trump toward a third term with another $250 million behind it. Six months later, her own paper ran an open letter telling him he had failed on Iran.

Anyone still calling Israel Hayom a PR sheet has not read it recently

Both of those are true about the same woman. Anyone still calling Israel Hayom a public relations sheet has not read it lately.

Now the part Israelis skipped for 20 years.

The Adelsons came into Birthright in 2011 because they heard that 10,000 young Jews were sitting on a waiting list every year for lack of money. They paid for the list. The list doubled. They paid for that, too. A quarter of a billion dollars by 2015, and that is one program. There is also the medical faculty at Ariel, Yad Vashem, the IAC, and the addiction clinics.

I asked them why, in 2020, for Makor Rishon. She did not give me a speech. She gave me a girl.

On the last day of a trip, at Independence Hall, a participant told Adelson she knew there was no such thing as a free lunch and asked what the family wanted back. Adelson told her that if Israel is ever in danger, she will fight for it, and she will go to the White House and shout. Then she told her the investment had already been repaid, because she had shown up.

In June, she wrote about Elie Wiesel, 10 years gone, a friend of hers. Wiesel’s pulpit, she wrote, was his pen.

Baron Rothschild paid for the first moshavim, the early farming villages, and Jews resented him for it while he was alive. We do this. We take the money and mistrust the hand.

Adelson is the most consequential Jewish philanthropist alive. She is also a private line between Jerusalem and the Oval Office. This year, we finally said so.

No. 5: Ronald Lauder >>

<< No. 7: Assaf Rappaport

The 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 Full List

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Roman Gofman only took office heading the Mossad on June 2 and had little time or opportunity to work a transition with his predecessor. This was because, in a wild twist, David Barnea was part of a lawsuit trying to block his appointment, which only resolved that week.

In that sense and in the sense that the Mossad operates in the shadows, it is hard to talk about Gofman’s accomplishments as the country’s new spymaster.

But in a forward-looking sense, he will likely be one of the most powerful and influential Jews in the world over the coming year. He will have a special focus on the all-important and multi-headed Iran conflict, but also with involvement in Syria, with the US and Russia more broadly, and in combating global terror.

The Jerusalem Post understands that Gofman recognizes that his greatest challenge will probably be calibrating between advancing short-term clandestine kinetic attack or spying operations in Iran versus plans for regime change, which are likely to be a longer-term effort.

Resources will need to be devoted to each, but resources are not endless, and choices and priorities will need to be determined.

If for many years, the Mossad was assigned to thwart and stall Iran’s nuclear program, while such efforts will continue, the agency’s role in tracking and thwarting Tehran’s ballistic missiles program may grow going forward, given the regime’s direct attacks on Israel in recent years. All of this could lead Gofman to push the agency even further into kinetic attack missions, something which has grown in recent years, as opposed to its more traditional role as an intelligence collection agency – though that will still continue.

In addition, Gofman faces a unique fork in the road.

On the one hand, Israel and the US in early 2026 chose to assassinate Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and to go for an accelerated regime change plan, which in a sense broke the ice and has opened up possibilities for more rapid change. On the other hand, the failure of the early 2026 regime change plans means that there will be extra scrutiny on any such future plans, and potentially resistance from Israeli allies, including parts of the Trump administration, to trying again anytime soon.

At this point, presumably Gofman’s view would be that the old Mossad Kurdish revolt plan cannot be reconstituted and that a new plan needs to be rapidly prepared.

Moreover, one of the reasons that Gofman fired the Mossad’s deputy chief “A”, its analysis chief, and its Iran desk chief, was because he believes their former plans for regime change cannot go forward as they were, and must either be heavily modified or entirely altered.

In other words, the Post understands that Gofman did not fire the former Mossad high command officials to transfer blame for the failure of regime change generally to them from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or because of the failure of the Ahmadinejad plan specifically, according to foreign sources. The Ahmadinejad plan was a radical idea attributed to Barnea’s Mossad to replace Khamenei with former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had shifted from arch antisemite, to being willing to cooperate with unexpected partners after being dismissed by the ayatollah.

There has been no formal inquiry into the failure of the Ahmadinejad plan, and looking backward is not a priority for Gofman.

Rather, his focus is on future plans and trying to shift tactics to keep the Iranians on their heels.

His personnel changes were because, generally, the former senior officials’ plan to topple the regime failed and because he needed others with different skills and who could better connect to his mentality for how to operate going forward.

While some have criticized Gofman for not waiting at least six months or so to see how operations and relations with the former Mossad high command members might pan out, his view is that he has no time to waste.

According to his view, the situation with Iran is the most dynamic it has been in decades, and the Mossad needs to be able to jump on any openings that could be to Israel’s advantage, however unexpected, something which new outlooks will help with.

This requires organizational shifts, which can be very difficult to accomplish with any large organization, and often is much easier with some significant high-up personnel changes.

In that sense, the Post understands Gofman will probably adopt a variation of the “death by a thousand cuts” 2021-2022 Naftali Bennett strategy versus Iran, but with more aggressive short-term moves against Iran mixed in to try to accelerate the regime change and threat-reduction process.

He recognizes that Iran 2026 is weaker and more vulnerable than Iran 2021, but is also more ready to directly strike Israel with ballistic missiles, which creates new opportunities and dangers.

So there must be a mix of new versions of the Mossad’s “beepers” sabotage against Hezbollah, which often take 5-10 years to plan and materialize, but also many shorter-term actions with more immediate results (critics will point out that some of these projects may now take longer since Gofman fired three top officials).

Speaking of the “beepers”, the Post has learned that Gofman has a clearer view than ever before that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran are really, in one way or another, mostly Iran, and this will also inform how he designs multifront strategic plans.

In addition, Gofman would note that virtually every new Mossad chief makes changes to department heads to assemble new talents and outlooks they deem necessary for strategic shifts.

Exactly where he will take the organization he cannot yet reveal, partially because many actions are classified, and partially because he is still delving into how best to reorganize the Mossad’s structure and processes to optimize the outcomes he is seeking.

But based on his running into the crossfire on October 7, despite being a brigadier general (he ended up being the most senior wounded official of the war), Gofman will be willing to take some risks to achieve certain results which his predecessors might have backed away from.

One area where the Post understands Gofman is likely to continue, and potentially expand, Mossad efforts is the social media influence campaign, which the agency went very public about it versus Iran in 2026.

In fact, the main incident that held up his Mossad appointment approval in court for some months involved a controversy over how, in the IDF, he handled or did not handle a minor-aged Israeli social media influencer, with one of the bottom lines being, regardless of his actions regarding the minor, that he has significant understanding of psychological warfare campaigns.

Some new pieces of Gofman that some are noticing are his resourcefulness and unusual determination to succeed. If his hard work and seriousness were keys to promotion within the IDF, now that he is the first immigrant head of the Mossad since its early years many decades ago, officials are seeing that only a unique character who can adapt to many kinds of roles could reach the top of the pyramid.

At his inaugural event, Netanyahu addressed Gofman and his history as someone who moved to Israel from Belarus at the age of 14, saying, “you paved your own way with 10 fingers,” adding later that Gofman was a successful boxer, finishing second in a competition at age 17.

Will Gofman survive as Mossad Chief if Eisenkot is the next PM

Gofman views himself as a nonpartisan figure politically, and is immediately ready to work to advance the Mossad’s mission, whoever is the next prime minister, whether that be Netanyahu, or Gadi Eisenkot, or Naftali Bennett.

What about the specific, now widely published incident in which Gofman, then a mid-level IDF officer, publicly butted heads with Eisenkot years ago when Eisenkot was the IDF chief?

Gofman would neither back away from his comments in the moment about the need for the IDF to shift to a more aggressive attack posture (comments which he would say were justified after-the-fact of October 7), nor would he view it as having any bearing on their future ability to work together.

Rather, the Post understands that Gofman will pursue the future mission of the Mossad without regard to any past interactions, and even under Netanyahu, he has been willing to voice dissent when necessary.

In June, shortly after taking up his role, when Israel attacked in Beirut against objections (or running into post-attack criticism) from the US, the Post understands that Gofman opposed the strike.

The Israeli attack on Beirut led to a series of additional exchanges between Israel and Iran, and some say led the US to lose focus on the nuclear issue, having lost trust in Israel’s discretion of what attacks made sense on the eve of what many thought would be a major deal between Washington and the Islamic Republic.

Meeting with the CIA, conducting other Mossad foreign relations

On July 22, Gofman made his first trip to the US since being named chief of the Mossad.

Generally, the visit aimed to coordinate US and Israeli positions regarding ongoing negotiations with Iran and the nuclear issue, but the talks were too sensitive to reveal more beyond that at this time.

Broadly speaking, Gofman, like his recent predecessors, recognizes that intelligence cooperation with allies, especially the US, is more critical than ever to achieve Israeli goals.

While critics wondered about how he would handle relations with America, given that his fluency in speaking English (as opposed to reading) is reportedly not at the same level as some recent Mossad chiefs, reviews so far show that Mossad-CIA ties are as strong and effective as ever.

Of course, intelligence chiefs do get even more comfortable with one another over time. Further, Gofman and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are not necessarily expected to immediately introduce their wives to each other as Yossi Cohen and Mike Pompeo did early in their terms in 2017. But plenty of spy chiefs have worked together effectively without such additional pieces.

Gofman also has an edge in some ways, as he had been heavily involved in foreign affairs meetings as Netanyahu’s military secretary. This is something which not all prior Mossad chiefs had as much experience with at the highest levels.

One question which still is unanswered, but regarding which more details will doubtlessly be revealed in the future, is where Gofman stood on the issue of discussions between Israel and the US regarding the nuclear threat at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility.

In July, suddenly Trump and other US officials said that Israeli officials had told them the Islamic Republic was moving toward reassembling and rebuilding aspects of the nuclear weapons program at the site. The US president then used this as a potential reason to return to war and attack specifically at that site.

Various IDF officials have denied that they made claims about any imminent nuclear threat at Pickaxe Mountain.

Besides the US, Gofman is the first Russian-speaking Mossad chief, something which gives him an edge over prior chiefs in conducting aspects of relations with Russia, a country which continues to have a wide variety of impacts on Israeli national security.

Syria and Gaza

The Post previously confirmed reports that Gofman met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, as well as the heads of the country’s general and military intelligence services.

Gofman’s involvement in these highly sensitive talks early on in his term only emphasizes both the trust that Netanyahu has in the Mossad chief to handle high-stakes and sensitive issues as well as the idea that even adversaries respect him for being straightforward and not playing games.

More specifically, it is public knowledge that Israel has tried a variety of ways to convey to Syria that it will not quietly ignore any new presence of Turkey in Syrian territory, which could limit Israel’s freedom of action to protect its security interests.

This comes after a recent Israeli attack on a Syrian airport where top Jerusalem officials said that Turkey was setting up a radar and other items.

Regarding Gaza, despite multiple claims in recent months by Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel that the Mossad and Gofman had been assigned a project of spiriting Gazans out of the Strip, if they chose to leave willingly, the Post has confirmed for the third time that there is no substance to the claims to date.

Rather, such issues remain in the purview of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and other agencies. While the Mossad sits in on intergovernmental committee meetings on the issue and may make certain contributions, as all agencies do, it is nowhere near being at the forefront of this project.

As a general matter, it is also worth noting that despite occasional news cycles about Gazans potentially wanting to leave, such as to Somaliland, there are no signs of any large-scale emigration from the Strip. Moreover, the Trump administration has been pushing for some time in the opposite direction, to rebuild Gaza for the Palestinians.

Iran and global terror generally

Another major priority of the Mossad is protecting Jews worldwide from terror plots. In recent years, a large number of these plots – sometimes dozens per year in many different countries – have emanated from Iran.

The Post understands that while obviously the Mossad remains committed to the defensive side of this equation, Gofman sees that changes in the balance of power with Iran may be opening up new opportunities to cut off aspects of these terror plots in a more offensive-minded manner. For Gofman, it will all start and end with Iran.

For a shorter version of this profile as it appears in The Jerusalem Post‘s 50 Most Influential Jews 2026 list, click here to read Gofman’s entry.

This post was originally published on here. 

A Thursday overnight Israeli Air Force strike in Khan Yunis killed the commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade, Muhammad Yazouri, the IDF announced on Friday.

The IDF stated that, before becoming the commander of the brigade, Yazouri had been Deputy Commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, Commander of the Combat Support Battalion, and Head of the Brigade’s Intelligence Department.

The strike targeted a vehicle in the Hamad neighborhood, north of Khan Yunis, after which a residential apartment on the first floor of Tower M caught fire, Arab media reported.

According to the IDF, the same strike had also killed Hudheifa Muammar, a company commander, and Muhammad Bahjat Rashi, another Hamas terrorist.

IDF, Shin Bet, Israel Police kills Hamas terrorist responsible for 2002 shooting

On Thursday, the IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Israel Police announced that Israeli security forces had eliminated Hamas terrorist Farah Hamed, who was responsible for a series of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers and later helped direct terrorism in the West Bank.

Hamed was killed on Wednesday in a joint Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police operation involving a strike in the central Gaza Strip, according to the security agencies.

Among the attacks attributed to Hamed was a November 2002 shooting near Rimonim Junction in which Israeli civilian Esther Galia Atiya was killed.

This post was originally published on here. 

Four officials involved in determining Gaza’s future appeared together onstage at the MEAD conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Figures presented at the conference showed that 1.2 million Palestinians had been displaced from their homes and 370,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed, including 70,000 that were partially destroyed.

Officials said rebuilding Gaza should involve more than repairing damaged homes and infrastructure. The process should also include educational efforts to address the anger, hatred, radicalism and extremist ideology that have taken root among Gaza’s population.

Hamas, the US, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar have agreed on a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip that would include disarming Hamas. However, the initiative remains stalled amid widespread suspicion and a lack of trust among the parties.

Conference participants said clearly that Hamas members are liars and difficult to trust. This has made it challenging to rely on commitments made behind closed doors when the messages delivered publicly differ.

Despite this, and although all parties understand who started the war and abducted and murdered Israeli civilians during the October 7 massacre, the international community continues to hold Israel responsible.

Trump’s plan ‘not progressing’

The conference also revealed that the Board of Peace’s plan includes deploying 10,000 Palestinian police officers to the Gaza Strip. The officers would first undergo vetting as part of the US-mediated process.

For now, however, the ambitious plan is described as “not progressing.”

Participants also called on other countries to support the Gaza reconstruction plan and change their rhetoric and narratives. The aim is to enable Palestinians, through the Board of Peace, to move away from their current course.

They warned that without progress in the process led by the Board of Peace, both Palestinians and Israelis would face harmful alternatives, including a possible return to war.

With more than one million people displaced and hundreds of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, participants at a Washington conference discussed an ambitious plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip. However, the initiative, which includes disarming Hamas, remains stalled because of deep mistrust.

With more than one million people displaced and hundreds of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, participants at the MEAD conference in Washington discussed an ambitious plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip. However, the initiative, which includes disarming Hamas, remains stalled amid mistrust among the parties. Participants warned that without a solution, the war could resume.

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Route 10 in the Paran Regional Brigade sector near the western border will open to hikers for the holidays, starting on Friday, the IDF announced.  

For Rosh Hashanah, the route will open between Ezuz and Har Harif from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Friday and between the Bar-Lev Lookout and the 10/12 Checkpoint from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. 

For the Sukkot holiday, the route between Ezuz and Har Harif will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on September 25. Additionally, the area from the Bar-Lev Lookout to the 10/12 Checkpoint will be open from 8:30 am to 4:00 p.m. from September 26 to October 3.

To enter the routes, you must present an ID card and register at the entrance. No prior coordination is required. 

Training exercises to continue in the south and north

The IDF emphasized that training exercises in live-fire zones in the south and the north will continue over the weekends, and those areas will remain closed to hikers. 

The public is urged to avoid restricted areas to allow security forces to continue carrying out their missions. 

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President Isaac Herzog marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attack on New York’s Twin Towers with a video expressing his condolences over the tragedy on Friday.

“Twenty-five years have passed since the blue skies of the morning of 9/11, September 11, 2001, in New York were shattered by the horrific sight of the twin towers crashing to the ground,” he said while standing at Jerusalem’s 9/11 Living Memorial, in the video posted on X/Twitter.

“Standing at Israel’s memorial to the victims of 9/11, here in the hills of Jerusalem, we bow our heads in memory of the thousands who were murdered on that dark day in New York, at the Pentagon, and in the fields of Pennsylvania.”

He also praised the courage and heroism of first responders, emergency services, and New York citizens who assisted in the aftermath of the attack.

25 years ago on 9/11, terror struck at the heart of America.

We remember all those murdered on that horrific day.

We continue to stand with the United States—our great friend and ally—in the fight on global terror.

May the memory of the victims of 9/11 forever be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/c33SckSIB3

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) September 11, 2026

In his memorial video, Herzog also called out the continued fight against international terror, saying that “here in Israel, we understand this deadly challenge all too well.

“There is simply no justification for the targeting of innocents, whether they are American, Israeli, or any other nationality. Israel will always stand with America, our greatest ally and friend, and the most powerful nation in the world.

“May the memory of the victims of 9/11 forever be a blessing,” he concluded.

Bennett, Lapid mark 9/11 anniversary

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also marked the occasion, saying that he would never forget the image of the Twin Towers burning.

“The terrorists wanted not only to murder innocent people, but also to break America’s spirit and attack the values it represents,” he wrote on X. “They failed.”

25 years ago today, America was attacked on 9/11.

I was in Manhattan that terrible day, and I’ll never forget the image of the Twin Towers burning.

The terrorists wanted not only to murder innocent people, but also to break America’s spirit and attack the values it represents.…

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) September 11, 2026

He also noted the strong bond formed between Israel and the United States, saying that it was “rooted in our shared values of freedom, democracy, courage, and the sanctity of life.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the American people – as friends, allies, and partners in the fight against terror and the defense of freedom,” he wrote.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote that it had been 25 years since “the entire world changed forever.”

He also wrote that everyone in Israel stood with the United States, “in remembering those we lost and in honoring the courage of those who risked their lives to save others.

25 years.

25 years since the entire world changed forever. 25 years since our greatest friend and ally was attacked by evil.

All of us in Israel stand today with our American friends – in remembering those we lost and in honoring the courage of those who risked their lives to…

— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) September 11, 2026

“We stand together in our shared commitment to combat terrorism and to shape a free, safer and more just world.”

US embassy, KKL-JNF mark 25 years since September 11 attack

On Thursday, the US embassy, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) and JNF-USA came together in order to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attack.

The event took place at Jerusalem’s 9/11 Living Memorial, the only memorial site outside of the United States to bear the names of all the victims of the attack, as well as the only one outside the US to incorporate a fragment of the Twin Towers.

“Today’s memorial, at which the United States and Israel mourn together and stand together, is a testimony to our enduring solidarity and shared resolve to confront terrorism and protect innocent life – a bond that time cannot erode and terror can never sever,” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said at the ceremony.

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Rachel Rabin-Yaakov, one of the founding generation figures of settlement in the Galilee and a respected educator, died on Friday at the age of 101. Her funeral will be held this coming Monday.

She was born in Tel Aviv in 1925, the daughter of Rosa and Nehemiah Rabin, and the younger sister of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was three years older than her.

Her parents were prominent figures in the Labor movement: her father, Nehemiah, immigrated to the country and was active in public affairs, while her mother, Rosa Rabin, née Cohen, known as “Red Rosa,” was a leading labor activist, a member of the Haganah, and a member of the Tel Aviv City Council.

President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to her, saying, saying, “I was saddened to hear of the passing, at a ripe old age, of dear Rachel Rabin-Yaakov, whose long and impressive life journey was a model of educational and public service. As someone who had the privilege of knowing her and speaking with her on the occasion of her 101st birthday, I know how deeply she grieved the murder of her brother Yitzhak, the object of her love and admiration, and alongside that, she chose to continue dedicating herself to public service, which earned her, rightfully so, many awards and honors. I send my sincere condolences to her family, loved ones, and her kibbutz, and hope that you know no more sorrow.”

Kibbutz Manara also paid tribute to her, saying, “Rachel was among the founders and builders of Manara. She was one of the pillars of the kibbutz, a significant figure in shaping the story of the place over the years, and played a major role in shaping Manara and its community. At this difficult time, the entire Manara community embraces her family and shares in their grief.”

Rachel grew up in a home that combined a deep sense of public mission with simplicity and modesty. As a child, she absorbed the values of giving, public responsibility, and practical Zionism that shaped the course of her life. Her relationship with her brother Yitzhak was deep and close from their childhood days in Tel Aviv and continued throughout their lives.

Rachel helps found Kibbutz Manara on Lebanon border

In 1943, when she was only 17 years old and active in the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth movement, Rachel was among the members of a training group that moved to settle a barren rocky hill on the border with Lebanon, becoming one of the founders of Kibbutz Manara. She later helped establish the Emek Hahula regional school, which she also managed, and became one of the leading educators in the Upper Galilee.

Alongside her work as a school principal and her broad educational activities, Rachel dealt with the complex communal and security reality of living in a border community. In early 1989, she openly described the daily struggle over the future of the community.

“We, the veterans, are growing older, and if young members do not join us, we will be in trouble,” she said at the time. “We decided not to give interviews immediately after security incidents anymore, because the publicity causes us problems and deters new immigrants. They hear on the news what happened and do not even want to visit here.”

Rachel also spoke candidly about young people leaving the kibbutz. “Our children come home for a required year after the army, and then they go out for two years to earn money, travel the world, and find themselves. Most of them do not find their way back. Throughout all the years of our existence, we have invested enormous energy trying to bring new people here, and that struggle never ends.”

In his later years, her father, Nehemiah Rabin, also came to live in Manara. After his death, his friends sought to commemorate his memory and donated money to establish a swimming pool in the kibbutz. Years later, the pool became the center of a public controversy when Prime Minister Menachem Begin referred to it as “the swimming pool of the millionaire kibbutzniks.”

Rachel preserves Yitzhak Rabin’s legacy through lectures

After the assassination of her brother Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, Rachel devoted herself to preserving his legacy and promoting the values of tolerance and democratic dialogue through the Rabin Center, lecturing to generations of students and soldiers.

In recent years, Rachel saw Manara flourish once again, establishing an expansion project and welcoming new residents and families, realizing the vision of demographic growth that she had fought for over decades. But reality once again dealt a painful blow: Manara became the community that suffered some of the most severe damage in the recent northern war, with extensive destruction to homes and infrastructure caused by shelling and anti-tank fire.

Following the destruction and evacuation, Rachel was forced to leave her home on the mountain and moved to assisted living at Kvutzat Kinneret. She never had the chance to return to the kibbutz she helped build with her own hands or see it begin to grow again from the ruins.

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Twenty-five years after 9/11, the United States killed Osama bin Laden, decimated Al-Qaeda’s founding leadership, and spent two decades and trillions of dollars fighting a war in Afghanistan.

Yet the network responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks has not been eliminated.

Although Al-Qaeda’s senior leadership is marginalized and its capability and intent to conduct external operations remain unclear, the organization has survived through adaptation. It decentralized its command structure and embedded itself in regional conflicts, fragile states, and allied armed groups.

The attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, transformed global security and triggered the US-led “War on Terror.”

Beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Taliban, the campaign evolved into a two-decade war that reshaped US foreign policy, military strategy, and geopolitics across the Middle East and South Asia.

US military forces severely weakened Al-Qaeda’s central leadership, culminating in the 2011 raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan. The organization, though, was not eliminated.

It reorganized through decentralized networks and regional affiliates across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

US withdrawal revives concerns over terrorist groups in Afghanistan

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power revived a central post-9/11 concern: whether Afghanistan could again offer an environment in which terrorist organizations could regroup, recruit, and assist allied networks.

One enduring consequence of the war is the unresolved case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, whom US authorities describe as the alleged mastermind of the attacks.

Captured in Pakistan in 2003 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, Mohammed has spent more than two decades in detention without trial. A military judge has scheduled his trial, alongside three co-defendants, to begin on June 5, 2028, nearly 27 years after 9/11.

The delay reflects the legal and political complications of the post-9/11 detention system.

Prosecutors recently declined to appeal a ruling excluding statements Mohammed made after years of Central Intelligence Agency detention and interrogation, choosing instead to preserve the 2028 trial schedule.

Recent UN assessments indicate that Al-Qaeda maintains a persistent presence in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said in its August 10 report that Al-Qaeda’s status and strength in Afghanistan remained unchanged.

The report said the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan also remained largely unchanged and that the ability of numerous terrorist groups to operate there posed an enduring threat to neighboring countries and Central Asia.

Al-Qaeda aided TTP in insurgency against Pakistan, UN says

Al-Qaeda provided ideological guidance, training, and support to Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its insurgency against Pakistan, according to the report.

The UN report said Al-Qaeda’s official media arm, As-Sahab Media Foundation, published a statement on April 28 supporting the Taliban and, for the first time, TTP in operations against Pakistan.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has evolved from a fragmented group into a regional terrorist entity, according to the UN assessment. The report said AQIS had established logistical and financial networks that operated through decentralized, scattered cells rather than large units.

The report said AQIS leaders remained in Kabul and had been issued Afghan identity documents, known as tazkiras, suggesting close cooperation between the Taliban and AQIS.

Alex Mishra, a Washington-area policy analyst focusing on Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, and geopolitical alignments, told The Media Line that “25 years after 9/11, Al-Qaeda has a larger territorial presence across three continents than at any point since [its] founding.”

Mishra argued that the group’s lower profile should not be mistaken for disappearance or defeat.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan and a former ambassador to Iran and the United Arab Emirates, offered a different assessment. He told The Media Line that “there was relatively little to discuss about Al-Qaeda,” which he described as an organization that had “lost its teeth and appeal.”

According to Durrani, the Islamic State (ISIS), also known as Daesh, has displaced Al-Qaeda as the more prominent jihadist threat. ISIS once controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria at the height of its power.

“Terrorism in its known form has lost its importance; the [term] … ‘war on terror’ is no longer a currency in international politics,” Durrani said.

Durrani pointed to the case of Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s president, noting that he was once associated with jihadist groups but, in his current political role, has gained acceptance from President Donald Trump and several European leaders.

Kamal Alam, formerly a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on Afghan affairs, took a more cautionary view. He told The Media Line that “Al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and the group’s expulsion by US Special Forces.”

Alam said the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul after the Taliban takeover demonstrated the group’s continued presence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban publicly denies hosting terrorist groups, but Alam said UN agencies and independent assessments have documented the presence of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other regional and transnational armed groups in the country.

While describing Al-Qaeda as more decentralized and competing with ISIS for influence, he said the broader threat extends beyond the two groups and involves armed networks linked to Syria, Iraq, and Africa.

“The key concern is not the label, Al-Qaeda or ISIS, but the growing network of groups with regional and international connections,” Alam said.

Atlanta-based geopolitical analyst Erik Lehmkuhle told The Media Line that “the Taliban’s return to power had given Al-Qaeda a permissive environment to operate.”

Lehmkuhle cautioned against interpreting Al-Qaeda’s reduced visibility abroad as weakness or compliance, saying the group was pursuing “a deliberate strategy of operational patience.”

Andy Vermaut, a Brussels-based human rights activist and counterextremism expert, said the unresolved Mohammed prosecution remains one of the most serious failures of the post-9/11 system.

“A quarter-century after 9/11, the inability to try alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is still a major outstanding problem,” Vermaut told The Media Line.

Vermaut said torture, including waterboarding, and the exclusion of statements obtained under coercion have undermined the prosecution and prolonged the case. He argued that the United States should have pursued a public trial under ordinary law rather than creating a system that has left the case unresolved for two decades.

Thaliban denies Afghan responsibility for 9/11

Afghan Taliban chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected Afghan responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, saying the plotters received training, housing, and logistical backing outside Afghanistan and that no domestic infrastructure or complicity was involved.

“There was no such arrangement or infrastructure in Afghanistan at that time,” he told The Media Line.

Mujahid argued that Afghanistan had since undergone significant changes following “20 years of American aggression,” after which the Islamic Emirate and Islamic rule were established in the country.

He insisted that the government neither permits foreign armed factions to operate within its borders nor harbors foreign organizations, dismissing warnings of terrorist safe havens as foreign propaganda.

Without naming Al-Qaeda, Mujahid further claimed that such groups now have broader opportunities to live and operate in “Arab countries.” He did not identify the countries to which he was referring.

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Not everyone knows that the first person killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was an Israeli American man named Daniel Lewin, born in Denver, Colorado.

At 14, Lewin made aliyah to Israel. Finishing school, Lewin enlisted in the IDF’s elite counterterrorism unit, Sayeret Matkal.

Following his stint in the military, he worked full-time as a researcher at IBM in Haifa while also completing two undergraduate degrees at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

In 1995, the Technion named him the year’s Outstanding Student in Computer Engineering. At IBM, he was responsible for the development and support of the company’s Genesys system, a processor verification tool still used widely within IBM and in other companies.

Eventually, Lewin married Anne, and they had two sons, Itamar and Eitan.

Marco Greenberg, his best friend, shared an anecdote about Lewin on the IDF website: “Danny wore many different hats. If you can believe it, he was both a father changing diapers with his wife and a stellar student at the Technion, majoring in mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering.”

“He did reserve duty in Sayeret Matkal, the most elite Commando unit, and he would be correcting papers. When we had dinners at his apartment in Haifa, he would look at mistakes from other very bright students, and he would argue about politics – all of this at the same time.”

Co-founding Akamai Technologies

In 1996, Daniel received a scholarship to MIT for his PhD. According to publicly available information, he continued his research and wrote an algorithm that would forever change the internet: a practical use for the concept of “consistent hashing,” enabling websites to handle higher user traffic.

In 1998, together with his professor Tom Leighton and other partners, he co-founded Akamai Technologies and became a millionaire before reaching his 30s.

Lewin confronts Al-Qaeda hijackers on 9/11 flight

On 9 September 2001, aged 31, Lewin was travelling on American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles for work.

According to an FBI report, the 9/11 Commission and flight attendant records, Lewin confronted Al-Qaeda hijackers in front of him and tried to stop them but was slashed in the throat by Satam al-Suqami, a hijacker sitting behind him. Shortly after his killing, the plane was forced to crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

The IDF website noted that even in the immediate hours after his killing, Lewin’s legacy was significant. After the planes hit the Twin Towers, thousands of people went onto the internet to see if their relatives had survived. The websites of federal institutions, newspapers, and others began crashing due to heavy user traffic, and the company they reached out to was Akamai Technologies.

Today, Akamai is the global leader in content delivery network (CDN) and cloud security services. It is said to deliver tens of millions of transactions every second on behalf of the world’s largest brands, including Airbnb, Apple, BMW, eBay, FedEx, Ford Motor Co., Fox, NASDAQ, NBC Olympics, PayPal, and Salesforce.com.

Lewin is named on 25 US patents.

Akamai has a permanent eulogy to Lewin on its website.

“First and foremost, Danny was known for his brilliance. He published and presented several breakthrough papers at top computer science conferences and received several awards, including the 1998 Morris Joseph Levin Award for Best MasterWorks Oral Thesis Presentation at MIT [an honor given by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science to graduate students for exceptional thesis presentations],” it reads.

“Everyone who knew Danny knew a man who was always on the go, deeply driven, and incredibly competitive. He inspired everyone around him to work at their very best, never taking no for an answer and calling anything that got in his way obstreperous, his favorite word.”

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Over 1.5 million fraudulent online domains have been identified over the past year, according to newly published data from Israeli cybersecurity company BrandShield.

Among the millions of fake listings, 10,395 were associated with El Al, and 1,165 listings sold products while impersonating the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

On an international scale, the situation is no better: more than 10,000 fake domains and websites claiming to be associated with FIFA were identified ahead of the 2026 World Cup, along with 4,800 listings impersonating Elon Musk.

Major brands have also become prime targets.  

BrandShield also identified 5,878 fake or suspicious domains involving the luxury Swiss watch brand Omega SA, alongside 5,134 linked to NIKE, 4,987 to Labubu, and 4,041 to Apple’s iPhone.

“Attackers go where public trust lies,” said Yoav Keren, CEO of BrandShield. “It could be a government agency, an airline, a well-known brand, or a celebrity. The more recognizable the name, the easier it is to convince the victim that the communication is legitimate.”

At the same time, fraud methods have also become more sophisticated. 

For example, in a campaign impersonating the “Israel Traffic Authority,” SMS messages were sent claiming that the recipient owed 100 shekels for a traffic fine. 

As the victim entered their information, hackers could see what was being entered into the website in real time and monitor their actions throughout.

AI makes building fake websites easy

Artificial intelligence and online website-building tools made the process easy, BrandShield showed.

In a test conducted by the cybersecurity company, the company found that fake businesses could be set up in about 5 minutes using AI tools and website builders, complete with a name, logo, staff members, testimonials, photos, and a phone number.

The test showed that fraudulent websites could be easily created for any sector: from banks and government agencies to plumbers and locksmiths looking for work.

Once created, they are easy to manipulate, allowing hackers to collect an individual’s personal data or charge for a service that will never be provided.

Earlier this year, BrandShield successfully uncovered a network operating out of Hong Kong that ran a website selling counterfeit medications worldwide while impersonating healthcare organizations.

According to Keren, the combination of AI, rapid website creation, and systems that allow scammers to manage fraud in real time is expected to make combating the rising phenomenon even more challenging in the coming year.

 “AI is mainly changing the scale of the problem,” said Keren. “What previously required knowledge, time, and money can now be produced within minutes and replicated over and over again.”

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After the submission of party lists ahead of the Knesset elections, the coalition bloc has strengthened by three seats to 50, following People of Israel’s crossing of the electoral threshold. This is according to a Maariv poll conducted by Lazar Research, headed by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in cooperation with Panel4ALL.

However, Likud has lost one seat, falling to just 19, its lowest figure since May 29, 2025. As a result, the coalition bloc has gained only three seats overall. The poll also found that after the previous survey showed the Reservists and Economic party crossing the threshold while Ofer Winter’s party did not, the two have now switched roles: People of Israel crossed the threshold, while Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha’s party did not.

The Zionist opposition bloc holds 58 seats, while Arab parties receive 12 seats. The poll also found that the number of undecided voters dropped significantly following the closing of the party lists, from 11% to 7.5%.

In response to the question, “If Knesset elections were held today, which party would you vote for?” respondents answered: Yashar 25 seats, Likud 19, B’yachad 14, The Democrats 10, Yisrael Beytenu 9, Otzma Yehudit 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Shas 7, Joint Arab List 7, Ra’am 5, Religious Zionism-Zehut 5, and People of Israel 4.

The Reservists and Economic party (3%), Blue and White (1.3%), Noam for Israel (0.7%), and the Haredi Public party (0.4%) would not pass the electoral threshold.

Eisenkot maintains double digit lead over Netanyahu

Gadi Eisenkot also maintains a double digit lead over Benjamin Netanyahu this week in terms of suitability for prime minister, with 50% saying they see him as the more suitable candidate, compared with 38% who chose Netanyahu. Naftali Bennett also leads Netanyahu in the prime ministerial suitability question, with 45% compared with 40%.

The poll also found that an overwhelming majority, 79%, said that even if the party they vote for does not become part of the country’s leadership after the Knesset elections, they would remain in Israel. In contrast, 9% said they are considering leaving the country in such a scenario, while an additional 12% said they do not know how they would act.

Among voters of opposition parties, around 15% are considering leaving in such a situation, but only 2% said they are certain they would do so.

The poll was conducted on September 9–10. A total of 4,329 people were invited to participate, and 601 respondents answered, a 14% response rate. The sample represents Israel’s adult population aged 18 and older, including both Jewish and Arab citizens. The maximum sampling error is 4%.

This post was originally published on here. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called US President Trump twice on Thursday and urged him to launch strikes against the Houthis, Axios reported, citing two US officials.

Trump rejected the request, and US officials said the administration does not intend to take direct military action against the Houthis at this time, the report said.

The US is supporting Saudi Arabia in the escalating fight in Yemen, but is stopping short of direct military involvement. Commander of US Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for coordination meetings, Axios cited two sources with knowledge of the matter as saying.

The Trump administration will also be providing Saudi Arabia with US intelligence on the Houthis, as well as targeting data, and roughly 200 US military personnel are already in the country providing non-kinetic support, according to Axios. 

US invested in keeping Red Sea open, leaving fight to regional partners

A senior Trump administration official told Axios that the US is invested in keeping the Red Sea open while leaving the broader fight to partners in the Middle East. 

“The United States is focused on protecting our core national security interests – such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea – while empowering our regional partners to take the lead in managing and resolving regional security challenges,” the official said.

This comes a day after the Houthis struck the city of Mocha on the Red Sea, potentially leading to bringing the Iranian-backed Houthis closer to closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the same way that Iran has attempted to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The gathering is scheduled to be held on Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, the report said, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Strait of Hormuz shipping stalls after Iran threats

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed at the start of this week, after Iran threatened on Monday to retaliate for any new US attacks.

The number of commodity vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz totaled seven on Monday, compared with eight on the previous day, Kpler data showed on Tuesday.

Iran had warned that energy infrastructure across the Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable.

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More than 60 draft dodgers have been arrested at border crossings since Sunday, many of them haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men attempting to travel to Uman ahead of Rosh Hashanah. Most of the arrests took place at Ben-Gurion Airport as the men attempted to leave Israel, while additional arrests were recorded at the Taba border crossing. 

The IDF confirmed that dozens of draft dodgers were arrested at border crossings over the past two days but did not provide an exact number or details about the detainees. According to the military, enforcement is carried out routinely in coordination with the Population and Immigration Authority, and preparations for arrests of those who have failed to report for enlistment are adjusted based on situation assessments.

The IDF emphasized that those required to enlist can regularize their status and report for service.

The “I Entrusted Guards” hotline has meanwhile issued a warning to haredi youths at risk of arrest, urging them to avoid arriving at border crossings. The hotline warned that the risk is not limited to Ben-Gurion Airport and that attempts to leave Israel through land border crossings could also result in arrest.

The hotline claimed that young men who had already attempted to leave the country were arrested and transferred to military prison, warning that some could remain imprisoned during Rosh Hashanah. The warning comes as police continue preparations for increased activity at border crossings ahead of the annual wave of travel to Uman.

Pilgrimage has become an especially sensitive issue 

Every year, tens of thousands of Breslov Hasidim from Israel and around the world travel to Uman, Ukraine, to pray at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. This year, amid enforcement against draft dodgers, the pilgrimage has become an especially sensitive issue within the community.

Senior Breslov rabbis called on those who could face arrest not to arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport and not to attempt to resolve their status solely for the purpose of taking the flight. At the same time, an unofficial initiative has emerged within the community to hold Rosh Hashanah prayers in military prison if the trip cannot take place, in an attempt to create public and operational pressure on the IDF.

 ‘I am willing to sacrifice my life for this’

A Breslov Hasid in his 50s who is in Uman with five of his sons told Walla: “There are boys who have been traveling every year since they were five years old. For them, getting to Uman is in their soul.”

He said some young men are following the rabbis’ instructions and will remain in Israel, while others say that they are “willing to sacrifice their lives for this.”

He described attempts to leave through various border crossings, including Egypt and Jordan, based on the assumption that screening there is less predictable. “Everyone has their own ideas. It is a game of cat and mouse,” he said.

One of his sons, 24, remained in Israel due to his military status, while two of his other sons serve in the IDF.

Military Police activity is carried out in cooperation with the Population and Immigration Authority and according to situation assessments. Enforcement takes place routinely, but forces have been reinforced ahead of the holiday.

Those who have been absent from service for a significant period are generally brought before a military court judge, and some are imprisoned. The IDF did not provide a figure for how many of those arrested were transferred to prison.

A Population and Immigration Authority official explained that the authority handles anyone who appears in the system as subject to a travel restriction, without knowing in advance the source of the order.

“If it is a military order, the army is called to the scene, and it decides whether to arrest [the person],” the official said.

According to the official, a technological change implemented during Passover now allows authorities to identify people with travel restrictions during check-in, even when the process is carried out online.

A 19-year-old traveling from Poland to Uman told Walla that the arrests have become the main topic of conversation among travelers.

“Dozens of young men are not a drop in the ocean. It is probably most of the draft dodgers who were supposed to arrive,” he estimated.

This post was originally published on here. 

As Rosh Hashanah and the 25th anniversary of 9/11 coincide, Israel enters an election season with every reason to argue and every reason to remember what has endured.

Israel enters 5787 scarred by nearly three years of war and division, yet stronger, more capable, and more deserving of national confidence than our daily politics often allow us to feel.

Rosh Hashanah arrives this year at an unusual junction. Friday marks 25 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks. By sunset, Jews in Israel and around the world will begin the new year.

Americans remember September 11 as a day when complacency was shattered in a few terrible hours. They also remember what followed: strangers helping strangers, political differences briefly shrinking, and a society discovering reserves of courage it had forgotten it possessed. That unity did not last. Few moments of national unity ever do.

Israel learned its own version of that lesson on October 7, 2023. The failures of that day will take years of investigation and accountability to address. Yet the response revealed something equally important.

Israelis who had spent the previous year demonstrating against one another reported for reserve duty together. Communities opened homes to evacuees. Volunteers built supply networks overnight. Jews abroad raised money, came to Israel, and defended it publicly.

Nearly three years later, the emergency that began on October 7 is giving way to a different chapter. The wounds remain. Families mourn. Soldiers are still serving on dangerous fronts. Israel faces enemies that have neither disappeared nor abandoned their ambitions.

First Rosh Hashanah since October 7 attacks with no hostages in Gaza

Still, this Rosh Hashanah carries a fact worth stopping to appreciate: For the first time since the October 7 massacre, no hostage remains in Gaza. The last was brought home in January. The country fulfilled a basic obligation to bring its people back, living and dead.

That gives Israel room to begin asking what comes next. On October 27, Israelis will hold the first national election since the massacre. It will, and should, involve fierce arguments.

There is plenty to fight over: responsibility for October 7, Gaza, Iran, military service, religion and state, the courts, the economy, settlements, relations with the United States, and Israel’s relationship with the Jewish world.

These are real disagreements, and voters should demand real answers. The danger is allowing an election to persuade us that the people voting differently are themselves the problem.

Israel has spent too many years being told that everything depends on defeating the other half of Israel. The Right cannot build a country without the Left and Center. Secular Israelis cannot build it without religious Israelis. Haredim cannot separate their future from the wider Israeli public. Jewish Israelis cannot ignore the Arab citizens with whom they share this state. None of these groups is going anywhere after October 27.

Israeli society continued over past year despite political strife

That is also why this is a year to recover some Zionist confidence. Look at what has survived the past three years:

Children kept being born. Immigrants kept arriving. Hebrew culture kept producing music, books, television, arguments, and jokes. Researchers kept working. Businesses reopened. Communities began rebuilding. Reservists returned from months of service and went back to their families and jobs, often alongside people whose politics they cannot stand.

This is what sovereignty looks like in real life. It is noisy, exhausting, and frequently disappointing. It is also an achievement that generations of Jews could only imagine.

For Jews abroad, the past year has brought antisemitism, hostility toward Israel, and bitter arguments inside Jewish communities. Rosh Hashanah offers a chance to remember that the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora is larger than any Israeli government, American administration, or political dispute. We remain parts of one people, responsible for one another.

Zionism has survived wars, terrorism, diplomatic isolation, economic crises, and bitter internal divisions. It survived October 7. It will survive an election campaign.

5787 will contain an election, arguments, and probably more unpleasant surprises. The test is whether in a year from now, we will still recognize one another as partners in the same extraordinary enterprise: building and defending a Jewish state that remains democratic, confident, decent, and strong.

That is something worth believing in as the shofar sounds and a new year begins. Shana Tova.

This post was originally published on here. 

Eight percent of adult Jewish Israelis have visited the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov at least once in their lives, according to data collected by the Israel Democracy Institute throughout July and August 2026. The data, summarized in a Wednesday report, is part of a study that will be published by IDI in the coming months and edited by Ariel Finkelstein, Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, and Ya’ari Padan.

Uman is a pilgrimage site that is visited by thousands of religious Israeli Jews annually, despite the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia and safety concerns pertaining to travel in the country.

Breslov hasidim traditionally spend Rosh Hashanah at the grave of Rabbi Nahman of Breslov, something that has not changed in the last couple of years since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown on Friday, September 11.

Tens of thousands of Israelis travel annually to Uman for Rosh Hashana

Israeli pilgrims make up the largest group attending Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Numbers have grown dramatically since the 1990s, with tens of thousands traveling annually. Many travel through organized groups that handle visas, accommodation, and logistics, often coordinating with Ukrainian authorities and local volunteers for safety and support.

Of those who have visited already, nearly half of Israelis polled in the summer of 2026 say they return to Uman once every few years, while another 22.5% say they visit at least once a year. 

The report also noted that 13% of Mizrahi Jews have visited Uman compared to only 5% of Ashkenazi Jews and 4% of those with mixed ethnic backgrounds. 

 Among women who have visited Uman, only 23% have visited the tomb of Rabbi Nachman during Rosh Hashanah, while the remainder have visited at other times of the year, according to the IDI report. 

Deleted IDF video instructed haredi draft evaders how to avoid Ben-Gurion checks

An official IDF social media channel in August published a video advising haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft evaders how to avoid arrest at Ben-Gurion Airport.

The video was later deleted after Army Radio reported it and the station asked the IDF about it.

In practical terms, the video tells haredi men facing a departure restriction to report to the recruitment office before traveling to Uman, allowing them to avoid detention at Ben-Gurion Airport.

It is unclear whether the IDF has a mechanism to prevent someone from reporting for the initial summons, avoiding a departure restriction, traveling to Uman, and then failing to complete the subsequent enlistment process upon returning to Israel.

This post was originally published on here. 

A newsroom colleague sent me a Facebook page this week. It is called Bulletin Network, it has about 53,000 followers, and it looks like a legitimate news site.

It posts only photographs and short captions about Israeli soldiers and police officers who were killed. Some of the posts are recycled from incidents years ago. Others are made up.

If I knew nothing about Israel, I would probably believe it. In the age of AI, pages like this are cheap to run, and there are countless others. Even harder are the stories that might be true.

Based on a new book by journalists Shlomi Eldar and Ruth Yuval, Haaretz this week reported that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about 10 days before the October 7 massacre and warned him that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was preparing a major move against Israel.

Within a day, the question had three answers: Netanyahu’s office called the report an “absolute lie.” An Emirati source confirmed it to Hebrew media. The UAE issued a statement that neither confirmed nor denied it.

The job of our newsroom is to tell readers what happened. Going into Rosh Hashanah, I have to admit that on some of the year’s biggest questions, I don’t know.

I don’t know whether that call took place. I don’t know whether Netanyahu wanted the hostages home as badly as he said; some Israelis are certain he did not, and others are just as certain he barely slept until they came back.

I don’t know whether the war with Iran that Israel and the United States launched in February was a victory. The White House declared one, but months later, Iran was still firing at ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

I am sure of one day. On October 13, 2025, the eve of Simchat Torah, the holiday on which Hamas attacked two years earlier, the last 20 living hostages came home. Hamas released them in two groups, two hours apart, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Before the second group left Gaza, Hamas put the hostages on video calls with their families and asked them to send the calls to the Israeli press. The whole country watched, nervous for people most of us had never met.

That morning, US President Donald Trump landed in Israel for his first visit of his second term. He met hostage families and spoke in the Knesset.

He then flew to Sharm el-Sheikh, where more than 20 world leaders gathered for the signing of the Gaza agreement. The day felt surreal. We at The Jerusalem Post were honored to document it as it unfolded.

I judge Trump by what he does rather than what he says, because following what he says will make you dizzy. On October 13, the deal he pushed for brought the hostages home.

That day was the exception. Most of the year was filled with fog, and fog is good for leaders who shout.

Why does the fog help the tough guy?

When nothing can be confirmed, people want someone who sounds sure. The leader who speaks with certainty offers relief, regardless of whether he turns out to be right, and his contempt for opponents can look like conviction.

Next to him, the leader who says a problem is complicated, or who listens before deciding, looks weak.

The fault starts with us. Politicians perform toughness because we reward it. We share the clip in which a minister flattens an interviewer, and we cheer for the communal leader who picks the loudest fight.

Israel needed a strong leader who would not have to take the Knesset, the press, or public opinion into account, 41% of Israelis told the Israel Democracy Institute in 2014. By 2021, 57% said so.

Jews abroad have their own version in the online voices and organizational figures whose followings grow with every enemy they name.

Toughness has looked like strength for a long time. In the First Book of Kings, after Solomon dies, the tribes of Israel gather at Shechem to crown his son Rehoboam and ask him to lighten his father’s heavy yoke.

Solomon’s elders tell him that if he serves the people that day and answers them kindly, they will serve him forever.

The young men he grew up with tell him to promise scorpions where his father used whips. He takes their advice, the northern tribes answer, “To your tents, O Israel,” and the kingdom splits in two for good.

Judged by deeds

In January 1952, some 15,000 people rallied in Jerusalem against Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s plan to accept reparations from West Germany, seven years after the Holocaust. Menachem Begin, leader of the opposition Herut party, addressed the crowd, and protesters marched on the Knesset and threw stones through its windows.

Ben-Gurion argued that the murderers should not become the heirs as well, and the Knesset approved negotiations in a 61-50 vote. The money paid for fuel and raw materials the young state needed.

A quarter century later, Begin, by then prime minister, handed back the Sinai for peace with Egypt, settlements included, over the fury of much of his own camp.

Neither man was gentle. Each is remembered for a decision large parts of the country hated, which they each had explained and then lived with.

The elders at Shechem advised listening, and Ben-Gurion and Begin defied a crowd, but both served the people’s interest rather than the leader’s image.

I think leadership is all of it: making the wise decision when it is unpopular, listening to the people you lead, understanding that most problems worth solving are complicated, and leaving people stronger than you found them.

I can’t hand readers a verdict on 5786. Some of the answers may never come. What I can offer is the rule I use for Trump, applied to everyone: Watch what they do.

The Rosh Hashanah prayers are built around kingship. On Saturday and Sunday, Jews will crown one King and ask to be judged, and the remembrance section of the Musaf (additional) service says the record of every creature comes before God, each person’s deeds and his reckoning.

The verdict on this year is not ours to deliver, but what we reward is up to us. The leader who admits what he doesn’t know and makes the hard call away from the cameras should count for more than the one who shouts best.

Before we share the next clip, or the next post from a page we have never heard of, we can ask what the person in it has done.

This post was originally published on here. 

US President Donald Trump said he did not regret going to war against Iran despite the impact the conflict may have on the November US midterm elections.

“I don’t believe in the word ‘regret.’ You can always question yourself a little bit,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham when asked if he regretted the Iran war due to the impact it may have on the elections.

“If I had it do again, I would do exactly as I did,” Trump said in the interview broadcast on Thursday on The Ingraham Angle show.

Trump dismissed suggestions that some of his supporters were upset and demoralized about the war.

“I don’t think they’re demoralized. I think they’re very proud of the fact that I’m not letting Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Trump: Iran war to end after midterm election

Trump reiterated his thinking that the war will end immediately after the midterm election.

“It ends right after the election,” Trump said in the interview. He made similar comments on Wednesday, alleging Tehran was trying to influence the elections that ‌will ⁠determine whether Trump’s Republican Party retains control of Congress.

The rise in oil and gas prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran has ​become a major issue for Republicans in the lead-up to the elections.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran ​and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Trump has cited weakening Iran’s nuclear capabilities as one of his war objectives. Iran does not have nuclear weapons and says its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes. The US ⁠is ​nuclear-armed.

This post was originally published on here. 

When hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center’s twin towers on September 11, 2001, roughly 25,000 children were living or attending school nearby in lower Manhattan, and thousands more were in surrounding neighborhoods. Some were infants and toddlers, while others were still in the womb.

Even though they were exposed to the massive toxic cloud and settling dust containing pulverized concrete, glass fibers, asbestos, and other pollutants in the days and weeks after the towers fell, very few of these children were enrolled in the government-funded follow-up health studies of WTC survivors. Those were mainly for first responders and other adults.

As a result, there was no means of tracking chronic illnesses, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and reproductive health outcomes, that may only now be emerging as those children reach their 30s and early 40s, scientists say.

Major questions remain about whether exposure to the toxins and the trauma on 9/11 and afterward increased their long-term health risks, according to scientists.

To address these gaps, Congress announced in 2022 that it would fund a study of these individuals to be conducted with US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oversight.

CDC seeking applications to set up WTC Youth Research Coordinating Center

Last month, the CDC said it will be seeking applications from researchers to set up the World Trade Center Youth Research Coordinating Center and identify and track a Youth Research Cohort.

The agency has specified that study participants will have been 21 years old or younger, or in utero, and living below 14th Street in Manhattan or anywhere in Brooklyn on and after 9/11.

A cohort of similarly aged but unexposed individuals will be recruited for comparison.

It is not clear how many participants the CDC hopes to recruit, but an agency spokesperson said it expects to spend up to $50 million in total program funding. The estimated start date for the project is July 1, 2027, the spokesperson said.

Members of the public can sign up online for updates and register to be notified when enrollment opens to those who are qualified.

The CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program and the New York City Department of Health’s World Trade Center Health Registry both offered services for children in the early years after the attacks. But most affected youngsters sought care from their own pediatricians, whereas many adult survivors were uninsured and needed the programs’ services, recalled lung specialist Dr. Joan Reibman of NYU Langone Medical Center.

Data on childhood exposure have so far come only from small studies

In adult survivors and first responders, dozens of types of cancers and other health issues related to their exposure have been identified. But data on the effects of childhood exposure has so far come only from small studies.

Reibman, the founder of the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, said gathering participants will require a great deal of community support.

“These people are spread across the United States right now. They’re all older. They may not necessarily want to go back to that period of time,” she said. “There’s going to have to be a lot of work with community groups to try to recruit them.”

Reibman and Dr. Leigh Wilson, the current medical director of the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center, both acknowledged that children in war zones today may face some of the same long-term consequences as the children of 9/11.

“I would love to prevent every and any adverse effect in these children,” Wilson said.

Studying the children of 9/11 may shed light on preventive and mitigating measures and resources that could be put in place, Wilson added.

“You have to identify and start studying all exposed populations immediately, whether they’re adults or children,” Reibman said, and “unfortunately we haven’t learned it from the World Trade Center disaster.”

This post was originally published on here. 

British lawmakers will make a fresh push on Friday to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill people, hoping a groundswell of public support will help drive through a change in the law six months after a previous effort failed.

Opinion polls have long shown that a majority of people in the UK back the legalization of assisted dying, and supporters hoped a parliamentary vote in 2025 in favor of it would pave the way for the country’s biggest social change in a generation.

But that bill failed in March in the unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, after members ran out of time to debate hundreds of amendments proposed during that parliamentary session.

Lauren Edwards, a lawmaker in British Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s Labour Party, is now bringing back the legislation to the House of Commons, the lower chamber, through a mechanism known as a Private Member’s Bill whereby an individual lawmaker selected in a ballot can try to pass a law independently of the government.

The government is neutral on the legislation, meaning politicians can vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines. In 2025, the legislation passed in the Commons by 314 votes to 291 against.

Under the proposed bill, mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales with six months or fewer to live would be given the right to end their lives with medical help, after approval from a panel of professionals.

Concerns over how to protect vulnerable ill people from coercion derailed the last attempt to legalize assisted dying. Parliament had rejected a similar bill 10 years ago.

 ‘Progressuve reform’

Edwards said that if the law was finally passed it would represent “the most pressing, progressive reform” of this parliament.

“It is time to… give terminally ill people the choice to exercise some control over the manner of their deaths,” she wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

“We owe it to them, and to the vast majority of voters who support them, not to sit back and allow a minority of unelected peers to stand in their way.”

A poll published by Ipsos on Monday showed two in three Britons support the legalization of assisted dying in principle, though in some cases that backing hinges on additional funding being provided for palliative care.

Burnham has previously said the debate over legalizing assisted dying should wait until the country’s palliative and adult social care systems have been fixed. He has said he will not vote on Friday.

This post was originally published on here. 

During the Hebrew year 5786, which comes to a close over the weekend, Magen David Adom marked 96 years of life-saving work in both routine emergencies and times of war and crisis.

Over the past year, MDA personnel were dispatched to 1,911,412 incidents, using mobile intensive care units, ambulances, emergency motorcycles, and rapid response vehicles operating across Israel.

According to the organization’s data, an MDA emergency team was dispatched every 16.5 seconds on average.
MDA’s 101 Emergency Call Center received 2,020,218 calls during the year, answering a call about every 15.9 seconds, with an average response time of 2 seconds or less.

“During 5786, Magen David Adom continued to advance technologically and strengthen its capabilities with the support of generous donors from Israel and around the world”, said MDA Director General Eli Bin. “This was alongside providing some of the world’s highest-quality emergency medical services and collecting blood units for hospitals and the IDF during both routine times and the war.”

Bin added that nearly 40,000 MDA volunteers and employees worked tirelessly throughout the past year, “day and night, by air, sea, and land, on Shabbat and holidays, in summer and winter, with tremendous dedication, compassion, and professionalism, and above all, from the heart.”

“Magen David Adom teams continued working under fire and risking their lives, with heroism and courage, to save lives in the best possible way.”

“In 5787,” he concluded. “We will continue doing everything in our power and sparing no effort to protect the health of Israel’s citizens. Shana Tova!”

Approximately 39,200 volunteers, employees, national-service participants, and civil-service members serve in MDA, including approximately 16,500 teenage volunteers. An additional 18,000 Life Guardians (“Ne’emanei Haim”) volunteers are active within MDA. 

MDA volunteers contributed more than 6.3 million hours of service throughout the year, with an average age of 26.8. 

The oldest MDA volunteer is a 92-year-old resident of Ness Ziona, while the youngest is 14.

MDA operates 213 stations and dispatch points throughout Israel. Its vehicle array includes 275 rapid response vehicles, 117 ambulances and MICUs, 652 motorcycles, 17 all-terrain vehicles, 27 Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) vehicles, 42 trailers equipped with supplies for treating mass-casualty incidents, 17 Medical Supervisor vehicles, three Unimog vehicles, five intensive care buses, 10 ambulances equipped with lifts for people with disabilities, eight ambulances equipped with specialized stretchers for bariatric patients, three MICUs capable of treating two critically ill patients simultaneously, 104 ambulances, MICUs and command vehicles with ballistic protection, three electric MiaFour vehicles, two electric vehicles for sports facilities, one truck equipped for staff accommodation and overnight stays, two mobile dispatch points on trailers, and one mobile clinic trailer.

In addition, on the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret), MDA operates an intensive care sea ambulance vessel. In Eilat, an MDA sea ambulance boat operates off the coast. Together, both aquatic units were dispatched to 153 incidents during the year.

MDA’s unique mobile ECMO unit, operated in cooperation with Shamir Medical Center in Tzrifin, treated nine patients, five of whom were connected to a heart-lung machine as part of field resuscitation efforts.

In road accidents across Israel, MDA EMTs and paramedics provided medical treatment to 67,624 injured people. 

During the current swimming season, which began after Passover and will end after Sukkot, MDA teams have provided medical treatment to 229 adults and children rescued from the sea, swimming pools, and other bodies of water.

Approximately 500,000 men and women completed CPR and first-aid courses in over 17,000 courses held throughout Israel during the past year. 

Thousands received training through MDA’s free first-aid and emergency-responder courses held in bomb shelters and protected spaces as part of its public service during the Israel-Hamas War and Operations Rising Lion and Roaring Lion.
MDA’s Medical Division certified 401 new paramedics this year, including 117 national-service participants. 

A total of 970 MDA youth volunteers were trained to respond to mass-casualty incidents, 591 teenagers were certified as first-aid instructors, and 190 youth volunteers completed leadership and resilience training.

Lessons learned from October 7: Project Magen

As part of the lessons learned from the October 7 massacre, MDA’s Operations Division launched Project Magen, designed to prepare Israel’s civilian population for emergencies. 

Since the project’s launch, 17,804 civilians, including members of local security squads, municipal employees and inspectors, have been trained to provide initial medical care. Of these, 1,322 were trained this year. 

Project participants, including more than 1,000 doctors and paramedics, were equipped by MDA with medical supplies, enabling them to provide an initial medical response when necessary, for example, during incidents in which a community is cut off from access routes due to a natural disaster, war, terrorist infiltration or any other emergency.

A total of 18,727 pregnant women were evacuated to hospitals, including 1,399 women who gave birth with the assistance of MDA teams at home or en route to the hospital. 

MDA operates a project for on-call midwives, in which professional midwives are equipped with advanced, specialized medical equipment and dispatched alongside mobile intensive care units to assist women in labor. This year, 97 midwives from across Israel joined the project and helped MDA teams provide medical care in dozens of obstetric emergencies.

Nearly 300,000 blood units collected

This year, MDA Blood Services collected 281,917 blood units through thousands of blood drives held throughout Israel, including at MDA blood-donation centers, schools, workplaces and IDF bases. 

Women accounted for 36.1% of blood donors in 5786, while men accounted for 63.9%. The average age of a blood donor was 34, and 46,407 of this year’s blood donors were first-time donors. 

Of the blood units supplied by MDA Blood Services to security forces and hospitals, 9,541 were whole-blood units.

MDA Blood Services operates 24 blood-service vehicles and 14 mobile blood-donation units, including two blood-donation buses, each capable of collecting blood from five donors simultaneously. 

All donated blood was tested for blood type and infectious diseases at the MDA Blood Services laboratories in the protected building at MDA’s headquarters in Ramla, the first facility of its kind in the world. The blood was then supplied to hospitals throughout Israel and the IDF.

MDA’s National Human Milk Bank supplied approximately 5,700 liters of breast milk during the past year to premature babies in neonatal intensive care units, newborns in hospitals, and sick babies at home who require breast milk due to their medical condition. 

In special cases, approximately 40 liters of breast milk per month were supplied to orphans whose mothers had begun breastfeeding or intended to breastfeed but died after giving birth. 

During the past year, approximately 370 new milk donors joined the bank. All meet the strictest medical standards to ensure the safest possible milk for premature infants.

MDA’s Logistics Division provided for the organization’s medical and operational needs in the field throughout the year. A total of 2,443 Immediate Response Kits were prepared by logistics employees and volunteers and distributed to MDA EMTs, paramedics, and doctors, enabling them to save lives outside their regular working and volunteering hours. 

MDA’s Make-A-Wish Ambulance fulfilled 128 wishes.

MDA, in cooperation with Hatzalah Air and Brook Aviation, operates five helicopters equipped with advanced intensive-care equipment. These helicopters treated and evacuated 264 patients and injured people by air to hospitals across Israel.

Additionally, MDA operates a unique national command-and-control truck equipped with advanced technologies, as well as three regional command-and-communications vehicles. 

MDA teams participated in 485 exercises during the past year. These exercises involved 836 ambulances, 229 mobile intensive care units, motorcycles, MCI vehicles, ATVs, Unimog vehicles, command-and-control centers, Medical Supervisor vehicles, rapid-response vehicles, intensive-care buses, MDA helicopters, and other equipment.

During 5786, MDA placed 128 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in 45 communities throughout Israel. 

Since launching its public AED placement project, MDA has installed 2,036 life-saving devices in hundreds of communities across the country. In addition, MDA has installed more than 600 AEDs in synagogues in Jerusalem and other cities.

This post was originally published on here.