All News (Page 4)

The Central Elections Committee voted 31 to 4 on Wednesday to bar Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from running in the October 27 election, accepting an Otzma Yehudit petition alleging that he supported armed struggle against Israel by a terrorist organization.

The decision is not final. Under Basic Law: The Knesset, the disqualification of an individual candidate requires Supreme Court approval before taking effect. The court is set to hear the election disqualification cases next week.

Abu Shehadeh, who is third on the Joint List slate, said he would challenge the decision, calling it an attempt to silence Arab society’s political voice and exclude it from the political arena.

In an exceptional move, committee chairman and Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg joined the vote in favor of disqualification, departing from a two-decade practice under which committee chairmen have abstained to preserve their neutrality.

Sohlberg said Abu Shehadeh had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the statements at the center of the case.

Sohlberg: Disqualification must remain a last resort

“If there is a case in which the application is clear, this is the case,” Sohlberg said. The last committee chairman to participate in such a vote was Supreme Court justice Mishael Cheshin in 2003.

Sohlberg’s vote followed a warning at the beginning of the proceedings that disqualification must remain a last resort because it denies an entire constituency the ability to support its chosen candidate.

Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset allows a candidate or list to be barred for rejecting Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting racism, or supporting armed struggle against Israel by an enemy state or terrorist organization.

The Supreme Court has interpreted those grounds narrowly. Disqualification requires clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence that the prohibited position lies at the heart of a candidate’s political activity, generally demonstrated through a sustained pattern rather than an isolated statement.

The Otzma Yehudit petition centered on an Arabic-language article Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas massacre.

In the article, Abu Shehadeh described the attack as an “important historic event” in military, political, and strategic terms. He wrote that if “small and besieged Gaza” could surprise Israel on that scale, others could do so more effectively.

Otzma Yehudit argued that the article praised Hamas’s attack and encouraged others to learn from it. Party chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir told the committee that Abu Shehadeh’s subsequent explanations were implausible, given what was already known about the killings and abductions.

The attorney-general’s position was unusually severe compared with her responses to the other disqualification requests.

In their written submission, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman said the evidence, particularly the October 8 article, apparently indicated that Abu Shehadeh had expressed support for a terrorist organization’s armed struggle against Israel. They initially stopped short of expressly recommending disqualification, noting that previous cases involved extensive, long-term evidence of systematic conduct.

During Wednesday’s hearing, however, the attorney-general’s office said Abu Shehadeh’s explanations remained unsatisfactory and that there was a basis for the request. His failure to condemn the attack in the article was not a neutral omission, the office argued.

Abu Shehadeh: ‘I oppose armed struggle’

Participating remotely, Abu Shehadeh said he had written the article on October 7, before he understood the full scale of the atrocities, and acknowledged that it should not have been published in that form.

“I have never called for violence or terrorism,” he told the committee. “I oppose armed struggle.”

Abu Shehadeh said his description of the attack as historically important meant that events after October 7 would not resemble those before it. He argued that the article analyzed Israel’s intelligence failure and called for an end to the military path in favor of a diplomatic process led by the Palestinian Authority and Arab states.

He also condemned the Hamas massacre and cited other writings in which he opposed armed struggle and harm to civilians.

Adalah, which represents Abu Shehadeh, said the decision rested on a false portrayal of his political record. The organization said his three decades of public activity, together with repeated condemnations of harm to Jewish and Palestinian civilians, demonstrated a commitment to nonviolent political action.

Adalah general director and attorney Hassan Jabareen argued that the article contained no direct call for violence and that its central conclusion favored a political solution.

He also accused the attorney-general of applying an expansive interpretation to a single Arabic-language article while finding that broader records cited in petitions against Otzma Yehudit and the Religious Zionist Party (RZP) did not reach the evidentiary threshold for disqualification on grounds of racist incitement.

The disqualification nevertheless attracted support from coalition and opposition representatives.

Democrats chairman Yair Golan said genuine democratic partnership required “redlines,” while stressing that his party opposed the blanket exclusion of Arab parties and would also support barring Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The plenum of the Central Elections Committee (CEC) is primarily a political body composed of representatives of factions in the outgoing Knesset. Its decisions have frequently been overturned by the Supreme Court, including previous decisions barring Balad and its candidates.

The combination of Sohlberg’s vote and the attorney-general’s position distinguishes Abu Shehadeh’s case from the other challenges heard this week.

The Supreme Court will decide whether the exceptionally grave timing and language of the October 8 article can satisfy a legal test that has generally required a broader and more sustained body of evidence.

The CEC separately voted Wednesday to disqualify Hadash MK Ofer Cassif.

It also considered requests involving Ra’am, the Joint List, and Balad. Challenges against Otzma Yehudit, the Religious Zionist Party-Zehut list and The Democrats are scheduled for Thursday.

The Israeli navy is moving toward becoming a semi-autonomous force and may eventually become nearly fully autonomous, the IDF said.

It has been reported that the Israeli navy has operated autonomous sea vehicles in recent years, though it is unclear when swarms at sea will be ready to roll out.

Elbit Systems has already been among the Israeli companies developing such technologies, including its publicized 12-meter Seagull autonomous surface vessel, designed to patrol offshore infrastructure for up to four days. It also “incorporates mine countermeasures (MCM), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), maritime security (MS), electronic warfare (EW) and other advanced systems and technologies.”

Other countries like France, Singapore, and the Netherlands are also shifting their navies toward more autonomous operations.

Despite those navies’ progress, Israel’s navy said it is even more advanced in using robots and autonomy.

The need for robots and autonomous operations is clear, given that ships can spend weeks or longer at sea.

Even the most resilient sailors have trouble with this amount of time at sea, and an overwhelming portion of the population is just incapable of doing it at all.

Israel faces growing naval threats from Turkey, Iran, Houthis

In addition, Israel faces growing naval threats from Turkey, and possibly from Iran, the Houthis in Yemen, and others.

The navy said this means it will need more ships in the future to secure Israel’s maritime national security interests.

However, the navy does not believe the country or the military will grant it additional staffing power for more ships, so the only stable way to expand Israel’s naval fleet sufficiently will involve fewer human soldiers per ship, and eventually zero or close to zero.

At one stage, Israeli soldiers can focus solely on maintenance and safety issues with robots and autonomous systems operating most other systems.

Robots are a double-edged sword

At a later stage, robots may be able to undertake all or much of the maintenance work.

But robots are a double-edged sword.

Enemy forces are also expected to use robots and autonomous systems against Israel.

This will create a number of challenges: land-to-sea and sea-to-sea.

In addition, the IDF is aware that China, Russia, and other countries have explored cutting underwater cables, which foreign reports have confirmed going back to at least 2023 in the Baltic Sea, near Britain, Norway, and at other locations.

Israel is working on and will need to expand its defense of these underwater cables going forward.

The Netherlands will join the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest after boycotting the event this year over Israel’s participation, Dutch public broadcaster NPO said on Wednesday.

NPO took over from the original public broadcaster AVROTROS, which formally announced in August that they would not participate in the contest, stating that the event could “no longer be considered neutral” while a participating country, referring to Israel, remains involved in a large-scale military conflict, NL Time reported Wednesday.

In August, AVROTROS director-general Taco Zimmerman stated that the contest was meant to unite people and countries involved in international conflicts, undermining the contest’s “neutrality” character, saying, “The Eurovision Song Contest was originally created to bring people and countries together.” It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the contest, undermining its neutral character.”

The broadcaster noted that it had returned responsibility for Dutch participation in Eurovision to the NPO. This organization oversees the overall Dutch public broadcasting system.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had initially set a September 15 deadline for countries to confirm their participation. NPO requested additional time to evaluate its options after taking over responsibility for the Netherlands’ Eurovision entry and was granted an extension until the end of September.

Countries weigh Eurovision return as Bulgaria prepares to host 2027 event

The Netherlands was among five countries, together with Ireland, Spain, Iceland, and Slovenia, that withdrew from the 2026 Eurovision contest in Vienna. Ireland’s broadcaster RTÉ has since said it will also skip and not broadcast the 2027 contest, while Spain and Iceland are still reviewing whether they will participate, according to Eurovoix.

The contest’s final semi-final rounds ad grand final will be held in Burgas, Bulgaria May 11-15, 2027 hosted by Bulgarian National Television (BNT) alongside the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Reuters and Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report.

Nickolay Mladenov, director-general of the Peace Council, urged countries to support the Gaza Board of Peace’s proposed reconstruction plan for Gaza on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

“We are not working according to a timetable, first ensuring that every step we take will be good for Israel and the residents of Gaza,” Mladenov said. “Please support this plan. We want to build something new in Gaza, something better, that will give peace a real chance to endure.”

Former British prime minister Tony Blair added that while there is “talk about ‘liberating Palestine,'” it is not what the residents of Gaza need.

“The residents of Gaza do not need slogans; they need a solution, and that will not happen if it is ruled by those who dragged them into war,” Blair stated.

“Beneath Gaza’s cities and villages, there are kilometers of tunnels with weapons depots,” he added. “The new administration will not be able to function unless all of this infrastructure is dismantled. Hamas agreed to this, and we are carrying this out now step by step.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Axios reported that the BoP is expected to unveil a six-month, $2.45 billion recovery and reconstruction plan during an upcoming meeting of its members.

According to Axios, the proposed 66-project plan outlines what the first months of post-war governance and reconstruction would look like for the Gaza Strip.

For the plan to proceed, however, Hamas needs to cooperate with ceasefire and disarmament requirements.

The estimated cost of the reconstruction reportedly includes budgeting for temporary housing, rubble removal, hospital repairs, and the deployment of the International Stabilization Force (ISF).

The outline reportedly took a year to formulate through cooperation between dozens of BoP personnel and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

“The plan shows how to stand up a government from nothing, an economy from shambles and a territory from disaster,” a Board of Peace official told Axios.

The plan’s 66 projects will be divided between six main areas consisting of infrastructure development, human development, economic acceleration, digital transformation, legal affairs, and peace and security, according to Axios, 

Around $1 billion to be used for Gaza infrastructure repairs

Infrastructure development is set to account for around $1 billion of the budget, with an estimated $400 million set aside for building temporary shelters and $50 million for hospital repairs.

Another $275 million will be used to clear rubble and unexploded ordnance from Gaza, and $30 million will be put towards repairing road networks.

Hamas weapon buy-back program to be included in security projects

According to Axios, roughly $885 million will be allocated for security projects, including a $20 million weapons buy-back program aimed at incentivizing Hamas and other terrorist groups to surrender their arms. 

A significant portion of the security area budget, $415 billion, will go towards supporting the ISF and building a permanent site capable of supporting 5,000 personnel in Rafah. Of that, $140 million will fund recruiting, training, and deploying ISF troops. 

Another $120 million would be utilized to mobilize a Palestinian police force made up of Palestinians who have been selected and vetted for the role.

Axios noted that a key challenge for the execution of the plan is funding. As of Wednesday, the BoP and NCAG have not yet secured the $2.45 billion needed for the six-month plan.

The full reconstruction, however, is expected to cost around $71.4 billion over the next decade. 

Idan Kweller contributed to this report.

America’s aging air traffic control system – reliant on outdated telecom systems, decades-old Compaq computers and replacement parts bought on eBay – keeps failing.

In the latest example, thousands of flights across the densely populated Northeast were delayed or canceled on Monday due to the dual failures of a circuit at a Philadelphia air traffic facility and the accidental cut of a fiber-optic cable near New Brunswick, New Jersey, by a construction crew.

“The architecture of our telecom is still a 40-year-old architecture, which means you could have a switch go down and a line be cut yesterday and the Northeast goes down,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Tuesday.

The disruption underscores how fragile the nation’s air traffic control network has become after decades of delayed modernization efforts, underfunding and piecemeal fixes.

Despite billions already spent or approved, the Federal Aviation Administration still relies on aging, often incompatible systems that can turn a single equipment failure or severed cable into flight chaos – a risk officials warn will persist without a far larger overhaul.

All US flights grounded in first since September 11 due to air traffic control issues

In January 2023, all flights departing the US were grounded for the first time since the September 11, 2001, attacks after a contractor accidentally deleted computer files, affecting a key pilot messaging database. The outage disrupted 11,000 flights before the issue was solved.

In September 2025, more than 2,000 flights were delayed and hundreds were canceled at two Dallas-area airports due to a telecom outage after a contractor cut fiber lines, impacting communication systems at the Dallas airports. It disrupted flights for 100,000 American Airlines passengers alone.

There have been repeated serious technology issues, which last year convinced Congress to approve $12.5 billion to modernize air traffic control systems. Duffy said on Tuesday he wants another $30 billion to complete upgrades and fix facilities.

“These incidents will continue to happen unless we get the resources and actually build the architecture fit for the 21st century,” Duffy said.

Across the Atlantic, Britain has also suffered major air traffic control outages this month that have led airlines to question the resilience of its systems.

FAA unable to get spare parts for some air traffic control systems

The FAA has been forced to use 3D printing or to go to eBay for replacement parts for some of its aging systems. In other cases, the FAA can no longer get spare parts.

The Government Accountability Office in 2024 said the FAA needed to take “urgent action” to address aging air traffic control systems, noting that one-third are unsustainable.

The FAA’s more than 300 air traffic facilities cannot talk to one another and operate on individual analog computers. “Every facility is a silo,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters in a recent interview. “We’re behind 20 years.”

He said effectively the FAA’s towers are run on individual Compaq computers. The brand, which was acquired by HP, stopped producing computers in 2013.

The FAA still has aging telephone systems and three telecom systems that are not interoperable and have a “clunky connection” that often forces delays, Bedford said.

At the same time, the US has the world’s most complex airspace and faces a shortage of several thousand air traffic controllers.

One big step is expected in late 2027 when air traffic control will move from analog to digital communications. The FAA will ​later shift all of the facilities from running on individual computers to the cloud.

FAA trying to modernize air traffic control systems for decades

The FAA has tried for decades to modernize the system, but those efforts have repeatedly fallen short.

In 1982, the FAA first released a comprehensive plan for improving air traffic control services, estimating it would cost about $10 billion by the late 1990s.

The Government Accountability Office in 1995 said the cost had ballooned to at least $36 billion on the effort to consolidate facilities and standardize computer hardware and software.

Another FAA reform effort dubbed “NextGen” launched in 2004 was pegged at $15 billion, but a report last year said it has faced numerous delays and cost overruns and is less ambitious than what was envisioned more than 20 years ago.

“FAA has delivered a delayed, over budget, and less transformational NextGen than originally planned,” said the Transportation Department Office of Inspector General.

The FAA has also been working for years to end a long-ridiculed, decades-old practice of air traffic controllers using paper flight strips to keep track of aircraft. But adopting the change, which started in 2022, at 49 major airports will take the FAA until at least 2028. The FAA said 18 major airports have already gotten rid of the paper strips.

The first shuttle talks between the United States and Iran in months raised hopes on Wednesday that the adversaries could make some progress towards ending the Middle East war, although neither side spelled out any change in their positions.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicated through mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the first such contacts since an interim ceasefire agreement collapsed in July.

“Steve and Jared had a very productive meeting today with mediators of Iran, merely mediators. Let’s see what happens with that,” US President Donald Trump said. “They’ve been mediated for a while, but I think there’s a lot of momentum for them to make a deal. It’s what we’re hearing from everybody.”

Earlier, Trump had told the UN General Assembly in a speech that he had to decide whether to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the country. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian was due to address the gathering on Wednesday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had engaged with the United States through a Qatari mediator in New York and conveyed conditions, including an end to the war on all fronts and a halt to US “acts of aggression.”

Some Iranian state media had earlier reported that Araghchi and Witkoff had met, but Iranian officials clarified to Reuters that this was not face-to-face. Araghchi met the prime minister of Qatar, Sheik Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who has been one of the main mediators at previous talks.

Oil prices hold at two-week low after Houthi attacks

The diplomatic opening helped keep oil prices near two-week lows, with Brent crude now holding just below the $100-a-barrel threshold it had shot through this month, after Houthi terrorists in Yemen launched a major offensive and fired into Saudi Arabia.

Trump repeated previous assertions that the war could end around the time of November’s US midterm elections, though he has not explained why.

Since diplomacy broke off in July, the sides have repeatedly exchanged fire, although Trump has held back from a full-blown resumption of strikes after receiving advice from his military commanders that munitions were running low.

An interim agreement reached in June and signed by Trump and Pezeshkian would have given Iran its main demands: lifting financial sanctions and unfreezing assets in return for talks on limiting its nuclear program.

But that deal unraveled within weeks over shipping rules in the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war. Iran wants to exert greater control of the strait and collect fees from ships that use it, which Washington rejects.

Shipping through Strait of Hormuz gradually increasing

Despite near-daily attacks on tankers, traffic through the strait has gradually increased in recent weeks. Oil producers have paid shipping companies fees worth as much as a quarter of a cargo’s value to switch off transponders, navigate the route and transfer crude to other vessels beyond the strait.

Exports from the United Arab Emirates have already recovered to pre-war levels, and Saudi Arabia has sold 60 million barrels of Gulf oil for both this month and next, to be delivered beyond the strait off the coast of Oman, a big increase from August.

Even so, disruption continues to squeeze global energy markets. About a third of Gulf oil is estimated to be missing from global supplies. Shortages have particularly hit refined products such as diesel, causing inflation, pushing up interest rates and hurting Trump’s Republicans ahead of the elections.

The risk of further disruption has increased since the Iran-backed Houthis advanced in Yemen this month, threatening traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, an alternative export route used by Saudi Arabia.

Washington, for its part, has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, deepening Iran’s economic crisis. Iranian officials say they are willing to endure the blockade to achieve their goals and will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until it is lifted.

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said the airline “will not levy a fuel surcharge” on passengers despite higher jet fuel prices, though he predicted competitors could introduce additional charges and forecast further consolidation in the aviation sector as rising fuel costs pressure weaker airlines, he told reporters on Wednesday.

O’Leary said airfares may need to rise by 10%, 15%, or even 20% next summer if oil prices remain at their current elevated levels in the coming months.

“Most of the airlines were well hedged into the summer of 2026, and therefore we absorb the kind of shock of the much higher oil prices this summer,” O’Leary told reporters. However, he said those hedging agreements are now expiring, meaning airlines will face higher fuel costs going into next year, which will likely be passed on to customers through higher fares and fuel surcharges.

He said Ryanair would not impose a fuel surcharge on passengers next summer, while taking aim at competitors that may do so.

O’Leary also said he hoped jet fuel prices would rise further next year, as this would accelerate consolidation in the European aviation market by putting additional pressure on struggling airlines.

O’Leary predicts airline consolidation as Ryanair targets further growth

“I very much hope that jet [fuel] prices will rise faster into next year because that will accelerate the extent to which other airlines will fail,” O’Leary said.

“Airlines who are currently loss-making will fail. It will accelerate the consolidation of Europe into four large airlines: BA [British Airways], Lufthansa, Air France, and Ryanair,” he added.

Looking ahead, O’Leary said Ryanair expects continued growth, with the airline targeting 200 million passengers by fiscal year 2028. He also said the company expects to begin accepting deliveries of 15 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft in the spring, following anticipated certification of the aircraft in the coming weeks.

The German-made INS Drakon submarine, which will be officially accepted in Israel at a ceremony on Thursday, has stronger weapons and longer underwater capabilities than prior Israeli submarines, according to the IDF.

This Drakon submarine is the sixth submarine to join the Israeli navy’s fleet in recent years and the third of the Dolphin class (specifically, the Dolphin II variant equipped with an AIP system).

This AIP (Air-Independent Propulsion) system allows the submarine to generate energy and recharge its batteries while submerged, without needing to surface or access external air—for extended periods.

Earlier submarines could stay submerged for a couple of days, then a couple of weeks, but the Dolphin II-class Drakon can stay submerged much longer.

Part of the Drakon’s system uses hydrogen and oxygen to generate energy, enabling the submarine to extend the duration of its covert underwater operations and maintain operational capability over time.

The submarine measures over 70 meters long, making it about 30% larger than the original Dolphin-class submarines.

The section visible above the water accounts for less than one-fifth of its total size.

Neither Israel nor the German company TKMS has revealed why the Drakon has an expanded design or published what new systems it has installed.

Yet, experts have speculated that the expanded design could include new capabilities, such as possible vertical launch systems (VLS).

If present, these systems could substantially increase the submarine’s potential uses by enabling it to deploy additional weapons, cruise missiles, unmanned underwater systems, intelligence equipment, or special operations capabilities.

Experts have speculated that the expansion could also relate to launch cells, but the precise internal configuration remains unknown.

What has been published is that the Drakon includes 10 torpedo tubes in the bow: six standard 533 mm tubes and four larger 650 mm tubes.

These larger tubes can deal with heavier weapons, specialized equipment, and even underwater vehicles.

According to foreign reports, the submarines are able to deliver nuclear weapons. Multiple foreign publications have reported that Israeli submarines are part of a triad of nuclear deterrence that Israel possesses, along with land-based and air-based weapons

During Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram and other senior defense officials’ stay in Germany in December 2025, they made new progress regarding the ongoing submarine deals, which have unique offensive and also defensive capabilities, The Jerusalem Post reported at the time.

Though Israel has never publicly admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, former prime ministers like Ehud Olmert and others have, at times, slipped up and alluded to the weapons program.

The arrival of the Drakon completes the second generation of Israeli navy submarines built in Germany, which Israel has said symbolizes the long-standing defense partnership between Israel and Germany.

The voyage from Germany to Israel covers about 4,000 nautical miles (8,000 km) and took just over three weeks, but can also take a month.

Possible delays due to various diplomatic maritime issues Israel has encountered

There may also have been delays due to various diplomatic maritime issues Israel has encountered and publicly reported since the October 7 war began.

Departing from Germany, the Drakon transited across part of the Atlantic Ocean near Western Europe, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the voyage took it through the Mediterranean Sea.

The vessel’s arrival followed more than 12 years of development, including months of trials and preparations, before it arrived in Israel.

Close cooperation was maintained throughout the project among the Israeli Navy, the German Navy, and the German Ministry of Defense, as well as the German professionals involved in the submarine’s construction.

Israeli involvement in the project has spanned approximately 20 years, managed by an Israeli project directorate operating in Germany that oversees the projects through the design, construction, and testing phases.

Israeli direct involvement in joint naval projects with Germany continues

Officers and engineers from the Israeli navy serve in the project directorate, relocating to Germany with their families for several years at a time. Additionally, submarine squadron crews joined the project later, participating in drills at sea, testing, and the process of assessing the ship’s readiness and delivering it to the Israeli navy.

Israeli direct involvement in joint naval projects with Germany continues, with a focus on the next generation of submarines, the “Dakar” class, currently under construction, with an expected delivery start date of 2031.

The Drakon incorporates advanced technological capabilities that expand the Israeli navy’s operational toolkit, enabling it to operate across a diverse range of arenas and missions.

Beyond the technology, the submarine squadron relies on its human capital, young crews demonstrating high levels of professionalism, responsibility, composure, and operational sharpness.

Submariners operate complex combat systems over extended periods in distant maritime theaters, working in challenging conditions of secrecy and isolation from the outside world.

The Trump administration is refusing to work with the newly appointed deputy head of the United Nations refugee agency, exposing tensions between the agency and one of its top donors at a time of acute funding pressures, diplomats said.

Tressa Rae Finerty, an American who took up the role of Deputy High Commissioner at UNHCR earlier this month, has taken leave as she seeks a waiver from the US government that would allow her to carry out aspects of her duties, according to seven diplomatic sources.

Her treatment by Washington, which previously considered cutting ties with the agency, is seen by several of the diplomats as a retaliatory response after UNHCR opted against Washington’s preferred candidate, Simon Hankinson.

A State Department spokesperson said it could not comment on pending legal issues.

“We work with and through UNHCR when doing so advances US foreign policy interests,” the spokesperson said.

Finerty did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The standoff comes as UNHCR grapples with one of its worst-ever funding crises following aid cuts by the Trump administration and others, at a time of record global displacement.

Finerty is currently unable to interact directly with US officials

Finerty, a career US diplomat who previously served as charge d’affaires at the US Mission to the UN in Geneva, is currently unable to interact directly with US officials because of post-employment restrictions that apply to former US government personnel, the sources said.

Violations of the restrictions, designed to prevent conflicts of interest, could in theory result in a prison sentence.

UNHCR told Reuters that Finerty requested a partial waiver from the US government late last month.

“This relates, in particular, to her participation in multilateral meetings that US Department of State officials attend,” UNHCR said in a statement.

“We are hoping for a speedy and favorable resolution to this matter,” it said, adding that the agency’s operations and reform agenda continued “at full pace.”

Key role for donors

The failure to obtain a waiver is seen as highly unusual because they are granted routinely for other former US staff entering the global body, diplomats and UN staff said.

The deputy high commissioner is traditionally one of the agency’s most important interlocutors with major donors, including the US, diplomats and former officials said, adding Finerty’s situation may make it challenging for UNHCR to fundraise with the US.

The US, which has withdrawn from dozens of other UN entities under US President Donald Trump, had long been the agency’s largest donor.

According to UNHCR data, Washington contributed more than $800 million in 2025, accounting for nearly a quarter of the agency’s $3.6 billion in contributions. That dropped to around $110 million this year – of which $89 million was direct government funding, and the rest was from US companies and individuals.

The agency told Reuters that it estimated that its available funds in 2026 may reach just over $3 billion, 15% lower than last year and 43% lower than 2024.

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) killed Hamas Finance Department Chief Muhammad Abu Alwan in a joint operation in the Khan Yunis area of Gaza, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced in an X/Twitter post on Wednesday.

“We praise the IDF and the Shin Bet for the precise operation and for the aggressive activity to thwart our enemies – and we continue to pursue Hamas commanders and operatives, to strike at its sources of funding, and to destroy its terrorist infrastructure,” he said.

צה”ל חיסל כעת בחאן יונס את ראש מחלקת הכספים של ארגון הטרור חמאס.

אנחנו משבחים את צה”ל ואת שב”כ על הפעולה המדויקת ועל הפעילות התקיפה לסיכול אויבינו – וממשיכים לרדוף את מפקדי חמאס ופעיליו, לפגוע במקורות המימון שלו ולהשמיד את תשתיות הטרור.

לא נאפשר לחמאס לשקם את כוחו ולא נעצור עד…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) September 23, 2026

“We will not allow Hamas to rebuild its strength, and we will not stop until there is no Hamas in Gaza,” Katz added.

According to Army Radio, Abu Alwan managed Hamas’s external funds in the years leading up to the October 7 massacre, including a Qatari grant.

Abu Alwan directed internal funding to Hamas via humanitarian aid, stealing from Gazans

During the war, he switched to harnessing internal funds for Hamas’s operations, primarily from humanitarian aid, Army Radio reported. 

In addition, Hamas terrorists stole merchandise from Gazan store owners to further fund terror activities, according to Army Radio.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s earlier comments on Hamas’s West Bank operations were a translation “misinterpretation,” a French diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

According to the source, the statement was translated as “Hamas has never been particularly active,” but the meaning of the French phrase stated by Macron, “le Hamas n’a jamais sévi en Cisjordanie,” is “Hamas has never governed the West Bank.”

The apparent clarification follows criticism from several Israeli officials after Macron made the comments during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Look at what is happening in the West Bank, where day after day we see violations,” he said. “And in the name of what?”

Macron added that the international community must protect “the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” including their right to exist.

Macron’s comments denounced by Netanyahu, Smotrich

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich denounced Macron’s comments earlier on Wednesday, with Netanyahu calling the statements “outrageous.”

“The absurdity of Emmanuel Macron’s words is unbelievable,” he said, alluding to the murder of “French citizen and father of six,” Netanel Chkroun, who was killed in a West Bank terror attack on Sunday while “bathing with his sons at a spring before Yom Kippur.”

“Hamas terrorists are carrying out attacks against Jews almost every day,” he added. “They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria. Ignorance is no excuse for erasing their blood.” 

Smotrich claimed that Macron was “lying,” noting that Chkroun was murdered by a “despicable terrorist from the Hamas terrorist organization.”

“This is just one attack out of hundreds that the Hamas terrorist organization has carried out,” said Smotrich. “The terrorist organization is fueling Arab terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and it is a significant part of its activities.”

Ariella Roitman and Maariv contributed to this report.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz attacked Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday after the former defense minister proposed a Jordanian role in administering and providing security in parts of the West Bank.

Liberman told BeSheva that Jordan should exercise security control in Areas B and C of the West Bank, according to the outlet, a stance he has maintained in the past. The remarks prompted criticism from Netanyahu and his political allies.

“Liberman, I knew you were on the Left ever since you formed a government with Mansour Abbas. I know you are on the Left because you will form a government with Eisenkot, Yair Golan, Bennett, and the Arab parties. But I never believed that today you would propose that the Jordanian army control parts of the Land of Israel. Retract it immediately!” Netanyahu said.

“Liberman, who sees himself as a candidate for a rotating premiership, proposed until recently that Israel unilaterally withdraw from Gaza and hand Gaza and the Philadelphi Corridor smuggling route over to Egypt. Now, he is proposing to station a Jordanian army in Qalqilya, near Route 6, and hand Jordan security and administrative control over all Areas A and B in Judea and Samaria, even though Jordan’s declared policy is the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Katz stated.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also attacked Liberman over the proposal.

“Listen to Liberman. Someone who presents himself as a man of the Right is proposing that we give up our security responsibility in Judea and Samaria and transfer it to the Jordanians! To the Jordanians! Liberman wants to take Israel back to the days of the Jordanian Legion. We must not allow that to happen,” Smotrich said.

Liberman stated his proposal would be for an ‘Israeli-Jordanian confederation’

Minutes later, Liberman issued a clarification, saying his proposal concerned Jordanian administration of Areas A and B.

“The State of Israel must create territorial continuity between all of Area C and maintain absolute control there. At the same time, an alternative must be found for administrative and security control in Areas A and B,” Liberman said.

He separately clarified his remarks by saying that Israel should “reach an agreement with Jordan on their administration of Areas A and B,” describing the proposed framework as an “Israeli-Jordanian confederation.”

The proposal is not the first time Liberman has advocated a Jordanian administrative role in Palestinian areas of the West Bank.

In a January 23, 2025 interview with Ynet, Liberman proposed an arrangement under which Jordan would administer Areas A and B while Israel would administer Area C.

The proposal built on an earlier plan he presented in 2024, under which Jordan would take responsibility for Area A and Egypt would assume responsibility for the Gaza Strip.

In the earlier proposal, Liberman argued that the Oslo framework had failed and called for a long-term Jordanian-Palestinian confederation in the West Bank.

This month brings together two dates that call for Israeli soul-searching: the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords, and the 10th anniversary of the death of the man who brought them about, Shimon Peres. More than three decades on, it has become easy – even fashionable – to deride the accord, but hard to admit that no real alternative to the logic of Oslo has yet been found. 

The collapse of Oslo resulted from a destructive combination: Hamas terrorism, the impotence of the Palestinian leadership, the settlement enterprise that tripled the number of Jews living in the West Bank, and right-wing governments that preferred to strengthen Hamas rather than the Palestinian Authority. Yet the failure of the process does not disprove the logic at its core. 

Oslo’s logic was Zionist and realistic. It was neither an act of moral atonement toward the Palestinians nor naïve wishful thinking. Peres sought to address an existential challenge: if Israel wishes to remain both Jewish and democratic, it cannot permanently rule over millions of Palestinians. The division of the land therefore serves Israel’s interests in terms of demography, identity, security, and geopolitical standing. Tellingly, Peres did not initially regard an independent Palestinian state as the preferred solution. For years, he advocated either a Jordanian option or a confederative arrangement. It is no coincidence that the term “Palestinian state” does not appear in the original Oslo Accords.

The October 7 massacre deeply – and justifiably – shook the public’s trust in a Palestinian partner. Yet the enormity of the disaster does not exempt us from deciding our own future. To that end, we must separate two questions: what should Israel’s permanent borders be, and what should be the character of the entity beyond them? The first requires urgent resolution, the second can wait.

Israel’s borders and what lies beyond

Israel cannot remain indefinitely without a recognized eastern border. The absence of a border prevents the formulation of a coherent national strategy, hinders the normalization of Israeli life, and damages the country’s regional and international standing. In this context, a distinction must be made between the sovereignty border and the security border: the former should ensure a Jewish majority and democracy, while the latter should allow security control up to the Jordan River for as long as circumstances require it. 

As for the route of a permanent border, there is no room for illusions. The 1967 lines will remain the baseline of any internationally accepted agreement, with land swaps. But Israel cannot assume that the terms available to it today will remain available indefinitely. Under less favorable circumstances, it could face growing pressure to accept a border far closer to the 1967 lines, with less accommodation for the major settlement blocs and Israel’s security needs.

That is what makes the present moment so consequential. Trends in the United States offer no guarantee that the exceptional level of support Israel has enjoyed will continue indefinitely. Donald Trump’s presidency therefore presents a historic opportunity that may not return: to secure American, Arab, and broader international acceptance of a permanent eastern border on the most favorable terms Israel can realistically expect. Such a border would keep the major settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty and give substantial weight to Israel’s security requirements.

Trump has demonstrated an ability to break diplomatic conventions and enlist Arab states. With American backing and by leveraging the Arab Peace Initiative, it may be possible to pursue an international resolution that enshrines Israel’s permanent borders without, at this stage, determining the political character of the entity beyond them. Such a move could pave the way for expansion of the Abraham Accords, peace with Saudi Arabia, new economic opportunities, and the weakening of Iran.

Setting a sovereignty border would not constitute a security withdrawal, nor would it determine whether the territory beyond it would become a confederation with Jordan, a demilitarized Palestinian state, or another political framework. The status of Jerusalem’s Holy Basin could likewise be deferred to future negotiations.

Once a sovereignty border is established, the incentive to “create facts on the ground” would diminish, because the territory’s fate would already be sealed. There would be little reason to invest in infrastructure or expand settlements in areas that will not fall under Israeli sovereignty.

Over time, this reality will lead a growing number of settlers to move voluntarily back into sovereign Israel. The proposed course – which is first and foremost the realization of an Israeli interest – will at the same time strengthen those Palestinians who seek compromise, because they will see a credible horizon capable of replacing despair with hope.

Ten years after the death of Shimon Peres, Israel does not need to return to the Oslo of 1993, but rather to the logic that underpinned Peres’s initiative: securing Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state requires the division of the land. This objective should be pursued from a position of military strength and clear-eyed realism regarding the other side.

The relevant question today is not, “A Palestinian state: yes or no?” but rather, “Permanent borders for Israel: yes or no?” Perhaps President Trump, for reasons of his own, will ultimately answer this question for us and lead the country toward permanent borders. Or perhaps he will lose interest in the vision of regional peace he once championed.

Either way, the likelihood that such a move will emerge from within Israel itself appears slim, because it would require a leader who does not currently exist: one willing to fight for a political alternative to occupation without shame and without apology. Indeed, a look at those competing to lead Israel makes one conclusion difficult to avoid: Shimon Peres has no heir.

The writer is a former director-general of the Foreign Ministry. His latest book, The Leviathan Option: A Deep State Story, is available on Amazon.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Center on Extremism launched a new research and resource hub examining online communities that influence young people to engage in targeted and mass violence on Wednesday.

The initiative focuses on digital spaces that glorify mass shooters and killers, which the ADL claims contribute to the normalization and desensitization of violent content.

According to the ADL, these spaces include gore forums, sextortion networks, and self-harm groups such as the transnational network known as “The Com” and its prominent sub-group 764.

The ADL explains that The Com operates across four primary spheres, encompassing Extortion Com focused on sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse material, Anti-Extortion Com, Offline Com focused on physical attacks like stabbings and arson, and Cyber Com specializing in hacking and swatting.

The organization claims that these networks operate as pipelines that turn vulnerable youth into victims, perpetrators, or both through a subculture called the True Crime Community (TCC), which is built around a fascination with violent criminals.

“These online communities are hateful, violent, and dangerous pipelines that reward cruelty with status and turn vulnerable children and young adults into either victims or perpetrators, and sometimes both,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL Chief Executive Officer and National Director.

ADL hub provides TCC attack map, online slang guide

The ADL stated that it had been tracking and analyzing online propaganda, digital footprints, visual aesthetics, and real-world incidents connected to these networks since 2024. The hub features interactive tools such as a global TCC attacks map, a memetic violence field guide decoding online slang and symbols, and behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) guidance for parents, educators, and law enforcement. BTAM is presented as an early intervention framework designed to help schools, workplaces, and professionals distinguish between individuals who merely make angry statements and those who genuinely pose a threat by exhibiting recognizable warning signs like grievance, ideation, planning, and preparation.

Through its monitoring efforts, the ADL Center on Extremism reported contributing to at least 16 arrests globally since 2024 by flagging potential threats to law enforcement.

In its findings, the ADL reported that antisemitism is deeply embedded in the culture of The Com and 764. The organization claimed that anti-Jewish hate manifests through online propaganda, screen names, swatting campaigns against Jewish institutions, and physical violence, all utilized by members seeking status and notoriety within the network.

Examples cited by the ADL include a 764 member who livestreamed the fatal stabbing of an elderly woman he suspected of having Jewish or Roma ancestry, groups claiming credit for swatting hoaxes at synagogues in Florida, and abusers coercing victims into carving swastikas into their skin or writing antisemitic messages in blood.

The ADL’s research details how these digital networks operate across popular platforms such as Discord, TikTok, Roblox, and Telegram, utilizing a social hierarchy where actors compete for notoriety through increasingly extreme acts. Within these spaces, abusers employ tactics such as compiling “lorebooks” containing compromising personal data to blackmail victims, alongside forcing targets to create “cut signs” by carving names into their skin or “blood walls” to demonstrate submission. 

Online ecosystems lead to footage of mass shootings, terror propaganda

Furthermore, the report connects these ecosystems to gore forums like WatchPeopleDie (WPD), a site with over 5.5 million registered users that is part of the Marsey Network and serves as a hosting ground for mass shooting footage, terrorist propaganda, and gamified features like the “Marseypass.”

“The online spaces that promote hate and glorify violence do not stay online; they fuel and animate acts of violence, posing one of the greatest threats we face to children, targeted communities, and our society as a whole,” said Oren Segal, ADL Senior Vice President for counter-extremism and intelligence.

To address these threats, the ADL outlined several recommendations. The organization called on federal and state lawmakers to expand investments in community-based violence prevention programs, increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and pass legislation holding technology platforms accountable for the spread of extremist content through improved transparency and cross-platform reporting safeguards.

Additionally, the organization plans to share its findings with state attorneys general and district attorneys to encourage the enforcement of relevant laws.

Two Palestinians were indicted after working to promote terrorist activity, acquire weapons, conduct shooting training, recruit operatives, and plan deadly attacks in Nablus, the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) and Judea and Samaria District Police’s Counterterrorism Unit announced on Wednesday.

During their interrogation, it was revealed that in 2024 they began considering carrying out an attack against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. According to the indictment, after the two watched a video showing the minister arriving at the scene of an attack, one of the terrorists suggested carrying out a “drive-by attack,” waiting for the minister to arrive at the scene and then assassinating him. He later suggested using an explosive drone to carry out the assassination attempt and even attempted to obtain assistance in purchasing drone parts from China for this purpose.

According to the indictment, the two worked together from late 2023 to advance “military” activity. They acquired numerous weapons, including M16 and M4 rifles, Kalashnikov rifles, handguns, a hunting rifle, and ammunition.

They also worked to recruit additional terror operatives and train them, while conducting shooting exercises and discussing various attack scenarios targeting Israeli civilians and security forces.

The investigation also revealed that the two were involved in advancing plans for deadly attacks using explosive vehicles and drones against Israeli civilians and security forces, alongside planning shooting attacks and the abduction of IDF soldiers.

The court repeatedly extended the two suspects’ detention, and after the Judea and Samaria District Police’s Counterterrorism Unit and the Shin Bet established an evidentiary basis, the Samaria Military Prosecution filed indictments against them. They will remain in custody until the legal proceedings conclude.

Ben-Gvir announces terror threat will not deter him

Ben-Gvir reacted to the announcement, declaring that it was the 11th time he had been targeted by terrorists.

זו כבר הפעם ה- 11 שמנסים לחסל אותי, והקדוש ברוך הוא מצילני מידם!

יש לי מסר לכל אותם אויבים: זה לא ירתיע אותי ולא יפחיד אותי. אמשיך להוביל מדיניות קשה בבתי הסוהר, אמשיך להוביל את מדיניות הריסת הבנייה הבלתי חוקית בנגב, ואמשיך לוודא שחוק עונש המוות שהעברנו מופעל ומיושם.

הם חוששים… pic.twitter.com/ZltvkzPc1p

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 23, 2026

“I have a message for all those enemies: This won’t deter me or scare me,” he wrote in a post on X/Twitter. “I will continue to lead a tough policy in the prisons, I will continue to lead the policy of demolishing illegal construction in the Negev, and I will continue to ensure that the death penalty law we passed is enforced and implemented.

“They fear and tremble at the thought that I will be the Defense Minister, because they know full well: With me, there are no compromises and no leniencies. What I say – I do.”

The Israeli campaign conversation has shifted abruptly – and will probably keep shifting. As the anti-Bibi forces sag, fears of deadlock grow. Strategists in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar should be more nimble. Weary of Bibi and his vipers, but wary of voting for a Will-o’-the-Wisp, Israelis want a strong, effective unifying leader.

The empty posturing around the movie NAZA, using 24 anonymous malcontents – from over 300,000 soldiers – to libel a nation 10 million strong – revealed why both major parties barely attract 20% of Israel’s dangerously balkanized electorate. Netanyahu and his Rottweilers enjoyed snarling, posturing, and sacrificing Israeli democracy while pretending to defend it.

Responding to an insignificant, sloppy, one-sided film by canceling the filmmakers’ citizenship is fighting a cold with chemotherapy. This counterproductive defense threatens the body politic.

The hysteria publicizes the film unnecessarily. Overreacting encourages the liars claiming Israel has turned authoritarian. And the empty threat violates a core democratic value, treating free speech as a one-way street, not a robust, noisy, occasionally hazardous superhighway. If our haters worldwide mimicked that “freedom for me but not for thee” principle, people like me would be silenced when celebrating Israel, Zionism, Jewish pride, and Western values. (Admittedly, these useful idiot critics are also self-sabotaging, emboldening Netanyahu and his followers while claiming to oppose them, but blind hatred usually backfires).

Polling estimates the Likud at 18 to 24 seats – a stunning fall from its 32 seats in November 2022. That repudiation speaks well for the Israeli people. They’re not friers – pushovers. Trash-talking two turncoat filmmakers and the Stalinist fools who applauded them for 25 virtue signaling minutes – no matter how well-deserved – doesn’t compensate for this polarizing, incompetent, endlessly appalling government.

True, I have repeatedly acknowledged this government’s (and the army’s) effectiveness in smiting so many enemies after October 7 and performing the improbable feat of accounting for every hostage and bringing 168 home alive. But it’s as juvenile to say the government could do no right as to say the government – or Netanyahu – can do no wrong.

Nevertheless, for four-of-five Israelis, those achievements cannot obscure the October 7 debacle, the refusal to learn from that catastrophe with a proper commission, the mishandled judicial reform’s divisiveness, the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) making reservists feel exploited, the cost of living spiking, the Arab murder rate tripling, vigilantism by an easily controlled minority going unchecked in the territories, and the relentless assaults on internal rivals, democratic norms, and Israel’s reputation worldwide.

Naturally, in their take-no-prisoners approach to rivals, Bibi’s lapdogs and their right-wing echo chambers claimed Gad Eisenkot didn’t condemn the NAZA film. Not true!

@gadi_eisenkot tweeted a defense of Israel’s fighters and officers against these “one-sided, amoral” lies. Describing the war as “just and hard,” while condemning Israel’s “cruel enemies,” Eisenkot noted the “yawning gap between legitimate criticism in a democratic society and maligning our soldiers to harvest accolades at festivals abroad.”

Oops.

If Eisenkot and his supporters simply mock Israel’s right-wing attack machine for using the anti-Zionist propaganda mill to score cheap electoral points, they deserve to lose. They must learn from the traction this devastating lie gained so easily – and Eisenkot’s slowing momentum.

Too many bought the falsehood about Eisenkot’s silence because it resonated with two broader truths. For months, Eisenkot’s silence reinforced his image as the anti-Bibi: honest, reasonable, quiet, preferring effective action and good values to bombast and barbs. But, ultimately, a Sphinx strategy is an hourglass maneuver, hoping that voter patience doesn’t run out before Election Day and the political cachet your candidate’s ambiguity generates outlasts the opposition’s campaign to muddy this blank slate.

Sphinxes are for Egyptians, not Israelis – or most responsible democratic citizens. Israel faces serious military, economic, social, and political challenges. At a certain point in a campaign, simply not being the guy in charge, while not being bold enough to rock the boat, leads candidates to start sinking in public esteem. Perhaps in a more placid 1950s America, Dwight Eisenhower could be elected twice based on his military record and his reserve; that’s a much tougher sell in Israel 2026.

Eisenkot must figure out how to rouse votes, inspire them to vote, to believe in him, to feel optimistic, without undermining his reassuring image. It’s easy to demand in this column – hard to pull off. And it’s especially hard when the Eisenkot-was-silent lie also resonated with many because Netanyahu keeps running against Yair Golan and other Eisenkot allies.

Ben-Gvir’s impact on Israel, Netanyahu abroad

It’s paradoxical. Indulging flame-throwers like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stained Netanyahu’s status abroad and Israel’s standing worldwide too. But it hasn’t hurt Bibi much in Israel. Bibi-bashers didn’t need Ben-Gvir to hate Bibi.

By contrast, the many foreign reporters profiling Eisenkot adoringly and the many American Jews jonesing for him to win overlook Eisenkot’s problematic allies – while their extreme attacks on Israel’s army and the war have hurt Eisenkot with Israeli voters.

Eisenkot’s vote-sharing agreement with Yair Golan has been a gift to the Right, making it even easier to define Eisenkot by the far Left’s harshest rants. Even more devastating, the arrangement is stirring just a few too many doubts among Israel’s muscular moderates about whether Eisenkot will be too beholden to the loony Left.

Silence, we’re told, is golden, and certainly helped propel Eisenkot past other rivals. But Eisenkot must remember the eternal Jewish charge to leaders: be strong and of good courage, especially because, in modern politics, strong silent types often end up delivering concession speeches.

The writer is a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University and a Senior Research Fellow at the JPPI, the Jewish People Policy Institute. He is the author of nine books on presidential history and, nine books on modern Zionism, including To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream as well as his latest e-book, The Essential Guide to the U.S.-Israel Partnership: the 250th Anniversary Edition. 

An IDF soldier was charged with murder on Wednesday for the killing of Hisham Hujeirat in connection with the feud between the Sawa’ad and Khaldi criminal organizations, the Israel Police announced.

According to police, Hujeirat’s murder followed a separate incident at the Shefa-Amr Bus Terminal on July 1, when he was shot and wounded after the killing of Ali Sawa’ad.

On August 12, Hujeirat was shot outside his home by the 24-year-old soldier, who fled the scene alongside several accomplices, abandoning their vehicle in a forest near Bir al-Maksur, the soldier’s city of residence.

Hujeirat was later pronounced dead on the scene by medical personnel.

Soldier arrested after returning to forest amid alleged attempt to burn vehicle

Lahav 433 investigators from the National Serious and International Crime Unit (YAHBAL) arrested the soldier after he returned to the forest carrying a bottle of gasoline, allegedly intending to burn the vehicle.

The investigators established a link between the soldier and Hujeirat’s killing following a forty-day detention period, after which the Haifa District Attorney’s Office filed a prosecutor’s declaration announcing the intent to indict him.

The Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to bar MK Ofer Cassif from running in the October 27 election, accepting a Likud petition despite the attorney-general’s position that the evidence did not meet the stringent legal threshold for disqualification.

Nineteen committee members supported disqualifying Cassif, five opposed the decision, and two abstained.

The decision is not final. Under Basic Law: The Knesset, a committee decision disqualifying an individual candidate requires Supreme Court approval before taking effect. The court is set to hear the election disqualification cases next week.

Cassif, a Hadash member placed sixth on the Joint List slate, said after the vote that the committee was political and that he had not expected a different result. He told KAN Reshet Bet that he was convinced the Supreme Court would overturn the decision.

The Likud petition alleged that Cassif’s statements and political activity negated Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and demonstrated support for armed struggle against Israel by a terrorist organization – two of the three grounds for disqualification under Section 7A of the Basic Law.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman had taken the opposite position, finding that the material submitted against Cassif – while including reprehensible statements and conduct – was insufficient to establish any of the statutory grounds for barring him.

Sohlberg cautions against overly broad use of defensive democracy

Opening the hearing, committee chairman and Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg described Section 7A as an instrument of “defensive democracy,” allowing a democracy to protect itself against those who use its freedoms to undermine it.

He also warned that applying the provision too broadly could damage the same democratic values it was intended to protect.

“The stronger the power, the greater the caution required in exercising it,” Sohlberg said, noting that disqualifying a candidate also denies voters the ability to support that person.

The Supreme Court has interpreted Section 7A narrowly, requiring clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence that a prohibited objective is central to a candidate’s political activity. Offensive or extreme statements are not, by themselves, sufficient; previous rulings have generally required a sustained pattern of conduct.

Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing the Likud, argued that the evidence showed such a pattern. He cited Cassif’s appeals to international bodies and calls for sanctions against Israel and Israeli leaders, as well as his support for releasing Marwan Barghouti.

Barghouti, a senior Fatah figure, is serving five life sentences after being convicted for his role in terrorist attacks that killed five people. Cassif has called for his release and described him as a potential leader of the Palestinian people.

Bombach also argued that Cassif’s condemnation of the October 7 massacre did not erase his other statements and conduct. Section 7A covers support expressed “either explicitly or implicitly,” he said, and was intended to prevent anti-democratic forces from obtaining power through democratic institutions.

Legal advisory argues Cassif has not supported armed struggle against Israel

Anat Goldstein, presenting the legal advisory, told the committee that the accumulated evidence still did not establish that Cassif supported armed struggle or met either of the other disqualification grounds.

Cassif’s efforts to generate international political or legal pressure against Israel did not amount to support for armed struggle, she said. Similar allegations were considered during a separate attempt to expel him from the Knesset after he supported South Africa’s proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

That effort failed in February 2024, when 85 lawmakers voted to expel Cassif and 11 opposed the measure. Ninety votes were required.

Goldstein said one 2023 statement in which Cassif referred to Palestinians fighting the IDF as “freedom fighters” came closer to the statutory prohibition. A single statement, however, was insufficient to demonstrate the sustained and dominant political objective required by Supreme Court precedent.

Other statements attributed to Cassif, including comparisons between Israeli leaders and Nazis, were deeply objectionable but had previously been found insufficient to justify disqualification, she said.

Adalah attorney Hassan Jabareen argued that the Likud had failed to connect Cassif’s parliamentary and political activity to any of Section 7A’s prohibited objectives.

“If an elected official can’t say what an ordinary citizen can, what are they doing in the Knesset?” Jabareen asked.

He said contacting the United Nations, alleging genocide in Gaza, or seeking international pressure against a government could not, without additional evidence, be equated with support for armed struggle.

Cassif says petitions meant to remove war opposition 

Adalah attorney Ariel Remez similarly argued that the petition’s allegation that Cassif had aided the enemy during wartime resembled an accusation of a criminal offense. If the evidence supported that allegation, he said, the appropriate response would be an indictment rather than an election disqualification proceeding.

Cassif told the committee that the petitions were intended not only to remove Arab parties but also to silence opposition to the war and prevent voters from choosing representatives who shared their views. He called the effort fascist and an attempt to delegitimize Jewish-Arab political partnership.

The dispute will now return to familiar ground. In 2019, the Central Elections Committee also voted to disqualify Cassif, but the Supreme Court overturned the decision after finding that the evidence did not meet the high threshold under either the Jewish-and-democratic-state ground or the armed-struggle ground.

Cassif’s case was the first in two days of committee hearings on requests to bar candidates and lists from the election. The committee continued Wednesday with petitions against Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, Ra’am, the Joint List, and Balad.

Requests against Otzma Yehudit, the Religious Zionist Party-Zehut list, and the Democrats are scheduled for Thursday. The committee’s decisions will then move to the Supreme Court, either for mandatory approval of individual-candidate disqualifications or through appeals challenging its decisions concerning party lists.

Executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face will brief the UN Security Council on Wednesday amid warnings increasingly powerful AI technologies could soon improve themselves, slip beyond human control and threaten international security.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue are due to brief the 15-member council during the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

Altman plans to urge world leaders to adopt benchmarks for measuring AI capabilities and assessing the safeguards companies put in place as they develop the technology, an OpenAI executive told reporters on Tuesday.

Council members, including leading AI rivals the United States and China, are also set to speak. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will chair the meeting.

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the main objective of the meeting was to shine a light on the practical risks of AI losing control in ways that affect international security and the security of individual states.

“These are issues that fall squarely within the Security Council’s mandate,” the diplomat said. “The key question is whether we could one day face a situation where algorithms interacting with each other trigger a war. That is really at the heart of the issue.”

Trump rejects stifling growth of AI

Ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday, the US and China have discussed setting up a notification system for common goals and common threats that would cover AI-related incidents that rise to a national security level.

Trump told world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that he “rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control” AI, describing the technology as amazing, but noted that the US would be careful.

“We’re leading now over China by a lot, and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way,” Trump said. “I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution.”

“We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in. We’re going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice,” he said.

Guterres warns of AI advancement risks

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that rapidly advancing artificial intelligence poses risks that cannot be ignored, putting him at odds with Trump.

Guterres has long pushed for global governance of AI and in 2023 created a ‌39-member advisory body for one year, with members including tech company executives, government officials and academics from countries such as the US, Russia, and Japan.

The 193-member UN General Assembly then created the Independent International Scientific Panel last year. Yoshua Bengio, a Canadian considered one of the “Godfathers of AI” and co-chair of the panel, will also brief the Security Council.

The Security Council met for the first time on the risks of AI in 2023, when China said the technology should not become a “runaway horse” and the United States warned against its use to censor or repress people. Then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired a Security Council meeting on AI in 2024.

A limestone structure believed to have once served as a wine press was recently unearthed at the Temple of Sekhmet site near the village of Mit Rahina, the Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry announced earlier this month. 

Mit Rahina is located near the ancient ruins of Memphis, which in antiquity had served as the capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt. 

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Sekhemet is considered both a warrior goddess and a goddess of medicine. Her temple makes up one part of the Great Temple of Ptah complex, which served as the main temple of ancient Memphis.

Discovered by a joint Egyptian-Chinese archaeological mission, the wine press includes an upper basin sloping downward toward a central opening and a lower collection basin, each topped with an opening designed to hold amphorae.

Archaeologists found grape seeds inside the press, supporting the archaeologists’ interpretation.

Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that the mission began its work by cleaning and documenting the Temple of Sekhmet as part of its excavations to understand how the site was used throughout the ages.

Mudbrick residential complex also unearthed

Additionally, the mission found the remains of a mudbrick residential complex in the area surrounding the temple, along with a series of stone blocks and statue fragments believed to have been part of Ptah’s temple.

Most of the blocks and fragments date back to the New Kingdom period, mainly during the reign of King Ramesses II, and are made from various types of stone, including limestone, red granite, and schist

Other artifacts found at the site include pottery shards, faience amulets, small terracotta and limestone statuettes, ostraca, and votive stelae.

Mohamed Abdel-Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that these discoveries indicate that there had been continuous human settlement in the area between the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period, through the Ptolemaic era and up to the Greco-Roman period.

Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy expressed his pleasure at the collaboration between Egypt and China, two of the oldest civilizations in history.

The Temple of Sekhmet was discovered by chance in 1959, during the construction of a house in the area. Following this, Egyptian antiquities inspector Mohamed Abdel Tawab El-Hetta carried out a single season of excavations at the site from 1961 to 1962.

In 2015, the visible remains of the temple were documented as part of the Ancient Memphis Site and Community Management Project.

Deity-inscribed tombstones, sarcophagi unearthed at ancient Egyptian burial site

Earlier this summer, some 20 limestone tombstones, several sarcophagi, and a collection of funerary amulets were discovered during excavations at the Tell El Deir archaeological site.

The sides and backs of the tombstones are decorated with religious symbols and godly imagery, including that of a griffin, Agathodaemon, and Isis-Thermouthis.

Agathodaemon is a lesser serpent demon in ancient Graeco-Egyptian religion, as well as in classical Greek mythology. Isis-Thermouthis is a combination of the Egyptian goddess Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, and Renenutet (Thermuthis), the Egyptian goddess of grain.

The appearance of the two deities on the tombstones points to joint Greek and Roman influence on ancient Egyptian heritage and funerary practices. 

Further, the decorations allow archaeologists to identify the social status of the tombstones’ owners.

Additionally, the Egyptian archaeological mission operating at the site uncovered a collection of pottery incense burners, decorated lamps, and funerary amulets, as well as several barrel-shaped anthropoid ceramic coffins.

Likud officials pushed back on Wednesday against Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir’s demand to receive the Defense Ministry in the next government and hand the Justice Ministry to MK Tally Gotliv, Maariv learned on Wednesday.

Likud was displeased with Ben-Gvir’s demands, and has made it clear that the party does not intend to relinquish either portfolio in future coalition negotiations.

Shortly after he presented his demands, a message was conveyed to him that, as far as Likud is concerned, the Defense and Justice ministries are two of the party’s core portfolios and it therefore has no intention of giving them up in coalition negotiations.

Likud officials stressed that they regard the Defense and Justice ministries as portfolios that belong within the party and that the demand to hand both to Otzma Yehudit is not viewed as realistic ahead of possible negotiations following the election.

Alongside the dispute over the allocation of ministries, Likud officials also voiced concern about the diplomatic consequences of such statements. According to party officials, presenting Ben-Gvir as a candidate for defense minister could prompt sharp reactions from neighboring Arab countries, particularly Egypt and Jordan, and further strain relations with them.

Ben-Gvir demands change to IDF rules of engagement, code of ethics

The message came after the press conference held on Tuesday night by Ben-Gvir and Gotliv, during which they presented the demands and plans they intend to advance in the next government.

Ben-Gvir announced that Otzma Yehudit would demand the Defense Ministry for itself, while he wants the Justice Ministry for Gotliv.

Alongside his demand for the Defense Ministry, Ben-Gvir presented a series of measures concerning the IDF and its operational policies. Among other things, the plan includes changing the rules of engagement, providing broader backing for IDF soldiers, raising their salaries, and providing free land to combat soldiers.

Ben-Gvir also stated he’d push to change the IDF’s ethical code, which he called “Asa Kasher’s progressive ethical code,” and alter the screening process for elite units. Under the plan he presented, units including Unit 8200 would be opened more broadly to applicants from across the population.

Gotliv seeks dismissal of attorney-general

Gotliv, for her part, presented the measures she wants to implement if appointed justice minister. At the top of the list, she placed the immediate dismissal of the attorney-general upon the formation of the next government.

The plan also includes changing the process for appointing Supreme Court justices. Under Gotliv’s proposal, candidates for the Supreme Court would undergo a hearing before the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and their appointment would require approval by a two-thirds majority.

Gotliv is also seeking changes to the powers of the High Court of Justice, including restoring standing requirements and enshrining the principle that “not everything is justiciable,” alongside an explicit definition of matters that would not be subject to judicial review.

The plan also calls for abolishing the course used to screen judicial candidates, which Gotliv describes as a tool for filtering judges, as well as increasing punishments for criminal organizations and terrorists to strengthen deterrence, she said.

Another provision concerns investigative policy. Gotliv wants to abolish the procedure requiring prior approval from the State Attorney’s Office before criminal investigations can be opened into offenses including incitement, sedition, and calls for disobedience.

The demands presented by the two have placed the question of how portfolios would be allocated in a future government on the agenda while the election campaign is still underway. Likud, for its part, moved quickly to make clear to Ben-Gvir that, at least on the Defense and Justice ministries, it has no intention of giving them up.

A group of US Senate Democrats will introduce legislation on Wednesday to sanction individuals or groups that facilitate Israel’s “E1 project,” a widely condemned West Bank settlement plan cutting across land the Palestinians seek for a state, according to a copy of the legislation seen by Reuters.

The introduction of the bill is the latest sign of growing friction between Democrats in Congress and the Israeli government over its handling of the West Bank, with many in the party – and a few Republicans – calling for curbs on US military aid to Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.

US Democratic lawmakers have also recently urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rein in violence by West Bank settlers and mass arrests of Palestinians by Israeli security forces in the area.

The measure’s lead sponsors are Chris Coons of Delaware, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

“As Palestinian civilians face a campaign of devastation and fear from violent extremist settlers, the United States must send a strong message that this behavior is unacceptable and that it remains committed to freedom, security, prosperity and self-determination for all Israelis and Palestinians,” Coons said in a statement.

Democrats control minority of Senate, could win majority in midterms

The bill has at least 10 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

Democrats currently control only 47 seats in the 100-member Senate, but polls show they could win majorities in November 3 midterm elections from US President Donald Trump’s Republicans, who have aligned themselves closely with Netanyahu.

The bill would impose sanctions on foreign companies, individuals, or other entities that the Treasury Department determines to have been responsible for or complicit in the construction of any Israeli settlements or related structures in the E1 area of the West Bank, including by submitting a bid for E1 tenders.

It also would sanction those who attempt to organize, direct, finance, or facilitate the transfer of Israeli civilians into settlements in the E1 area.

Approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the West Bank and cut it off from east Jerusalem, was announced in August 2025 by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Two-state solution could be undermined by E1 project

The two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict envisages a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel.

Western capitals and campaign groups have opposed the E1 settlement project due to concerns that it could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians and diminish the chance for the two-state solution.

Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.

Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide strategic depth and security.

Congress’s lower chamber, the US House of Representatives, is currently not in session, so even in the unlikely chance of the bill’s passage in the Senate, the House would not be expected to take it up before the midterms.

Some 550,000 young Israelis are expected to be eligible to vote for the first time in the upcoming election, representing an estimated 10 to 12 Knesset seats, according to an N12 report published Wednesday.

Despite a strong ideological tilt toward the Right, support was divided among a wide range of parties rather than concentrated in a single political camp.

Seventy-four percent of respondents described their political views as right-wing or center-right, compared with 23% who identified with the Left or center-left. N12 said the corresponding figures among the wider adult population were 67% and 33%, respectively.

Asked which party they would support if elections were held now, 16% chose Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, while 14% selected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud. Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad received 10%, United Torah Judaism received 9%, and Yair Golan’s Democrats received 7%.

The results broadly reflect a fragmented national race in which Yashar and Likud have remained among the largest parties in several recent surveys. A series of polls published last week showed Yashar ahead of Likud in most surveys, although the balance between the broader political blocs remained unsettled.

Religious Zionism and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu each received 6% among first-time voters in the N12 survey, followed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit at 5%.

The joint list headed by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha received 4%, while Shas, led by Arye Deri, and Ofer Winter’s People of Israel each received 3%. Other parties received around 1% each, while 10% of respondents remained undecided.

Surveys including adults present different figures, highlighting demographic differences

The figures differ in some respects from polling of the wider electorate. In a September 16-17 national survey, for example, Otzma Yehudit received eight projected Knesset seats, and Shas received seven. That poll surveyed Israeli adults, including Jewish and Arab respondents, limiting direct comparisons with the N12 first-time voter sample.

Among respondents in the N12 poll who identified as haredi (ultra-Orthodox), United Torah Judaism received 45%, while Shas received 20% and Otzma Yehudit received 13%. N12 assessed that some young haredi voters who might otherwise support Shas were moving toward Ben-Gvir’s party.

Family voting patterns also appeared to remain influential. Fifty-nine percent said they planned to vote for the same party or political bloc as their parents, while 21% said they expected to vote differently.

Among those who said they would break with their parents’ voting preference, 14% said they would support coalition parties. By comparison, 23% said their parents supported the Netanyahu bloc but that they intended to vote for what N12 termed the “change bloc.”

The poll also asked respondents to compare potential prime minister candidates. In a matchup between Netanyahu and Bennett, 46% selected Netanyahu and 34% selected Bennett. Another 15% chose neither, while 5% said they did not know.

Against Eisenkot, Netanyahu received 47%, compared with 37% for the Yashar leader. Ten percent chose neither, and 6% said they did not know. These results differ from some recent surveys of the broader electorate, including polls in which Eisenkot has led Netanyahu when respondents were asked who was better suited to serve as prime minister.

Recent national surveys have otherwise shown considerable movement among the main parties and smaller lists as the election approaches, with parties near the electoral threshold potentially affecting the overall bloc arithmetic. Recent polling has shown a fragmented race and little separation between the two main blocs.

The Midgam survey, led by pollster Mano Geva, was conducted online from September 15 to 22 among a representative sample of Jewish Israelis ages 18 to 22 who are eligible to vote for the first time. A total of 301 people responded out of 1,521 invited to participate. The poll had a maximum sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points and used stratified sampling followed by random sampling within the strata.

Despite a tense but relatively stable security period, the Middle East is approaching the risk of a broader escalation as multiple flashpoints converge across the region, Israeli security officials told Walla on Wednesday.

From the confrontation between the US and Iran and the activation of Iranian proxies, through Saudi Arabia’s campaign against the Houthis and Hezbollah’s military buildup, to the deadlock in Gaza and tensions in the West Bank, the Israeli defense establishment is monitoring the various arenas and preparing for the possibility that deterioration in one could affect the region as a whole.

US President Donald Trump is eager to bring the conflict with Iran to an end before the midterm elections. According to assessments by Israeli security officials, he is therefore heightening tensions in the Middle East with threats against Iran in an effort to demonstrate seriousness ahead of a possible return to the negotiating table.

According to Israeli sources, mediators between Tehran and Washington have so far failed to produce positive developments. Officials broadly assess that the Iranians recognize Trump’s reluctance to return to active fighting and are therefore holding firm to their uncompromising position: refusing to abandon the nuclear project and refusing to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump is also continuing to tighten economic sanctions on Iran and threaten those cooperating with Tehran in an effort to revive its faltering economy.

The Iranian regime is operating on several fronts. The first is an attempt to maneuver between severe US economic sanctions and the possibility that regime opponents could take to the streets to protest the difficult conditions.

At the same time, the Iranian regime continues preparing for war in several arenas. It has begun producing surface-to-surface missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles and is also preparing for a possible ground invasion.

In addition, and perhaps most sensitively, the Iranian regime under Mojtaba Khamenei continues to pursue a hard-line and uncompromising approach toward the US and Israel while simultaneously strengthening its relationship with its “proxies”: Hezbollah on Israel’s border, the Houthis in Yemen against Saudi Arabia and possibly against Israel in the foreseeable future, and pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias in Iraq against the pro-Western Iraqi government and, in the foreseeable future, against American and Israeli interests.

More than anything else, this issue makes the region particularly volatile. The concern is that Iran could decide to escalate the region gradually and call on its “proxies,” which receive funding, weapons, intelligence, and training from Tehran, to join the confrontation.

Saudi Arabia seeking support from US over Houthi attacks

Saudi Arabia received a lesson from the Americans over the past week. Senior Saudi officials were alarmed by the Houthis’ broad attack on the capital Riyadh, Mecca, facilities belonging to Aramco, one of the world’s largest energy companies, and by a ground incursion toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which threatened Red Sea shipping routes and the passage of oil tankers.

According to Israeli security officials, the Saudis called the Americans, demanding immediate assistance.

Trump held consultations and ultimately decided not to strike the Houthis, instead offering intelligence or assistance with weapons systems.

This raises several significant questions: Will Saudi Arabia succeed in assembling an anti-Houthi coalition? How involved will Israel be? Will it limit itself to intelligence sharing?

For now, the Saudis remain alone in the campaign. The entire arena is therefore fragile. If the Houthis feel backed into a corner, they could also attack Israel, where American interests, including bases, are located.

Hezbollah restrained, Hamas negotiations at dead end

Hezbollah remains restrained, but it is building its capabilities for a future war with Iranian support, with a particular focus on aircraft and fiber-optic drones. In other words, if Tehran orders Hezbollah to join a campaign, Israel could find itself under attack from the north.

In addition, air and ground strikes are carried out almost daily against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Some strikes target operatives and field commanders preparing attacks against Israel, while others are aimed at Hezbollah’s military reconstruction efforts and terrorist infrastructure.

Negotiations by the Board of Peace with Hamas over disarming in the Gaza Strip and transferring control to a third party have reached a dead end.

Hamas has so far limited itself to hollow statements and a general agreement to hand weapons over to a third party, while Israel firmly opposes any arrangement under which Hamas remains a legitimate organization that retains weapons in the Gaza Strip.

Senior IDF officials are insisting on adopting the “Ali Taher Ridge” model in Gaza City. Under this approach, IDF troops would maneuver into the heart of the city and dismantle all major terrorist infrastructure above and below ground that Hamas has built over more than 20 years.

According to assessments in the defense establishment, a decision on this issue will be made after the Israeli elections and the US midterm elections.

At this stage, the concern is that Hamas or other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip could attempt attacks. High alert is therefore being maintained along the Yellow Line.

West Bank nationalist crime causing concerns among security officials

The West Bank is the arena causing the greatest concern. The area and the Jordan Valley are known as particularly volatile arenas during the holiday period.

Recently, nationalist crime has added to tensions, alongside growing friction between the Israeli and Palestinian populations.

Central Command is concerned that any incident could ignite the area and lead to revenge attacks or terrorist attacks. The IDF Operations Directorate has therefore reinforced the West Bank with battalions and additional units taking part in protecting communities and major roads.

In the background is the “turning the guns” scenario, referring to the possibility that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, could die and succession struggles could move from rhetoric to violence, creating chaos and gunfire directed at Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.

According to senior Central Command officials, there are no signs at this stage of “turning the guns.” However, succession struggles have already begun, and there are senior disappointed and frustrated figures in the West Bank, the Gulf and the Gaza Strip who are pulling strings and trying, among other things, to turn the West Bank into an arena in which terrorism is mobilized.

The Syrian arena is considered relatively quiet and stable.

Division 210, commanded by Brig.-Gen. Yair Palai, is taking the initiative in the Syrian arena. When intelligence is received about arms dealers in the area or elements hostile to Israel, the division launches an operation.

In addition, Israel’s borders with Jordan and Egypt continue to serve as focal points for weapons smuggling. The concern is that these routes could one day become infiltration routes for terrorists.

The maritime arena has also been upgraded since Maj.-Gen. Eyal Barel took command of the Israel Navy, with additional vessels and a more proactive operational approach across greater distances and broader areas of operation in preparation for any scenario intended to challenge the IDF, with particular emphasis on the missile boat flotilla and the submarine flotilla.

The wife of a US expert on North Korean nuclear tests who has been imprisoned in China since late 2024 said on Tuesday the White House has assured her that US President Donald Trump will ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping to free her husband when the pair meet this week.

Yufang Rong said she feared that Beijing planned to try her Chinese-born husband, Youlin Chen, on fabricated espionage charges even though his US-funded research was openly published, used publicly available data and was done in collaboration with Chinese scientists.

Trump will welcome Xi on Wednesday for their second meeting since May as the heads of the world’s leading powers seek stability amid tensions ranging from trade to Iran and Taiwan.

Rong said she was assured during a Tuesday meeting at the White House with officials from the State Department and National Security Council that Trump would ask Xi to free her husband.

Chen, 54, is one of two Americans held by Beijing that the US has designated as “wrongfully detained,” making their release a top priority. The other is Min Zin, a scholar arrested in June.

Rong said she was told that Trump also would press Xi to release Min Zin.

Trump raised Chen’s case with Xi during a visit to Beijing in May, but it produced no action, Rong said.

“Resolving the wrongful detentions of US citizens is always a top priority for the president,” a senior US official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that the “relevant US person” is suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security and violate Chinese law.

“China is a country with rule of law, and there is no such thing as wrongful detention,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing, without elaborating and referring to Chen.

Chen’s research funded by US Air Force, State Department

Chen, whose detention was revealed by Reuters in July, is a seismologist with a US government contractor. His work detecting shockwaves from North Korean underground nuclear tests has been openly funded by the State Department and the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

He became a US citizen in 2011 and settled in the Boston area.

He was arrested by Chinese state security officers on November 5, 2024, at Beijing International Airport as he prepared to fly home after visiting family and lecturing at two universities. Rong said her husband had been interrogated more than 100 times.

“I can’t imagine how hard his life is there every day,” she said.

She believes that China wants to use her husband’s expertise to improve its ability to conceal nuclear tests using decoupling, a technique in which a device is detonated inside a large underground chamber to reduce the size of the shockwaves.

The US has accused China of using decoupling to try to mask a low-yield nuclear test blast on June 22, 2020. China, which, like the US, has signed but not ratified a 1996 international ban on nuclear tests, denies conducting the test.

US officials obly allowed to visit Chen once a month

US embassy officials had been allowed to visit Chen for about 30 minutes once a month, always in the presence of Chinese officials, Rong said. They read out letters she had written to him, and he dictated his replies.

“They record his appearance, his mental status, and just anything that they observe,” she recounted, adding that Chen’s Chinese lawyer was not allowed to discuss his visits with her.

Rong is concerned about the conditions of her husband’s confinement, where she said he received substandard medical care and food. He suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes.

Asked what she would say to her husband if she could see him, Rong replied: “‘Be strong. Be optimistic. There are a lot of people helping you. You will come back for sure.'”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to the United States to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday, as Israel faces growing diplomatic isolation despite the strategic leverage it could offer allies across the Middle East and Europe.

Netanyahu is expected to appear before the UN General Assembly. Usually, attending the gathering brings with it a series of meetings with heads of state, defense officials, and military leaders.

The Middle East and the Arabian Gulf are currently in the midst of war and a process of reshaping. On the surface, the US appears to be seeking to reduce its military dominance in the region. At the same time, Europe understands that it is facing a new set of threats: Russia, the Iranian threat, and growing Islamist migration that is changing Europe’s demographics.

Israel has a great deal to offer Europe in dealing with each of these threats. Israel is a key player in maintaining stability in the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf.

The fact is that some of the region’s strongest countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others, are facing economic and military difficulties amid aggression from Iran and the Houthis, as well as Turkey’s interests in the Mediterranean, threats to the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, and pressure on other countries.

Netananyahu not meeting with Trump at UNGA, Israel facing diplomatic crisis

Under these circumstances, Netanyahu should have been among the most sought-after figures at the UN General Assembly. He should have been sitting at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan, with members of his staff handing out waiting numbers in the hotel lobby for meetings with him.

But the situation looks different. Even US President Donald Trump, one of Netanyahu’s closest allies over the years, has indicated that he has no interest in meeting Netanyahu at this time. The absurdity is that he is, in principle, prepared to meet with Iranian officials who arrive for the UN General Assembly.

This is not a political matter. It is a genuine diplomatic crisis that directly affects the security situation. Israel’s isolation could influence a series of military initiatives that were supposed to be developed.

Israel cannot rely on a cool relationship with the US superpower. It cannot build its strategy solely on a regional alliance with Cyprus and Greece in the face of the range of threats confronting it. Nor can it rely only on arms deals with Germany and other European countries.

Israel should be in a completely different position by now. The IDF’s achievements over three years of war have been remarkable. But they should have been taken to the next level.

Israel’s problem is that it does not truly have a functioning foreign minister, just as it does not have a full-time defense minister. Much of the Israeli government is made up of political operatives who lack diplomatic vision and strategic military thinking. It is doubtful whether many ministers have even taken courses in Middle Eastern studies.

If they had, the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan would likely be filled with leaders and defense officials waiting to meet Netanyahu.

Israeli submarine expected to strengthen alliance with Greece, Cyprus

On Thursday, the INS Drakon, the Israeli Navy’s sixth submarine, is set to enter Israeli waters. It is the most expensive weapon system Israel has ever purchased. Its entry into service with the navy is expected to affect the balance of power, particularly against countries in the third and fourth circles surrounding Israel.

The submarine could strengthen Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus, and it could also provide much of what Egypt and Italy lack in confronting Turkish assertiveness over the division of economic waters in the Mediterranean and Ankara’s moves with Libya to create a new regional reality.

For now, it remains unclear how two open arenas will be resolved: the confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, and the second arena between the US and Iran surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program, and the continued survival of the ayatollah regime.

What is clear is that Israel needs a series of diplomatic moves to emerge from its isolation, and it must become a force shaping the region both diplomatically and in security terms. It must also play a dominant role in shaping European security thinking, based on the understanding that what is bad for Europe now is also bad for Israel.

RealSense, an Israeli company that develops AI vision technology for robots, has signed an agreement with Cognex Corporation, a US machine vision company.

The $500 million transaction marks one of the most significant strategic moves in Cognex’s recent history and will be financed entirely from Cognex’s existing cash reserves and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval. Cognex will also grant a $50m.stock option and incentive plan. 

RealSense was originally founded by Intel in 2014 as its internal innovation division and was spun out as an independent company in 2025 when Intel was looking at major cuts. In August 2025, it signed a deal with Nvidia to integrate its advanced perception technology with Nvidia’s Jetson Thor robotic platform and has since become a key supplier of perception systems for autonomous mobile robots, industrial robotic arms, quadrupeds and emerging humanoid platforms. 

The company employs 180 people in Israel, with 135 based in its development center in Haifa and the rest in Cupertino, California. Approximately 80 of those Israeli employees are expected to receive at least NIS 1m.each.

“RealSense was built on a simple idea: robots and autonomous systems can’t act intelligently in the physical world if they can’t first perceive it accurately. We’ve called that mission the Visual Cortex of Physical AI. Joining Cognex puts that mission on an entirely new scale, giving us access to a global industrial customer base and go-to-market reach that would have taken us years to build on our own. This is a combination that makes both businesses stronger,” said Nadav Orbach, Chief Executive Officer of RealSense.

Prior to the completion of the deal, RealSense will spin out its Facial Authentication product line into an independent company, and will continue to focus on growth in the biometrics market.

With the acquisition, the company is expected to generate between $80m.and $90 m. in revenue in 2026, representing more than 50% growth over the previous year. The broader robotic perception market, currently valued at roughly $600m., is projected to grow more than 25% annually and reach approximately $1.6 billion by 2030.

Cognex, headquartered near Boston and operating in more than 30 countries serving over 30,000 customers worldwide, develops machine-vision systems that help manufacturers and distribution companies automate tasks such as inspection, measurement, identification, and robotic guidance.

The acquisition of RealSense is the company’s first purchase in Israel and expands the company into robotic perception and the emerging Physical AI market. 

Physical AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that operate in the real world rather than in purely digital environments. These systems must perceive depth, motion, obstacles, and human behavior in real time, and then act on that information safely and intelligently. That requires a sophisticated blend of sensors, cameras, spatial understanding, and real-time processing- that’s the foundation for robots that can navigate crowded warehouses, drones to avoid obstacles, and humanoid robots that interact with people.

RealSense’s depth‑sensing cameras and perception software form the foundation of this capability, giving machines the ability to see and understand their environment with accuracy and reliability.

Cognex President and CEO Matt Moschner described the acquisition as a natural evolution for a company that has spent more than four decades building machine‑vision systems for factories, warehouses and distribution centers around the world. 

“RealSense represents a compelling strategic expansion for Cognex into robotic perception, one of the most attractive adjacent markets in machine vision,” he said. “RealSense brings a leading 3D perception platform with proprietary technology, a strong developer community, and a compelling value proposition for customers. Combined with Cognex’s machine vision expertise and global reach, RealSense positions us to offer a full-stack visual intelligence platform, spanning industrial ID, 2D and 3D machine vision measurement to 3D depth perception and robotic navigation, built to serve the full spectrum of Physical AI.”

The rise of Physical AI is reshaping global industries from logistics and manufacturing to defense, healthcare, and consumer robotics. Robots are increasingly expected to operate in dynamic, unpredictable environments rather than fixed, pre‑programmed settings.

Police arrested three minors on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in a series of recent acts of vandalism at the Kol Haneshama Reform synagogue in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, police announced.

Police said all three suspects are Jerusalem residents and that the investigation is ongoing. Investigators were expected to ask a court later Wednesday to extend their detention.

During Yom Kippur, the synagogue was broken into between the end of Kol Nidre services on Sunday night and the beginning of services on Monday morning. A pride flag hanging in the sanctuary was removed.

The break-in marked the fourth incident in roughly a month targeting the synagogue, one of the city’s long-standing Reform congregations. A week earlier, during Rosh Hashanah, eggs were thrown at worshipers outside the site.

Jerusalem mayor, deputy mayor, express support for vandalized synagogue

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yossi Havilio addressed the congregation after Yom Kippur services and expressed the municipality’s support. During Kol Nidre the previous night, Rabbi Oded Mazor read a message from Mayor Moshe Lion expressing shock at the earlier attacks and pledging the city’s support.

The synagogue, which visibly supports the LGBTQ community, has also been targeted in previous years. In 2018, a large rock was hurled into its courtyard while more than 200 people were taking part in Simchat Torah celebrations. There were no injuries.

JTA contributed to this report. 

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado made three unsuccessful bids to return to Venezuela in recent hours, her team and media said on Tuesday, as interim President Delcy Rodriguez met US President Donald Trump in New York.

The flurry of activity comes amid high-stakes diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly, where Trump held his first meeting with Rodriguez since US forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro during a raid in January.

Machado adviser Pedro Urruchurtu said on social media the latest sea and air attempts were among seven failed efforts to return since she clandestinely left Venezuela nine months ago, as reported by Spanish newspaper ABC.

The remarks were later confirmed by a spokesperson for Machado, who has not publicly commented on the failed attempts.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Machado in hiding after fleeing Venezuela

Following the June earthquakes in Venezuela, US officials privately urged Machado to postpone her return and opposed her efforts to re-enter the country, people familiar with the matter said.

Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been in exile since late last year following a period in hiding after the contested 2024 election.

Her arrival remains a point of contention, despite having repeatedly vowed to return after Maduro’s ouster and two major earthquakes.

Newspaper ABC did not give details on who blocked the attempts by sea and air.

The Kingdom of Jordan has often criticized Israel’s actions at the UN and in other forums. It has a long-established track record of backing a two-state solution and supporting the Palestinians. It also has a long track record of slamming Israel over issues involving Jerusalem because Jordan portrays itself as backing the status quo at the Christian and Muslim holy sites in the city.

However, Amman’s criticism at the UN General Assembly on September 22 was different than in the past. This wasn’t just about the West Bank, or Gaza, or Jerusalem. This was about regional strategy.

“This Israeli government’s appetite is now a regional threat,” Jordan’s King Abdullah II said. “And today, Syria is the warning.”

He was speaking about Israel’s incursion into Syria on December 8, 2024, when the Assad regime fell, and the continued bombing of Syria and shelling of the border area over the last two years. Jordan is concerned about southern Syria for several reasons.

During the Syrian civil war, Amman backed the Syrian rebels. In those days, Israel and Amman both had good ties with Syrian rebel groups in southern Syria. In fact, when the rebels collapsed in 2018 in southern Syria, Israel helped evacuate the White Helmets to Jordan.

Gone are those days now. Jordan embraced the new government in Damascus. Israeli officials have threatened the new government and said that war is coming with Syria. Israel has bombed Damascus and most recently bombed a military base in northern Syria, warning Turkey not to play a role in Syria. There is talk in Jerusalem of a future conflict with Turkey over Syria.

For Jordan, this is problematic. It wants peace and security in southern Syria. During the Assad regime years, Jordan took in almost a million Syrian refugees. It also had to deal with threats from Syria, such as Iranian-backed drug smuggling. For Jordan, the new government in Damascus has presented an opportunity for stability.

However, Israel’s policies are in contrast to this. Israel wants southern Syria demilitarized, and Israel has backed the Druze in Suwayda. The Druze have talked about creating their own state in southern Syria and allying with Israel. Jordan views this with concern. The Kingdom believes that drug smuggling continues to radiate from Suwayda, a legacy of networks from the Assad regime era.

Israel is ‘testing how far it can go’ in Syria, Jordan claims

It’s worth understanding Jordan’s keen knowledge of southern Syria. Many people in northern Jordan have historic ties to people in southern Syria and vice versa. At the same time, Jordan wants to prevent any spillover from Syria into Jordan. For instance, it doesn’t want any extremist groups popping up amid the security vacuum.

The King of Jordan articulated this at the UN, slamming Israel’s role in Syria.  “The international community is choosing not to see repeated incursions, creeping territorial expansion, new facts and posts on the ground, including around vital water resources. Step by calculated step, Israel is testing how far it can go.” The King argued that Israel is crossing borders and pushing the “legal limits” of expansion.

What the Jordanian king is articulating is a view held increasingly in some chanceries in the region. Historically, Israel was isolated in the Middle East, from its founding in 1948 to the era of the peace agreement with Egypt and Jordan. The peace agreements and the 1990s provided hope for two states. At this time, there was a sense that the Middle East might move from conflict to peace. That didn’t happen.

Nevertheless, countries in the Middle East didn’t view Israel as a major threat because other factors balanced it out. The US invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring changed these calculations. With the weakening of many states and the civil conflicts in Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Iraq, along with the rise of ISIS, most of the Middle East fell into chaos. Iran stepped into this vacuum. From 2015 to 2020, many of the Arab states were concerned about groups such as ISIS and Iran’s expansion in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

However, this began to change after the Abraham Accords. There was a brief period where normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia appeared to be on the table. At this time, some of these countries saw Israel as a possible friend and ally. However, the last three years have changed this perception. After the October 7 attack, the region was plunged into war. Many countries tried to weather the storm.

The fall of the Assad regime and a new election in Iraq have provided hope and promise to Iraq and Syria. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey have all come to believe that Israel is now stepping into the vacuum left by Iran’s decline. In a classic realist sense of the balance of power in the region, they now see Israel as a possible threat.

Jordan fears power vacuum in Syria spurring deeper Middle East conflict

On the one hand, Israel can ignore the critiques from Turkey because Ankara’s AKP government has been one of the most hostile to Israel in the region. This has led Jerusalem to begin to see Turkey as “the next Iran.” However, Turkey is a member of NATO and the idea of Israel fighting a NATO member likely only appeals to some messianists in Jerusalem. What the other voices believe is that Syria and other states need to remain weak. Jordan fears a power vacuum in southern Syria.

This explains why Jordan is articulating the concerns at the UN. It believes instability in the West Bank or Syria directly threatens the Kingdom. This isn’t the first time the Kingdom felt this way. The Jordanian civil conflict in the 1970s was caused by Palestinian terrorist groups. Jordan sought to separate itself from its previous links to the West Bank in the 1990s. Yet it feels its policies didn’t bring peace, but instead more conflict.

A close ally of the West, Jordan is seeking to raise the alarm about its concerns. Like many countries in the region, the Kingdom will be taking a “wait and see” approach about Israel’s upcoming elections. However, it wants to articulate a view of Israel that is increasingly taking root in the region. 

The IDF denied a report from Tuesday that claimed that kidnapping attempts had been made against soldiers near the Yellow Line, saying that the majority of the details included were completely baseless.

The claim, originally reported by JNS, was that Israeli soldiers along the Gaza Strip had faced three separate kidnapping attempts, all of which were rebuffed by IDF forces.

JNS had also reported that, in the wake of the three kidnapping attempts, IDF forces along the Yellow Line had retreated, and that counterattacks against the would-be kidnappers had failed.

According to the military, all of these claims are false.

The IDF denied that there had been any kidnapping attempts made against IDF soldiers, that no retreat had been conducted, and that the IDF had been transparent regarding which details in the original report were based on reality.

Specifically, the IDF stated that “Public statements were transparently issued by the IDF Spokesperson regarding all incidents in which IDF engineering vehicles were damaged by explosive devices,” and that “Similarly, an incident involving the sound of gunfire in the area in early September was also reported and made public.”

According to the IDF, strikes had been conducted in retaliation for each of these actual events.

“Any other claim is completely baseless,” the military concluded.

Katz threatens Gaza over possibility of Hamas taking hostages again

JNS’s report of kidnapping attempts came several hours after Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to destroy all that remains of Gaza City and to force around one million Gazans to evacuate if Hamas, provoked by Iran or Turkey, takes a single Israeli hostage.

Katz said he was responding to the increasing threat of potential aggressive actions by Iran, Turkey, and proxies, including Hamas.

In response, People of Israel chairman and founder Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter called on Katz to stop making empty threats.

“Instead of eliminating the threat, officials go on the air and threaten that if anyone is abducted, all of Gaza will be evacuated,” Winter said, adding that Hamas would not take the threat seriously as “251 people were abducted and that didn’t happen.”

Police announced on Tuesday that they had solved the murder of Yanis Yushayev, 41, of Or Akiva, who was shot dead last month at a gas station in Caesarea, with a prosecutor’s declaration filed against the main suspect, 54-year-old Hazon resident Doron Weizman.

Weizman has a criminal record and has previously served prison sentences.

The investigation was opened on August 23 after police received a report of a man being shot at the gas station. Medical teams that arrived at the scene pronounced Yushayev dead.

Police suspect that several of Yushayev’s enemies joined forces and devised a plan to kill him. Police arrested four suspects during the investigation, including a 23-year-old man from Hadera who is the son of Yushayev’s most prominent rival.

The investigation found that the 23-year-old, who has ties to senior criminals, was in a vehicle used by the killers, and his DNA samples were found in the vehicle. Police, however, were unable to prove his direct involvement in planning the murder despite investigative tactics used during his questioning.

According to police, investigators from the Coastal District Central Unit conducted both covert and overt investigative activity, using technological, intelligence, and forensic means.

Several suspects were arrested during the investigation, but all were released except the man whom police suspect of having pulled the trigger, the 54-year-old Hazon resident. His detention has been extended periodically by the court.

Weizman has so far maintained his right to silence during questioning. The Central Unit has a working theory regarding the background and motive for the murder, but the fact that only Weizman is expected to be indicted means that whoever allegedly sent him remains free.

Those suspected of helping him prepare for the killing, escape, and go into hiding are also not facing charges.

Suspect’s attorney waiting for indictment before responding

Attorney Yaron Shomron, who represents Weizman, told Walla that he would wait to see the indictment before responding.

On Tuesday, following the completion of the investigative measures, police announced that an evidentiary basis had been established against Weizman and that a prosecutor’s declaration had been filed against him.

The Haifa District Attorney’s Office, which accompanied the investigation, is expected to file an indictment against him in the coming days and request that he remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings.

Female prisoners in Myanmar are subjected to widespread torture, sexual violence and life-threatening medical neglect, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, underlining the chronic ill-treatment of thousands of detainees in the war-torn nation.

Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, a protracted civil war has gripped the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, devastating several regions and killing about 100,000 while displacing more than 3.5 million.

In a report, the New York-based rights group said more than 6,600 women, including former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and 640 children are among the more than 30,000 political prisoners detained since the coup.

“Women who have been detained as political prisoners in Myanmar paint a deeply disturbing picture of a prison system in which suffering and neglect are both deliberate and routine,” said Bryony Lau, the group’s Asia deputy director.

A spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-backed government, which took office after a widely criticized election in 2025/26 that allowed former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alleged beatings, burns, electric shocks

Prison authorities beat some prisoners with sticks, chains, metal pipes, and slingshots, with some subjected to electric shocks, cigarette burns, prolonged stress positions and sexual violence, the group said.

Its report drew on interviews with 17 former female detainees, comprising activists, journalists, aid and health care workers, members of their families and lawyers, conducted in 2025 and 2026.

The former detainees said they were prosecuted under multiple criminal code provisions, including a post-coup law to punish opposition and dissent and a sweeping counter-terrorism law, according to the rights group.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts, but they echo a 2025 report by United Nations investigators.

The UN report documented torture in Myanmar detention facilities, enumerating “beatings, electric shocks, strangulations, gang rape, burning of sexual body parts and other forms of sexual violence.”

At least 74 political prisoners have died since coup

At least 74 political prisoners aged between 18 and 35 have died in detention since the coup, some due to alleged inadequate medical treatment and harsh interrogation, Reuters reported in January.

Prison authorities consistently block access to necessary medical care for serious chronic and acute conditions, former prisoners told the rights group, with pregnant women also denied such access, with some left to give birth inside their cells.

“There was no ultrasound so there was no way to estimate the due date,” one former prisoner told Human Rights Watch, describing how her water broke at midnight but a letter to refer her to a hospital only arrived at 10 a.m.

“Chains were put back on my feet right after the delivery.”

Governments are set to fall well short of meeting a major UN target to protect and conserve biodiversity in at least 30% of the world’s land and seas by 2030, research published on Wednesday showed.

As part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in late 2022, nearly 200 countries signed on to the “30 by 30” goal and pledged to mobilize at least $200 billion a year to reverse decades of biodiversity loss.

But while another 1.3 million sq km of land and 6 million sq km of marine areas have come under formal protection since the agreement went into effect, total coverage is still only 20% and 10% respectively, according to research by several environmental groups led by the US-based Campaign for Nature.

The findings are in line with an official progress report due to be submitted to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia, next month.

A draft released in July warned that none of the 23 goals in the agreement would be reached by 2030 “unless collective implementation accelerates rapidly.”

“Progress is being made clearly, but it is uneven, and it is clearly also not at the pace and scale required to achieve the Framework’s 23 targets by 2030,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the UNCBD, said at a briefing this month.

The Campaign for Nature report said around 26% of terrestrial and inland water areas would be protected if all existing government pledges were fulfilled by 2030, but only 13% of marine ecosystems would be covered.

Funding reaches only $1.8 billion, with $16 billion required to hit goals

The annual funding shortfall is approximately $75 billion to $150 billion, with spending on marine protection standing at just $1.8 billion, well below the $16 billion required, it said.

Even if the “30×30” targets were achieved, more efforts were needed to ensure that ecosystems were genuinely protected, it said, noting that of the 10% of the ocean currently covered by protection plans, only 3.5% was considered “effectively” protected.

“There’s a significant gap between protection on paper and protection in practice. A line on a map does not mean protection in the water,” said Pauli Merriman, senior director for oceans at WWF International.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid will host the leaders of the “change bloc,” former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, and Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, at his Tel Aviv home on Saturday night for talks on coordinating their moves ahead of the elections.

All five party leaders are expected to attend.

The meeting comes as the bloc’s leaders seek to tighten coordination while grappling with disagreements over election strategy, the identity of the candidate who will lead the camp and possible paths toward forming a government after the elections. Some of those disagreements have already spilled into the public arena in recent weeks.

Ahead of the joint meeting, Eisenkot and Liberman met at Yashar’s offices on Wednesday. It was their second meeting in about two weeks, following recent changes in party lists, polling and the overall balance between the political blocs. According to reports, the two were expected to discuss election strategy and ways to strengthen the bloc.

Following the meeting, Yashar and Yisrael Beytenu issued a joint statement: “Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman and Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot met today and discussed coordinating a bloc-wide strategy. The two agreed to continue cooperating and carrying out the necessary measures, also in coordination with the other parties in the bloc, to achieve victory in the election campaign, out of a supreme commitment to replacing the government of the October 7 massacre.“

The joint statement from Eisenkot and Liberman appears to signal agreement on something Liberman and others have been demanding for some time: a shift toward a bloc-wide strategy. In other words, the parties would stop trying to strengthen themselves at the expense of their partners, including through Yashar’s “largest party” campaign and its demand that the other parties commit in advance to recommending its leader, and instead work to maximize the strength of the bloc as a whole.

Statements are one thing, but the real test will come on the ground. If messages urging voters to support the largest party disappear, that could indicate that the change has taken effect rather than remaining only on paper.

There is also the issue of timing. As long as Eisenkot was climbing in the polls, it was harder for him to stop and consider the bloc as a whole. Over the past two weeks, the upward trend has stalled and the numbers have stabilized, potentially making such an approach more natural.

Eisenkot addressed coordination within the camp on Wednesday morning, telling 103FM, “There are weekly meetings to coordinate between the parties, and there are also substantive disagreements. We have a common goal, and I am certain it will be expressed by the elections and will lead to us defeating this failed government.”

Bloc leaders split over forming government with non-Zionist parties

One of the issues exposing divisions among the bloc’s leaders concerns the possibility of forming a government if the Zionist parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do not secure 61 Knesset seats on their own.

Eisenkot has recently set a condition under which any party seeking to join a government formed by his party would be required to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be dismantled.

“I added another principle: recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization that must be dismantled. I don’t see any Arab party accepting that. Anyone who does not accept that will not sit with me,” he said on Wednesday.

Referring to MK Ahmad Tibi, Eisenkot added, “Ahmad Tibi is the person most courted by the coalition; he helped them bring down the government. I’m not getting into that at all.”

At the same time, Eisenkot and Liberman disagree over whether it would be possible to form a government without the support of a 61-MK majority from Zionist factions. Eisenkot has previously made clear that he does not intend to leave the incumbent government in power solely because the opposition lacks such a majority, while Liberman has drawn a red line against a minority government dependent on outside support from Arab factions.

The meeting at Lapid’s home is set to take place against the backdrop of efforts to coordinate among parties that differ in their positions and voter bases. Alongside their shared objective of replacing the Netanyahu government, the camp’s leaders have yet to reach full agreement on who should be their candidate for prime minister or on some of the coalition issues that would arise after the elections.

Yisrael Beytenu MK claims Eisenkot empowering Netanyahu’s campaign

Relations among the key players have also been tense. Over the past week, Eisenkot and figures in Yisrael Beytenu have exchanged remarks after Liberman’s party criticized the strategy led by the Yashar chairman.

MK Oded Forer, one of Yisrael Beytenu’s senior figures, said last week that Eisenkot was “fueling Bibi’s campaign” and that winning would require drawing votes from other political camps as well.

These disagreements make Saturday night’s gathering more than a technical coordination meeting. The party leaders will have to discuss how to manage their joint campaign alongside their separate campaigns and how to address disagreements over the makeup of a future government and the path by which it could be formed.

The previous attempt by some of these political figures to serve together in government came with the Bennett-Lapid government, formed in 2021 on the basis of a broad coalition of parties from different political camps.

Ahead of the current elections, the leaders of the “change bloc” are once again seeking to create a framework that will allow them to coordinate. This time, however, questions of leadership, the composition of a future coalition and each party’s red lines are already publicly on the table.

Iran conveyed its conditions for ending hostilities with the United States through Qatari mediators, Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state media IRNA on Tuesday, during the ongoing United Nations General Assembly.

According to Baghaei, the conditions and negotiation process were not new, but had already been communicated to the US earlier this week. 

Iran’s positions on the Strait of Hormuz and broader regional security remained unchanged, he said, and Iran’s presence at the UNGA allowed it to convey these stances more clearly and explicitly to US diplomats.

Among the conditions for ending the war, Baghaei said, were a complete end to the US’s aggression, naval blockade, and sanctions, as well as the release of frozen assets belonging to Iran.

Baghaei also spoke about US President Donald Trump’s speech at the UNGA, saying that it consisted of repetitive claims and accusations.

“Indeed, the prevailing impression among diplomats and delegations from many countries was that these words stemmed not from strength, but from desperation,” he claimed, adding, “Threatening a country with military attack amounts to an admission regarding the nature of the current US administration and an admission of committing international crimes.”

Trump denounces Iran in UNGA address

During his UNGA speech, Trump denounced the Islamic Republic of Iran, calling it “the number one sponsor of terror,” and “the bully of the Middle East.”

“From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering,” Trump said. “I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

He said that, “As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their air force is gone, their radar is gone, their anti-aircraft equipment is gone, their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone.”

He also threatened Iran, saying, “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

Traffic on Highway 60 reopened on Wednesday after a bus fire blocked both directions between Tapuach Junction and Rechelim, the Israel Police announced. No injuries were reported.

The Israel Police assisted firefighters on scene, the authority said, and initially asked drivers to avoid the area before reopening the road.

An additional fire occured in Tirat Carmel later on Wednesday after an electric bicycle battery experienced a thermal runaway incident, the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority said.

Haifa firefighters responded to the emergency, which occured in the yard of a residential home.

Haifa firefighters extinguish blaze, damage limited to bicycle, no injuries

Firefighters extinguished the blaze, with no injuries reported and damage limited to the bicycle.

Following the bicycle fire, the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority reiterated its safety guidelines for charging lithium batteries, including avoiding overcharging, excessive heat, and the use of damaged or uncertified chargers.

US footwear company Converse issued an official apology on Friday after a new ad campaign drew criticism for what some saw as KKK-esque imagery.

The advertisement, which the company has since removed from its Instagram, shows K-pop star Karina holding a pair of Converse Chuck 70 X sneakers.

Those criticizing the ad have said the lighting on the singer’s white skirt resembles a KKK hood, while the way the model held the shoes appeared to look as if a person had been hanged.

“We’re sorry,” the company said in its apology. “We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong. We removed it from our channels and are working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened, and we will do better.”

Calls were made to fire the staff members responsible for the campaign, with many social media commentators inquiring how the advertisement was approved in the first place.

Some defend Converse, say KKK-esque imagery likely unintentional

In contrast, several commenters defended the company, noting the imagery was likely unintentional.   

Converse declined a request for comment from N12, while Karina and her management company, SM Entertainment Group, did not respond.

Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney in Texas, criticized the company’s apology in an Instagram post, saying that it “does not undo what the legal, marketing, and management departments went through at every level.” 

“We continue to have this conversation because corporations continue to fail the same test,” said Merritt. “‘Doing better’ means catching it before it airs – not after we’ve been hurt.”

Taiwan will continue to keep in close touch with the US to promote the implementation of arms sales according to plan, a defense ministry official said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting between the US and Chinese leaders in Washington.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly demanded US arms sales end.

While US President Donald Trump approved an $11 billion package for Taiwan in December, the largest ever, he said in May after visiting Beijing that a second package, worth some $14 billion, was being kept in abeyance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to press Trump to halt sales when the two of them meet in Washington this week.

Speaking to reporters in southern Taiwan’s Tainan during a media trip, Taiwan defense ministry deputy spokesperson Chiao Fu-chun said maintaining security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region was a “common interest of democratic nations.”

“The US government and Congress have repeatedly expressed their support for Taiwan’s ability to defend itself,” he added.

“Therefore, we will continue to maintain close contact with the US Department of War and continue to promote the implementation of arms sales according to plan.”

Taiwan’s domestic weapons development

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has embraced Trump’s call for US allies to spend more on their defense.

While the US is Taiwan’s most important arms supplier, Taipei has its own weapons development program, covering everything from submarines and fighter jets to long-range missiles.

Taiwan’s army on Wednesday showed off its new eight-wheeled armored combat vehicle fitted with a 105mm gun, practicing live-fire exercises to demonstrate the domestically made weapon’s fighting abilities.

The military also put on display, but did not fire, some of its US-made weapons, such as Lockheed Martin-made HIMARS rockets.

Taiwan routinely holds live-fire drills and takes reporters to military bases to watch exercises.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and its military operates around the island on an almost daily basis.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the UN had become unable to fulfill its duty of preserving peace and called for reform of the Security Council.

Erdogan has for years called for a more comprehensive and inclusive structure at the Security Council.

“Let’s recognize that a system in which the will of more than 190 countries is subject to the whims of five countries is neither fair nor capable of fully establishing trust,” he said.

“The United Nations, established 81 years ago to maintain peace and security, has become unable to fulfill this mission, or rather it has been made unable to do so,” he added.

Erdogan also condemned the situation in Gaza, saying, “No one who holds humanity, compassion, and mercy in their heart, with a sense of justice and conscience, can turn a blind eye” to what was happening there.

Erdogan calls Gaza ‘our time’s most inhumane concentration camp’

“(Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to take his place in this hall for two consecutive years. This injustice against our Palestinian brothers and sisters wounds the consciences,” Erdogan said.

He urged countries that do not recognize a Palestinian state to review their position and for all nations to increase pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza, which he called “our time’s most inhumane, most embarrassing concentration camp.”

NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel and its war on Gaza, saying its attacks amounted to genocide. It has repeatedly urged international measures against Israel. Israel denies accusations of genocide.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the UN General Assembly that the construction of Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the West Bank “cannot be allowed to happen” in his address on Tuesday. 

Burnham cited the United Kingdom’s recent sanctions against trade with the West Bank as an example of his administration’s actions to back up its policy statements. 

“So we have acted by banning trade in goods with illegal settlements, recognizing that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory is unlawful, and sanctioning those taking part in the construction of illegal settlements; we want to see the suffering and death finally come to an end,” Burnham said.  

Burnham condemned the October 7 massacre and said that the UK continues to condemn Hamas. 

“We stand with Israel in the face of the ongoing threats, including from Iran against Israel and Jewish people around the world,” he said. 

Oct 7. does not justify Israeli government’s actions, Burnham says

“But this does not justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza or the West Bank,” Burnham added, saying that the UK would not stand by while “the prospect of a two-state solution, the best hope for peace and stability for both nations, comes under attack.”

“We want to see Israeli and Palestinian people living side by side in peace and security, and we will do all we can to keep the hope of that possibility alive,” he said.  

A series of emails containing explicit threats against his life were sent on Tuesday to People of Israel (Amcha Yisrael) candidate and activist Yoseph Haddad. 

“We will cut off your fingers one by one and dismember your bodies together with the Americans. We are men of war. Damn you,” said the emails. 

Based on their messages and their style, the emails appear to have been sent by figures from the Iranian regime, according to a statement from Dudi Avitan, Haddad’s strategic advisor. 

Haddad dismisses threats

“The Iranian regime has never been more predictable,” Haddad said regarding the incident. “I also receive explicit death threats on social media. It did not frighten me in the past, and it does not frighten me today. On the contrary, it strengthens me.”

I will continue to act for the State of Israel and for Israeli society. And to the enemies threatening us from Iran to Gaza, I offer the well-known Arabic saying: Go pave the ocean with tiles,” he concluded.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry published a list of hostile figures in Israel, according to Avitan, whom the Iranian people are prohibited from contacting. 

Haddad, who is currently the second candidate on the People of Israel’s party list, appears near the top of Iran’s list.

China’s ambassador to the United States warned on Wednesday that the country has “red lines” on Taiwan, human rights and other issues that cannot be crossed, ahead of this week’s meeting in Washington between the two countries’ leaders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Washington for a summit with President Donald Trump, as both sides seek to stabilize ties overshadowed by disputes over everything from trade to Taiwan.

Writing in the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, Ambassador Xie Feng said managing differences hinges on good faith, and the US should stop “fabricating pretexts” such as national security, economic imbalances and forced labor to try to constrain China.

When China and the US cooperate, both benefit, but when they confront each other, both suffer, he added.

“China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests cannot be violated, and four red lines — the Taiwan question, democracy and human rights, development paths and systems, and development rights — cannot be challenged,” Xie said.

US is Taiwan’s most important arms supplier

“China is committed to pursuing peaceful development and hopes the US will move toward this as well.”

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei. The US is Taiwan’s most important arms supplier and international backer despite the lack of formal ties.

Xie said that top-level diplomacy is the “steady hand” of China-US relations and differences are not to be feared.

A separate commentary on Wednesday in the same newspaper said the US’s “erroneous” perceptions of China and its inability to let go of the notion of strategic competition are the basic causes of their recent difficult relationship.

“In recent years, the tortuous path China-US relations have traveled clearly shows the US’s erroneous perceptions of China and its unwillingness to let go of the notion of ‘strategic competition’ are the fundamental cause of recurring difficulties,” said the commentary, without offering details.

Both sides should cherish the favorable momentum that has come at “great cost, maintain the right direction, and eliminate interference,” said the article, published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng,” meaning “Voice of China” and used to give views on foreign policy.

“The US side, in particular, needs to maintain continuity and stability in its policies, honor its commitments, and inject certainty into bilateral relations,” it added.

Fourteen Israeli citizens crossed the border in the Golan Heights into Syrian territory before being arrested and returned to Israel by the IDF on Tuesday, the military announced in a statement.

The citizens involved in the incident belong to the “Pioneers of Bashan” movement, according to the IDF.

The movement is a far-right extremist settler movement focused on building Jewish-Israeli settlements inside Syrian territory.

The IDF stated that it “strongly condemns the incident, which constitutes another case of serious disruption to operational activity and danger to the security of IDF forces operating in the area.”

“Law enforcement authorities are required to prosecute those involved to the fullest extent of the law, with the aim of preventing these citizens from repeatedly engaging in the phenomenon, which constitutes a criminal offense,” the military added.

HaBashan Pioneers view parts of Syrian territory as their historical right

The HaBashan Pioneers were formed in April 2025 and take their name from the biblical region of Bashan, which includes parts of southwestern Syria and northern Jordan.

Members of the extremist group claim a historical right to the lands and have argued that Jewish settlements will help Israel defend the Golan Heights. 

Israel captured and has since occupied a “security zone” that includes the summit of Mt. Hermon following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Amos Azaria, a leader in the HaBashan Pioneers movement, said the group intends to establish what he refers to as a “humanitarian corridor” from Israel to the Druze enclave of Sweida, nearly 100 kilometers deep into Syrian territory, by relocating Sunnis in the area.

“The entire Daraa district… must be cleared of the enemies seeking our destruction and instead be filled with Jewish settlement,” Azaria said.

In addition to leading the HaBashan Pioneers movement, Azaria is a computer science professor at Ariel University in the West Bank. 

Since its founding, HaBashan Pioneers have been involved in at least nine instances of illegal infiltration into Syrian territory, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

In each of those instances, the IDF strongly condemned the actions of the movement and its members.

Two Jewish communities, separated by thousands of kilometers, were forced to think about their safety as they gathered to observe Yom Kippur this week.

In Jerusalem, vandals entered the Reform congregation Kol HaNeshama sometime overnight, after worshipers left following Sunday evening’s service and before they returned for morning prayers, and they removed a Pride flag from the sanctuary.

In Belleville, Ontario, a man armed with a shotgun opened fire on a police officer stationed outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue while about two dozen worshipers were inside.

These were fundamentally different events. The Jerusalem break-in formed part of a documented series of incidents targeting the congregation. In Canada, authorities had not established by press time whether the synagogue or Jewish community was the gunman’s intended target.

Their connection begins and ends with their timing and setting: Both disrupted Jewish prayer on Yom Kippur. That narrow connection raises a basic question: whether freedom of worship protects not only the right to gather but also a congregation’s safety and its authority to determine what happens inside its own sanctuary.

Jews across countries, denominations, time zones gather on Yom Kippur

The holiday gives that setting particular meaning. On Yom Kippur, Jewish communities do something at once local and collective: Each congregation follows its own customs, but Jews across countries, denominations, and time zones gather to recite the same confessions and account for the year that has passed.

That shared observance does not require Jews to agree about how Judaism should be practiced. A Reform congregation in Jerusalem and a Conservative congregation in Ontario need not share the same liturgy, politics, or understanding of Jewish life to be participating in the same religious act. That plurality is precisely what freedom of worship protects.

The Pride flag hanging inside Kol HaNeshama’s sanctuary reflected the values the congregation had chosen for its own community. Anyone is entitled to reject what the flag represents or to disagree with Reform Judaism, but that disagreement does not confer authority over another congregation’s place of worship.

By entering the synagogue and removing the flag, those responsible turned disapproval into action. Through trespass and intimidation, they sought to determine which symbols the congregation would be permitted to place in its own sanctuary.

The overnight break-in was not an isolated incident. Vandals had previously smashed a window, damaged artwork, and removed Pride flags from the building. During Rosh Hashanah, a group of youths threw eggs at worshipers arriving for services. It has not been established that the same people were responsible for each episode, but the repeated targeting requires a response proportionate to the pattern, rather than the treatment of each incident as minor mischief.

Belleville presents a separate responsibility. Police said the gunman fired first at the officer securing the synagogue, prompting him and a second officer to return fire. The gunman and the first officer were seriously wounded, while none of the worshipers inside was physically harmed. The congregation subsequently canceled its remaining Yom Kippur services.

Jewish worship under threat even in Israel

The duty to protect Jewish worship does not end when it takes place in a Jewish state. In Jerusalem, Jewish authorities must protect a Jewish congregation whose religious choices some other Jews reject.

The identities of those responsible for the Yom Kippur break-in remain unknown. During Rosh Hashanah, however, the youths who threw eggs were described as Jewish and wore kippot, and the pattern has centered on a Reform synagogue, its worshipers, and its Pride flags. Authorities must treat those incidents as repeated targeting and identify those responsible.

Belleville and Jerusalem require different investigations, but the public obligation is the same. Canadian authorities must determine why the gunman opened fire and ensure that the synagogue can reopen safely, while Israeli authorities must prevent hostility within Jewish society from restricting how another Jewish community worships.

In both countries, protection should not depend on officials sharing the congregation’s beliefs.

Jewish sovereignty cannot mean protecting Jews only from religious hostility outside of Israel – it must also preserve disagreement within the Jewish community in Israel and ensure that no group can enforce its definition of legitimate Judaism through trespass or intimidation.

Yom Kippur does not make Jewish communities identical; rather, it shows why their different ways of praying must all be protected.