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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he and other European leaders plan to travel to the United States in September to lobby US President Donald Trump to let Ukraine access some of its Patriot air defense missile stocks ahead of the winter, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing an interview.

“I’m looking forward to going to New York in September,” Burnham told Bloomberg.

“I’ve not fully confirmed the details yet but it’s likely I will go, particularly after today’s discussion,” Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

Ukraine independence celebrations marked by world leaders in Kyiv

The leaders of Britain and France pledged to provide Ukraine with stronger military support, including access to classified technology and faster deliveries of air defense missiles, at a meeting of allies to mark Kyiv’s independence day celebrations.

Burnham, in Kyiv on his first foreign visit since taking office last month, urged the gathering of the “Coalition of the Willing” to “do everything we can” to bolster Ukraine’s defenses against Russian air strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier praised the resilience of the Ukrainian people during more than four years of war.

At the United Nations in New York, dozens of countries issued a joint statement reaffirming support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and urging Russia to accept an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire.

Ukraine acquires tech to make Storm Shadow missiles

“Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia would not halt its aggression even if Ukraine ceded to its demands for more territory in the country’s east.

Wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, Zelensky thanked foreign leaders for traveling to Kyiv to show their support on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s break from the Soviet Union.

Standing alongside Zelensky and European Council President Antonio Costa, Burnham said his choice of Kyiv for his first foreign visit showed the importance he attached to assisting in Ukraine’s defense.

“We are with you in this struggle all the way, heart and soul,” Burnham said, vowing to continue that support “despite Russia’s outrageous threats to my country.”

“This is the moment to keep up the pressure on Russia. The moment to squeeze their ability to fund this illegal war,” Burnham said, calling for further economic sanctions.

Britain announced on Monday it would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, capable of carrying out strikes deep within Russia. France has already given its assent to license the technology for the European missile.

In response, the Kremlin said the use of classified British technology would “add fuel to the fire” of their worsening relations, after it warned London last week there would be “consequences” for supplying drones to Kyiv.

With Russia escalating its ballistic missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, Kyiv is suffering an acute shortage of the US-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing such missiles.

Zelensky said Ukraine needed at least 300 interceptors to make it through the winter, and he appealed to allies to deliver an air defense package before Russia renews its strikes on his country’s energy infrastructure.

French President Emmanuel Macron, co-chairing the coalition meeting via video link, said that a string of deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks had shown that allies needed to step up the deliveries of interceptors and France would do its part.

“I think it’s very important that all of us accelerate in terms of delivery,” Macron told the meeting, urging countries not to back down in the face of Russian intimidation. “The bottom line is, for me, very clear: keep calm and carry on.”

Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine’s war effort was complicated by a $27-billion defense funding gap this year and appealed for additional financial support. He suggested that Russia’s frozen overseas assets could be used to finance the deficit.

Paying tribute to Ukrainian people and soldiers defending Ukraine in the war, Zelensky called on allies to give it “everything” needed to stop the war.

“We are not asking you to fight for us,” he said.

In a joint statement, more than 50 countries at the UN called on Russia to accept an unconditional ceasefire. “This senseless war and the immense human suffering could end immediately,” the statement said.

“Russia simply needs to accept the unconditional ceasefire that Ukraine and the international community has been calling for for over a year and a half now.”

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Western countries of using Ukraine as a tool for exerting pressure on Moscow while falsely portraying themselves as peace advocates.

Drone demonstration marked celebrations

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and swathes of Ukrainian territory have been laid waste, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

US-led peace talks to bring a lasting end to the war fell apart earlier this year as Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede more territory. Fighting continues along a 750-mile (1,200-km) front line and Ukraine has succeeded in bringing Russian advances overall to a virtual halt this year.

Hovering in the sky above Kyiv, a squadron of aerial drones carried out a demonstration of Ukrainian military technology, which has helped to keep Russian forces in check.

Naval drones swept along the Dnipro river, while unmanned ground vehicles, some equipped with heavy machine guns, trundled in formation along one of the city’s main historical avenues.

Ukraine has increased its long-range attacks on Russian refineries and logistics infrastructure, aimed at undermining Moscow’s war effort.

It hit four logistics hubs owned by Russia’s second-largest online retailer Ozon in southern Russia in drone strikes on Monday, the company said.

In a somber moment, the Ukrainian leader rewarded fallen soldiers with state awards, which he presented to their mothers and family members.

He also announced the return of 10 Ukrainian servicemen, who were previously listed as missing in action, as part of a special prisoner exchange with Russia.

“We remember each and every one who remains in captivity,” Zelensky said, promising to do everything possible to bring them home.

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An ancient burial cave was discovered beneath a building by Border Police officers operating in the Silwan neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem, Israel Police announced on Monday.

Police called the find into the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), which sent over personnel to properly survey the site. 

Preliminary investigations by the IAA indicate that the burials date back to the Second Temple period, between 516 BCE to 70 CE. Other archaeological artifacts were also found within the cave.

Israel and Border Police are securing the area in coordination with the IAA, in order to continue studying the findings as required.

The discovery came as part of police’s ongoing investigations into the violent clash between two feuding families in Silwan that occurred over the weekend and led to the deaths of three people.

One person was killed in the incident, while two others were shot by police after posing as “active threats” to the responding officers.

According to police, the two were wielding blunt instruments, blades, and Molotov cocktails.

‘Bodies piling up at police station’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday said that when he told the media that the public was quick to count those shot during police activity as deaths that occurred as part of Arab sector violence in Israel, “the media was quick to shout: Fake!”

“So here it is: All night long the left-wing media reported on ‘three murdered,’ cried about ‘bodies piling up at the police station,’ and asked, ‘Where are the police?’ And the truth? Two of them threw stones and Molotov cocktails and were shot by our heroic police officers during the incident! This is exactly the mind games I was talking about,” he said.

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Channel 12’s mandate poll, published Monday evening, shows Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a head-to-head matchup over who is more suitable to serve as prime minister. The poll also shows Yashar ranking as the largest party in the Knesset, with 24 seats.

According to the poll, Yashar, led by Eisenkot, would receive 24 seats if elections were held today. Netanyahu’s Likud would receive 22 seats, Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party would receive 15 seats, and Yair Golan’s Democrats would receive 11 seats.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu and Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit would each receive 9 seats, according to the poll. United Torah Judaism would receive 8 seats, the Joint List would receive 7 seats, Shas would receive 7 seats, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party would receive 4 seats, and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am would receive 4 seats.

Three parties would fail to pass Israel’s electoral threshold, according to the poll: Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein’s Unity party, and the party led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel.

The bloc breakdown based on the results shows the coalition bloc with 50 seats, the opposition with 59 seats, and Arab parties with 11 seats.

Eisenkot beats Netanyahu in PM favorability metric, Arab parties remain at 11 seats

The poll also examined a scenario in which Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, who is expected to announce the formation of a new party on Tuesday, runs in the election. In this scenario, Likud loses one seat, Bennett’s B’Yachad gains one seat, and Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party falls below the electoral threshold, similar to a Kan News mandate poll published Sunday.

Under that scenario, the bloc distribution would shift, with the coalition falling to 49 seats, the opposition rising to 60 seats, and Arab parties remaining with 11 seats.

Eisenkot also holds an advantage over Netanyahu when respondents were asked who is better suited to serve as prime minister. In a direct matchup between the two, 44% of respondents said Eisenkot was more suitable for the position, compared to 34% who chose Netanyahu.

In a matchup against Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu received 37% support as the more suitable candidate for prime minister, compared to 39% for Bennett. Against Avigdor Liberman, Netanyahu received 35% support, compared to 28% for Lieberman.

In the remaining scenarios, respondents answered either “don’t know” or “neither.”

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US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

The report cited State Department documents obtained by AP and two US officials.

Earlier on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau alleged on X/Twitter that the American immigration system “has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims.”

People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their “race, religion, nationality,… pic.twitter.com/fNHbj1SsIX

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) August 24, 2026

If the move materialized, it would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in US history, according to AP.

The State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, the report added, saying the action will be coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security.

Those with pending cases could be re-categorized

The B1 and B2 visas are issued for business and tourism ​travel.

The visa revocations would not necessarily result in immediate deportation, the AP report said, citing officials.

Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be re-categorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, the report said.

The DHS referred questions to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The State Department said earlier this month it has revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals under the Trump administration.

Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown that he says is aimed at improving domestic security.

Rights groups ​say the crackdown has violated free speech and due process ​rights and ⁠created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir delivered separate statements on Monday evening after the discovery of the Altalena, the ship sunk off Israel’s coast during the War of Independence, with the event overshadowed by a dispute between the two coalition partners over credit for the discovery.

After Ben-Gvir issued a statement about the discovery without crediting Netanyahu, the prime minister avoided a joint appearance and photo with the minister, instead delivering his remarks alone outside the museum.

According to Maariv, the two had been expected to make a joint statement, and decided at the last minute to separate. 

Associates of Ben-Gvir said that “the prime minister’s conduct shows his intention to go with [Gadi] Eisenkot. Ben-Gvir was good for him for four years, and now, of all times, to return to boycotts and avoid even taking a picture with him?! This is exactly what they did to Menachem Begin, and it is regrettable that the prime minister is behaving this way toward a coalition partner.”

Netanyahu’s press conference was held at the Etzel Museum following the discovery of the shipwreck. The prime minister said he intends to raise the Altalena from the depths of the sea and turn it into “a tangible symbol” for current and future generations, centered on the message: “Civil war, never again!”

“Civil war, never! That was the heartfelt call of Etzel commander Menachem Begin,” Netanyahu continued. “He stood here on the shore, not far from here, and he said these words following David Ben-Gurion’s tragic decision to open fire on the rescue ship ‘Altalena.’”

The prime minister said that “the ship brought significant weapons for our soldiers during the War of Independence. But instead of unloading these vital weapons, the ‘Haganah’ members on the shore opened a barrage of fire on the ‘Altalena’ that claimed the lives of 16 Etzel fighters and three IDF soldiers.”

Netanyahu said that every year since then, Altalena supporters have gathered for a memorial ceremony honoring those who fell and their comrades who later died in the War of Independence.

“They were not bitter; they did not say, ‘They opened fire on us, we will not fight.’ They went and fought together with their comrades in the ‘Haganah’ in the ranks of the IDF during the War of Independence.”

He added: “From the ranks of the IDF during the War of Independence, I come to this ceremony and salute them,” saying that “in recent years, something absurd has happened. During the ceremony, I hear calls of incitement against us by political rivals standing outside the ceremony and simply desecrating it. Have they not learned the lesson? We are brothers, political rivals, but we are brothers, sons of one nation with one future and one destiny.”

The prime minister also said that in recent years he had asked education ministers to include the Altalena story in the curriculum.

‘Today, finally, after 78 years, we have located the ship’

Netanyahu added that he had also worked to preserve Israel’s historical heritage, saying he established the Heritage Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2009 and later set as a goal the search for the Altalena. He said an initial search effort was carried out in 2011 together with the Begin Center, but failed to locate the ship, before the search was renewed in 2019 with a dedicated budget and based on the diary of the ship’s captain, Emanuel Fein.

“Today, finally, after 78 years, we have located the ship after it sank into the depths,” Netanyahu said.

“I congratulate Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and all the people who took part in this operation. This is a moving moment, a warming moment. Off the coast of Tel Aviv, the Altalena went up in flames. This is the great lesson of the Altalena: division is weakness and unity is strength. The unity among us is broader than it appears. Therefore, we must establish a broad national government.”

Netanyahu described the discovery as a historic moment, saying: “Off the coast of Tel Aviv, the Altalena went up in flames; off the coast of Tel Aviv, brothers fell by the hands of brothers. But precisely out of the infernal fire, burst forth the immortal cry of the commander of the Etzel, Menachem Begin of blessed memory, to stop the firing that was taking place, to stop the entire course of the battle, because we will not go to a civil war.”

‘Against our enemies, we do not hesitate’

Ben-Gvir later gave his own statement to the media.

“The Altalena is not just a ship. It is a symbol of the national camp that for years they tried to boycott, silence, and remove from legitimacy. Menachem Begin knew what persecution by brothers meant, what a boycott meant, and what it feels like when they try to disqualify you and the camp you represent. And yet, precisely at the most difficult moment, he established one principle above all: We are brothers. There will be no civil war,” he said.

Ben-Gvir further said that for decades, “they tried to bury the story of the Altalena, remove it from the pages of history, and erase the legacy of the heroes who fought and fell. The search for the ship’s remains is not only an operation to locate remains in the depths of the sea. For us, this is a moral and values-based obligation. Sixteen heroic Etzel fighters fell aboard it, and the remains that were discovered are part of their memorial and their legacy.”

The minister added that the discovery also represented a personal closing of a circle for him.

“My mother, Shoshana, may she rest in peace, was a proud Etzel fighter. In the home where I grew up, I absorbed stories of heroism, but also stories of persecution and discrimination,” he said.

“The lesson of the Altalena is true today as well: Against our enemies, we do not hesitate, we do not show mercy, and we are not confused, but strike them with all our might. But within our own people, even when there are deep disagreements, the testament of Begin is clear: Jews, in all their forms, are brothers. There will be no civil war.”

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A protest speaker said that Zionists rape, kill, and eat children, and he invoked other conspiracy theories at a demonstration in the Jewish neighborhood of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto yesterday.

Video footage of the speech was shared on social media by the X/Twitter account Leviathan, identifying it as taking place at a pro-Palestine protest that took place yesterday.

University instructor “Dr.” Abbas Hamze decided to take time from his busy schedule to make a speech at the Jewish neighborhood of Bathurst & Sheppard where he talked about Jews being kicked out of every country, their “black magic”, and how they rape, kill & eat children under… https://t.co/kePjuWZdr0 pic.twitter.com/AhcazwhI3T

— Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) August 23, 2026

Leviathan is an X account dedicated, in its words, to naming “Jihadists, Antisemites, Anarchists & other threats. Using OSINT [open-source intelligence] to notify for Public Interest” in Canada.

According to the account, the speaker is a Toronto-based university instructor and faculty lecturer named Abbas Hamze.

Speaker invokes antisemitic conspiracy theories at Toronto protest

The video captures a speaker telling an audience, “The British colonizers have planted this cancerous, this cancerous, false Zionist state of Israel. It’s Falasteen [Palestine].”

He asserted, “These Zionists have never had a country of their own because of their mischief; they are the most kicked-out people in the world for making black magic and horrible things.”

He further said, “We can see the corruption crystal clear in the Epstein Island where they have seduced leaders from all around the world, including Trump. They have raped and killed and eaten children at the same time. They have done the unimaginable to blackmail them and control them.”

In a separate post on X from May, Leviathan wrote, “Hamze is a Master Sessional & Master of Data Analytics Instructor with University of Niagara Falls, a Faculty Lecturer at Georgian College, and a College Lecturer for Conestoga College.”

“Dr.” Abbas Hamze is a Master Sessional & Master of Data Analytics Instructor with University of Niagara Falls @unfcan, a Faculty Lecturer at @georgiancollege, and a College Lecturer for @ConestogaC.

When not teaching impressionable minds at universities, Abbas Hamze can be seen… pic.twitter.com/clFJIvFwbo

— Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) May 25, 2026

It added, “Abbas Hamze also calls for the kidnapping of Israeli hostages, stating that ‘Hamas has the right to take hostages on October 7th 2023,’ while also claiming ‘Hezbollah has the right to assist Hamas on October 8th,’” Leviathan wrote, citing alleged social media posts by Hamze.

Leviathan said that the Toronto Police Service had provided Hamze with “an armed escort” as he “protests at Jewish neighborhoods, schools, and synagogues” and that he “came to Canada from France in August of 2022 & is not believed to be a Canadian citizen.”

Referring to accompanying screenshots alleged to be from Hamze’s social media posts, Leviathan added, “Abbas Hamze has also been pictured holding up flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this Jewish neighborhood while also writing, ‘We will continue the path of Imam Khamenei, no matter how many sacrifices are made, and his pure blood will bear the inevitable victory.’”

B’nai Brith calls on Toronto Police to investigate

Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s director of Research and Advocacy, said in a statement to The Jerusalem Post, “The ongoing anti-Israel protests at Bathurst and Sheppard continue to be a source of hate and incitement.

“Incidents such as those which occurred this weekend are the result of the permissive environment that has been created at the intersection since October 7, 2023. Antisemitism is becoming normalized on Toronto’s streets.”

He added, “When classical antisemitic tropes, such as that Jews use ‘black magic’ and eat children, are broadcast in public using a megaphone, there is no ambiguity. It is the wilful promotion and public incitement of hate.

“Toronto Police must investigate the incident as such and hold those responsible accountable. They must also reexamine their approach to protests at Bathurst and Sheppard; there must be a zero tolerance for turning our streets into platforms from which to incite and promote hatred.”

Recurring Toronto protests draw scrutiny amid antisemitism concerns

The demonstration took place amid heightened tensions surrounding recurring protests at the Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West intersection.

These regular rallies in the heavily Jewish residential neighborhood have drawn intense community concern and scrutiny, leading to multiple police interventions and the recent arrest of activists, including two individuals detained by the Toronto Police Service on charges of the willful promotion of hatred and public incitement of hatred.

Ongoing hate propaganda investigations stem from demonstrations earlier in the year when suspects allegedly retrieved antisemitic signs from a storage locker before marching toward counter-protesters while shouting derogatory slurs.

In recent months, there has been a broader national surge in antisemitic attacks targeting Jewish and Israeli institutions across Canada.

According to reports and tracking data released by advocacy groups such as B’nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), violent offenses have risen sharply, marked by high-profile episodes such as targeted shootings and vandalism at Jewish-owned commercial establishments like branches of Toronto’s Kiva’s Bagel Bar, gunfire incidents directed at Jewish schools, and a suspected arson attack targeting the kosher establishment Nöam restaurant in Montreal.

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The Munich Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed the case involving an until-now-unsolved antisemitic arson attack on a Jewish community center after 56 years.

This was confirmed to The Jerusalem Post by the Munich Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Munich Police Headquarters on Monday.

On the evening of 13 February 1970, the building of the Jewish Community of Munich at 27 Reichenbachstraße in Munich, which was also a retirement home, was set alight using a petrol mixture.

Seven Jewish residents, survivors of the Holocaust, died as a result of the arson attack. A further 15 people were injured, four of them seriously.

Following a new tip-off from the public, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office reopened the investigation in April 2025, after the Federal Public Prosecutor had previously closed the case in 2017.

A witness provided the prosecutor with credible information about the suspect. According to this information, the suspect had been in close contact with one of her relatives in the 1970s. The suspect then died in 2020.

Shortly after this relative’s death, the informant revealed what she knew about the matter.

In order to verify the suspicion, investigators from the Munich Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Security Division of the Munich Police Headquarters examined the archived files of the Munich I Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, and interviewed witnesses from the suspect’s circle.

According to the findings of the new investigations, the prosecutor said there are compelling grounds for believing that the (deceased) suspect was the perpetrator.

Investigators link deceased suspect to far-right circles

At the time, the suspect was a 25-year-old German man. On the evening of 13 February 1970, he is said to have remarked, in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene and with a view of the Jewish retirement home, that ‘the Jews have everything’ and that he wanted to ‘set them on fire’.

About 15 minutes later, the building was engulfed in flames. This information is based on the credible statement of the informant, who in turn was repeating the remarks made by her deceased relative. Other family members confirm these remarks.

The prosecutor subsequently found that the suspect was linked to far-right circles. Witnesses described him as an antisemite with a ‘Hitler obsession’. In his youth, he is said to have listened to Hitler’s speeches on records and practiced shooting in the former ‘Führer’s restricted area at Obersalzberg’.

A former schoolmate described the suspect’s hostility towards Jews as a defining characteristic.

A headteacher highlighted what they said was “a coldly calculating, attention-seeking manner” and reported a physical altercation during which the suspect is alleged to have used a dagger given to him by his father, which had belonged to the Hitler Youth.

Furthermore, the offender profile drawn up by the Bavarian Operational Case Analysis Unit on behalf of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office matches the deceased suspect. Overall, the prosecutor said the new investigations strongly suggest that the suspect was responsible.

Death of suspect leaves case without prosecution

However, it is not possible to reach a definitive legal conclusion, because prosecution is not legally possible in Germany against defendants who have already died.

Nevertheless, the investigation has not revealed any reliable evidence of the involvement of other individuals, and as such the Munich Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed the investigation.

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The US State Department on Monday removed Syria from its list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, according to a notification from the US Treasury Department, in a move that was first announced earlier this year, pending a review by Congress.

The designation as a state sponsor of terrorism carries restrictions on US foreign assistance, defense exports and certain financial transactions.

Monday’s announcement also removed the designation of the Nusrah Front as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization.

This is a developing story.

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Teachers Union Secretary-General Yaffa Ben-David spoke on 103FM ahead of the start of the school year on Sunday, discussing the state of Israel’s education system and the growing shortage of teachers.

“According to our estimates, the system is currently short by nearly 5,000 teachers,” Ben-David noted. “If we do not develop a strategic plan and continue to rely on slogans, we will see more people leaving the profession.”

She questioned, “Where will we find new teachers? First and foremost, we need to transform the education system into a place where people want to work.”

Ben-David noted that the teacher shortage reflects a broader global trend but urged that urgent attention is needed for Israel’s education system. 

Loss of ‘a sense of mission’ in teachers

“In the past, people joined the teaching profession out of a sense of mission and trained to be educators. Today, however, it’s different, and this issue is widespread. You can see it in almost every country. It’s not just in teaching, but across various workplaces. Education is the heart of the State of Israel, and we need to direct our best and most qualified individuals to it.”

“If we do not address the deep-rooted problems, the situation will only worsen,” Ben-David warned. 

Ben-David also stressed the need to tackle issues such as violence, the special education law, and the support, trust, and authority granted to principals and teaching teams in the system. 

“Inclusion is a valuable, important, and moral objective, but the key is how we implement it.” She said.

She also addressed the issue of special education, stating, “The solution is not simply to legislate a law, and this is the biggest mistake we have warned against. Whoever introduced the law only considered the immediate small issue, which cannot address something so substantial and important, and it caused the system to collapse.”

The issue of ‘parental interference’ 

Ben-David also discussed the issue of ‘parental interference’ in education circles. “We issued a new, historic director-general’s circular regarding the conduct between parents and education staff. Parents need to understand one thing: if you want quality educators to stay, you must give them the respect and treatment they deserve. They know what is best for the children.”

“The lack of training, where untrained individuals were brought in to fill the shortage, is problematic in itself.” She said, turning back to the issue of staff shortages.

“However, there are many excellent principals, kindergarten teachers, and educators who are trained and part of the system but receive disrespectful treatment from parents. Staff members’ time is valuable, and just as every person has working hours and private time, so should teachers.”

Regarding overcrowded classrooms and the burden placed on educators, she remarked, “This situation is not normal, and it has persisted because we have been warning about it for decades. We said there would be issues within the system in kindergartens and schools, and many dismissed our concerns.”

“It is important to understand that salary is crucial, but on its own it will not resolve the teacher shortage. We need to provide fair salaries, status, and working conditions. Compared to OECD countries, we have many teaching hours in crowded classrooms and kindergartens. How can we expect better results? Teachers are not magicians,” according to Ben-David.

“I have to ask, where are the parents? Where is their leadership? All day, your leadership only responds to what I say. Why don’t you, as the parents’ leadership, take a stand and advocate for reducing the number of students in kindergartens?” she criticized.

‘The Finance Ministry has no understanding of education’

Regarding the need for a council to coordinate efforts within the education system, she stated, “I can identify the real and pressing issues in the education system, including the central problem that there is no strategic plan. I support establishing a national public council for the education system, which would include professors from academia, field professionals, and representatives from teachers’ organizations, to prepare a strategic plan that will not depend on one minister or another.”

“I am committed to fighting for this cause, and it is essential to keep the public education system under state control. There are several systems that should remain with the state, and the education system is at the top of that list. We cannot shift responsibility onto someone else and replace one authority with another,” she added.

“Since when has the Finance Ministry been the one determining education policy?” Ben-David questioned. “ Where have we ended up? Let them focus on the real problems facing the country. They have no understanding of education; it is a paradox.”

“Since 2022, there has been an agreement, and personal contracts are not the solution to the teacher shortage. We need to address the real issues deeply, not seek cosmetic solutions,” she said.

In closing, Ben-David encouraged education teams and students excited to start the school year to welcome everyone with love and dedication.

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The Movement for Quality Government in Israel on Sunday demanded that the Second Authority Council, which regulates Israel’s commercial television and radio, clarify what steps it plans to take when an extension granted to Channel 14 to relocate its news operations to Jerusalem expires at the end of August.

The request was sent to the chairman of the Second Authority Council, the authority’s acting director-general and its legal adviser, seeking clarification on the authority’s planned response after the extension period ends.

At the center of the dispute is a provision in the Second Authority Law requiring that the headquarters of a news operation be located in Jerusalem. Under the law, a holder of a small-scale broadcasting license was granted a three-year exemption from this requirement. In Channel 14’s case, the exemption period ended in February 2026.

Despite this, the Second Authority Council decided on July 7 to delay enforcement of the requirement until either the passage of the new Communications (Broadcasting) Law or the end of August 2026, whichever comes first.

The Movement for Quality Government argued that the decision effectively granted an additional extension after the statutory exemption had already expired, and said it was unclear what legal authority allowed such a move.

Dispute over enforcement of Jerusalem requirement

The Second Authority justified its decision, among other reasons, by citing progress in legislation of the new communications law, as well as the costs and complexity involved in relocating the news operation to Jerusalem. The movement, however, argued that provisions in the proposed law that could change the current situation have not yet taken effect, after their implementation was frozen as part of petitions currently being heard by the High Court of Justice.

According to the movement, as long as the existing provisions of the Second Authority Law remain in force, a future arrangement that has not yet taken effect cannot justify avoiding enforcement of the current requirements. The organization said Channel 14 continues to broadcast from Modi’in and, to the best of its knowledge, has not taken steps to move its news operation to Jerusalem.

The request follows a series of previous appeals by the Movement for Quality Government regarding the Second Authority’s conduct toward Channel 14. Among other issues, the movement previously claimed that the channel had not yet submitted its 2025 revenue data, which it said was necessary to complete an examination of whether the channel remains eligible to be considered a “small-scale license holder” and continue receiving the benefits associated with that status.

The movement is now demanding that the Second Authority explain how it intends to act after the current extension ends at the end of the month. If the authority considers granting the channel another extension, the movement requested details of the legal basis for such a decision and the considerations behind it.

Movement threatens further legal action

The movement requested a unified response to all of its inquiries by August 31, 2026, and said that if no response is received by that date, it will consider further legal action, including an appeal to the relevant courts.

Attorney Yaniv Goldberg, head of the economic department at the Movement for Quality Government, said: “The law established a clear and time-limited exemption period, and it ended already in February. As long as the provisions of the existing law remain in force, the authority is obligated to enforce them.”

“When this is combined with the failure to provide the revenue data required to examine Channel 14’s status, there is a serious concern that the provisions of the law are not being enforced against the channel as required. The Second Authority is a regulatory body, and its role is to enforce the law equally, consistently, and in accordance with the powers granted to it by law,” he added.

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Minors in Israel are being lured into criminal activities, recruited into gangs, and arrested or detained by police at an increasing rate, N12 News reported on Thursday.

“For an expensive night at a club and a hotel stay with all the luxuries, there are boys today who will be willing to cooperate and do whatever is required of them,” one figure close to criminal organizations told N12.

“There are teenagers who are really excited to be close to well-known figures in criminal organizations. They want to be there. For them, being part of a criminal organization gives you a feeling that you belong to something, that you have their back, that you are no longer just a kid from the neighborhood.”

According to N12, detention of minors has risen by approximately 23% each year, while indictments have risen by around 27%.

Police officers speaking to N12 said that, in many cases, adult gang members intentionally take advantage of minors’ willingness to commit crimes for relatively little reward.

“Restaurants, a few thousand shekels, entertainment, vacation. There are those who would be willing to kill for a vacation in Eilat.”

The advantage of taking on young gang members

This is extremely beneficial for the adult gang members, an investigator said. Younger gang members are less likely to be recognized by police, and can more easily carry out gang activity without attracting attention. If the operation goes south, the children are the ones who get caught most often, while the adults are left in the background, relatively free of police hassle.

Investigators told N12 how minors have become more aware of interrogation procedures and more difficult to get answers from.

“There used to be a perception that you would stop a child, separate him from his friends, and he would panic and tell everything,” they described. “Today you can find yourself with several 14- or 15-year-old boys who know exactly what happened, and they all remain silent or tell you almost the same thing: ‘I don’t know, I didn’t see, I didn’t hear.'”

‘Sophistication, silence, and lack of cooperation’

“You see a middle school student in front of you, but sometimes it feels like you are sitting in front of the head of a criminal organization,” a senior investigator told N12. “The level of sophistication, the silence, the lack of cooperation. He knows what not to say; he knows not to bring his friends into the incident. He knows when to shut up. Sometimes you talk to him about a shocking act, and there is no mercy, no conscience. He doesn’t even seem to understand what he did or why you are shocked by him.”

Police noted that they came up against these issues while investigating the murder of 19-year-old Benayahu Razi, who was stabbed to death in a Jerusalem Airbnb in July. As a result of the investigation, two young adults and four minors aged approximately 15 to 17 were charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Maya Zanger-Shamir contributed to this report.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called on voters not to support emerging small parties on the Right, warning that splitting the right-wing vote could cost his camp the election and allow the opposition bloc to form the next government.

Netanyahu’s statement came a day ahead of the reported launch of a new right-wing party led by Brig.-Gen. (res.) Ofir Winter, which polling suggests could take votes from parties in Netanyahu’s current coalition.

The prime minister’s statement also came as Arab-Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad officially registered a new right-wing party under the name “Brave Israel” on Monday.

Netanyahu warns small parties will ‘burn’ right-wing votes

“We must not establish these splinter parties that will only burn our votes,” Netanyahu said.

“It’s like taking your votes… and throwing them in the trash. In the trash. You burned them,” he added.

Netanyahu also claimed that voters choosing the small right-wing parties would cause the Left to come to power.

“Then [Yashar party leader Gadi] Eisenkot’s party will rise, together with [Democrats party leader] Yair Golan, together with [Ra’am party leader] Mansour Abbas, and with [Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor] Liberman, who always goes along with them.”

“And what they will do here immediately, immediately, is buy, sell, and carry out a fire sale of the country.”

Netanyahu accused opposition party leaders of planning to “impose a fascist regime” in the country.

“You won’t be able to speak, you won’t be able to go to concerts; everyone will have to be the same. They’ll shut down the internet, shut down Channel 14,” he said.

“And that will be a disaster, a diplomatic disaster, an internal disaster, and a disaster for true democracy.”

“And this can be prevented. The only way to prevent it is, first of all, to say: ‘Don’t vote for these small parties.’ We cannot allow these splinter parties to remain.”

“You are wasting your vote. It simply guarantees the rise of the Left, and that would be a disaster for Israel,” he added.

New right-wing parties seek dissatisfied voters

Amid tensions over the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft issue that rose during the current government’s term, new small right-wing parties have recently emerged, voicing dissatisfaction with the existing right-wing parties in Netanyahu’s coalition: Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel’s Zionist Home-The Reservists and Gilad Erdan’s Unity Party.

The two parties, both hovering near the electoral threshold, have been informally called the Third Bloc and say they aim to provide a “political home” for right-wing voters who feel no existing party reflects their beliefs.

An additional party in the Third Bloc includes the Israel First party, led by MK Sharren Haskel, which recently incorporated Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst who was jailed for spying for Israel.

Reports have also emerged of potential mergers and alliances among the Third Bloc parties.

Poll shows potential Winter alliance winning five seats

Ahead of Winter’s expected party launch on Tuesday, a Sunday KAN News poll found that a party led by Winter could cross the electoral threshold if he were to form an alliance with Haddad and other prominent figures.

According to the poll, such an alliance could win five seats, largely at the expense of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party, which would fall beneath the electoral threshold.

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Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B’Yachad Party, said on Monday that a government he leads would declare a national state of emergency in the country’s education system and take action to address a shortage of more than 30,000 teachers.

Bennett is one of the leading figures in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in elections scheduled for October 27.

He made the remarks at TheMarker’s education conference, stating that the current government that “abandoned security also abandoned Israel’s children.”

“If I were prime minister, I would declare a national state of emergency in the education system and address the shortage of more than 30,000 teachers,” he said.

He pledged that in the country’s next government his party will “establish one state education system for all of Israel’s children.”

“All Israeli children will study a common core of Hebrew, English, mathematics, civics, Bible studies, and Zionism.”

“Anyone who does not study the common Israeli core curriculum will not receive a single shekel from the state. If it’s not Zionist, it won’t be on my dime.”

“There will be one education system for one people,” he added.

Bennett’s push for shared national foundation through new education system

Bennett has previously outlined education plans that he said aim to create a shared national foundation, rather than continuing with the current system.

Under his past proposal, all students would be required to spend 60% of their studies on a core curriculum that includes Hebrew, English, mathematics, civics, Torah studies, and Zionist heritage.

Individual communities and schools would determine the remaining 40% of studies.

Bennett has said that a government led by him would cut state funding to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) educational institutions that do not teach core curriculum studies and halt funding to haredim who evade service. 

The B’Yachad Party leader has also said that one of his first priorities in the next government would be establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 Hamas massacre.

In April, Bennett formed a political alliance with opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party.  

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At the heart of the national security equation of Israel and the Jewish people lies a strategic triangle of immense value. One side is the relationship between Israel and the United States; the second, the relationship between American Jewry and the US administration; the third, the relationship between Israel and American Jewry.

For years, Israeli governments understood the dynamics among these three sides and what those dynamics required, including preserving bipartisan support for Israel and nurturing solidarity with American Jewry in all its diversity.

After many years in which this strategic triangle proved to be a vital force multiplier, troubling cracks are now appearing and deepening.

Every Israeli government must keep one fact firmly in mind: Israel has no great-power ally other than the United States.

Our great advantage is that the United States is home to a remarkable, prosperous and influential Jewish community.

Its influence is far greater than its small share of the American population would suggest. American Jews play prominent roles in government, academia, business, the media, law and culture. They are well organized and leave a significant imprint on policy, public narratives and social norms.

In today’s polarized America, preserving bipartisan support has become increasingly difficult. Yet Netanyahu, rather than navigating sensitively between the two political camps, chose to align himself with the Republican camp, helping turn Israel from a consensual issue into a partisan one, while alienating the majority of American Jews, who hold liberal views.

Three illusions weakening Israel’s strategic relationships

To rebuild the triangle, we must first rid ourselves of three illusions.

The illusion of Hasbara (Public Diplomacy). Campaigns portraying Israel as a “strategic asset”, a “front-line outpost against radical Islam”, or the “Start-Up Nation” are searching for the coin under the streetlamp.

The coin, however, was lost elsewhere, at the substantive points of friction. Israel’s government is increasingly perceived as undermining democratic norms, offering no political horizon on the Palestinian issue, and widening the values gap with liberal and younger Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.

The illusion of symmetry. There is no symmetry in the Israel-US relationship. We are the ones existentially dependent on the United States for weapons, diplomatic vetoes, legal backing, and economic support.

Arrogant conduct, bypassing the administration, and publicly confronting American presidents are perceived in Washington as impudence, and they accelerate the erosion of support for Israel.

The illusion that “nobody understands America like Bibi”. While bipartisan support for Israel has collapsed, one need look no further than the test of recent events: Kushner, the son-in-law of Bibi’s loyal friend Donald Trump, was sent to Cairo to negotiate with… Hamas. So much for “understanding America”.

The next government must rebuild the triangle

If the coming elections produce a responsible government that is not hostage to the political blackmail of the far right and the ultra-Orthodox parties, a historic window of opportunity will open to rescue the strategic triangle.

Netanyahu’s departure alone would remove much of the personal baggage that has weakened it, but that would not be enough. The next government must take substantive initiatives.

First, it must demonstrate a willingness to chart a path toward resolving the Palestinian issue. The absence of any route toward ending the occupation is turning support for Israel into a political and moral burden, even for some of our closest friends.

Second, it must embrace the values of Israel’s Declaration of Independence: protection of the rule of law, separation of powers, judicial independence, individual and minority rights, and a constitution anchoring the rules of the democratic game.

Third, it must recognize Jewish pluralism as a component of national security, by implementing the Western Wall compromise and recognizing conversion and personal-status arrangements conducted by all streams of Judaism.

Beyond the intrinsic importance of these measures, why should we assume they would also strengthen support for Israel? Few organizations are as attuned to the American political pulse as AIPAC.

On its website, the lobby itself emphasizes precisely these attributes of Israel: democracy, equality before the law, human rights, pluralism, and even… the pursuit of a two-state solution. (Here is another example of why hasbara is doomed to fail: how can hasbara persuade when policy itself moves in the opposite direction?)

Repair requires policy change, not better PR

The next government must make repairing the triangle a top priority. It must recognize that this cannot be achieved through public relations or the supposed magic of more sophisticated hasbara. Repair does not depend on packaging but on substance – on a change of direction in Israel’s domestic and foreign policy.

If Israel changes in substance, not merely in its PR image, its standing will change as well, and the strategic triangle’s resilience will be restored.

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

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US threats to impose “the toughest sanctions in history” to force Iran to buckle to its demands after nearly six months of war have raised the prospect of a new round of escalation in the Gulf.

How could Iran respond to the economic pressure?

Can Iran stop more oil from leaving the Middle East?

Mohsen Rezaei, the former Revolutionary Guards chief and secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has already threatened to shut down oil exports — one of Tehran’s main strategic approaches since the war began on February 28.

“If the economic war continues, ⁠not a single drop of oil will be exported, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Persian Gulf,” he said.

Iranian attacks and threats to shipping have already stopped most traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, largely shutting down a waterway that carried around a fifth of global energy before the conflict.

Although some oil tankers have been moving through the strait in recent weeks, volumes remain very low and on Sunday Iran blacklisted 45 tankers it says failed to comply with the rules it wants to impose on Hormuz shipping.

Missile, drone or speedboat attacks on tankers trying to leave the Gulf have repeatedly pushed up oil prices during the six months of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Tehran’s Houthi allies have restricted Red Sea shipping with attacks and threats to blockade all Saudi Arabian shipping, which carries crude to Asia through the Bab el-Mandeb strait past the group’s Yemeni stronghold.

While the attacks initially stopped only some vessels, with more than half still getting through in mid-August, the situation is difficult for shippers, and Chinese shipping companies are now rerouting away from Bab el-Mandeb, according to industry sources.

Further attacks, such as the one that targeted a vessel off the main Saudi Red Sea oil terminal at Yanbu on Monday or a drone strike near the Suez Canal in early August, could raise oil market anxiety levels and crude oil prices.

Are Gulf states still at risk of an Iranian attack?

Iran has threatened to retaliate against any neighbors who take part in US efforts to strangle the country’s economy with “earthquake” force.

It has targeted Gulf states and Jordan repeatedly during the war, mostly focusing on US bases but also hitting energy infrastructure and other targets.

Any intensified attacks on upstream oil or gas facilities could further drive up energy prices in ways that inflict political damage on the Trump administration and may be harder to reverse than attacks on shipping.

Targeting power and water desalination plants in the hot, parched region would also pose a major risk to US-aligned Gulf monarchies that function as significant financial hubs for the global economy.

Can Iran attack Western countries directly?

While Western countries are beyond the range of Iran’s main munitions, the Revolutionary Guards have historically been willing to find alternative ways of attack.

On Monday, Britain said Iran-linked hackers had shut down a small electricity station, while US officials have said Tehran was likely behind cyberattacks on water plants in Minnesota. Iran has not commented on those allegations.

Western security services have also accused Iran of recruiting local people to stage attacks or attempt assassinations in the West. Iran has denied that.

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Iran tried to assassinate the son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the PM said during a phone call with Channel 14’s military correspondent Noam Amir, broadcast on Monday.

“This is an unbelievable case. Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to murder him, tried to murder one of my sons,” the PM stated.

“Is this part of the intelligence provided to you?” Amir asked.

“Iran tried to murder one of my sons. And this is why this promise [I am making] is more than a luxury – without it, they could succeed [in killing my son.] People need to show some restraint, especially during an election campaign,” Netanyahu replied.

“I spoke with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief [David Zini] and asked him to provide appropriate security to any prime ministerial candidate,” Netanyahu also said.

Shin Bet extends personal protection to Netanyahu family

In July, The Ministerial Committee for Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Affairs approved the granting of extended personal protection to Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, and their sons, Yair and Avner.

Netanyahu did not appear to say whether Yair or Avner was the target of Iran’s assassination attempt.

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Israel’s attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria last week did not end Israeli-Syrian diplomacy, as some initially feared. In fact, it may have accelerated it.

That does not mean the attack was without risk. Striking an airbase shortly after a Turkish delegation reportedly visited the site could have triggered a direct clash with Turkey on Syrian soil.

But the strike also concentrated minds. On Sunday, five days later, Mossad head Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met in Jordan for US-mediated talks aimed at lowering tensions and preventing another such incident.

The meeting was significant not only because of who attended, but because it marked the resumption of a diplomatic process suspended since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February.

According to reports, the talks dealt with reviving Israeli-Syrian security negotiations and preventing mounting Israeli-Turkish tensions from spilling over into Syrian territory.

The sides also reportedly discussed establishing a special operations or coordination room in Jordan under US supervision. Its purpose would be to provide a channel through which Israel, Syria and possibly Turkey could communicate and prevent misunderstandings from escalating into military confrontations.

That Turkey is now a central part of the Israeli-Syrian agenda is itself one consequence of the Abu al-Duhur attack, and something Jerusalem welcomes.

IDF strike placed Turkish involvement in Syria at international forefront

Before the strike, Ankara’s growing military involvement in Syria was largely treated as an issue between Turkey and Syria. Israel’s action placed it at the forefront of the international agenda. It served notice that Jerusalem views a Turkish military presence in Syria not as an internal Syrian issue, but as a potential threat to Israeli security.

Regardless of whether one accepts Israel’s intelligence assessment that Turkey was going to move weapons systems ad personnel into the airbase or Syria’s insistence that no Turkish base was planned, the danger is now impossible to ignore. Turkey is heavily invested in rebuilding and training Syria’s army, while Israel has now made clear that there are limits to the Turkish military presence it is willing to tolerate.

The choice of Jordan as the venue for the talks-and as the possible home of a deconfliction mechanism-is also telling.

Earlier rounds of Israeli-Syrian talks were held in places such as Paris and Baku, far from the region. Jordan, by contrast, borders both Israel and Syria and has a vested interest in preventing a possible war on its doorstep.

Jordan also offers an instructive reminder.

Diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Amman are cold and frequently confrontational, despite the peace treaty between the two countries.  The two governments disagree sharply and publicly over the Palestinians, Gaza, and Jerusalem. Yet beneath that political hostility, they maintain extensive security coordination because it benefits them both.

Israel and Syria are obviously in a different position: They remain formally at war and have no diplomatic relations. But Jordan demonstrates that political warmth is not a prerequisite for practical security coordination. That may be what Washington is seeking for Israel and Syria at this stage- not warm relations, certainly not a peace treaty, but a mechanism to prevent their disputes from repeatedly threatening to erupt into war.

Which is essentially what is currently on the table.

Damascus wants Israel to withdraw to the positions it held before the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in December 2024 and to restore the 1974 disengagement framework. It also rejects Israeli demands placing limits on the weapons systems it can introduce and the degree of military assistance it can accept from Turkey.

Israel, meanwhile, reportedly wants southern Syria to remain demilitarized, restrictions placed on Syrian weaponry, guarantees for the Druze, and an end to Turkish military activity in Syria.

Those positions remain far apart. Damascus sees Israeli demands as an infringement on its sovereignty, while Israel views Syria’s insistence on rebuilding its military with Turkish assistance as providing an open door for a very hostile regional power to establish itself on Israel’s northern border.

The talks in Jordan will not quickly bridge that gap. But they may help establish rules for managing it.

Diplomatic fallout from strike includes gains despite criticism

Israel may therefore have gained something diplomatically from the Abu al-Duhur strike, despite the fierce criticism it generated. Turkey’s military presence in Syria is now the subject of a US-mediated process, not merely an Israeli concern that Ankara and Damascus can easily dismiss.

But Israel must be careful not to overplay its hand.

A demand that there be no Turkish military activity anywhere in Syria is much more than either Damascus or Ankara is likely to accept. Syria regards Turkey as a critical partner in rebuilding the state after more than a decade of civil war. Ankara, meanwhile, has invested too much political, military, and economic capital in the new Syrian order to allow Israel an effective veto over its role there.

The more realistic objective would be clearly defined restrictions. This could mean no Turkish bases or state-of-the-art air defense systems in areas Israel considers vital to its national security; advance notice of significant deployments; and a dependable communications mechanism to prevent either side from misreading the other’s intentions.

The Abu al-Duhur strike did not resolve the problem. It did, however, make clear what is at stake and force the danger of an Israeli-Turkish collision directly onto the diplomatic agenda.

The bombs dropped on Abu al-Duhur’s runways, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterward, delivered a message that was not heeded via the established diplomatic channels. The Jordan talks will determine whether that message – so dramatically delivered – can now actually produce a workable arrangement.

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The IDF has assisted many thousands of Colombians to return to hospitals, schools, and hundreds of other structures partially damaged by the August 10 earthquake that Israeli experts have judged as sufficiently safe, Colombian delegation deputy chief IDF Col. Ehud Moyal told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

Many thousands of Colombians resided in some hundreds of buildings which initial evaluations by the combined Israeli-Colombian engineering teams have already established are stable, out of a much larger number of structures whose stability still needs to be reviewed, Moyal explained to the Post.

Moyal said that the Israeli delegation would return home in the coming days.

Speaking to the Post from Colombia, Moyal noted that the IDF has already handed over its artificial intelligence and other hi-tech systems to Colombia in recent days regarding the high volume of additional structures still needing to be checked.

The systems the IDF has provided will facilitate mapping out those structures which might be usable, as well as those that need to be demolished – along with how best to carry out demolition processes – and estimates on how long it could take for replacement structures to be built.

Many aspects of the systems are similar to the work carried out by the IDF in Venezuela in July, Moyal said.

The difference is that the Venezuela team consisted of some 35 staffers and engineers, whereas the Colombia team was larger, including over 80 staffers and engineers, with nearly half the team being dedicated to physical rescue attempts.

Venezuela did not request assistance despite larger disaster than Colombia

While the disaster in Venezuela was even larger than the one in Colombia, the government in Caracas did not request a rescue team from Israel, though Colombia did.

According to the IDF Colombia delegation deputy chief, part of the system Israel has provided to Colombia categorizes the structures and then defines them to be treated on different tracks based on the severity of the damage they have suffered.

IDF officials explained to the Post that the disaster management and evaluation systems are designed for intake, tracking, and analysis of harmed structures, especially in Cali, a city of over 2.3 million people.

Most IDF efforts were focused in Cali for over 10 days since shortly after August 13, when the Israeli and Colombian governments authorized deploying the Israeli disaster assistance team, Moyal noted.

In the initial stage, he said, the rescue teams went into action to try to extract any living or deceased persons from disaster areas where the Colombians told them that they had heard voices, breathing, or other sounds indicating possible survivors.

At the second stage, Israeli engineers were deployed to evaluate the sturdiness and stability of the damaged buildings, he stated.

At the third stage, Moyal explained, Israeli engineers carried out a more systematic and technology-guided search for remaining missing persons, including the unrecovered remains of deceased persons.

At certain points, the Israeli team also strategically used drones to aid in their mission.

Moyal said that the decision that the delegation could soon leave came after Israel helped Colombia locate the last remaining missing person. This entailed Israel’s delegation staying on longer than most other delegations.

The IDF deputy chief said that he had met with and received high compliments from Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder and that IDF delegation chief Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Pinto had met with top Colombian national defense officials.

Moyal noted that “Israeli engineers went into a damaged hospital; it was empty because the staff were afraid to go in. They had been told previously that the ceilings and walls were dangerous. They looked at us like we were crazy to go in.”

“But we have the best people, and after 90 minutes, we knew the hospital was fine, with some small reinforcement measures to a pillar here or there. Our engineers provided a great service,” he said.

Further, he recalled, after he told the hospital chief that it could reopen for business, she tracked him down in his car before he pulled away and asked him to come back to speak to her staff.

The entire hospital staff of 60 to 70 employees were standing, waiting to hear from him, and until he explained to them directly why the building was technically safe, they were not ready to return.

Moyal: I received ‘many hugs,’ attended ‘very emotional ceremony’

After his explanation, he “received many hugs and there was an emotional outpouring of gratitude,” he said.

Moyal also noted that he and other IDF team members visited a Cali Jewish synagogue last week where hundreds of families attended “a very emotional ceremony.”

He said that there were “many tears as they sang the prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers and the Hatikvah national anthem.”

Moreover, he complimented the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and others on their intensive cooperation with the IDF rescue and home front teams.

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Police have arrested four suspects in an investigation into the deaths of 18 elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli ecosystem, where authorities also seized assorted substances including chemicals, the Kenyan Tourism and Wildlife Ministry said.

A Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesperson told Reuters on Monday that the four have since been released on bail.

Preliminary laboratory results point to the probable involvement of a toxic substance, the ministry said in a statement released on Saturday, with earlier indications suggesting cyanide poisoning due to the ingestion of pesticide-contaminated tomatoes from farms bordering Amboseli National Park.

Some wildlife experts have expressed doubt that farm pesticide was responsible for the deaths, citing the absence of reported deaths among other animals in the area.

The ministry said investigators were also pursuing a fifth individual believed to have information relevant to the case. A search in Tikondo in Loitokitok sub-county, about 220 km southeast of Nairobi, led to the discovery of assorted substances, including chemicals believed to have come from a neighboring country, the statement said.

Investigation still ongoing, no criminal convictions yet established

The ministry said the arrests and recovered substances did not in themselves establish criminal culpability and added that investigations were ongoing.

The ministry said the first 15 elephant deaths were recorded between June 24 and July 24. In July, KWS said the deaths occurred in Amboseli National Park, Kimana Sanctuary and the Kuku Ranch area, and that the animals showed symptoms including partial paralysis before dying within one or two days.

The broader Amboseli ecosystem spans the national park and surrounding community land in southern Kenya near the Tanzanian border, providing habitat and movement routes for elephants and other wildlife beneath Mount Kilimanjaro.

The area has a history of human-wildlife conflict, with elephants roaming beyond protected areas into community and agricultural land, trampling crops and angering farmers.

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A new report by the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC), supported by Progressive International (PI), argues that Israel has a documented history of systematic sexualized and gendered violence against Palestinians “across detention centers, homes, military operations, and systems of surveillance, from the Nakba of 1948 to the present.”

Among other things, the 187-page report, “A Predatory State: Israeli Systemic Sexualized and Gendered Violence Against Palestinians,” advances as fact the claim that Israel trains dogs to rape Palestinians. It adds that this is “an essential indicator of Israel’s operationalized intent to dominate and destroy Palestinian life and the Palestinian right and will to resist.”

The dog rape claim was published in a May 2026 New York Times opinion column by Nicholas Kristof and sparked global condemnation, accusations of modern-day blood libel from groups such as the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and a threatened lawsuit from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Sexualized violence, including rape and sexual enslavement, has been used by Zionist militias during the 1948 Nakba and later by the Israeli state as a method of displacement and domination over Palestinians. After 1967, such violence intensified against prisoners and detainees, laying the groundwork for the systematic sexual torture documented since October 2023,” the PFC report says.

It also pays particular attention to Israel’s purported “preponderance of attacks targeting Palestinian men, particularly their sexual and reproductive organs.”

CODEPINK’s Feminists: Stand with Palestine campaign has subsequently called on the Center for Reproductive Rights to share the reports in its networks and “uplift the findings regarding maternity health and sexual violence as it affects Palestinian women and families.”

The PFC is a US-based anti-Israel collective of Palestinian and Arab feminists that describes its work as advancing Palestinian social and political liberation through an anti-colonial and feminist framework.

On October 7, 2023, PFC posted on X/Twitter: “We affirm the right to resist settler-colonial dispossession, militarization, and occupation.”

PI is an international anti-Israel political network that seeks to organize progressive movements around a vision it describes as democratic, decolonized, egalitarian, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist. CODEPINK is a US-based, women-led grassroots anti-war and anti-Israel organization that supports Palestinian rights.

Report based on alleged testimonies framed as fact

The report is based on alleged testimonies that purportedly serve as evidence that sexualized violence took place at distinct times over the last two years, across multiple sites. The assaults were allegedly enacted by the “Israel Occupying Forces,” affiliated with multiple agencies, including soldiers, prison guards, police, and intelligence officers.

“Patterns of the documented sexualized violence include, but are not limited to the following: sexual slurs, forced nudity, forced stripping, forced witnessing of sexual acts, threats of sexual assault, sexualized comments or touch meant to degrade; physical torture that is sexualized in character or targets sexual or reproductive organs, including groping, squeezing, punching, and applying pressure to the genitals, forced oral sex, or being sexually abused while in stress positions; and cases of rape, including simulated rape, rape by IOF personnel, rape with a range of objects such as batons, phones, metal rods, sticks, or other objects, and rape by trained dogs.”

The patterns and methods used in the assaults reveal, “beyond a reasonable doubt, that sexualized violence is a systemic Israeli practice, which has accelerated in frequency and degree of brutality alongside the acceleration of genocide since 2023,” the report adds.

This alleged sexualized and gendered violence is framed throughout the report as a “colonial mechanism” deployed to destroy the “indigenous” Palestinian people.

It is also presented as an indisputable fact that “sexualized violence, rape, and sexual enslavement were methods purposefully used by Zionist extra-state forces during the 1948 Nakba and by the Israeli state following the Nakba to expedite the displacement of Palestinians from their land.”

The language used in the report, especially in Part 2 [“Israel’s Systemic Gendered Violence”] is highly polemical and pseudo-academic in its framing. While presented as fact, it is mostly activist language rooted in settler-colonial and feminist theory.

For example, one part reads, “The womb is an intimate site where past, present, and future converge in the gendered body. To theorize the Palestinian womb as a site of futurity is to recognize that Israel’s settler-colonial project against Palestinians is fundamentally a war against time: against the possibility that Palestinians will persist, continuing to create life, transmitting identity, memory, and relationship to land across generations.”

The report also persistently venerates “Palestinian martyrs.”

Report perpetuates conspiracy theories about organ harvesting

In “Case Study 2: Desecration of Martyred Bodies,” the report says, “The martyr, in this framework, is not released from political life at the moment of death; rather, it enters a new phase of state custody and juridical negotiation that affects martyrs’ bodies based on their gender, especially against Palestinian men.”

This interprets documented practices of holding on to the bodies of terrorists as a systematic form of Israeli necropower, further claiming that this power is gendered, without including any discussion of the reason for such a practice.

It also ventures into blood libel territory in this case study, when it discusses “organ stealing” as a practice it says Israel has carried out since the First Intifada in 1987.  For this claim, it cites Palestinian Dr. Hatem Abu Ghazaleh who “noticed martyrs’ bodies, after being returned, were missing eyes and kidneys.”

“Abusing martyrs’ bodies in this fashion, by stealing their body parts and then desecrating their bodies to hide the theft, demonstrates how the Palestinian martyr is gendered in a way to deny their dignity, especially of young men resistance fighters.”

The problematic description of terrorists as “resistance fighters” aside, there has been no evidence of Israeli authorities systematically stealing organs from Palestinian bodies.

This is a misquotation of the quote Abu Ghazaleh provided to a 1990 article by Mary Barrett in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine. Barrett asked Abu Ghazaleh about widespread anxiety in Gaza and the West Bank concerning alleged organ theft after the Intifada began, to which he replied that there were “indications that for one reason or another, organs, especially eyes and kidneys, were removed from the bodies during the first year or year and a half.”

These indications were based on reports from what he defined as “credible people.” He did not examine the alleged corpses himself.

A 2001 report by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman on practices at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine (Israel’s only facility authorized to conduct autopsies in case of unnatural death) uncovered a medical malpractice scandal: During 1988-2000, tissue and body parts, including skin and corneas, were removed from deceased Israeli soldiers, Israeli civilians, both Jewish and Arab, and Palestinians without relatives’ permission.

Discussion of organ harvesting as a broader and systemic practice is not based in documented fact and appears more connected to longer-term established antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Later on, in Case Study 6, the report claims that Israel’s use of artificial intelligence to decide which Palestinian buildings to target is a form of gendered violence, as it prevents Palestinian couples from having sexual intimacy.

“By assaulting the intimate, gendered spaces where bodily integrity, reproductive capacity, family and society building, and nurturing happen, militarized tracking through AI extends the reach and force of the predatory state by targeting the heart of reproductive and intimate life: the home. By displacing or killing as many Palestinians in a home as possible, AI-generated programs disrupt the conditions and spaces for pleasure, sexual intimacy, caregiving, and generational continuity.”

Once more, theoretical arguments are presented as empirical evidence.

Perhaps the most heinous part of the report is the final section, “Colonial Constructions of Palestinian Men.”

This argues that Israel fabricated all claims of sexual violence against Jews and Israelis on and after October 7 as a means of demonizing and racializing Palestinian and Arab men.

The report says that “racialized constructions of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim men as other, violent, aggressive, and sexually deviant mirror the colonial histories and patterns across colonial projects where Indigenous and Black men have been imagined as threats, primarily to white women.”

It calls the graphic accounts of the rape of Israeli women on October 7, 2023, “fabricated” and intended to “construct Palestinians as barbaric and depraved.”

“For decades, the international community and Israel have remained silent about the rape of Palestinian women. Yet, after October 7, Israeli settler women have been positioned as the ultimate victims.”

It then goes on to say that “allegations that Hamas engaged in systematic rape on October 7 are rooted in the long-standing racialized colonial demonization of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim men” and that there is “no credible forensic evidence, nor victim testimony, corroborating the October 7 mass rape allegations.”

“When Israel uses falsified allegations of sexualized violence supposedly perpetrated by Palestinians to establish moral justification for genocide, it is reversing the realities of power, repositioning Israeli settlers as victims and Indigenous Palestinians as perpetrators,” it concludes.

Sources cited in report largely disputed

It is worth noting that the majority of the sources on which the paper relies are controversial or have been the subject of controversy.

The report relies heavily on [anti-Israel New Historian] Ilan Pappé, [Palestinian writer and activist] Susan Abulhawa, [former convicted terrorist] Rasmea Yousef Odeh, B’Tselem, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, [US-sanctioned] Francesca Albanese, [Australian Muslim sociologist and lawyer] Randa Abdel-Fattah, and Al Jazeera [media blocked by the US, Israel, Pakistan, and at times by the PA].

Abulhawa, for example, described the October 7 attacks as a “spectacular moment that shocked the world,” called the Israel-Hamas War a “Jewish supremacist slaughter,” and said that “these sons of Satan will taste what they meted [out] to us.”

Yousef Odeh was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) convicted by Israeli military courts for involvement in a 1969 Jerusalem supermarket bombing, that killed two young civilians.

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Camp Modin has filed for an emergency protection order against a neighboring property owner in the wake of a shooting incident that sent the Maine Jewish summer camp into lockdown in early August.

The August 7 incident began with an angry verbal confrontation over a damaged tractor and quickly escalated into gunfire, forcing hundreds of children and staff members to shelter while roughly 20 rounds from a semi-automatic rifle were discharged in various directions, including toward a basketball court at the back of the camp.

According to local reporting from Central Maine reviewing court documents, the emergency protection order would temporarily block 36-year-old Nathan R. Hewett of Belgrade, Maine, from camp premises and from having any contact with camp personnel.

In his request for the order, camp owner and executive director Pascal Cohen stated that Hewett deliberately disrupts the grounds by shining vehicle high beams and launching late-night fireworks, alongside a pattern of discharging firearms nearby that causes distress to campers.

Camp security guards detail escalating confrontation

The court records detail an initial confrontation on the evening of August 7, when Hewett and his father, Raymond, walked up to the property to demand an interaction with a staff member.

According to statements submitted by Joshua Ewing, an armed security guard and former law enforcement officer, the younger Hewett blamed the camp for wrecking his tractor lawn mower after hitting an obstacle.

Ewing recounted that while Raymond engaged calmly and privately expressed concern that his son posed a danger, Nathan Hewett lost his temper, hurling insults and profanities while acting entirely irrational.

Additional testimony in the filings from security guard Timothy Black claimed that tensions had been simmering for weeks, pointing to a July complaint from Hewett regarding the volume of the campers, accompanied by veiled threats about the noise levels.

Black further alleged in the court paperwork that the neighbor regularly crossed to the boundary line to hurl abuse, a behavior exacerbated whenever he drank alcohol.

Minutes after Hewett walked away from the initial verbal clash, both guards reported hearing rounds fired from a powerful rifle, prompting them to immediately lock down the facility.

Deputies seize 23 firearms after shooting

According to the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office and deputy affidavits, responding deputies found the camp under lockdown while Hewett discharged approximately 20 rounds from a .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle, with shell casings suggesting bullets may have been directed at a basketball court near the back of the camp.

Deputy Tyler Johnson stated in his probable cause affidavit that Hewett was suspected of using alcohol and harboring an antisemitic bias during the incident. Law enforcement officers subsequently seized 23 firearms from Hewett’s property, many of which were semi-automatic.

Hewett faces multiple felony counts – including reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, and terrorizing.

While Hewett was initially held on $50,000 bail following his arrest, local court tracking reported by Central Maine confirms he has since been released.

Camp seeks protection order as criminal case continues

The hearing on the camp’s request for a protection order is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. next Monday at the Capital Judicial Center, while Hewett’s next court date on the criminal charges is set for November 10.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situational assessment in the West Bank on Monday, following recent outbreaks of violence in the area. 

Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, National Security Council head Shmuel Ben Ezra, Central Command head Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, Military Intelligence Chief, Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, IDF Operations Division head, Brig.-Gen. A, Judea and Samaria Division commander, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Heller, and other senior officials attended. 

The meeting covered a general assessment of security threats in the region, with a particular focus on terror, as well as the “dramatic increase” in Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Katz said afterward. He also praised the IDF soldiers and other service members who enforce Israel’s policies in Judea and Samaria, “including the order we gave to evacuate refugee camps in northern Samaria and destroy terror infrastructure there.”

The West Bank has been the site of several violent outbreaks in recent weeks at several flashpoints, including Kusra and Gilad Farm near Nablus, as well as Yatta and Sa’ir near Hebron. 

Paratroopers to join Israeli security forces in West Bank following three-month Gaza tour

Also on Monday, the IDF announced that members of the Paratroopers Brigade would be transferring to the West Bank following the completion of their previous posting in the Gaza Strip.

Stationed in Gaza since June under the command of the 143rd Gaza Division and the 99th Division, the troops dismantled a total of 13 km of underground tunnels, including part of the tunnel where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held for over a decade.

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“A lot of Lebanese people tell me all the time that they want to visit Israel and that we’re welcome there,” independent journalist and political analyst Selena Ryan told The Jerusalem Post on Monday, a day after her latest collaboration with This Is Beirut went viral.

Ryan, who is serving in the IDF and describes her political outlook as right-wing, invited Lebanese civilians to join Israelis for beers in Tel Aviv and arak, an anise-flavored alcoholic drink popular across the Levant, in Jaffa in a video that has amassed tens of thousands of views on X/Twitter alone.

The video notably featured Deputy Mayor Guy Avner, who said it was “only a matter of time before peace comes between the people of Israel and the people of Lebanon.

“Come to Tel Aviv, have a beer, enjoy the nightlife, enjoy the sea, enjoy the weather…We’re going to be happy to host you,” Avner said.

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Private messages reveal support for Israel-Lebanon peace, Ryan says

Though Lebanon has borne the burden of Hezbollah’s war against Israel, Ryan said fewer Lebanese civilians than one might expect hold Israel responsible for the devastation.

“I would say there are many more positive comments than negative ones, but not all of them are public. Those who hate us have no problem expressing that publicly, while those who want peace are often afraid to say so publicly,” she said, explaining that online comments and inflamed rhetoric coming out of Lebanon do not necessarily reflect the reality on the ground.

The response, particularly the messages she receives privately, suggests that the public conversation online may not fully capture Lebanese civilians’ attitudes toward Israel and the possibility of peace, she said.

“[I’m] right-wing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want peace,” Ryan explained to the Post, noting that there is a certain idea of what her beliefs are based on that fact alone that is not representative of reality. “I believe in peace through strength.”

Lebanese Shiites seek alternatives to Hezbollah

Contrary to polls and statements from public officials, Ryan said she has received many messages from Shia Muslims, in addition to messages from other sects, in Lebanon expressing a desire for peace.

“There are a lot of people in Lebanon, Shia, who are working against Hezbollah, and they’re trying to create an alternative for the Shi’as to look up to. For now, the leadership of the Shia community in Lebanon is largely seen as being Hezbollah, so they’re trying to create an alternative,” she said.

“They’re also working toward the next elections to win seats, so they can start working to change the whole view of the Shia population, not necessarily about Israel, but about Lebanon itself.”

Political groups like Tayyar al-Taghyeer Fi al-Janoub, or the Change Movement in the South, have focused on building a Lebanese Shia identity away from Hezbollah and sectarian divisions, with an emphasis on issues such as Lebanese sovereignty and economic change.

Research from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has also suggested that Hezbollah’s hold over Lebanon’s Shias has diminished as the cumulative damage of wars launched by the group has increasingly been borne by civilians.

“[They] understand that Hezbollah does not represent Lebanon; it represents Iran’s interests against Israel from Lebanese territory. So yeah, there [are] a lot of Shias that are for peace,” Ryan said.

Nasrallah assassination marked turning point, Ryan says

Though Ryan has long received messages expressing a desire for peace, she said the sentiment became more widely held and openly expressed after Israel assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024.

“People realized that Hezbollah was not there to protect the Lebanese, but was there just to fulfill Iran’s agenda against Israel, and nothing more than that. It had nothing to do with Lebanon’s security. I think that’s when people switched, and I think there are people who are still learning about this and changing their opinions every day,” she said.

“I think more and more people realize that peace is the only solution because they see what’s happening now in their country, and they understand that it’s not their war and that it’s a war that is not related to Lebanon.”

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Dozens of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters from the Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi) blocked Highway 4 near Bnei Brak on Monday afternoon to protest the arrest of a haredi draft dodger, according to Israeli media.

The protest began just before 5:00 p.m.

Ahead of the protest, police said Highway 4 will be blocked between the Aluf Sade Interchange in Ramat Gan and the Em Hamoshavot Interchange in Petah Tikva.  

The protest is a response to the arrest of Israel Gohfi, a haredi yeshiva student and IDF draft dodger. According to “Am Kadosh,” an organization that provides legal assistance to haredi draft dodgers, Gohfi was arrested on his way to his yeshiva in northern Israel after his bus pass malfunctioned and authorities were alerted that he had failed to respond to his draft summons. 

Protests by the haredi community against the military draft and the arrest of draft dodgers have spurred numerous demonstrations throughout the year, resulting in the shutdown of multiple public transportation routes and key highways.

A-G calls for renewed arrests

Earlier this week, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara called for renewed arrests and stricter economic sanctions against military draft evaders. She warned that weak enforcement against ultra-Orthodox men is undermining the draft process, ultimately leaving potential recruits out of the army and leading to unequal enforcement compared to the rest of the population. 

 The Attorney-General’s Office released these findings in a summary of an August 3 meeting chaired by Baharav-Miara that reviewed the enforcement of draft obligations for the 2025 draft year. 

Military officials said the gap is closely tied to who is actually arrested.

Criminal proceedings typically begin when enforcement authorities detain a draft evader or when the evader voluntarily reports to a military facility. Fewer arrests result in fewer prosecutions. 

Baharav-Miara concluded that the current level of criminal enforcement does not satisfy the requirements of the state. According to the summary, military officials warned that this gap harms effective draft enforcement, leaving recruitment potential unrealized and resulting in unequal enforcement against different sectors of the population. 

Despite these issues, the review noted that Haredi enlistment has increased significantly over the past year.

Hodaya Ran contributed to this report.

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A Reform synagogue in Ramat Hasharon was vandalized on Sunday night, according to local reports.

The reports were confirmed by Ramat Hasharon Mayor Itzik Rochberger, who shared an image on Facebook of a smashed window at the “Darchei Noam” synagogue on Yavne Street, along with a condemnation of the attack. He called on police and local authorities to investigate the incident. 

“Ramat Hasharon is a city of freedom, tolerance, pluralism, and coexistence of religious and secular people,” Rochberger wrote on Facebook. “We will not allow extremists to damage property, instill fear, and sabotage the fabric of our shared life.”

Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi and lawmaker from the Democrats party who previously headed the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, also condemned the attack in a Twitter/X post on Monday. 

“In the face of Judaism of ‘ways of hate,’ we will continue to promote ‘ways of joy,'” Kariv wrote, referencing the synagogue’s name “Darchei Noam,” which can be translated as “ways of joy.”

“In the face of nonstop incitement, we will continue to promote nonstop hope,” Kariv added. “They smash and break; we will repair and rebuild.”

This comes one week after Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court, sitting as an Administrative Affairs Court deleted a petition seeking to force Ramat Hasharon to enforce its Shabbat business-closure bylaw at BIG Fashion Glilot after the city and Rochberger said they would do so.

Nearby Herzliya businesses reportedly vandalized for being open on Shabbat

Local news outlet Sharon Online noted that the synagogue lies a few hundred meters from the Neve Israel neighborhood of Herzliya, where a restaurant was recently vandalized on July 30, reportedly for being open on Shabbat.

Herzliya Mayor Yariv Fisher addressed the attack on social media, saying he was working with local businesses to boost weekend foot traffic and support those open seven days a week. He did not confirm that the attack itself was religiously motivated. 

Jerusalem synagogue and cafe face similar treatment from ultra-Orthodox residents

Sunday night’s vandalism attack follows a similar instance in Jerusalem earlier in the month. Vandals broke into Reform synagogue Kol HaNeshamah in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, damaging the building and artwork and tearing down Pride flags displayed by the congregation.

In addition, Jerusalem’s Basimta Cafe, which is open on Shabbat, has faced repeated protests and attacks in recent weeks by members of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community. 

Sarah Ben-Nun and Deborah Dahan/JTA contributed to this report.

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Another kite, presumably launched from Gaza, was found on Monday stuck in a tree near Nahal Oz, one of the Gaza border communities.

“The Prime Minister on probation, another kite in Nahal Oz. We expect an immediate IDF response to the kite terrorism. Hamas is testing the limits of a containment that should have ended after October 7,” said the Gaza border communities forum.

According to Uri Epstein, head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, “the additional kite discovered in Nahal Oz reinforces the understanding that this is not a one-time incident.”

“While Hamas is regaining its composure, Israel is returning to a policy of containment and reactivity instead of initiative,” he warned.

“Every object that crosses from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory must be identified and dealt with in real time, not just after it lands in our localities,” Epstein demanded.

Netanyahu, Katz warn that any object that crosses will be dealt with

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz directly warned Hamas on Sunday that if the launch of kites across the Gaza border into Israeli territory does not stop immediately, the IDF will increase strikes on the Gaza Strip.

In a joint statement released after a situational assessment regarding the threat of drones, balloons, and kites, Netanyahu and Katz stated that the strikes would target those responsible for the launches.

They also warned that populations in the areas where the kites, drones, and balloons are launched may be evacuated if the launches are not stopped.

Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.

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Art thieves in Europe are committing more violent robberies focusing on gold and jewels, and specialist gangs have been replaced by ad-hoc opportunists recruited through social media, Europol said on Monday.

The heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year was a prime example of these shifts, Europol said, as the thieves threatened guards and visitors and stole €88 million worth of jewels such as Empress Eugenie’s tiara.

Over the last two years, art thieves have shifted their attention to precious metals, jewels, and cultural artifacts that offer greater profits, the EU’s law enforcement agency said in a report.

The price of gold has surged 85% over the past two years, as investors and central banks turn to the metal as a safe haven. The London Bullion Market Association, which oversees London’s over-the-counter gold trading hub, has warned that “as gold prices rise to historic levels, illicit flows and market distortions are also increasing.”

Traditional art theft gangs utilized niche expertise in heists

Europol said: “offenders are breaching premises and display cases using tools such as sledgehammers, axes, crowbars and, in some instances, explosives.”

Where traditional gangs used “deception and stealth” and had a central leader and niche expertise, recent thefts were carried out by a decentralized ad-hoc group of profit-seeking opportunists, recruited through social media on a “crime-as-a-service” basis, it said.

Europol added that thieves were increasingly targeting gold items, from nuggets and coins to jewels.

“Precious metals can be easily melted down, leaving no trace for law enforcement, and facilitating illicit sales during the fencing process. Precious stones in jewelry, on the other hand, can be easily removed and sold further,” the report said.

In January last year, thieves used explosives to steal a 2,500-year-old Dacian golden helmet and three ancient gold bracelets from a museum in the Netherlands. The artifacts were later recovered and returned to Romania, although one bracelet is still missing.

Europol also noted an increase in thefts of ancient Chinese porcelain artifacts such as Ming Dynasty vases due to high demand.

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Arkia announced on Monday that Adar Madutzky was appointed as the first female captain in the airline’s history, in a ceremony where Idan Bahbut was also unveiled as a new captain.

Madutzky joins her father, Tal, as captain, and with the appointment, the duo becomes the first father-daughter pair to fly simultaneously for Arkia.

Tal has been flying with Arkia for the last 15 years and currently works in the airline’s Embraer fleet, the company said.

A family connected with Arkia through generations

“This is an exciting day for Arkia,” said Captain Yotam Galaon, Arkia’s vice president of operations.

“Becoming a captain is a significant milestone in every pilot’s professional career, and I congratulate Idan and Adar on their long journey, dedication, and achievement,” he said

“Adar’s story is particularly moving: a father and daughter serving as captains at the same airline, and a family story connected to generations of Israeli enterprise,” he added.

Galaon also pointed out that the Madutzky family is the “exact combination we value at Arkia: people, family, Israeli spirit and professionalism.”

Adar and Bahbut will be joining the team of captains operating Arkia’s Airbus A320/321 fleet, the company added in a statement.

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The IDF’s pre-October 7 conceptzia (military mentality of containment) is still prevalent across the military, the October Council warned in a report released on Monday.

The group, which represents hundreds of families affected by the October 7 massacre, argued that the conceptzia has rather “changed shape” since the attacks rather than disappearing.

ההתרעות החמורות של ההורים השכולים שהקימו את מועצת אוקטובר, לעניין ההפקרות והמחדלים של הממשלה, גם היום, שלוש שנים אחרי המחדל שגבה את חייהם של היקרים להם, צריכות לפלח את חומת האדישות הכללית.

הממשלה הזו ברחה מאחריותה למחדל, שיקרה לציבור לגבי הסכנות האורבות לכולנו והרחיקה מעצמה כל… pic.twitter.com/NxaOVPgBdl

— Efrat Rayten אפרת רייטן (@Efratrayten1) August 24, 2026

“Before October 7, Israel’s policy relied heavily on the assumption that Hamas was deterred and that the threat could be managed through force, deterrence, easing measures, and quiet,” the report, titled “Strategic Warning: Default 2026,” read.

“Today… the threat is once again being managed through agreements, the Yellow Line, future demilitarization, international forces, and diplomatic mechanisms that have yet to prove they can actually dismantle it,” it added.

The report cited warnings from anonymous IDF soldiers tasked with surveying the Gaza Strip, with audio published earlier in August noting the soldiers’ concern stemming from Hamas actions “testing” the military, including through the multitudes of terrorists who have recently crossed the Yellow Line in Gaza.

“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu received more than ten warnings, but it did not move him,” a senior security official shared. “He claimed we were exaggerating. I am telling you from personal knowledge that some of the warnings Netanyahu received focused on the Tishrei holidays, and the question must be asked: what did the cabinet do about it?”

The October Council further noted the IDF’s manpower crisis and pressured defense systems amid an enemy that was “hit, but not defeated,” despite nearly three years of fighting.

“The decision to focus on the Iranian arena wasted billions on projects that were fantasies, while Hamas grew stronger in Gaza and did not receive the attention it deserved,” another senior security official said. “Even if the prime minister’s decision was legitimate, the minimum is to explain and justify it before a state commission of inquiry, in order to know whether the decision-making considerations are still correct today.”

IDF soldiers still fearful of alerting commanders to danger, October Council says

In addition, the council emphasized that many IDF soldiers still fear raising these dangers with their commander, as they did before October 7, 2023, worried they might be seen as a “nuisance.”

The mother of an IDF soldier described her daughter’s situation, saying that she still faces “threats and silencing” when reporting signs of danger in Gaza.

“How is it possible that commanders who are supposed to protect her and listen to her are the ones frightening her?” She said. “History is simply repeating itself before my eyes, and this time it is her who is there.”

Several additional anonymously sourced audio clips were published by the group, which monitors an active WhatsApp number where IDF soldiers, reservists, families, and border residents can report “what is really happening.”

Tropper discusses danger of IDF ‘evading’ security responsibilities

Zionist Home-The Reservists Party chairman Chili Tropper reacted to the October Council’s report later on Monday, noting the “price in human lives” of the IDF “evading” its responsibilities. 

Tropper cited one of the IDF reservists who spoke anonymously to the organization, warning that his unit was “in a minimal reserve, looking for people to come and fill in the gaps.”

“They explained to us that if an incident happens, we are in trouble, and if there is an incident in two communities, one of them will have to manage alone at least for a certain period of time,” the soldier said.

The party chairman told the government ministers to “remember the soldier who said there are not enough soldiers to protect the communities” the next time they discuss “nationalism, Zionism and security.” 

Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.

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Israeli missile and suicide drone company UVision Air and US defense technology company Mistral have won another contract from the US Army to supply Hero 120 suicide drones. The order is worth $50 million. The Hero 120 has a maximum range of about 40 to 60 kilometers and its duration of operation is about an hour. The loitering munition (LM) can be equipped with various types of warheads, including those designed to hit armored vehicles and personnel.

This is a follow-up deal to a huge, multi-year contract that was signed in October 2025, for the supply of suicide drones for $982 million. UVision has its own US subsidiary, but the advantage of Mistral, which is based in Maryland, is its specialization in the integration of security systems and technologies in the US.

UVision has a range of collaborations with various companies, and is very well-known in its field on an international level. Among other things, the company is collaborating with German firm Rheinmetall, and has developed a model for launching suicide drones from a container. The innovative launch platform is important news for the field for several reasons. First and foremost, it allows the use of loitering munitions as part of swarm attacks, in which a large number of drones are used simultaneously. Additional advantages of launching from a container are the possibility of using different platforms and the ability to camouflage the launch system.

The Hero family of LMs are specifically designed to provide front-line forces (including Special Forces) with long-range independent fire capability. With advanced datalink and real-time intelligence for situational awareness, the remote operator is able to maintain ‘eyes’ on the target even at far distances, allowing for accurate strike capabilities in complex operational environments. The operator can maneuver the drone or abort the mission if necessary.

The system can carry out missions from start to finish or be transferred to ground forces to increase the efficiency of the troops.

UVision has various models in the Hero family, including the Hero 30 for infantry operations, and the Hero 120 for precision strikes on armored targets or fixed targets. 

The HERO 120 offers tactical units a lightweight, high-precision loitering munition capable of engaging targets in complex environments. It is designed to deliver real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities alongside lethal strike options. Its modular payload, jam-resistant navigation, and low acoustic signature make it ideal for both conventional and asymmetric warfare.

The company also has the Hero 400 for medium-to-long range strikes on fortified positions. The Hero 1250 carries a 50 kilogram warhead, has a range of more than 200 kilometers and an operation duration of up to 10 hours.

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DAMASCUS – An Israeli drone struck a car near Beit Jinn on August 22, injuring a Syrian man identified in local reports as Ammar Saeed Hamada, as Israel pressed military operations in southern Syria that it says are needed to stop attacks on its territory.

The Israeli military described Hamada as a terrorist in the advanced stages of preparing an attack who posed an immediate threat to its soldiers, but did not publicly provide evidence supporting that characterization.

A local security source quoted by the Syrian news organization Enab Baladi said Hamada was conducting private business rather than carrying out a military mission. Syrian media reported that the strike severely injured his hand.

The Foreign Ministry in Damascus condemned the attack as a violation of Syrian sovereignty. The conflicting accounts could not be independently reconciled.

Hamada is a cousin of Muhammad Hamada and Ali Qasim Hamada, two men detained during an Israeli operation in Beit Jinn in November. Ali was later released, while Muhammad remains in custody.

Clashes leave dozens dead and wounded

During that operation, Israeli forces sought men the military identified as members of Jamaa al-Islamiyya, a Sunni Islamist organization. Syrian state media said 13 Syrians were killed after gunfire erupted. The Israeli military reported that six of its soldiers were wounded.

Syrian security sources have described the Hamadas as former affiliates of the Fourth Division, which was commanded by Maher Assad, the younger brother of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The August 22 strike followed two reported village raids in three days. Shortly after midnight on August 19, about 100 Israeli soldiers entered Jubata al-Khashab in Quneitra province and searched the homes of three brothers, according to residents interviewed by The Media Line.

The force left roughly two hours later with two of the men’s sons. Qutaiba Suliman, 26, was released that morning, while Moath Suliman, approximately 32, remains in custody.

Hassan Ahmed, 42, a farmer in the village, said soldiers arrived in about a dozen vehicles, ransacked the homes and beat one of the detainees. He also alleged that Israeli forces had confiscated approximately 150 mobile phones from residents without returning them. The Media Line could not independently verify those allegations.

“I cannot access my land because the Israeli army had previously bulldozed it completely,” Ahmed said.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the detainees were taken to an Israeli position outside the village. The Israeli military did not respond to questions from The Media Line about the raid, the detainees, or construction in the area.

Syrian state broadcaster Alikhbaria reported that an Israeli shell and flares started a fire in fields south of Jubata al-Khashab on August 20. The fire reportedly burned between the ceasefire line and Sofa 53, the local name for a military road Israel has been building through Quneitra since 2022 alongside a berm and trench.

The military operations are unfolding alongside renewed efforts to revive stalled diplomacy. The governments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa have been engaged in US-mediated talks intended to establish new security arrangements, but neither side has announced an agreement.

Axios reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Mossad Director Roman Gofman met on August 23 following Israel’s August 18 attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, which, according to Syrian state media, damaged the runway and storage facilities. Axios cited three sources with knowledge of the meeting, two of whom said it took place in Jordan.

Syria later confirmed that a delegation led by al-Shaibani, including the heads of General Intelligence and Military Intelligence, had met a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan under US mediation. SANA said the talks addressed ways to halt Israeli attacks, arrests and targeted operations and revive negotiations over a security agreement. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment, and Israel has not officially confirmed Gofman’s participation.

Al-Shaibani told Reuters on August 23 that negotiations, which stalled during the recent Iran war, could resume soon under US pressure. He said the sides had previously agreed on central elements of a possible arrangement, including demilitarized zones with a United Nations presence, but accused Israel of lacking the political will to carry it out.

Damascus is seeking an Israeli withdrawal from Syrian territory and an end to Israeli attacks as confidence-building measures. Israel says any agreement must prevent hostile armed groups and foreign forces from establishing positions near its border.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Syria had been close to violating a security understanding by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at the base. Netanyahu said Israel had warned both Damascus and Ankara against such a deployment.

Al-Shaibani acknowledged that Turkish officers had visited the base as part of military training and cooperation, but denied that Damascus planned to establish a permanent Turkish base or station Turkish troops there. Turkey’s Defense Ministry separately denied that a Turkish military delegation had visited the site before or during the Israeli attack.

US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack called the strike an “unnecessary escalation.” Washington is working to create a deconfliction and information-sharing mechanism among Israel, Syria and Turkey to reduce the danger of an accidental confrontation.

Ahmad Al-Kinani, a political and security analyst in Damascus, said the raids demonstrated that Israel was exercising direct control in the south rather than relying on the proposed US-backed mechanism.

“Israel is now exercising direct security control over the southern region, carrying out direct assassinations and field executions without any coordination or reference to the joint contact point,” he said.

“Israel is operating according to a security agenda tailored specifically to the south, targeting anyone suspected of being prepared to execute military activities against it,” Al-Kinani added.

His description of “field executions” could not be independently substantiated. The Israeli military says its operations in southern Syria are intended to stop immediate threats, locate weapons and prevent armed groups from establishing themselves in the region. In an August 24, 2025, statement, the military said its forces had arrested suspects, found weapons and acted “to thwart attempts of terrorists to establish themselves in the region, in order to ensure the safety of Israeli civilians.”

Abdullah Hamad, a Syrian security analyst, said the incursions could give Israel leverage in negotiations while complicating Damascus’ attempt to strengthen relations with Arab governments and major powers.

Netanyahu has said any agreement would require the demilitarization of Syrian territory from Damascus south to the existing buffer area, including the approaches to Mount Hermon. Such a zone could extend approximately 30 miles and reach close to the Syrian capital, substantially farther east than the area of separation established in 1974.

Israel says its forces must remain in southern Syria to prevent armed groups from approaching its border and describes their presence as a forward defense for Israeli communities.

Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops into the buffer zone on December 8, 2024, saying the 1974 disengagement agreement had collapsed after Syrian forces abandoned their positions during the fall of Assad’s government.

That agreement established a demilitarized area of separation between Israeli and Syrian forces, monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), along with adjoining areas where military deployments are restricted. Israel has established positions inside and beyond that area since Assad’s fall.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and applied Israeli law there in 1981, a step widely treated internationally as annexation. Most countries do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory, although the US did so in 2019.

Residents say Israeli engineering work is changing how they move through the region. Crews reopened an old track north of Wadi al-Raqad on July 22 and extended it toward al-Qulla, a former observation post opposite Ma’ariya, according to residents. The track was resurfaced on August 3 and now reaches the watercourse.

Residents believe the military plans to connect it with roads on the other side, but Israeli authorities have not announced their intentions for the site.

Villagers also said bulldozers destroyed another road on August 8, severing al-Samdaniyah al-Gharbiyah’s route to Khan Arnabeh.

Peacekeepers document construction, pass observations to UN

A Syrian liaison who works with UNDOF and whose name is being withheld for safety reasons told The Media Line that peacekeepers had documented the construction and passed their observations through mission headquarters to the UN in New York.

The liaison also said UNDOF had recorded detentions in Abidin and Jubata al-Khashab and sought the detainees’ release. Israeli authorities largely rejected a request to put detainees in contact with their families, he said.

The liaison spoke in a personal capacity. UNDOF did not respond to The Media Line’s request for official confirmation.

The contest over roads has become a contest over movement. Residents in the Yarmouk Basin blocked routes with stones after Israeli vehicles entered Abidin in late June. SANA reported that Israeli artillery and helicopters fired toward the area after the vehicles withdrew.

Families fled temporarily and returned within days, according to Muwaffaq Mahmoud, who heads the Abidin and Ma’ariya municipality. Anadolu Agency later reported that the Israeli military dropped leaflets telling residents to stop blocking the roads.

Ismail al-Hassan, a 60-year-old farmer in Abidin, said UNDOF representatives met village elders and the mukhtar around August 1. He said the representatives asked residents to remove the stones and promised to help reduce friction with Israeli troops.

The number of incursions initially declined, al-Hassan said. At dawn on August 17, approximately 100 Israeli soldiers in 12 vehicles entered Abidin and detained four men, according to his account. He alleged that troops also uprooted olive trees.

Two stonecutters were later released. Kamal Youssef al-Qasim, 41, a member of the Syrian Defense Ministry’s 40th Division, and motorcycle mechanic Ruslan Adel al-Hassan, 40, remained in custody.

Al-Hassan said al-Qasim was detained at home and denied that armed men were operating in the village. The 1974 agreement prohibits Syrian military forces inside the area of separation.

Sijil, a Syrian organization that documents Israeli activity and shares information with government bodies, counted 65 incursions into Quneitra during July and another 52 in the first 18 days of August. Manager Hamza Ghadban told The Media Line that the organization had documented 147 detentions since January 1, with 49 people still held.

The Media Line could not independently confirm those figures.

SANA reported that Israeli forces detained another Syrian near al-Rafid on August 23. The Israeli military did not immediately issue a public response to that account, which The Media Line could not independently verify.

Restrictions on movement have also affected medical treatment and farming. Quneitra Health Director Omar al-Ahmad dispatched mobile clinics to al-Hamidiyah and al-Samdaniyah al-Gharbiyah in May, saying Israeli restrictions had made the villages difficult to reach. UNDOF announced a mechanism with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in July to facilitate mobile medical services.

Israeli forces operate a prefabricated medical point at Hader, a Druze village near Mount Hermon. Ahmed said it primarily serves Hader residents, while people from neighboring Sunni villages tend to avoid it because of Israeli patrols and strained relations with the Druze community.

Friend Ships, a Christian relief organization based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, operates another clinic behind the mosque in al-Hamidiyah. Its website says a doctor and three nurses treat 25 to 30 patients daily and provide medicine without charge. The group also operates a clothing tent and children’s playground with support from Israeli organizations.

Residents said foreign staff reach the clinic through the Israeli barrier. Hassan Ahmed, the Jubata al-Khashab farmer, said he received treatment and free medicine there last year.

For farmers working near Israeli positions, access increasingly depends on temporary UN identification cards intended to prevent confrontations with patrols.

Khaled Abdul Rahman al-Hassan, who has farmed outside al-Rafid for 15 years, said Israeli troops had previously interrogated and beaten him and fired nearby during planting and harvesting seasons. This spring, he received a card bearing UNDOF’s name through the village mukhtar.

When an Israeli patrol later stopped him, a soldier requested proof of ownership, checked the card against military records and returned it, al-Hassan said.

“They simply told me not to stay out past sunset, and the patrol left right away,” he said.

The card permits him to work between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. through the end of the harvest. The Syrian liaison said approximately 20 to 25 farmers hold similar documents and are permitted to work only on their own land.

Israeli security researchers argue that the raids are intended to prevent Hezbollah, Iran-linked networks and Sunni armed groups from establishing infrastructure near the border. The Alma Research and Education Center has published research alleging that Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recruited among Shiite families in Quneitra.

Alma founder Lt.-Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi told The Media Line that Israeli forces carry out arrests and weapons seizures against Sunni and Shiite groups because Damascus has not made dismantling such networks a sufficient priority.

The Israeli military has previously announced several arrests and weapons seizures in southern Syria, including the detention of an alleged Iran-operated cell in July 2025 and operations involving suspected weapons traffickers the following month. It did not tell The Media Line what, if anything, its forces had found during the latest raids described by residents.

Syrian authorities announced an operation against a Quneitra cell allegedly linked to Hezbollah in April and another against an Islamic State cell in Khan Arnabeh in August. Six of the nine suspects arrested in the latter operation were released days later.

“It is choosing between a bad option and a bad option,” Zehavi said. “The alternative is not to be there and taking the chance that terrorist attacks will happen and will be executed against our communities on the Israeli side of the border.”

Zehavi said Israel could consider withdrawing if it regarded the government in Damascus as both sovereign and nonhostile – conditions she believes have not yet been met.

Nir Boms, chair of the Syria Research Forum at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center, said Israel should make greater use of diplomacy.

“I would rather see an attempt to create a security mechanism with the Syrians, and some more de-escalation – because all of this kinetics in the north and in the south further alienates elements in Syria that then go directly against us,” Boms said.

For villagers, the struggle over borders and security is encountered on roads and farmland.

“I have never seen gunmen in al-Rafid,” said al-Hassan, the farmer carrying one of the temporary UN cards, “other than Israeli army patrols entering the town.”

Wirtschafter reported from Istanbul.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Strait of Hormuz has exposed an uncomfortable truth about modern warfare: a military can destroy much of an adversary’s force, achieve overwhelming air superiority and strike thousands of targets, yet still fail to control the geography that gives the adversary strategic leverage.

Since the war with Iran began in late February, the United States and Israel have applied extraordinary military power. According to US government figures, Operation Epic Fury involved more than 10,000 sorties and strikes on more than 13,000 targets, including command-and-control nodes, air defenses, missile forces, drone infrastructure and naval assets. Washington later claimed that roughly 150 Iranian vessels had been destroyed. Even allowing for uncertainty in those assessments, the scale of the kinetic achievement is clear.

Yet by mid-August, months after the opening strikes, one of the war’s most important strategic questions remained unresolved: who actually controls the Strait of Hormuz? Last Friday, only two commercial vessels were observed transiting the strait during the day, compared with more than 130 a day before the war. Commercial vessels were still being attacked, and the United States remained compelled to maintain substantial naval and air power in the area. Airpower did not fail; it largely did what it was designed to do. The problem was that what remained after the strikes was a different kind of military problem.

Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. At its narrowest point, it is roughly 21 miles, or 34 kilometers, wide, but the effective maneuver space for large commercial vessels is much smaller: two shipping lanes approximately two miles wide. Before the war, roughly 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait every day, alongside a major share of global LNG trade. Yet its military importance comes from its geometry. Iran controls the northern coastline, while Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Larak, Hormuz Island and the Tunbs form a network of observation points, launch sites, concealed bases and staging areas overlooking a compressed maritime environment. For Tehran, Hormuz is not merely a waterway. It is a geographic weapon system.

Iran spent decades building a force designed to exploit that geography. It never tried to match the United States carrier for carrier or destroyer for destroyer. Instead, it built a system for sea denial. Sea control means being able to use an area while preventing an adversary from using it; sea denial requires much less. It is enough to make an opponent’s use dangerous, expensive and unpredictable. Iran does not need to sink an American aircraft carrier to succeed. It does not even need to physically close Hormuz. It only needs to make tanker owners, insurers and captains ask whether the risk is worth it.

Its force structure follows from that logic: naval mines, fast attack craft, mobile coastal anti-ship missiles, one-way attack drones, surveillance networks, small submarines and unmanned systems operating above, on and beneath the surface. None is decisive alone. The difficulty emerges when all of them exist simultaneously, dispersed across coastline, islands, tunnels and mobile positions. The adversary does not need to be everywhere; it needs to make you believe it could be anywhere.

A single mine not found can affect commercial traffic more than dozens already destroyed. One mobile launcher whose position is unknown can turn large areas of coastline into potential firing zones. This is asymmetric warfare at its most effective: turning inexpensive, distributed and difficult-to-find systems into an enduring problem for a technologically superior force.

Here lies the central paradox of the campaign. The United States and Israel proved they could destroy ships, missile batteries, radars, command centers and production sites at scale. But Hormuz exposed the boundary between destroying military capability and controlling operational space. After the initial campaign, the United States still had to launch a separate effort to restore freedom of navigation. Mine-clearance operations began in April, and in early May Project Freedom was launched to maintain safe passage for commercial shipping. More than 15,000 US service members were reportedly involved, supported by destroyers, helicopters and more than 100 manned and unmanned aircraft providing round-the-clock coverage. Meanwhile, more than 1,500 commercial vessels were waiting inside the Gulf, unable or unwilling to leave.

After one of the region’s most intensive air campaigns, more than 15,000 personnel and hundreds of platforms were still needed to secure passage through a relatively narrow body of water. Not because the United States lacked power, but because the mission had changed. Destruction is episodic. Control is persistent. A strike happens at a moment in time; control must exist every moment.

It is tempting to conclude that the West simply underestimated Iran. That is only partly true. The United States knew about these threats; they had appeared for years in intelligence assessments, war games, and CENTCOM planning. The deeper problem is conceptual: Western force design remains far better optimized for finding and destroying targets than for persistently understanding and controlling complex terrain. Modern militaries excel at the kill chain – detect, classify, decide, strike. Hormuz requires something broader: sense, understand, predict, persist, act, verify and repeat, thousands of times, every hour, for weeks or months.

Iran’s objective was never necessarily to survive as a conventional navy. It was to survive as a network. Networks regenerate, relocate and hide. A launcher on an island can be destroyed, but another can appear tomorrow. A shipping lane can be cleared of mines, but new mines can be laid at night. The question therefore eventually becomes not only how to destroy another launcher, but who controls the terrain that allows it to return. The United States has understandably avoided seizing strategic islands or parts of the Iranian coast because such operations carry major risks and escalation. But the cost of occupying terrain does not make the military problem created by that terrain disappear.

Geography still matters.

The answer is not a return to mass armies. Hormuz points toward a different force architecture. In environments that demand continuous presence across dangerous and contested spaces, humans should no longer perform every surveillance, patrol, detection and response mission. The persistent layer of the battlefield should increasingly be held by distributed networks of unmanned systems in the air, on the surface, underwater and on land.

But adding unmanned platforms is not enough. Hundreds of drones streaming more video into a command center merely move the bottleneck from the battlefield to the operator. The real challenge is to build systems capable of understanding the terrain they observe: connecting sensors, identifying abnormal behavior, detecting change, distinguishing civilian activity from emerging threats, reacquiring mobile launchers and operating when communications are degraded or denied.

This is the difference between automation, autonomy and cognition. In such an architecture, unmanned systems should increasingly own persistence – the continuous, dangerous and exhausting layer of military operations. Humans should be preserved for missions where human presence remains indispensable: strategic decisions, judgment under ambiguity, interaction with populations, seizure of critical infrastructure and, when necessary, physical control of terrain. Machines should own the persistence; humans should own the consequence.

Hormuz is an almost perfect laboratory for this model. A cognitive unmanned network could persistently monitor islands, coastlines, shipping lanes and the subsurface domain, detect and isolate threats as they emerge, and create the operational envelope within which manned forces enter only when a mission requires physical seizure or control of a critical point. Large-scale autonomy and manned ground forces are not alternatives. They are complementary: the first creates persistence; the second creates physical control.

The lesson of Hormuz is not that airpower failed. It is that airpower can succeed spectacularly and the strategic problem can still survive. Iran demonstrated how a conventionally weaker state can combine geography, inexpensive systems, and persistent uncertainty to generate global leverage. Future campaigns will therefore require militaries to move beyond a force architecture optimized mainly to destroy faster and toward one capable of understanding and holding continuously.

A military can destroy a navy, strike thousands of targets, and achieve overwhelming superiority in the air. But after the smoke clears, the most important strategic question may still be remarkably simple: who holds the ground? Hormuz is not an exception to the wars of the future. It may be their preview.

Ryan Gity authored Israel’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and served as a member of the team appointed by the Prime Minister to formulate Israel’s new defense force-building concept and future IDF budget framework. He is the CEO of G2, a deep-tech AI company focused on cognitive systems and physical AI.

This post was originally published on here. 

Lebanese security officials believe that the extensive Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon in recent days are not merely localized operations but are intended to lay the groundwork for a broader military campaign, Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday.

According to the report, the IDF has focused its strikes on strategic ridgelines overlooking villages and towns in the area, as well as on a transportation route leading deeper into Lebanese territory. The reported aim is to isolate key areas and prevent the movement of personnel between them.

Sources in Beirut said that strikes on homes, infrastructure, and roads in these areas were intended to create a buffer zone and separate Hezbollah strongholds from their surroundings, as part of preparations for the possibility that the fighting could expand.

Alongside reports about Israeli activity on the ground, Lebanese news outlet Elnashra reported growing concern in Beirut over the possibility of a significant security escalation.

According to an analysis published by the outlet, Lebanese officials believe the military developments are also being influenced by Israel’s approaching election campaign. In their assessment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could adopt a tougher stance and use more forceful military measures to demonstrate security achievements to the Israeli public.

Israel politics focused on external threats, including Iran, Hezbollah, Turkey

Lebanese reports said the political campaign in Israel is focusing heavily on highlighting external threats from Iran, Hezbollah, and Turkey. Lebanese commentators argue that this reduces Israel’s willingness to reach compromises.

Political and security officials in Beirut believe this approach is also reflected in Israel taking a harder line in diplomatic contacts and applying increasing military pressure to improve its negotiating position.

At the same time, Lebanese reports point to a continuing stalemate in negotiating channels between the two countries. Lebanese sources claim that Israel is in no hurry to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough and instead prefers to maintain military pressure.

US involvement in the talks, meanwhile, is focused primarily on preventing a complete collapse of communication channels and trying to stop the situation from deteriorating into a full-scale confrontation, according to the Lebanese reports.

The assessments from Beirut therefore link developments along the Israel-Lebanon front with the diplomatic impasse, arguing that the strikes are part of a broader effort to reshape conditions on the ground while maintaining pressure in negotiations. Lebanese officials and commentators cited in the reports have expressed concern that the combination of military activity, hardened negotiating positions, and domestic political considerations in Israel could increase the risk of further escalation.

This post was originally published on here.