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Saudi Arabia is weighing whether to back a Yemeni ground campaign to retake the Red Sea coast from the Houthis, an offensive that would test forces Riyadh has spent seven months assembling out of rival Yemeni militias.

Ballistic missiles hit the commercial vessel Tihama on Tuesday in Bab-el-Mandeb, the strait at the southern mouth of the Red Sea, killing four of its crew. They were the first crew deaths from a Houthi attack since the American and Israeli war with Iran began in February.

The Houthis are the Iran-backed movement that has held Yemen’s capital and its north since 2014. They now control the Red Sea shore facing Saudi Arabia, and their weapons reach into the kingdom itself. On Aug. 9, they said a drone struck the Aramco refinery at Jazan, in southern Saudi Arabia. Yanbu, the Saudi export terminal farther up that coast, ships about 4 million barrels of crude a day.

Yemen’s Transport Ministry said three missiles struck the Tihama in succession and that the dead were three Pakistanis and an Indonesian. The coast guard put the toll at six dead and 10 wounded, including two Yemeni rescue personnel it said were also targeted. The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported three. The first account came from Al-Jumhuriya, a network owned by Tareq Saleh, a commander in Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

The Houthis did not claim responsibility for several hours. That evening, the Houthi-run channel Al-Masirah carried a statement from what it called the Yemeni armed forces announcing an operation against a ship carrying Saudi military equipment. It did not name the vessel.

Commercial shipping repeatedly hit

Iranian outlets, which call the group Ansarullah, reported two events that day: a commercial ship hit in the morning and a second at midday. Ambrey, a British maritime security company, said the Tihama was neither Saudi-owned nor Saudi-operated and had sailed from Mocha on Saturday.

“The whole coastline, from Bab-el-Mandeb through Mokha and Hodeidah to Ras Isa and As-Salif, is strategically important,” Mohamed Qubaty, a former Yemeni tourism and mass media minister who is acting chairman of the Southern Civil Democratic Rally, told The Media Line. “The Houthis know that eventually the outcome of any major confrontation could be tested there.”

That government, seated in the southern port of Aden, has spent a decade fighting the Houthis with Saudi backing and a decade divided against itself. Its army is a set of rival militias, some raised by Saudi Arabia and some by the United Arab Emirates, and welding them into one force is the problem Riyadh has worked on since January.

“I think Saudi Arabia is keeping its options open and taking steps to ensure that, if confrontation with the Houthis becomes necessary, it enters it from a much stronger position,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a Yemeni conflict analyst at the Middle East Institute and the Center on Armed Groups, told The Media Line.

Houthi missiles and drones have hit Mokha, a government-held port on the Red Sea, in seven waves, the seventh on Aug. 9, said Col. Wadhah al-Dubaish, spokesman for the Joint Forces on the west coast. Yemen’s Health Ministry put the toll at seven civilians killed and 30 wounded, two of them children; Al-Watan reported eight killed and 26 wounded. An earlier attempt on a fuel tanker inside the port killed a fisherman nearby. Missiles also hit al-Khokha, farther north.

On Aug. 5, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed a ballistic missile strike on the Saudi oil tanker Wafa off Yanbu, and later that day, a second Saudi tanker, the Daisy, in the Gulf of Aden. Riyadh confirmed neither.

Mokha is a base for the Joint Forces, al-Dawsari said. The Houthis are trying to weaken them before they can join a ground offensive and to keep any escalation on their own terms.

Qubaty said he does not believe the Houthis can degrade them decisively. “We are speaking about formations numbering in the thousands,” he said. “The more important question is whether those formations can operate together.”

He said the Houthis may be striking before the government completes its military reorganization. “The recent strikes should not necessarily be read simply as evidence of Houthi confidence,” Qubaty said. “Preemptive violence can also reveal strategic anxiety-an attempt to disrupt forces before an adversary recovers the initiative.”

Inland, the fighting is over Marib, the government’s stronghold and the center of Yemen’s oil and gas production. The death toll from Houthi strikes there and in neighboring Hadramout on Aug. 6 ranges from 17 to 58. A military officer told Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, that at least 35 government soldiers were killed.

China’s unique arrangement helps fund Houthis

China has an arrangement no one else does. Beijing opened direct talks with the Houthis after the July blockade and now clears its tankers one ship at a time, keeping Tehran informed, according to Chinese trade outlets and regional officials briefed on the matter. China buys most of Iran’s sanctioned crude, revenue that helps fund the Houthis.

At least four Saudi tankers bound for China have since crossed.

India has more riding on the strait than most. Saudi Arabia was its third-largest crude supplier in June, and with Hormuz shut, that oil crosses the kingdom by pipeline and leaves through Bab-el-Mandeb. Two Saudi tankers bound for India and China turned back last month.

Fertilizer is the larger exposure. Saudi Arabia supplies 42% of India’s diammonium phosphate imports under contracts signed last year for 3.1 million tons a year, and the Gulf about 70% of its urea. India buys roughly a third of the world’s traded DAP and grows its rice and wheat on it. Delayed or costlier cargoes land in the October sowing season, and from there on, food prices.

“The Houthis have demonstrated that relatively modest military capabilities – combining drones, precision-guided missiles, and small maritime platforms – can impose enormous costs on the global economy,” Harsh V. Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, told The Media Line.

The divided command has long kept the government from coordinating its forces, Qubaty said. New army and air force commanders have been appointed, and integration has accelerated over the past six months.

What changed in January was that the two patrons fell out. In late December, coalition aircraft bombed a weapons shipment that reached an Emirati-linked base in eastern Yemen without Saudi permission, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said. Riyadh accused the United Arab Emirates of pushing southern separatists into operations along its border, and President Rashad al-Alimi gave Emirati forces 24 hours to leave.

Saudi airstrikes stopped those separatists, the Southern Transitional Council, from taking the south outright. Its leader was charged with treason and removed from the governing council on Jan. 15, and much of the leadership is in exile or detained in Riyadh. Abu Dhabi still backs the movement, and the two approaches remain at odds, al-Dawsari said.

A Saudi general, Maj.-Gen. Falah al-Shahrani, now supervises the folding of those southern units into Yemen’s defense and interior ministries. He also oversees Nation’s Shield and the Emergency Forces, Saudi-created units struck this month.

For roughly three years, Saudi Arabia has sought to contain the Houthis while avoiding a return to full-scale war. What happens next turns on what Riyadh decides, Qubaty said. He distinguishes between preparing for contingencies and deciding to launch an offensive, and cannot conclude that Riyadh has made that decision.

Neither the United Arab Emirates nor Oman joined the 14-state maritime coalition Riyadh launched on July 30 to protect Red Sea shipping, and no Gulf partner signed the mutual defense pact Riyadh made in Mecca on Aug. 7 with Turkey and Pakistan. The Saudi Defense Ministry called the coalition purely defensive.

The Houthis called it an alliance to defend Saudi crimes, and denied charging ships to pass through the strait. Reuters reported in late July that the group was weighing transit fees, exempting Chinese vessels. “Instead of weeping over the targeted ships, stop your blockade and unjust aggression against the people of Yemen,” Saree said.

Saudi Arabia built the East-West Pipeline, known as Petroline, to move crude across the country to Yanbu and skip the Persian Gulf. But tankers leaving Yanbu for Asia must still sail the length of the Red Sea and out through Bab-el-Mandeb, past the Houthis. Houthi attacks there reduce the value of the alternative route and raise insurance and shipping costs, Qubaty said.

The Houthis have protected their military spending while many civilian employees go unpaid, Qubaty said. The group collects taxes, customs duties, and fees in the territory where most Yemenis live. Under a 2018 United Nations deal, revenue from the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah was to help pay those salaries, but about 50 billion Yemeni riyals, roughly $90 million at the rate used in Houthi areas, built up before the group took it, he said.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Aug. 8 that the Strait of Hormuz will not open until Washington changes its behavior. His conditions include an end to operations against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and the Palestinian territories, an end to the naval blockade, and sanctions relief.

Iranian influence over Houthi decisions has grown lately, Qubaty said, particularly in areas that touch on the wider regional confrontation and the chokepoints. “I would not say Tehran is necessarily in the driving seat, but it is highly influential,” he said.

Yemeni security sources told Al-Watan that Houthi leaders have converted hotels in the capital and two other cities they hold into temporary headquarters, and that officers of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are running an operations room directing both the escalation and the group’s media line. Qubaty said Iranian and Revolutionary Guard-linked personnel have operated in Houthi-held territory for years, but declined to name individuals.

“Air and maritime power can degrade capabilities and contain immediate threats, but they do not by themselves change the territorial condition that generates those threats,” Qubaty said.

Any campaign has to be fought by Yemenis, not Americans, he said.

“A durable strategy requires three concentric circles of deterrence working together: Yemeni forces restoring sovereign control on the ground; regional partners providing the strategic support necessary to sustain that effort; and international powers securing the wider maritime environment,” Qubaty said. “None of the three is sufficient alone.”

“The strategic objective should not simply be military action for its own sake,” he said. “It should be to change the balance sufficiently that serious political negotiation becomes unavoidable.”

“The danger is that the Houthis demonstrate that an armed nonstate actor controlling strategically important territory can continue exercising coercive leverage over Bab el-Mandeb and international commerce,” Qubaty said. “That would have consequences far beyond Yemen.”

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A former Border Police officer was indicted on Wednesday on multiple counts of sexually harassing a child under 14 through Instagram, the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department (PID) announced on Thursday. 

The indictment alleges that Yazan Goaya repeatedly proposed meeting the minor for sexual activity, offered money, requested photographs, and sent sexually explicit messages – even after being told that the child had not yet turned 14.

The charge sheet does not allege that a meeting or physical contact ultimately took place.

The indictment was filed with the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court by attorney Hila Cohen of the PID, the body responsible for investigating suspected criminal misconduct by police officers.

Goaya served at the time in the Jerusalem Border Police, according to the indictment.

Knowingly, repeatedly suggested meeting for sex with a minor

Prosecutors said they could not determine the precise dates of the alleged correspondence but that it occurred before September 15, 2024. The indictment was filed on August 12, 2026, nearly two years after the latest date provided for the correspondence.

Neither the indictment nor the department’s announcement explains the length of time between the alleged conduct and the filing of charges.

According to the charge sheet, Goaya knew the minor was under 14 but repeatedly suggested meeting for sex and proposed that the child come to his home and stay overnight.

He allegedly asked whether the minor had previously met or had sexual relations with adults, explained sexual acts, and continued sending explicit messages after the child disclosed their age and provided a date of birth.

The indictment further alleges that Goaya attempted to obtain the Instagram account of another minor for a proposed sexual encounter while continuing to make sexual proposals to the first child and offering money.

Goaya is charged under provisions of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law covering repeated sexual proposals and repeated comments focusing on another person’s sexuality.

Under the law, such conduct toward a child under 15 may constitute sexual harassment even if the child did not expressly indicate that the attention was unwanted, provided that the alleged harasser is not also a minor.

The investigation was conducted by the Jerusalem team of the PID. Prosecutors notified the court that they may seek a prison sentence if Goaya is convicted. 

PID’s institutional future in question

PID’s institutional future is currently before the High Court of Justice following the passage of legislation in June separating the department from the State Attorney’s Office and establishing it as a separate Justice Ministry investigation and prosecution body.

Supporters of the law, including its sponsor, Likud MK and former PID deputy director Moshe Saada, argue that the existing arrangement creates an inherent conflict because prosecutors routinely work with police officers while overseeing the department responsible for investigating them. The legislation passed 43-39 and gives the restructured department its own budget and authority to investigate and prosecute suspected crimes by police officers.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and petitioners challenging the law argue that the new structure would replace that potential conflict with political dependence. They have pointed to the justice minister’s influence over the appointment mechanism, the ministry’s control of the department’s budget, and the transfer of powers currently exercised by the attorney-general and state attorney.

Baharav-Miara has asked the High Court to freeze implementation of the law while three petitions against it are considered. Earlier this month, the court ordered Justice Minister Yariv Levin to clarify whether he intended to advance appointments to the restructured department before the October 27 election. The court has not yet ruled on the petitions’ merits.

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A delegation from ZAKA’s International Division are providing assistance in cities across Colombia following the deadly earthquake that killed at least 250 people in the South American country earlier this week.

The earthquake struck on Monday, with a magnitude of 7.4 that shook Colombia’s coastal Choco province. According to the geological service, the quake struck at a depth of 79 km, with its epicenter near San José del Palmar.

Shortly after the initial tremor, the geological service reported an additional magnitude 4.8 seismic incident in the same region.

The delegation, which includes search and rescue personnel, doctors, engineers, and experts in preserving the dignity of the dead, have arrived in Cali, Pereira, and Chocó, as well at other locations where the earthquake hit and are working alongside local rescue teams.

In addition to the rescue and search operations, ZAKA has established a temporary clinic at one of the earthquake’s destruction sites to provide immediate medical care to those in need.

ZAKA operating for Jewish community, Colombian people

“From the very first moment, we began operating at the scenes of destruction, with the goal of saving lives and helping anyone who needs assistance,” said Yosef Garmon, ZAKA South America Commander and is leading the delegation. “Alongside the rescue operations, we established a temporary clinic at the scene of the destruction, where the medical teams are treating the sick and injured, providing medications, and delivering initial medical care under field conditions.

“We are operating here for the Jewish community, but also for all local residents. For us, this is a mission of mutual responsibility and one of human responsibility. We hope to sanctify God’s name and do everything in our power to provide hope, assistance, and relief to the Colombian people.”

Director of ZAKA’s International Division Baruch Nidam said that ZAKA’s International Division operates “wherever disaster strikes around the world.”

“At every scene, we bring extensive experience, professional knowledge, advanced equipment, and endless dedication,” affirmed Nidam. “In Colombia as well, ZAKA volunteers are working around the clock, shoulder to shoulder with local rescue forces, to save lives, locate missing people, and provide as much medical and humanitarian assistance as possible.

“Establishing the temporary clinic inside the disaster area is part of our effort to provide a comprehensive response to those affected, not only through rescue operations, but also through medical treatment and assistance to the population left without support as a result of the destruction.”

“ZAKA is an organization that goes to the most difficult places in the world in order to help and save lives,” ZAKA CEO Zvi Hassid echoed Nidam and Garmon. “In moments of disaster, there is no distinction between one person and another, whoever needs help, we are there for them.”

He added that the organization’s volunteers are operating in Colombia under difficult conditions in order to provide treatment and assistance, “and above all, the feeling that they are not alone,” to those in need.

Israel to send additional humanitarian delegation to Colombia

An additional humanitarian delegation from Israel is expected to depart for Colombia in the coming days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Wednesday statement, following a request for aid from Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella.

ZAKA’s volunteers already operating on the ground are expected to join the delegation and operate alongside it at the disaster sites, according to needs on the ground and the instructions of local rescue authorities.

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Qusai Abu Ridi, a Palestinian resident whose house in the village of Kusra, south of Nablus in the West Bank, has been targeted by radical Israeli settlers in recent days, said that despite actions taken by the Israeli military on Wednesday to remove the makeshift outpost outside his house, settlers are still present in its surroundings, posing a threat to him, his family, and his neighbors. 

“The danger has not gone away,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

While the tent’s structure was dismantled, Qusai said that a group of Israeli settlers returned. “The forces left, and the settlers came back, first to a spot at the doorstep of my neighbor Youssef Hassan, and now to the place where they originally set up their tent, which is about seven meters from our house,” Qusai said. “I can see them from the window, sitting on mattresses and chairs,” he added.

“They haven’t been evacuated, and we’re afraid they will attack us. They have already thrown stones at the house a couple of times, and we have no protection.”

Qusai attributed the recent escalation to the deadly clashes that erupted in the village of Tell in the northern West Bank a couple of weeks ago, and claimed that “settlers have increased their presence and harassment since then.” 

Settler violence in Kusra ramped up since January

He said that the establishment of the tent a few days ago was a continuation of a series of provocations and harassment by settlers, beginning in January this year. 

“What happened in the past days has been much worse, blocking us inside the house without being able to go out. We were running out of food and water. Who can imagine something like that?” he told the Post. “And even now, it’s like nothing has changed; we feel besieged because they are still here, and if we move out of our doorstep, we are afraid they will harm us or won’t let us enter the house.”

Extremist settlers aim to ‘drag family away from house,’ Qusai said

Qusai said he believes this group of extremist settlers aims to drag him and his family away from the house, which lies on the western outskirts of the village of Kusra, and settle there. “We will hold on to our land and property,” he said. “We will not let them expel us from this land and take over. Even if we are left only with salt and water, we’ll stay here,” Qusai told the Post.

He noted he moved to the house with his wife and two girls shortly after Israeli extremists started to target the compound, which belongs to his brother, who lives in America. The brother, Louay, has American citizenship and reached out to the American embassy for help, Qusai said, and added that he is scheduled to arrive in Kusra on Sunday.

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Senior US and Israeli officials on Wednesday night denied in conversations with The Jerusalem Post a Reuters report that Israel and Lebanon had already agreed on the countries that could participate in a future international mechanism in Lebanon that would oversee Hezbollah’s disarmament and verify the Lebanese military’s activities.

Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Israel and Lebanon had agreed on the UK, Italy, Switzerland, and Indonesia as countries that could contribute troops to the proposed mechanism, under which foreign forces would be deployed in Lebanon to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament. 

However, an Israeli source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post that the report was incorrect. “There is no agreement on the composition of the body that will oversee and verify the Lebanese military’s work in the pilot areas. Negotiations on the matter are continuing,” the source said.

A US official also denied that an agreement had already been reached between the sides. According to the official, there is still no agreement between Lebanon and Israel regarding the countries that could deploy troops in Lebanon after the conclusion of UNIFIL’s operations, with the aim of assisting in the process of disarming Hezbollah. The US official stressed that discussions on the matter were still ongoing.

The dispute over the identity of the body that will verify the Lebanese military’s activities is one of the central issues the sides are working on as part of US-mediated talks.

Israel, Lebanon agreed to implement pilot zones

On Wednesday, a US State Department official said, following the conclusion of three days of technical talks in Rome, that while the sides had agreed on the details needed to implement the pilot areas and other aspects of the trilateral framework, including common definitions for “verification” and “clearing” the territory, significant details still remained to be resolved.

According to the US official, one of the questions still under consideration is who exactly will verify the Lebanese military’s clearing operations. The talks included discussion of the possibility of third-party verification as part of US-led diplomatic involvement that would complement the trilateral framework.

The military delegations agreed in Rome on operational parameters, shared maps, and a road map that would allow additional pilot areas to be opened at a later stage. During the next round of technical talks, Lebanon is expected to present detailed plans for securing new areas, while continuing to implement the plan in areas where it is already operating.

US expresses opposition to renewing UNIFIL mandate

The US also reiterated during the talks its opposition to renewing UNIFIL’s mandate, and Israel and Lebanon agreed to work with Washington on a future framework that would support the trilateral mechanism. The diplomatic track is expected to resume in Rome in early September, with contacts continuing in Beirut, Jerusalem, and Washington until then.

The State Department official stressed on Wednesday that despite the difficulties, Washington was satisfied with the direction of the progress. According to the official, the first pilot areas are already operational, and the teams succeeded in reaching common ground on professional terminology, maps, and procedures. However, the official warned that Hezbollah was attempting to undermine the process and that both Israel and Lebanon were facing domestic political pressure.

According to the official, the fact that teams from both sides sat together, communicated directly, and developed possible solutions was itself a significant change. The US plan is to move forward gradually, first demonstrating that the pilot areas work and only then expanding the model to additional areas.

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Hamas plans to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections, a senior official from the Iran-backed terrorist organization told Hamas-operated Al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

Hussam Badran, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the group would participate as part of a broad national coalition.

Elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council are set to go ahead on November 28, the first in 20 years after Hamas won in January 2006. Hamas won 74 of the seats, with Fatah following behind with 45.

Badran asserted that the majority of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, opposed requiring parties to meet conditions based on their political positions to run. Those running in the election are required to formally recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

He described the elections as “a historic opportunity to bring about change in the Palestinian situation and end the state of unilateral decision-making in the national decision that has continued for two decades.”

Hamas: Al-Aqsa represents core of the conflict with Israel

Though he criticized the elections for not happening sooner, he also claimed that they were now occurring without a national consensus.

On Hamas’s future priorities, Badran said the group remained focused on the status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem. The mosque, located on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, has been at the center of growing tensions, with Arab and Muslim countries condemning the increased presence of Jewish worshippers and prayers at the site last week.

He claimed that the mosque represented the core of the conflict with Israel and accused Israel of exploiting the war in Gaza as an excuse to alter the status quo at the site. The Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, is administered day-to-day by the Jordanian Waqf, while Israel maintains overall security control. Under the longstanding arrangements, non-Muslims may visit the site but are not officially permitted to pray there, and Jewish prayer has increasingly been framed as incitement or escalation.

Netanyahu accused of strategically expanding Israeli reach in West Bank

He added that he thought the West Bank had become part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy to expand Israeli reach.

“The Netanyahu government has adopted the slogan of resolving the conflict with the Palestinian people, particularly in the West Bank,” he said. “As Israeli elections approach, Palestinian blood becomes the most important propaganda tool for the occupation across all its parties.”

On the issue of Palestinian prisoners, which has remained a contentious issue as international bodies have increased the pressure on the Palestinian Authority to end its financial support for those who commit terror attacks against Israel, Badran said Hamas was prioritizing securing the freedom of those currently in detention.

Hamas was able to secure the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in hostage-prisoner exchanges following its October 7 invasion of southern Israel, which it also used to bolster its propaganda campaign and rally support for the organization.

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From the beginning, something didn’t add up.

During the closing hours of the NATO Leaders’ Summit in Ankara in July, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he would not be flying home aboard the new presidential plane that had brought him to the Turkish capital after Qatar gifted it to the administration last year.

Instead, Trump said, he had sent the aircraft ahead to Mildenhall Air Force Base in England so service members could tour it. He wrote, without making clear how he would ultimately get home to Washington, that he would fly to Mildenhall aboard an older Air Force One.

As part of the press pool traveling with Trump, I was along for the ride.

The itinerary change was confusing, and Trump’s explanation seemed implausible. Reporters’ questions to one another turned to whether Iran had hatched a concrete plot to assassinate the president. At first, our precise itinerary also remained a mystery, though we assumed we were still heading back to Washington as initially planned after the stop in the United Kingdom.

Qatari-provided plane not up to security standards

If our initial hunch regarding a security concern proved accurate, the Qatari-provided plane – which is known to lack certain safety features – might not be up to snuff. That could explain why the White House would want to switch out the planes, and it would mean that we were in for a much more dangerous flight than usual.

Trump had inadvertently stoked speculation about potential threats during the final day of the summit on July 8. As he met with various world leaders, from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he repeatedly brought up Iran’s longstanding attempts to kill him in comments to reporters.

After a press conference shortly before leaving Turkey in which Trump largely deflected questions about the plane swap, the sense that something was out of the ordinary only grew.

As we boarded what we believed was the aircraft carrying the president, White House staff directed journalists to close our window shades. When we pressed for an explanation, we were told it was a request from the Secret Service.

Having traveled on the presidential plane before, I knew this demand was atypical. Was it, perhaps, an attempt to obscure some sort of classified defense technology?

Only weeks later would we find out that the instruction was designed to help hide a covert operation in which Trump left the aircraft via a catering truck and boarded a different government jet due to a security concern.

On Air Force One itself, answers can be surprisingly hard to come by. For security reasons, reporters have no access to WiFi. Access to White House staff, meanwhile, is usually limited to a logistical staffer known as a “wrangler,” who often lacks access to or authority to distribute sensitive information.

The flight from Ankara to Mildenhall was uneventful, though it was hard to relax. We believed, falsely, that the president could appear at any moment and the circumstances surrounding our flight remained a mystery.

While Trump did not “gaggle” with journalists for reasons that are now obvious, I thought little of his absence as he often forgoes speaking to journalists on Air Force One.

But when we landed in England in the late evening, the trip took another unusual turn.

As we walked off the plane, we saw Trump descend from another section of the aircraft, an elaborate part of the ruse in hindsight.

‘Performative and cinematic’ maneuvers

White House staff then asked us to follow Trump on foot as he walked to the Qatari-provided Air Force One, which was parked several hundred yards in front of the aircraft we had just exited. Secret Service agents flanked the president, and a black government SUV to our right rolled slowly forward.

The maneuver – which resembled nothing I had seen before on the White House beat – immediately struck me as notably performative and cinematic, particularly as I was unsure of its purpose.

After loading up on the new plane and taking off, a White House aide provided journalists with a printout of a Truth Social post from Trump that included a dark picture of service members and their families gathered in front of the Qatari-provided plane.

In the post, Trump said the “entire” base had requested to see the plane, and that stopping in Mildenhall required “virtually no deviation” from the standard Ankara-to-Washington flight path.

Moments later, the president visited the press cabin, where we peppered him with questions about the real reasons why he didn’t take the Qatari-provided plane to England.

It would not become clear for another month that Trump had not traveled with us to Mildenhall at all and that there was a third plane involved.

During the flight, he denied that security concerns were a factor. But when I asked him why we had to close our window shades, he acknowledged the persistent threats he faced from Iran.

“But if I go, you go. Right?” Trump told us. “Perhaps someday you want to change professions.”

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The city of Burgas in Bulgaria has been selected to host the 71st Eurovision Song Contest in May next year, the show’s organizers said on Thursday.

“Bulgaria’s Black Sea city Burgas will welcome artists, delegations, fans, journalists, and millions of viewers from around the world for three spectacular live shows on Tuesday 11 May, Thursday 13 May and Saturday 15 May 2027,” the European Broadcasting Union said in a statement.

Israel is set to participate in the event after Eurovision Song Contest director Martin Green affirmed in a July interview with Variety that there would be no further votes by countries in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on whether to exclude the Jewish state from the competition.

This is a developing story.

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The Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” the head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit, Hossein Taeb, said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had “total control” of the strategic waterway.

Taeb said the United States had sought to disrupt what he described as the Islamic Republic’s popularity in the region by launching another war in the Strait of Hormuz, but had once more been defeated despite claiming Iran had neither an air force nor a navy.

“Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic,” Taeb said, adding that Iran was continuing on its course in complete security.

This is a developing story.

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Current and former Likud lawmakers, ministers, and deputy ministers will remain barred from competing for district positions in the party’s upcoming primary, after MK Afif Abed withdrew his Supreme Court appeal late Wednesday night. 

The outcome closes one part of a weeks-long struggle over how the Likud will choose its next Knesset list, a process repeatedly reshaped by party votes, internal petitions, and court proceedings.

It does not affect the eight positions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been authorized to fill with candidates of his choosing. The primary vote is currently scheduled for Monday.

The case concerned a separate question: whether current and former MKs, ministers, and deputy ministers could compete for places on the list reserved for candidates from geographic districts.

Abed’s attorney informed the Supreme Court that he would no longer pursue the appeal after the justices heard the parties’ arguments, according to the two-page judgment issued Wednesday night.

Court formally dismisses appeal

The court formally dismissed the appeal; the panel comprised justices Dafna Barak-Erez, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein.

Meaning the internal tribunal’s ruling remains in force, and current and former officeholders cannot use the district route in the upcoming primary – they will have to compete on the nationwide slate.

During the hearing, the justices repeatedly questioned why an external court should intervene in a decision by the party’s own judicial body. Grosskopf said the Likud tribunal was responsible for deciding internal disputes and that its decisions should ordinarily be respected. 

The appeal was the latest proceeding in a broader struggle over the balance of power between Netanyahu, Likud members, and the party’s internal institutions.

Three connected but distinct questions have dominated the process: whether the primary would take place, how much of the list Netanyahu could determine himself, and who would be allowed to compete for district positions.

Likud’s Knesset list is assembled from several different contests and guarantees. The party chairman heads the slate, while eligible Likud members vote for candidates competing in a nationwide race.

Separate places are allocated to representatives of geographic districts and groups guaranteed representation under the party rules. Other positions are reserved for candidates selected by the party chairman.

The district route has traditionally provided a path onto the list for local activists and first-time candidates who lack the national recognition and political organization of serving lawmakers. Opening those contests to established politicians would have given current and former officeholders an alternative to the crowded nationwide race.

The first major dispute concerned whether the primary would be held at all.

Netanyahu considers replacing committee

In June, the Likud Constitution Committee set the primary for August 4 amid reports that Netanyahu had considered replacing it with a committee that would appoint the party list instead.

During a series of meetings in July, Likud institutions considered a broader overhaul that included eight reserved positions for Netanyahu, a possible alternative to the primary in a security emergency, and a separate proposal opening the district contests to current and former officeholders.

By mid-July, the primary had been moved from August 4 to August 17 as the internal deliberations continued.

A vote on the proposed rules was halted on July 16 after the Central District Court in Lod issued a temporary injunction requiring the party to address a competing proposal before proceeding.

The Constitution Committee subsequently approved a revised framework under which Netanyahu would receive eight reserved positions and could appoint a selection committee if a security escalation made it impossible to hold the primary.

The Likud’s top internal court struck down the latter provision over the weekend before the July 27 vote. It ruled that the party was required to exhaust the available means of holding a primary rather than approve its cancellation in advance.

The tribunal said a security emergency could justify changing the date and suggested that the party prepare for electronic voting if necessary. It left open the possibility of considering an unforeseen emergency if one arose.

The decision therefore blocked the proposed selection committee, leaving a party primary as the operative method for choosing the list. 

On July 27, members of the Likud convention voted on the remaining rules, approving the eight positions for Netanyahu by a wide margin, and narrowly approving the separate proposal allowing current and former officeholders to compete in the districts.

The district result was immediately challenged before the Likud tribunal. Petitioners argued that opening the districts to established politicians would undermine their traditional purpose and that irregularities in the voting and counting made it impossible to determine whether the narrowly approved proposal had passed lawfully.

The tribunal found discrepancies involving the numbers of recorded voters, envelopes, and ballots at several polling stations. It did not find that the result had been deliberately falsified, but concluded that the irregularities could not be disregarded given the narrow margin.

The tribunal also reasoned that district positions were intended to provide a relatively protected contest in which new leadership could emerge. Serving politicians, it said, enter the race with advantages in public recognition, media exposure, and political organization.

On August 3, the tribunal invalidated the district change. The rest of the framework, including Netanyahu’s eight reserved positions, remained intact.

Abed, who sought to compete in the Galilee and Valleys district, then challenged the ruling in the Tel Aviv District Court.

He argued that the tribunal had exceeded its authority by replacing the decision of the Likud convention with its own view of who should be allowed to compete. Questions about the composition of the party list, he maintained, belonged to the Likud’s elected institutions.

Judge Yaakov Shaked accepted that argument in part.

Shaked ruled that the tribunal had exceeded its authority when it overturned the party’s policy choice on the grounds that allowing established politicians into the district contests violated equality. He found that the Likud constitution did not itself prohibit current or former officeholders from competing in the districts.

However, Shaked declined to interfere with the tribunal’s separate assessment of the problems in the July 27 vote. He ruled that civil courts should generally avoid second-guessing an internal party tribunal’s factual findings unless exceptional circumstances justify intervention.

The District Court therefore dismissed Abed’s case on Monday, leaving the restriction in place despite accepting part of his argument about the limits of the tribunal’s authority.

Abed appealed to the Supreme Court the following day. The court convened an expedited hearing on Wednesday night because of the approaching primary.

By withdrawing the appeal, Abed left both the District Court judgment and the practical result of the tribunal’s ruling intact.

The decision does not affect the separate process through which Netanyahu is allocating his reserved positions, which has continued through the Likud Secretariat and the party tribunal.

The primary remains scheduled for Monday. Under the rules now in force, eligible Likud members will vote in the nationwide and district contests, current and former officeholders will remain outside the district races, and Netanyahu will retain his authority to select candidates for eight reserved positions.

Keshet Neev contributed to this report. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Israel Police  on Thursday morning imposed a gag order on details of the investigation into the disappearance of Mali and Liel Yahalomi in Austria.

A judge approved a request by YALACH, the National Economic Crimes Unit in police’s Lahav 433 National Crimes Unit, to prohibit the publication of any details from the investigation.

Concern continues to grow for Yahalomi women

The Yahalomis have been missing in Vienna since Friday and failed to board their scheduled return flight from Prague on Tuesday night, as Austrian police continue investigating their disappearance on Wednesday.

The two did not arrive for their return flight, which was scheduled to depart Prague at 9:45 p.m.

According to the information available, the vacation apartment where they had been staying in Vienna was found empty of their belongings. Austrian police, the Israeli Embassy, and the city’s Chabad community have reported that there are still no leads in the case.

Earlier, it was reported that police were examining all possibilities after reviewing videos and other footage showing the two leaving their hotel room on their own.

At a later stage, their phones were located in the vicinity of a Vienna train station. Their trail has since gone cold, raising suspicions that they may have been abducted.

Modi’in police questioned other members of the family, including the missing woman’s son and daughter, her brother, and others, who said they last spoke with their mother and sister on Friday.

Israel Police investigated mother’s involvement in embezzlement scheme

Israel Police on Wednesday examined claims that the mother, a senior employee at a bank, was allegedly behind an embezzlement scheme. That suspicion was ruled out in the initial investigation. Since no bloodstains or bodies have been found, suspicion has grown that the two deliberately fled and are currently in hiding for reasons that remain unclear.

Amir Rudnik, Mali Yahalomi’s brother-in-law, spoke to 103FM on Wednesday and shared the latest information available to him about the disappearance.

“We don’t have much information. We have a contact person at the Foreign Ministry situation room, and we also have a representative from the consulate in Vienna,” Rudnik said. 

“They’ve started checking, but so far there’s nothing. They arrived in Vienna from Prague by train, spent the night between Friday and Saturday at an apartment hotel in Vienna, and their Google account shows that the phone was last seen in the area of a train station in Vienna.”

Rudnik said the two had been on a regular mother-daughter trip, and that they come from a “normal, close-knit family.”

“We have a family WhatsApp group, we’re in touch every day, and every member of the family shares experiences and photos. She’s 50, and she’s a banker. Her daughter is 23. Mali also has an older son. We know that the return flight, which was yesterday, was from Prague to Ben-Gurion Airport. They were supposed to return to Prague and fly back home in the evening,” he said.

The Israeli Embassy in Vienna issued an appeal on Wednesday for help locating the two Israeli citizens, mother and daughter Mali and Liel Yahalomi, after contact with them was lost on Friday, August 7. In a post published on social media, the embassy included photographs of the two and asked the public to share the notice and help locate them.

This post was originally published on here. 

It turns out that the great and mighty Oz, better known as the man who pulls the strings behind the curtain, is the 35-year-old American-born son of Turkish parents. 

No less contentious than his well-known, left-wing political activist uncle, Cenk Kadir Uygur, co-creator and host of the controversial program The Young Turks, Hasan Piker has risen to fame as a political power broker.

Demanding strict allegiance to the main tenets of the Democratic Socialist party, the all-powerful Internet superstar, who has gotten up to a billion views for his content, will not bestow his coveted blessing upon any potential candidate unless they pass his scrutiny.

Those include their commitment to: open borders, universal healthcare, no foreign wars, and, possibly most important, aligning with the Free Palestine movement.

Despite his insistence that he is not antisemitic, Piker, who happens to be a Muslim, is known as “a vocal proponent of Palestinian rights, frequently using his streaming platform and media appearances to advocate for a “Free Palestine,” criticize Israeli government policies, and support pro-Palestinian political figures. 

Among his more incendiary comments, three stand out the most: The first is “that America deserved 9/11, because US foreign policy had made an event like 9/11 possible.” The second is that “Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel,” stating that “if rapes happened on October 7, that wouldn’t change his opinion.” 

And the third is “calling for the killing of American landlords, saying, ‘let the streets soak in their red capitalist blood.’”

For his 9/11 comment, Piker was temporarily suspended from Twitch (the popular live-stream broadcasting platform owned by Amazon) and had his travel permit revoked, making it impossible for him to enter the UK.

It’s hard to comprehend how Piker remains such a popular figure, given his preference for a barbaric terror group over the democratic country of Israel as well as comments that display an obvious contempt for the country where he was lucky enough to be born.

Nonetheless, he has a steady stream of 10 million followers across multiple social media platforms, mostly male followers enthralled by his radical-left politics, which he has turned into performance art – mixing gym culture, gaming, and an exaggerated male image, and focusing on socialist issues.

Seizing on the lost generation of men ridiculed by the Democratic Party for either having too much toxic masculinity or being insensitive to women, Piker saw an opportunity to capture their attention. 

By empathizing with their inability to purchase homes and access other benefits their parents and grandparents had, Piker discovered a real dearth in the male market, creating a space for him to address their gripes and make them feel heard.

The average Piker fan is said to be “young adult males, between the ages of 18 to 29, heavily active online, and leaning politically progressive, leftist, or socialist. His core audience consists largely of Gen Z and younger millennial men interested in anti-establishment politics, media commentary, and internet culture.” 

When you combine those particular listeners who lament their station in life and couple it with the politics of Democratic socialism, you get a healthy dose of radicals who are easy prey for the notion that anarchy and burning down the status quo is the best solution.

It’s that ever-growing niche market which has catapulted Piker to the top, turning him into a sort of socialist pope whose ring must be kissed by aspiring political figures. Once they get his approval, they’re sitting pretty.

And that’s what happened to Abdul El-Sayed, who, only a week ago, won his bid in the primaries to serve as a senator for the State of Michigan. As the saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together.” Piker and El-Sayed became fast friends.

Spending the night together at a pool party before the election results came in, Piker and El-Sayed looked like the two “cool kids” with peak confidence, believing the win would be secured – and it was. 

An army of captive listeners 

With great ideological similarities, it’s no wonder the two are often spotted together. And although much criticism was hurled at El-Sayed for appearing to be so chummy with an individual who harbors great resentment for America, it didn’t prevent him from winning – albeit by a few thousand votes.

One can only wonder if El-Sayed will cave in to pressure and shun Piker for the sake of victory in November? That might prove to be tricky since a large portion of his potential supporters would be heavily influenced by Piker. 

Would they feel slighted by the would-be senator who might be seen as a sellout who abandoned his political soulmate for the sake of a win?

And would Piker forgive him, knowing that the only way El-Sayed could prevail would be to distance himself from a prominent anti-American and antisemitic voice? 

It all remains to be seen, but no one should underestimate the power of Piker, whose influence is as statuesque as the man who stands at 193 centimeters, towering over all others, both physically and metaphorically.

With youth, popularity, wealth, and influence, Piker’s future looks promising, as he continues to grow his following, steering them in the extreme direction he hopes America will take and fundamentally change its classic image.

Piker’s American dream will be the nightmare of most citizens who will have to fight tooth and nail to keep their country from going full on red and green – red for the socialist/communist ideology, and green for the Islamic way of life that seeks to be imposed by the likes of Piker and El-Sayed.

Socialism and Islam are the grim reapers of freedom and liberty, seeking to silence all other voices as they force their way into the culture and customs that were beloved by past generations who gave their lives so that a better tomorrow could be the reality of future generations.

Hasan Piker is determined to make sure that never happens, and, towards that end, he is assembling an army of captive listeners who have his attention. Will he succeed in putting an end to the American dream, or will he be exposed as the dangerous man behind the curtain who poses a real threat as he pulls the strings to replace freedom and democracy?

The writer, a former principal of Jerusalem elementary and middle schools, was a member of Kibbutz Re’im from 1994 to 1999. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the time-tested wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs, available on Amazon.

This post was originally published on here. 

For more than three years, I have been working on a question that many would consider impossible: What would it take to rebuild Gaza not simply with new buildings, but as a functioning, productive, and economically independent society?

There is no shortage of discussions about Gaza’s future. There are proposals for governance, security, humanitarian assistance and reconstruction. What is still missing, however, is a practical economic model capable of turning hundreds of thousands of displaced people from recipients of aid into homeowners, workers, entrepreneurs and participants in a functioning economy. I believe that such a model is possible, and that its foundation must be ownership.

For decades, Gaza’s refugee camps have been a symbol of dependency. Reconstruction offers an opportunity to change that reality. Instead of rebuilding homes as publicly funded shelters, families should finance and own their homes, turning housing into the first asset in their economic future.

My proposal envisions approximately 400,000 residential units in high-rise buildings across Gaza, primarily for residents of the refugee camps and people whose homes were destroyed during the war. Construction costs are estimated at $60,000–$100,000 per unit. Rather than relying on donations to finance the housing itself, families would purchase their homes through long-term mortgages of up to 40 years, with the allocated land serving as equity and collateral.

This is more than a financing mechanism; it is a different philosophy of reconstruction. A home can provide shelter while also becoming an asset that gives a family financial security and access to credit. When hundreds of thousands of families own homes and build assets for themselves and their children, they develop a direct stake in the stability and future of the society in which they live. Ownership can therefore become a foundation for economic mobility, civic responsibility, and long-term stability.

From reconstruction to economy

Housing, however, is only the beginning. Gaza cannot become economically viable through residential towers alone. Reconstruction must include industrial zones, transportation infrastructure, reliable energy and commercial centers. Its approximately 40 kilometers of Mediterranean coastline also represents a long-term economic asset, with potential for tourism, hospitality and commerce.

Modern construction technology makes the scale of this ambition more realistic. Over the past several years, we have examined the international companies specializing in modular and industrialized construction, using prefabricated components and factory production. These technologies can allow construction to take place simultaneously across multiple sites and significantly accelerate the delivery of large numbers of homes.

The financing challenge can be addressed through a combination of private and institutional capital. We are examining a structure involving an international banking consortium, potentially supported by institutions such as the World Bank and political-risk insurance mechanisms such as MIGA. These mechanisms could help mitigate risks associated with political instability, renewed conflict and damage to investments, creating a framework in which international capital can participate.

An economic foundation for a different future

No economic plan can substitute for security, legitimate governance and the rule of law. Any successful reconstruction will require guarantees that infrastructure and investment will not once again become instruments of conflict. But security and economic development should not be viewed as competing priorities. A society in which families own homes, businesses can operate, and people can build assets for their children has a fundamentally different foundation from one that remains dependent on temporary shelter and external assistance.

This is the thinking behind the plan developed by the Institute for Structural Reforms, which has been working on the concept for the past three years, well before the end of the war. The proposal has recently been presented to Palestinian officials and has generated interest, while discussions are also taking place with international institutions and senior figures regarding its potential implementation.

I am an Israeli lawyer and entrepreneur. I do not claim that an economic plan can resolve the profound political and security questions surrounding Gaza. But precisely because I am Israeli, I believe we should be willing to think beyond the immediate horizon of war and ask what kind of reality we want to see on the other side of it.

If the day after the war is to be different from the day before, Gaza needs more than concrete, pipes and temporary shelters. It needs the foundations of an economy in which people can own, work, build and invest in their future. Reconstruction should not simply restore what was destroyed. It should create the economic foundations for a different future.

Attorney Shraga Biran is an Israeli lawyer, entrepreneur, and real-estate expert with more than six decades of experience in law, property, and urban development. He founded the Institute for Structural Reforms, which develops innovative structural solutions to social and economic challenges, including housing, land, and urban renewal.

This post was originally published on here. 

When Oren Nahari published what would become his final book, “The Great Battles That Changed History,” co-written with Yoav Limor, he revealed that the original manuscript contained 50 battles. But the publisher was unequivocal.

“Who is going to read a 400-page book?” they asked him. Nahari was forced to decide which 30 battles would make it into the final book.

That story captures Oren Nahari perfectly. Whenever he began telling you about an event, the depth of his knowledge, the details he knew, and the connections he drew would always leave you with your jaw hanging open. “Where does he get all this knowledge?”

Nahari always had a book in his hand, was a man of facts, details, and stories

The answer would always come between broadcasts, as Oren waited to go on air for a report or commentary: Oren Nahari always had a book in his hand. And he didn’t just carry it – he read it. He read very quickly.

But Oren was not merely a man of facts and details. He was a storyteller.

Whenever the earth shook somewhere in the world, a rebellion erupted, an economic crisis broke out, or any other event occurred – even one that might seem marginal – Oren had the ability to focus not only on the question, “Are there Israelis there, and if so, how were they affected?” He would first explain why the event mattered to us even if there were no Israelis there at all.

The smallest events can shape the world, and Nahari knew how to explain why

Because that is the reality of our interconnected world: the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, even the smallest event, can influence history and shape the world – even when there are no Israeli citizens or Jews involved. The wisdom lies in knowing how to explain why.

When he launched the revolution that was “Ro’im Olam” (“Seeing the World”) in 1988, together with David Witztum, Yaakov Ahimeir, and many other talented journalists, he brought the world to Israeli viewers.

Only recently, he began an extraordinary project on Kan Reshet Bet, “A Year in an Hour,” exploring the history of the 20th century. And, as was so often the case with Oren, sometimes a single year required much more than an hour to explain – sometimes even three. Sadly, he never had the chance to complete the project, which ended in 1961.

And Oren had one more remarkable quality: he was a breeding ground for journalists.

When I joined the foreign desk of Israel’s Channel 1 in 2009, I discovered a true journalistic incubator. Oren had an extraordinary ability to teach, but above all, to convey one fundamental message: the most important thing is knowing how to tell a story. There is an audience for it.

That was the message with which he said goodbye to his radio listeners last Saturday:

“Keep watching, keep listening, keep asking questions, never take things for granted, and keep being curious.”

This post was originally published on here. 

After Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that the IDF “will not withdraw” from the security zone and ordered the military to prepare for a long-term presence, Washington clarified that “a permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is inconsistent with the commitments” made under the understandings. 

However, an Israeli withdrawal would be contingent on the verified disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure.

A senior US State Department official responded overnight on Thursday to remarks by Katz, who said during a visit to southern Lebanon that the IDF would not withdraw from the “security zone” and that he had instructed the military to prepare for a long-term presence in the area. 

The official clarified that, from Washington’s perspective, a permanent Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon is inconsistent with the commitments made under the understandings.

“The United States expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the framework they agreed to,” the official said. “Israel has clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon. 

Permanent military presence inconsistent with peace commitments

A permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is inconsistent with the commitments made under the understandings, as well as with the long-term peace and security of both countries.”

The official further stressed that the United States “fully supports Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.” However, Washington clarified that the Israeli withdrawal is expected to proceed in accordance with progress in disarming Hezbollah and dismantling its infrastructure.

“The framework clearly includes a conditions-based path for a gradual withdrawal, tied to the verified disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure,” the official said.

According to the official, the Lebanese Armed Forces have already begun implementing the “initial pilot zones,” and the United States will continue to support the full implementation of the process.

Katz: IDF does not intend to withdraw from currently held areas

The US response came after Katz said during a visit to IDF troops in Lebanon that Israel did not intend to withdraw from the areas it currently holds.

“As the prime minister and I have made unequivocally clear, we are not withdrawing from this security zone,” Katz said. 

“The IDF is here to protect the northern communities and its troops; we will clear this area and ensure the security of the residents of the North, and under no circumstances will we withdraw from the security zones: not in Lebanon, not in Syria and not in Gaza.”

Katz added that he had instructed the IDF “to take all necessary measures to prepare for a long-term presence in the area,” and presented the Israeli presence beyond the border as part of the lessons learned from the October 7 massacre.

“The lesson of October 7 is that we protect the residents by having the IDF here, in these places, protecting them from raids, from gunfire, and from all the other things. That is our policy, that is our approach,” he said.

This post was originally published on here. 

A third of the content posted to Dan Bilzerian’s campaign account is antisemitic hate speech, a new investigation by Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) has shown.

Bilzerian is a well-known antisemitic conspiracy theorist and podcaster. He is currently running against Congressman Randy Fine in the August 18th Republican primary in Florida’s 6th District.

The X/Twitter account for Bilzerian’s congressional campaign, @ElectBilzerian, has nearly 81,000 followers. It contains numerous posts on the topics of Holocaust denial, alleged Jewish blackmail schemes, and supposed Jewish plots to subvert American sovereignty.

‘Demonizing Jews and sowing hatred of the State of Israel’

In CAM’s words, “There is no other governing agenda offered by Bilzerian except demonizing Jews and sowing hatred of the State of Israel.”

For example, a post on Bilzerian’s campaign account said the purpose of the elections should be to purge “Israel from every city, county, district and state in America.”

This prompted CAM to carry out its new research, which led to the finding that 33% of Bilzerian’s campaign content is antisemitic hate speech. The findings are drawn from keyword searches for “Israel,” “Jews,” “Jew,” “Zionist,” “Zionists,” “Holocaust,” “Gaza,” and “Netanyahu” in the account’s 657 posts between May 12 and August 10.

During that 90-day period, 218 of the account’s posts included at least one of those keywords.

Nearly all of Bilzerian’s posts were deemed ‘hostile’ by CAM

CAM then scored each post on a 0.00 to 1.00 hostility scale, based on linguistic markers, contextual framing, and antisemitic tropes. A total of 215 of the posts, or 99%, were deemed hostile, with an average score of 0.85.

The posts had significant reach: an estimated 23.6 million people. They also generated 12.5 million views, 460,800 likes, 13,100 comments, and 80,900 shares.

The Jerusalem Post reviewed the account. One of the pinned posts reads, “Let’s get that fat disgusting Jew out of the office,” referring to Fine. This post has 84,000 views. He previously called Fine a “fat f*** astroturfed Jew.”

Most recently, he tweeted a reply to a post by Elon Musk, calling the SpaceX founder “a poor goy slave owned by Jews.”

Bilzerian also tweeted on Thursday morning: “Our government is nothing but a tool for Israeli hegemony and Jewish supremacy.”

On August 9, Bilzerian reposted a tweet saying, “It’s not red against blue… It’s us against the Jew” that included “100%.”

CAM US Advisory Board Member Gabriel Groisman, former mayor of Bal Harbour, Florida, said, “Dan Bilzerian is a caricature of a congressional candidate.”

“His campaign has been an excuse to spread his antisemitic rhetoric and to try to cash in on the growing antisemitism trend in certain corners of the internet. Still, by painting himself as a congressional candidate, Bilzerian continues to fuel antisemitism in the state and nationwide.”

Earlier this year, Israel’s Diaspora Ministry ranked Bilzerian the world’s leading antisemitic influencer for 2025.

This post was originally published on here. 

The US Justice Department on Wednesday charged 11 people in a decade-long scheme that arranged about 1,000 sham marriages to allow mostly Chinese nationals to achieve legal immigration status in the United States, according to court documents.

Foreign nationals paid a group of six “facilitators” as much as $100,000 each to be paired up with a US citizen and obtain legal residency, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan. US citizens were paid as much as $30,000 to agree to the marriages, according to the indictment.

Participants in the scheme then helped the newlyweds submit paperwork to the US Department of Homeland Security to allow the Chinese national to become a lawful permanent resident.

Attorney General Todd Blanche described the scheme as “one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in US history” and said it showed “how far people will go to cheat our immigration system.”

Executive order by Donald Trump restricting ‘birth tourism’

The announcement follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week aimed at restricting “birth tourism,” after the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of broad citizenship rights for babies born in the United States.

The State Department said on Wednesday it started an effort to review the activities of visa holders with the aim of cracking down on women coming to the US solely to attain citizenship for their child.

This post was originally published on here. 

Journalist Oren Nahari died at the age of 70 after a battle with ALS on Thursday.

Nahari was a news editor for Channel One and hosted a radio program called “Saturday with Oren Nahari” on KAN’s Channel Two.

President Isaac Herzog extended his condolences to the Nahari family, stating that Oren will be remembered for his “rich journalistic and cultural legacy and a unique voice that will be greatly missed.”

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid shared his condolences, honoring Nahari as “a voice of culture, sanity, broad education, and true intellectual curiosity.”

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

On August 12, Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi visited the country’s Operations Center at Air Defense Command. He was there “to gain a field assessment of the status of the air defense system, its preparations, and its missions in protecting Iraq’s skies,” his office said.

Zaidi is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, and he now faces his largest test, only a few months into his new role as prime minister.

Zaidi was a relatively unknown quantity when he was appointed. He secured the support of most Iraqi factions, including the powerful Shi’ite parties that are collectively known as the Coalition Framework. He has also received support from Kurdish leadership. Zaidi has met with US President Donald Trump, and the US has backed his rise to power.

The US wants to see him rein in the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

This week it appeared Iraq was moving forward with a new law to disarm the militias, or at least place their weapons in the hands of the state. As such, Iraq is trying to do the same thing as Lebanon and the Board of Peace in Gaza, in terms of disarming Iranian-backed groups.

“The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces’ visit to the Air Defense Command headquarters came amid preparations for the upcoming phase and follow-up on readiness across operational sectors, as part of implementing the Iraqi-American agreement stipulating the end of the international coalition forces’ mission and the completion of their full withdrawal from Iraq on September 30 next, which underscores the importance of bolstering the capabilities of the Iraqi Armed Forces and air defense systems to fully assume responsibility for protecting the airspace and national sovereignty,” Iraq’s government said on August 12.

The prime minister “listened to a detailed briefing presented by the Air Defense Commander, covering the system’s current status, control of operational sectors, and the strategy for developing the capabilities of our specialized units within the framework of the 2026-2031 Air Defense Capability Building Plan, which aims to establish an integrated air defense system through enhancing radar detection and surveillance capabilities, weapons systems, and command and control.”

IRGC sent representative to rally support for militias

As the Iraqi leader sat with key officials, the militias moved to respond. Iran sent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force head Esmail Ghaani to Iraq on Monday to speak with politicians in Baghdad. Ghaani is expected to try to rally support for the militias and keep them as a thorn in Iraq’s side. He will want the September 30 date for disarmament to be postponed, or at least the legal language restricting arms to the state to be so vague that the arms stay with the militias.

Meanwhile, the Nujaba Movement, which is sanctioned as a terrorist group by the US, said “we will not hand over our weapons,” according to a report at Kurdistan24. “A spokesperson for the Iraqi militia faction rejected calls to place all arms under state control, as Baghdad pursues a new weapons law,” the report said.

Zaidi said that “we will not allow Iraqi territory or airspace to be a launchpad for any aggression against neighboring countries.” This came after militia attacks on Saudi Arabia this month. Now Saudi Arabia and Iraqi delegations are meeting. There are reports that Zaidi “insists on moving toward confronting any faction that does not relinquish its weapons after the period specified by the Iraqi government,” Al-Hurra noted.

Kurdistan region attacked over 1,000 times by Iran, Iran-backed forces

In the Kurdistan region, which has been attacked 1,000 times by Iran and Iranian-backed militias since February, there is support for Baghdad’s initiative. Kurdistan Regional President Nechirvan Barzani has said that Iran has expressed its readiness to help Iraq with the issue of restricting weapons, according to Al-Arabiya.

On August 12, Zaidi also chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security, illustrating how serious he is about securing Iraq and coordinating defense and security issues.

It is worth noting that the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq are the product of decades of Iranian policy aimed at cultivating armed proxies beyond its borders. Their origins stretch back to the 1980s, when some Iraqi Shi’ite opposition figures fled Saddam Hussein’s regime and found sanctuary in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.

The IRGC, particularly its Quds Force, trained and organized these exiles who would later become influential political and military leaders. Groups such as the Badr Organization emerged during this period, while others, including Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, were established after the 2003 US-led invasion.

The rise of ISIS in 2014 transformed these militias. Following Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s fatwa calling on Iraqis to defend the country in 2014, many militia groups joined the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and fought alongside the Iraqi Security Forces and the US-led Coalition against ISIS.

Their battlefield role earned them legitimacy among many Iraqis and led to their formal incorporation into Iraq’s security structure. However, several of the most powerful factions retained independent chains of command, close relationships with Iran, and their own political and economic networks.

Since the defeat of ISIS, many of these militias have expanded their influence. They have carried out hundreds of rocket and drone attacks on US and Coalition forces, targeting diplomatic facilities, attacking the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and intimidating or kidnapping political opponents and activists. They also kidnapped an American journalist and Princeton researcher.

The United States has designated several of these organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists. These include Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and, more recently, Kataib Imam Ali. Washington argues that these groups continue to receive funding, weapons, training, and guidance from Iran’s IRGC-Quds Force while undermining Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability.

This post was originally published on here. 

US President Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that the White House said was aimed at empowering federal law enforcement to use cyber tools against transnational criminal organizations that operate in foreign jurisdictions to attack Americans.

Trump signed the national security presidential memorandum directing his administration to “leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct these cyber operations under the direction, control, and authority of the US Government,” the White House said.

The White House, in a fact sheet about the memo, cited ransomware attacks, financial frauds, and other crimes run by foreign-based criminal organizations, referred to in the memo as “transnational criminal organizations.”

The memo creates a framework that encourages private sector companies to enter into agreements with other private entities, as well as federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies to gather threat information on transnational criminal organizations and propose cyber operations to address those threats, the White House added.

The memo directs the Department of Homeland Security, through the Homeland Security Task Force’s National Coordination Center, to create a program “to conduct specific cyber operations that disrupt foreign TCOs” that will be overseen by DHS and the Department of Justice.

cyber surveillance operations against specified targets

Under the supervision of the federal government, participating companies, once vetted, will conduct “cyber surveillance operations” and “cyber effects operations” against specified targets, according to the memo.

“Cyber effects includes the potential manipulation, disruption, denial, degradation, or destruction of information systems, networks, physical or virtual infrastructure controlled by information systems, or information resident thereon,” according to the memo.

Participating companies will have to maintain a bond or escrow of at least $1 million, according to the memo.

The idea of private sector firms participating in cyber operations against criminal and other targets is not new, and has been controversial in the past, for fears of escalation, inadvertent consequences, and inter-agency coordination issues.

DHS and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for additional details about the program.

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The United States believes Israel is not doing enough to prevent violent settler attacks in the West Bank, KAN News reported on Wednesday, citing a senior White House official.

According to the report, the official plans to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister’s Office and expects it to explain why the security establishment is unable to quell the violence.

The report comes amid the ongoing violence in the area of the West Bank Palestinian village of Qusra, where IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir held a situational assessment on Wednesday with Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, Operations Directorate chief Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, and Operations Division chief Brig.-Gen. Barak Hiram.

Earlier Wednesday, IDF troops arrived at the scene in an effort to lift a siege imposed on Palestinian homes in the West Bank village. Clashes then broke out between the troops and numerous settlers who had arrived in the area. As of Wednesday evening, the siege had not yet been lifted.

Zamir instructed the military to continue efforts to restore order and strengthen operational control in the area, while working to prevent further serious incidents. As part of those efforts, he ordered an additional active-duty infantry battalion to reinforce the sector.

The battalion, which is currently undergoing refresher training, will be deployed to strengthen operational control in the area. “Additional forces will be held in reserve for deployment as necessary,” the military said.

The IDF said the operation was being carried out in coordination with the Israel Police and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), with the aim of “restoring order, maintaining security in the area, and bringing the rioters to justice.”

IDF: Zamir told soldiers in West Bank to review conduct, use-of-force rules

The military also said Zamir had instructed forces throughout the West Bank to review the rules governing their conduct and use of force in such incidents.

It added that “alongside the central mission and ongoing activity to thwart terrorism, while strengthening the defense of the settlements, the chief of staff instructed that the rules of conduct and use of force in incidents of this kind be reiterated to all forces in the Judea and Samaria sector.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF began lifting the siege imposed by a group of settlers on two homes in Qusra, which is located in Area B of the West Bank. Dozens of settlers who arrived in the area clashed with the military, dismantled fences, and blocked roads.

The entire area was declared a closed military zone. Bluth arrived at the scene to oversee the operation, spoke with the Palestinians, and asked the settlers to leave and not interfere with the military’s efforts.

Yesh Din: Settlers cut off water, electricity to Palestinian homes

The Yesh Din human rights organization said in an appeal sent to Bluth on Tuesday that settlers had imposed a siege on two homes in the village. According to the organization, seven Palestinians, including two girls aged 10 and four, had been trapped in their homes for three days.

Yesh Din said the settlers had cut off electricity and water supplies to the homes.

According to Yesh Din, residents of the “Tell Talpiyot” outpost, which was established in January in Area B, set up a new “offshoot” on Sunday in the form of a sukkah near the homes of the two families.

The organization said the settlers imposed the siege that same evening. They blocked the access roads to the homes with piles of stones and, during the night, damaged electrical cables and the connection to the solar panels, as well as vandalizing the water pipes.

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Spectators across Spain watched in wonder, some whipping off their protective glasses and rising to their feet in unison, as a rare total solar eclipse swept across the north of the country on Wednesday evening, plunging it into darkness.

Spain deployed a massive police contingent and set up special viewing spots across rural areas that offered the best views of the spectacle.

Viewers in Buitrago de Lozoya, a rural district north of Madrid, clapped and cheered as the sky dimmed and Baily’s beads – bright points of sunlight that shine around the edge of the moon during a total eclipse – glistened on the horizon just after 8:30 p.m., lasting barely a minute.

“It’s impressive how the colors return little by little after totality – first the reds, then the blues – just like at dawn and sunset, totally deceiving your brain,” said economist Diego Fernandez, 32.

Rafael Jiménez, 50, a resident of Madrid, said the event felt like science fiction. “It was an absurd scene; we even got soaked when the garden sprinklers kicked in,” he said. “And then, just like that, we were watching the sunset again.”

Spain’s turn with the eclipse followed shortly after a less remarkable spectacle over much of overcast Iceland, although a break in the clouds in the far west of the Nordic country allowed holidaymakers and locals a glimpse of the celestial phenomenon. The eclipse was hidden behind clouds in central Reykjavik although the darkness of the totality was still evident.

“It was like a whole day just came at once and I felt goosebumps because it just made us think about … the shortness of life, how time can be different and it depends on your perspective,” lawyer Eduarda Ortiz, 33, told Reuters in the Icelandic capital.

Millions of people gathered in Iceland and northern Spain to witness Western Europe’s first total solar eclipse in 27 years.

Brian May, former guitarist for the rock band Queen, was among them. He traveled to an observatory in Spain’s Teruel province and chronicled the experience on his Instagram page.

“Here we go, the sun is disappearing. It’s amazing,” he said as the eclipse reached its climax and bystanders burst into cheers and applause after a countdown.

In Spain, authorities were expecting up to 6 million visitors in mostly rural areas under the eclipse’s path across the north of Spain and the Balearic Islands.

Police, planes, and helicopters on standby

The Iberian Peninsula last witnessed a total solar eclipse in 1912, but another is due on August 2, 2027, and an annular eclipse will follow in January 2028, completing the so-called “Iberian Eclipse Trio.”

The uncanny sensation when day briefly turns to twilight and some animals fall quiet, while the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun, has often been seen through history as an omen of cosmic struggle or a sign of divine power.

For Spain, the event has been a chance to showcase its less-traveled regions and draw tourists from its overcrowded beach resorts. Some seized the opportunity to get married, according to local press reports.

The eclipse took place in one of the country’s highest-risk periods for wildfires, with emergency crews fighting various fires on Wednesday, including a large one in the southern Andalucia region.

Authorities rolled out a large-scale police operation and public safety campaign to make sure the crowds did not set off wildfires.

A small fire erupted near an eclipse viewing point in the town of Peñíscola, in the Valencia region, local authorities said. The fire began in a vehicle and spread to 33 more before firefighters brought it under control, they said. Emergency crews, including aircraft, were dispatched to the area.

The authorities dispatched 25,000 police officers to guarantee security around the eclipse observation sites and deployed nearly 100 planes and helicopters.

As of late Wednesday, no wildfire incident tied to eclipse chasers was reported.

Eclipse fever in the land of sagas

In Reykjavik, glasses that allow spectators to view the phenomenon without damaging their eyes have been sold out for days, as the country of roughly 400,000 people welcomed up to 80,000 visitors.

Totality reached Iceland’s westernmost coast at about 5:44 p.m., casting the far west of the island nation into total darkness for up to 2 minutes and 13 seconds.

The event has drawn both casual observers and “eclipse chasers,” enthusiasts who crisscross the globe to be in the path of totality whenever and wherever an eclipse occurs.

In Spain, 43-year old Gema, who did not give her last name, said as she left the Buitrago de Lozoya viewing point: “Everybody tells you about it, but it is more beautiful than you imagine.”

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The Likud Party is preparing to hold its primary on Monday, but days before the vote, the rules governing its next Knesset list remain caught up in reserved positions, internal petitions, conflicting explanations, and last-minute decisions. This is no way for Israel’s governing party to approach one of its most consequential internal elections.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was already granted eight slots for candidates of his choosing. Party institutions have since approved guaranteed positions for Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Likud Central Committee chairman Haim Katz – the latter of whose position was approved on Wednesday after the party tribunal initially froze the vote.

These developments followed an earlier attempt to create an emergency mechanism under which a committee of Likud mayors could choose the party list if security conditions prevented a primary. The tribunal insisted that the primary should be held in all circumstances.

The primary has not been abolished, and Likud members will determine much of the list. Nor are reserved positions inherently illegitimate – they can introduce new talent, honor merger agreements, or ensure a party presents a balanced and electorally credible slate.

But there is a point at which flexibility begins to hollow out the process it is meant to complement. When significant positions are removed from competition, exceptions are introduced shortly before voting, and the final structure of the list remains subject to internal litigation, party members are left with a diminished choice.

The message is difficult to avoid: Likud members are trusted to give the party its democratic character, but not fully trusted to determine its political face.

So what might be Netanyahu’s motives? Ynet reported, citing a senior Likud source, that Netanyahu is particularly concerned MK Tally Gotliv could place in the top 10 and shape the list’s public character.

More and more preferred candidates shielded from competition

That concern – if accurately reported – is not frivolous. A party leader is entitled to worry that some candidates may narrow the party’s appeal or allow provocation to become its defining public language. But a broad national camp cannot be restored if it shields more and more preferred candidates from competition.

It must be rebuilt, rather, through leadership, persuasion, recruitment, and a clear political program.

If Netanyahu believes that parts of the Likud have moved toward a style that is too extreme, too personal, or too confrontational, he should say so and make the argument to his party. He should encourage candidates who represent the national-liberal tradition he wishes to advance and explain why they deserve the support of Likud members.

Attempting to correct the result in advance is an admission that the leadership has failed to shape the political culture of its own movement.

The Likud has long distinguished itself from most Israeli parties through the role given to its membership in selecting its Knesset candidates, with only a small number of parties still using broad primary elections to choose most of their parliamentary slate.

This distinction is worth preserving, particularly because the Likud is not a marginal political organization; it remains the largest faction in the current Knesset, with 32 seats, and leads the government. Decisions about its list help determine not only who enters parliament, but who may become ministers and national decision-makers.

Israeli voters do not rearrange parties; they choose the entire party

This is especially significant under Israel’s closed-list electoral system. Voters choose a party on Election Day; they cannot rearrange its candidates or express a preference for particular individuals. The internal process therefore largely determines which candidates will enter the Knesset if the party wins enough seats.

Likud members, then, will still vote in a primary, but their choices will matter less once Netanyahu’s reserved candidates and the party’s guaranteed slots are added to the final slate. That may be permitted under the party’s rules, but it should not be presented as an undiminished exercise in internal democracy.

Likud members should be allowed to make genuine choices, including choices that Netanyahu or other senior officials may dislike. That uncertainty is not a defect in a democratic process – it is the reason for holding one.

The Likud’s size and influence give it substantial weight in Israeli society – they also give it a responsibility to maintain serious institutions, settled rules, and a democratic culture that extends beyond the party’s rhetoric.

It is time for the Likud to put its house in order.

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US prosecutors announced on Wednesday a hate crime indictment by a federal grand jury against ‌a man who police said had stabbed a Muslim person multiple times in mid-July because of the victim’s religion.

Peter Larsen, 48, of Orem, Utah, was indicted by a federal grand jury “for the federal hate crime of willfully causing bodily injury to a victim because of his actual or perceived religion” in a July stabbing at the Valley ​Fair Mall in Utah’s West Valley City, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Larsen, who could not be reached for comment, has been detained in state custody since his July 13 arrest.

The incident raised alarm among Muslim Americans after police said that the victim, a Muslim man, had “multiple ⁠stab wounds all over his body and was bleeding profusely” and that the attacker told police that he “intends to kill Muslims.”

The victim was stabbed multiple times, including in the neck, and needed surgeries, federal prosecutors said. They added that an investigation determined Larsen went to the mall to attack Muslims.

Larsen purchased a knife from a store inside the mall and went around asking mall employees if they were Muslim, federal prosecutors said, adding that when the victim responded that he was a Muslim, Larsen began stabbing him.

The attack was stopped when bystanders intervened and subdued Larsen until police arrived.

Islamophobia rising since September 11, Hamas war

US rights advocates have noted rising Islamophobia over the last two-plus decades following the September 11, 2001, attacks, and more recently because of anti-immigration policies, white supremacy, and the fallout of Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas.

Deadly violent attacks ⁠in recent ​years include a 2023 stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim child ​in Illinois whose killer was sentenced to 53 years in prison before he died in custody, and a 2026 shooting at a San Diego mosque ​that left five dead, including two teenage suspects.

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A grand jury has indicted Nick Reiner in the December stabbing deaths of his parents, Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and producer Michele Reiner, and added a special circumstance of lying in wait, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Nick Reiner pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with special circumstances of multiple murders, lying in wait and using a “dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife,” a statement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. The special circumstances make him eligible for the death penalty if prosecutors decide to seek it.

The 32-year-old, who has been jailed without bail since his arrest in December, had pleaded not guilty to murder charges in February. Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Reiner, 70, were found stabbed to death in their home in the wealthy neighborhood of Brentwood in one of the most shocking celebrity homicide cases in Los Angeles history.

The grand jury indictment, returned on July 20, replaces those charges and allows prosecutors to go to trial without presenting their case in public at a preliminary hearing.

“We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.

Reiner’s son accused of murder acknowledges substance abuse issue

Nick Reiner, the middle child of the couple’s three children, had acknowledged a years-long struggle with substance abuse.

Rob Reiner gained fame as a co-star in the 1970s hit television comedy All in the Family and later directed films such as When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap, and The Princess Bride.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 15.

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The Israel Border Police located a gazelle which had been illegally caught and kept in a basement near Jenin, the police announced on Wednesday.

The police stated that, overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, Border Police officers, accompanied by supervisors from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), infiltrated the area in order to locate the gazelle.

The gazelle was found in the basement of a private residence in the area, the police said.

One suspect was detained for questioning, and security forces intend to file an indictment against them on suspicion of hunting and holding a wild animal illegally.

The police also said that the gazelle was taken to be checked over by a veterinarian, and is expected to be transferred to a safari in Ramat Gan.

Lion cubs illegally trafficked to Israel transferred to South Africa

Last week, two lion cubs, Ben Tzur and Uri, who were rescued last year after being illegally trafficked into Israel, were transferred to a big-cat sanctuary in South Africa, the INPA announced.

The two lions arrived at the Animal Defenders International (ADI) sanctuary in South Africa after a 30-hour journey that included a stopover in Germany. They were released into their new enclosure on Wednesday.

Ben Tzur and Uri are two of six lion cubs rescued in 2025 after being illegally smuggled into Israel and later found in areas under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

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Two US Army soldiers died when an Apache military helicopter attached to the service’s Fort Hood base crashed into a field in Texas on Wednesday, sparking a large grass fire, officials said.

The accident occurred in Bell County, about 60 miles (100 km) north of the state capital Austin, said Cliff Coleman, a spokesperson with the Bell County Sheriff’s Office.

The Bell County justice of the peace declared dead two people who had been on board, Coleman said.

“Today, an Apache helicopter crashed in Bell County during Fort Hood operations, killing two members of our military,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on X/Twitter.

Today, an Apache helicopter crashed in Bell County during Fort Hood operations, killing two members of our military.

Join Cecilia and me in prayer for their families and the entire Fort Hood community. Texas is forever indebted to those who serve our state and nation.…

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 12, 2026

Local fire departments responded to blaze that broke out after crash

Fort Hood confirmed in a statement that an AH-64 attack helicopter crashed and two soldiers died but withheld their identification pending notification to their families.

Images provided by Coleman showed firefighters examining burning debris amid a large patch of charred grass, with smoke billowing from the scene. Several local fire departments responded to the blaze, he said.

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Prosecutor’s declarations were filed on Tuesday against two Rehovot residents who were arrested in connection to an arson attack targeting a Japanika branch in Givatayim.

On July 12, two masked men arrived at a Japanika branch on a two-wheeled vehicle. They poured a flammable substance in front of the restaurant, and set fire to it before fleeing the scene. The fire caused damage to the building and property inside the restaurant, but no one was injured.

The arson was part of a wave of attacks targeting Japanika branches in central Israel. Branches were targeted with grenades, pipe bombs, and attempted arson.

The attacks were investigated against the backdrop of the conflict between the Musli and Jarushi crime organizations, which has been linked to a series of violent incidents in recent months.

The investigation was conducted by the Tel Aviv District Central Unit. Using technological means, investigators were able to track down the perpetrators and identify them despite what police suspect was an attempt to conceal their tracks.

On July 27, the first suspect, an 18 year old resident of Rehovot, was arrested. Several days later, a second suspect, also an 18 year old resident of the city, was arrested. Searches of their homes uncovered evidence and items of clothing that investigators suspect link them to the arson.

The suspects’ detention was extended several times, and on Tuesday, at the conclusion of the investigation, prosecutors’ declarations were filed against them ahead of indictments on the offenses attributed to them.

The arrests in the Givatayim case follows charges being filed against suspects in another incident targeting a Japanika branch in Kiryat Ono, where a fragmentation grenade, believed to be stolen IDF equipment, was thrown at the restaurant.

A wave of organized crime between gangs

Israel Police arrested Musli crime family boss Yossi Musli on July 14 in connection with a series of attacks targeting the Japanika restaurant chain, according to Israeli media reports. 

Nine branches of the food chain were damaged in one day as part of a dispute between the Jarushi and Musli crime organizations, a KAN News report said. Most of the affected branches were franchises operated by the Jarushi family.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Abramov, who is not a suspect in the case, is currently perceived as being affiliated with elements in the Jarushi family, and therefore the chain’s branches have become targets of elements affiliated with the Musli organization.

The background to the conflict is, according to estimates, a dispute over tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Shlomi Gabai contributed to this report.

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Jewish businessmen Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner are purchasing the NBA’s storied Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN reported Wednesday, in a stunning, record-setting $12.5 billion deal.

The sale comes barely a year after the team’s controlling stake was sold for $10 billion to Mark Walter, the billionaire CEO of Guggenheim Partners who also owns MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the WNBA’s LA Sparks, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and Cadillac’s Formula 1 team. 

Walter, who is not Jewish, is reportedly seeking cash to pay down loans in response to a Department of Justice investigation.

Kushner, 41, is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law and one-time advisor to US President Donald Trump who has played a central role in Israel policy. The younger Kushner is a billionaire venture capitalist who holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat – which he will have to sell to complete the Lakers sale – and was previously a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.

“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of [longtime owners] Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”

Jewish businesspeople buying NBA teams

The Lakers sale is the latest in a string of recent high-profile NBA team transactions by and among Jewish businesspeople, including Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Phoenix Suns, Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall’s purchase of the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan, and Mark Cuban’s sale of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson.

Kushner, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and was raised in an Orthodox home in Livingston, New Jersey, was at the center of a controversy in the world of professional soccer earlier this summer when his investment fund Thrive Eternal attempted to purchase a stake in FIFA’s World Cup tournaments.

Under pressure from stakeholders from across the sport, who objected to the prospect of private ownership of the sport’s preeminent contest, the global soccer body withdrew the privatization offer.

The Kushner family has donated millions of dollars to Jewish organizations in America and Israel, including the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, multiple West Bank settlement organizations, Chabad, the Ramaz School in Manhattan, and Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue on the Upper West Side. The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston is named for his grandfather, who launched the family’s real estate empire.

Kushner’s father Charles serves as the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco. 

Former Disney CEO sends message of condolence after October 7

Iger, 75, ended his second stint as CEO of Disney earlier this year. He and his wife, Willow Bay, are the owners of the professional women’s soccer club Angel City FC. Iger was raised in a Jewish home.

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that launched the Gaza war, Iger sent a note to Disney’s Jewish employees to “express my shock and sadness.”

“I know that many of you have loved ones in Israel, and I cannot imagine how terrifying the last few days have been seeing the brutality unfold,” he wrote. “My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and all of the innocent people whose lives have been torn apart by this unspeakable violence. I speak for myself and for the entire company in condemning these attacks, the hate that motivated them, and all acts of terrorism.”

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an aid delegation would be immediately dispatched to Colombia in a statement from the Government Press Office on Wednesday evening.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella asked Netanyahu to send a delegation to the country following an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 on Monday, the statement explained. 

Following a request from Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered this evening, the immediate dispatch of an aid delegation to Colombia following the earthquake disaster that struck the country.

The State of Israel shares in…

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) August 12, 2026

The earthquake, which occured in the heart of Colombia’s coffee region, killed at least 250 people and reduced multi-story buildings to rubble in cities such as Pereira and Cali.

It also caused one of the towers of a historic cathedral in the city of Manizales to crack apart.

Emergency teams aided by police, soldiers, and volunteers have been working with excavators and, at times, their bare hands, hunting for survivors beneath debris.

Colombia-Israel relations improve

This request came amid efforts to improve relations between the two countries, part of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s broader initiative to improve relations with South American countries, with the Foreign Ministry designating 2026 as the “Year of Latin America.”

Colombia recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights in a statement released by the country’s Foreign Ministry on Monday.

In the statement, published on X/Twitter, the ministry recognized Israeli control over the area as “an essential component of its national defense and its ability to protect and safeguard its citizens.”

The recognition resulted from a commitment made by both Israel and Colombia on Saturday, the ministry said.

Goldie Katz and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Throughout a storied career of more than five decades that included key roles in teaching courses at elite universities, policy planning for city and state governments, and community surveys for Jewish organizations around the world, Jack Ukeles had one consistent goal: to blend research, data, and strategic problem-solving with idealism in making the world a better place.

Ukeles, who died July in Jerusalem at the age of 89, was widely and deeply admired as well for his integrity, wisdom, and compassion on both a personal and professional level. 

He was also one of the most prominent members of a cohort of Jewish social scientists who, from the 1980s through the 2000s, played a central role in setting the agenda for organized Jewish life. Philanthropists and nonprofit leaders sought their data and recommendations on hot-button issues like rising intermarriage, attachment to Israel, population trends, and declining engagement with Jewish institutions. 

In 1981, Ukeles joined the Jewish non-profit world as senior planning officer of the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (now UJA-Federation of New York). He led the charity’s first scientific study of the New York area’s Jewish population, and major studies on senior services and Jewish poverty. 

Five years later, he went out on his own, launching Ukeles Associates, Inc., and for 28 years led consulting projects combining his experience in policy research, planning and management for a range of secular and Jewish non-profits.

Speaking at the funeral in Jerusalem, where Ukeles and his wife, Mierle, lived since making aliyah in 2012, longtime friend and colleague Asher Ostrin predicted that Ukeles’s teaching, in both classrooms and nonprofit board rooms, will have a lasting effect, especially for American Jewry. 

“Generations of Jewish communal professionals are his students, and are taught to reflect the method and values he held dear,”  said Ostrin, an executive at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Those values were shaped growing up in a religious Zionist home, aware of the trauma his parents endured in Eastern Europe before settling in New York. Ukeles’s mother wanted a first-rate Jewish education for her only son, and after visiting a number of yeshivas, moved the family from The Bronx to Brooklyn so he could attend the Yeshiva of Flatbush, where he thrived academically and as student council president and member of the basketball team. 

After seeing a newspaper ad announcing the opening of a university in Israel committed to integrating modern scholarship and traditional Jewish learning, he applied and was accepted in 1955 to Bar-Ilan University’s first class.

“My father was proud to be a member of that first class, and as a student leader there, he wanted to help build the school and be a part of its growth” in synthesizing secular and religious studies, his daughter Raquel Ukeles recalled. “But the administration wasn’t interested.” He was 18 at the time.

After a year in Israel, Ukeles attended a yeshiva and Brooklyn College, where he took courses in community planning, research and data. He received his BA in political science in 1959, and an MA in city planning two years later at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1962, Ukeles spent a year in New Delhi, India, as a Fulbright Fellow and returned to complete his PhD. at Penn in 1971. 

During his graduate school years, Ukeles turned a summer job in the New York City planning department into a three-year position. He helped produce the first data-driven analysis of New York City’s housing needs, and was part of a team that reshaped the city’s approach to urban renewal. 

Studies of Jewish communities showcase changes in NYC Jewry

He then turned to academia, starting a long-term pattern of moving back and forth between university posts – including the New School, where he later became chairman of the first urban policy graduate program in the US – and designing and leading civil service and financial reforms in New York through the mayor’s office under Abe Beame and Ed Koch. 

On behalf of Jewish organizations, he conducted a 2006 survey of Atlanta’s Jewish population that confirmed the explosive growth of Jewish communities in the Sun Belt, and co-authored a 2002 community study showing how Russian immigrants and Orthodox Jews were changing the face of New York City Jewry. 

Ukeles was the co-author of a 2012 study showing that New York City area’s Jewish population was on the rise again, thanks largely to the growth of Orthodox households.

In 2009, he wrote a report on how nonprofits  can turn the severe economic downturn into opportunity. Drawing on his experience in city management, he advised nonprofits neither to panic nor deny the reality of squeezed budgets. 

“You can forget about strategy if you do not have courage, if you do not have big ideas, or if you do not have vision, and most importantly, if you do not have compassion,” he said in a lecture that year drawing on the report. “In fact, without the ‘right stuff,’ you are in the wrong line of work.”

Family members noted that the common thread in Ukeles’s career in academia, city government, and non-profits was to deal with difficult problems by making decisions based on real data, not theoretical ideas, and to bring the stakeholders around the table to make the best – or sometimes least worst – decisions based on need and priority.

Elie Kaunfer, CEO and president of the Hadar Institute, a center of Jewish life and learning, said that when Ukeles conducted the first formal evaluation of the organization in 2011, “he taught me so much about what kind of questions to ask – not just about experience of the program but ultimate impact on people’s lives.”

John Ruskay, former CEO of UJA-Federation, described him as “a loyal friend and dear colleague who I and so many others turned to repeatedly for counsel, for wisdom, for ‘chizuk’” (inner strength). 

Sometimes his counsel came with critique. Steve Bayme, a former American Jewish Committee executive and longtime Ukeles friend, noted: “Jack knew how to offer constructive criticism and even occasional rebuke in ways that colleagues, including those in senior communal positions, could hear and absorb.”

Alan Gill, who served as CEO of the JDC, praised Ukeles for “his expertise in challenging and guiding us.” He said Ukeles “yelled at us” once, which was unheard of from consultants who tended to be dispassionate and analytical, he noted. But the outburst had “a positive effect,” Gill added, reminding JDC staff how much “the mission and work mattered” to Ukeles.

Ukeles frustrated by haredi extremism, settler violence

That sense of heartfelt criticism also applied to Ukeles’s devotion to, and frustration with, the state of Israel in recent years. He agonized over the growth of extremism in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community and Jewish settler violence, and he spoke out in pieces he published in The Times of Israel. 

“Jack loved the Jewish people,” said Sally Gottesman, who was hired by Ukeles as a young consultant in 1997. Now an activist-philanthropist focused on gender and justice in the Jewish community, Gottesman said Ukeles was “a mentor and master teacher” and praised his efforts to promote equality for women.

A prime example was his support for and great pride in the accomplishments of his wife, Mierle, who in seeking to blend art with waste management became the official artist-in-residence of the NYC Department of Sanitation, a volunteer position she has held since 1977. Her unique career was the focus of an award-winning 2025 documentary, Maintenance Artist.

“Jack was my heart and soul,” she said. “His support, championing my being a free artist and a full person, all through the years, extending as well to his supporting the work of many other women artists of our time, was without a peer, without an end.”

In addition to his wife, Ukuleles is survived by his daughters, Raquel, who is head of collections at the National Library of Israel, and Yael, a product market manager and  founder of two non-profit Israeli environmental education programs, and a son, Meir, who works with an Israel-based VC fund investing in startups. 

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Israel is allegedly intentionally starting fires in Lebanon, Lebanese firefighters and environmental groups told The Guardian on Wednesday.

“Most of our missions are now related to fires,” Hussein Fakih, the head of the civil defense in the Nabatiya region, told the Guardian. “There are enormous areas of woodland that have burned, I don’t have the exact figures, but in the areas close to the [frontline], around 30-40% of the land has been affected by fires.”

Fakih also said that firefighters struggled to extinguish some fires due to being targeted by Israeli drones, blaming Israeli bombing campaigns on starting the fires in the first place.

“They started doing this right after the ceasefire, and there have been incendiary bombs every day,” Fakih said. “Small drones come out and drop incendiary materials, [white] phosphorus shells are fired at the woodlands, in addition to illumination flares that they drop during the daytime so the vegetation catches fire.”

Another civil defense chief, Samir Hardan, told the Guardian that Israeli drones had started two fires within the span of three days, and that any firefighting had to be done in coordination with the Lebanese Army, which in turn must relay the request to a “deconfliction” group which includes the IDF.

Lebanon environmentalists condemn IDF-caused fires

Meanwhile, the founder of the Lebanese conservation group Green Southerners told the Guardian that Israel is enacting “a pattern of destruction that progressively erodes the ability of ecosystems to function, regenerate and sustain life. When those cascading effects also undermine livelihoods and people’s ability to return to and remain on their land, environmental destruction becomes inseparable from the wider transformation of the territory itself.”

The founder, Hisham Younes, emphasized the importance of the environment in the area. “These are long-established woodlands, dominated by productive stone pine alongside oak. They perform critical functions. The wider area is also an important passage and resting ground for migratory birds.”

The IDF told the Guardian that all strikes on Lebanon were “conducted while taking precautionary measures to mitigate harm to civilians and the environment.”

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Luke Bronin scored a decisive victory over longtime Rep. John Larson in Connecticut’s Democratic primary Tuesday, marking another defeat for AIPAC which had backed the 14-term congressman.

The pro-Israel lobby group is increasingly viewed as politically toxic in Democratic primaries across the country, with several progressive candidates notching victories after making opposition to the group a centerpiece of their campaigns.

Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, however,  were not at the forefront of the contest in Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District, reflecting a more nuanced picture regarding Democratic voters’ shifting sentiments toward Israel. 

Bronin and Larson, the race’s two candidates with more traditionally pro-Israel positions, together won nearly 90% of the vote, with Bronin receiving 53% while Larson received 34%. The two progressive candidates in the race, Jillian Gilchrest and Ruth Fortune, who both accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, finished a distant third and fourth.

Bronin, 46, who has Jewish ancestry on his father’s side, is the former mayor of Hartford and also served in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. His campaign largely centered on affordability and emphasizing the need for new leadership in the Democratic party.

“If we are going to fix this mess that we are in, we need to build a Democratic Party that is bringing a whole new energy to this fight,” Bronin told supporters following his victory.

Bronin, Larson split on US aid to Israel, actions in Gaza

Israel was not entirely absent from the campaign. Larson, who first took office in 1999, split with Bronin during a primary debate last month when Larson defended his recent vote in support of US military aid to Israel.

“Yes, I voted in favor of making sure that Israel, our ally, is going to get the aid from the United States that it needs. But the Palestinians need humanitarian aid, and Donald Trump has got to enforce the law,” Larson said.

Bronin pushed back at  Larson, replying, “Trusting Donald Trump to do the right thing is a mind-blowing example of putting hope over all of the evidence in front of us.”

While Larson had long supported Israel during his tenure in Congress, he has been critical of Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza and treatment of Palestinians and vocally opposed the United States’ war in Iran.

Bronin, meanwhile, has said he is against taxpayer money going toward funding offensive military aid to Israel, though he supports “defenses for civilians that protect civilian life against rockets and missiles and drones.”

“I think it’s hugely important that Israel exists as a safe, secure homeland for the Jewish people,” Bronin said when asked about his views on Israel on The Lisa Wexler Show in May. He also spoke out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, explaining that the premier had  “done enormous damage to Israel’s security, Israel’s standing in the world,” adding that “we have an obligation as a country to say what’s happening is not okay.”

Larson relies on PAC donations

Bronin slightly outraised Larson on the campaign trail, receiving roughly $3.1 million largely from individual donations from billionaires and large firms, while Larson received $2.7 million and relied more on donations from PACs, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Larson received roughly $120,000 in AIPAC-linked donations during the campaign cycle, according to the campaign finance database Open Secrets.

Bronin will now face Republican Amy Chai, a physician and mental health advocate, in the general election for the state’s first congressional district. The district, which spans Bristol, Hartford and Torrington, is home to 27,800 Jews, representing 3.9% of the total population, according to the Berman Jewish Data Bank.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a petition challenging a Likud party court decision that overturned a vote allowing serving MKs, ministers, and deputy ministers to compete for regional slots on the party’s Knesset slate.

Justices Daphne Barak Erez, Ofer Grosskopf, and Alex Stein rejected the appeal filed by MK Afif Abed after he withdrew the petition following indications from the panel that it intended to reject it.

During the hearing, the justices criticized the decision to bring the internal party dispute before the High Court of Justice.

“Why is the Supreme Court needed?” Barak Erez asked at the start of the hearing. “We moved the hearing forward beyond what was required because we understood there was a dispute. We will not complain if you resolve it among yourselves. I ask that you try to reach agreements.”

Supreme Court Justices see ‘no grounds for intervention’

Grosskopf backed Barak Erez’s position, saying there were no grounds for judicial intervention in the party court’s decision.

“The District Court decided not to intervene in the Likud court’s decision, why should we intervene where the District Court found no problem?” he said.

He added, “The Likud movement’s court is the body that is supposed to make decisions on these matters, and we must respect it. It reached a conclusion and explained its reasoning, and there is no reason for us to intervene. That is what a court is for.”

Attorney Guy Bussi, who represented Abed, argued that the District Court had found that the Likud court exceeded its authority.

Barak Erez disputes Bussi’s interpretation of District Court ruling

Barak Erez rejected that interpretation.

“That is not what the District Court said. It said that of the three grounds, there was a flaw in only one of them. I do not need the District Court, I am reading the party court’s ruling, the three judges, and it appears that the party court’s ruling stands. There is a certain legal situation that says MKs do not compete in the districts, there is a decision to change that, and it was determined that the decision was flawed.”

Grosskopf summarized the panel’s position by stressing the high threshold required for judicial intervention in an internal party ruling.

“We need a special reason to intervene in the court’s decision, when it said that flaws had occurred and overturned the decision, and the District Court accepted that. I am reading the Likud court’s ruling, it says there is a problem with the Likud constitution and there are also procedural flaws. So the District Court did not accept one line of reasoning, and the second one still remains.”

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A British serial sex attacker will spend the rest of his life in jail, a judge said on Wednesday, after he was convicted of two murders and rape following an escalating spree of sexual offenses that police and prosecutors failed to stop.

Simon Levy, 40, was found guilty last week of the murder of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March 2025 and of Sheryl Wilkins in August 2025, and of the rape and serious assault of a third woman in January that year.

A life sentence is the most severe punishment in the UK and is extremely rare – with only just over 70 people currently serving the term in England and Wales, according to data from the London Metropolitan Police.

Police had arrested Levy several times for sexual assaults against women on rush-hour trains before he was arrested on suspicion of murdering Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in April 2025.

But Levy was released and sexually assaulted five women before he killed Wilkins, 39, in a brutal attack.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Levy was released because they were then unable to confirm any third-party involvement in Valencia-Trujillo’s death.

Its chief, Mark Rowley, told reporters the force “could have done better, definitely,” but added that “the justice system needs to do its job better.”

Levy’s crimes and the failures by police and prosecutors that allowed him to continue offending have prompted criticism, coming after a report in December said British police must ensure early intervention in cases of predatory behavior.

Harriet Wistrich, CEO of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “The catalog of combined failures in this case provides terrifying evidence … that our criminal justice system is in a state of collapse.”

London mayor calls for review of law enforcement

Judge Mark Lucraft said Levy was “clearly someone who ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal, sexual satisfaction” as he sentenced him to a whole-life order for the murders of Valencia-Trujillo and Wilkins.

He was also sentenced for two counts of rape, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation in relation to a third woman.

London mayor ‘appalled by Levy’s crimes and the failures across multiple agencies’

Levy was separately convicted in February of sexually assaulting 10 women on London trains between October 2023 and May 2025, with six of the attacks in early 2025, and an 11th charge of sexually assaulting a prison officer in April 2022.

He was arrested in 2024 and early 2025 by British Transport Police, including after he was a suspect for rape and Valencia-Trujillo’s murder, but was granted bail.

The Met has referred itself to the police watchdog for downgrading him to a medium-risk offender in 2024, while BTP and the Crown Prosecution Service have also admitted some failures.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement that he was “appalled by his crimes and the failures across multiple agencies,” calling for a multi-agency review to try and stop it from happening again.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.

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Israeli venture firm Team8 has raised $365 million in new capital to invest in the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The new capital includes $265m. for Team8 Capital’s third fund and over $100m earmarked for follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies.

The fund is led by managing partners Sarit Firon and Liran Grinberg, alongside partners Ori Barzilay and Hadar Siterman. It will focus primarily on Seed and Series A companies developing AI-native technologies across cybersecurity, software infrastructure, fintech, and digital health.

The latest fundraising brings Team8’s total assets under management to nearly $2b. across eight funds launched since the firm was founded in 2014.

Team8 targets AI-native companies as enterprise adoption accelerates

The fund has already recorded an exit before reaching its final close. In February, Palo Alto Networks reported an agreement to acquire Israeli cybersecurity start-up Koi Security in a deal valued at approximately $400m.

Team8 said the new fund comes at a critical moment for enterprises, as the rapid development of generative and agentic AI is forcing companies to rethink their products, workflows, infrastructure, and security models.

The latest fundraising comes as Israeli cybersecurity and defense-tech companies continue to attract significant interest from global investors and strategic buyers, particularly in areas where the rapid adoption of AI is creating new security vulnerabilities and infrastructure requirements.

Companies are increasingly deploying AI agents capable of carrying out tasks autonomously, but many organizations are doing that before they have established adequate visibility, governance, or security controls.

AI agents create new security challenges for companies

According to a survey presented at Team8’s latest CISO Village Summit, 97% of the 111 security leaders surveyed said their organizations had already begun adopting AI agents, and 80% were already running them in production. In parallel, respondents rated their confidence in their ability to secure AI at just 2.32 out of five.

“Agentic AI has become one of the most urgent operational and security challenges facing enterprises,” the firm said.

For chief information security officers (CISOs), chief information officers (CIOs), and others, the rapid emergence of agentic AI is creating a new category of operational and security risks.

“AI is fundamentally rewriting the economics of company building,” Firon said. “Developing breakthrough technology has never been easier; building a company that endures has never been harder.”

Firon said Team8 believes that as AI capabilities evolve “at a pace none of us have seen before,” the strongest companies will not necessarily be those with the most advanced underlying models, but those aimed at solving fundamental enterprise problems that remain relevant as the technology changes.

“That’s exactly where we believe the next generation of category-defining, AI-native companies will be built, and it’s exactly where our enterprise Village communities and our go-to-market, recruiting, and AI teams give founders an edge nobody else can offer,” she added.

New fund focuses on AI infrastructure and cybersecurity

The firm plans to invest its new capital in what it views as foundational layers of the AI ecosystem, particularly AI infrastructure, orchestration, identity, data, and cybersecurity.

Grinberg said portfolio companies will also have access to its broader company-building platform, including connections to major enterprises, market validation, and assistance with company formation, recruiting, go-to-market strategy, and growth.

“We built this firm on the belief that broad and deep context, not capital, is the scarcest resource at the earliest stage of a company’s life,” he said.

“As AI accelerates change and creates real uncertainty across every enterprise, we’re more convinced than ever that the biggest opportunities sit in the infrastructure and cybersecurity layers that let enterprises adopt this technology with confidence, and we couldn’t be more excited to back the next generation of AI-native founders building exactly that.”

Founded in 2014, Team8 operates as both an early-stage investment firm and a company builder. Its focus spans cybersecurity, enterprise, and AI infrastructure, along with fintech and digital health. The firm has more than 90 employees involved in building companies, and it maintains a network of hundreds of enterprise executives from Fortune 500 and other global companies.

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An Israeli lawyer was arrested on Tuesday at Ben-Gurion Airport on suspicion of smuggling drugs into Israel, according to a police statement issued Wednesday.

The drugs came in a cargo shipment, rather than in luggage on a passenger aircraft, and were processed through customs at Ben-Gurion Airport. The package came from England and was sent to Israel via Turkey.

During an inspection, airport investigators discovered that the shipment contained GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, disguised in bottles labeled as false eyelash removal solution.

Israel Police then followed the package to its intended recipient, the lawyer, a Tel Aviv resident. He was arrested as the package was delivered. Police seized a range of additional substances from the lawyer’s home that are suspected to be drugs, including more GHB, heroin, ecstasy, and other substances. They also seized an undisclosed amount of foreign currency. On Wednesday, the courts granted police an extension of the suspect’s detention until August 16.

Police arrest three, seize drugs, hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash

Separately, Tel Aviv law enforcement officers carried out several large-scale operations across the city on Tuesday night, seizing hundreds of thousands of shekels in cash and a variety of drugs while issuing dozens of traffic tickets, police said.

In one raid, carried out under a warrant based on suspicions of drug trafficking and unlawful drug possession, police seized cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, and other illicit substances, along with equipment used to measure and package drugs for distribution. Officers also seized NIS 33,450 in cash suspected of being proceeds from drug trafficking. The suspect was arrested and taken for further questioning.

In another operation, police seized more than $228,000 and NIS 31,000 in cash, also believed to be proceeds from drug-related activity, before arresting the individual suspected of committing the offenses.

Throughout the night, officers also targeted what police described as “life-threatening traffic offenses,” with a particular focus on scooter and electric bike riders.

As part of the operation, 25 traffic tickets were issued for “life-threatening traffic offenses,” and 20 vehicles were confiscated.

In addition, police arrested a man riding his scooter on the sidewalk after stopping him and discovering that he was a Palestinian resident of the West Bank residing illegally in sovereign Israel.

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Ukrainian forces have liberated 745 square km (288 square miles) of Russian-occupied land this year across a swathe of the southeastern front, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, hailing an operation he said went “exactly as planned.”

Ukraine‘s military has sought to heap pressure on Moscow’s war effort in recent months, counterattacking on parts of the 1,200-km front and striking logistics and energy infrastructure.

Zelensky said 26 settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions had been brought back under Kyiv’s control. They are located along an approximately 60 km stretch of the front where the borders of the three regions meet.

“This offensive operation of ours was carried out with precision – exactly as planned,” he said on X, crediting Kyiv’s air-assault forces and other units.

Much of the area remains a grey zone, according to DeepState map

According to a battlefield map by Ukrainian open-source group DeepState, much of the area remains in a grey zone that is not fully controlled by either side. Some is marked as still Russian-controlled.

A video posted by Ukraine’s General Staff on Wednesday featured mostly drone-shot footage of its troops holding up the Ukrainian flag in the freed settlements. Reuters could not independently verify it.

Russia‘s battlefield advances have slowed this year across much of the front, analysts say, though its forces are still closing in on key cities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow has demanded Kyiv give up the rest of the industrialized Donetsk region, which it refuses to do.

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Nearly two-fifths of Israeli Jews support annexing the West Bank despite over half supporting sovereignty over the settlements, according to a poll released by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).

The poll showed that 55% of Israeli Jews want the country to maintain authority over Jewish settlements in the West Bank in any future agreement with the Palestinians.

Regarding annexation, participants were given four groups of choices: some 37% of all Israelis supported full annexation, 30% said the territory should be divided, while just 10% supported full transfer of sovereignty to the Palestinians, with slightly more than that saying the situation should continue as is.

Some 35% of Jewish Israelis said the terrority should be divided, with 22% of those supporting annexation saying that the Palestinian population should be transferred to Arab countries. Approximately 14% said that West Bank Palestinians should be given autonomy following Israeli annexation of the territory.

Notably, less than 1% of Jewish Israeli participants said that Palestinians should be given full Israeli citizenship upon annexation of the West Bank.

Notably, 19% of Arab Israelis said they support Israel annexing the West Bank, assuming citizenship would be granted to the Palestinians living there, though 23% said a Palestinian state should be established over the entire territory.

Poll shows Israelis lack faith in BoP Gaza plan

The poll also explored the Gaza Board of Peace (BoP) plan pushed by US President Donald Trump, showing that Israelis are less-than-enthusiastic about what they believe the plan will achieve.

According to JPPI, most Israelis (58%) believe the situation in Gaza will not change despite the plan, with the number climbing to 63% amongst Israeli Jews.

Just 3% of respondents said they believe the plan will achieve all its goals, including Hamas’s disarmament, while no Jewish Israelis agreed with the sentiment.

JPPI President Professor Yedidya Stern described the findings as indicating “deep pessimism among Israelis” regarding Gaza.

“This does not indicate a fundamental preference by Israelis for the continued occupation of Gaza, but rather a deep lack of trust in Hamas’ willingness to relinquish its control over the Strip,” said Stern.

“This means that, in the opinion of most of us, and in the absence of another plan on the political-security table, Israel is destined to continue to control most of the Gaza Strip in the long term.”

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Israel and Lebanon have agreed on Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Indonesia as potential contributors to a proposed mechanism that could see foreign troops deployed to Lebanon to verify Hezbollah’s disarmament, people familiar with the matter said.

The shortlist emerged from US-mediated talks in Rome last week, the latest round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon on implementing a June agreement that ties Israel’s phased withdrawal from Lebanon to the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The countries could help define the mechanism’s scope, provide personnel to oversee its implementation, or contribute troops to observe or take part in inspections verifying disarmament, three sources said.

Israel and Lebanon agreed on a list of potential countries, official tells Reuters

A Lebanese official told Reuters on Friday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed on a list of potential countries that could send troops to verify disarmament, but declined to identify them, saying the US would decide which of them would take part.

Israel and Lebanon in late June agreed to a US-mediated framework as part of Washington’s efforts to end the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, triggered in March when the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group attacked Israel following US and Israeli war against Iran.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said discussions surrounding the shortlisted countries were in the early stages but said that they were “cautiously optimistic” the effort would proceed.

The Israeli prime minister’s office, the Lebanese presidency and the British, Italian, and Indonesian foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Switzerland’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

Israel seeking searches of private homes

Israel’s military occupies what it describes as a security zone extending 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon and has said it will not withdraw unilaterally until Hezbollah is disarmed.

Two sources said that under the proposed mechanism, villages in southern Lebanon would be inspected and verified as being free of weapons. Israel wants those inspections to include private homes, they said.

Lebanon’s army has resisted pressure over the last year to search private properties, fearing such searches could spark tensions in the south and with Hezbollah more broadly. Security officials have told Reuters the army would need warrants for each house.

A foreign security official said the question of private properties would need to be addressed, including how and by whom they would be searched. The official said the extent of foreign troops’ freedom of movement would also need to be clearly established.

A mandate for the presence of foreign troops in Lebanon would have to be agreed, the sources said, with the most likely scenario being that they would be formally invited by the Lebanese government under a framework endorsed by Israel.

The US and Israel were unlikely to accept UN involvement, the sources said, while European nations may oppose oversight by US President Donald Trump‘s Board of Peace.

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No one has ever confused Likud primaries with genteel affairs. They are loud, messy, and extremely competitive.

But even by Likud’s rough-and-tumble standards, the run-up to Monday’s primary looks like an extraordinary mess.

There are the battles over the district slots, the party court rulings, the attempts to protect veteran ministers, the eight places Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given to fill with candidates of his choosing, and the additional guaranteed positions he demanded – and received – for Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Likud Central Committee chairman Haim Katz.

Taken together, Netanyahu will control 11 of the top 29 positions on the party’s next Knesset slate. That is enormous influence, especially since the Likud, which currently holds 32 seats, is polling at an average of only 23-24.

It also means that a significant number of today’s Likud MKs will not be parliamentarians tomorrow. That has left them embittered and battling for their political lives in what is essentially a zero-sum game.

And that type of bitterness tends to spill into the public arena – as it has.

Then came Netanyahu’s first personal selection: Oren Dobronsky, a hi-tech entrepreneur with years of Silicon Valley experience who was supposed to add economic and technological heft to the list.

Netanyahu apparently meant to undercut Nir Barkat, once a possible successor

He was also, if reports are to be believed, meant to undercut Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat, himself a former hi-tech entrepreneur.

Why would Netanyahu want to undercut Barkat, once widely viewed as a possible successor? Because according to a Channel 12 report, Barkat and Yuli Edelstein – who has since left the Likud to form a new party with Gilad Erdan – were behind an unsuccessful attempt immediately after October 7 to replace Netanyahu.

According to the report, Barkat and Edelstein tried to secure the support of the 13 Likud MKs needed to replace Netanyahu through a constructive vote of no confidence. They were unable to agree on who would take his place, and Edelstein reportedly proposed becoming interim prime minister, followed by a Likud leadership primary in which he would not run.

The report said Haim Katz learned of the effort and warned Netanyahu, who moved to thwart it. Some believe Netanyahu is now protecting Katz while reportedly using the primary to settle scores with Barkat.

The scriptwriters of a political drama could hardly have come up with a better storyline.

All of this points to a larger problem facing the Likud: How does a party that prides itself on being democratic ensure that its primary produces a list able to appeal to those beyond its base?

Unlike most Israeli parties, Likud has long taken pride in allowing its members to choose its Knesset candidates. This is a significant part of its identity. The Likud likes to contrast its broad, grassroots membership with parties led by the likes of Avigdor Liberman, Yair Lapid, and Naftali Bennett, whose lists are determined by the leader or a small committee.

There is merit to that argument. Primaries give party members a voice. They force politicians to maintain contact with the grassroots.

There is also no small irony in Netanyahu’s effort to undercut the primary system. He entered the Knesset in 1988 by prevailing in Likud’s old Central Committee-based selection process, despite opposition from parts of the party establishment. Five years later, a party-wide leadership primary enabled him to defeat David Levy, Benny Begin, and Moshe Katsav and take control of the party.

The Likud’s internal democracy did not merely help Netanyahu; it was critical to his political rise.

But that was then. In recent years, the primary system has exposed a serious downside.

To succeed, candidates need name recognition across the country. Quiet legislative work, expertise in a particular field, or a record of effective committee work doesn’t exactly provide that. Television appearances do. So do provocative statements, attacks on political opponents, and inflammatory social-media posts.

The louder the candidate, the greater the likelihood that Likud members will know their name when they reach the primary ballot box.

That system has helped propel figures such as Tally Gotliv to prominence. Gotliv is constantly in the headlines. She attacks the courts, the Attorney-General’s Office, the media, her political opponents, and occasionally members of her own party. She knows how to appeal to a significant part of the Likud base.

And she is now among the fiercest critics of Netanyahu’s reserved slots. But Netanyahu’s dilemma is understandable.

He wants a party list that can attract voters beyond the Likud faithful. Internal polling reportedly indicates that some candidates popular with Likud members are far less attractive to moderate right-wing and swing voters whom the party will need in the election.

Netanyahu therefore wants the ability to balance the list: to add people from hi-tech, economics, security, and other fields who can broaden the party’s appeal and give it greater governing credibility.

That, at least, is the argument for the reserved slots, and it is not an unreasonable one.

The problem is the scale.

Giving Netanyahu eight handpicked positions, followed by guaranteed places for three senior ministers, means that he will effectively determine a third of the party’s realistic list. At a certain point, these types of “corrections” to the primary system begin to hollow out the primary itself.

Some veteran Likud figures look back nostalgically at the days when a much smaller party forum played the decisive role in choosing the list, including through the famous shvi’iyot, in which Central Committee members selected and ranked candidates in groups of seven.

Old system wasn’t perfect, but produced some high-stature Likud representatives

That system was far less democratic. It was also vulnerable to deals, pressure groups, and political horse-trading. It should not be romanticized.

Yet it did produce Likud representatives of considerable stature: Dan Meridor, Roni Milo, Benny Begin, Michael Eitan, Uzi Landau, and others who combined strong ideological views with independence, policy expertise, and respect for the institutions of the state.

Would figures of that type survive today’s Likud primary?

Meridor’s defense of the judiciary would have made him unelectable in a Likud primary today. Eitan’s years of serious parliamentary work would mean little against a candidate producing daily viral videos. And a thoughtful candidate such as Yuval Steinitz might find it difficult to generate the excitement needed to prevail in a contest driven by social media and combative television appearances.

That doesn’t mean the old system was necessarily superior. Nor does it mean Likud members are incapable of choosing serious candidates. It does mean that a large national primary creates incentives that favor confrontation, ideological purity, and name recognition over depth, experience, and independence.

Netanyahu is now trying to correct those distortions from above. But in doing so, he risks undermining the democratic character that distinguishes Likud from nearly every other Israeli party.

This is the balancing act at the center of Monday’s primary.

Leave the process entirely in the hands of the membership, and the result may be a list filled with candidates who fire up the base but repel many of the voters Likud needs to win the election.

Intervene too heavily, however, and the party’s much-vaunted internal democracy becomes largely cosmetic – a primary in which the leader has already determined more than a third of the realistic list.

There is no selection system guaranteed to produce top-tier politicians. A small committee can choose mediocrities and cronies just as easily as a primary can reward demagogues.

But Likud’s current predicament is acute: The party wants the democratic legitimacy of a mass primary and the broad electoral appeal of a carefully put-together list. The chaos surrounding the August 17 vote shows how difficult it is to have both.

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The 11th annual Ushpizin Music Festival will return to Ashdod this autumn, bringing a massive lineup of Israeli rock royalty, international performers, and high-profile theater productions.

The week-long cultural celebration will run during the intermediate days of Sukkot, from September 24 until October 1, across three of the city’s premier cultural venues: the Ashdod Amphitheater, the Performing Arts Center, and Yad Labanim.

The festival’s biggest blockbuster nights will take place under the stars at the Ashdod Amphitheater. On September 29, Israeli music heavyweights Evyatar Banai, Amir Benayoun, and Berry Sakharof will share the stage for a massive triple-threat lineup. The rock marathon continues the following evening with a powerhouse roster featuring pioneering rocker Shalom Hanoch, ’90s alternative icons Eifa HaYeled, and punk-rock legend Rami Fortis.

Opera, classical music and international performers come to Ashdod

The Ashdod Performing Arts Center will host a diverse array of global and classical events, kicking off early on September 24 with the prestigious final round of the 18th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition.

Opera lovers can look forward to a fully staged production of Verdi’s La Traviata on September 27, performed by the Ashdod Chamber Opera Orchestra, the Tel Aviv Philharmonic Choir, and a lineup of international soloists under the baton of Vag (Vahagn) Papian.

The international momentum continues on September 28 with a performance by Paraguayan ensemble Los Muchachos Paraguayos, led by Juan Luis Alberto Amarilla. The group will be joined by Paraguayan-Israeli harpist David Karlsberg.

Rounding out the venue’s schedule, the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra Ashdod will present a nostalgic “Israeli Soundtrack” concert featuring veteran pop star Avi Toledano on September 29, followed by a two-night run of the Hebrew Theater’s production of My Fair Lady on September 30 and October 1.

Yad Labanim hosts musical tributes, jazz and flamenco

The Yad Labanim auditorium will pivot toward storytelling and intimate tributes. On September 27, the venue will host A Girl Who Is Quite a Treasure, a musical celebrating the life and music of iconic Greek-Israeli singer Aris San, performed by Izakis and the Greek Legend Band.

Other highlights include a staging of the musical Loving Daisy; a celebratory gala honoring singer Shlomit Aharon for her landmark 60-year musical career; a night of American jazz standards and New York hits led by vocalist-pianist Amor Amosi Nissan and conductor Mark Tiktiner; and a fiery grand finale featuring the Remangar Flamenco Dance Company.

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The Israeli defense establishment hit a new low on Tuesday and Wednesday regarding its inability to restrain violent Jewish extremists in the West Bank.

Since 2023, there has been a running line of such new lows for the Israeli defense establishment versus violent Jewish extremists in the West Bank.

A mix of the rise in Palestinian terrorism that started in March 2022, as well as the rise of Itamar Ben-Gvir running the police in January 2023, led to a rise in Jewish anarchists attacking Palestinian civilians.

What had often been “just price tag” spray paint vandalism for a decade or so morphed into far more actual violence and dangerous arsons.

February 2023 saw one of the first stunning and infamous mass Jewish attacks on the Palestinian town of Huwara.

Jewish extremist attacks were no longer one or two individuals, but large groups of dozens or even up to around 100.
By 2025-2026, such mass attacks are no longer shocking because they happen too often.

The gap is large, though it has narrowed

Palestinian terrorists have still killed many more Jews in the West Bank than Jewish terrorists have killed Palestinian civilians, and the Palestinian plots that are thwarted tend to be much more lethal, but the gap between the sides used to be much larger.

There has also been an increase in Jewish extremists using violence against IDF soldiers.

An issue that might have happened once a year in the past has become much more common.
But the latest incident is new.

This time, multiple rounds of IDF forces were sent to remove multiple rounds of violent Jewish extremists from harassing a small number of Palestinians on land under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

The IDF even sent out a message late Wednesday morning that it had removed the illegal structures built by the Jewish extremists in the area.

Yet, at press time, IDF sources still were not able to tell The Jerusalem Post when the Jewish extremists in the area themselves would be fully removed.

Rather, all IDF sources could say was that there remained IDF forces in the area also.

A few dozen activists can wreak havoc on local Palestinians

In a vacuum, a few dozen activists taking a hike and sleeping in a field with sleeping bags could seem harmless.

But these activists have already harassed the Palestinians nearby, and there have been so many recent cases when Jewish extremists have been violent that such trespassers into Palestinian areas cannot be given the benefit of the doubt.
In any case, trespassing is trespassing, and it is bizarre that the Jewish extremists have not been cleared after so much time has passed.

It is also bizarre that they have not all been arrested, given that there are public videos showing their faces and showing them throwing rocks onto a path to prevent the IDF from evacuating them.

This is trespassing plus obstruction of the military enforcing the law, black and white.

Why is this latest incident happening now?

While any number of factors could explain it, Defense Minister Israel Katz’s recent attacks on IDF Central Commander Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth for placing an administrative travel restraining order on Tal Yinon Dardik due to allegations that he attacked Palestinians in March and at other times could be an obvious recent cause.

If you are a Jewish extremist in the West Bank and know that the defense minister may support you, along with the Ben-Gvir who runs the police already supporting you, why not act up?

Katz got rid of administrative detention for Jews in January 2025, even though there are over 3,000 Palestinians still in administrative detention.

Then, in recent weeks, he was even attacking using travel restraining orders.

If you will not be indicted and not even get a restraining order, why not fight the IDF and attack Palestinians if you are a violent Jewish extremist? What do you have to lose?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been silent throughout this incident, and the Dardik incident, signaling either that he supports Katz, or at the very least will not stick his neck out to support Bluth even though Bluth is himself quite right-wing politically and was once his personal military secretary.

Short of the US publicly embarrassing Netanyahu into greater action, this might not even be the final low on this issue.
How much longer before the IDF and the police not only fail to arrest and punish such violent Jewish extremists, but also fail to even be able to stop them from acting violently and trespassing, with the events of Wednesday coming pretty close to that point?

This post was originally published on here. 

The US State Department is requesting that US embassies in the Middle East develop “reduced operations” plans, as the conflict with Iran shows no immediate signs of resolution, according to a CNN report published on Wednesday.

Sources have informed CNN that, although plans have not been finalized, the State Department has encouraged US embassy staff to reduce both their assignments and staff numbers. There is a general expectation that officials do not anticipate returning to normal staffing levels in the region anytime soon. 

However, reports indicate that the State Department has yet to determine whether all affected posts will implement these changes.

Any plans for “reduced operations,” once finalized, could provide some clarity to US diplomats and their families who have been displaced, CNN reported.

A spokesperson from the State Department spoke with CNN regarding the reported changes at the embassy. They stated, “do not discuss internal deliberations or post-specific contingency planning,” but noted that the department “continually reviews the security and staffing posture at every diplomatic mission based on conditions on the ground and adjusts personnel levels as appropriate.”

“Decisions regarding the status of any post are made based on a range of security and operational factors, in close coordination between posts and Washington,” they added.

Fewer diplomats on the ground may affect the State Department’s ability to provide timely consular assistance to Americans abroad and to support the administration’s priorities, former diplomats told CNN. 

However, a State Department spokesperson refuted the notion that US diplomatic efforts are “limited” due to a reduced number of personnel on the ground.

“We have seen sustained engagement from the highest levels of the Trump Administration with our partners in the Middle East, and our relationship with our allies in the region continues to get stronger,” they said.

Embassy evacuations begin with the US-Israel war against Iran

The State Department ordered nonemergency personnel and family members to leave almost every diplomatic post in the region shortly after the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February. 

A decision that was followed by nearly six months of uncertainty about whether the posts could return to normal and whether all diplomats could return to their assignments. 

The State Department did not reduce staffing at most embassies in the region prior to the start of the US-Israeli military campaign. Before the war, only Lebanon and Israel were designated under “ordered and authorized departure status,” meaning non-emergency personnel and their family members had the option to leave but were not required to do so.

As the conflict intensified and US diplomatic facilities in the region became targets for Iran and its proxies, facing drone and missile attacks, the State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel and their families from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The abrupt reduction in staff left many diplomats and their families, who had several years left on their assignments, struggling to create temporary situations for themselves back on American soil. They found themselves unable to make long-term commitments upon returning home and had to plan around the expectation that they would need to quickly return to the Middle East if the political climate shifted.

In response to growing concern among embassy staff, the State Department spokesperson told CNN the department remains “committed to supporting our workforce and their families throughout this process and will provide updates through appropriate channels as decisions are made.”

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Only about 20 of Likud’s roughly 40 current ministers and MKs are expected to remain in the next Knesset under a scenario in which the party wins 30 seats, according to a new Agam Institute poll conducted ahead of the Likud primaries and released on Wednesday.

The poll points to a potential shake-up in the composition of Likud’s next Knesset slate. The researchers stressed that the scenario in which Likud wins 30 seats is significantly higher than the polling projections cited in their report.

The findings also reveal substantial differences between the preferences of registered Likud members and those of the party’s broader electorate.

According to the poll’s simulation, veteran ministers and MKs, including David Amsalem, Miki Zohar, and David Bitan, are pushed down the list, while other candidates gain ground. The researchers described the trend as a dramatic change in Likud’s slate, with veterans losing ground to new faces.

However, they stressed that the data from registered party members reflect the preferences of “free” voters and do not take organized voting blocs into account, a particularly significant factor in Likud primaries.

One of the researchers’ main conclusions concerns the latest reserved slots on the party list. According to the report, the reserved slots “saved” Haim Katz and Gideon Sa’ar and kept Israel Katz in the top 10.

Sa’ar was not ranked as a primary candidate in the poll. The researchers reached the conclusion as part of their simulation of the slate after the reserved slots were incorporated. Haim Katz, by contrast, ranked only 35th in the raw ranking among registered party members.

Party members back Ohana, voters prefer Barkat

On the question of Likud’s leadership after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Katz ranked sixth among registered party members, with 10.3%, compared with fourth place and 11.3% among Likud voters. The researchers attributed his weaker showing among party members to frustration over the security campaign. Following the reserved slot, Katz was placed fifth in the simulated party slate.

Sharp differences between registered party members and Likud voters were also evident at the top of the rankings. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana led among party members with 73%, followed by Tally Gotliv with 70% and Boaz Bismuth with 69.2%.

Ohana also led among loyal Likud voters, but Nir Barkat ranked first among wavering voters and those who have left the party. Gotliv and Shlomo Karhi performed better among the registered party base, while Barkat, Yariv Levin, and Miki Zohar enjoyed greater support among the broader Likud electorate.

The divide continued in the contest over who should succeed Netanyahu. Ohana was the preferred successor among registered party members, with 22.9%, while Barkat led among Likud voters with 19%. Among party members, Gotliv ranked second with 15.6%, while Barkat was only fourth with 10.8%.

Party members want a fully right-wing government, voters more open to unity

The differences were even clearer when respondents were asked about the composition of the next government. Some 66.1% of registered party members said they would prefer the next coalition to be a “fully right-wing government,” compared with 45.1% of Likud voters.

Conversely, 54.9% of Likud voters preferred a unity government with the center-right, compared with only 33.9% of registered party members.

The researchers said these findings, together with the differences in preferences for individual politicians, help explain the strategic importance of reserved slots as a tool for broadening Likud’s electoral appeal beyond its registered membership base.

On the issue of military conscription, however, the picture was different. Clear majorities in both groups supported increasing the proportion of people enlisting in the IDF, even at the expense of Torah study and at the risk of a coalition crisis. The proposal was supported by 66.8% of registered Likud members and 80.4% of Likud voters.

The poll was conducted by Dr. Nimrod Nir of the Agam Institute between August 6 and 10 among 1,062 Likud members eligible to vote in the party primary, alongside more than 1,000 Likud voters.

This post was originally published on here. 

Recent political developments in the United States, including several closely watched primary elections, have prompted questions among Israeli business leaders about the future of the US-Israel relationship. 

In the days following the Senate primary in our home state of Michigan, we’ve been asked outright, “Is Michigan turning away from Israel?”

The concern is understandable, but it mistakes a political headline for the reality of a decades-long economic partnership.

As the leaders of the organization that has spent more than two decades building the bridge between Michigan and Israel, this reading gets the story backward. The economic, technological, and personal relationships that bind our two economies do not rise or fall with any one election cycle.

For decades, Michigan has been one of Israel’s most committed partners, and that relationship has never been defined by who wins a given race. We’ve built ties deliberately, one partnership at a time, with businesses, universities, entrepreneurs, investors, and civic leaders who recognized early that our two economies have complementary strengths.

Michigan is the global capital of mobility innovation, with world-leading depth in automotive and autonomous technology, electrification, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defense, healthcare, and industrial automation. Those sectors connect directly with Israel’s innovation strengths.

Michigan’s research universities, engineering talent, manufacturing capacity, venture capital base, and concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters give Israeli companies an exceptional gateway to the North American market, just as Michigan-based companies increasingly look to Israel for the next wave of technology and talent.

We see the human side of this relationship every day.

For more than two decades, the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator has served as the trusted bridge between our two innovation ecosystems.

More than 100 Israeli companies have landed in Michigan through initiatives like The Elevator, one of the only landing zones in the United States dedicated to Israeli company growth, while Israeli innovation and activity in Michigan have generated some $45 million in economic activity.

We have facilitated trade missions from Michigan to Israel involving over 200 corporate and community leaders, and connecting thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and public officials along the way.

Introductions become partnerships, and partnerships become investments. And often, investments turn into friendships that outlast whichever administration happens to be in office when they began.

The results are visible on the ground: Israeli technology now runs inside Michigan auto plants and on Michigan farms, powers new EV-charging infrastructure on Detroit streets, and is entering clinical trials with local hospitals.

American federalism guarantees politics stay out of business ties

Those calls were made by leaders in various segments, including manufacturers, utilities, agriculture, finance, and health systems.

There is a basic fact about American federalism that is easy to miss from abroad: individual states function as powerful engines of continuity, sustaining international relationships that outlast the swings of national politics.

Business leaders make decisions based on opportunity, talent, legal certainty, and trusted partners, not on primary results, and Michigan continues to deliver on every one of those measures.

Its rule of law is strong, its universities remain open to Israeli collaboration, its economic development institutions remain committed to international investment, and its private sector remains eager to build.

Israeli executives weighing expansion into North America should meet this moment with perspective rather than hesitation. Political headlines change quickly; business fundamentals change far more slowly.

For companies seeking customers, manufacturing capacity, research partners, or capital, Michigan remains one of the most welcoming and productive environments in the United States, and that has not changed because of one primary result.

The Michigan-Israel relationship has weathered economic cycles, technological revolutions, geopolitical shocks, and changing governments on both sides of the ocean because it rests on mutual benefit, personal trust, and a shared conviction that innovation creates prosperity.

Political rhetoric and media coverage shape public perception, and we don’t dismiss that. But the commercial relationship we work in every day runs on different terms: jobs, capital, research partnerships, and supply chains built over years, not headlines from any single week. Those fundamentals haven’t shifted.

Michigan is not turning away from Israel. If anything, we are more engaged than ever. More companies. More partnerships. More investment. That’s how this relationship has always grown, and that’s how it will continue to grow.

Mark Davidoff is the CEO of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and president and CEO of The Fisher Group, the family office of Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher. He is also the past chair of the board of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Howard Handler is chair of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and an enterprise leader, board director, and strategic adviser. He most recently served as president of 313 Presents, Detroit’s premier live entertainment company.

This post was originally published on here.