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A newly published UNICEF-led survey proves that the “false narrative against Israel,” of there being a famine in the Gaza Strip, is falling apart, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said on Thursday.

“Once again, facts prevail over fiction,” Danon said. “UN bodies are acknowledging that the false narrative against Israel is falling apart.”

“Israel is not starving children. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorism, while Hamas uses civilians in Gaza as human shields. Those who rushed to accuse Israel must now be held accountable for spreading lies.”

The nutrition survey, which was coordinated by the UNICEF, showed that children in Gaza have low levels of acute malnutrition.

Using internationally recognized World Health Organization (WHO) methodology, researchers measured children’s weight, height, and mid-upper-arm circumference to assess acute malnutrition using the Weight-for-Height Z-score (WHZ).

According to the results of the survey, acute malnutrition rates across Gaza ranged between 0.2% and 0.8%.

These are levels comparable to or below those recorded in Gaza prior to the Israel-Hamas War, and are significantly lower than those reported in neighboring countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

“In other words,” the Foreign Ministry, in its own statement to X/Twitter, added, “There is no famine in Gaza.” 

“Malnutrition is not only significantly below the critical values – it is exceptionally low in regional comparison. Anyone who is still open to arguments can look at the empirical data themselves.”

A new study commissioned by UNICEF shows that the nutritional situation in Gaza – contrary to all propaganda – is today better than in all neighboring Arab states and even better than in some European countries.

The proportion of acute malnutrition among children under five… pic.twitter.com/eiIoaeqNip

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) August 6, 2026

Stunting, overweight, unhealthy diet

The survey also presented several other concerns regarding children’s nutrition in the Gaza Strip.

In the study, stunting is noted as a main child nutrition concern, affecting about one in eight children. This points to “longer-term nutritional stress and repeated deprivation beyond immediate wasting,” according to the survey.

It added that overweight is also present across the Strip, and that the “coexistence of wasting, stunting and overweight
highlights the importance of diet quality, not only food quantity.”

In Khan Younis and Rafah, the survey found that unhealthy food consumption reached a high of 78%, while in Gaza City and northern Gaza, some 64% do not eat fruit or vegetables.

ICP: Nutrition in Gaza has improved since early 2026

In a report released on July 23, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (ICP) said that since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in October 2025, “large-scale assistance has driven improvements in food security and nutrition conditions across the Gaza Strip,” but noted that “needs remain high.”

ICP added that the nutrition situation in the Gaza Strip improved since early 2026, and classified the nutrition level at Phase One (less than five percent of children are acutely malnurished) of its Acute Malnutrition table between mid-April. 

It warned, however, that the level could drop to Phase Two (five to 9.9% percent of children are acutely malnurished) between July and December 2026.

This post was originally published on here. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a federal legislation Thursday in the House and Senate aimed at protecting houses of worship from disruptive demonstrations, following a series of protests outside of synagogues this year.

The Right to Worship Act was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, alongside Reps. Brad Knott, a North Carolina Republican, and Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat. It would establish a 100-foot “buffer zone” around houses of worship during religious services, mirroring similar legislation recently enacted in New York.

“The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to freely exercise their faith, and Congress has a duty to ensure that guarantee is met,” Cruz said in a statement Thursday.

The legislation would also establish civil penalties for offenders and provide pathways for individuals, including state attorneys, to seek court orders and damages in federal court. While the legislation would target protesters who knowingly disrupt scheduled religious services, houses of worship would not be required to make their schedules public.

The bill’s sponsors say the measure is aimed at conduct rather than the content of protesters’ speech.

Bill is latest attempt to protect places of worship from protests

“No one should have to push through a hostile crowd or shout over a bullhorn in an attempt to pray,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which helped lawmakers draft the legislation.

It’s the latest attempt at passing federal legislation aimed at insulating houses of worship from protest, following Suozzi’s “SACRED Act” legislation, a similar bill he introduced in April but which has not progressed in the House.

Those efforts have now been joined by Slotkin, who is Jewish, and Cruz, who has often taken aim at antisemitism within the Republican coalition over the past year.

“Exercising your right to worship should not require you to exhibit particular courage as you enter your synagogue, church, mosque, temple, mandir, or gurdwara,” Suozzi said in a statement.

The New York City Council passed a local buffer zone bill in March following a series of pro-Palestinian protests outside of synagogues that hosted Israeli real estate expos. While Jewish groups and leaders heavily advocated for the measure, it also faced opposition from civil rights leaders who said it would have a chilling effect on First Amendment protections.

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The former governor of Mexico’s southern Guerrero state has been arrested for allegedly ordering the destruction of evidence that could have helped shed light on the whereabouts of 43 students who disappeared in 2014, authorities said on Thursday.

Angel Aguirre, who has previously denied wrongdoing, was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and forced disappearance, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy told reporters.

The case, considered one of the country’s worst human-rights atrocities, has been marred by missteps and interference.

International probes have determined that the students from Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College were killed by organized crime members in cahoots with police, while on their way to a protest in Mexico City.

The ​remains of three victims have since been positively ​identified, but the others have yet to be found.

Gov. claimed critical security camera footage didn’t exist

Godoy said new testimony from two people in January and May, one a protected witness, helped establish that Aguirre may have ordered the destruction of evidence related to the night of the students’ disappearance in a meeting with senior officials in his administration.

She did not specify when the meeting took place or the details of the evidence.

“An analysis, based on new evidence and in accordance with due process, confirmed the possible involvement of Angel ‘N,’ former governor of Guerrero, in the destruction of evidence that could have revealed the students’ whereabouts,” Godoy said. The letter “N” is used as a placeholder for a suspect’s last name.

Godoy said that state authorities had initially claimed that security camera footage of the students traveling by bus near government offices in Guerrero did not exist.

However, a witness who had previously kept quiet due to threats came forward this year, she said.

Angela Buitrago, a member of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, an independent international rights team that has investigated the case, said her team had opened the line of investigation into Aguirre in 2015.

She said the latest information reinforced the team’s conclusion that the state was responsible, and had the footage Aguirre reportedly ordered to be destroyed come to light sooner, it could have helped find the students.

“It is a state crime, regardless of whether it was committed by state or federal authorities,” she said.

A spokesperson for Enrique Pena Nieto, who was president from 2012 to 2018, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Israel’s outstanding run at the Cadet and Junior World Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Abu Dhabi continued with another impressive haul of medals in the No-Gi competition, as the blue-and-white delegation capped the event with four more podium finishes and second place in the overall medal standings.

Leading the way was Guy Torres, who captured the Under-18 world championship in the under-62 kg division. Fellow Israeli Tamir Naim earned the bronze medal in the same weight class, giving Israel two medals in one of the tournament’s most competitive divisions.

Shalev Snir added a silver medal in the under-56 kg category, while Eden Gamliel finished runner-up in the Under-18 under-69 kg division to round out another successful day for the Israeli squad.

No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu is a style of grappling where fighters wear form-fitting athletic clothes like rash guards and board shorts instead of a traditional heavy cotton uniform. Without fabric to grip, matches move at a much faster pace with a heavy focus on body control, underhooks, and leg locks.

In Abu Dhabi, the Israeli team also collected more medals that did not meet the official criteria for inclusion in the championship standings but nevertheless provided more memorable moments for the delegation, including multiple renditions of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”

The latest success comes on the heels of earlier world titles won by Noga Reshef and Lia Shalev in the traditional gi competition. Altogether, Israel’s cadet and junior team completed the No-Gi championships with 13 medals, including four gold medals, finishing second in the overall medal table.

Throughout much of the competition, Israeli Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Yossi Shelley accompanied the delegation, attending matches, supporting the athletes and coaching staff, and later presenting medals to the Israeli winners during the official award ceremonies.

‘Another day of full success’

“We concluded the Cadet and Junior No-Gi World Championships with another day full of success for Team Israel,” said Israel Jiu-Jitsu Association president Erez Elroy. “I want to thank our coaching staff for their preparation and support throughout this demanding competition. I also extend special thanks to Ambassador Yossi Shelley for honoring us with his presence during much of the championship.”

Arik Kaplan, president and CEO of the Ayelet Association, the umbrella organization for Israel’s non-Olympic sports, praised the team’s achievements.

“It was another tremendous day for Israeli jiu-jitsu at the World Championships,” Kaplan said. “Guy, Tamir, Eden and Shalev competed against some of the world’s best athletes and displayed outstanding skill, determination and character. Their performances, together with the team’s overall results and second-place finish in the medal standings, demonstrate the depth and quality of Israel’s next generation of athletes.”

This post was originally published on here. 

US President Donald Trump has told his donors that he wants Vice President JD Vance to win the 2028 presidential election, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

According to two anonymous sources, Trump had told the donors that “At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” during a meeting in the Oval Office two weeks ago. 

One presidential advisor told the Washington Post that Trump has privately resolved that Vance will be the next candidate for the Republican Party, but that it is “too early” to know when he will announce his candidacy.

However, other advisors cautioned that Trump could still change his mind about the endorsement, and that he tells different things to different people.

“Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” one official said.

US Jews support Marco Rubio as next president

Vance’s main opponent in the 2028 presidential election is thought to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has received widespread support from Jewish Americans.

“I can certainly tell you with confidence that in the American Jewish conservative circles, it’s Marco Rubio by a margin of 99 to 1,” activist Shabbos Kestenbaum said in May.

“In fact that’s probably underselling it, it’s probably closer to 100 to 0. I can’t think of anyone within the American Jewish MAGA movement who would not want Marco Rubio as the nominee.”

Trump himself has floated a Vance-Rubio ticket, without saying which of the two he thinks should be president.

Joseph Strauss contributed to this report.

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Former deputy national security minister Yoav Segalovitz announced on Thursday his resignation from Knesset and departure from the Yesh Atid party.

“Over the years, I had the privilege of influencing issues close to my heart, both as a Knesset member and as deputy public security minister,” Segalovitz said. “I would like to thank Yair Lapid, the members of Knesset, and the party’s activists for their partnership, trust, and joint work on behalf of the State of Israel.”

He wished Yesh Atid and the B’Yachad party “great success, and hope they continue working with determination on behalf of the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Israeli media has previously reported that Segalovitz is considering joining Ra’am (United Arab List), headed by Mansour Abbas.

Lapid praises Segalovitz following departure

MK Yair Lapid, following the announcement, praised Segalovitz’s “integrity and professionalism” during his years of serving Israel as part of Yesh Atid.

“Throughout his years of service in Yesh Atid, in the Knesset, and as deputy public security minister, he acted with integrity and professionalism on behalf of Israel’s citizens and to uphold the rule of law,” he said.

“During the ‘government of change,’ we worked together to combat crime in Israel, and I thank him for that,” Lapid added. “I thank Yoav for his contribution to Yesh Atid and the State of Israel, and wish him success in his future endeavors.”

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A bomb planted in a minibus killed two people and wounded 14 others on the outskirts of Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday night, officials said.

The blast occurred in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana, outside Damascus. A security source told the state-run Ekhbariya TV that the blast was caused by an explosive device planted on the vehicle, citing preliminary information.

Footage from the scene showed the blown-up husk of a white minibus being dragged away from the site of the blast.

Jaramana resident Samer Abbas was meters away in his clothing store when the explosion went off. A piece of shrapnel hit the storefront.

“It was a strong unnatural sound,” he told Reuters in an interview.

His son, who had been sitting outside, was the first thing that came to Abbas’ mind. Fearing the worst, Abbas said he could not rest until he confirmed his son was safe.

“My blood dried up until I checked up on him, I saw him … until I heard his voice,” he said.

Druze have been targeted since Syrian revolution 

Over at the Mujtahid Hospital in Damascus, Bassel Imad said the bombing was “sadistic.” His cousin Safouh was driving the vehicle that exploded and lay injured.

The targeted street in Jaramana is somewhat narrow and includes shops and street vendors, Imad said, as people clamored around him.

“What happened was very wicked,” he added.

Factions within Syria’s Druze community have clashed with the country’s new Islamist leadership. A UN investigation in March found more than 1,700 people, most of them civilian members of the Druze religious sect and some members of the Bedouin community, were killed in the southern Sweida province in July 2025.

It said Syrian government forces, tribal fighters and Druze armed groups may ​have committed war crimes.

This post was originally published on here. 

Israel’s ambition to become a trillion-dollar economy is usually framed as a question of quantity: more venture capital, more innovation, more unicorns, more infrastructure, and more regional integration. Those goals matter, but they miss the deeper constraint.

Israel does not primarily have an innovation problem. It has an institutional problem. The country is exceptionally good at producing start-ups, but far less effective at financing, retaining, and compounding them into large, durable Israeli companies. It has built an economy optimized for creation, but not for scale or sustainment.

The evidence is increasingly difficult to ignore. Foreign capital is useful, but it is expensive in ways that rarely appear in headline figures. It arrives in dollars, creates conversion and hedging costs, and often comes with a preference for Delaware incorporation. The Israeli company then becomes a research subsidiary, while the intellectual property, taxable profits, and eventual exit sit abroad.

It is also procyclical. Investment fell sharply in 2023 as war began, before technology funding rebounded to $15.6 billion in 2025. Yet while capital returned, many companies did not. The share of new start-ups incorporating in Israel fell from roughly 80% in 2022 to about 55% in 2025. This is not a temporary fundraising problem; it is a migration of ownership.

The money required to change this already exists. In 2025, non-residents invested a net $39 billion in Israel while Israeli residents invested a net $56 billion abroad. Institutional assets under management exceed NIS 2.75 trillion, and the public’s financial portfolio is roughly NIS 7.4 trillion. 

Israel has one of the region’s largest pools of long-term savings, yet much of it finances growth elsewhere.

The Innovation Authority’s Yozma 2.0 program directed around $450 million into Israeli venture funds. The instinct is correct, but the scale is not. Against NIS 2.75 trillion under management, a few hundred million dollars is a pilot, not a capital-market strategy. 

When pension savings finance foreign growth while Israeli firms struggle to raise growth capital at home, the problem is not money. It is the architecture through which money moves.

The same distortion appears in Israel’s celebrated exits. The $32 billion acquisition of Wiz by Google and the $25 billion acquisition of CyberArk by Palo Alto Networks are extraordinary achievements. They are also transfers. 

Companies that might have compounded in Israel for decades now compound on foreign balance sheets, while headquarters, listings, tax bases, and senior executive functions migrate with them.

Producing category leaders and then selling them is a sophisticated export business in intellectual property. It is not the same thing as building a trillion-dollar economy. Founders often sell because the domestic path to scale is harder and less certain than the offer in front of them.

That path begins with unnecessary friction. Registering an Israeli company costs thousands of shekels before legal verification. Every company then pays an annual fee, whether or not it has traded, and every limited company must file audited financial statements regardless of size. 

Two founders with no revenue must therefore pay for audits, bookkeeping, and filings merely to hold an idea. Delaware costs a few hundred dollars a year and requires no statutory audit. A founder choosing between the two is not making a political statement. He is reading a price list.

Work over time, not single success

Once the entity is incorporated abroad, the intellectual property, financing, legal work, governance, taxable profits, and eventual exit tend to follow. Israel keeps the payroll but exports ownership and the financial ecosystem around it.

The broader regulatory environment reinforces the pattern. The OECD has described Israel’s administrative and regulatory demands as among the most stringent in the organization, obstructing entry and growth. Barriers remain high in professional services, licensing is slow, and inefficient liquidation makes entrepreneurial failure unusually costly. 

A country that makes failure expensive will receive less risk-taking. That is a tax on ambition.

The financial system is equally dated. Five banks hold roughly 98% of sector assets, with Leumi and Hapoalim controlling about half. Digital banking licenses and proposals for tiered regulation are welcome, but they have yet to generate meaningful competition. Israel has still not experienced the neobanking revolution seen across much of the Western world. 

ONE ZERO has operated for three years but remains a limited domestic challenger, with a weak user experience, a basic interface, and neither the scale nor the product breadth of global platforms such as Revolut. Revolut, despite serving more than 70 million customers worldwide, is still progressing through the Bank of Israel’s excruciating licensing process. 

The fact that a proven global entrant remains outside the market while incumbent banks retain near-total control shows how far Israel remains from genuine banking competition.

Below the banks, the public market is thin. Average daily equity turnover on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was about NIS 2.5 billion in 2025. Between a bank loan and a trade sale, Israeli companies lack what mature firms need: deep growth equity, private credit, a credible domestic listing route, and secondary liquidity that allows early shareholders to realize value without selling the company.

This is the part of the American model Israel has never replicated. American firms are not more productive merely because start-ups raise more money. They are more productive because capital remains available throughout the corporate life cycle. 

A new company can raise seed capital, while a mature company can raise billions through equity or debt and reinvest for decades. Productivity is the accumulated result of capital deployed per worker over time, not one successful funding round.

Israel’s funding curve peaks early and then falls away. The venture market is world-class for the first ten million dollars, but thinner above it. The corporate bond market is sizable, yet concentrated in real estate and finance. 

Pension savings enter the system every month, but the instruments needed to channel them into long-term Israeli growth remain underdeveloped. A company that can raise capital only during its first five years will be managed for a five-year outcome.

The reform agenda should therefore focus on one objective: making Israel a place where companies can remain, scale, and compound.

Company registration should be unified online and completed within hours. Registration and annual fees should fall. Lawyer verification should not be mandatory for routine incorporation. Israel should adopt a small-company audit exemption. 

Business licensing should use silence-is-consent rules when regulators miss deadlines, and bankruptcy procedures should allow failed founders to begin again within months rather than years.

Financial reform and next steps

Financial reform matters even more. Bank licensing should become tiered and proportional without weakening supervision, while clearing and payments infrastructure should not be controlled by incumbent banks. 

Yozma should be abolished as a direct government investor. Taxpayers should not fund private businesses; the state should instead use targeted incentives, guarantees, and limited risk-sharing to encourage private investment in venture capital, growth equity, and private credit.

Israel does not lack financial institutions; it lacks institutions primarily oriented toward financing Israeli growth.

Policy should incentivize local investment houses, private-equity firms, lenders, and advisers to deploy more of their capital and expertise into Israeli companies across growth financing, acquisitions, listings, and secondary markets, rather than predominantly serving foreign markets. 

It should also foster a genuine domestic investment-banking industry capable of underwriting Israeli listings, structuring major transactions, and supporting companies through successive stages of growth.

The corporate bond market should become more accessible to operating companies, institutional rules should be reviewed for biases against domestic exposure, and listing frameworks should offer Israeli companies a credible home-market option.

Israel should also become the preferred jurisdiction for investing in Israeli innovation through modern corporate law, faster dispute resolution, English-language commercial infrastructure, tax reform and, above all, regulatory certainty.

Israel has already proven that it can produce world-class entrepreneurs. The next task is to build world-class institutions around them. A trillion-dollar economy will not be created by celebrating more exits while ownership, capital, and decision-making continue to migrate abroad. 

It will be created when Israeli companies can raise, scale, list, borrow, reinvest, and remain Israeli through every stage of their lives. 

Creation is the problem Israel solved. Scale is the problem it has begun to confront. Sustainment is the problem it must take seriously.

This post was originally published on here. 

The recent passing of Qatar’s former ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has predictably triggered an avalanche of sanitized hagiography across Western capitals. Eulogists have rushed to celebrate the Father Emir as a visionary modernizer who transformed a desolate Gulf peninsula into an economic powerhouse. They point to the Doha skyline, the 2022 World Cup, and a staggering expansion of national wealth as proof of benign brilliance. 

Yet, this glossy narrative deliberately obscures a far darker historical reality. Sheikh Hamad was the primary architect of modern state-sponsored Islamism, and a ruthless strategist who weaponized unimaginable energy wealth to institutionalize a toxic double game that continues to destabilize the civilized world.

The coup and the gamble

The blueprint for Qatar’s malignant rise began in June 1995, when Sheikh Hamad deposed his father in a bloodless palace coup. Inheriting dormant natural gas reserves, the young ruler embarked on an audacious gamble. By aggressively tapping into the North Field, the massive natural gas reservoir shared precariously with Iran, he engineered a rapid economic explosion. 

Within a decade, Qatar became the premier exporter of liquefied natural gas, generating capital that defied its tiny population. Crucially, this fortune was never intended for mere domestic prosperity. Sheikh Hamad recognized that in a volatile region, traditional military might was unattainable. 

Instead, he converted Qatar’s wealth into an asymmetric weapon, buying immense structural influence by deliberately empowering the most radical ideological movements in the Middle East.

The double game

The true genius of Sheikh Hamad’s strategy lay in a cynical double game that insulated his regime from external threats while exporting chaos. In 1996, the Emir funded the construction of the massive Al Udeid Air Base, granting the United States military a permanent presence on Qatari soil. By providing the Pentagon with a vital logistics hub, Sheikh Hamad secured an American defense umbrella that rendered Qatar untouchable. 

Yet, in that same year, he established the Al Jazeera satellite network. While gullible Western observers celebrated the channel as a beacon of free press, Al Jazeera functioned as a sophisticated propaganda arm for the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Under royal control, the network systematically mainstreamed virulent antisemitic tropes, glorified suicide bombers as holy martyrs, and provided an unrestricted megaphone to radical clerics. During the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera acted as an active combatant, stoking revolutions against moderate Arab governments to install Islamist regimes.

Financing jihad

Nowhere was the Father Emir’s destructive ideology more visible than in his personal patronage of Palestinian terror. In 2012, Sheikh Hamad became the first foreign head of state to visit the Gaza Strip after Hamas violently seized control. This visit did not merely provide diplomatic legitimacy to a genocidal organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel; it opened a permanent financial pipeline that channeled billions of dollars directly to militants. 

While Doha defended these cash infusions as humanitarian relief, the financial reality was unmistakable. Qatari funding subsidized the administrative expenses of the Hamas government, allowing the group to divert its internal revenues toward building a massive subterranean fortress, acquiring weaponry, and executing catastrophic assaults against Israeli civilians. 

To consolidate this alliance, Sheikh Hamad converted Doha into a sanctuary, hosting the political leadership of Hamas in five-star luxury as they orchestrated violence from the safety of air-conditioned high-rises.

The mediator myth

The embrace of Palestinian militancy reflected a systemic ambition to turn Doha into the capital of global radicalism. Under Sheikh Hamad’s stewardship, the Qatari capital became a safe haven for exiled Islamists. The regime allowed the Taliban to open a formal political headquarters in Doha, shielded designated terrorist financiers operating with complete domestic impunity, and maintained deep economic ties with the mullahs in Tehran.

To protect itself from backlash, Qatar crafted a masterful diplomatic fiction, presenting itself as a neutral regional mediator. This narrative turns reality on its head through a calculated arsonist and firefighter dynamic. 

Qatar does not resolve conflicts out of a commitment to peace. Instead, the regime systematically finances, protects, and legitimizes the extremist movements that ignite regional conflagrations. 

When these crises become unmanageable, Doha steps forward as the firefighter, offering its unique access to terrorists to negotiate ceasefires. This enabled the Al Thani dynasty to market its complicity as a diplomatic asset, forcing Western nations to thank the very state that funded the threat.

The enduring machine

When Sheikh Hamad abdicated the throne in 2013, passing leadership to his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, many predicted a pivot toward moderation. That optimism represented a fundamental misunderstanding of Qatari statecraft. The transition was a refinement of the Father Emir’s machinery, not a rupture from it. 

Tamim recognized that his father’s overt support for Islamism had brought Qatar to the brink of regional isolation. His solution was to wrap the radical infrastructure in a multi-billion-dollar layer of Western public relations. Under Tamim, Qatar perfected the art of sports-washing, acquiring European football clubs, investing in Western real estate, and hosting the 2022 World Cup to project an image of hyper-modernity. 

Yet, beneath this glamorous veneer, the underlying mechanics of state-sponsored extremism remained untouched. The safe havens remained open, the financial pipelines to radical actors continued to flow, and the toxic messaging of Al Jazeera shifted into subtle digital formats.

A call for Western accountability

As Qatar observes its official period of mourning, the international community must finally discard the dangerous illusions that have compromised Western policy for three decades. The global Islamist infrastructure constructed by Sheikh Hamad cannot be tolerated any longer. 

Strategic realism demands that the United States and its allies cease treating Qatar as a benign partner or an honest broker. The West must hold the Doha regime accountable by demanding an absolute, verifiable end to its financial and logistical patronage of extremist networks.

Sheikh Hamad has passed away, but the devastating fires of radical Islamism he systematically ignited and funded continue to burn across the Middle East, and the civilized world will suffer the catastrophic fallout of his decisions until it finds the courage to extinguish the source.

The writer, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx.

This post was originally published on here. 

Many US Jews likely experienced the same emotions following Tuesday’s Democratic primary victory in Michigan of stridently anti-Israel Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as they did last year after Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.

First came shock and disbelief that a candidate espousing such virulently anti-Israel positions could prevail. Then came the hope that somehow he would lose the general election.

With Mamdani, that hope proved futile. With El-Sayed, it may not.

Polls show a very tight race heading into November between the far-left El-Sayed – whom the moderate Democrat he defeated, Haley Stevens, said wants to pin all his woes on Jewish Americans – and former Congressman Mike Rogers. But it is important to remember that Michigan is not New York.

That may sound obvious, but in the rush to extrapolate broad national trends from every primary election, it is a distinction worth remembering.

New York City is about as Democratic as a city can be, in a deep-blue state that has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Michigan, by contrast, is one of the country’s quintessential swing states. It voted for Donald Trump in 2024, and Republicans now control both chambers of the state legislature. Even with its large Muslim population, Michigan’s political and demographic makeup is considerably less favorable to El-Sayed than New York’s was to Mamdani.

And that raises an important question. It is now clear that the Democratic Party has reached the point where a candidate with El-Sayed’s positions can win a Democratic primary. But does that necessarily mean such a candidate can win a statewide general election in a swing state?

In New York City, for instance, if you win the Democratic Party primary, you are all but assured of winning the general election for mayor or Congress. But that is by no means the case in a statewide general election in a swing state.

The race in Michigan will now pose a genuine dilemma for many of the state’s Jews. Do they vote for a candidate who advocates an arms embargo on Israel – meaning he would oppose even the sale of defensive systems such as Iron Dome – and who, on Wednesday morning after the election, called Israel “bloodthirsty” and said his problem with Israel goes beyond Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has to do with a longstanding “illegal apartheid regime”? Or do they vote for Rogers, the Republican candidate, with whom they may disagree on a range of social and economic issues?

New York Jews confronted a similar choice with Mamdani, and roughly one-third voted for him. Since then, he has continued to libel the Jewish state while helping mainstream anti-Israel rhetoric that only a few years ago would have been considered beyond the pale.

Will Michigan’s Jews make the same calculation? According to the Jewish Institute for the Electorate, there are some 130,000 Jews in Michigan – of whom an estimated 44% are Democrats and 36% independents – and the movement of a few thousand of these voters to the Republican, pro-Israel candidate could make all the difference in November’s election.

And the stakes extend well beyond Michigan.

Democrats seeking to end Republican control of Senate

Democrats view the Michigan Senate race as essential if they hope to regain control of the Senate. For many lifelong Democrats, that creates an agonizing political choice. Do they vote for their party, despite deep discomfort with El-Sayed’s views on a wide range of issues, including Israel? Or do they vote Republican – or stay home – knowing that doing so could help keep the Senate in Republican hands?

The same dilemma will confront voters in Maine, where they too will choose between a hard-left Democrat and a moderate Republican in a race that could help determine which party controls the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – who in front of Jewish audiences often says that his name derives from the Hebrew shomer (guardian) and that he views himself as a guardian of the Jewish people and Israel – has already endorsed El-Sayed following his primary victory.

Some will argue that El-Sayed is simply unelectable in a statewide general election. They will point to his far-left politics, his comments regarding 9/11, and other positions they believe place him well outside the political mainstream.

Perhaps.

But “unelectable” is a term that has lost much of its meaning.

Many people were convinced Donald Trump could never win a general election when he emerged from the crowded 2016 Republican primary field. They were wrong.

In today’s America, yesterday’s “unelectable” candidates increasingly turn out to be quite electable.

Michigan candidates leaning away from activist Left

Still, there are reasons to believe Michigan may prove different.

Michigan Democrats have won recent statewide races by nominating candidates such as Elissa Slotkin for senator and Gretchen Whitmer for governor, politicians who appeal to the political center rather than the activist Left.

Rogers is also not to be easily dismissed. A former Army lieutenant and FBI special agent who focused on organized crime and public corruption, he served seven terms in Congress and, in 2024, lost to Slotkin by just 25,000 votes – about one-third of one percentage point.

Nor did El-Sayed exactly sweep into the nomination. He defeated Stevens by less than one percentage point, or roughly 15,000 votes. It is reasonable to assume that at least some Democrats who supported Stevens in the primary will balk in November at El-Sayed’s positions and either cross party lines or simply stay home.

Rogers, moreover, is not easily caricatured as a MAGA firebrand. Though he has aligned himself with Trump, he remains very much an establishment conservative, something that could make him a more acceptable option for moderate Democrats than a more populist Republican nominee would have been.

Which brings us to the irony.

Had Stevens won the Democratic primary, Democrats might well have entered the general election as favorites, just as they did with Slotkin two years ago.

Instead, by choosing a candidate riding the Democratic Socialist wave flooding the party, they may have selected someone less able to win where elections in swing states are generally decided – in the political middle.

If that happens, El-Sayed’s primary victory could ultimately cost Democrats control of the Senate.

And for those whose overriding concern is preserving strong US support for Israel – and who are watching the Democratic Party’s trajectory on that issue with growing unease – that may not necessarily be viewed as a particularly bad outcome.

This post was originally published on here. 

A video circulating online with a reportedly manipulated deepfake appears to show a Moroccan border guard throwing an object toward an individual. In the original footage, it makes no contact.

Last week, Reuters disclosed that a draft report by the United Nations Panel of Experts on Sudan had been submitted to the Security Council. The panel alleges that aircraft transported weapons, drones, fighters, and Colombian mercenaries to the Rapid Support Forces through Global Security Services Group, a UAE-based company, citing two eyewitnesses and two unnamed member states. The UAE says it found no company involvement.

Those gaps will not survive the propaganda cycle. A UAE-based company will become “the UAE,” a draft will become a verdict, and alleged assistance to one armed faction will become “the Emirati genocide of Sudan.” By publication, the conclusion will already have moved through activist accounts, Qatari and Iranian media, Islamist-aligned human-rights organizations, universities, and Western newspapers, until anyone asking what the evidence proves is accused of defending mass murder.

This is how a political blood libel is manufactured in 2026. The medieval version accused Jews of secretly taking Christian blood; its modern descendant accuses Israel, and now the states that chose peace with it, of manufacturing wars to harvest Arab and African blood, land, gold, and ports. Every evidentiary gap is filled by the certainty of the accuser.

I recognize this pattern because I am Moroccan, because I lived for seven years in the United Arab Emirates, and because my work has placed me inside the frequently punished effort to build relations among Arabs and Jews. I have watched Emiratis described as secretly Jewish, Moroccans accused of becoming Zionist colonizers, and Arabs who choose normalization treated as though they had forfeited the right to speak for their countries.

In 2004, Natan Sharansky proposed his three-part test for identifying when criticism of Israel becomes antisemitism: demonization, double standards, and delegitimization. Those methods are now transferred to Israel’s allies. The UAE, the largest government donor to Sudan’s humanitarian response in 2025, is demonized as the sole author of the country’s catastrophe, even as Qatar, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan support Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood networks.

Netanyahu has called the information battlefield Israel’s “eighth front,” where enemies that cannot defeat Israel militarily try to isolate it morally and economically. Only months after the Security Council condemned Iran’s missile attacks on the Emirates, a still-unpublished UN report is transforming Abu Dhabi from a victim of aggression into the architect of an African conflict it is doing the most to relieve.
 
The draft may contain important evidence, but the public record does not prove that the Emirati state commissioned the flights or directed the RSF.

The double standard is clearest in what disappears from the Sudan story. The Sudanese Armed Forces are heirs to Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist security state. In March 2026, Washington designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, including the al-Baraa bin Malik Brigade, as terrorist organizations, citing more than 20,000 fighters trained or supported by the IRGC. Iran has supplied the SAF with drones, while Sudanese and Israeli reports allege that Burhan’s government is courting Hamas in Port Sudan.

Yet the campaign against the UAE minimizes this Islamist infrastructure, reduces Iran’s role to a footnote, barely examines Turkish and Qatari support for the SAF, and presents Abu Dhabi as the omnipotent hand behind a war sustained by Bashir-era networks and competing regional powers.

Yesterday’s Financial Times portrayal of the UAE as a thief of Sudanese gold follows the same pattern. Because Dubai is a global center for refining and re-exporting gold, commercial flows through Emirati markets are presented as proof that Abu Dhabi entered Sudan to plunder Africa. Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong require no domestic mines to operate as refining hubs, yet the UAE’s role is called colonial exploitation.

Morocco is being placed inside the same frame. During the current Ceuta crisis, approximately 60,000 people crossed into the Spanish enclave after false claims spread online that the border had opened, encouraged by a July 8 Spanish Supreme Court ruling that granted neither residency nor entry.

No evidence has shown that Israel organized the movement, yet those theories appeared immediately. According to narrative-warfare researcher Travis Hawley, around fifty X/Twitter accounts drove most of the claim that Morocco had acted on Israel’s behalf, amplified by the same voices who turn every regional crisis into evidence of hidden Zionist direction.
 
The mythology outlasted Israel’s own denial. If Rabat pressures Madrid, Israel must be directing it; if Morocco asserts its position in the Moroccan Sahara, it becomes “the Israel of North Africa”; and if Morocco buys Israeli technology, every alleged abuse proves that Zionism corrupted the state.

Theories began long before normalization

The rehearsal began well before normalization. As Morocco contained political Islam and reasserted state authority after 2017, Amnesty and the wider anti-Zionist NGO network turned an internal struggle against Islamist capture into a story of Israeli control. Organizations that spent years accusing Israel of apartheid and colonialism now direct the same charges at Rabat and Abu Dhabi, while Algeria and Iran’s sponsorship of the Polisario Front disappears from view.

The objective is not to correct one Emirati policy in Sudan, but to dismantle the regional front built by Israel, Morocco, the UAE, and Bahrain against the Muslim Brotherhood, the IRGC, and the forces that require permanent war. Israelis should not watch these campaigns in silence, and should defend the sovereignty of Morocco and the UAE with the same seriousness Israel defends its own, not as diplomatic courtesy, but to protect the civilizational alliance they are building together.

Before repeating another allegation, readers should ask who produced it and whether it would carry the same force if Israel were absent. Peace will survive only if the countries that chose it refuse to let one another be defamed by enemies who could not defeat them on the battlefield.

The writer is a writer and policy advisor pioneering the bottom-up movement of the Abraham Accords. She leads initiatives that turn the Accords from a diplomatic framework into a living ecosystem of cultural collaboration, de-radicalization, and regional integration.

This post was originally published on here. 

The future of Israeli basketball has been on display all summer long as both the youth men’s and women’s national teams of various ages have been playing across Europe in their respective European Championships.

The Israel Under-18 team is in a unique situation, as it is the only one of six blue-and-white teams participating in Division B and has one goal in mind: to be promoted to Division A so that all of the squads will be playing at the top level next summer.

One of the most intriguing players on the U18 team is 16-year-old point guard Maayan Gorin, who plays for Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, which is one of Canada’s top basketball academies.

Gorin second on Israeli squad

Last summer, Gorin was one of the leaders of Israel’s U16 National Team, which finished 11th at the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship. She averaged 20.0 points per game (second-best in the tournament), along with 3.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds. Having gone 4-0 in the group stage of the current tournament taking place in Tulcea, Romania, Gorin is second on the Israel squad with 16.0 points per game. The blue-and-white is slated to tip off against Iceland in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Just before the competition tipped off, The Jerusalem Post sat down with Gorin in a special interview about almost everything under the sun.

“It’s an amazing feeling to represent Israel,” Gorin began. “There’s nothing better than representing your country and being together with all the girls. It’s just so much fun.”

Last summer, Gorin had a very successful tournament, both individually and with the team as a whole, which she was able to take plenty out of the experience.

“That was a lot of fun, both as a team and personally. I think this year we can accomplish a lot by taking the good things from last year with us. We have a very talented team, and I believe in all of us.”

The goal is clear for Gorin and the squad as they look up from Division B.

“Of course, to earn promotion to Division A, do the best we possibly can and play together as one team.”

Growing up, basketball was not the first sport that Gorin started playing.

“I actually played soccer, but all of my friends played basketball and wanted me to join them. So I decided to try it once and I fell in love with it.”

Gorin played in the Gilboa/Maayanot youth department, although she is from Kibbutz Megiddo in the area. But the experience really helped her develop her skills and was the foundation stone for her success and a move to North America.

Crestwood an ‘opportunity I didn’t want to miss out on,’ says Gorin

“I joined the academy at Gilboa/Maayanot and lived there for a year. It was an amazing experience. It’s a great club, and I had a lot of fun. After the European Championship last year with the U16 national team, the Crestwood Preparatory Academy contacted me. I felt it was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss out on, so I decided to go for it.”

Gorin received a number of offers, including some from schools in America, but ultimately settled on playing in Canada.
“I did have a few offers from the United States, but I felt that the opportunity in Canada was the strongest of all the options. So there really wasn’t much of a decision; I wanted to go to the best place I could.”

Before Gorin made the move to the Great White North, she spoke with players who had already made that kind of move, whether to Canada or the USA.

“I had a few conversations at the beginning, but mostly my parents spoke with a lot of people, and my agent did all the research before I moved. I felt completely confident before making the move and knew exactly what I was getting into.”
Gorin’s success has led her to have some clips of game highlights from Canada on Instagram that have gone viral, but she knows that the key is to keep everything level-headed.

“Of course it’s fun. I think you just have to enjoy it, not get too caught up in it and just let it be.”

As one of the younger players on this U18 team, Gorin has not had any issues with fitting in and finding her place.
“I already knew most of the girls. There were a few I hadn’t played with before, but I felt like I fit in right away. They’re all really good friends of mine, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

Gorin has some incredible assets and is extremely talented, but knows that she also has areas that need improvement to become the best version of herself possible.

“I think one of my biggest strengths is my speed. I just love to run. What I’d like to improve is learning to control the pace of the game better at times, work on my weak hand, and just improve in every area that I can.”

Over the past few years, women’s basketball in Israel has really taken a step up with more players going abroad along with a number of success stories from some of the age groups. Gorin feels that there has been progress and also has some dreams of her own.

“First of all, it’s great to see more and more girls playing and to see how much the sport is growing. I think all of us work really hard and you can see the progress. Women’s basketball is developing a lot, and that’s exciting. As for my biggest dream, that’s to play at a great college and then make it to the WNBA.”

See more Israeli sports coverage at www.sportsrabbi.com/en

This post was originally published on here. 

US President Donald Trump said that he is “extremely happy” with the work of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a post to Truth Social on Thursday, disputing a Washington Post report that the two had clashed at Camp David. 

“In actuality, I really believe their fake ‘reporting’ is treasonous!” Trump wrote, calling Hegseth’s work extraordinary, and pointing to the US operation in Venezuela which took down Nicolas Maduro and the US attacks on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure. 

The report, which cited a source as saying that Trump did not know about the extreme munitions shortage that is threatening to limit US military options in Iran, was also rejected by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a post on X/Twitter shortly after it was published on Wednesday. 

“This literally never happened,” she wrote.

Trump also pushed back on the report in a previous post on Truth Social on Wednesday, writing that the US has “massive amounts of ‘munitions,'” and that additional munitions were being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed. 

He also wrote that long-term jail sentences would be sought for those who had made the statements about the US’s diminishing stockpile. 

Officials say Trump knew of potential problems

White House officials confirmed to CNN that Trump had been aware of any potential problems for months and was not blindsided, but rather was upset that the information had been released to the public while the US is in negotiations with Iran. 

“He has never blamed Pete. This is all about the leakers,” CNN cited one official as saying. 

This post was originally published on here. 

Israel should intensify strikes against any Hezbollah activity detected in southern Lebanon while avoiding a declaration that the ceasefire has ended, former head of the Mossad’s counterterrorism division Oded Ailam told 103FM on Thursday.

Speaking with Amihai Attali and Barak Serri, Ailam discussed the escalation in Lebanon and tensions in the Persian Gulf amid threats by US President Donald Trump and Tehran’s statement that an agreement with Oman was close to being signed.

Ailam first addressed the escalation in Lebanon, during which two IDF soldiers, Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, were killed in an explosive device blast.

“Contain it? Certainly not. And certainly not end it, either. We cannot end this unilaterally. There is the big redheaded brother, who pretty much dictates the moves here. We need to maneuver between two options, neither of which is good. First, we need to continue this, or even intensify it, without declaring that the ceasefire is over.”

According to Ailam, targeted killings of senior figures and attacks in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood would amount to breaking the rules of the game, a step he advised Israel to avoid.

Strikes without a return to all-out war

“Let us not forget that we are also holding talks with the Lebanese. They ended unexpectedly on Wednesday, but the talks are important, not because the Lebanese army will take control of the area tomorrow and establish the Principality of Liechtenstein. That will not happen. But over time, it matters that we, and not only we but the world, give significant legitimacy to the idea that there is one sovereign authority, and that is Lebanon.”

“I would recommend striking with force anywhere in southern Lebanon where we identify any kind of organizing, without any reservations and without any restrictions,” he added.

“Those points that are supposedly part of the pilot program are places where we need to examine how we operate. I would not recommend that Israel take the gloves off at this stage, declare that the rules have been broken, and return to fighting until Hezbollah is completely destroyed.”

Ailam attacks Trump’s record

Ailam later recalled the US president’s financial ventures, which had experienced both successes and failures.

“Excellent question. I want to remind you who Trump is. From 1991 to 2009, as a businessman, his corporations went bankrupt six times. Somehow, he escaped all of them by the skin of his teeth because he separated himself from the corporations, and the price was that he relinquished control. This is a pattern that characterizes this man.”

“And now we are seeing his seventh bankruptcy, and that of the corporation called America,” he charged. “Trump will separate himself from it and announce that this is a brilliant victory. In February 2020, Trump signed a brilliant peace agreement with the Taliban, if you remember, in which the Taliban became vegetarians, sent their women to an anthroposophic school, and, of course, gave women status. Shall I remind you how it ended? Afghans died on American aircraft as the Americans fled Afghanistan. That is the man.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Mossad Director Roman Gofman decided to remove two of the agency’s most senior officials from their posts over a plan to replace Iran’s regime that was never carried out as intended, N12 reported on Thursday.

The officials are the head of the Mossad’s Intelligence Directorate, who entered the position in December, and the head of the agency’s Iran division. Neither official was named in the report.

Security officials told N12 that neither official had developed a good working relationship with Gofman from the outset and that their tenures would end by mutual agreement.

Both could remain in the Mossad in other positions, the officials said, describing the changes as part of a broader reorganization of the intelligence agency.

Nevertheless, N12 linked the moves directly to the regime-change proposal, saying the two officials had conceived and drafted the plan. The report stressed that both had made invaluable contributions to Israel’s security, but said Gofman believed those responsible for the plan should be held accountable after it was presented to US President Donald Trump and was not implemented on the ground.

According to N12, the secret Mossad-CIA proposal called for Kurdish ground forces to enter Iran under extensive Israeli and American air cover. Iranian minorities would then help remove the Islamic Republic’s leadership, allowing alternative Iranian figures to take power.

Ahmadinejad was planned to be next Iranian leader

In May, The New York Times reported that Israel and the US had entered the war with a specific candidate to lead Iran: former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The reported plan to install Ahmadinejad was initially developed by Israel and discussed with the former Iranian leader, according to the report.

American officials and a person close to Ahmadinejad said the operation began to unravel on the first day of the war. As part of an attempt to free him from house arrest, the Israel Air Force reportedly struck his Tehran residence with the intention of killing the guards holding him.

Ahmadinejad survived but was reportedly wounded in the strike. He subsequently began expressing doubts about the plan to topple the regime, according to N12.

This post was originally published on here. 

US President Donald Trump’s military leverage against Iran is steadily weakening and is nearly gone, former Israel Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. (res.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu told 103FM on Thursday, amid tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and reports of a shortage of US interceptor missiles.

Ben Eliyahu spoke with Nissim Mishal and Anat Davidov on Thursday morning about tensions in the Persian Gulf following Iran’s announcement that an agreement with Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz was in its final stages. He also addressed recent reports of a shortage of US interceptors and a dispute between Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the issue.

According to the former Israel Air Force commander, the sides have yet to reach a full, formal agreement.

“For now, there is still no agreement,” he said. “There is more or less an understanding that Iran will control entry into the strait, but regarding the exit from the Gulf, it is still unclear whether it will have control or not.”

“The second issue is that Iran is demanding a certain commission, while Oman is demanding less,” he added. “One side is demanding around 7%, while the other is asking for only 3%, and the United States is demanding that there be no payment at all. We often hear inaccurate reports, not to mention outright fake news, and that is true this time as well.”

Iran’s strategy and Trump’s military leverage

Ben Eliyahu then addressed the possibility that Tehran was misleading Trump.

“The Iranians operate in a way that the American president does not understand,” he said. “In my opinion, he does not understand this mentality. We barely understand it either. Perhaps we understand it a little better, but we do not respond as we should.”

“It is not exactly ‘deception,’” he added. “They raised an idea that, from their perspective, is a good one. It says: ‘Leave the Americans out of it. This is our business with the Omanis, and in this way, we will overcome the restrictions of international law, because if it is only us, then it is an absolute problem.’

“In other words, it would be completely prohibited under international law. If an agreement is reached with Oman, it creates an opening in international law. That is also why they are ignoring the Americans.”

Asked whether this would constitute a concession from the US perspective, Ben Eliyahu gave a clear answer.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I do not know whether Trump will go along with it, and I do not know what power he has not to go along with it. His military leverage is gradually weakening, and I would say that he is almost losing it.”

He then criticized the conduct of the US president.

“How many times can you attack?” Ben Eliyahu said. “How many times can you cry wolf when it does no good, and how many times can you attack and achieve a result? At a certain point, achievements, resilience, and endurance are not measured by economic damage or by attacks on symbols of government.”

“The Iranians are reaching a point where they are prepared to sacrifice themselves, to hold out to the death and to the last soldier,” he continued. “When you reach that point, the use of force loses its leverage.

“Then you ask the most important question: When is the right moment? The other side has an almost unlimited capacity for attrition. So where is the point at which you stop? Where do you begin to make concessions?”

Interceptor shortages strain regional defenses

Ben Eliyahu also addressed the contentious issue raised by recent reports of a severe munitions shortage, according to which the US had depleted nearly 80% of its air-defense interceptor stockpile.

“I do not have definitive information, and nobody does,” he said. “The issue is that the matter was brought to the surface when that general at the command in Europe expressed it. So there is some kind of problem. Now the argument begins: Is it 60%, 70%, or 80%? It does not matter.”

“If the defense were only for Israel, it would be a form of point defense,” he continued. “Are all the missiles aimed at Israel? You deploy here, and you have Israeli and American missiles, and for every anticipated scenario, you have reasonable protection.

“But when it begins to spread out, and there is also a need to defend Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel, the entire system becomes dispersed. The Iranians only need to fire two missiles at Qatar to require the deployment of a complete defense system there.”

“The number of missiles the Iranians launch is small,” Ben Eliyahu concluded. “The number of launchers and missiles that the Americans, or we, need to deploy throughout the Middle East is far, far greater. That is why the shortage is significant.

“Imagine a country suddenly left completely exposed to missile launches and missiles that split into multiple projectiles, with nothing available to stop them. That is an intolerable situation.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Abbas Alawieh, a founder of the Uncommitted movement that pressured former US president Joe Biden to change his Israel policy, is the projected winner of a Democratic primary for Michigan’s state Senate.  

Alawieh rose to national prominence as a key architect of the campaign to withhold votes from Biden during Michigan’s presidential primary in 2024, a protest against the administration’s support for Israel as it inflicted mounting casualties in Gaza. 

Alawieh defeated state representative Erin Byrnes in Tuesday’s primary to represent Michigan’s 2nd Senate District, a heavily Arab-American area covering Dearborn and parts of Detroit – and the epicenter of the Uncommitted effort. He won 59% of the vote to Byrnes’ 41% after more than 95% of votes were counted, according to the Associated Press, and is now almost certain to win the solid-blue state Senate seat in November. 

Alawieh, who was born in Lebanon and grew up in Dearborn, acknowledged his victory without giving a speech on Wednesday. His staff announced that Alawieh’s maternal grandfather, Hajj Kassem Bazzi, died Tuesday night as they awaited the election results. 

“Please keep Abbas’s family in your prayers as they take needed time together,” Alawieh’s team said in a statement. “Abbas will share his own thoughts on the race soon. For now, thank you to every community that made this win possible.”

Alawieh was backed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He previously worked as a staffer for congressional Democrats, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, former Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, and former Missouri rep. Cori Bush, who lost a primary against Rep. Wesley Bell on Tuesday. 

Over 100,000 vote for ‘uncommitted’ in 2024 Democratic primary

Alawieh, alongside Layla Elabed, co-founded the campaign urging Michigan Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary. The movement attracted a groundswell of support, including from some Jews, and won more than 100,000 votes, or 13% of the overall vote. Biden was beaten by the uncommitted vote in Dearborn, where Arab Americans make up more than half the population.

The Uncommitted movement also spread to other states, rallying more than 650,000 voters nationwide, and crystallized a lack of enthusiasm for Biden, who eventually stepped off the presidential ticket.

Alawieh served as one of the Uncommitted delegates at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where he and other delegates unsuccessfully lobbied to place a Palestinian speaker on the agenda. 

Alawieh did not make Israel and Gaza a central part of his campaign for the state Senate seat, instead focusing on supporting working families and investing in healthcare, housing, public transit, and education. Still, he told the Michigan Advance in February that his role in the Uncommitted movement resonated with people in his district. 

“For the people in real life – not on Twitter – it is clear to them that parties’ focus on prioritizing funding for war crimes was out of touch with what voters wanted,” he said. “The party was undoubtedly wrong about Gaza in 2024.” 

Kamala Harris mends fences with Abbas Alawieh

While some Democrats blamed the Uncommitted campaign for contributing to US President Donald Trump’s defeat of former vice president Kamala Harris, who lost Michigan in her 2024 presidential run, Alawieh and Harris have mended fences enough to recently sit down for a meeting.

Harris “initiated” the meeting after months of phone calls, Alawieh said in July. “I urge VP Harris and all of our party’s leaders to side with peace-loving Americans against endless wars, in opposition to the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza, and against the ethnic cleansing campaign in Lebanon,” he said. Alawieh has said that he voted for Harris against Trump in the 2024 general election, while Elabed did not.

The centrality of Israel in Michigan’s primaries has spawned bitter divides between Jewish Democrats and others in the party concerning the threat of antisemitism. In one incident that shook Detroit-area Jews earlier this year, Temple Israel in the suburb of West Bloomfield was rammed by a truck laden with explosives. The man who drove the truck, a US citizen from Lebanon, had recently lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon. 

Alawieh responded to the attack by declaring his support for Jewish Michiganders.

“We must stand in unequivocal defense of the humanity and safety of our Jewish siblings and denounce this heinous act,” he said in a statement. “My family and I are praying for safety for communities across our state who are feeling afraid right now, and we are holding our Jewish community members extra close.”

This post was originally published on here. 

A man was arrested after being thwarted from lunging with a knife toward an Israeli kitchen tent at the Edmonton Heritage Festival on Monday.

Social media footage circulating on Wednesday captured the shadow of an individual attempting to slash an Israeli tent with a knife. The footage then cut to security officers detaining the assailant in the main festival area as chants of “All the Zionists are racists” echoed in the background.

The Jerusalem Post spoke to Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, who was involved in organizing the Israel Pavilion and was present there that day. She confirmed that local police were actively investigating the case and that charges against the perpetrator had not yet been announced.

Leavitt-Wright stated that the assailant managed to breach the Israeli Pavilion area and approach the back of the kitchen tent. After a volunteer at the front alerted security, the attacker lunged toward the tent with a knife. A second volunteer pulled him away as he struck the tent with the blade, before security guards subdued him near a protective perimeter fence.

Leavitt-Wright noted that the incident coincided with a protest organized by local Jewish anti-Zionist groups, including Independent Jewish Voices Edmonton (IJVE) and Edmonton Jews Against Zionism (EJAZ), who coordinated the protest with the MacEwan chapter of the Palestinian Student Alliance (PSA). The activist groups had demanded the Heritage Festival organizers exclude the Israel Pavilion.

A Somalian man attempted to get into the Israeli tent with a knife at the Edmonton Heritage Festival, but was thankfully thwarted & arrested.

Upon arrest, his comrades chanted “All The Zionists Are Racist.”

If a Somalian tries to stab you & you happen to prevent that, the… pic.twitter.com/nZpBSLYWSy

— Leviathan (@l3v1at4an) August 5, 2026

Iranian Israel supporters push back against anti-Zionist protesters

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators holding signs denouncing Zionism and calling to “Free Edmonton from Zionist Pavilion Israel – shut it down!” were kept at a distance by security. Meanwhile, Iranian supporters of the community held Israeli flags and chanted back “Bibi, Bibi thank you!”

According to Leavitt-Wright, the protest spanned nearly three hours.

“They tried to shut down our pavilion. In spite of this incident, we were heartened that there were so many people who came to us to express their support and how upset they were to see this demonstration. It is not in the spirit of the festival. We have participated every year for over 45 years,” Leavitt-Wright told the Post.

The incident follows a wave of escalating threats and violence directed at Jewish institutions across the country, marked by recent attacks, such as a suspected arson that gutted Nöam, a popular kosher restaurant in Montreal, and targeted shootings in Toronto where gunfire struck two locations of the Jewish-owned Kiva’s Bagel Bar chain.

This post was originally published on here. 

An 18-year-old Jewish teenager sitting at a Starbucks inside a Target store in Miami was targeted for wearing a kippah, struck with a cell phone, and assaulted with a metal chair in a violent antisemitic attack.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at a Target store located at 140th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.

According to the victim’s interview with Local 10 News, he was sitting in the Starbucks seating area while his family shopped when a woman approached him. He said, “I wasn’t looking for problems, didn’t interact with her before, zero, it was completely unprovoked.”

Teen attacked by 43-year-old woman 

According to the North Miami Beach Police Department arrest report and witness statements, 43-year-old Chyvonne Juanita Palmer stood up from her seat, approached the teenager, and began screaming at him before hitting him twice in the head and shoulder with a black cell phone.

After briefly returning to her seat, Palmer got back up and wielded a metal chair against him while shouting repeatedly, “I hate them.” Two bystanders intervened to prevent the chair attack while ushering the teenager away from the scene, where he hid in the store’s restroom.

Police took Palmer into custody at the scene. She has been charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with prejudice, and disorderly conduct.

This post was originally published on here. 

Dozens of suspected bot accounts on X/Twitter are amplifying content from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his circle, and reportedly can be traced to New York City Hall IP infrastructure, the World Zionist Organization told The Jerusalem Post exclusively.

As part of its activities against the waves of antisemitism online, WZO’s dedicated Department for Combating Antisemitism was presented with data and findings collected by cyber experts specializing in the field.

The information included an analysis of IP addresses and mapping of activity patterns and distribution networks of suspected bot accounts.

WZO’s technological examination of activity on the X network points to dozens, if not hundreds, of accounts with unusual characteristics. The Post independently consulted the cyber experts involved, who said they are “100% sure” the IP addresses could be traced to city hall, although it did not provide evidence establishing who controlled the accounts or whether city officials directed their activity.

WZO examined unusual X accounts amplifying Mamdani

An examination of activity on X identified a broad group of accounts displaying unusual activity patterns that were remarkably similar to one another: hundreds of tweets and shares per day, an extremely high rate of repeated posts, newly created accounts or accounts with little personal activity, partial profile descriptions, and sometimes usernames that appear automated.

The WZO research team estimated that there are hundreds of suspected bot accounts, with more appearing each day.

The main common denominator among the accounts is their consistent tendency to amplify content originating from Mamdani’s official account, city accounts, and accounts belonging to political allies and officials identified with the mayor.

The report presented to the Post documents dozens of accounts with a similar behavioral fingerprint. In many cases, 96% to 100% of the accounts’ activity consisted of repeated sharing, and no original content was found on them.

One indicator, the analysts said, consistent with bot activity was the number of daily posts. Several accounts recorded activity of more than 500 posts per day, with extreme cases exceeding 800 or 900 tweets daily. This level of activity is difficult to explain as normal human behavior.

For example, the account @SnoopyLima13 recorded 955 tweets per day, with a repeated-sharing rate of 100%. The account @CatCat2005689 recorded 864 tweets per day, also with a 100% repeated-sharing rate.

It is important to clarify that an unusual activity rate alone does not prove that an account is operated by software. An account could be managed by a person, use scheduling tools, or combine partial automation. However, the analysts told the Post that when such activity appears alongside repeated-sharing rates close to 100%, empty profiles, recently created accounts, and identical patterns across dozens of accounts, suspicion of automated or coordinated activity increases substantially.

NYC mayor’s account served as central point for bot army

According to the observed pattern, Mamdani’s account and municipal accounts frequently serve as starting points for amplification. A post appears on a central account and is then quickly shared by many accounts with unusual characteristics.

In some of the examined accounts, the repeated-sharing rate of the NYC mayor’s content reached 98% to 100%.

Some accounts were created only days before the analysis but were already capable of publishing hundreds of times daily.

For example, one account created three days before the examination, with no followers and only 13 posts, recorded 201 tweets per day and a 100% repeated-sharing rate.

According to the analysts, this pattern can increase exposure far beyond what would normally be achieved through organic distribution alone.

The more controversial or emotionally charged the message is, the more likely it is to receive additional shares, comments, and quotes.

This creates a self-reinforcing cycle, the analysts said. Initial accounts create volume; the volume causes algorithmic exposure; increased exposure brings reactions from real users; and real-user engagement further expands reach.

The result? Hundreds of percentage points of increased exposure and potentially millions of views, not necessarily because millions of people independently became interested in the original post, but because an unusual amplification system provided an initial boost.

For example, on July 27, Mamdani published a video from his office in which he said that he could not arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu in NYC, while accusing Israel of killing thousands.

The video received millions of views, with each bot responsible for generating massive outreach.

Was Mamdani’s communications team aware of the X bots?

Communications teams are generally responsible for managing official accounts, distributing messages, and coordinating responses.

Therefore, with a large network of accounts systematically amplifying the mayor’s posts and city messaging, the analysts said the findings raised questions of whether the communications staff were aware of the activity, whether it was reported internally, and whether there were any organizational or operational relationships between the actors.

Again, the information collected so far does not establish that the mayor, his staff, or the communications team instructed the accounts to operate.

The most valid conclusion with the information available is that there are significant signs of organized amplification activity around official and affiliated accounts, but the identity of the operators, the sources of funding, and the chain of command require additional investigation.

The findings do not, by themselves, constitute proof of identity or prove that operators received direct instructions from an official source, but they raise significant questions.

In light of the findings, WZO said it will appeal to Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the United States’ Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, requesting that he forward the findings to US law enforcement authorities for examination and investigation into the suspected coordinated online activity.

“There is a need for a thorough, professional, and independent investigation into these hate-amplification operations,” Yifat Ovadia-Luski, head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism at the WZO, told the Post.

“Today’s antisemitism begins online and then moves into the streets, and the spread of hatred on social media is a central driver of that incitement. This is a well-oiled influence machine designed to shape the international arena, and it is making Jews feel less safe in New York City and across the United States.

“We cannot stand by. We are calling for intervention by the US federal authorities.”

Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told the Post that NJAC is referring the matter to the Department of Investigation and the Conflicts of Interest Board. It is also requesting the city hall server logs.

“City employees may not use public resources for political messaging, and public officials may not deceive the public they serve; that has been New York law since long before anyone wrote a bot,” Goldfeder told the Post.

The Jerusalem Post reached out to the US State Department and City Hall for comment, but they did not respond by press time.

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A proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz is not easily workable due to US sanctions and restrictive insurance clauses on any payments, four industry sources said.

Until US-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February unleashed war in Iran, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean was the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods. It was freely open to all ships with no fees.

Control of the strait has been the biggest sticking point in efforts to end the conflict.

Under the latest proposal, Tehran would be able to intervene if necessary with any inbound traffic, while outbound traffic would follow a route between Iran and Oman, with exit clearance granted through Oman after notifying Iran, a senior Iranian source told Reuters this week.

The ability of merchant ships to navigate international waterways “safely, predictably and without unnecessary impediment is fundamental to resilient supply chains, economic stability and energy security,” the world’s leading shipping associations said in an open letter this week.

 ‘A toll in all but name’

Introducing compulsory charges through the strait for transit or service fees was “a toll in all but name,” the letter said, which was sent to the UN‘s shipping agency.

“It would establish a precedent that could undermine the internationally recognized legal framework governing straits used for international navigation and transit passage.”

What is known as a two-way traffic separation scheme was adopted by the UN’s shipping agency in ⁠1968 with the agreement of countries in the region. It created the current ship-routing system that splits sailing corridors through Iranian and Omani waters.

Iran is seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from ships using the strait, according to the senior Iranian official. Oman is discussing fees of around 3%, while Washington wants no fees at all.

The UN’s International Maritime Organization said it could not comment on reports of the proposals.

In July, the agency’s governing council said countries around the strait should guarantee the “non-discriminatory and unimpeded right of transit passage of all ships” through the traffic separation scheme and that passage should remain free of any tolls and charges.

 Fees would create compliance issues

For shipping companies and oil traders, any imposition of fees creates major compliance issues given the US has imposed sanctions on the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Iran set up in May to operate the waterway.

The US Treasury has also prohibited US persons from receiving services from Iran’s government related to a “guarantee of safe passage.”

Any payment could lead to asset freezes, the industry sources said. They declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

A further complication is the introduction in late July by Lloyd’s Market Association of a clause for use by war underwriters that terminates insurance cover for a vessel if it has paid a transit fee, toll or other charge for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ships sailing through the strait need to pay an additional war risk premium to ensure they have insurance if their ship is damaged during transit.

“Under the clause, insurers have no liability to indemnify any such payment and, where such a payment has been made, are discharged from obligations in respect of the relevant vessel,” the LMA said in July.

The LMA represents the interests of all underwriting businesses in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

Shipping companies were in a “catch-22” situation, one insurance industry source said, as the LMA wording prohibits insurers from covering shipowners who pay, while Iran aims to charge a toll.

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 A Ukrainian cargo aircraft parked near an explosive-laden drone found at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle airport on Tuesday night was carrying a payload of military ammunition, a group of news outlets including Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday.

Forensic experts found that the explosives attached to the drone were of a high military grade, reported the outlets, which also included broadcasters NDR and WDR, citing a confidential police report.

Newspaper Bild, meanwhile, cited unnamed investigators as saying that a technical defect prevented the drone-mounted device from exploding.

Findings may raise stakes in counterterrorism investigation

Those findings potentially raise the stakes in a widening counterterrorism investigation of the incident at an airport serving as a major cargo and NATO military logistics hub that the German government has designated as critical infrastructure.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said late on Wednesday that the drone incident constituted a hybrid attack and signaled an elevated level of danger.

Dobrindt is due to host his counterparts from the Baltic states, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, among other nations, for a special summit on anti-drone defense in the northern German town of Flensburg at the end of August.

Police in the state of Saxony, where Leipzig/Halle is located, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the media reports of the aircraft’s payload. The state’s public prosecutors’ office could not immediately be reached for comment.

German authorities, meanwhile, said on Thursday they were continuing the search for debris from an unidentified object that damaged another freight jet mid-air near the airport on the same night.

 Incidents disrupt one of Germany’s main logistics hubs

The drone was found close to several Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo airplanes, among the world’s biggest freighters, according to earlier media reports. A Reuters journalist saw police collecting evidence in the vicinity of one of the planes early on Wednesday.

Leipzig/Halle is the main base for NATO‘s Strategic Airlift International Solution, known as SALIS, which is helping to deliver equipment to strengthen the defense pact’s eastern flank using a small fleet of Antonov cargo planes.

The cargo jet that struck the unidentified object, meanwhile, had been performing a go-around due to the closure of one of the airport’s runways. It was lightly damaged in the collision and eventually landed in Hanover in northern Germany. Flights were suspended and several aircraft, including some operated by German logistics group DHL DHLn.DE, ​were diverted late on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Leipzig/Halle airport, which is also used by companies like Lufthansa Cargo LHAG.DE and Amazon.com AMZN.O, said on Thursday that operations were back to normal and no additional security measures had been implemented.

While German authorities have said the perpetrators of the incidents at the airport had not yet been identified, Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker and a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, blamed Russia.

The Russian Embassy in Berlin did not respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.

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In a rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Donald Trump’s conservative supporters both blame the president’s ties to the tech industry for his administration’s limited response to recent hacks carried out by OpenAI and Anthropic’s AI agents.

Two weeks have passed since OpenAI shocked the tech community with the disclosure that one of its AI agents went rogue and broke into AI company Hugging Face’s systems. The White House said it was monitoring the situation, and Trump said he was looking at controls on AI. Anthropic said it too had discovered some of its AI models had hacked into three companies’ systems.

Steve Bannon, a conservative media star and longtime Trump ally and former adviser, said the White House’s regulation of AI has been inadequate given the national security threat it poses, placing the blame squarely on Silicon Valley.

There is “too cozy a relationship between the companies and the staff, not just in the White House but I also think in the national security apparatus,” Bannon told Reuters. “Why would you allow them to be in control? You don’t. And I’m the anti-deep state, anti-administrative state guy, but you definitely need at least a rudimentary framework of some sort of regulatory apparatus,” to regulate AI, he added.

US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon expressed similar concerns.

“Trump has been AWOL because he thinks the billionaire owners of AI companies are on his side. Instead of trying to fix these problems, Trump and his Republican allies are focused on blocking state AI laws and knocking down the basic protections that companies like Anthropic have placed on how their models are used,” the Democrat said.

Anthropic’s relationship with the government ruptured this year after it refused to allow the US military to use its ​AI models for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems.

The White House and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment. Anthropic’s spokesperson declined to comment.

Concerns over Trump’s ties to AI tech giants

Bannon and Wyden join a handful of voices across the political spectrum raising concerns that Trump’s ties to big tech could blind him to the dangers of AI and discourage him from taking meaningful action. Tech companies and their executives have donated over $300 million to support Trump’s 2024 reelection efforts and MAGA Inc, a political action committee aligned with the president. The president also appointed industry insiders to key posts.

The Trump administration said in June it would ask AI developers like OpenAI and Anthropic to voluntarily submit their AI models with advanced hacking capabilities for government cybersecurity tests before the companies release them to the public. The administration hasn’t yet released details about how the tests will work, but Reuters has reported that only a few models will be subject to the voluntary tests.

Democratic Congressman Gregorio Casar of Texas said Trump is “completely failing” to keep Americans safe from the dangers of AI.

“He took millions from AI billionaires. Now, in the wake of extremely dangerous AI cybersecurity problems, he says he’s set up a ‘voluntary’ review that no one has seen. Asleep at the wheel. Too busy cashing in to protect our jobs or national security,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

AI companies executives among largest MAGA donors

AI company executives and investors were among the largest individual donors in 2025 to MAGA Inc.

OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna Brockman, gave a combined $25 million to the committee in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, an investor in OpenAI, and firm co-founders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen gave a combined $12 million since Trump’s second inauguration to the committee. The firm, its co-founders and the Brockmans did not respond to requests for comment.

Google investor Asha Jadeja, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman gave at least $5 million each to the committee in 2025, according to FEC records. Blackstone is an investor in AI infrastructure, including an AI cloud venture with Google, one of the three leading AI developers in the US Jadeja, Musk, Schwarzman and Blackstone did not respond to requests for comment.

Amy Kremer, a right-wing organizer and Trump supporter who helped organize the January 6 rally that preceded the Capitol riot, accused the industry of building “a moat around the White House.”

Trump has also welcomed industry executives into his administration, most notably billionaire Elon Musk, who oversaw the president’s cuts to the federal workforce during the first few months of his second term. Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump win the 2024 election, according to campaign filings reviewed by Reuters. Trump also brought on David Sacks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, as White House AI czar, along with Andreessen Horowitz’s Sriram Krishnan and Scale AI’s Michael Kratsios.

Sacks and Krishnan have since left the Trump administration, though Sacks is still an outside adviser to the White House on technology.

Sacks has advocated for the president to take a hands-off approach to AI regulation, arguing that rules will slow down the industry in its race against Chinese competitors. The Trump administration has tried to persuade Congress to pass a law curtailing state regulations of AI, an idea the US Senate overwhelmingly rejected.

Krishnan, Kratsios and Sacks did not respond to requests for comment.

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Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Tuesday launched a new Right-wing party ahead of the upcoming elections, alongside MK Yuli Edelstein, who recently departed from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party.

Erdan said in May that he was working toward establishing a new right-wing party said and that he sees himself as a candidate for premier in a post-Netanyahu era.

Working toward a ‘government of national reconciliation’

Erdan had said he is trying to establish a right-wing party that “would not rely on extremists” in a May interview with Army Radio.

He said he was working toward a “government of national reconciliation.”

“There are hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have no alternative who do not want a coalition that relies on extremist sides,” he added.

Erdan served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations for four years, from 2020 to 2024. He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the US.

He was a member of the Knesset for Likud for years and held several ministerial positions under Netanyahu.

Erdan’s ministerial record covers a wide range of portfolios: environmental protection minister, communications minister, interior minister, public security minister, strategic affairs minister, public diplomacy minister, and regional cooperation minister.

Edelstein left Likud after ongoing tensions

Throughout the government’s term, Edelstein has been a vocal critic of the contentious haredi-backed legislation advanced by Netanyahu’s coalition, which critics argued would encourage draft evasion amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage. 

He left Likud last month after ongoing tensions with the party.

Edelstein had also been ousted from his position as chairperson of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after tensions with the Likud over the conscription law he was attempting to pass to increase haredi enlistment.

The party launch came after reports that senior figures on Israel’s political Right were holding talks on forming a new “statesmanlike” right-wing party, informally referred to as “Likud B.” Erdan has served in various ministerial roles under Netanyahu for years as a member of Likud.

Reports have noted that the goal of the party is to help create a broad government without extremist parties, amid polls showing no decisive shift between Israel’s political blocs.

Other reports have stated the party would not be committed in advance either to Netanyahu’s bloc or to a potential alliance led by rival candidates in the upcoming elections, former prime minister Naftali Bennett or Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot.

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At dawn on July 28, the Islamic Republic of Iran publicly hanged Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi in Alikhani Square in Isfahan.

Security forces had filled the square overnight, and videos circulating online appeared to show people gathering in an attempt to stop the executions, before they were dispersed, with several reportedly injured and arrested.

The two men had been detained during January’s uprising and convicted in a mass case involving clashes in the square, the deaths of security personnel, and allegations of weapons possession and property destruction.

Rights groups said the convictions followed torture, forced confessions, and denial of independent legal representation. The two men were hanged at the same location where they had allegedly protested against the regime.

Four days later, guards at Shahrud Prison hanged Arvin Kheirkhahan, a young man arrested during the same uprising, without informing his family in advance. His relatives were instructed to collect his body in the early hours and bury him at 5 a.m. under security supervision. The judiciary issued no public announcement.

One execution was conducted in a public square under the gaze of an entire city. The other was carried out before dawn, with the family denied even the opportunity to prepare for death. But both belong to the same campaign of internal repression carried out by the Iranian regime.

The Islamic Republic’s response to January, when an estimated 30,000-40,000 people were massacred in two days, did not suddenly end when gunfire emptied the streets. It continued through arrests, interrogations, forced confessions, Revolutionary Court proceedings, and executions carried out months after the uprising’s immediate energy had subsided.

The objective is to change what Iranians will be prepared to do the next time they confront the state.

“Right now, it is mostly focused on internal social engineering,” Khosro Isfahani, research director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, told The Jerusalem Post.

The Iranian regime’s warning to its own people

Isfahani rejected the idea that the timing of executions is primarily governed by the rise and fall of negotiations with Washington or developments surrounding the conflict with Israel and the United States.

Instead, he placed the executions inside a domestic campaign aimed at a population facing economic collapse, political anger, and the memory of the January killings.

The regime’s warning, he said, is simple. “If you move, we are going to kill you.

“If you resist, if you fight back, we are going to find you, arrest you, and hang you.”

At least 26 people had been executed by July 28 after being convicted of offenses connected to the protests that began in late December 2025 and developed into a nationwide uprising in January. Kheirkhahan’s subsequent execution raised that known number further.

Amnesty International said at least 60 more protesters, including three who were children at the time of the alleged offenses, were under the death sentence and at risk.

Among those killed were Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi, and Mehdi Ghasemi, executed in Qom on March 19; Amirhossein Hatami, Mohammad Amin Biglari, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, and Ali Fahim, executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in early April; and Mehdi Rasouli, Mohammadreza Miri, and Ebrahim Dolatabadinejad, hanged in Mashhad in May.

The campaign continued in June with Ashkan Maleki, Mehrdad Mohammadinia, Fathollah Avari, Javad Zamani, and Abolfazl Saedi. Mohammad Amini Dehaghani was executed in Isfahan on July 15. Four days later, Erfan Esfandiari and Afghan national Gol Mohammad Mohammadi were secretly hanged in Dastgerd Prison. Mehdi Khanaki was executed on July 22, followed by the public hangings in Alikhani Square six days later.

‘When you kill a single person, the whole network around them collapses’

Many were convicted under broadly formulated charges, including moharebeh, or “enmity against Allah,” and efsad-e fel-arz, “spreading corruption on Earth.” Amnesty documented cases in which the alleged conduct included arson, damaging property, blocking roads, and disturbing public order – acts that, even if proven, would not meet international standards restricting capital punishment to the “most serious crimes” involving intentional killing.

Iran’s Revolutionary Courts have operated amid allegations of enforced disappearance, denial of lawyers, torture, and the use of forced confessions. It has been documented by human rights groups that January detainees were held in unidentified buildings and warehouse-like sites, threatened with sexual violence, and subjected to staged executions to force them to incriminate themselves and others.

Yet the individual court files are only one part of the message.

January’s protests and the subsequent state crackdown produced a significant change in how protesters responded to repression compared to previous years.

The protests were among the largest Iran had ever witnessed and appeared to mark a shift in the willingness of some demonstrators to confront the security forces rather than retreat in the face of violence.

The authorities’ subsequent response can be seen as an effort to impose a lasting deterrent. By demonstrating the potential consequences of resisting the security apparatus, the regime is seeking to contain public anger and reduce the level of personal risk Iranians may be willing to accept in any future attempt to challenge the Islamic Republic.

The massacres of January were intended to crush an uprising already in motion. The executions that follow months later extend that threat into the future. A protester who survives the streets may still be identified in footage, arrested after the crowds have dispersed, prosecuted behind closed doors, and killed once international attention has moved elsewhere.

By then, the psychological setting has changed. During an uprising, people draw strength from numbers, urgency and a sense of shared purpose. A prison execution months later reaches families, friends, colleagues and fellow protesters individually, after that collective momentum has faded.

“When you kill a single person, the whole network around them collapses,” Isfahani said.

The death of one prisoner therefore reverberates far beyond the victim. It disrupts the wider circle around them, weakens activist networks, and reminds those who remain that the state’s reach extends well beyond the day of protest.

“With executions, it has a ripple effect because it happens during a period of calm,” Isfahani said. The shock, he argued, reduces the willingness of those around the victim to expose themselves to the same risk.

The person hanged is the immediate victim, but the intended target is the network surrounding them.

The Contrast between public and secret executions is therefore significant, although no single formula determines which method the authorities use.

“It depends on the case and what’s the message that the regime wants to convey to the population,” Isfahani said.

Public hangings were once used more frequently in Iranian cities, including for ordinary criminal offenses, he said. They are now more commonly reserved for particular cases carrying a security or political message.

“The regime wants to convey a message of violence and fear in these cases,” he said.

The Alikhani Square hangings required witnesses, whereas Kheirkhahan’s execution was handled differently. There was no advance notice, no judiciary statement, and a burial was arranged before dawn. Maleki and Mohammadinia were likewise secretly executed, in Ghezel Hesar Prison on June 1, without their families or lawyers being notified beforehand.

Secrecy, espionage charges, and the Iranian machinery of repression

Secrecy limits the possibility of relatives gathering outside a prison, of supporters intervening before the sentence is carried out, or of a funeral becoming a political event. Families in political cases have reported state surveillance, restrictions on mourning, and pressure not to publicize what happened.

Uncertainty itself can also become weaponized by the regime, used to psychologically torment the population.

Isfahani said relatives may sometimes be summoned for what appears to be a final visit, only for the execution to be postponed. Warnings that a prisoner faces imminent death can be repeated multiple times.

“It’s like inoculating the society about the news,” he said. By the time the sentence is finally carried out, the initial urgency may have faded, and the public may be less prepared to mobilize.

Any charge, or combination of charges, eventually imposed on a protester may depend on what interrogators find, or claim to find, after arrest. Evidence presented in Revolutionary Courts often rests on coerced confessions, intelligence reports, and material extracted from detainees’ phones, with defendants given little meaningful opportunity to challenge how it was obtained or interpreted.

A video sent to an overseas broadcaster may be recast as cooperation with hostile media, or publicly available information may be claimed as the transfer of sensitive intelligence. Physical resistance to security forces can become moharebeh, while the same file may also be used to support accusations of espionage or collaboration with an enemy state.

This enables prosecutors to move between several overlapping categories of crimes.

Maleki and Mohammadinia were convicted of moharebeh over allegations that they set fire to a mosque and seminary in Tehran, but they were also sentenced under Iran’s intensified espionage law.

Khanaki, arrested in connection with the January protests, was accused of possessing weapons and conducting “operational activities” for Israel, the United States, and hostile groups.

Mohammad Amini Dehaghani’s alleged offenses included seeking contact with online accounts connected to opposition groups.

The Espionage Law allows protected activities, including sharing information about protests or human rights violations with foreign media, to be treated as intelligence activity, when the authorities deem them to be contrary to national security.

Iran undoubtedly faces genuine foreign intelligence operations, but the claim is often made that when the regime announces an execution on charges of espionage, it is more than likely for show.

When the state catches someone involved in serious clandestine activity, he said, publicizing the operational details may reveal where Iran’s security apparatus was vulnerable.

“The regime doesn’t want to reveal where it was vulnerable and hit,” Isfahani explained.

Executions near Iran are also preceded by a deliberate propaganda cycle, including state media reports of confessions, footage of protesters allegedly attacking security personnel, and amplified interviews with relatives of state security officers killed during unrest.

“Usually before the executions happen, you see a wave of propaganda around the case,” Isfahani said.

Iran casts protesters as foreign agents to justify repression

The state presents those on the streets as violent seditionists, then attributes their actions to Israel and the United States.

The executions offer an alternative account of January. Economic collapse, public anger, and opposition to the Islamic Republic recede from view, and in their place is an “American-Zionist terrorist conspiracy,” the phrase used repeatedly in official messaging. Protesters become “enemy operatives under the guise of protesters,” rather than citizens acting out of their own convictions.

Executions are the most extreme element of a wider campaign. Thousands of people arrested during and after January may never face the gallows, but many are receiving lengthy prison terms. Amnesty reported that more than 6,000 people were arrested after the US-Israel-Iran war began on February 28, as officials ordered accelerated prosecutions under “wartime conditions.”

Journalists, lawyers, activists, protesters, students, and members of ethnic and religious minorities were among those targeted.

Isfahani also pointed to increased hijab enforcement and the closure of cafés and other businesses accused of violating Islamic regulations, in contrast to the months before and during the protests, when the government saw more lenient enforcement as a way to regain control. Fewer morality police were seen on the streets enforcing the hijab, for example.

“It’s a multipronged campaign,” he told the Post. “It’s a multipronged social campaign by the regime to reestablish its control over the society.”

When Iran emerges from a security crisis, the authorities use executions to communicate that the state remains willing and able to kill.

Most members of the public do not study every charge or court file, but they repeatedly encounter the same news – more prisoners hanged in another prison.

“You don’t distinguish immediately in your brain who the person was, whether the charges were political or not,” Isfahani said. “You just absorb that message of terror. It’s psychological warfare.”

January revealed how much danger many Iranians were prepared to confront, and it led to the deaths of thousands. Now, the regime is trying to erase any defiance that may have survived.

But the scale of the repression betrays the fear behind it. It is the Islamic Republic, in trying to regain control of a disintegrating society through executions and repression, that is revealing its true fears.

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Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations and its disruption of maritime security should encourage closer cooperation between Europe and the Gulf, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies in partnership with the Gulf Research Center.

As demonstrated by fluctuating oil prices, Gulf security and stability have global consequences. Insecurity caused by the Houthis in the Red Sea, followed by disruptions caused by the Iran war in the Strait of Hormuz, has had a direct impact on Europe through rising insurance costs, higher shipping costs and delays to cargo movements.

To address these challenges, the institute said Gulf and European partners should consider establishing a permanent maritime coordination framework. It would connect naval forces, coast guards, port authorities, customs agencies and commercial shipping operators to develop common protocols for preventing risks and reducing disruption.

The framework would also improve maritime domain awareness, speed up information-sharing, strengthen counter-drone and counter-mine preparedness, and establish communication procedures during incidents. Its goal would be to preserve the movement of strategic goods even during periods of disruption.

The institute also recommended practical defensive measures to better protect critical maritime assets, including commercial tankers.

It said precautionary technologies such as jamming and drone detection systems should be explored for large commercial vessels, including LNG tankers, given the demonstrated impact drones have had on this regional conflict.

ISPI report calls for permanent EU-GCC forum

The report also called for the creation of a permanent ministerial-level forum between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). According to the institute, such a forum would build on the existing EU-GCC Regional Security Dialogue by providing strategic direction, coordinating policy and supporting joint planning on maritime security, air defense and the protection of critical infrastructure.

As part of that effort, the report also recommended expanding information-sharing by integrating maritime and air surveillance data. It also proposed regular joint exercises involving Gulf and European military and civilian personnel to improve the protection of critical infrastructure.

These measures could also allow a joint Gulf-European task force to develop new protocols and strategies for responding to disruptions to major maritime trade routes.

According to the institute, the latest war demonstrated that strategic vulnerability is no longer limited to conventional military imbalances. Critical infrastructure and the systems that sustain economic activity and everyday life are increasingly vulnerable to hybrid threats, making cooperation between governments and the private sector essential.

European digital security could help Gulf infrastructure 

European expertise in cybersecurity and digital infrastructure could help strengthen Gulf critical infrastructure, which has repeatedly come under drone attacks by Iran and cyberattacks by Iranian-aligned actors. At the same time, Gulf investment capacity could help accelerate infrastructure modernization.

The report said this cooperation could be strengthened further through dedicated working groups focused on maritime and air security, critical infrastructure protection and defense industrial cooperation.

It also argued that Gulf and European partners should work together to anticipate future geopolitical, environmental, technological and economic threats. Developing mechanisms to prevent crises and manage potential escalations would improve collective resilience and adaptability.

To make their economies more resilient against hybrid attacks, the institute also recommended that Gulf states continue diversifying their economies. European companies in the maritime and defense sectors may be interested in investing in the Gulf’s growing defense industry through partnerships and joint ventures.

Finally, the report said the European Union’s Readiness 2030 initiative, which includes up to €800 billion in planned defense-related funding, could provide a suitable mechanism for expanding industrial cooperation and sharing technical expertise between Europe and Gulf partners.

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Five people were injured after three cars collided on Highway 508 on Thursday.

Paramedics on the scene provided treatment to the victims, including three who had been seriously injured.

This is a developing story.

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As Israel approaches elections, too many politicians are promising to form a “Zionist government.” The phrase is presented as self-evidently virtuous, as though liberal democratic Israeli could not possibly object to it.

I object. I do not want what they call a Zionist government. I want an Israeli government.

I want a government representing all Israeli citizens who accept the common principles of liberal democracy and the values expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. I want Jewish and Arab citizens, religious and secular citizens, conservatives, liberals, and social democrats to be able to participate in government according to their policies, their conduct, and their commitment to democratic rules – not according to their ethnicity.

Zionism was the national movement through which the Jewish people pursued self-determination in their historic homeland. Its central political objective was achieved in 1948 with the creation of the State of Israel.

The question today is not whether Zionism has historical legitimacy. The question is what is being done in Israel in 2026 in the name of Zionism.

What is carried out in the name of Zionism?

Settlements are expanded throughout the occupied West Bank, not merely to provide housing but to prevent the territorial possibility of a Palestinian state. Roads, infrastructure, agricultural farms, security zones, public budgets, and administrative authority are used to deepen Israeli control and make political separation more difficult.

This is called Zionism.

Unauthorized outposts are established on Palestinian land and later supplied with electricity, roads, military protection, and public financing. What begins as an illegal act by ideological settlers is gradually transformed into official state policy.

This is called Zionism.

Palestinian communities are threatened, harassed, and sometimes forced from their homes and grazing lands. Armed settlers intimidate farmers, destroy property, attack villages, and use violence to alter the map. Too often, the army protects the settlers more effectively than it protects the Palestinians living beside them.

This is called Zionism.

Ministers speak openly of annexing most or all of the West Bank while opposing equal political rights for the millions of Palestinians who live there. They want the land without the people, sovereignty without citizenship, and permanent rule without democratic equality.

This is called Zionism.

Some political leaders advocate renewed Jewish settlement in Gaza. Others speak of “encouraging migration,” as though the removal of Palestinians from their homeland were a legitimate policy option rather than forced displacement.

This is called Zionism.

Arab citizens of Israel are told that their votes count but that the parties they elect are not legitimate partners in determining who governs the country. Jewish parties that attack democracy, equality, and the rule of law are still described as natural coalition partners, while Arab parties committed to peaceful political participation are excluded because they are not Zionist.

This, too, is called Zionism.

The judicial system is weakened, independent institutions are attacked, professional law enforcement is politicized, civil society is denounced as disloyal, and dissent is treated as betrayal. Loyalty to a particular nationalist ideology increasingly replaces loyalty to democratic principles.

This is called Zionism.

I am against all of these things.

Every Israeli who defines himself or herself as a liberal democrat should be against them as well. Jewish self-determination does not require denying the Palestinian people the same national rights we claim for ourselves. It does not require treating Palestinian citizens of Israel as permanent political outsiders. It does not require believing that Jewish rights are absolute while Palestinian rights are temporary, conditional, or negotiable.

Israel can remain the national home of the Jewish people. It can preserve Hebrew public culture, Jewish national holidays, the Law of Return for endangered Jewish communities, and a profound connection to Jewish history. But as a democratic state, it must belong equally to every citizen.

That commitment is present in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. The declaration promises freedom, justice, and peace. It pledges complete equality of social and political rights for all citizens, regardless of religion, race, or sex. It guarantees freedom of religion, conscience, language, education, and culture. It calls upon Arab citizens to participate in building the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship and appropriate representation in its institutions.

These words must not remain ceremonial language quoted on Independence Day and ignored for the rest of the year. They must become the basis of government.

When politicians promise a “Zionist government,” they mean a government from which Arab parties are excluded. Palestinian Arab citizens make up 20% of Israel’s population. They work in hospitals, universities, businesses, schools, local government, the judiciary, and every part of public life. They pay taxes and participate in elections.

Yet their political representatives are repeatedly told that they may not legitimately influence the formation of a government. Their votes are counted when seats are allocated but discounted when power is distributed.

The proper test for participation in government should not be whether a party defines itself as Zionist. The proper questions are: Does it accept democratic elections? Does it respect the law? Does it support equality? Does it reject political violence? Does it recognize the legitimacy of its opponents? Is it prepared to govern responsibly for the benefit of all citizens?

A Jewish party that rejects those principles is less fit to govern than an Arab party that accepts them. Arab citizens should not be required to adopt a Jewish national ideology as the price of political legitimacy. Jewish citizens should not be required to abandon their Jewish identity. We should all be required to accept a shared democratic covenant.

That covenant must include equal citizenship, judicial independence, freedom of expression, religious freedom, protection of minorities, civilian control of the security forces, rejection of political violence, and the state’s obligation to serve all its citizens. It must also include an end to permanent Israeli rule over the Palestinian people.

The next government should be formed by every party – Jewish or Arab – that accepts a common democratic platform. It should include all those committed to the Declaration of Independence, equality before the law, responsible government, and a political future based on two states and recognized borders.

Its members might disagree about economics, religion, education, public services, national history, and the precise terms of peace. They would not need to share one nationalism. They would need to share democratic rules.

The test of a good Israeli government is not how often its ministers use the word “Zionist.” The test is whether Jewish and Arab children receive equal opportunities; whether violence is prosecuted regardless of the identity of the perpetrator; whether public resources are distributed fairly; whether courts remain independent; whether citizens can replace their leaders; and whether the government seeks a future in which Israelis and Palestinians can live with freedom, dignity, and security.

I do not want a government of annexation, exclusion, Jewish supremacy, forced displacement, and permanent war, even if its leaders call it Zionist. I want an Israeli government grounded in the Declaration of Independence and liberal democracy.

I want a government that includes all Israelis who believe that the state belongs to all its citizens and that democracy must protect everyone.

Its members do not need a common nationalism. They need common democratic values.

This post was originally published on here. 

From Gaza, where war has reshaped every aspect of daily life, I ask a question that belongs not only to Israelis, Palestinians, or Lebanese, but to all humanity: Where is the voice of wisdom?

For too long, this region has measured time by wars instead of peace, by funerals instead of new beginnings. Every new round of violence deepens fear, hardens mistrust, and leaves another generation convinced that conflict is inevitable.

Yet history teaches us something different. Military victories may change realities on the ground, but they rarely resolve the deeper wounds that fuel conflict. Lasting security cannot be built on force alone. It also requires political courage, mutual recognition of human dignity, and a willingness to imagine a different future.

This is a moment that demands leadership of the highest order from Israeli, Palestinian, and Lebanese leaders. True leadership is not demonstrated only in times of war. It is demonstrated by the courage to end wars, protect innocent lives, and create the conditions for a just and lasting peace.

The people of this region deserve more than survival. Israeli families deserve to live without fear of rockets and violence. Palestinian families deserve to live with dignity, hope, and opportunity. Lebanese families deserve a future free from recurring cycles of destruction. These aspirations are not contradictory – they are interconnected.

I write these words not as a politician, but as someone who has witnessed the human cost of conflict firsthand. My appeal is simple: let wisdom speak louder than anger, let dialogue replace endless confrontation, and let the next generation inherit bridges instead of battlefields.

The Middle East has produced enough tragedies. It is time to produce a different legacy – one defined by courage, reconciliation, and peace.

The question remains: Where is the voice of wisdom?

Perhaps the answer begins when leaders choose to listen – not only to their allies and advisers, but also to the millions of ordinary people who simply want this war to end.

The writer has worked for 44 years at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), where he has held several leadership positions, including head of the education program, head of the central area in the Gaza Strip, and adviser to the director of UNRWA operations on community affairs.

This post was originally published on here. 

A 70-year-old man died after contracting West Nile Virus, one of 10 confirmed cases since the beginning of the season, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday. 

The patient developed symptoms in July and was hospitalized due to complications from the disease. Most of the patients who had been confirmed to have West Nile Virus experienced symptoms typical of the disease, including fever, rash, and changes in consciousness. As of Thursday, three other patients remain hospitalized in good condition, and investigations are ongoing to identify where they were exposed to the infected mosquitoes.

“West Nile fever is a disease transmitted to humans through the bite of mosquitoes that feed on infected birds. In most cases, it is a mild disease without symptoms, but in rare cases, severe symptoms may also develop, such as inflammation of the brain or the membranes surrounding the brain. The risk of severe illness is higher among people aged 60 and over and people with underlying medical conditions, so it is particularly important to follow preventive measures,” said Prof. Sigal Sadetzki, head of the Health Ministry’s Public Health Division.

Mosquitoes infected with West Nile Virus have been found in Tel Aviv, Taybeh, Tira, and Kalansuwa, according to the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Health Ministry. The Environmental Protection Ministry instructed local authorities to expand their prevention, monitoring, public information, and pest control measures, and called on all authorities to increase efforts to combat public health pests. 

Public called on to help stop spread

Local authorities are responsible for removing hazards and nuisances caused by the pests in public areas, while the public is asked to help by following guidelines and reducing habitats for mosquitoes to breed. Public citizens are encouraged to drain sources of standing water, use mosquito repellent containing an active ingredient such as DEET, install screens on windows and doors, wear long, light colored clothing, and use a fan while inside the home, on balconies, in gardens, and in open areas. 

Mosquito hazards or sources of standing water in public areas should be reported to the local authority’s 106 hotline. 

West Nile Virus season lasts through November

West Nile Virus-infected mosquitoes grow more prevalent between the beginning of June and the end of November. The Environmental Protection Ministry’s pest and pest control team therefore conducts thousands of inspections for mosquito larvae and hundreds of captures of adult mosquitoes throughout the year, which are transferred to Health Ministry laboratories for identification and testing. 

While mosquitoes carrying the virus have been reported in southern Israel earlier this year, infected mosquitoes are now reported to have been captured in central Israel as well. 

The ministries stressed that the public’s reports to the local authorities are an important part of reducing mosquito hazards and allow authorities to focus their monitoring and pest control measures quickly and effectively. 

“In recent days, mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus have been captured at several locations in central Israel. A mosquito carrying the virus can transmit it to a person through a bite, thereby causing illness. The ministry issued detailed instructions to local authorities to take immediate measures aimed at reducing the risk to human health. Alongside monitoring and pest control measures, the public also has an important role in reducing mosquito hazards. Drying standing water and reporting it to the local authority will make it possible to significantly reduce the mosquito population and help protect public health and the environment,” said Dr. Shai Reicher, director of the Environmental Protection Ministry’s Pest and Pest Control Division.

This post was originally published on here. 

A body in an advanced state of decomposition was found in an open area near the Yarkon Interchange on Thursday morning during police searches for Eldar Dayan, a 23-year-old Dimona resident who has been missing for nearly three weeks.

Police confirmed later on Thursday that the body was Dayan’s.

The discovery came one day after orders were issued to transfer the investigation from the Dimona Police Station in the Southern District to the Sharon District Central Unit. Police said the transfer was made after the search operations and investigative avenues pursued by the Dimona station had been exhausted.

Dayan’s mother arrived at the scene later on Thursday, pleading to police to “take her to the child” and allow her to see the remains for identification purposes.

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

Kurdish politics has undergone a dramatic transformation since Turkey launched its so-called “terror-free Turkey” initiative in October 2024 by engaging with the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan, held on Imrali Island –  a Turkish prison island – since 1999, called for the unilateral dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the start of what he describes as a “new peace and democratic society process.”

The announcement marked one of the most significant turning points in the movement’s history, dividing the PKK into two camps.

One, mostly of the long-term left-wing members of Turkish origin, accepted Ocalan’s decision without hesitation and moved to implement it. The other, mostly individuals of Kurdish origin, reacted with shock, questioning both the decision and the ideological direction behind it.

This split reflects a deeper pattern that has long defined Ocalan’s leadership: repeated ideological transformations.

Over the decades, he has shifted from advocating Kurdish independence to promoting democratic autonomy and now to the far less defined concept of the “Free Kurdish Line” within a “democratic society” framework.

Each transition has required followers to abandon previous doctrines in favor of a new vision, often without meaningful internal debate. Yet while reshaping the future of his movement from prison and redefining its relationship with Turkey, we can read that some statements were made in Ocalan’s name that increasingly directed unfounded accusations against Israel.

These statements go through the filter of the Turkish control mechanisms established by the state authorities.

Rooted more in conspiracy theories than historical evidence, these claims have become more prominent in his recent writings and risk influencing generations of Kurds who continue to regard him as their principal ideological guide.

A recent letter by Ocalan’s fellow prisoner, Ergin Atabey of Imrali High Security F-Type Prison, outlines his latest ideological framework. It argues that “fully overcoming the system of annihilation will again be achieved through resistance, struggle, and construction of the Free Kurdish Line based on democratic society and democratic integration.”

Although the language is deliberately abstract, other passages make his argument clearer. According to this statement, the Kurdish “system of annihilation” originated with British imperialism and Zionism.

The statement, referring to Ocalan, traces Kurdish suffering to the Balfour Declaration and the Cairo Conference, linking them to “the rise of Zionism in the Middle East, the establishment of Proto-Israel, the capture of Mosul-Kirkuk, and Britain’s emergence as a hegemonic power in the region.”

It also speaks of a future “post-Israel” era, suggesting that Israel’s disappearance would fundamentally reshape the Middle East. In earlier writings, Ocalan even invoked the controversial term “Judenrat,” drawing misleading historical analogies that trivialize the Holocaust while distorting Jewish and Middle Eastern histories.

These anti-Israel and, at times, antisemitic claims are not only historically unfounded but also potentially harmful to the Kurdish movement, particularly for those who continue to see Ocalan as their ideological authority. Given his enduring influence, such narratives could damage the long-standing relationship between Kurds and Jews.

This raises three questions: Do the Turkish authorities manipulate Ocalan’s statements? if not, what has driven Ocalan toward increasingly hostile rhetoric against Israel? And how can the resulting damage to Kurdish-Jewish relations be mitigated?

Several explanations deserve consideration. First, more than a quarter-century of imprisonment has almost certainly shaped Ocalan’s worldview. Prolonged isolation can distort political judgment, making it harder to objectively interpret rapidly changing regional realities.

His recent writings often rely on sweeping historical narratives that oversimplify complex events. Second, Ocalan may be attempting to accommodate Tayyip Erdogan’s government as negotiations over the Kurdish question continue.

By adopting rhetoric hostile to Israel, a position that resonates strongly in contemporary Turkish political discourse, he may hope to improve the prospects for a settlement with Ankara. Such rhetoric may serve both political and personal interests.

At the same time, Ocalan may genuinely believe that Israel assisted Turkey in his capture in 1999, a perception that could have shaped his views ever since. Whether this anti-Israel rhetoric reflects genuine conviction or political calculation remains open to debate.

Likewise, it is unclear whether Ocalan’s decision to dissolve the PKK stems from a sincere belief that armed struggle has reached a dead end, from pressure exerted by the Turkish state, or from a broader capitulation that leaves the Kurds vulnerable to a regime that has long denied their rights without addressing their political grievances.

Whatever the explanation, his personal circumstances have inevitably influenced the direction of the movement.

Nevertheless, Ocalan’s historical claims do not withstand scrutiny. The Balfour Declaration had no connection to the partition of Kurdistan or the denial of Kurdish national rights after World War I. Linking these issues creates a false historical narrative that conflates the Palestinian and Kurdish questions despite their distinct historical trajectories.

Equally misleading is the claim that Zionism bears responsibility for Kurdish suffering. Historically, Jewish communities and later the State of Israel have generally expressed sympathy for Kurdish aspirations.

Israeli leaders supporting Kurdish self-determination

Israeli leaders have consistently supported Kurdish self-determination, recognizing the Kurds as a major non-Arab, non-Persian, and non-Turkish people with a long history of coexistence with Jews.

That support has endured, even as Israel’s ability to assist Kurdish groups has remained limited by geography, diplomatic realities, and security challenges.

By contrast, it was the Kurdish Muslim brothers in Ankara, Baghdad, Tehran, and Damascus that systematically denied Kurds their cultural, linguistic, and political rights throughout the 20th century. Kurds endured forced assimilation, displacement, and massacres, including those in Zilan, Dersim, Halabja, and many other places.

These tragedies were the result of the nation-state policies of the countries in which Kurds have lived for centuries, not Zionism. Although Kurdish conditions have evolved differently across the region, many of the underlying challenges remain unresolved.

Nor is there reason to believe that a hypothetical “post-Israel” Middle East would improve the Kurdish position. On the contrary, Israel has often served as an important strategic counterweight in a region where ethnic and religious minority populations have frequently faced discrimination and persecution.

Israel has historically viewed these communities, including the Kurds, as natural partners and has generally supported their aspirations for security, recognition, and self-determination.

Preserving constructive Kurdish-Israeli relations therefore remains in the interests of both peoples. Political disagreements and ideological shifts should not overshadow a longer history of mutual respect and shared experiences as minorities in a turbulent region.

Ocalan’s latest paradigm shift may reshape the PKK’s future, but it should not rewrite history or undermine the foundations of Kurdish-Jewish relations.

Professor Ofra Bengio, Director of the Kurdish Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Veysi Dag, researcher at the Kurdish Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. X: @dagweysi

This post was originally published on here. 

The relatively small protests that have broken out in Iraq after Baghdad failed to pay state employees their July salaries, which have so far been tempered by the focus on the Ziyarat al-Arbaeen Shia pilgrimage, could turn violent if the delays continue, Dr. Ronen Zeidel told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Iraq spends approximately $6.5 billion a month on public sector salaries, pensions, and social welfare payments, according to the country’s Finance Ministry. The wages were allegedly delayed over Baghdad’s struggle to manage the oil export crisis that hit the region after Iran began blockading the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Iraq’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, around 17.5% of the population live in poverty, a percentage that could naturally increase should wages be withheld long-term.

Iraq’s economy remains heavily reliant on oil, which accounts for 90% of government revenue, 95% of export earnings, and more than 53% of the country’s gross domestic product.

“When you don’t export your oil, and oil is the main product of the Iraqi economy, you don’t have money,” Zeidel, a researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center, said, adding that the issue of America’s hold on the money created yet another complexity for Baghdad to navigate.

“The problem is that dollars are often not released, or are not released at the pace that Iraq needs. The Iraqi banking system and financial system are not operating according to American regulations, and there are significant problems with the banking sector,” he explained.

US controls Iraqi oil revenues, using leverage to push Baghdad to act in its interests

The United States controls the revenues from Iraq’s oil fields through the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) held in New York, which allows Washington to leverage Iraq’s revenue to make changes to its regulatory systems or control its relationship with Iran.

“The Americans have been working to reform this banking system over the past couple of years, but that work has not yet been completed. Iraq has been used for laundering dollars and transferring them to Iran. Some banks are on the American blacklist for working with Iran and with Iraqi militias, and that is what the Americans want to prevent,” Zeidel continued. “As long as Iraq does not carry out the necessary reforms, there will continue to be difficulties in accessing dollars. When you do not have dollars, you cannot pay all of the state employees who rely on these payments.”

If the payments are not paid, and the wait goes on too long, it can be expected that the protests would increase, potentially becoming more “violent,” he predicted.

Describing a situation comparable to the demonstrations that broke out in December in Iran, which were initially about the country’s economic crisis but developed into a protest against the Islamic regime, Zeidel said there were a number of “converging issues” tied to geopolitics that could also potentially see unrest escalate.

Framing Iraq as the child of divorced parents, Iran and the US, he outlined that in many ways its dependencies on the US for financial support and Iran for gas have left Baghdad pulled in both directions, trying to manage critical relations.

With temperatures only falling slightly short of an “unbearable” 50° Celcius in Iraq this week, Iran’s gas supply is crucial for maintaining electricity. Tehran supplies between a third and 40% of Iraq’s gas and power needs, though supplies have repeatedly been paused and power cuts have become a common issue.

“America is the father. Under Trump, America has decided to spoil Iraq. Now Iran is angry with the Iraqis because they turned to America, and America is entering the country economically. This could also help the Iraqi economy through the entry of American companies, the creation of more employment opportunities, and similar measures,” he said.

“However, Iran could also harm Iraqi politics and Iraq itself, and the Iraqis understand that. Iran still has leverage over Iraq.”

Oil agreements between Iraq and US companies, valued at $200 b., were finalized by the prime minister at a July meeting in the US

Iraq’s oil minister said in an interview with state television last month that agreements signed between the oil ministry ‌and US companies during Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to the US in July were estimated at $200 b.

Zeidel said that Baghdad failed to secure any exemptions for Iraqi oil tankers during Zaidi’s visit to Tehran last month, or a deal to increase the supply of gas, though he did sign several joint agreements concerning foreign affairs, finance, the economy, and energy.  Iraq had already signed a 5-year gas supply deal with Iran, with pumping rates of up to 50 million cubic meters per day, in March, though Iraq has been forced to trade crude oil and fuel as the US won’t release funds that would violate its sanctions.

Zeidel also noted that reports in Arab media alleged Iran demanded that Zaidi pay around $11 b. in accumulated debts for Iranian gas imports during his recent visit to Tehran.

Al Hurra reported that Baghdad countered by offering to transfer $1 b. to Saudi Arabia to cover Hajj-related fees owed by Iran, allowing Baghdad to manage its relationship with Washington, though this was reportedly rejected.

“Iran doesn’t like the fact that the Americans are getting into Iraq and to its economy on such a massive scale,” Zeidel shared.

This post was originally published on here. 

The Superior Court of Quebec has allowed a B’nai Brith-backed class action lawsuit to proceed on behalf of Jewish students enrolled at McGill University.

In a 16-page written judgment on Tuesday, the Hon. Dominique Poulin said she authorized “plaintiff David Cobrin to institute a class action against McGill University on behalf of a group of Jewish students registered at McGill” and that the cause of action “stands a chance at trial and deserves to be heard.”

The class action, taken by law firm FFMP, is on behalf of all Jewish students registered at McGill University from October 8, 2023, onward (including undergraduate, master’s, continuing education, doctoral, and post-doctoral).

The class action alleges that McGill failed to reasonably enforce its policies in the face of antisemitic and anti-Zionist conduct on its campus, and seeks compensation for Jewish students who were accordingly deprived of a safe, welcoming, and respectful university environment since October 8, 2023.

For example, an anti-Israel encampment on campus involved figures associated with extremist groups and banned student organizations, including Students in Solidarity with Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), which glorified Hamas’ attacks during a series of social media posts on October 7 and 8.

Then, around the one-year anniversary of the events of October 7, SPHR promoted the “week of rage.” Plaintiff Cobrin said he witnessed hundreds of protesters break down and trample the barriers that had been erected to protect the surroundings. He also said he was shocked by the chanting of antisemitic slogans and fearful for his personal safety.

McGill claims allegations do not provide specific measures it could have taken

McGill, however, argued that Cobrin failed to advance allegations of facts that demonstrate when and why McGill should have acted, what measures it should have taken, and why such measures would have been more appropriate than the ones that were taken. McGill also argued that many of the protesters were third parties not subject to its discipline.

It also told the judge that the allegations do not plausibly convince that any specific measure it did not take would have successfully provided a safer environment for Jewish students.

Judge Poulin noted that universities are immune from the intervention of the courts unless exceptional circumstances justify that their decisions and actions be reviewed. She nevertheless overruled the McGill argument, saying that the situation which prevailed at McGill after the events of October 7 was sufficiently “exceptional and complex” to warrant class action.

B’nai Brith CEO calls McGill’s failure ‘unacceptable’

“This judgment is an important first step toward recognizing the lived experience of Jewish students at McGill and, through them, toward ensuring accountability and meaningful change at the institution,” Simon Wolle, B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO, said.

“It is unacceptable that McGill has failed to prevent its campus from descending into a place where Jewish students encounter regular incidents of hate, antisemitism, and extremism.

“B’nai Brith Canada will continue to advocate for the well-being and equal treatment of Jewish students at McGill and throughout Canada,” she said.

“For years, Jewish students at McGill have been harassed, marginalized, and even assaulted,” Paola Samuel, B’nai Brith Canada’s regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, said. “This decision will ensure McGill’s Jewish students have the opportunity to be heard in court.”

This post was originally published on here. 

Turkey’s draft law set to offer amnesty to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) would allow Ankara to shift its intelligence and economic resources from its “long-running counterterrorism campaign” to other regional priorities, Turkish foreign policy analyst Burak Can Celik told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Celik’s comments came a day after Turkey’s ruling alliance submitted a draft law to parliament meant to achieve ‌peace with the PKK, in part by protecting many former militants from prosecution and suspending prison sentences for some others.

The draft law marks a leap toward ending an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people since 1984, sown deep discord at home, and fuelled violence across borders in Iraq and Syria.

He predicted that the most immediate consequences would be seen in Iraq, where a reduced security threat could ease tensions with Baghdad and could, eventually, reduce the intensity of Turkish cross-border military operations, which would “create a more stable environment for energy infrastructure, trade routes, and regional connectivity projects, such as the Development Road.”

However, the end of the PKK threat would not necessarily mean that Turkey would rapidly withdraw its military and intelligence presence from northern Iraq.

PKK deal could reduce Turkey’s Iraq presence, free resources for wider regional goals

Ankara regards its regional security capacity as important not only for countering the PKK, but also for protecting its borders and maintaining regional influence. A reduction in Turkey’s military presence may therefore be possible, but a gradual and conditional adjustment would be more realistic than a complete withdrawal.

Outside Iraq, the end of the long battle against the PKK would also free resources to focus on its interests in Syria, the Black Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, and NATO. Though Celik theorized that Ankara’s foreign policy wasn’t necessarily on the path to moderation.

“Turkey, no longer constrained by such a significant internal security challenge, could act with greater confidence and assertiveness on certain regional issues,” he said. “The outcome of this process could therefore affect not only Turkey’s domestic security environment, but also the balance of power Ankara seeks to establish in its relations with neighboring countries.

The bill would suspend prison sentences for those convicted of PKK membership or aiding the group, according to the text seen by Reuters. It also legally protects militants who were not involved in killings and who return to Turkey within six ‌months of the law passing parliament.

PKK officials convicted of serious crimes, including leading a terrorist organization and aggravated life sentences before 2005, would not benefit from legal protections or suspended sentences. This means PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, jailed since 1999 with an aggravated life sentence, would remain in prison.

Describing Ankara’s decision as “pragmatic,” Celik explained that there were few options to achieve a comprehensive disarmament “without creating a legal exit route for members of the organization who were not directly involved in armed attacks or serious crimes.”

He suggested that “in an environment where everyone who surrenders expects to face automatic arrest and lengthy prison sentences, there may be little incentive for lower-ranking members in particular to lay down their weapons,” and so a limited mechanism for an amnesty can be seen as a way to make disarmament achievable without it being viewed as a concession.

Though efforts began in 2024 to achieve a peace agreement, regional escalation created barriers to achieving a mutually lasting calm. Celik suggested that the reason for the renewed movement is that Ankara has expanded its military capacity, particularly in northern Iraq, while the PKK has come under significant pressure.

“The process appears to be taking place at a moment when the state believes it is in a stronger position than during previous peace initiatives,” he said. “The government is therefore likely to present it not as a negotiation based on mutual concessions, but as the final stage of a long-standing security strategy.”

With elections scheduled for 2028, and new momentum in place to challenge Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s 23-year rule, he added that such a large initiative could not be considered entirely separate from domestic politics.

“Ending the conflict could represent a significant achievement for President Erdogan’s political legacy, reshape the government’s relationship with Kurdish voters, and influence future constitutional discussions,” he explained. “The potential political consequences of the process, as well as the advantages the government may derive from it, are therefore also being debated within Turkey.”

Transparency and legal clarity will determine support for PKK peace process

Longer term, the issue of the PKK has been a challenge of “security and social stability” that would have needed to be addressed eventually, he claimed, adding that the “existence of political motivations does not eliminate the fact that the process may also respond to a genuine and significant strategic need.”

“The decisive question will be how transparently, institutionally, and legally predictably the process is conducted,” he continued, noting that there needed to be a clear and above-board distinction for differentiating between “individuals responsible for serious crimes” and lower-ranking members; also, “proper consideration for the sensitivities of victims will be essential for maintaining public support.”

Failure to ensure these mechanisms are in place could be viewed by one section of society as ”creating impunity,” while another may see it as “insufficient and unrealistic,” Celik warned.

This post was originally published on here. 

The majority of Israelis believe that there is danger to the integrity of the upcoming elections, the July 2026 Israeli Voice Index revealed on Thursday.

According to the index, 72% of Jewish Israelis and 58.5% of Arab Israelis responded to the question, “In your opinion, is there or is there not a danger to the integrity of the elections in Israel?” with some or complete certainty that there was.

A majority of supporters of all the main political blocs agreed that the election’s integrity was in danger, although the exact percentage varied widely. Only 66% of those on the Right agreed that the danger existed, compared to 76% of the Center and 90.5% of the Left.

The poll also revealed that the majority of Israelis still oppose the inclusion of the Ra’am party, led by Mansour Abbas, in the next government. Both Israeli and Arab respondents agreed at similar rates, with 61% and 60% respectively.

Support from the Israeli public was low for some of the controversial laws passed during the Knesset’s legislative blitz prior to the upcoming election, the index indicated.

The survey inquired about the public’s opinion on three laws: the law to stop the arrest of deserters, the gender segregation in higher education law, and the attorney general law.

For all three of these laws, the percentage of respondents who opposed the law was above 50%. The law to halt the arrest of deserters saw the largest percentage in opposition, at 67%.

When it came to the issue of the West Bank, 80% of Jewish respondents said that they believed there was a very or fairly high likelihood of a Palestinian uprising in the foreseeable future, while only 40% of Arabs anticipated the same possibility.

The Israeli public was more split on how security forces treat settler violence. Among Jewish Israelis, the largest share (46%) believe that acts of settler violence against Palestinians are handled too leniently by security forces, while 27% believe that they are handled too harshly. Among Arab Israelis, 54% believe that settler violence is handled too leniently, and 10.5% believe that it is handled too harshly.

Israelis pessimistic about Syria peace treaty possibility

The index also asked questions related to Israel’s foreign policy and international relations.

One of the questions asked was, “In an interview with Al Jazeera, the president of Syria announced that Damascus is seeking a security agreement with Israel that could pave the way to a comprehensive peace. In your opinion, what is the likelihood of reaching a comprehensive peace treaty with Syria?”

The majority of respondents were pessimistic about the possibility of a Syrian peace treaty, with 65% of Jews and 48% of Arabs saying that it was unlikely to occur.

However, the majority (68%) of Jewish Israelis also agreed that a peace agreement with Syria was important for Israel. Only 38% of Arab Israelis thought that this was true.

Largest group says Israel should not strike Iran unless attacked

Opinions on Israel’s potential future actions towards Iran in the ongoing war were heavily split.

The options presented to the respondents were for Israel to avoid all military action against Iran unless directly attacked; for Israel to join United States attacks if requested, but otherwise remain uninvolved; for Israel to attempt to persuade the US to conduct joint attacks against Iran; and for Israel to attack Iran with or without coordination with or agreement from the US.

Of these possibilities, the largest group (37%) opined that Israel should only respond to Iran if directly attacked. On the other hand, one-fifth (20%) believed that Israel should attempt to persuade the US to conduct a joint military operation, and 16% believed that Israel should strike Iran with or without American support. Another 18% thought that Israel should only join the US attacks if requested, and should otherwise not strike.

The results varied significantly based on political affiliation and demographics. Among Arab Israelis and the Left, the percentage of respondents who believed Israel should not involve itself unless struck by Iran was significantly higher (65.5% and 59% respectively) compared to Jewish Israelis and the Right (31.5% and 21% respectively).

The July 2026 Israeli Voice Index was prepared by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute. The survey was conducted via the internet and by telephone (to include groups that are under-represented on the internet) between July 28 and August 2, 2026, with 600 men and women interviewed in Hebrew and 151 in Arabic, constituting a nationally representative sample of the adult population in Israel aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error was ±3.58 % at a confidence level of 95%. Field work was carried out by Shiluv I2R. The full data file can be found at: https://dataisrael.idi.org.il.

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Tamerlan Amshukov, 26, and Alina Kushnirenko, 24, were indicted on Thursday for allegedly carrying out a months-long series of surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions for Iranian agents in exchange for cryptocurrency.

The Tel Aviv District Attorney’s Office charged Amshukov with contact with a foreign agent and 16 counts of providing information that could benefit the enemy. Kushnirenko was charged with eight counts of providing such information.

Prosecutors asked the Tel Aviv District Court to keep the couple in custody until the conclusion of the proceedings against them. They were arrested on July 12 following a joint Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police investigation.

According to the indictment, Amshukov was first approached via Telegram in late 2025 by a profile calling itself “Rafael,” which offered to pay him to visit and film a restaurant in Ashdod. Kushnirenko allegedly warned him that the approach could be connected to terrorist activity, and the assignment was not carried out.

About four months later, another Telegram profile, using the name “Aslan,” offered Amshukov a commission to withdraw money and deliver the cash to another person. He did not carry out that assignment but continued communicating with the profile, prosecutors said.

“Aslan” later allegedly offered to pay Amshukov to conduct surveillance, film addresses, and track individuals whose photographs would be sent to him. The assignments were carried out for “Aslan” and another person calling himself “David,” with payments transferred in cryptocurrency.

Amshukov allegedly accepted the offer and recruited Kushnirenko to assist him. Prosecutors said the pair carried out the assignments between April and July, knowing – or deliberately ignoring the possibility – that they were working for an Iranian agent or another hostile organization.

The couple allegedly filmed residential targets in Ashdod, Beersheba, Haifa, and Kadima-Tzoran, documenting the buildings or homes, their surroundings, and the routes leading to them.

The targets included a Beersheba apartment building where an employee of a defense facility lived, as well as a private home in Kadima-Tzoran belonging to a member of the security services. The indictment said the defendants were sent photographs of the people they were asked to locate but did not know their identities.

At several locations, the handler instructed them to return and repeat the filming because he was dissatisfied with the footage.

Suspects sent to film mall emergency exits, Eilat port

The couple was also allegedly sent to Ramat Aviv Mall in Tel Aviv to document its emergency exits and identify an area not covered by security cameras. Prosecutors said they filmed part of a staircase between the mall’s first and second floors after determining that it did not appear to be under camera surveillance.

In late June, the pair traveled to Eilat, where they allegedly filmed the promenade, coastline, port area, and ships they believed were military vessels. During the journey, Amshukov also filmed a security installation near Dimona without knowing its purpose and sent the footage to the handler.

The handler later instructed the pair to approach a closed military port and photograph ships, telling Amshukov to take a panoramic photograph of a naval base. Amshukov reached the area but left without completing the assignment because he became afraid, according to the indictment.

After complaining about the quality of the footage, the handler allegedly transferred $1,200 for Amshukov to purchase a new phone with a higher-quality camera. Kushnirenko allegedly helped configure the phone before the pair returned to the Eilat promenade and port area and sent additional recordings.

Amshukov was later sent to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where prosecutors said he filmed the entrance, surrounding area, access roads, and IDF soldiers. He returned the following day and allegedly filmed additional parts of the site, including the Herzl Museum.

The handler also proposed assignments that were not completed, including renting an apartment in Haifa and installing a camera overlooking building entrances, finding someone to retrieve a package arriving by sea, transferring money, and recruiting taxi drivers to carry out missions.

Suspected spies received over $4,400 in cryptocurrency

Prosecutors said the defendants received approximately $4,450 in cryptocurrency, while a further $2,300 remained unpaid. They were arrested before carrying out another alleged assignment in Beersheba.

In the detention request, prosecutors said both defendants admitted carrying out the assignments. They initially denied knowing that they were working for Iran but later acknowledged that they had understood this during the Eilat mission and had continued performing tasks, according to the state.

The prosecution said its evidence included material extracted from their phones, videos, and photographs, cryptocurrency-wallet records, communications data, and security-camera footage. Amshukov allegedly deleted most of his correspondence with the handler from his personal phone.

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The US Air Force has begun relocating some of its aerial refueling aircraft that had been stationed at Ben-Gurion Airport in recent weeks, amid ongoing security developments, N12 reported on Thursday.

The move comes after Transportation Minister Miri Regev pressed Israeli security officials to clear the refueling aircraft from the airport in order to ensure normal operations during one of Ben-Gurion‘s busiest travel periods.

More than 2.6 million passengers are expected to pass through Ben-Gurion Airport during August, making it one of the airport’s busiest months since the October 7 massacre.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers expected in Ben-Gurion

Airport authorities expect an average of approximately 100,000 passengers to travel through Ben-Gurion each day throughout the month. Thursdays are forecast to be the busiest days of the week, while Monday, August 17, is expected to be the single busiest day of the month.

The relocation of the US tanker aircraft is intended to free valuable parking and operational space at the airport as airlines continue to handle increased passenger volumes during the summer travel season.

The report did not specify how many aircraft were relocated or where they were transferred.

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