Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-26-2025

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News Update

The remains of Dror Or, 48, from Kibbutz Be’eri, who was murdered there on Oct. 7, were returned to Israel yesterday. His partner, Yonat Or, was also killed on Oct. 7 and 2 of their children, Alma and Noam, were abducted to Gaza and released in the hostage deal in November 2023. Two hostage bodies remain in Gaza: Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

The air force struck 6 Hamas terrorists who apparently emerged from a tunnel in Rafah and were attempting to flee to Hamas controlled territory. Four terrorists were eliminated and 2 arrested.

IDF and Shin Bet officials announced today that they had a begun a ‘wide-scale’ counterterrorism operation in norther Samaria overnight, saying they would not allow ‘terror groups to entrench themselves in the region.’

Argentine President Javier Milei told Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar yesterday, during a meeting in Buenos Aires, that he intends to open an Argentine embassy in Jerusalem during his next visit to Israel, expected to be in the spring of 2026. Milei, who is a staunch supporter of Israel (and isn’t Jewish), has a mezuzah affixed to the doorway of his office and a personal prayer book he keeps at his desk.

Israel has signed a U.S.-led joint statement at the United Nations condemning China for human rights violations. Israel usually doesn’t engage in diplomatic moves against China, since China is a major trading partner and investor in Israel. The other signatories of the statement include Albania, Australia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Palau, Paraguay, San Marino, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-25-2025

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News Update

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced today that they will hand over the body of an Israeli hostage at 4 p.m. local time.

The police’s Yamam counterterrorism unit, operating in Nablus, killed the terrorist who ran over and killed two IDF soldiers in May of last year. The terrorist had been on the run for 18 months. Shortly after the terror attack, he surrendered to the Palestinian Authority police, but was released after claiming the incident was a traffic accident.

In an executive order yesterday, President Trump set the groundwork for the designation of chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations, which would prohibit American from doing business with them and allow their assets in the U.S. to be frozen.

A 10 year report by non-profit Leket Israel reveals that approximately NIS 211 billion worth of food has been wasted in Israel over the past decade, with 2.6 million tons discarded in 2024 alone, valued at NIS 26.2 billion and representing about 39% of domestically produced food. Approximately 1.5 million Israelis face food insecurity.

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-24-2025

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News Update

An IDF airstrike in Beirut’s Dahieh district on Sunday eliminated Hezbollah’s No. 2 leader and Chief of Staff Haytham ‘Ali Tabataba’i. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel “will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its strength,” and called on the Lebanese government to fulfill its obligations and disarm the terror group. Senior IDF officers say that the army is likely on the verge of a short, preemptive operation to further weaken and deter Hezbollah from rebuilding. To read more, click here.

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-21-2025

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News Update

Five of the Hamas terrorists stuck in the tunnel in Rafah were eliminated by the IDF this morning while trying to escape to the Gazan side of the yellow line. There are thought to be around 80 still in the tunnels. Meanwhile, IDF forces arrested 60 terror suspects, including 18 Hamas members, in counter-terror operations in Judea and Samaria this week.

Over 100 senior military representatives from nearly 20 countries in a 5 day program hosted by the IDF, to learn from the IDF’s recent experience during 2 years of war. Topics covered included advances in the military use of data and AI, the co-ordination of drones and artillery to protect advancing troops, and how to increase the chances of injured soldiers surviving their wounds. The countries represented included the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland, France, India, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Estonia, Japan, Morocco, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. [Wait, didn’t most of them say that the IDF was carrying out “genocide”?]

Twenty six former hostages met with President Trump in the White House yesterday to thank him. Trump said, “You are not a hostage anymore — today, you are heroes, you’re truly heroes.”

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-19-2025

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News Update

President Trump met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House yesterday where he said that the Saudis would get F-35 jets and that Israel would be very happy about it, implying that the Saudis would normalize relations with Israel. MBS was open to the idea, but insisted on tying it to Palestinian statehood, or at least a path to it. I think Israel is fine with a “path”, which would require many things to go right before becoming a reality. Israel commentators are saying that it is unlikely that MBS would normalize relations ahead of Israeli elections (in a year) because that would help Netanyahu and Likud. Netanyahu would most likely not accept any “path” to Palestinian statehood ahead of elections either, because it would hurt him with his electorate.

An IDF drone strike targeted a Hamas training camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon yesterday. 13 terrorists were reportedly killed. On Sunday a drone strike targeted a car carrying 2 Hezbollah commanders, killing at least one of them. The IDF is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, IDF Chief of staff and the Shin Bet Director toured southern Syria today, amid reports of talks toward an agreement with Syria.

The man murdered in the terror attack yesterday was Aharon Cohen, 71, from Kiryat Arba. The father of one of the 2 Palestinian terrorists who murdered Cohen and wounded 3 others and who were killed, praised his son for dying as a martyr and said that he had looked forward to such an event his whole life.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the state must act as quickly as possible to formulate an effective enforcement policy toward draft evaders from the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community, including criminal enforcement and economic and social measures.

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-18-2025

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News Update

The UN Security Council approved President Trump’s plan for Gaza yesterday. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog applauded the vote. Netanyahu said the plan “will lead to peace and prosperity because it insists upon full demilitarization, disarmament and the deradicalization of Gaza,” and that it would “lead to further integration of Israel and its neighbors as well as expansion of Abraham Accords,” which will ultimately “help lead the region to peace and prosperity.”

The plan, now approved by the UN, allows the IDF to remain in over half of Gaza, as opposed to demanding a full withdrawal like in past proposals. Hamas rejected the UN decision. The plan will be overseen and implemented by the “Board of Peace”, led by Trump. The approved plan does not explicitly call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, although it does say that they could be a pathway to a state in the future, but only if the Palestinian Authority reforms and transforms into a peaceful, non corrupt, body committed to living peacefully with Israel (so we have nothing to worry about). Meanwhile, the PA has formally shut down its system for transferring monthly salary payments to Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Two terrorists attempted to run over pedestrians at the Gush Etzion junction before getting out of their car with knives and stabbing people. A man in his 30s was killed, a 40yr. old woman was seriously wounded, and a 30yr. old man and a 15yr. old boy were moderately hurt. The terrorists were shot and killed by soldiers.

President Trump said yesterday that he plans to approve the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. Trump is meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington today. Saudi Arabia has requested to buy as many as 48 of the jets. It’s unclear yet whether Trump will demand that Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in order to get the jets.

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-17-2025

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News Update

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Iran has transferred about one billion dollars to Hezbollah since the beginning of the year to rearm. Much of the funding was channeled through money-exchange agencies and cash-based businesses, using legitimate financial mechanisms to disguise its origin and destination. Last week a U.S. delegation visiting Lebanon warned the country’s top leadership that Hezbollah funding must be stopped. The delegation’s head reportedly warned that failing to stem Hezbollah’s financing could force the United States “to leave Beirut to its fate.” Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, new smuggling routes for weapons have been established via Turkey and the sea. Weapons components are smuggled into Lebanon, where they are then assembled or used to manufacture weapons. Israel has been continuously striking Hezbollah weapons production and smuggling, but much more will likely need to be done.

Hamas leaders have reportedly approached senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA) with a request to store their weapons instead of destroying them. The PA doesn’t seem eager to help Hamas. In any case, it doesn’t look like Hamas is planning to disarm. How will that effect President Trumps 20 point peace agreement and the ceasefire?

Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-14-2025

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News Update

The body of Meny Godard, 73, was returned to Israel last night from Gaza. A resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, he was murdered on October 7 alongside his wife Ayelet, 63. The bodies of 2 Israelis and one Thai remain in Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas is consolidating its power on its part of Gaza, which includes the overwhelming majority of civilians, and is not disarming. Residents say Hamas is imposing taxes on goods and fines on merchants. At the same time, a US State Department spokesperson stressed that “Hamas cannot and will not govern Gaza.” How will this play out?

With the current 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expiring in 2028, Israel is seeking to double the next MOU’s length from 10 to 20 years. Israel is also reportedly proposing that some of the funds be used for joint U.S.-Israeli research and development, rather than direct military aid — partners rather than dependents.

MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionist Party) submitted a bill signed by 26 Knesset members to remove the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron from the ownership of the Waqf and place it under Israeli governance. It also calls for all restrictions upon Jewish visitation and prayer at the site to be removed. The United Arab Emirates condemned the move, calling it a “grave violation of the historical and legal status quo at the Ibrahimi Mosque”.

Indonesia’s defense minister said that Indonesia has trained up to 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks during a planned peacekeeping operation in the Gaza Strip, if it is approved to do so. For more, click here.

Trump Letter to Herzog

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Israel news summary

Israel News for 11-12-2025

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News Update

President Herzog today received a letter from President Trump urging him to pardon Prime minister Netanyahu. While emphasizing that he respects “the independence of the Israeli justice system,” Trump described the criminal proceedings against Netanyahu as “a political, unjustified prosecution,” adding that Netanyahu “has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran.” Herzog responded that before considering it, Netanyahu would first have to request a pardon, according to Israeli law.

Here is the letter:

Head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, reportedly is demanding expanded legal powers to tackle a growing wave of settler violence, including the authority to impose heavy fines. His request came amid mounting pressure from IDF field commanders urging the reinstatement of administrative detention orders for Jewish extremists, Defense Minister Katz canceled earlier this year. Yesterday, Bluth, leading an IDF exercise, happen to witness around 100 settler youth attacking a Palestinian village in northern Samaria.

Since the start of the year, 400 people have died in car accidents in Israel. 28% of those killed this year were pedestrians, 22% were motorcycle or electric-bike riders, and 21% were drivers or passengers in private vehicles. The last time the figure was this high was in 2005, when 465 people were killed. The Transportation Ministry is preparing a proposal to present to the government for funding a national road safety program.