Israel News for 8-21-2026
News Update
Senior Egyptian officials reportedly told senior U.S. officials that the only way to bring about Hamas’ disarmament would be under Israel’s next government. They said they had no expectation of meaningful progress under Israel’s current government and warned that Hamas would only grow stronger. Following Jared Kushner’s meeting in Egypt with senior Hamas officials, sources told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya that Kushner and Mladenov had rejected a Hamas proposal concerning the storage of its weapons. According to the report, they insisted that Hamas surrender its weapons and dismantle its military infrastructure.
France, Germany, Britain and Italy issued a joint condemnation Thursday evening following a tender published by Israel’s Housing Ministry for the construction of 1,234 housing units in the E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. Part of their statement said, “The E1 settlement will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories. International law is clear that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.” A European diplomat said: “Israel explicitly promised its friends on the continent that there would be no progress on construction in E1. This therefore crosses a red line and is a very bad development.” According to the diplomat, European countries are now discussing whether to take measures against Israel even before the election. He estimated that Finance Minister Smotrich was behind the move and that “he is doing it for political reasons.” He also warned that, from the perspective of European countries, advancing construction in E1 could justify a significant shift in policy toward Israel.
Israel’s High Court of Justice unanimously overturned the government’s decision to shut down Army Radio, ruling that the move was based on an improper and invalid consideration. Judges wrote that the decision was driven by “the dissatisfaction of the decision-makers with the fact that the broadcasts, in their view, contradicted their positions.” At the same time, the court rejected the argument that the government lacked the authority to decide Army Radio’s future or that closing the station would necessarily require primary legislation. Justice Kasher wrote: “It cannot be accepted that a holder of governmental authority should decide that because a broadcaster’s words are not to his liking, the broadcaster’s ‘microphone should be shut down’. A government that acts in this way acts in a blatantly undemocratic manner, because the cornerstone on which every democratic government rests is the recognition that the government may not use its power to silence those whose opinions are not to its liking.”
Operations at Ben Gurion airport were disrupted for several hours yesterday by a surprise worker’s strike, causing massive delays and chaos. For more, click here.
