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Bucking lone wolf assessments, Trump says he ‘personally’ believes Iran responsible for flydubai attack

Vance says he hasn't seen conclusive evidence tying Tehran to attempted plane crash * Most Arkia, Israir flights use planes and crews leased from foreign airlines, not subject to all Israel’s security protocols; PM okayed arrangement

Head of the Shin Bet David Zini on November 3, 2025. (Moshe Shai/ FLASH90)

Shin Bet head: The Palestinians do not burn the homes of Jews

Shin Bet chief warns he may reinstate administrative detention for violent settlers

By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

After clashing with Settlements Minister Strock over West Bank violence, Zini says he may seek tougher measures against Jewish extremists, reversing previous stance

Hamas terrorist Abd al-Rahman Maher Abd al-Karim Ziyada is seen by an IDF tank on October 7, 2023, in a photo published by the military on June 28, 2026, stating that he was eliminated. (Israel Defense Forces)

Katz: IDF has killed two-thirds of Oct. 7 perpetrators, will eliminate remaining 2,000

By Emanuel Fabian

Defense minister, citing military's latest figures, says 4,000 of 6,000 terrorists who invaded Israel during Hamas-led attack have been killed

The professor's alleged letter to Moshe Feiglin (left) and a view of Bar Ilan University. (X/used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law/Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Shin Bet reportedly declined to probe alleged terrorist professor, who sought to enlist right-wing figures

Indicted mathematician, who allegedly plotted to assemble terror militia and kill hundreds of Arabs, met with podcaster who apologizes for not informing police; densely-written letter said to outline plans

Former national security adviser Eyal Hulata speaks at an anti-government protest demanding the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into Hamas's onslaught of October 7, 2023, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, February 21, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Lapid: Netanyahu again evading responsibility

Former NSC head pans Netanyahu’s ‘crooked’ flydubai probe, says buck stops with him

By Jeremy Sharon, Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff

Eyal Hulata says Netanyahu should have stepped in after NSC warned in 2024, 2025 of inadequate checks for foreign airlines, says it's same attitude he has toward Oct. 7 responsibility

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a press conference in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026. (Ronen Zvulun, Pool Photo via AP)

Op-ed

The cost of Netanyahu’s consistent evasion of responsibility is paid in lives

From the 2021 Mount Meron disaster to October 7 and the flydubai hijacking attempt, the prime minister repeatedly ignores warnings and shifts the blame to others, with fatal consequences

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Theatron Hotel and Residences

Your home in Jerusalem awaits you in Talbieh

Discover the final four residences at Theatron Residences and find your place for the next luxury chapter of your life in Jerusalem.

Profile

Placed on Likud’s slate, pro-Netanyahu pundit Jacob Bardugo amps up political clout to 11

Jacob Bardugo, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's personally selected candidates for Likud's slate in the October 27, 2026, general elections, at an event in Jerusalem where Netanyahu presented the candidates, September 8, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Doggedly loyal Channel 14 firebrand long operated inside the PM’s political orbit from behind the scenes, but is now set to assume real influence with the No. 11 slot on Likud's electoral slate

Latest Articles

Top ops

Dan Illouz

October 7th could have been prevented

Very few people in Israeli politics can say that had they been prime minister, October 7th would not have happened. Avigdor Liberman can

Alan Abrams

The best educational system in the world — at 34,000 feet

The passengers who saved Flight 1073 showed an Israeli talent for acting fast and working together — a hidden curriculum learned from childhood

Tuvia Book

October 7: What I wrote then, and what I know now

Three years later, I look back at Kfar Aza and Be’eri, the soldiers beside me, and what this war has taught me about courage, loss and who we are

Neta Patrick

What Gloria Steinem can teach us about the Cornell 7

If we teach boys from a young age to be strong without controlling others and to refuse to stand idly by if their peers get violent, we can prevent sexual violence

Lisi Levisohn

What the sukkah lets in

The sukkah’s flimsy walls remind us to open our hearts to the pain, the joy and the needs of other people - even when they’re not ’one of our own’

Shimon Sheves

Flydubai: Luck is not a security policy

A bathroom trip, a wounded captain and a few brave passengers prevented a catastrophe. That should trigger an investigation, not a photo op

Peter Buchsbaum

Peter Buchsbaum

Baseless hatred

The repeated attacks on Reform synagogues should alarm all who care about Israel. Hatred that divides Jew from Jew betrays both Judaism and Zionism.

Shalom Yerushalmi

Shalom Yerushalmi

Three years after October 7, Israel’s citizens and its leaders are worlds apart

The tragic story of Ambassador Leiter’s family reflects a society united in crisis, yet fundamentally betrayed by politicians who actively evade responsibility for their failures

Leonard Felson

My son didn’t walk away from Judaism. I walked away from him

His intermarriage awakened my fears about betraying our Jewish ancestors. It took 10 years to understand that the living were waiting for my love

Jonathan Jacoby

Jonathan Jacoby

An open letter to Jonathan Greenblatt: This time, choose engagement

The ADL praised Trump while criticizing parts of his antisemitism policy. Why not take the same approach to Mamdani’s new plan for safeguarding Jewish New Yorkers?

Michael Oren

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 and the indomitability of the Jews

We love life in ways that will always outpace the death-cult of those who would destroy us and we will always rise up to defend it - even if we had somewhere else to go

Ari Applbaum

What Sukkot knows about the mental load

Despite our egalitarian ideals, my wife runs our home for 51 weeks a year. And then, for one long holiday, Jewish law gives men like me that experience

Anti-Zionist protesters outside a school and synagogue in New York City, January 8, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

US court dismisses federal case against New Jersey synagogue protesters

Judge grants dismissal for anti-Zionist protesters in case that had sought to make novel use of an abortion clinic law to protect houses of worship

Britain’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski attends a Green Party conference in Brighton, Britain, October 2, 2026. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

UK Jews ‘appalled’ as Green Party brands Zionism as racism, calls to erase Israel

Leading organizations describe the resolution as an 'antisemitic platform' and an 'attack on the Jewish community,' accuse the party of embracing extremism

promoted content

“It is only getting harder.”

Three years after October 7, we can honor those we lost by supporting the ones they left behind. Help us be there for them. Today. Tomorrow. Always.

Don't miss the first of ToI's election events

ToI Presents: Israel’s most fateful election?

Join us in Tel Aviv on Monday as former PM and FM Yair Lapid talks with David Horovitz about the stakes for Israel and Jews worldwide. Plus an election panel with multiple top candidates.

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces expel Houthis from areas around key strait: officials

Backdropped by an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tanker, a Yemeni soldier sails in waters north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Mokha, Yemen, April 6, 2026 (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)

By Ahmed al-Haj and Samy Magdy

Under cover of airstrikes by 100 Saudi jets, government units take areas around Bab el-Mandeb Strait, capture towns of Bab and Hadeid

Top ops

Dan Illouz

October 7th could have been prevented

Very few people in Israeli politics can say that had they been prime minister, October 7th would not have happened. Avigdor Liberman can

Alan Abrams

The best educational system in the world — at 34,000 feet

The passengers who saved Flight 1073 showed an Israeli talent for acting fast and working together — a hidden curriculum learned from childhood

Tuvia Book

October 7: What I wrote then, and what I know now

Three years later, I look back at Kfar Aza and Be’eri, the soldiers beside me, and what this war has taught me about courage, loss and who we are

Neta Patrick

What Gloria Steinem can teach us about the Cornell 7

If we teach boys from a young age to be strong without controlling others and to refuse to stand idly by if their peers get violent, we can prevent sexual violence

Lisi Levisohn

What the sukkah lets in

The sukkah’s flimsy walls remind us to open our hearts to the pain, the joy and the needs of other people - even when they’re not ’one of our own’

Shimon Sheves

Flydubai: Luck is not a security policy

A bathroom trip, a wounded captain and a few brave passengers prevented a catastrophe. That should trigger an investigation, not a photo op

Peter Buchsbaum

Peter Buchsbaum

Baseless hatred

The repeated attacks on Reform synagogues should alarm all who care about Israel. Hatred that divides Jew from Jew betrays both Judaism and Zionism.

Shalom Yerushalmi

Shalom Yerushalmi

Three years after October 7, Israel’s citizens and its leaders are worlds apart

The tragic story of Ambassador Leiter’s family reflects a society united in crisis, yet fundamentally betrayed by politicians who actively evade responsibility for their failures

Leonard Felson

My son didn’t walk away from Judaism. I walked away from him

His intermarriage awakened my fears about betraying our Jewish ancestors. It took 10 years to understand that the living were waiting for my love

Jonathan Jacoby

Jonathan Jacoby

An open letter to Jonathan Greenblatt: This time, choose engagement

The ADL praised Trump while criticizing parts of his antisemitism policy. Why not take the same approach to Mamdani’s new plan for safeguarding Jewish New Yorkers?

Michael Oren

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 and the indomitability of the Jews

We love life in ways that will always outpace the death-cult of those who would destroy us and we will always rise up to defend it - even if we had somewhere else to go

Ari Applbaum

What Sukkot knows about the mental load

Despite our egalitarian ideals, my wife runs our home for 51 weeks a year. And then, for one long holiday, Jewish law gives men like me that experience

From 'Where Do We Belong,' a documentary about a group of friends from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, playing on Yes Docu on October 5, 2026 (Courtesy)

New documentaries mourn all that was lost on October 7

By Jessica Steinberg

To mark the three-year anniversary, TV channels screen films about the survivors and victims of the Hamas terrorist onslaught

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What October 7 means to those who answered the call

Through firsthand video testimonies, ZAKA volunteers revisit the day that changed Israel and share how they continue to serve and rebuild.

ToI podcast

Daily Briefing Oct. 5 – Will IDF’s Oct. 7 lessons learned in blood be implemented?

By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Emanuel Fabian

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian updates us on a strike on Gaza's de facto leader and how the military is recognizing its failures while adapting to new realities

Palestinian children sit amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 10, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

From the blogs

Donniel Hartman

Israel must defend itself — without defending the indefensible

Rejecting false accusations against Israel must not mean denying its real moral failures. To reclaim our voice, we need to learn to do both

Police guard a road leading to RAF Fairford, in Fairford, England, September 28, 2026. (Alastair Grant/AP)

Explainer

What to know about the suspected bomb plot against UK air base used by the US

6 arrested, including British-Iranian national held on suspicion of plotting terror attack, but all later released on bail; officials link case to Iran, but mum on details

Israelis view France and Spain as most antisemitic in Europe

Survey: Israelis feel more Middle Eastern, less connected to Europe in wake of Oct. 7

An Israeli flag flies over an agricultural field in the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz as members take part in traditional Shavuot celebrations, on May 22, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

Hebrew University poll finds stronger Israeli identity, growing skepticism of EU and wide gap with Europeans over where Jews are safest to live

The race to 61

The Times of Israel's electoral dashboard — polling by Zman Yisrael.
Tap or hover over a party name for more info.

Knesset seat projections over time

Possible coalitions according to the latest poll

*Joint List and Ra'am may support a coalition without formally joining

Where the parties stand on key issues

Watch: TOI Shorts

British Jews reclaim history at 'The Battle of Cable Street' commemoration

British Jews reclaim history at 'The Battle of Cable Street' commemoration

‘Is there a doctor or pilot?’: New video shows chaos on flydubai flight

‘Is there a doctor or pilot?’: New video shows chaos on flydubai flight

Inside Israel's massive sci-fi and fantasy fest

Inside Israel's massive sci-fi and fantasy fest

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit’s No. 2 candidate, Tally Gotliv, trade

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit’s No. 2 candidate, Tally Gotliv, trade

Saudi medics seen caring for Israeli flydubai passengers after landing at Tabuk airport

Saudi medics seen caring for Israeli flydubai passengers after landing at Tabuk airport

Video shows passengers clapping and singing as flydubai plane lands in Saudi Arabia

Video shows passengers clapping and singing as flydubai plane lands in Saudi Arabia

Peoples of Israel: Hannah Pasternak-Shames, the wayfinder

Peoples of Israel: Hannah Pasternak-Shames, the wayfinder

There Is No Other Place DocuNation

There Is No Other Place DocuNation

ToI at sea: Israel’s newest, largest submarine arrives

ToI at sea: Israel’s newest, largest submarine arrives

Ancient ritual bath complex uncovered at foot of Temple Mount

Ancient ritual bath complex uncovered at foot of Temple Mount

Children arrive for their first day of school at Gamla School in the northern town of Katzrin, on September 1, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

After three years of war, Israeli kids bear the brunt of still-rising mental toll

By Diana Bletter

Clalit Health Services finds psychiatric emergency visits among children and adolescents rose 121.3% last year; PTSD diagnoses across population doubled after October 7 and continue to rise

More Headlines

Samoan Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt watches a rugby match between Auckland’s Tipene College and Samoa’s Wesley College with his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon in the village of Faleula, Samoa, on March 17, 2026. (Ben STRANG/AFP)

Samoan PM apologizes for Nazi salute and saying ‘Heil Hitler’ in resurfaced video

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY

Yoav Segalovitz, at a press conference announcing a joint Knesset run with Ra'am, in Nazareth. August 31, 2026. (Michael Giladi/FLASH90)

Gunfire pierces the air as Ra’am’s Segalovitz speaks to locals in Rahat

Door attendants secure the doors of the transfer vans containing the remains of US Army Reserve soldiers Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, Maj. Cody Khork, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, Master Sgt. Class Nicole Amor, Master Sgt. Class Noah Tietjens, Sgt. Declan Coady, during a casualty return, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, who were killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Months after deadly Iranian attack, US soldiers’ families are struggling

By Russ Bynum and Jack Brook

This combination of photos shows Flavio Bolsonaro, left, in Sao Paulo, on September 29, 2026 and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Rio de Janeiro, on September 23, 2026. (AP)

Bolsonaro leads Lula in vote as Brazil advances to a runoff presidential election

By Mauricio SAVARESE, Eléonore HUGHES and ANNA-CATHERINE BRIGIDA

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a news conference with France President Emmanuel Macron in Madrid, Spain, September 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Spanish PM Sanchez calls snap election for Nov. 29 amid pressure over housing crisis

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and Joseph Wilson

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel are shown on the screen as they are awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, as announced during a press conference at the Nobel Forum at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, October 5, 2026. (Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency via AP)

Nobel medicine prize goes to three scientists for research into brain activity

By KOSTYA MANENKOV, LAURAN NEERGAARD and ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN

Israel’s Liel Abada passes the ball by Ireland’s Owen Elding during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between the Republic of Ireland and Israel in Backa Topola, Serbia, October 4, 2026. (AP/Darko Vojinovic)

Israel ties Ireland 1:1 as both teams don black armbands for tense UEFA game

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Screen captures from video of country singer Zach Bryan wearing a 'Free Palestine' shirt as he performs at the Gillette Stadium outside Boston, October 2, 2026. (X: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Country star Zach Bryan performs in ‘Free Palestine’ shirt at Gillette Stadium

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Britain's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Ex-UK prince Andrew asks court ‘to quash search warrants’ of residences in Epstein probe

By AFP

This undated photo released by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East shows the institute workers in a lab. (The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East via AP)

Siberian plague institute worker said to die of unknown cause after illness

By AP

Students work under Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights posters on display in a classroom at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas, October 16, 2025. (AP/Eric Gay)

Texas wins case forcing school district to display Ten Commandments in classrooms

By Sharon Udasin

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signs an order to reduce the excise tax on gasoline to bring down fuel prices at the pump, October 5, 2026. (X/Bezalel Smotrich)

Government trims price at pump, days after it reached record high

Popular

Those we have lost

Stories of the civilians and soldiers who have fallen in the Israel-Hamas war

Tal Katz (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Tal Katz, 37: Medical equipment technician moonlit as trance DJ

Killed in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7 after fleeing there from the Supernova music festival

Eitan Ziv and Tami Peleg Ziv (Courtesy)

Those We Have Lost

Eitan Ziv, 74, Tami Peleg Ziv, 72: Lives entwined with nation’s history

Murdered in their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7

Moshe Ridler (Courtesy)

Those We Have Lost

Moshe Ridler, 91: Holocaust survivor was ‘kibbutz grandfather’

Murdered alongside his caregiver by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Holit on October 7

Master Sgt. Ari Zenilman, 32, who fell in battle with Hamas on December 10, 2023, pictured with his three children less than a week before Hamas's October 7 massacre and subsequent start of the 2024 Israel-Hamas War. (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Master Sgt. Ari Zenilman, 32: Dedicated father with a brilliant mind

Killed while fighting Hamas in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on December 10

Staff Sgt. Noa Price, who was killed in Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023. (IDF)

Those We Have Lost

Staff Sgt. Noa Price, 20: ‘Planned to take the world by storm’

Observation soldier was killed when Hamas terrorists overran the Nahal Oz IDF base on October 7

Dror Kaplun (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Dror Kaplun, 68: Grandfather who had just begun to enjoy retirement

Murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, his death confirmed on December 7

Sgt. Nahman Dekel, 20, was killed while fighting Hamas in Kibbutz Sufa on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Sgt. Nahman Dekel, 20: Fun brother who ‘did everything with a smile’

Killed in combat with Hamas terrorists in the Sufa IDF outpost on October 7

Staff Sgt. Bar Rozenshtein (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Staff Sgt. Bar Rozenshtein, 20: Computer whiz who chose to be a Golani

Killed battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7

Sgt. Ilay Bar Sadeh (IDF)

Those we have lost

Sgt. Ilay Bar Sadeh, 19: Golani soldier who was ‘hungry for life’

Killed battling the Hamas attack on the Yiftah IDF outpost on October 7

Natalia Demidova (Courtesy)

Those we have lost

Natalia Demidova, 39: Ukrainian tourist slain in Sderot

Murdered by Hamas terrorists in Sderot on October 7

Tales of the Times

The quirky, improbable, infuriating and uplifting

Passenger Yaniv Hayun, with bloodstains on his shirt, one of the Israelis who helped subdue a flydubai copilot who allegedly sought to hijack and crash a plane full of Israelis, at Ben Gurion Airport, September 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)

Ode to a plumber

‘My kind of guy’: Trump posts video thanking flydubai hero

'He's a Trump fan and I'm a fan of his,' says US president in TikTok clip praising Yaniv Hayun, who helped subdue attacker and then managed to level out the passenger jet as it nosedived

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, September 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Calm under pressure

Trump marvels at plumber who pulled flydubai plane out of dive

After update from Netanyahu on dramatic flight, US president says he heard Israeli passenger seized controls and 'leveled out the plane,' muses that copilot attacker was 'whack-job'

Voices from the Gaza Border Communities, an exhibit through October 8, 2026 at Jaffa's Amiad Center (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

South comes to Jaffa

Exhibit highlights art from area invaded on October 7

'Voices from the Gaza Border Communities,' showing in Jaffa, presents works by 75 artists from the Western Negev -- those who survived the Hamas-led attack, and those who didn't

By Jessica Steinberg

Israeli singer Noga Erez performs in Katzrin on October 4, 2023 (Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Not the end of the road

From ‘pariah’ to sold-out shows: Noga Erez on career during war

Indie singer gives first Hebrew media interview in years, with partner Ori Rousso: 'You think you're finished'

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative: Children with a basket of treats. (Vadym Terelyuk/iStock)

Sweet comeback

Sunkist Fruit Gems to return after Jewish community scare

Beloved candy tossed at weddings and bar mitzvahs will be back on shelves after discontinuation prompts synagogue-goers to panic-buy stock

By Shira Li Bartov

Screenshots from a video posted by user FreeSpirit666 on TikTok, on September 14, 2026, captioned “Prices at Auschwitz". (Screenshots/FreeSpirit666 via TikTok)

Sour taste

British tourist’s TikTok critique of Auschwitz Museum’s café goes viral

'This is a concentration camp where thousands died, not a 5 star restaurant experience,' says one commenter on since-deleted video

The exterior of the restored Tiferet Synagogue in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, open for tours during Batim Mibifnim in October 2026 (Jewish Quarter Tourism)

Opportunity knocks

Jerusalem’s homes and institutions open to the public

Annual architecture festival Open House Jerusalem to take place over two October weekends, with free tours of sites around the capital

By Jessica Steinberg

Former star striker Wayne Rooney stands on the pitch before the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Liverpool, England, November 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

'Roo the Jew'

British soccer legend Wayne Rooney reveals Jewish ancestry

Raised Catholic and once interested in becoming a priest, former England striker learns his great-grandmother fled Poland for Liverpool

Screen grab from video of British pop star Boy George announcing an upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, in a video posted to social media, September 22, 2026. (Boy George)

'It is my honor'

British pop star Boy George to perform in Israel in November

Staunchly pro-Israel artist expresses his gratitude at being invited to give concert, promises 'an evening of positivity, and love, and good vibes'

By Jessica Steinberg

Illustrative: A Shabbat table (iStock by Getty Images)

Hungry for unity

Room for one more? Campaign bridges divides by breaking bread

Grassroots initiative urges Jews to invite someone outside their usual circles this Sukkot, building on successful trial run over Tisha B'Av