Aug. 4: Saudi report says Hamas under pressure to show flexibility, but unclear if new talks in offing

IDF says air defense systems working to down ballistic missile from Yemen

The IDF says a ballistic missile was fired at Israel from Yemen, with air defenses working to intercept the projetile.

The military calls on the public to heed the orders of the Home Front Command, as sirens are activated in parts of central Israel and in communities near Jerusalem due to the Houthi attack.

Saudi report says Hamas under pressure to show flexibility, but unclear if new talks in offing

Saudi news outlet al-Hadath quotes a Palestinian source saying that Israeli reports indicating that the government is leaning toward a major expansion of military action in Gaza, including taking over the whole Strip, appear to “precede a new round of negotiations in the coming days.”

It is unclear if the source is speaking from knowledge of actual plans for talks or speculating on the subtext for the reports.

The source is quoted saying that contacts have continued since talks broke down late last month, and that there is heavy pressure from all sides on Hamas to show more flexibility.

The negotiators have not closed the door to a partial deal, the outlet cites the source as saying.

The tone is starkly different in Israel, where reports continue to portray Jerusalem’s view as being that talks are hopeless, pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward seeking to meet the war’s goals via an expansion of fighting.

Gal Hirsch, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s point man on hostage issues, sent a message to families of captives tonight telling them that the issue, including the negotiations, is continuing to be discussed at the highest levels, the Ynet news site reports.

“Since the return of the delegation from Doha, there have been constant situational assessments dealing with the state of the hostages, the state of talks, and plans for various alternatives,” he told them in a message, according to the report. “We are working through the whole range of our abilities and in various ways in an effort to free the hostages.”

Two defense officials tells Reuters that the military is expected Tuesday to present the political leadership with alternatives that include extending into areas of Gaza where it has not yet operated.

While some in the cabinet are pushing for expanding the offensive, the military is concerned that doing so will endanger the 20 hostages who are still alive, the officials say.

Zamir calls off trip to US for Centcom handover as Gaza expansion looms

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a multi-front situational assessment at the Glilot base near Herzliya, July 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has canceled plans for short trip to the United States, according to a military source.

The source says the trip was conditioned on there being a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and since that is not the case, he will not be flying tonight.

Zamir was set to attend the handover ceremony of the head of the US Central Command, as well as meet with US officials at the Pentagon, and leaders of Jewish groups, according to the IDF.

Because there is no ceasefire, “and due to the difficult situation of the hostage issue, and the great responsibility on his shoulders, he decided to cancel his trip,” the source adds.

Amman says Israelis blocking Jordanian aid trucks from reaching Gaza

Palestinians ride on a truck loaded with food and humanitarian aid as it moves along the Morag corridor near Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 4, 2025. (AP/ Mariam Dagga)

Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad Al-Momani claims Israelis are “attacking” trucks carrying humanitarian aid from Jordan to the Gaza Strip, preventing the vehicles from making it to the enclave.

According to Momani, several trucks were forced to turn back yesterday after being accosted in Israel.

He says some of the attacks resulted in injuries, but does not offer details.

Momani called on Israel must urgently intervene to prevent these incidents, al-Momani says in remarks carried by Jordan’s official Petra news agency.

Israeli settlers blocked flour trucks from Jordan heading to Gaza to prevent the delivery of aid to starving Palestinians. – PressTV pic.twitter.com/g92D9s08fa

— Emelia (@vikingwarior20) August 4, 2025

Israel says Hezbollah man killed in Lebanon drone strike

A Hezbollah operative was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Khiam earlier today, the military says.

Since a November 2024 ceasefire, the IDF says it has killed over 230 Hezbollah operatives in strikes in Lebanon, saying those targeted were violating the terms of the truce.

Netanyahu’s son calls Qatari leader ‘modern-day Hitler’

Yair Netanyahu arrives for a court hearing in Tel Aviv, on November 29, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90/ File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair brands Qatari Emir Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani and his mother Moza bint Nasser “the modern-day Hitler and Goebbels,” claiming that Doha is “the main force behind the unprecedented wave of antisemitism around the world, not seen since the 1930s and 1940s.”

“Every Jew around the world is in grave danger because of the decades-long vilification of Jews and the Jewish state by Qatar, fueled by the billions of dollars they pour into it,” the younger Netanyahu tweets, without elaborating.

The latest controversial post from Netanyahu, who has been accused in the past of promoting conspiracy theories, is made during another impasse in hostage negotiations that are being co-mediated by Qatar.

Qatar is the main force behind the unprecedented wave of antisemitism around the world, not seen since the 1930s and 1940s.
Qatar is the modern-day Nazi Germany.
Every Jew around the world is in grave danger because of the decades-long vilification of Jews and the Jewish state by…

— Yair Netanyahu🇮🇱 (@YairNetanyahu) August 4, 2025

Just last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against criticism of Qatar, asserting that Doha has played a helpful role in the negotiations.

Critics of Doha have pointed to its close ties to Hamas and its funding to Gaza that indirectly allowed the terror group to prioritize building up its arsenal to attack Israel.

Qatar, in turn, has argued that Israel — and the US — lobbied for Doha to make such payments in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Several of the Israeli premier’s aides are currently under investigation over work they allegedly performed on behalf of the Gulf state.

J Street head says he’s convinced Gaza war is a genocide

The president of dovish Mideast lobby J Street says he can no longer argue against those characterizing Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide.

“Until now, I have tried to deflect and defend when challenged to call this genocide,” Jeremy Ben Ami writes in a post on Substack published yesterday. “I have, however, been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention.”

J Street, which characterizes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace and lobbies lawmakers in Washington to adopt policies that advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, appears to become one of the most prominent Jewish American groups to legitimize the use of the term.

“The personal pain of my own family from a crime that I believe has no parallel – and my association of the word genocide exclusively with that event — means I am unlikely to use the term myself,” Ben Ami writes. “But I cannot and will not argue any more against those using the term. I simply won’t defend the indefensible.”

Hostages David, Braslavski have lost dangerous amount of body weight, medical team says

Still images of hostages Ram Braslavski (left) and Evyatar David from Hamas propaganda videos, cleared for publication by their families in August 2025. (Composite screenshot)

The medical team of the Hostages Forum assesses that hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski are severely underweight and face the risk of multi-system failure, based on footage recently published by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

David has lost nearly half of his body weight, while Braslavski has dropped 31 percent, the team assesses in a new report.

In the video of David, he is shown skeletal and digging what he said he feared was his grave.

David’s first cousin, Matan Eshet, told The Times of Israel that the family did not pay close attention to the medical team’s statement.

“They can tell me his medical condition and the statistics, but he’s in such bad shape that I can see it with my own eyes,” says Eshet. “I don’t need a degree to tell me that he’s on the brink of death.”

David’s family first caught a glimpse of the video on Telegram on Friday night, but did not watch it, says Eshet, knowing it would break their spirits.

“I was broken when I saw it,” says Eshet. “My cousin doesn’t look or sound like himself. He looks like a copy of a copy of a copy of Evyatar.”

Eshet said he had hoped for a glimpse of the cousin he knows. What angers him the most was seeing the meaty hand of the Hamas terrorist shown in the uncut video, next to David’s emaciated, wasted body.

He says he is taking a break from social media because he keeps seeing his cousin’s face.

“I see it every time I close my eyes,” says Eshet.

Israel puts image of starving hostage on Times Square billboard

In a high-profile move aimed at raising international awareness, the Israeli Foreign Ministry — together with the Consulate General of Israel in New York — is broadcasting footage from a recently released video of emaciated hostage Evyatar David on a large screen in New York’s Times Square.

The footage is accompanied by captions reading “Hamas is starving the Israeli hostages,” and “Ignored by the media too busy echoing Hamas propaganda.”

David was abducted by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and is being held in Gaza under dire conditions.

Evyatar David was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova festival.
He’s being starved in Gaza.

With @IsraelinNewYork , we brought his story to Times Square because the world can no longer look away.

The hostages must be front and center on the global agenda.

We will not rest until… pic.twitter.com/XbWtQ8GzVx

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) August 4, 2025

“This is what real hunger looks like. This is what truth looks like,” Consul General Ofir Akunis says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

“Evyatar David is being starved by a Nazi terrorist organization that dares, with the backing of parts of the media, to spread the blood libel that Israel is starving the people of Gaza,” Akunis says.

US speaker says West Bank belongs to Jews ‘by right’ in settlement visit

Mike Johnson, left, and Yair Chetboun tour the settlement of Ariel on August 4, 2025. (Courtesy, Ariel Municipal Authority)

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson says that the “mountains of Judea and Samaria” belong to the Jewish people “by right,” during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Ariel, according to a statement by the settlement’s municipal authority.

Johnson, who is among the most senior US officials to ever visit a West Bank settlement, speaks at a celebratory event attended by Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun and the mayors of other West Bank settlements.

“Every corner of this land is important to us. It is an integral part of our faith, and therefore the significance for us is great… We stand entirely by your side,” says Johnson, according to the statement.

“Scripture teaches us that the mountains of Judea and Samaria were promised to the Jewish people, and they belong to them by right. But many people around the world do not see it like this, they label it the ‘occupied territories’ or the ‘West Bank’ or any other name,” he adds. “Every mayor here should know exactly where we stand regarding this issue — and we stand with you.”

His spokesperson does not respond to a request for comment.

Along with Johnson, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, his daughter, and Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee-Sanders also participate in the US delegation, along with Republican congressmen Nathaniel Moran, Michael McCaul, Claudia Tenney, and Michael Cloud.

Chetboun in the statement describes Johnson’s visit as “an historic moment of shared values, deep friendship, and strong partnership between the US and Israel, and between the US and Judea and Samaria, the place where the Jewish story began.”

Attorney general says firing ‘unlawful,’ vows to continue working

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara calls the cabinet vote to remove her from office “unlawful,” and says the legal advisory system and the prosecution service she heads will continue to be “faithful to the law,” in her first comments following the government’s decision to fire her earlier today.

“The government decision made just now to end my tenure contravenes the law,” Baharav-Miara writes in a letter to State Attorney Amit Aisman, which is also addressed to her deputy attorney generals and other senior figures in the legal advisory system and prosecution service.

“Political pressure and behavior that contravenes the law will not deter us from continuing to carry out our jobs impartially, professionally, and honestly,” she writes.

“We will continue to assist the government to advance its policies in accordance with the law, to enforce the law equally, and preserve the rule of law,” she adds.

The High Court says the firing cannot take effect until it rules on the procedure used to dismiss her.

Two killed in separate shootings in Arab towns

Two people in the Arab community have been shot to death in separate criminal incidents within hours, according to media reports and authorities.

One victim, named as Diaa Issawi, 25, was shot in his car in the central town of Jaljulya and died of his wounds after being rushed to a hospital.

Earlier, a 29-year-old named as Sahur Ibrahim was shot in the village of Saj’ur in Israel’s north and died after being rushed to a hospital.

Police say they are looking for suspects in both killings.

According to the Abraham Initiatives watchdog group, 155 people in the Arab community have been killed due to violent crime in 2025 thus far, a 12 percent rise over last year, when there were 138 killings at this point. The toll puts 2025 on pace to be the deadliest year ever for the community.

IDF nixes extra deployment time for enlisted troops, but will keep special forces soldiers for longer

The IDF says it is canceling a practice of adding four extra months of service for conscripted troops, but will extend deployment time for special forces units in the future, as the military looks to rebalance service terms to address a manpower crisis during the conflict in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has delayed the release of conscripted ground troops and seamlessly transitioned their service into reserve duty for four additional months.

Starting in November, the IDF says it will cancel those extra four months, meaning that soldiers who were drafted in March 2023 will be released in November rather than March 2026.

However, soldiers in the special forces units who are currently in training will be required to serve an additional four months as “career soldiers,” starting in March 2027.

Additionally, troops who draft to special forces units in the future will be required to sign on for an additional eight months (in reconnaissance units) or a full year of service (in the commando units) as career soldiers.

Last month, the military said it was set to extend the service time for troops in selective units — including special forces, commando units, and the infantry brigades’ reconnaissance units — by a year, beyond the 30 months they currently serve, per a commitment that those soldiers had made upon enlisting. The policy in practice had not been enforced, and after outcry, the military backtracked from the move. Instead, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir appointed a committee headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Abulafia, a former head of the Planning Directorate, who today presented a series of recommendations concerning service times.

Soldiers in the selective units who have completed their basic training, which normally takes a year or more, will also not have four months tacked on.

The IDF says the moves are intended to find a balance between the needs of the military for more troops and the “erosion” in the standing army after nearly two years of fighting. Therefore, the military says it does not intend to extend the service of those already in the army, but only for those in training or who have not yet been drafted.

The cost in the short term is one less team in the commando units and dozens of troops in the infantry brigades for a year. The military says it will make up the gap by bringing in reservists.

Netanyahu set to push for major expansion of Gaza offensive, reports say

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told ministers in the past day that he will seek cabinet backing for a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, despite objections from within the IDF, Hebrew media reports.

Several ministers reportedly said Netanyahu used the term “occupation of the Strip” in private conversations describing his vision for the expansion of military operations in Gaza — a notable shift in tone as the government prepares to discuss the future of the Gaza campaign.

A senior official close to the premier is quoted in Ynet as saying, “The die is cast — we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip.”

“There will be operations even in areas where hostages are being held. If the IDF chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign,” they add.

The IDF currently holds control over approximately 75 percent of the Gaza Strip, but under the new plan, the military would be expected to occupy the remaining territory as well — bringing the entire enclave under Israeli control. It is unclear what such a move would mean for the Strip’s millions of civilians and humanitarian groups operating in the enclave.

The IDF has said it opposes taking over the whole Strip, with the army assessing it could take years to clear all Hamas infrastructure. It could also put hostages in danger of being executed should troops approach where they are being held.

Netanyahu said earlier today that he would convene the cabinet to order the IDF on how to proceed with the war effort, with some believing the premier could ask the army to hold back in order to give hostage talks a chance to percolate.

Yesterday, Channel 12 reported that a divide had emerged within the security cabinet on the issue, with the premier and Defense Minister Israel Katz allegedly remaining undecided.

Of those in favor of expanding Gaza operations were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs.

On the other side, those reportedly favoring continued efforts to reach a ceasefire-hostage deal included IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Shas leader Aryeh Deri, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Mossad chief David Barnea, the Shin Bet’s negotiator known by the Hebrew letter “Mem,” and Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who is overseeing the hostage file for the military.

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York down in recent months, stats show

Illustrative: People walk through the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan on June 11, 2021 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/ Getty Images/ AFP/ File)

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City have decreased in recent months compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data.

The NYPD reports 14 antisemitic crimes in July, compared to 27 during the same month last year. Last month’s total is the lowest for any month since July 2023, when there were 11 antisemitic incidents reported to police.

In June, there were 31 anti-Jewish crimes, down from 42 the previous year, and in May, there were 24 antisemitic incidents, a decrease from 52 in May 2024.

In April, there was an increase from 29 antisemitic incidents in 2024 to 41 crimes this year.

Despite the decrease in recent months, Jews are still targeted far more than all other groups.

There were 345 antisemitic incidents reported to police in 2024, 54 percent of all hate crimes in the city. Jewish security officials believe many antisemitic incidents are not reported to police.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made combating antisemitism a priority with the rollout of an antisemitism task force in his office. The Office to Combat Antisemitism held its inaugural meeting last month.

Antisemitism has played a major role in the city’s mayoral election campaign, with the leading candidates outlining plans to combat anti-Jewish discrimination.

Minister says he won’t abide court order freezing AG’s firing

Hardline Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi says he will not to abide by a court order freezing the attorney general’s firing, saying it “contradicts the law and is invalid.”

Immediately following the decision to fire Gali Baharav-Miara, the High Court of Justice issued a temporary order ordering the government not to change its working relationship with her, to wait on appointing a replacement and asserting that the legally binding nature of the attorney general’s instructions to the government remains in place until it issues further instructions. It had already said the firing would not take effect until after it ruled on the procedure used to remove her.

He says that she is persona non grata in his ministry from now on, “as are her legal positions, and that is how the government should treat her as well. A replacement must be appointed immediately! We obey the law. We are saying to the High Court — no.”

Government doesn’t want you, justice minister tells attorney general

Justice Minister Yariv Levin tells Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara she should resign and not try to “force herself” on a government that has no confidence in her, following a cabinet vote to dismiss her from office.

“It would be appropriate for you to refrain from an attempt, which will not succeed, to force yourself on a government that has no confidence in you and which cannot effectively cooperate with you,” Levin tells Baharav-Miara in a letter, saying the unanimous vote to fire her should underline this state of affairs.

“This is how anyone who puts the good of the country and the management of its affairs before their personal interests, and who respects the elected government and proper and democratic governance,” he adds.

Immediately following the decision to fire the attorney general, the High Court of Justice issued a temporary order freezing implementation of Baharav-Miara’s dismissal, ordering the government not to change its working relationship with her, and asserting that the legally binding nature of the attorney general’s instructions to the government remains in place until it issues further instructions.

Court says government can’t boycott attorney general or appoint new one until it rules

The High Court of Justice has issued an injunction barring the government from appointing a new attorney general or refusing to work with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara until the bench issues further instructions following a cabinet vote dismissing her from office.

The court also affirms that its earlier ruling that the government’s decision to fire Baharav-Miara will not go into effect until it can rule on petitions against her dismissal.

The court also asserts that the “normative status” of Baharav-Miara’s legal opinions on the government remain in effect, referring to the legally binding nature of the attorney general’s instructions to the government regarding its actions.

The same applies to decisions by prosecutions, which her office oversees, the court adds.

The government has threatened to boycott Baharav-Miara and not invite her to key government forums to implement her firing in a de facto way and bypass the court, which has said her dismissal will not take effect until it rules on the legality of the procedure used to remove her. Government figures indicated after the vote that it saw her dismissal as effective immediately regardless of the court.

The injunction comes after liberal government watchdog groups filed petitions to the court immediately after the cabinet vote requesting it bar the government from hiring a new attorney general and changing its relationship with Baharav-Miara before a final ruling, in order to prevent the government “establishing facts on the ground.”

Government tosses tax breaks at exhausted reservists

Illustrative: IDF soldiers are seen in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo released August 4, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announce the government’s approval of new tax benefits for IDF reservists, in a statement recorded during a cabinet meeting earlier today.

The decision will grant income tax credit points to combat reservists on a graduated scale based on the number of days served, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Today, we’re delivering additional benefits to reservists — who truly deserve everything we can give them,” Netanyahu says in the video message published by the PMO.

The move comes amid growing complaints of fatigue among reservists who spent much of the last two years fighting instead of spending time with their families or working, putting major strains on emotional health and financial wellbeing. Officials have reported declining turnout rates among called-up reservists in recent months.

The plan, according to the PMO, will grant income tax credit points to combat reservists based on the number of days they served during the previous tax year. The benefit will follow a graduated model: those who served between 30 and 39 days will receive half a tax credit point; those who served between 40 and 49 days will receive three-quarters of a point; and those who served 50 days will be eligible for one full credit point. For every additional five days of service beyond that, reservists will receive an added quarter-point, up to a maximum of four credit points per year, potentially amounting to thousands of shekels annually, according to the PMO.

“The message is that from now on, being a reservist in Israel is a status the state is committed to. Reserve soldiers are deployed on every front — from the aircraft that struck in Iran, to tunnel warfare in Gaza, to counterterror operations in the West Bank, and to halting terror in Syria, Lebanon, and beyond…Today, we are cementing their status with this decision,” Katz adds.

Last month, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly ordered a 30 percent reduction in the number of reservists deployed to active combat zones in the coming months to address the issue.

Herzog presses Red Cross chief on starving hostages in Gaza

President Isaac Herzog holds a photo taken as a screengrab from a video showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David, during a press conference with Lithuania's President at the presidential palace in Vilnius, Lithuania on August 4, 2025. (Petras Malukas / AFP)

President Isaac Herzog tells International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric that her group must intervene on behalf of hostages in Gaza, as the two speak by phone, according to a statement from his office.

Mentioning “the horrifying images” of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, who appeared severely emaciated in videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in recent days, Herzog calls on the ICRC “to act in every possible way to help the hostages.”

“The medical condition of the hostages is severe,” Herzog says, adding that David and Braslavski’s bones “protrude from their skin as a result of starvation, indicating that they are in life-threatening condition.”

“These images highlight in the starkest terms the urgent need to provide them with food and immediate medical treatment,” Herzog adds, according to the statement.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with the head of the Red Cross delegation in the region, similarly demanding that it take immediate action to care for the hostages.

Following the premier’s demand, the ICRC reiterated its call for access to the hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

The Red Cross, which says it must maintain neutrality to operate in war zones, has not been allowed any access to the hostages during 22 months of war, and has faced heavy criticism from Israel and Jewish groups over its failure to reach them.

A spokesperson for the ICRC declines to comment.

High Court petitioned to force government to work with AG pending ruling on removal

Liberal government watchdog groups have filed urgent petitions to the High Court of Justice against the government’s decision to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

In one motion, the Movement for Quality Government requests that the court issue injunctions barring the government from beginning the appointment process for a new attorney general, and instruct the court to cooperate with Baharav-Miara until the court has issued a final ruling on the petitions against her dismissal.

Judge Noam Sohlberg has already ruled that the dismissal will not take effect until the court has ruled on the petitions, although the government is expected to now boycott Baharav-Miara.

“This illegal move constitutes an unprecedented attack on the independence of the Attorney General’s Office and on the system of checks and balances of Israeli democracy,” says Eliad Shraga, the head of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

The organization says its requests for interim orders regarding the appointment of a new attorney general and cooperating with Baharav-Miara are designed to prevent the government from “establishing irreversible facts on the ground,” and asserts that “the government is in effect firing the head prosecutor in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial.”

The Movement for Quality Government also points out that there are several other cabinet ministers who are also currently under criminal investigation, investigations which Baharav-Miara had to personally authorize as head of the prosecution service.

The Israel Democracy Guard organization, which also filed petitions against Baharav-Miara’s dismissal, files a request to the court to detail specifically to the government what it is forbidden from doing under Sohlberg’s earlier ruling.

“The illegal process of removing Gali Baharav-Miara from the position of attorney general joins the illegality of changing the rules of dismissal on the fly, two months ago,” says the organization in reference to the government’s decision to change the dismissal advisory committee from a public, professional panel to a ministerial one after it failed to staff the original committee.

Leftist Jews plan Gaza war protest near Trump hotel in New York

Leftist Jewish groups in New York City say they will hold a protest against the war in Gaza and demand the Trump administration apply pressure on Israel to halt the war and increase humanitarian aid to the Strip.

Among the named speakers is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official.

The protest, called “Jews Say: No More,” will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, across from the Trump International Hotel.

Groups backing the protest include T’ruah, Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, IfNotNow, and Israelis for Peace.

“We need to keep up the pressure and get more food and aid into Gaza NOW before more Palestinians die of starvation,” T’ruah says in a statement. “This event is a mass mobilization of American Jews who object to our government’s continued support for the policy of starvation and refusal to leverage its immense power to compel the admission of humanitarian aid.”

Bismuth calls for unity after divisive installation as Knesset defense panel head

Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee following his appointment as chairman, Likud MK Boaz Bismuth calls for mutual respect and a focus on “what unites us” as the key panel returns to work on a bill regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment.

In an apparent response to opposition concerns that he will push through a law allowing the ultra-Orthodox community to evade military service, Bismuth states that he has spoken with the committee’s professional staff and will hold meetings with both reservists and ultra-Orthodox representatives.

“I approach my position with sacred reverence, in a time of war that requires national unity. We must – coalition and opposition – rise to the magnitude of the hour, and act for the people and the country. The enemy does not distinguish between Jewish communities. We are all in the same boat,” Bismuth states.

“The connection between ancient tradition and Torah study, and the state and the IDF, its protective force, is a winning connection, and we must reach a historic solution that will lead us on a new path,” he continues, calling on the MKs to have faith and asserting that he is “committed to all the goals and tasks of the committee.”

Levin says ‘unacceptable’ for High Court to strike down AG firing

Justice Minister Yariv Levin speaks at a Knesset session, December 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

During the course of the cabinet debate on firing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Justice Minister Yariv Levin said it is “unacceptable” for the High Court of Justice to try “to force a political attorney general on the government,” according to his office.

The comments are aimed against petitions asking the High Court to invalidate the dismissal process used by the government to remove Baharav-Miara from office, and the High Court’s recent ruling that her dismissal will not go into effect until =it issues a ruling on the case.

Regardless of that future High Court ruling, the government will likely now blackball the attorney general and not invite her to key government forums, muting her power, The Times of Israel has learned.

Levin insisted in the cabinet meeting that the government had full authority to fire her regardless of the makeup of the advisory committee the government consulted as part of the process it innovated to bypass the established method for firing her.

“It is impossible to accept a situation in which the court tries to impose on the government a legal adviser who is completely political, which has no trust in her, with whom there is no cooperation, who thwarts the government, and refuses to represent it [in legal proceedings,” Levin said, according to the statement from his office.

He argued that any ruling against her firing would rely on “procedural, technical grounds,” in reference to the fact that the government could not find any former justice ministers or attorneys general to sit on the original advisory committee.

“It is impossible to prevent the dismissal on this basis,” the statement quotes him saying.

Washington conditions disaster preparedness funds on rejection of Israel boycotts

The Trump administration says states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will not receive funding to prepare for natural disasters.

States must certify that they will not cut off “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to receive the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the agency’s terms for grantees.

The condition applies to at least $1.9 billion that states rely on to cover search and rescue equipment, emergency manager salaries and backup power systems, among other expenses, according to 11 agency grant notices reviewed by Reuters.

“DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism,” a spokesperson for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says in a statement.

The requirement is largely symbolic. At least 34 states already have anti-BDS laws or policies, according to a University of Pennsylvania law journal.

FEMA will also require major cities to agree to the Israel policy to receive a cut of $553.5 million set aside to prevent terrorism in dense areas, according to a grant notice posted Friday.

New York City is slated to receive $92.2 million from the program, the most of all the recipients. Allocations are based on the agency’s analysis of “relative risk of terrorism,” according to the notice.

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee votes to accept Bismuth as new head

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee votes 9-7 to appoint Likud MK Boaz Bismuth as chairman, officially pushing out former chairman and fellow Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein.

The vote comes less than an hour after the Knesset House Committee voted 10-4 to recommend Bismuth taking over the powerful parliamentary panel, in a move designed to end an impasse over legislation on military draft exemptions for the Haredi community.

Asked if Edelstein’s ouster will increase the chances of passing such a bill, a coalition source replies: “I don’t think it will make much of a difference.”

Minister who led Baharav-Miara ouster urges ‘immediate’ appointment of replacement

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi calls for the appointment of a stand-in for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “immediately” following a unanimous government vote in favor of her termination, stating that “we must not allow a governmental vacuum to be filled with mounds of unfounded legal interpretations.”

“The process I initiated about nine months ago… has been completed,” Karhi tweets, referring to a letter he wrote in November, signed by multiple other cabinet members, calling for Baharav-Miara’s ouster.

“Better late (very late) than never. If it were up to me – I would file an indictment against her for fraud and breach of trust,” he adds.

The High Court of Justice has ruled that the attorney general’s dismissal will not go into effect until after it issues a ruling on the legality of the dismissal process, which government watchdog groups and the attorney general have described as unlawful.

Edelstein ouster paving way for Haredi draft bill not enough to end UTJ boycott of coalition — spokesman

Asked why United Torah Judaism chief Yitzhak Goldknopf abstained on a vote to replace Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, which is meant to answer his party’s demands, his spokesman tells The Times of Israel that the faction will continue withholding support from the coalition until legislation enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription is actually passed.

“When there is an amended conscription law, he will vote with the coalition again,” the spokesman says.

The Knesset House Committee voted 10-4 in favor of MK Boaz Bismuth as the next chairman of the powerful parliamentary panel this afternoon, pushing aside fellow Likud MK Edelstein, who had blocked legislation favored by UTJ and fellow Haredi party Shas from advancing.

Yesh Atid files petition to block attorney general’s firing

After the cabinet votes unanimously to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party announces it has petitioned the High Court of Justice against the move.

“The petition states that the decision was made in an illegal process, bypassing all review mechanisms and intended to harm the independence of the attorney general and subordinate it to a political will,” the centrist opposition party says in a statement.

“The government does not want legal advice; it wants obedience. It chooses to give up on the rule of law, and we choose to fight for it and for democracy,” declares Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar.

Ministers vote to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara speaks at a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In a seismic moment for Israel’s system of government, the cabinet has voted unanimously to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Justice Minister Yariv Levin says in a statement.

The government has been at loggerheads with Baharav-Miara ever since it took office, and has accused her of serially blocking its decisions, appointments and legislation on a political, not professional, basis.

The High Court of Justice has ruled that the attorney general’s dismissal will not go into effect until after justices rule on the legality of the dismissal process, which government watchdog groups and the attorney general have described as unlawful.

Gantz-led faction calls Edelstein committee ouster ‘unprecedented, dangerous’

MK Yuli Edelstein attends a Knesset House Committee meeting meeting in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The removal of Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is an “unprecedented and dangerous step” that will both pave the way for both the passage of legislation exempting Haredim from military service and “severely weaken the Knesset,” Benny Gantz’s Blue and White-National Unity party warns.

“Let every committee chair from the coalition know that they may pay with their position if they dare to go against the coalition’s unity, even if it is the right thing for the country,” the opposition party says in a statement after the Knesset House Committee votes in favor of replacing Edelstein with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

“We call on our colleagues, the Likud MKs and especially Boaz Bismuth, the incoming committee chair: Do not lend a hand to the continued recklessness at the expense of those who serve. The responsibility from now on is on you,” it adds.

Knesset panel okays Bismuth’s ascent to defense committee head, replacing Edelstein

MK's vote during a House Committee meeting at the Knesset on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Knesset House Committee votes 10-4 in favor of MK Boaz Bismuth as the next chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, replacing fellow Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the powerful parliamentary panel.

Ahead of the vote, House Committee chairman Ofir Katz complains that there had been no forward motion on a bill dealing with ultra-Orthodox enlistment in Edelstein’s committee for the past two months, creating a political crisis. Both the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties have exited the government due to the impasse, though Shas has remained in the governing coalition.

Following the House Committee vote, members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee receive a message to convene for a vote to complete the process of replacing Edelstein with Bismuth at 6:10 p.m. The move is widely expected to be approved, despite a warning from Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik that it “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill.”

120 tons of aid dropped into Gaza as Canada joins international mission

Aid pallets are dropped from a military plane over Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip during an airdrop mission on August 4, 2025. (AFP)

Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany, Belgium, and — for the first time — Canada, airdropped 120 pallets of humanitarian aid in the northern and southern Gaza Strip today, the IDF says.

Each pallet contains around one ton of food.

The IDF says the airdrops were carried out “in accordance with the directives from the political leadership and as part of the cooperation between Israel” and the involved countries.

The airdrops are part of a “series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip,” the military says.

“The IDF will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza,” it adds.

Since July 26, a total of 675 humanitarian aid packages have been airdropped in the Gaza Strip by nine countries, including Israel. The packages the IDF airdropped were supplied by international aid groups, not by Israel.

Crocs whiling away decades in defunct West Bank attraction euthanized

In this photo from August 6, 2018, crocodiles rest at a a farm in the Jordan Valley, West Bank. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

Aging crocodiles brought to an settlement in the West Bank decades ago have been euthanized after years of their repeated escapes from a long-neglected farm, authorities say.

Government veterinarians had culled the aging crocodiles because they threatened the area’s residents and were themselves suffering from inhumane treatment, according to COGAT. The exact number of crocodiles euthanized and the method of culling are not immediately clear.

“The Nile crocodiles at the farm were being kept in an abandoned compound under poor conditions that constitute animal abuse, with insufficient access to food, which had driven them to cannibalistic behavior,” COGAT says. It says veterinarians were consulted on how to humanely exterminate the animals.

The crocodiles were initially brought to the town of Petzael in the Jordan Valley as a tourist attraction and they were later purchased by an entrepreneur who hoped to sell their skin. Their fate has been an open question since Israel in 2012 passed a law classifying the reptiles as protected animals and banned raising them for sale as meat or merchandise.

COGAT says authorities had spent hundreds of thousands of shekels (more than $29,000) to re-fence the dilapidated farm, which has been in a state of disrepair since it was shut down in 2013.

Edelstein: I alone prevented bad Haredi draft law, replacing me won’t fix problems

Lawmaker Yuli Edelstein says he “single-handedly prevented” the passage of a “draft evasion law” exempting the ultra-Orthodox community from military service, as the Knesset House Committee readies to vote on replacing him as chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

“I fought for a real conscription law, but the Haredi leadership simply does not want conscription. Changing the identity of the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will not change anything. This dismissal will lead to chaos in the IDF,” he declares, citing recent statements by senior Haredi leaders that it is forbidden to serve in the military in any capacity whatsoever.

“Today’s vote is the final nail in the coffin of the conscription law,” Edelstein declares. He adds that he will “will continue to fight for a real conscription law.”

After the House Committee vote, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will hold its own ballot to complete the process of replacing Edelstein with Bismuth — a move that Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik has said “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill.”

Netanyahu and Putin talk by phone for second time in days

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 30, 2020. (Maxim Shemtov/ Pool/ AFP/ File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently speaking on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirms the call between Putin and Netanyahu.

This marks the second phone call between the two in recent days, after the veteran leaders discussed Syria and Iran last week.

The PMO declines to provide further details on the call. There are also no details from Moscow.

IAEA can visit for talks, but won’t have access to nuclear sites, Iran says

The head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, Ebrahim Azizi, says a visiting delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency will only be there for talks and will not be able to inspect nuclear facilities.

“Under no circumstances will physical access to Iran’s nuclear facilities be granted, and no inspections by this delegation or any other foreign entity will be permitted at the country’s nuclear sites,” the lawmaker says, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says the IAEA’s deputy chief is expected in Iran “in less than 10 days.”

He also says any nuclear talks with the US will involve demands that Washington pay for damage it caused to Iranian nuclear facilities in strikes it carried out alongside Israel in June.

“In any potential negotiation… the issue of holding the United States accountable and demanding compensation for committing military aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities will be one of the topics on the agenda,” Baqaei tells a press briefing.

He also rules out direct talks with the US.

Tehran suspended cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and demanded guarantees against military action before resuming any negotiations after they were derailed by the 12-day June war.

Washington has dismissed Tehran’s call for compensation as “ridiculous.”

Lapid urges incoming defense panel head Bismuth to reject Haredi draft exemptions

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who is slated to replace Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today, has a stark choice between “going down in history as someone who sacrificed Israel’s security for cheap and self-serving politics” or standing his ground and refusing to sell out soldiers, declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

Addressing a meeting of his Yesh Atid faction in the Knesset ahead of a committee vote on appointing Bismuth to head the powerful parliamentary panel, Lapid slams the coalition for replacing Edelstein “in the middle of a bloody war” in order to “promote a disgraceful draft evasion law that is a complete betrayal of our fighters.”

Edelstein is being removed from the past after he refused to advance a bill aimed at regulating IDF draft exemptions for members of the ultra-Orthodox community, even as the army struggles with manpower issues amid the war in Gaza.

The Haredim ensured Bismuth’s appointment “so that they could evade military service” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “in his weakness, once again put politics over Israel’s security,” Lapid alleges.

Lapid appeals to the conservative lawmaker as “a Zionist who… cares about the state.”

“Boaz knows that if he passes a draft evasion law, if he signs a law in which there are no real and immediate sanctions on anyone who does not enlist, it is a betrayal of all the values he has ever believed in. It is a betrayal of our fighters, who are killed and injured every day. It will endanger our security and the very Jewish concept of mutual responsibility,” Lapid says.

“I want to believe that when he examines the facts, he will say… ‘precisely because I am a right-winger, I will not be a rubber stamp for mass refusal under the auspices of the Torah,'” he says of Bismuth. “He must choose. Will he go down in history as someone who sacrificed Israel’s security for cheap and self-serving politics? Or will he go down in history as someone who stood his ground and said, ‘I will not sell our fighters and I will not sell my principles and values for anyone’?”

Netanyahu said to accuse AG of allowing threats against him to become ‘normalized’

Hebrew media reports say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a sharp attack against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for “selective” enforcement of the law as ministers hold a meeting in which they are expected to vote on a motion dismissing her.

Netanyahu denounced what he describes as the “normalization” of threats of murder and lawbreaking during a discussion on incitement against the premier and the need to bolster security around him, according to Hebrew media reports.

“Incitement and threats of murder against the prime minister are being normalized, and the law is being enforced selectively,” he reportedly said, assigning blame to the attorney general for what he described as a “completely different” reality from that of the previous government.

An anti-government activist was arrested last month after allegedly plotting to assassinate Netanyahu, the latest in a series of Israelis to be nabbed in recent months for allegedly trying to kill the premier or inciting violence against him.

During the meeting, Netanyahu is said to have pointed to an “incited mob” of protesters who surrounded a Tel Aviv hair salon in March 2023 while his wife was inside as an example of threats he faces.

Police officers stand guard while people demonstrate against the prime minister’s wife Sara Netanyahu, outside a hair salon in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The meeting takes place as hundreds of demonstrators protest the expected firing of Baharav-Miara outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

Holding draft order, brother of hostage soldier asks MKs why he should fight for them

Tensions run high at the Knesset House Committee as the family of hostage Matan Angrest pleads with lawmakers to bring him home.

“I received my draft order in the mail yesterday,” says Matan’s brother, Ofir Angrest, holding it up.

“Who am I supposed to fight for? For you, who wouldn’t bring me back if I were kidnapped?” Ofir demands of lawmakers. “For a country that abandons its hostages and its soldiers?”

Angrest was kidnapped as a soldier defending Gaza border communities on October 7, 2023.

“I want to submit this form that I received yesterday to you,” Ofir says, handing his draft order to MK Boaz Bismuth, who is set to replace Yuli Edelstein as chair of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “You tell me if I should serve a country that doesn’t bring its soldiers home.”

He says he will show up for the draft once his brother is back home.

Netanyahu says ministers will decide on next moves in Gaza war this week: ‘We must continue to stand together and fight together’

Ministers will convene this week to decide on how the IDF should go about achieving Israel’s war objectives in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting.

“We must continue to stand together and fight together in order to achieve them,” Netanyahu says in recorded remarks shared by his office, naming the war’s goals as “the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.”

The remarks come amid reports that Netanyahu’s cabinet is divided over whether to expand ground operations in Gaza or to restrain military action to allow more time to reach a potential ceasefire and hostage-release deal with Hamas. Netanyahu insisted yesterday that Hamas is uninterested in a deal, creating greater incentive to “destroy” the terror group.

“We are in the midst of an intense war, in which we have achieved very significant, even historic, accomplishments — precisely because we were not divided, because we stood together and fought together,” he says, calling for unity.

“At the same time, we continue to build our land,” adds Netanyahu, announcing alongside Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the government will today approve “two very important plans for the rehabilitation and development” of southern cities, including Ashkelon, Ofakim, and Netivot, with a total budget of NIS 3.2 billion ($939 million).

The meeting is taking place at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem as hundreds protest outside against the cabinet’s expected vote on a motion to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Goldknopf defends ultra-Orthodox contributions to state amid IDF exemption hubbub

The ultra-Orthodox parties do not want to pass an “evasion law” but are rather trying to defend Israel’s longstanding religious status quo, United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf tells lawmakers.

“We did not want an ‘evasion law’; we wanted a continuing arrangement in which full-time yeshiva students can continue to study,” he says, using a term employed by critics of Haredi lawmakers efforts to pass legislation enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service.

Many Haredi families, including his own, have members who are serving “on the front lines in Gaza,” Goldknopf tells lawmakers in the Knesset House Committee, ahead of a scheduled vote on replacing Likud MK Yuli Edelstein as chairman of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. However, those who study full-time need “to have the opportunity to continue the arrangement that has existed for 76 years,” he insists.

“There is no you and there is no we, we are all together in the State of Israel. Everyone serves their part and everyone contributes their share,” he declares, accusing opposition lawmakers of ignoring Haredi contributions to society and arguing that the state and people of Israel are supported and protected by mass Torah study.

“You don’t recognize the state at all. You despise Zionism,” hits back Yesh Atid MK Naor Shiri.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits, due to the strain on standing and reserve forces amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges. Some 2,700 Haredim enlisted over the past year, far short of the IDF’s goal of 4,800.

US Speaker Johnson makes landmark visit to West Bank settlement

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has paid a visit to the large West Bank settlement of Ariel, making him the highest-ranking US official to visit an Israeli settlement.

A picture shared online by the Israel Hayom daily shows Ariel Mayor Yair Chetboun with Johnson and Johnson’s wife Kelly Lary, apparently after having planted a tree.

באישור הבית הלבן: יו"ר בית הנבחרים האמריקני מייק ג'ונסון ערך ביקור היסטורי בלב השומרון@arik3000
צילום: עיריית אריאל pic.twitter.com/jmP8DWPNhb

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) August 4, 2025

Axios reports that Johnson and four other Republican lawmakers are in Israel on a previously unannounced trip, organized by Heather Johnston, the founder of a group called the U.S. Israel Education Association. It says the trip is designated as private and not official.

On X, Marc Zell, who heads the GOP’s Israel branch and is himself a West Bank settler, says Johnson said during his visit that “the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish People.”

Speaker Mike Johnson says that the mountains of Judea and Samaria are the rightful property of the Jewish People. He criticizes those erstwhile allies of Israel who are calling to recognize a palestinian state. He closes with a statement that as the U.S. begins to celebrate its…

— Marc Zell (@GOPIsrael) August 4, 2025

85% of non-Haredi Jewish Israelis support sanctioning draft dodgers, revoking benefits — poll

Eighty-five percent of non-Haredi Israeli Jews support revoking benefits from and imposing sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, according to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute last month.

According to the survey, 98.5% of secular Israelis, 86% of traditional non-Orthodox Jews, and 65% of Orthodox Jews support sanctioning Haredim who fail to enlist.

The poll has a sample size of 502 participants, and was conducted between July 13 and 17.

Seventy-two and a half percent of Likud voters and 76.5% of Religious Zionism voters support sanctioning draft dodgers, as do 94% of Blue and White-National Unity voters, 97% of Labor voters, 99% of Yesh Atid voters, and 100% of Meretz and Yisrael Beytenu voters, the poll finds.

In addition, 30% of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party’s non-Haredi voters support sanctions.

Overall, 69% of Jewish Israelis support the immediate application of sanctions, including 86% of secular Jews, 71% of traditional non-Orthodox Jews, and 41% of Orthodox respondents. Religious respondents are significantly more likely to support delayed sanctions.

Of the possible sanctions that Haredi draft dodgers could face, 61.5% of non-Haredi Jews support denying voting rights to draft dodgers, 65% are in favor of withholding driver’s licenses, 71% endorse imposing financial penalties and 73% believe in preventing Haredim from traveling abroad.

More than three-quarters of respondents call for canceling daycare discounts for Haredi draft dodgers, and 75% say they support fully canceling state funding for yeshivas whose students are evaders.

Eighty-two and a half percent believe evaders should be denied academic scholarships and public sector jobs while 85% and 86%, respectively, believe that Haredi evaders should be denied assistance in purchasing homes through state-sponsored housing auctions and discounts on municipal taxes and transportation costs.

Among Likud voters, 52% support revoking evaders’ right to vote, 51.5% support withholding driver’s licenses, and 60% are in favor of financial penalties/fines and preventing them from travelling abroad.

Fifty-five and a half percent of Likud voters are in favor of canceling daycare subsidies and 60.5% believe yeshivas in which such evaders study should not receive taxpayer money. Seventy-three percent believe that Haredim who do not serve should not receive property tax and public transit discounts and 69% are in favor of denying them assistance in purchasing homes via housing auctions.

Knesset to convene for emergency debate on Haredi conscription

Despite the current recess, the Knesset is slated to convene this afternoon to hold an emergency discussion on the coalition’s failure to conscript Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population.

The Knesset began a recess of nearly three months on July 27. It will reconvene on October 19 for the winter session.

The special session was called after the opposition last week collected the 25 signatures necessary to hold a discussion on “advancing the evasion law during wartime, bringing back the hostages, and advancing an immediate deal to end the fighting in Gaza.”

Both the Ashkenazi United Torah Judaism and Sephardic Shas parties have been pushing hard for the passage of legislation enabling most ultra-Orthodox males to continue to avoid military conscription or other national service, in the wake of last year’s High Court decision that such exemptions are illegal on equality grounds.

Last month, UTJ quit the coalition after being presented with a copy of a proposed enlistment bill prepared by Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, Yuli Edelstein, which it argued had violated the terms of a supposed compromise reached the previous month. They were quickly followed by Shas, which, while quitting the government, has remained part of the coalition.

Today’s session is slated to take place following votes in the Knesset House Committee and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to replace Edelstein with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits, due to the strain on standing and reserve forces amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges. Some 2,700 Haredim enlisted over the past year, far short of the IDF’s goal of 4,800.

Releasing hostages is key to solving Gaza humanitarian crisis, Herzog says in Vilnius visit

President Isaac Herzog holds up a photo of hostage Rom Braslavski as he speaks alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, in Vilnius, on August 4, 2025. (Omer Meron/GPO)

On a diplomatic visit to the Baltic states, President Isaac Herzog says the release of hostages held in Gaza is “the key to resolving the severe crisis in Gaza,” and rejects allegations that Israel is causing starvation in the wartorn Strip.

Speaking in Vilnius alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda after a private meeting between the two, Herzog holds up pictures of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, who appeared severely emaciated in videos released by Hamas and allied terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad in recent days.

“These horrifying images are further evidence of the cruel torture inflicted on innocent Israelis held by Hamas – even as Israel ensures the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” says Herzog, speaking in Hebrew.

David and Braslavski, who are among the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, are in “immediate, life-threatening danger,” Herzog continues, adding that David “is of Lithuanian heritage,” though he does not hold citizenship.

The world “must not remain silent,” the president continues, saying, “They must all be brought home. That is the key to resolving the severe crisis in Gaza and the wider Middle East.”

“We deeply mourn every innocent life lost,” Herzog says, while emphasizing that Israel is “making tremendous efforts to address the humanitarian situation, in accordance with international law.

“Just this week alone, 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid entered Gaza,” he asserts. “Hundreds of trucks are waiting to be distributed — but the United Nations has failed to do so efficiently.”

The UN has claimed that Israeli policies have prevented it from being able to safely deliver aid.

“While Israel delivers humanitarian aid into Gaza, innocent Israelis are held underground, tortured, and stripped of all rights. This must shake the conscience of the entire world,” Herzog continues.

“The world must, must rise up — and there is only one path: bring them all home!” he concludes.

Protesters gather outside PM’s office as cabinet votes on firing attorney general

Protesters gather outside the Prime Minister's in Jerusalem as the cabinet votes to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara, on August 4, 2025. (Lizzy Shaanan/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Hundreds of demonstrators are protesting the government’s efforts to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The protest takes place as Netanyahu’s cabinet votes on a motion to fire Baharav-Miara.

Protesters decry the coalition’s drive to dismiss the official, whose legal opinions have frequently put her at odds with Netanyahu and his political allies.

Demonstrators wave Israeli flags, hold signs and posters with images of the hostages and slogans calling for an end to the ongoing war in Gaza and a comprehensive hostage deal.

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan speaks to the crowd from atop a van at the front of the rally, decrying the government’s efforts to fire Baharav-Miara.

He laments that the cabinet meeting is underway “as our hostages are dying in the tunnels, as Israeli society is tearing itself apart.”

The cabinet “is not dealing with freeing the hostages, ending the war… it is not bothered with Israel’s safety,” he says. “The Israeli government in these difficult times is only busy with itself.”

Protesters chant “shame” and deride the current coalition as “criminal” on the street outside the government building.

Man said killed by aid package airdropped over central Gaza

A man in Gaza has died after an aid package that was airdropped over central Gaza hit him on the head, Gaza media outlets report.

The reports identify the man as Udai al-Quran, a nurse at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

In 2024, during a previous airdrop aid operation, several deaths were reported after aid packages hit residents.

Germany reviewing plans to take in Gazan children for medical treatment

Germany’s interior ministry is reviewing the feasibility of projects that would involve bringing children from Gaza to Germany for treatment, a ministry spokesperson says.

“The feasibility of such initiatives depends crucially on the security situation, the possibility of leaving the country, and other factors,” says the spokesperson.

The German cities of Hanover and Duesseldorf have said in recent days that they would accept children from the Gaza Strip and Israel who are particularly vulnerable or traumatized.

The ministry has not yet received any inquiries from German cities about the issue, the spokesperson says at a regular government press conference in Berlin.

Travel bans and the end of tax breaks: Edelstein’s Haredi conscription bill proposes consequences for draft dodgers

MK Yuli Edelstein attends a Knesset House Committee meeting meeting in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A draft of an ultra-Orthodox conscription bill presented to lawmakers today by outgoing Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein calls for the immediate application of sanctions on draft dodgers, including the revocation of drivers’ licenses and bans on international travel.

Edelstein presented a copy of his proposed version of the controversial legislation to lawmakers just before the Knesset House Committee is set to vote on replacing him with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth as chairman of the powerful security panel.

The bill would require all Haredi men to report for registration at an IDF enlistment center and undergo a fitness test before receiving a service deferral. Such deferrals would only be granted to those who study 45 hours a week in a yeshiva or 40 hours in a kollel — a yeshiva for married men.

If five percent of those designated for the draft at a given yeshiva do not show up when called or if the yeshiva dean issues instructions not to report, the yeshiva will be removed from the list of institutions whose students are eligible to receive deferrals. Any yeshiva that encourages evasion will lose its tax status under section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which allows financial supporters to receive tax credits for their donations.

According to Edelstein’s revision, 5,760 Haredim would be required to enlist in the first year following the bill’s passage, rising to 6,840 in the second year, 7,920 in the third, 9,000 in the fourth and 9,500 in the fifth. After the fifth year, the number of conscripts would be determined by the defense minister with the approval of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but would not fall below 9,500.

Draft dodgers would be subject to sanctions including the revocation of drivers’ licenses, a ban on flying abroad, a prohibition on applying for civil service jobs, no government assistance in purchasing an apartment and cancellations of discounts on public transportation, National Insurance contributions and electricity bills. Daycare subsidies for children of draft dodgers would be cut in half.

If annual conscription targets are not met, all daycare subsidies would be canceled, and state housing benefits and property tax discounts would be revoked, among other penalties. Should the Haredi community fail to meet its quotas for three years in a row, the government would be required to submit a new bill.

The legislation would also impose sanctions on institutions that fail to meet recruitment targets, with anything less than 95% of the target triggering budget cuts for yeshivas.

Likud MK Gotliv tells clashing relatives of hostages to ‘shut up’ or their loved ones won’t come home

A relative of hostage Rom Braslavski speaks during a Knesset House Committee meeting in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Chaos erupts at the Knesset House Committee as Likud MK Tally Gotliv tells those, including families of Israeli hostages, demanding accountability from the government, to “shut up.”

“If Hamas hears what you’re saying, they won’t return the hostages,” she says.

Her remarks come amid an emotional and chaotic meeting in which families of hostages and bereaved families clash with one another during the screening of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad videos of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both visibly emaciated and distressed after nearly two years in captivity.

Braslavski’s cousin, Adam Hajaj, addresses the committee but is interrupted by bereaved family members who shout over him about the soldiers killed trying to rescue hostages and their opposition to a deal.

“We are at war here, not just for the hostages, but a war of existence,” says Tamar Tshuva, whose brother Barak Davidi was murdered at the Nova music festival. “Anyone who tries to undermine the prime minister today in the war we are in should be ousted.”

“Let me speak. I’m not against you. I didn’t come to ask for much,” says Hajaj. “I came for you to get to know Rom, who you’ll see in the video.”

He adds: “The families of the kidnapped, the families of the bereaved are one people. For those who didn’t understand this, I’m here to say it.”

The room then descends into shouting, including among hostage family members.

Tzvika Mor, father of hostage Eitan Mor and a member of the Tikvah Forum — an organization of bereaved families opposed to a ceasefire deal — says: “Why are you emotionally manipulating us? Hamas will never release my son. [Only military] pressure will bring a deal.”

“I don’t have a good word to say about the Hamas operatives. They are bloodthirsty predators,” says activist Israel Shor, whose brother was killed in an IDF raid on Lebanon in 1973, and who has been campaigning with the families of the hostages and October 7 victims. “But it is the Israeli government that is breaking the hostages. They are being held as prisoners by the Israeli government for the Israeli government.”

House Democrats sign letter urging Trump to recognize Palestinian state — report

More than a dozen House Democrats have signed a letter asking US President Donald Trump’s administration to follow the lead of Western allies and recognize a Palestinian state, Axios reports.

The letter was introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna last week, the report says, and has garnered 13 signatures so far, it says.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Axios, stresses that the war in Gaza “has highlighted for the world the long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination,” and suggests that the US take note of recent pledges by France, the UK, and others to recognize a Palestinian state.

“We encourage the governments of other countries that have yet to recognize Palestinian statehood, including the United States, to do so as well,” it states.

One of the letter’s signers, Rep. Al Green, tells Axios that he is also planning to introduce a resolution in the near future affirming Palestine’s right to exist.

Sa’ar to fly to New York today for special UN Security Council session on hostages

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, standing in front of an image of hostage Evyatar David, announces that he will visit New York for a UN Security Council session on the Gaza hostages, on August 4, 2025. (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will fly to New York this evening to take part in a special session of the United Nations Security Council on the issue of the Gaza hostages tomorrow morning, the minister announces at a Jerusalem press conference.

Speaking against a photo backdrop of hostage Evyatar David, Sa’ar adds that he requested that an urgent discussion of the UNSC be arranged after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released harrowing videos of David and hostage Rom Braslavski in recent days, in which they appeared severely emaciated.

Hostages forum fumes at lawmaker’s ‘callousness’ after he says Israelis shouldn’t watch hostage videos

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman chairs a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum accuses MK Simcha Rothman of being “blind to what is happening” after the Religious Zionism lawmaker said the Israeli public shouldn’t watch the videos of the hostages published as propaganda by Gaza terror groups.

The videos that are made public are approved for release in Israel by the families of the hostages, who wish to raise awareness and keep their loved ones in the public eye.

״With your own words, you’re proving your callousness and that of the government you are a member of,” the hostages forum fumes in response to Rothman’s comments. “Any sane and sensible person who saw the hostages’ condition understood that they must be brought home now.”

“Unlike you, who chooses to close your eyes and ignore it, the people of Israel looked Evyatar [David] and Rom [Braslavski] in the eye, and the vast majority of them demand the return all 50 hostages and an end to the fighting,” the forum continues, demanding that the lawmaker “be ashamed and apologize.”

“The attempt to forget October 7 and the hostages will not succeed,” the forum vows. “The people see, the people remember, and the people will bring home the hostages.”

Senior Haredi MK accuses Edelstein of playing politics after he publishes proposed conscription bill

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni chairs a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, July 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Degel Hatorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni slams Yuli Edelstein after the outgoing Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman releases a draft of his proposed ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill ahead of a vote to replace him as head of the influential parliamentary panel.

“Yuli Edelstein released the law today, three weeks after he refused to release it because he had hopes that he would remain chairman of the committee — and only today he realized that he is being dismissed,” Gafni declares in a statement.

“It’s hard to believe that a Jewish person wrote something like this,” he says of the proposed bill, without referring to any specific part. “Everything with him is politics, nothing beyond that.”

Degel Hatorah is one of two factions comprising the United Torah Judaism party.

Edelstein had held the revised bill close to his chest, discussing it with both the public and members of the committee in general terms but not sharing its contents.

Edelstein is being ousted over his refusal to advance a conscription bill based on a compromise reached with the Haredi parties in June, under which most ultra-Orthodox males would continue to avoid IDF or other national service. UTJ, which, unlike the members of Edelstein’s committee, had seen the bill, argued that it did not “satisfy the demands” of the faction and its spiritual leaders.

Report: Police chief, Ben Gvir looking to oust Jerusalem District commander for opposing changes to Temple Mount status quo

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) with Police Chief Commissioner Danny Levy mark Memorial Day at Mount Herzl military cemetery on April 30, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Jerusalem District Police commander Amir Arzani has found himself at odds with police chief Danny Levy as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attempts to change the status quo on the Temple Mount, the Haaretz newspaper reports.

The report follows an unprecedented step taken by Ben Gvir yesterday, when he led a group of Jewish worshipers in prayer atop the flashpoint site — his latest violation of the longtime status quo on the Temple Mount.

According to Haaretz, Arzani is refusing to acquiesce to the ultranationalist minister’s moves to formally change the status quo between Israel and Jordan, which include a demand to permit public prayer and extend visiting hours for Jewish worshipers, and has turned to Levy to back him up.

But rather than supporting the Jerusalem commander’s position, Haaretz says Levy is working with Ben Gvir to push him out and replace him with someone willing to make changes in accordance with Ben Gvir’s vision.

Sources tell the news outlet that Arzani is aware of these attempts and has informed Levy that he will not agree to be transferred out of Jerusalem to another position, and plans to remain in his post until the end of 2026, at which point he expects to retire.

The report adds that Arzani is one of only a few senior police officials opposed to Ben Gvir’s attempts to allow public Jewish prayer atop Temple Mount.

Australia announces additional $20 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza

Australia announces an additional $20 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza, following growing domestic pressure and mass pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney demanding increased aid for Gazans and sanctions on Israel.

The new package will fund food deliveries, medical supplies for field hospitals, and other critical support, with a focus on women and children, the Australian Foreign Ministry says.

It brings Australia’s total humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza and Lebanon to over $130 million since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to the Australian government’s own figures.

“The suffering and starvation of civilians must end,” says Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, adding that “Australia will continue to work with the international community to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages and a two-state solution.”

“We continue to call on Israel to allow immediate and unimpeded aid access into Gaza,” says International Development Minister Anne Aly.

The announcement came hours after tens of thousands of people marched across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge in a protest calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza.

National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina says proceeds from book on Sarajevo Haggadah to be donated to Palestinian causes

Detail of the 'Maror' page of the Sarajevo Haggadah (courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Culture)

Profits from the sale of a publication about a historic Haggadah will be donated to help Palestinian causes as a rebuke of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina says.

Income from the sale of the publication “Sarajevo Haggadah – Art and History,” as well as income from tickets to see the Sarajevo Haggadah, will be used to “provide support to the people of Palestine who suffer systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel, and indirectly by all those who support and/or justify it in its shameless actions,” the museum says on its website.

The Sarajevo Haggadah, an illuminated manuscript written in northern Spain around 1350, is considered one of the oldest of its kind in the world and the museum’s most important and valuable artifact. Its value was estimated at $7 million for insurance purposes in 1992.

While the gesture is primarily symbolic, the decision reflects rising tensions over antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In June, a meeting of leading European rabbis was canceled in Sarajevo after a public official said it would give “a message of legitimization of the occupation and systematic destruction of the Palestinian people.”

Edelstein presents copy of proposed Haredi enlistment bill just ahead of vote to replace him

Less than an hour before the Knesset House Committee is slated to vote on replacing him with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein sends members of his key defense panel a copy of his proposed ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill.

Edelstein has held the revised bill close to his chest, discussing it with both the public and members of the committee in general terms but not sharing its contents.

Last month, lawmakers belonging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party voted overwhelmingly to replace Edelstein as chairman of the committee.

Edelstein was ousted over his refusal to advance a conscription bill based on a compromise reached with the Haredi parties in June, under which most ultra-Orthodox males would continue to avoid IDF or other national service. The Haredi United Torah Judaism party, which, unlike the members of Edelstein’s committee, had seen the bill, argued that it did did not “satisfy the demands” of the faction and its spiritual leaders.

After the House Committee vote, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will hold its own ballot to complete the process of replacing Edelstein with Bismuth — a move that Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik has said “could critically affect the integrity of the legislative process” and “disrupt the shaping of the bill.”

Yesh Atid to petition High Court if government fires attorney general ‘illegally’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party says it will petition the High Court of Justice should the government dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “illegally.”

The government is expected to vote today on her dismissal, following a hearing in which she will be given the opportunity to defend her conduct in office, but which she has said she will not attend.

“Assuming that the Government of Israel dismisses the attorney general in an illegal, fundamentally flawed process marked by a political conflict of interest, the Yesh Atid party will petition the High Court of Justice to stop a blatant attack on the rule of law,” Yesh Atid says in a statement.

“The government is trampling on every guardian of democracy who prevents it from dismantling the state, and is dismissing anyone who confronts it with the legal truth,” says Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar, the opposition’s representative on the judicial selection committee.

“This is not the dismissal of an attorney general; this is the elimination of the institution. Legal advice that does not stand firm on the principles of the rule of law, but aligns itself with politicians, is not a guardian of democracy, but a mouthpiece, and this must not happen.”

Last month, a newly established ministerial committee recommended to the government that it fire the attorney general due to “substantive and ongoing differences of opinion between the government and the attorney general, preventing effective cooperation.”

The new committee was created by the government after it was unable to fire her using the established method for sacking an attorney general.

The High Court of Justice has ruled that any decision by the cabinet to fire Baharav-Miara will not take immediate effect, in order to allow the court to rule on petitions against the dismissal process, which several government watchdog groups argue was implemented unlawfully.

AG warns government that firing her will ‘mortally harm’ rule of law, Israeli democracy

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells the government that its drive to fire her will turn the role of attorney general into a political position dependent on the grace of politicians, which she says will “mortally harm” the rule of law and other key legal principles that underpin Israel’s democracy.

The government is set to vote on a motion to fire the attorney general today \due to what it says are ongoing and substantive differences of opinion between the government and her.

Baharav-Miara has been invited to defend herself to the cabinet ahead of today’s vote but will not attend, having previously described the government’s new dismissal process as unlawful.

In a letter to the cabinet this morning, the attorney general says that the new process for firing her directly contradicts the principles set out by the Shamgar public commission in 1998, by giving the government total control over the dismissal process.

She says that the government’s effort to fire her seeks to transform the nature of the attorney general position from neutral, apolitical, and professional to one that has personal loyalty to the government.

“The implication of the process is turning the position of attorney general with their various roles… to one dependent on the good graces of the government,” writes Baharav-Miara.

“This [deals] a fateful blow to the rule of law, equality before the law, human rights, and the ability of the law enforcement system to deal with government corruption,” she continues.

“We are talking about the removal of one of the only limitations on the power of the government that exists in the Israeli legal system.”

Rothman slams Israeli media for airing footage of emaciated hostages with families’ permission

Still images of hostages Ram Braslavski (left) and Evyatar David from Hamas propaganda videos, cleared for publication by their families in August 2025. (Composite screenshot)

MK Simcha Rothman of the far-right Religious Zionism party slams Israeli media outlets for making the “grave mistake” of carrying the propaganda videos of Israeli hostages published by Gaza terror groups.

His comments come after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published videos over the weekend of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, respectively, both of whom appeared severely emaciated and weak.

“It’s a grave mistake to watch the videos of the hostages and it’s a grave mistake to publish them,” Rothman tells Haredi radio station Kol Berama. “Even without watching the videos, I know that they are Hamas propaganda.”

Describing the videos as a “psychological missile,” the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chair says Israel already knows that the hostages are in “difficult” condition, and so there is no reason to watch the footage.

“These videos aim to demoralize and harm us,” he tells the radio station. “That’s why I’m confused by everyone who watches them and everyone who broadcasts them.”

Israeli media outlets only carry videos of hostages with the express permission of their families.

Some do not authorize media outlets to publish the footage, and others only allow still images or specific clips. Those who do allow the videos to be published do so to raise awareness of their plight and ensure that they remain in the public eye.

Report: Settlers set fire to building in Palestinian village overnight; no reports of casualties

Palestinian media outlets report that Israeli settlers set fire to a building overnight in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Footage from the scene shows the partially burned structure, which was also sprayed with graffiti reading “Revenge.”

"נקמה, תג מחיר פיגוע": יהודים הציתו הלילה בית פלסטיני בכפר תורמוסעיא בבנימין וריססו כתובות בעברית. אין עצורים באירוע@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/HtZCTPbTNX

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) August 4, 2025

The building is said to have been uninhabited, and there were no reports of casualties.

No arrests have been made.

‘We are on the precipice of defeat’: Former IDF chiefs of staff, intel chiefs demand end to Gaza war

More than a dozen former senior security officials put out a joint video with a call to end the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel has racked up more losses than victories, and that the fighting has dragged on for political reasons rather than being based on strategic military decisions.

Among the 19 retired IDF chiefs of staff, intelligence chiefs, Shin Bet and Mossad directors and police commissioners are former IDF chief of staff and prime minister Ehud Barak, former chiefs of staff Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, and ex-Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen.

“Each of these people sat in cabinet meetings, operated in the inner circles, attended all the most sensitive decision-making processes, the most delicate,” says a voiceover at the start of the video by way of introduction. “Together, they have more than a thousand years’ experience in national security and diplomacy.”

In the video, the men argue that the fighting in Gaza could have ended long ago, and demand that Israel end the war with a permanent ceasefire and comprehensive hostage deal that will see the release of all 50 remaining hostages in one fell swoop.

💥Israeli Security Chiefs Through the Decades “End the war and bring the hostages home!” 🇮🇱🇮🇱

This is an extraordinary call, unlike anything we've seen in Israel. Almost everyone who was once at the wheel of a major security organization:

Nadav Argaman, Shin Bet Director
Tamir… pic.twitter.com/JCCgMD6XHj

— UnXeptable (@UnxeptableD) August 3, 2025

“We have a duty to stand up and say what we need to say,” former Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon says. “This war started as a just war. It was a defensive war. But once we achieved all its military objectives, once we achieved a brilliant military victory against all our enemies, this war stopped being a just war. It is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity.”

Former military intelligence chief Amos Malka posits that Israel is “well over a year past the point where we could have ended the war with a sufficient operational achievement.”

Instead, supplies ex-Shin Bet director Nadav Argaman, “we are now mostly offsetting losses.”

“We are on the precipice of defeat,” concurs former Mossad director Tamir Pardo.

“What the world sees today is of our own creation,” he says of the dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, brought about by long months of war with Hamas. “We are hiding behind a lie that we wrought. This lie was sold to the Israeli public, and the world has long since understood that it doesn’t reflect the real picture.”

“There are moments that represent a black flag in which one must stand firm and say: This far and no further,” Ya’alon declares. “Right now, we have a government that the messianic zealots have pulled in a certain, irrational direction.”

“They are a minority,” agrees Cohen, “but the problem is that the minority controls the policy.”

He says that anyone who believes Israel can “reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon, and at the same time bring our hostages home,” is entertaining a fantasy.

The security officials call for those currently in the offices they once held to take a stance against the continuation of the war.

They must “bravely stand up before the prime minister and before the cabinet and say their piece… about this war and its futility,” says Argaman.

“It is their duty to say what they can do and what cannot be done, even if someone really wants it,” he adds.

Military source: Wanted Palestinian killed, another arrested in IDF raid near Jenin

A wanted Palestinian was killed and another was arrested by Israeli forces during a raid in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, this morning, according to a military source.

The raid was carried out by officers of the police’s elite Yamam unit and troops of the IDF’s Duvdevan commando unit.

The Yamam officers opened fire on the wanted Palestinian they sought to arrest after he tried to flee the area, the source says.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry names him as Youssef al-Amer, 33. The ministry says it was informed of his death by the PA’s General Authority of Civil Affairs, indicating that the body is being held by Israeli authorities.

Simultaneously, the Duvdevan commandos detained another Palestinian suspected of terror activity, the source adds.

Mother of hostage Alon Ohel says Israel should have conditioned Gaza aid on hostages receiving medical treatment

Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Idit Ohel, the mother of hostage Alon Ohel, tells the Kan public broadcaster that she believes Israel should have demanded that the hostages receive medical treatment as a condition for allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

“I want the prime minister to ensure that my son and the other hostages receive medical treatment outside of Gaza, by any means,” she says. “My Alon is wounded and hungry.”

“Giving medical treatment to our hostages should have been a condition for the entry of food into Gaza,” says Ohel. “The world forgot that this all began when Hamas kidnapped innocent civilians.”

She says she knows “many things” about her son’s ill health, as returning hostages who were held with him have painted a dire picture, but she doesn’t know “the most important thing: when I’ll see my son again, when he’s coming home.”

She pleads for Israel to do “everything it can” to return the hostages, and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that the Red Cross is given access to the hostages.

Ohel, 24, was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.

Following their release in February, former hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy told Ohel’s family that they had been held in captivity with him, and that he was suffering from multiple untreated injuries, including shrapnel in his eye and his arm.

IDF soldier seriously injured in gasoline jerrycan explosion on southern Israel base, military says

An IDF soldier suffered severe burns after a gasoline jerrycan exploded near him on a base in southern Israel last week, the military says.

The incident took place on Tuesday at the Paran Regional Brigade base on the Egyptian border, and is being investigated by the Military Police.

Initially, the soldier was listed as moderately injured; however, his condition has worsened to serious in recent days, the IDF says.

There are several conflicting accounts as to what happened in the incident.

The IDF says the soldier’s injury is under investigation, and the Military Police findings will be submitted to the Military Advocate General for review.

At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off coast of Yemen

A shipwreck off Yemen has killed at least 68 people, the International Organization for Migration tells AFP, following earlier tolls from security sources for the deadly accident.

“As of last night, 68 people aboard the boat were killed, but only 12 out of 157 have been rescued so far. The fate of the missing is still unknown,” says the IOM country chief of mission Abdusattor Esoev.

Government set to vote on firing of attorney general later today

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

The government is expected to vote later today on the dismissal of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, following a hearing in which she will be given the opportunity to defend her conduct in office.

The hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, and a vote is likely to be held immediately afterwards.

Last month, a newly established ministerial committee recommended to the government that it fire the attorney general due to “substantive and ongoing differences of opinion between the government and the attorney general, preventing effective cooperation.”

The new committee was created by the government after it was unable to fire her using the established method for sacking an attorney general.

The High Court of Justice has ruled that any decision by the cabinet to fire Baharav-Miara will not take immediate effect, in order to allow the court to rule on petitions against the dismissal process, which several government watchdog groups argue was implemented unlawfully.

Trump: Don’t think Gaza war is a genocide, ‘some horrible things happened’ on Oct. 7

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on August 3, 2025, as returns to the White House from his Bedminster residence. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

US President Donald Trump says he doesn’t think the war in Gaza is a genocide, asserting that “some horrible things happened” during the Hamas-led onslaught that triggered the war on October 7, 2023.

Trump is asked by reporters whether he characterizes Israel’s response as a genocide.

“I don’t think it’s that,” he responds.

“They’re in a war,” Trump adds, before shifting to the October 7 atrocities.

Asked for an update on Gaza more broadly, Trump reiterates that the US is working to feed Palestinians in the Strip.

“We want the people fed… We want Israel to get them fed,” he says. “We don’t want people going hungry, and we don’t want people to starve.”

Iran moves to slash zeros from its plunging national currency

Current and pre-revolution Iranian banknotes are displayed by a vendor at Ferdowsi square, Tehran's go-to venue for foreign currency exchange, in downtown Tehran, Iran, February 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran — The economic commission of Iran’s parliament revives long-delayed plans to cut four zeros from the country’s plunging currency, as part of efforts to simplify financial transactions.

“Today’s meeting of the economic commission approved the name ‘rial’ as the national currency, as well as the removal of four zeros,” says the parliament’s website ICANA, quoting Shamseddin Hosseini, the commission’s chairman.

Under the proposed system, one rial would be equivalent to 10,000 at the current value and subdivided into 100 gherans, according to ICANA.

The proposed redenomination was first mooted in 2019 but then shelved. The current bill will have to pass a parliamentary vote and gain the approval of the Guardian Council, a body empowered to vet legislation.

It is not immediately clear when the parliamentary vote will take place.

4 IDF soldiers wounded, 1 seriously, in car crash near Gaza border

Four IDF soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, in a car crash during operational activity near the border with the Gaza Strip earlier today, the military says.

The soldiers served with the Desert Reconnaissance Unit, commonly known as the Bedouin reconnaissance unit.

The soldiers were taken to a hospital, where one is listed in serious condition, one is moderately injured and two are lightly hurt, the army says.