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The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Herzog denies, denounces report intimating a deal prepared years ago between him and Netanyahu on a pardon
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and President Isaac Herzog attend a Memorial ceremony for Ethiopians who died on their journey to Israel, at Mount Herzl, on June 5, 2024 (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
Channel 12 publishes the contents of a confidential 17-page legal opinion that it says was drafted in 2019 for a former associate of President Isaac Herzog, then head of the Jewish Agency and the leading candidate for the presidency, regarding a president’s powers to grant a pardon before a conviction in a political matter. The report is broadcast following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official request last week for a pardon from Herzog in his corruption trial without admitting guilt.
The report prompts a firm denial from Herzog’s office of the suggestion, raised in the TV report, that he was involved years ago in preparing a deal under which he would back a pardon for Netanyahu in exchange for Netanyahu’s support for his then-future presidential bid. His office dismisses the report as unfounded and outrageous, denounces its publication as outside the legitimate limits of free speech, and says he has instructed his attorney to immediately take the appropriate legal action.
“There was never any agreement, understanding or acknowledgment between President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linking Herzog’s tenure to Netanyahu’s legal proceedings, neither explicitly nor implicitly,” Herzog’s office says, adding that anyone who claims the contrary is lying and at risk of legal action.
The Channel 12 report features quotations from the alleged contents of the legal opinion, which it says was prepared by senior attorney Eyal Rozovsky. It reportedly examines the question of whether an Israeli president can pardon a sitting prime minister before indictment or conviction – and whether such clemency could be offered as part of a negotiated exit from political life.
According to Channel 12, the Rozovsky document delves into several sensitive legal issues, including whether a pre-conviction pardon is permissible under Israeli law, whether accepting such a pardon would constitute an admission of guilt, and what constraints limit the president’s constitutional authority.
The opinion reportedly determines that while the law grants the president exceptionally broad clemency powers, “for an early pardon to be given in a political matter, what is practically needed is agreement and cooperation of the legal authorities and most of all the attorney general. The president’s decision must be resolute. The final decision will be in the hands of the High Court of Justice.”
Rozovsky’s document, the TV report says, relies heavily on precedent from the Bus 300 affair, in which former president Chaim Herzog – the current president’s father – pardoned Shin Bet officials before they were convicted of any wrongdoing.
Channel 12 notes that the Rozovsky opinion treats that case as the clearest legal foundation for a pre-conviction pardon and highlights the High Court’s affirmation of the president’s broad discretion.
Channel 12 quotes a source who was close to Herzog at the time the document was written claiming that he requested it due to political considerations, rather than professional ones, in “preparation for a deal with Netanyahu. Support me for president, and, in return, I will support granting a pardon, as far as it depends on me,” the source is quoted saying.
At the time that the alleged document was created, Reuven Rivlin was still president, with roughly two years left until the end of his term.
Herzog was elected by a secret ballot in the Knesset in June 2021, with 87 of the 120 MKs voting in his favor.
Herzog’s office states that the 2019 legal opinion was not requested by Herzog but by a former campaign manager and adviser, Motti Sander, who ordered the report in a personal capacity, and that it has been previously established that Herzog had nothing to do with it. Sander, his office adds, was no longer working for Herzog when he launched his presidential bid.
“Mr Sander apparently asked for the legal opinion, having for years tried to push a plea bargain and pardon for Prime Minister Netanyahu,” it says.
“President Isaac Herzog did not see this opinion and only discovered it years later when it was published in the press,” his office adds.
It further notes that the president “was elected to his position with an unprecedented majority after receiving broad support from all factions in the House, and did not need the support of Netanyahu or others on his behalf.”
It reiterates Herzog’s comments last week that Netanyahu’s request for a pardon would be examined in a process that will last many weeks, and that it is currently with the relevant authorities in the Justice Ministry.
NYC’s Lander reportedly set to challenge US Rep. Dan Goldman for congressional seat
NYC comptroller Brad Lander speaks during the Jews For Racial And Economic Justice's Mazals Gala on September 10, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images via JTA)
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is planning to challenge US Rep. Dan Goldman for the 10th Congressional District, Politico reports, citing three people familiar with Lander’s preparations.
Lander has not officially launched his campaign and a spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that there is no official campaign announcement yet.
Lander and Goldman are both Jewish Democrats, but Lander, who defines himself as a “progressive Zionist,” is on Goldman’s left and more outspoken in his criticism of the Israeli government.
Lander allied with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani during the mayoral campaign, and is expecting an endorsement from Mamdani for his congressional run, Politico reports.
Lander’s expected campaign launch is part of the progressive left’s broader challenge to centrist Democrats in New York City following Mamdani’s stunning political rise.
The 10th Congressional District covers lower Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn.
Hitting back at his former Shin Bet chief, Netanyahu says his alternate Oct. 7 probe is only way to ‘reach the truth’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar’s speech at Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week 2025 conference, in which he called for a state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7, 2023, in his own remarks to the event.
Bar, in his speech, had asserted that the only correct way to probe the failures surrounding the Hamas-led invasion and massacre would be through a full state commission of inquiry, and that by choosing not to do so, Israel’s leaders would be dooming the country to another catastrophe in the future.
In his answer to Bar’s remarks, Netanyahu sticks to his usual argument that the findings of a traditional probe would be inaccurate, and would be rejected by a sizeable portion of the public.
“There was a failure here, a huge failure,” Netanyahu tells the conference. “This failure must be thoroughly examined; it must examine the political echelon, the military echelon, the security echelon, everyone.”
“And this is only possible if we do it as a broad national review,” the premier asserts, referring to the probe his government has decided to establish.
Despite being touted as an “independent” investigation, the government commission’s mandate will be determined by cabinet ministers, and the government will strive for its makeup to receive “as broad public approval as possible,” per a government decision on the matter last month.
He cites a bipartisan commission created by the US to investigate the September 11, 2001, attacks to back up his vision, saying that this ensured that “nobody had any advantage, anyone could put forward any question.”
“This is what will happen here, too,” he promises. “Everyone will come and everyone will be questioned, and only then will we reach the truth.”
Netanyahu has long opposed establishing a state commission of inquiry into October 7, initially claiming that it could not be conducted while Israel was still at war. Subsequently, he and his government have argued that the president of the High Court could not be trusted to appoint a fair-minded judge or retired judge to head the investigation into what went wrong and who was to blame, and that such a panel’s conclusions would not be accepted by a sizeable proportion of the public.
NYC Jewish leaders demand action from CUNY after protest targeting Hillel rep at interfaith event
Jewish leaders in New York write the chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY), the city’s public university system, demanding action following a protest against the Jewish representative at a campus interfaith event last month.
During the protest at the City College of New York, first reported by The Times of Israel, a Muslim leader led a walkout to protest against a Hillel director who was representing the Jewish community at the event.
The Muslim leader blamed the Hillel director, Ilya Bratman, for suffering in Gaza and led his followers out of the room. The incident sparked an uproar from the Jewish community and elected leaders in New York.
Jewish leaders write CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, calling the walkout “outrageous” and discriminatory, and saying that CUNY has not issued enough of a response.
The walkout and CUNY’s response “send a clear message to Jewish and Zionist students at CUNY: you do not belong here,” the letter says.
The letter, dated to yesterday and shared with The Times of Israel today, is signed by New York City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz; Mark Treyger, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; Eric Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York; Scott Richman, the New York and New Jersey regional director of the Anti-Defamation League; Miriam F. Elman, the head of the Academic Engagement Netowrk; and Josh Kramer, the head of the American Jewish Committee in New York.
Dinowitz is the chair of the city council’s committee on higher education and the chair of the council’s Jewish caucus.
“Against the backdrop of this shameful incident and rising antisemitism on campus, we urge CUNY to take steps to amend its student code of conduct,” the letter says, calling for a “system-wide policy” to protect Jewish students at CUNY.
CUNY is made up of dozens of campuses around the city, which each have significant autonomy from the central administration, making system-wide changes difficult.
Syrian state TV: Shells of unknown origin landed around Mezzeh airbase in Damascus
Following reports of explosions around Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, Syria’s state-run Al Ekhbariya TV reports that shells of an unknown origin fell in the vicinity.
Syria’s state news agency says the matter is under investigation.
Syrian media reports explosions around Mezzeh airbase in Damascus
Syrian media reports that several blasts were heard in the Damascus area a short while ago.
Some reports put the location of the explosions in the vicinity of the Mezzeh airbase.
The source of the blasts has not yet been verified, reports add.
Man’s body found at the bottom of a pit in central Israel
Firefighters extract a body from a pit near Kfar Zoharim, an ultra-Orthodox youth village, on December 9, 2025. (Fire and Rescue Service)
A man’s lifeless body has been found at the bottom of a pit by firefighters and police near Kfar Zoharim, an ultra-Orthodox youth village in central Israel.
The body was extracted from the pit by firefighters who were dispatched to the forested area. Police confirm his death and are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The body is being transferred to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv, police add.
Trump lashes out at ‘weak,’ ‘decaying’ Europe in interview with Politico
US President Donald Trump deepens his rift with Europe in an interview with Politico, calling the continent “weak” and decaying” over immigration and Ukraine.
Trump doubles down on his extraordinary recent criticisms of a region that Washington has long counted as a key ally, recycling far-right tropes about civilizational decline in Europe.
“Most European nations, they’re, they’re decaying. They’re decaying,” Trump tells Politico in the interview, conducted yesterday and published today.
The 79-year-old billionaire, whose political rise to power was built on inflammatory language about migration, echoes far-right talking points as he says that Europe’s policies were a “disaster.”
“They’re coming in from all parts of the world,” Trump says. “But they want to be politically correct, and they don’t want to send them back to where they came from.”
Trump’s broadside comes days after his administration’s new national security strategy sparked alarm by calling for the cultivation of “resistance” in the EU against liberal migration policies.
Asked if European countries would not remain US allies if they failed to embrace his administration’s policies on the issue, Trump replies that “it depends.”
“I think they’re weak, but they also want to be so politically correct,” Trump says.
He listed countries including Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden that he says were being “destroyed” by migration, and launched a new attack on the “horrible, vicious, disgusting” Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, with whom he has traded insults for years.
Trump also brushed off the fact that the Kremlin had hailed the new US national security strategy as being in line with its own views.
“I think he [Putin] would like to see a weak Europe, and to be honest with you, he’s getting that. That has nothing to do with me,” he says.
Trump also criticizes Europe’s role in resolving the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying: “They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.”
IDF says six suspected smugglers arrested following pursuit along Egyptian border
The IDF and police say six suspected smugglers were captured following a chase on the Egyptian border on Monday.
Soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the smuggling cell near the border. Following a pursuit involving troops of the 80th Division, the Israeli Air Force, Shin Bet, and police, the suspects were detained, the military says.
The IDF says it also captured their vehicle and 21 kilograms of an unspecified drug. The suspects were taken by police for further interrogation.
אחרי מרדף ובהכוונת חמ"ל משותף של גופי הביטחון: סוכלה חוליית מבריחי אמצעי לחימה בגבול המערבי
אתמול, כוחות צה״ל, שב״כ וימ"ר דרום של משטרת ישראל סיכלו חוליית מבריחי אמצעי לחימה וסמים שפעלה בתקופה האחרונה במרחב חטיבת פארן.
בפעילות מיוחדת בה השתתפו כוחות אוגדה 80, חיל האוויר, שב״כ… pic.twitter.com/4Vz01h34L8
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 9, 2025
In swipe at Netanyahu, ex-Shin Bet chief Bar calls for state probe into Oct. 7
Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at Tel Aviv University's Cyber Week 2025 conference, on December 9, 2025. (Dror Sithakol)
Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar calls for the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre, in his first public address since leaving his post in June.
Speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week 2025 conference, he focuses on the theme of responsibility and the importance of owning up to mistakes.
He opens his speech by singling out two victims of October 7 — Staff Sgt. Ofir Shoshani, a commander in the Israel Defense Force’s Intelligence Corps who was murdered in her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Hersh GoldbergPolin, who was abducted from the Nova music festival and murdered in Hamas captivity.
He says he is reminding the audience of the people behind the statistics, as “only when you see them do you understand the meaning of responsibility and the price of making mistakes and failing.”
“When we thwart an attack, we can only imagine those we saved, and when we fail to thwart a massacre, we see with our own eyes who was murdered.”
“Responsibility is infinite — you cannot distribute it, only take it. And in leadership, it is better to take responsibility for failures than credit for achievements,” says Bar, who admitted responsibility in the first weeks of the war against Hamas for the Shin Bet’s failure to prevent the terror group’s onslaught.
He says that true leadership “does not end with taking responsibility for the failure. It ends with taking responsibility for fixing it,” and points to the Shin Bet’s actions on October 7 itself as its first step toward fixing its mistakes.
The next step to fix things, he says, was the internal investigation into the failures of October 7 carried out within the security agency, from which he said it has “learned how to be better.”
“But the only way to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this failure, to know what really happened, to dispel the conspiracies that endanger our continued existence, to learn what to fix and to ensure that it does not happen again is through a state commission of inquiry,” he declares.
He says the commission must be one led by professionals and that “sees the whole picture and knows how to tell the whole story and decide what needs to be done so that it does not happen again.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to allow a state commission of inquiry to be established, and his government is instead trying to establish its own probe, claiming that a sizable portion of the public would not accept the findings of a traditional state probe.
Returning to the opening theme of his speech, Bar tells the conference that Ofir and Hersh would want a state commission of inquiry, and that their families want a state commission of inquiry, and that “this is what our children expect from us.”
“Because,” he says, “the moment we did not decide to investigate the entire system, we essentially sentenced them to the next October 7.”
Bar left his post in June after Netanyahu’s cabinet voted to dismiss him, prompting a legal battle in the High Court of Justice.
Paramedics find woman’s body inside home in Ashkelon
Paramedics arrive to a home in Ashkelon, where a woman's lifeless body was discovered on December 9, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
Paramedics say they discovered a woman’s lifeless body in an Ashkelon home earlier this afternoon. The deceased, 33 years old, was a foreign caregiver in the southern city, Hebrew outlets report.
She was found with signs of trauma on her body, but police do not currently suspect she died in a criminal incident, a police spokesperson says.
One killed, one injured in shooting near Umm al-Fahm
Police and paramedics arrive at the scene of a shooting in Bayada, an Arab town near Umm al-Fahm, on December 9, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
Police are investigating a shooting that left a young man dead and one other injured in Bayada, an Arab town near the city of Umm al-Fahm.
Paramedics arrived at the scene to find a man, around 20 years old, critically injured by gunfire and unconscious.
Medical staff pronounced the man dead upon his arrival at the hospital, police say.
Another shooting victim, around 18 years old, is conscious but in serious condition. He has also been taken to the hospital, medics say.
Police have secured the area of the shooting and are searching for suspects.
Sa’ar to meet with US counterpart Rubio in DC tomorrow
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, meets with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar in the Treaty Room of the State Department on August 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC, tomorrow, Sa’ar’s office announces. This will be the fourth meeting between the counterparts this year.
Today, Sa’ar is scheduled to meet in Washington with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch, Senators John Fetterman and Lindsey Graham, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, his office adds.
Sa’ar announced yesterday that he would travel to the US capital for a ceremony tonight with Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Fernando Armaio, during which Israel and Bolivia will formally renew diplomatic relations, which were severed at the start of the war in Gaza.
The signing ceremony will take place at the residence of Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter at 6:30 p.m. EST (1:30 a.m. Israel time).
Activists bemoan lack of preparedness for climate change as Israel braces for storm
Illustrative: View of the sea in Tel Aviv during a storm on February 6, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
As Israelis prepare for the worst of Storm Byron from Wednesday to Friday, the director of the economic and climate resilience department at the environmental advocacy organization Adam Teva V’Din notes that seven years have passed since the government decided to prepare for the climate crisis, with no concrete results.
Orly Babitzky says, “Once again, Israeli citizens find themselves alone in the face of dangers. The state’s arsenal of tools for preparation includes, at most, contingency plans without funding, or, as in many cases, a complete lack of preparedness plans.
“During the life-threatening extreme event that is expected this week, the state will once again be unable to provide security to its citizens.
“Israel must urgently begin implementing preparedness plans at the local and governmental levels, because the current storm is only a sign of things to come.”
Babitzky adds that with an increase in climate change-related extreme weather events such as heatwaves and drought, “We must not continue to treat rainwater and storms like the one arriving this week as a ‘nuisance.
“We must change our approach immediately and ensure that the water is stored and allowed to percolate into the ground. This is the effective way to refill and restore the aquifers – Israel’s emergency water store.”
The storm, which is bearing down on Israel after it battered Greece and Cyprus, will bring with it 10-20 centimeters (4-8 inches) of rain, heavy winds and severe flood risk in much of the country, the weather service said.
IDF confirms opening fire on ‘suspects’ in Syria
The IDF confirms opening fire on suspects at the entrance to the southern Syrian town of Khan Arnabeh a short while ago.
According to the military, riots erupted as troops operated in the area, during which “several suspects approached the forces and posed a threat to them.”
The IDF says troops fired warning shots in the air, and after the suspects continued to approach, the soldiers fired at the legs of two “main instigators.”
The riot dispersed shortly afterward, the army adds. Troops then withdrew from the area.
According to Syrian media, Syrians had protested in the area after the IDF set up a checkpoint on a major highway.
Footage shows armed members of Syria’s internal security forces in pickup trucks passing by the IDF troops on the highway following the incident.
توتر كبير بين جيش الإسرائيلي وأهالي بلدة #خان_أرنبة في ريف محافظة #القنيطرة pic.twitter.com/Z2bE6pYWNO
— Ibrahim Agre (@IbrahimAgre) December 9, 2025
في خان ارنبة بريف القنيطرة
موكب للنظام السوري الجديد يمر أمام حاجز إسرائيلي أقامه الجنود قبل قليل.
رسالة تحدي لنتنياهو؟ pic.twitter.com/DGhqtrLCZm
— Hanzala (@Hanzpal2) December 9, 2025
Netanyahu’s office says report that PM backed out of security deal with Syria in September is ‘complete fake news’
Left to right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to staff at a Shin Bet facility, June 29, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO); Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends the signing of an agreement for a regional energy project, in Damascus, Syria, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
The Prime Minister’s Office dismisses as “fake news” a report published today alleging that the premier refused to sign a written security agreement with Syria in September over disagreements between the sides.
In the report by Saudi outlet Asharq Al-Awsat, sources say that Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa were preparing to sign the agreement, which has been under US mediation for months, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but the premier ultimately backed out.
“The report is complete fake news,” the PMO says in a statement. “There were contacts and meetings under US auspices, but matters were never brought to the point of agreements or understandings with Syria.”
Reuters reported at the time of the assembly that contacts between Israel and Syria regarding a new security agreement had reached a dead end due to Israel’s demand to open a “humanitarian corridor” into the Sweida province in southern Syria – where sectarian violence has killed hundreds of people from the Druze community, which Israel has vowed to protect.
Sources told Reuters that Israel requested early on in the talks to open a passage for delivering aid to Sweida, but Syria rejected the request, claiming it would harm its sovereignty. According to them, Israel repeated the demand later in the negotiations, leading progress on the agreement to stall.
US President Donald Trump recently warned Israel against destabilizing the new regime in Syria, and the security arrangement is expected to be a central topic of concern in Netanyahu’s scheduled meeting with Trump later this month.
Hamas official says no Gaza truce second phase while Israel ‘continues violations’
A young boy looks on at the site of a reported Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on December 9, 2025 (BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
A Hamas official says that the Gaza ceasefire cannot proceed to its second phase as long as Israeli “violations” persist, calling on mediators to pressure Israel to respect the deal.
“The second phase cannot begin as long as the occupation (Israel) continues its violations of the agreement and evades its commitments,” Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran tells AFP, referring to the fragile ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
“Hamas has asked the mediators to pressure the occupation to complete the implementation of the first phase,” he adds.
The second phase, which is supposed to see the deployment of an international force and the disarmament of Hamas, is supposed to begin once Hamas completes the handover of all the hostages. It still holds the body of one hostage, Ran Gvili, claiming it cannot find him.
Israel has carried out strikes across Gaza, but says they were in retaliation for attacks on troops manning the Yellow Line, which the IDF pulled back to at the start of the truce.
Two people said injured by IDF fire in southern Syria
Syrian media reports that two people were injured by Israeli gunfire at the entrance to the town of Khan Arnabeh in southern Syria.
Khan Arnabeh is located around four kilometers from the Israeli border, on the edge of a UN-patrolled buffer zone that the IDF captured a year ago with the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
According to Syrian media, the gunfire took place while IDF troops set up a checkpoint on a highway in the area.
Pictures from the scene published on social media appear to show that tear gas canisters were used.
The IDF has not yet commented.
#القنيطرة: أفادت مصادر محلية بأن قوات الاحتـ.ـلال الإسرائيلي أطلقت النـ.ـار على مدنيين أثناء نصب حاجز مؤقّت على مدخل بلدة خان أرنبة بريف القنيطرة الشمالي، ما أدى إلى إصابة اثنين منهم.
كما أقامت قوات الاحتلال حاجزاً آخر على طريق خان أرنبة – عين النورية في المنطقة نفسها. pic.twitter.com/XsgjhD5vbT— أخبار سوريا الوطن Syrian (@SyriawatanNews) December 9, 2025
Kamala Harris says she regrets not putting more pressure on Netanyahu over Gaza
Former Us vice president Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event on Proposition 50, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Former US vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris says she regrets that the Biden administration did not put more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza war.
In an interview with the New York Times, when Harris was asked to pinpoint missteps, or what she would have done differently from then-president Joe Biden, she answers: she and the Biden administration not doing more to pressure Netanyahu over how he was waging the Gaza war “as it related to innocent Palestinians.”
In the interview, she also praises New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who has been criticized for his harshly anti-Israel stance.
“I do not think he’s a scary face for the Democratic Party,” she says, lauding the excitement he generated from younger voters.
She called Mamdani after his victory offering advice on how to hire his staff and serve as an executive, the report says.
IDF said to search two West Bank Palestinian universities
IDF forces searched Birzeit University north of Ramallah before dawn, followed by a search of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis on the outskirts of East Jerusalem this morning, Palestinian media reports.
Footage published by the outlets showed troops and military vehicles in both campuses.
In Al-Quds University, military vehicles appeared to drive through the campus with students present.
بعد ساعات من اقتحام جامعة بيرزيت.. جيش الاحتلال يقتحم الآن جامعة القدس في بلدة أبو ديس شرق القدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/B8cE9RGUKa
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 9, 2025
Pictures from Birzeit also showed school supplies scattered on the floor, reportedly as a result of the IDF raid.
Local sources cited by WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official new agency, say Israeli forces detained five security workers in Birzeit and confiscated their phones, and also arrested six people from the village of Beirzeit itself.
Birzeit University reportedly postponed the start of its schoolday and office hours until 9 a.m. due to the IDF search.
The IDF does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society organization reported today that at least 40 people were arrested by Israeli forces across the West Bank since last night. The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported two people, including a 13-year-old boy, injured by IDF gunfire to the legs in the al-Am’ari refugee camp near Ramallah.
UN says number of malnourished children in Gaza still high, despite truce
Displaced Palestinians chase after trucks travelling along Salah al-Din road in the central Gaza Strip, near Deir al-Balah, as they attempt to obtain humanitarian aid on November 9, 2025. (Eyad Baba/AFP)
Thousands of children have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in Gaza since an October ceasefire that was supposed to enable a major increase in humanitarian aid, the UN children’s agency says.
UNICEF, the biggest provider of malnutrition treatment in Gaza, says that 9,300 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in October, when the first phase of an agreement to end the two-year Israel-Hamas war came into effect.
While this is down from a peak of over 14,000 in August, the number is still significantly higher than during a brief February-March ceasefire and indicates that aid flows remain insufficient, UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram tells a Geneva press briefing by video link from Gaza.
UNICEF is able to import considerably more aid into the enclave than it was before the October 10 agreement but obstacles remain, she says, citing delays and denials of cargoes at crossings, route closures and ongoing security challenges.
The report comes after a US-based Gaza peace activist posted a video from Gaza purporting to show that Hamas hid tons of baby formula and nutrition shakes in warehouses in a bid to heighten the famine narrative.
Allenby Crossing to open for transfer of aid from Jordan for first time since September attack
Israeli security forces near the scene where two Israeli soldiers were killed in a stabbing and shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, September 18, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
For the first time since September, Israel will reopen the Allenby Crossing for the transfer of aid and goods from Jordan to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, a defense official says.
The crossing was closed in September after a Jordanian truck driver transporting humanitarian aid destined for Gaza killed two Israeli soldiers at the crossing. The crossing opened several days later for pedestrians only.
The official says that in recent weeks, “security adjustments” were carried out at the crossing, on both the Israeli and Jordanian sides.
“In addition, screening and security-profiling procedures for the Jordanian drivers and for the contents of the trucks have been tightened, and dedicated security forces have been assigned to secure the crossing,” the official says.
The official says that following those adjustments, and in accordance with “the directive of the political echelon,” Israel will reopen the crossing for cargo heading into the West Bank and destined for the Gaza Strip, starting tomorrow.
Man stabbed and seriously wounded in Jerusalem in apparent criminal incident
Paramedics transport an injured man to Shaare Zedek Hospital after he was attacked in Jerusalem on December 9, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
A man was stabbed and seriously wounded in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood in what police said was apparently a criminal incident.
Magen David Adom paramedics take the victim, in his 60s, to Shaare Zedek Hospital in a serious condition.
Police say they are searching for the man’s attacker, who is believed to have known his victim prior to the incident.
High Court lets government delay response on bid to allow foreign journalists into Gaza, for the 9th time
The High Court of Justice hears petitions against the firing of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in Jerusalem, April 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
The High Court of Justice approves a ninth extension for the state to respond to requests for unfettered press access to Gaza, since a petition on the matter was filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) back in September 2024.
In a hearing in late October, the High Court gave the state another 30 days to update its position on the issue owing to the ceasefire in Gaza earlier that month and the resultant change in circumstances.
But the state requested another delay when that period expired in November which was approved by the court, and today the High Court approved yet another delay, giving the government until December 21 to file its response.
“The situation is beyond absurd,” says the FPA in response to the latest extension.
“We are dismayed that the government keeps stalling, and deeply disappointed that the court continues to allows this. These repeated delays have robbed the world of a fuller glimpse of conditions in Gaza and make a mockery of the entire legal process.”
Unvaccinated 11-month-old baby dies of measles in 12th fatality in latest outbreak
A notice warning of measles is seen on a door in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, July 31, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
An 11-month-old baby who was not vaccinated against measles and had no underlying conditions died due to complications of the disease, the Health Ministry says.
The baby was transferred about a week ago from the North Medical Center (Poriya) in Tiberias to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, where he was connected to a life-support system.
The death marks the 12th fatality in Israel due to the measles outbreak that began in May. Most of them were healthy children with no underlying diseases who were not vaccinated against measles.
The ministry emphasizes the importance of going in a timely fashion to receive medical care when symptoms appear or when there is suspicion of exposure to the disease.
US-based Gazan peace activist says Hamas hid infant formula, nutritional shakes for kids in warehouses to boost famine narrative
US-based Gazan peace activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib posts a video from Gaza, appearing to show activists uncovering tons of infant formula and nutritional shakes that were kept in Hamas warehouses and withheld from the population.
“During the worst of the days of the hunger crisis in Gaza in the past six months, Hamas deliberately hid literal tons of infant formula and nutritional shakes for children by storing them in clandestine warehouses belonging to the Gaza Ministry of Health,” writes Alkhatib, who was involved in UAE efforts to drop aid into Gaza.
Hamas kept the aid from people to “worsen the hunger crisis and initiate a disaster as part of the terror group’s famine narrative,” Alkhatib writes in a post on X.
Israel had long denied allegations that there was a famine in Gaza and blamed pockets of hunger on Hamas looting.
During the worst of the days of the hunger crisis in Gaza in the past six months, Hamas deliberately hid literal tons of infant formula and nutritional shakes for children by storing them in clandestine warehouses belonging to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The goal, as I said… pic.twitter.com/pANo9uHfAb
— Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (@afalkhatib) December 9, 2025
Bomb threat targets Brussels Grand Synagogue
People attend the first anniversary commemoration paying tribute to victims of Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, at the Grand Synagogue in Brussels, on October 7, 2024. (Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
Belgian security forces cordoned off the Grand Synagogue in central Brussels after a bomb threat was received, local media report.
The central Rue de la Régence was shut to traffic shortly after 6 a.m. this morning, the Brussels Times reports.
Security forces confirmed that the synagogue was targeted, and established a security perimeter and diverted traffic in both directions between Sablon and Place Poelaert, according to the report.
The chief rabbi of Brussels, Albert Guigui, said police asked him not to go to the synagogue in the morning while they investigated. He said he was optimistic the house of worship would reopen later in the day.
Antisemitic activity has risen in Belgium since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023. About 20,000 Jews live in Brussels, out of some 40,000 living in Belgium today.
Poll finds majority of Israelis expect a war in coming year
Israeli tanks patrol close to the border fence separating northern Israel from southern Lebanon on November 24, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
A majority of Israelis fear that the country will be involved in another war in the upcoming year, a survey finds.
According to the Israel Democracy Institute’s November 2025 Israeli Voice Index, 71 percent of Israelis believe that hostilities will resume with Hezbollah in Lebanon, 69% think there will be another war with Iran, and 53% think Israel will resume fighting Hamas in Gaza.
Also, 47% believe that there could be renewed conflict with the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, who fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the past two years.
The poll also finds that 59% of Israelis believe that a new uprising could erupt in the West Bank in the near future. However, that figure shows a split, with 64% of Jewish Israelis fearing an intifada, with only 36% of Arab Israelis viewing that as a possibility.
The poll finds that 55% of Israelis think the US plan to sell advanced F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia will harm Israel’s security.
The poll has a margin of error of ±3.56%.
State Comptroller warns foreign interference could undermine integrity of 2026 elections
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman speaks at the annual Cyber Week, at Tel Aviv University, on December 9, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman warns that Israel is unprepared to tackle foreign interference in its elections, in particular the upcoming election in 2026, and says such interference could undermine public confidence in the elections themselves and their results.
Englman referred in particular to the increasing cyber threat from Iran and the multiple incidents in which Iran has recruited Israelis as agents to carry out spying missions inside the country, and called on the government to take action to address the problem.
“We must recognize that foreign influences may emerge and affect our democratic process,” says Englman in a speech at Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week conference.
“During an election year, the threat will intensify and may jeopardize the democratic process – creating chaos on election day, undermining public confidence in the election system, influencing voters and distorting election results, eroding citizens’ trust in the vote count and results, deepening social division, and more,” he warns.
Englman says that his office is currently conducting a review regarding the government’s conduct in the face of foreign influence in the digital realm, and says that “significant deficiencies” have already been found.
“Government bodies and the Central Elections Committee must come to their senses and improve their readiness to prevent foreign influence on the elections expected to be held in Israel next year.”
IDF located three crude rockets in West Bank raid
Rockets and parts found by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, November 17, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops located three crude rockets, in various stages of preparation, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem last month, according to the military.
The rockets were located following the interrogation of several terror operatives from Tulkarem who were detained in recent months, the IDF, Shin Bet, and police say in a joint statement.
One of those detained, Ahmad Abu Samra, had placed an explosive device on an IDF Panther armored personnel carrier (APC) in September, wounding two soldiers; attempted a similar attack on a David light armored vehicle; and in December 2024 was involved in a bombing attack that lightly wounded the then-commander of the Menashe Regional Brigade, Col. Ayub Kayuf, security authorities say.
Another suspect detained in the case is Khalil Kharisheh, a resident of Tulkarem, who, according to Israel, was involved in advancing bombing attacks, including the one in which Kayuf was injured, and supplying components and materials for the bombs.
Following the interrogation of the suspects, the IDF says that on November 17, troops raided a site in Tulkarem, where three makeshift rockets were located, along with explosive devices, launching systems, “bomb-making parts, and materials for preparing explosive charges.”
The rockets were at various stages of preparation, with one including an explosive warhead, the military says.
In recent years, there have been several attempts by Palestinian terror groups to develop and launch crude rockets from the West Bank at Israeli settlements and at Israel, though with little to no success.
Likud MK appears to threaten deputy AG in heated Knesset panel meeting
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, December 9, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Likud MK Moshe Saada appears to threaten Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon during a heated Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee discussion as lawmakers debated the coalition’s bill that seeks to divide up the attorney general’s role following months of failed attempts to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and curb her authority.
Saada, addressing Limon directly, says, “You sit in front of me with a smile, and in your place once sat the deputy military advocate general and the military advocate general — also with a smile — and you know where they are today. You know exactly where they are today, and you, Gil, will end up in the same place.”
Former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned in October after admitting that she had authorized the leak of a surveillance video showing alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility.
Tomer-Yerushalmi was arrested last month in connection with the leak and the subsequent investigation, and her deputy, Brig. Gen. Gal Asael, was placed under house arrest and suspended from the Military Advocate General Corps.
Tomer-Yerushalmi was released this week from the hospital, where she spent more than a month after an overdose.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin has been locked in a legal battle with Baharav-Miara over his attempts to sideline her from the investigation into the Sde Teiman affair, accusing her without evidence of participating in the cover-up of the leak in the initial investigation.
Limon, who is appearing before the committee to represent the attorney general and who fiercely opposes the proposal to split up the role, responds, “You will not threaten me.”
Saada denies that he’s threatening Limon, and continues to accuse the deputy attorney general of obstructing the investigation, saying, “You will not disrupt or taint an investigation. I won’t bow my head to you. I’ll tell you the truth, and when I speak, Gil, you’ll shut up.”
The comments are met with outrage from opposition MKs, including Labor MK Naama Lazimi, who says, “‘What is this, a threat? Rothman, this is a mafia threat — he’s threatening him. Why is he saying this to him?”
Committee chair Simcha Rothman responds to the entire episode by yelling at Lazimi to be silent before ejecting her from the discussion.
Israeli envoy apologizes to slain hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak at ceremony before body returned to Thailand
Thai Ambassador to Israel Boonyarit Vichienpuntu speaks at the ceremony for slain former hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak before his body is flown home to Thailand on December 9, 2025. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
An Israeli envoy apologizes to slain former hostage Sudthisak Rinthalak for the failure to protect him and for the length of time it took to bring his body back from Gaza.
Israel’s hostage envoy Gal Hirsch expresses his sorrow to Rinthalak and his family at a state memorial ceremony held at the 8th Armored Brigade memorial at Ben Gurion Airport before his body is returned to his native Thailand.
Rinthalak was one of 39 Thai nationals killed in the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, as he worked near the avocado orchards of Kibbutz Be’eri. Some 1,200 people were killed in the massacre, and 251 were taken hostage.
His body was returned to Israel on December 3 this year.
“It shouldn’t end this way,” Hirsch says. “We failed to protect you. It took too long to bring you back home.”
Rinthalak was “one of us,” says Hirsch. “You are now heading back home. We will never, never forget you.”
He says Israel did everything it could to bring all the hostages back home, and will do everything possible to bring back the body of the last remaining hostage, Ran Gvili.
“We are responsible for everyone kidnapped from Israel on October 7,” he says.
Thai Ambassador to Israel Boonyarit Vichienpuntu says that like many Thai workers, Rinthalak crossed the ocean with a determination to bring a better life for his loved ones.
He says the Thai government prays for the return of the last Israeli hostage and for the end of this mournful period, in order to fully implement the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Police seek to bar labor union chief from office for 90 days amid corruption probe
Histadrut labor federation chief Arnon Bar-David visiting Kiryat Shmona, June 27, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
Police investigators are seeking to bar Histadrut labor federation chairman Arnon Bar David and his insurance agent Ezra Gabay from the trade federation’s offices for 90 days, as they continue to investigate the pair on corruption suspicions as part of a far-reaching probe, Hebrew outlets report.
The trade federation chief is suspected of taking payments from Gabay, who allegedly has been operating a massive bribery network within the Histadrut and its subsidiaries. Police believe Gabay exploited his close connections to Bar David to fix jobs for his associates within the Histadrut, on the condition that the recipients secure insurance contracts with his agency.
Police in the Lahav 433 major crimes unit are requesting in the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court that the two be temporarily removed from their positions. They are particularly concerned about keeping Bar David away from Histadrut circles, fearing potential interference in witness testimonies, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Toronto police investigating theft of 20 mezuzahs in suspected hate crime
Toronto Police are searching for a person who stole about 20 mezuzahs from residents of an apartment building in a suspected hate-motivated theft.
A mezuzah is a rolled-up scroll of parchment that Jewish families hang on the frame of their front doors, usually in a decorative case.
The thefts reportedly took place early Sunday morning in a seniors’ building in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in North York. Police said yesterday they are asking the public for help in identifying the suspect.
Neighborhood Councilor James Pasternak calls the incident “an act of hate directed at Jewish residents.”
“There is no excuse for targeting people because they are Jewish,” he writes on X. “Toronto cannot look the other way while seniors are intimidated in their hallways.”
All of the mezuzas at 6250 Bathurst Street (TSHC) have been torn off. We have spoken with the rabbi and connected the building with 32 Division.
This is an act of hate directed at Jewish residents — seniors who deserve safety, stability, and dignity in their own homes.
There is… pic.twitter.com/p8W3CEI8s9
— James Pasternak (@PasternakTO) December 7, 2025
Mother, son found dead in home in northern Israel; police investigating
Magen David Adom paramedics in Yokne'am Illit after two dead bodies were found in an apartment in the northern city on December 9, 2025. (Magen David Adom)
Paramedics found two people lifeless in an apartment in northern Israel this morning, the Magen David Adom rescue service says.
The deceased, a mother and her son aged 69 and 39, respectively, were found in Yokne’am Illit and pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say they have opened an investigation, and officers, including forensics experts, were at the scene.
Settler extremists burn Palestinian cars in apparent revenge attack for outpost evacuations
Settler extremists set fire to several vehicles overnight in the Palestinian village of Marah Rabah, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, in a so-called “price tag” attack to avenge the evacuation of several illegal settler outposts.
Footage from the village shows several burned vehicles, and graffiti scrawled in Hebrew saying “revenge” and “regards to Bibi.”
The incident comes two days after Border Police forces and personnel from the Civil Administration department of the Defense Ministry removed settler activists from at least four illegal Israeli outposts and encampments they had established in closed military zones in the West Bank.
A report on Saturday said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the evacuation of 14 illegal West Bank outposts as a measure to combat a recent spike in settler violence.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that Israeli forces had arrived in Marah Rabah to gather evidence.
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Police or the IDF.
“Price tag” refers to vandalism and other hate crimes usually carried out by Jewish ultra-nationalists in retaliation for government policies against the settler movement.
פורעים יהודים הציתו הלילה רכבים פלסטיניים בכפר מראח רבאח דרומית לבית לחם וריססו כתובות גרפיטי, בניהן: "ד"ש לביבי", "אנחנו ננצח" ו"נקמה". כוחות הביטחון הגיעו לכפר לאסוף עדויות@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/JjBIL3HgMF
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 9, 2025
Ex-IDF point man on hostages says Hamas has ‘objective’ difficulties in finding body of last slain hostage
Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon attends a ceremony at the IDF Central Command headquarters in Jerusalem on July 8, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90/ File)
Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who served as the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, says that Hamas has “objective” difficulties in finding the body of Ran Gvili, the last deceased hostage in Gaza.
“Hamas has an objective difficulty” in finding the body, Alon tells Ynet in an interview. “It’s related to the chaos they faced immediately after October 7.”
“Nevertheless, we believe that it is possible to bring him back. There is a connection between the pressure applied to Hamas and the results, so we can’t give up,” Alon says in a wide-ranging interview, his first since he ended his more than two years in the role where he also also led the IDF’s intelligence-gathering effort on captives and missing persons.
Arabic media reported yesterday that Hamas and the Red Cross failed to find the remains of Gvili during recent searches in the eastern part of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.
When Hamas attacked, Gvili, a police master sergeant, was recovering at home from a broken collarbone. He quickly put on his uniform and joined the fight against the Hamas gunmen around Kibbutz Alumim near Gaza.
Gvili, who was 24 at the time, was badly wounded and Israeli authorities said he did not survive for long after being taken to Gaza.
Watchdog group accuses Israel of killing 29 journalists in Gaza this year
A journalist holds a blood-covered camera belonging to Palestinian photojournalist Mariam Dagga, a journalist who freelanced for AP who was killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, during her funeral on August 25, 2025. (AFP)
Reporters Without Borders says that Israel was responsible for nearly half of all journalists killed this year worldwide, with 29 Palestinian reporters killed by its forces in Gaza.
In its annual report, the Paris-based media freedom group said the total number of journalists killed reached 67 globally this year, slightly up from the 66 killed in 2024.
Israeli forces accounted for 43 percent of the total, making them “the worst enemy of journalists”, RSF says in its report, which documented deaths over 12 months from December 2024.
The most deadly single attack was a strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.
In total, since the start of hostilities in Gaza in October 2023, nearly 220 journalists have died, making Israel the biggest killer of journalists worldwide for three years running, RSF data shows.
Israel has accused some of the slain journalists of having been active members of terror groups. Israel has also barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the start of the war, giving Palestinian journalists a critical role in covering the conflict.
Both hospitals and journalists are supposed to be protected under international law, but hospitals can lose those protections if they are used for military purposes and journalists can, too, if they are armed or take part in hostilities.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and accuses Hamas of using Gaza’s civilians as human shields and embedding itself in civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.
Florida brands Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR foreign terrorist organizations
Florida Governor Ron Desantis announces that the US state is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations, effective immediately.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
Florida is designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as foreign terrorist organizations.
Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these… pic.twitter.com/2s48yYfEg7— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 8, 2025
IDF says it struck series of Hezbollah targets, including training site for elite Radwan Force
The IDF confirms carrying out a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon a short while ago, saying it targeted Hezbollah sites, including a training facility used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.
According to the military, the Radwan Force “training and qualification compound” was used by the terror group to plan and advance attacks against Israel.
In addition, the IDF says it struck several buildings used by Hezbollah and a rocket-launching site in southern Lebanon.
“The targets that were struck, and the military training conducted in preparation for activities against the State of Israel, constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and a threat to the State of Israel,” the military says.
Israeli airstrikes hit southern Lebanon, Lebanese media says; IDF yet to comment
Lebanese media reports a wave of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon a short while ago.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
مشاهد إضافية لاستهداف أطراف وادي رومين ومرتفعات إقليم التفاح في أطراف بلدة جباع من قبل الطيران الحربي الإسرائيلي pic.twitter.com/V2XS8sTkk7
— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) December 8, 2025
Knesset legal adviser warns proposed Haredi draft law falls short on equality, security
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor (right) and chairman Boaz Bismuth during a discussion on ultra-Orthodox conscription, September 8, 2025. (Dani Shem-Tov/ Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor raises serious concerns over the proposed draft conscription law for ultra-Orthodox Israelis, Hebrew media reports.
In an opinion released ahead of tomorrow’s committee discussion on the bill, she reportedly says the proposed civil-security service alternative, open only to graduates of ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, violates equality principles and is not equivalent to military service.
Shor notes that the service is shorter, voluntary and does not include reserve duty, while also failing to meet current security needs that require increasing IDF combat personnel.
The draft law, which would allow Haredim to perform civil-security service in bodies such as the Prison Service, Shin Bet, Mossad, and police, has been circulated to committee members by chairman Boaz Bismuth. At least eight coalition MKs are reported to oppose the draft, while Haredi factions are reportedly working to form a unified front ahead of the debate.
Knesset approves first reading of bill extending IDF and Shin Bet camera access by one year
Illustrative. Security cameras. (Image by Photo Mix from Pixabay)
The Knesset plenum approved in a first reading a bill extending by one year the temporary order allowing the IDF and Shin Bet to access computer systems used to operate fixed cameras, Hebrew media reports.
The vote reportedly saw 15 MKs supporting the measure and four opposing it. The bill will now move to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further discussion.
Fire erupts on 22nd floor of Tel Aviv Midtown Tower; multiple crews battling blaze
A fire has broken out on the 22nd floor of a Tel Aviv high-rise, according to Israel’s fire service.
Eight Fire and Rescue teams were dispatched to the scene at Midtown Tower on Menachem Begin Street and are working to extinguish the blaze, which reportedly began on one of the building’s balconies.
תיעוד: שריפה פרצה בקומה ה-22 במיד טאון בתל אביב pic.twitter.com/jiCt8qypeK
— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) December 8, 2025
The tower, part of a 50-story residential and commercial complex, was partially evacuated as crews worked to contain the fire.
There are no immediate reports of injuries, and the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
NY Holocaust survivor invited to middle school that refused him due to Israel support
Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann addresses students on a recent lecture tour of multiple cities across Germany. (Courtesy)
A Holocaust survivor in New York City has been invited to a Brooklyn middle school that denied him a speaking opportunity due to his support for Israel, a Jewish city legislator says.
The principal of MS 447 refused to host Sami Steigmann, a survivor who often speaks about the genocide and in support of Israel, last week.
The principal responded to a parent’s request to host Steigmann by saying his presentation would not be right for the school “given his messages around Israel and Palestine.”
The refusal set off a wave of condemnations, including from New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican representing part of South Brooklyn, says the city council’s Jewish Caucus spoke with NYC Public Schools about the issue, “and they confirmed that [Steigmann] is invited to speak at the school.”
Vernikov says on X that she is awaiting a date for the talk from the city’s education department.
Vernikov adds that she “demanded that the principal issue a public apology” to Steigmann.
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