Jan. 18: ‘Who deserves to leave?’: Ex-hostage Eitan Horn describes moment he saw Hamas release his brother

Report: Iran’s state TV hacked, broadcasts calls for protests by exiled crown prince

Iranian state television was hacked today, broadcasting opposition messaging for several minutes, including a speech by exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, according to Iran International, an opposition-allied site.

The report says videos of protests against the regime were broadcast on a number of channels, apparently owing to the hacking of satellite broadcasts.

🔴 BREAKING

The Iranian regime state TV was just HACKED.

Pro Reza Pahlavi videos were shown on the screen along with a message for armed forces to defect. pic.twitter.com/HwQ6MAuPEh

— Throwback Iran (@Tarikh_Eran) January 18, 2026

Pahlavi was seen calling on Iranians to join demonstrations and urging security forces to side with the protesters.

Arms smuggling suspect killed in car crash during police chase in south

A man was killed this evening after losing control of his vehicle while being pursued by police near the southern Bedouin community of Ararat an-Naqab, police say.

According to police, officers from the Magen southern border intelligence force started pursuing the car over suspicions it was being used to smuggle illegal arms. The car “drove wildly” away, police say.

During the chase, officers shot at the car’s tires, and the driver threw an M16 rifle out of the vehicle, according to police. He then “continued driving wildly until losing control and getting himself into an accident,” they say, adding that Magen David Adom medics pronounced him dead on the scene.

The ambulance service identified the driver as a 25-year-old man. His name was not immediately available.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he “backs the fighters of the Southern District’s Magen unit who were operating against a firearms criminal” as part of the “New Order” operation that Ben Gvir launched in November in Bedouin communities in the southern Negev.

“What we’ve done in Tarabin, Lakia and Tel Sheva — we’ll be doing all over the Negev,” Ben Gvir says, naming Bedouin communities that have seen large police deployment amid the operation.

The man killed this evening is the second known Bedouin casualty of the operation, after 36-year-old Muhammad Hussein Tarabin was shot dead by a policeman during a search of his home in Tarabin earlier this month.

Ministerial committee advances bill to give NIS 75,000 fine to protesters who block roads

Protesters demanding a hostage and ceasefire deal begin to gather on Begin Highway in Jerusalem, blocking the road to traffic on August 17, 2025. (Charlie Summers/ Times of Israel)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation advances a bill that would slap a fine of up to roughly NIS 75,000 ($23,850) on protesters who block “essential roads” during protests, Hebrew media outlets report.

The bill, according to the Ynet outlet, refers to high-traffic highways with no alternative routes that lead to public institutions or medical facilities.

Protesters who block roads in aggravating circumstances, including lighting bonfires, could be liable to pay a fine of up to NIS 226,000 ($71,850) under the reported text of the bill.

Recent years have seen mass anti-government protests, and protests on behalf of hostages held in Gaza, which frequently block roads. A series of Haredi protests against IDF conscription have also blocked roads.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara reportedly objects to the bill on the grounds that police already have the necessary tools to open roads when needed.

Security incident on Lebanese border ends after suspect withdraws, IDF says

The IDF says the incident this evening on the Lebanese border has ended after the suspect who approached the fence in Lebanese territory withdrew from the area.

Troops worked to “remove the threat” and tracked the suspect during the incident, the army says.

After the suspect moved northward away from the border, the IDF says it declared the incident over.

IDF chief announces next Navy chief of staff and other senior appointments

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks at a handover ceremony for the Planning Directorate chief at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, December 21, 2025. (Screenshot: Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announces a round of senior appointments in the military that have been approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The list includes six officers promoted to brigadier general or the Navy equivalent, rear admiral; two promoted to colonel or naval captain; and four brigadier generals or rear admirals, and two colonels, who are moving to new positions at the same rank.

Some of the notable appointments include Israeli Navy officer Cpt. Guy Levy, who will be the next chief of staff of the Navy, with the rank of rear admiral; Haifa Naval Base commander Rear Adm. Eli Soholitzky, who will head the Navy’s Operations Division; and Chief Armored Officer Brig. Gen. Ohad Maor, who will head the Ground Forces’ personnel division — a position that has been vacant for several months.

‘Who deserves to leave?’: Eitan Horn describes moment Hamas released his brother but not him

Left to right: The brothers Amos, Eitan, and Iair Horn visit Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, days after Eitan was released from Hamas captivity, on October 25, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Eitan Horn, one of the final 20 living hostages to be released in October 2025, describes his experience during 738 days in Hamas captivity, including the moment his brother Iair was released while he remained in Gaza, in a Hebrew-language interview with Channel 12.

Eitan and Iair were kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, leaving behind a third brother, Amos. Iair was freed in February 2025, as part of a previous ceasefire.

Eitan tells the Hebrew network that for the first two weeks of captivity, the brothers were held separately. They knew nothing about each other’s fate until they ran into one another by chance.

“I saw him from afar. We looked at each other and very quickly understood that we weren’t allowed to say we were brothers,” Eitan says, explaining that they feared their relation could be used against them by their captors.

“We didn’t open our mouths. We just continued. He saw me, he calmed down, and that gave us strength to keep going,” he says.

After many of the women and children in captivity were released in a November 2023 ceasefire, the brothers were reunited, becoming the only pair of brothers to be held hostage together for a long period.

Eitan says that their terrorist captors used their relationship to psychologically torture them.

“It was a card for them — to continue the mental abuse all the time. To humiliate us, [saying things like], shall we leave me there and let Iair go? Or execute him and not me?”

Ahead of Iair’s release, a Hamas commander entered their tunnel and told them that two hostages from their group of about four would be released under the ceasefire deal, tauntingly asking them, “Who do you think deserves to leave?”

Eitan adds, “None of us named ourselves among the two who should leave. Then, after a week, comes the happiest moment in these two years — they announce that Iair is going home. That he’s saved.”

But he says, “I know that Iair’s real nightmare was beginning. He’s leaving me there, he knows very well how he’s leaving me and in whose hands he’s leaving me, and what he’d have to go through to fight so that his little brother wouldn’t have to die there, inside.”

Iair says the day he was freed and left Eitan in captivity was his “worst day over the 738 days.”

Eitan also describes enduring humiliation to convince the terrorists to provide the hostages with more food, which was dangerously scarce. Eitan says he “let [the terrorists] laugh at me for being smelly, for being stupid, dancing for them. But if afterward we got two more dates [to eat] — then I did my part.”

He adds, “I did the Hamas diet and lost 64 kilos” (141 pounds), saying that “over two years I didn’t really move my body.”

On one occasion, they forced the brothers and fellow hostages to walk for 12 hours through tunnel networks. “I was in tunnels for two years without sun, without air, without night or day, without smells, without hearing birds,” Eitan says. “To be there for two years like we were, with everything we went through — no one will ever understand that.”

Haredi parties to advance 2026 budget even though draft exemption bill has yet to pass — report

UTJ MKs Yitzhak Goldknopf and Moshe Gafni at the Knesset plenum, Jerusalem, September 29, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)

Despite declaring that they would not support the 2026 state budget until the coalition passes its controversial bill exempting yeshiva students from military service, the ultra-Orthodox Shas and Degel HaTorah parties plan to vote in favor of the budget in its first reading, Channel 12 reports.

According to the network, following the first reading of the budget bill in the coming days, the two Haredi parties will withhold their support for further votes on the budget until the exemption bill’s legislative process is completed.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is expected to submit the 2026 state budget to the Knesset tomorrow, with its first reading to be held either on Wednesday or next Monday, the Ynet news site reported earlier today.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik informed lawmakers today that a first reading of the budget must be held by next week because at least two months must pass between the first and second readings of the budget, the latter of which must be held by the end of March.

Under Israeli law, if the government fails to pass the budget by the end of March, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections three months later. Elections are currently slated to be held by late October.

Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni last week told Haredi media that he would not support the first reading of the budget without a conscription law. Earlier this month, Shas spokesman Asher Medina warned that the party would not vote for the 2026 state budget without the prior passage of the conscription bill.

However, speaking with national broadcaster Kan today, a senior Shas official stated that if the budget comes up for a vote before work on the bill is finished, his party would support it.

This afternoon, Ynet reported that Degel HaTorah’s MKs are planning on bringing the matter of the budget to their rabbis for guidance.

Hungary invited to join Gaza Board of Peace, Orban says

US President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) and Vice President JD Vance (left), speaks during a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (second from left) in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 7, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Hungary is the latest country to publicly confirm that it has been invited join the Board of Peace for Gaza, and that it has accepted the invitation.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban makes the announcement on X, writing, “With President [Donald Trump] comes peace. Another letter has arrived. Hungary’s efforts for peace are being recognised.”

Orban, who has long been close with the US president as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adds, “We have, of course, accepted this honourable invitation.”

The Board of Peace, which will act as an umbrella oversight body for Gaza and which Trump will chair, will largely be made up of heads of state from around the world. Leaders from a range of countries in the Middle East and across the world have been invited.

🇭🇺🇺🇸📩 With President @realDonaldTrump comes peace. Another letter has arrived.

Hungary’s efforts for peace are being recognised.

President Trump has invited Hungary to join the work of The Board of Peace as a founding member. We have, of course, accepted this honourable… pic.twitter.com/6XZnho9bjj

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 18, 2026

CEO of Iran’s second-biggest phone company fired for failing to block internet

A woman crosses an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. (AP Photo/ Vahid Salemi)

The chief executive of Irancell, Iran’s second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the government’s decision to shut down the internet amid mounting anti-regime protests, Iran’s Fars news agency reports.

Iran cut off all communications on January 8 without warning, as calls intensified for the anti-government protests, which were initially sparked by an economic crisis.

Access to the internet has been virtually impossible in Iran since then, although restrictions began to ease today for some foreign websites, such as Google.

“Alireza Rafiei was removed from the position of CEO of the company after about a year of activity,” Fars reports. “Irancell disobeyed the orders of the decision-making institutions in implementing the announced policies regarding the restriction of internet access in crisis situations.”

“The relevant institutions decided to dismiss the CEO of Irancell, citing ‘failure to comply with the announced rules in crisis situations,'” Fars adds.

Iranian authorities have announced they are planning to restore internet access “gradually.”

Irancell was founded in 2005 and claims 70 million subscribers.

Troops sent to Lebanon border, IDF opens fire, when suspect identified across fence

IDF troops were dispatched to the Lebanon border in the Western Galilee a short while ago, after a suspect was identified on the Lebanese side of the fence, the military says.

“From the moment of identification, IDF troops have been maintaining continuous surveillance of the suspect,” the military says, adding that a tank and a helicopter also opened fire in the area to “remove the threat.”

The IDF says it continues to operate in the area, is in contact with local Israeli authorities, and will update on any developments.

Ministerial committee advances bill to make AG take lie detector test every 2 years

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a hearing of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee in Jerusalem, September 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation advances an amendment to the General Security Service Law requiring the attorney general to take a polygraph test every two years and answer questions regarding the “leaking of classified information to unauthorized parties.”

If passed into law, the bill, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, would also apply to the attorney general’s deputies, the state attorney, and other senior Justice Ministry employees.

Kroizer’s bill comes on the heels of the revelation that footage purporting to show guards at the Sde Teiman military base severely abusing a Gazan inmate was leaked last year by then-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. The criminal investigation into the leaked video stemmed from a failed polygraph test by an officer in the military advocate general’s office, reportedly the spokesperson for the unit.

In addition, the coalition has tried unsuccessfully for months to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, accusing her of working against the government and undermining its interests. Baharav-Miara has opposed several of the government’s signature legislative initiatives and has refused to defend the government in proceedings in the High Court of Justice against some of its policies and legislation.

In its explanatory notes, the bill argues that “public trust in law enforcement is very low,” due to “constant leaks, selective enforcement, and the promotion of personal interests” when filing indictments, arguing that senior employees in the attorney general’s office and the Justice Ministry’s Advisory and Legislative Division should be required to take periodic polygraph tests just as senior law enforcement, intelligence, and military officials currently do in order to “help increase public trust.”

In a post on X following the ministerial committee vote on his bill, Kroizer shares a video containing an apparent AI animation of a polygraph machine shorting out while hooked up to Baharav-Miara.

הגיע הזמן: פוליגרף ליועמ״שים ! pic.twitter.com/nUyzCGm58a

— יצחק קרויזר (@Yitzik_kroizer) January 18, 2026

EU weighs $108 billion in retaliatory tariffs on US over Trump’s Greenland threat — report

Homes in Nuuk, Greenland, January 14, 2026. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

European capitals may hit the US with 93 billion euros ($108 billion) worth of tariffs, or restrict American companies from the bloc’s market, in response to US President Donald Trump’s threats to NATO allies opposed to his campaign to take over Greenland, the Financial Times reports.

The retaliation measures are being drawn up to give European leaders leverage in pivotal meetings with Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, the FT report says, citing officials involved in the preparations for the meetings in Switzerland.

Officials warn Hamas emboldened by phase 2 of Gaza plan, aims for ‘Hezbollah model’ — report

Hamas gunmen accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head to the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City to search for the remains of deceased hostages, December 8, 2025. (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

Senior officials in Israel’s defense establishment have warned the political leadership in recent days that Hamas has been emboldened under US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, Channel 12 reports.

In recent discussions with the country’s political echelon, the defense officials shared assessments that aspects of the second phase of Trump’s plan — specifically the inclusion of Turkish and Qatari representatives in the executive committee that will take part in managing Gaza under Trump’s Board of Peace — offers an opportunity for “long-term hope and short-term boldness” to the terror group and could gradually undermine what the IDF achieved over two years of war in Gaza, according to the report.

In the short term, the officials say the terrorist organization is seeking to rebuild itself and planning attacks against IDF soldiers deployed in Gaza. In the long term, officials sat Hamas has no intention of relinquishing its weapons and is hoping to replicate the “Hezbollah model,” a reference to the Lebanese terror group on Israel’s northern border, which Israel says is attempting to rebuild following a November 2024 ceasefire.

The officials say Hamas “will do everything it can to drag out the process and exhaust all parties, while reconstruction on the ground begins in practice.”

These views are also shared by senior political officials, the report adds, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself is believed to have objected to the makeup of the executive committee due to Trump’s decision to involve Qatar and Turkey – which have close ties to Hamas and are fiercely critical of Israel.

Three more F-35 fighter jets land in Israel, bringing IAF’s fleet to 48

A new F-35 fighter jet at the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel, on January 18, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

Three new F-35I fighter jets landed in Israel earlier today, the military says, bringing the number of fifth-generation stealth aircraft that the Israeli Air Force has in its arsenal to 48.

The three fighter jets traveled from the United States to the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, where they will join the IAF’s 116th and 140th squadrons.

The three are part of Israel’s initial order of 50 F-35 jets, and the move is unrelated to the ongoing tensions with Iran. Another 25 F-35s were ordered from US defense contractor Lockheed Martin in 2024, and are expected to be delivered starting in 2028.

Iran judiciary hints at unrest-linked executions, in potential shift

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures to the crowd during a speech in Tehran, Iran, January 17, 2026. (KHAMENEI.IR)

Iran indicates that it might go ahead with execution of people detained during the unrest, after the country’s foreign minister had suggested there would not be hangings.

“A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments,” Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir tells a press conference today.

Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.

An Iranian official tells Reuters that the verified death toll was unlikely to “increase sharply,” adding “Israel and armed groups abroad” had supported and equipped those taking to the streets.

The clerical establishment regularly blames unrest on foreign enemies, including the US and Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Following legal adviser’s deadline, Smotrich to present budget tomorrow — report

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an event at the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is expected to submit the 2026 state budget to the Knesset tomorrow, with its first reading to be held either on Wednesday or on the following Monday, the Ynet news site reports.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik informed lawmakers today that a first reading of the budget must be held by next week because at least two months must pass between the first and second readings of the budget, the latter of which must be held by the end of March.

Under Israeli law, if the government fails to pass the budget by the end of March, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections three months later. Elections are currently slated to be held by late October.

US envoy Barrack says Syria truce a ‘pivotal inflection point’

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference following his meeting with Lebanon's president at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on August 18, 2025. (ANWAR AMRO/ AFP)

US envoy Tom Barrack welcomes a truce announced today between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi after government forces advanced in Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east.

“This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division,” Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, writes on X. The envoy met Sharaa in Damascus earlier today and Abdi a day earlier in Iraq’s Erbil.

Syrian government announces a ceasefire with Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces

Syrian government soldiers wave a Syrian flag after climbing atop a statue of a female Kurdish fighter, following the takeover of the town from US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during an ongoing push against Kurdish-led forces, in Tabqa, eastern Syria, January 18, 2026. (AP Photo/ Omar Albam)

The Syrian government announces a ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces, taking almost full control of the country and dismantling the Kurdish-led forces that controlled the northeast for over a decade.

The agreement comes as tensions between government forces and the SDF boiled over earlier this month, eventually resulting in a major push toward the east. The SDF appeared to have largely retreated after initial clashes on a tense frontline area in eastern Aleppo province. Syria’s Defense Ministry says it has ordered the fighting to halt on the frontlines after the agreement is announced.

Syria’s new leaders, since toppling Bashar Assad in December 2024, have struggled to assert their full authority over the war-torn country. An agreement was reached in March that would merge the SDF with Damascus, but it did not hit the ground running as both sides accused each other of violating the deal.

IDF: Elite unit nabbed ‘key figure’ in Gaza City last year who revealed where Oron Shaul’s body was

Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul (Courtesy)

The IDF reveals new details from a clandestine operation in the Gaza Strip a year ago, during which the body of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul was recovered by special forces after being held by terror operatives for more than a decade.

Shaul was killed and abducted by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War, and his remains were located and returned to Israel on January 19, 2025, shortly before a ceasefire took effect between Israel and the terror group.

The military now discloses that the information on the location of Shaul’s body was obtained from a “key figure” who lived at a civilian site in Gaza City, where the remains of the slain soldier were believed to be.

Troops of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit nabbed the figure in a special operation. Following an interrogation by the Shin Bet, the figure provided accurate information on the location of Shaul’s body, the IDF says.

A day later, forces from the Shin Bet, the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, and the 188th Armored Brigade raided the civilian site and retrieved the body, where it had been held for many years, according to the military.

The IDF says the operation was planned and carried out in a way that did not endanger any of the living hostages who had been held in Gaza City at the time.

Netanyahu meets with SEC chair to ease Israeli companies’ path to US exchanges

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Paul Atkins in Jerusalem, January 18, 2026. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Paul Atkins to advance a model that would make it easier for Israeli companies to register and list their stocks on exchanges in the US.

During the meeting in Jerusalem, the two discussed the possibility of promoting a mechanism of mutual recognition in securities registration, similar to the so-called Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System (MJDS) model used in the US, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The move is expected to make it easier for Israeli companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to register for trading in the US, while reducing regulatory duplication, streamlining reporting procedures, and boosting the companies’ accessibility to international capital markets, the PMO says.

Also attending the meeting are National Economic Council chairman Prof. Avi Simhon, Israel Securities Authority Director-General Oded Spirer, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

During the meeting, it was agreed that joint professional teams of both securities authorities will meet to examine the feasibility of promoting the model as well as the regulatory adjustments required for its implementation between Israel and the US.

Israel comes one step closer to allowing Uber and Lyft on its streets

Illustrative: A man holds a smartphone showing the app for ride-sharing service Uber in London, on March 17, 2021. (Tolga Akmen / AFP)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a draft bill to advance regulation that would allow rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft to operate in Israel, and lower taxi costs.

The bill brought by Blue and White MK Eitan Ginsburg and Likud MK Moshe Passal seeks to permit shared ride-hailing service companies such as Uber and Lyft to offer services in Israel via phone applications that connect private drivers with passengers. The bill is expected to be advanced in the Knesset for a preliminary reading starting next week.

In recent months, Transportation Minister Miri Regev has been working to allow Uber to enter the Israeli market slated for as early as the beginning of this year. The rideshare giant also provides services like food delivery, freight, and other on-demand mobility options.

The Transportation Ministry says that the draft bill is intended to regulate the operation of ride-hailing transportation services in Israel, including passenger safety issues, driver screening, insurance coverage and monitoring the condition of vehicles, alongside a compensation mechanism support system for the local taxi driver industry as the competing serviced take to the streets.

“Our vision is to move Israel into an era of smart, accessible, and affordable transportation,” says Regev. “Approval of the bill is a historic step that will dismantle old monopolies, reduce road congestion, create thousands of new jobs, and open the market to real competition that will lower the cost of living.”

Government says High Court has no authority to force state inquiry into October 7

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit arrives for a hearing at the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem, December 23, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The government argues that the High Court of Justice has no authority to order it to establish a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, asserting that the 1969 Law for Commissions of Inquiry explicitly gives the government, and no other body, including the court, the authority to establish such inquiries.

The argument is made in a response filed by the government to petitions to the High Court asking it to order the government to establish a state commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the October 7 catastrophe. The filing cites a 2021 decision by the High Court to back its argument.

The High Court issued a conditional order against the government on November 19 asking it to explain why it was not establishing a state commission of inquiry, Israel’s highest investigative authority, into the invasion and massacres.

“The authority in this matter belongs to the government and not to any other entity, and this honorable court has ruled in the clearest terms that ‘the establishment of a state committee of inquiry is a matter for the government to answer, not for the court,'” states the government’s response.

The decision it cited was made by the High Court regarding requests by petitioners that it order the government to launch a state commission of inquiry into the Submarine Affair. That scandal revolved around allegations of a massive bribery scheme in Israel’s multi-billion shekel purchase of naval vessels from German shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp.

“It should be said even now that making the conditional order absolute would tear apart the principle of separation of powers and would harm the balance established by the legislature, an injury that, with all due respect, is not within the authority of this honorable court,” the government asserts.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Church leaders in Israel condemn Christian Zionism as a ‘damaging ideology’

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa (center) and Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Bishop William Shomali (left) speak to reporters at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Lazar Berman/The Times of Israel)

The leaders of the major Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Orthodox, and other churches in the region issue a condemnation of Christian Zionism, which they call one of the “damaging ideologies” being pushed in Israel that “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

“These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East,” say the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land, who also emphasize their concern that Christian Zionists “have been welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally.”

The Church leaders insist that “they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.”

Israeli, Arab pressure persuaded Trump against Iran strike — report

US President Donald Trump speaks at a dedication ceremony for a portion of Southern Boulevard, which the Town of Palm Beach Council recently voted to rename,"President Donald J. Trump Boulevard," January 16, 2026, at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The US military was waiting for a green light from US President Donald Trump to strike Iran last week, but he decided against pulling the trigger under pressure from Israel and Arab allies, Axios reports.

The report cites four US officials, two Israeli officials, and two sources with knowledge of the details.

The US’s initial intelligence assessment was that the anti-regime protests in Iran were too contained to threaten the survival of the regime, but that position changed on January 8 when the massive protests hit Tehran and other major cities, according to the report.

The first high-level meeting on a potential military response was chaired by US Vice President JD Vance on January 9, reports Axios.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contacted top Trump envoy Steve Witkoff that same weekend to open a de-escalation channel.

Trump chaired his first meeting on the protests on January 13, and was presented with several options for strikes, including from US naval ships and submarines.

According to Axios, Trump chose his favorite option and ordered preparations to be completed. According to a US official, a strike plan was ready that day but not approved.

The next day, January 14, saw US troops evacuate from US bases in Qatar as administration officials waited for an expected attack order from Trump.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called Trump that day to tell him Israel wasn’t ready to defend itself if Iran attacked the Jewish state after an American attack, and that the US plan wouldn’t achieve its goal.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman also urged Trump not to attack, citing the need for regional stability, according to the report.

Araghchi texted Witkoff that morning pledging to not execute protesters and to “stop the killing,” two US officials tell the outlet.

In the afternoon meeting Trump held with his top national security advisers, “he wanted to continue monitoring the situation,” says a White House official. “It was really close. The military was in a position to do something really fast, but the order didn’t come,” says another US official.

Some of the officials who spoke to Axios say that the US didn’t have the necessary assets in the region, and that they “sort of missed the window.” However, a White House official denies that, arguing that the US has what it needs “to execute on many of the options presented to the president, if he were to choose them.”

Iranian president: Attack on supreme leader would mean ‘full-scale war with the Iranian nation’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian takes questions from the media at a press briefing in New York, September 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says that any attack on the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would be a declaration of war.

“An attack on the great leader of our country is tantamount to a full-scale war with the Iranian nation,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.

The statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump called Khamenei a “sick man” in an interview with Politico, and said, “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.”

It appeared to be the first time Trump called for the end of Khamenei’s rule in Iran.

In his post, Pezeshkian blames the US and its allies for the hardship experienced by Iranians. Protests that began last month over economic difficulties mushroomed into mass demonstrations against the regime. Thousands were reported killed in the protests.

Trump invited India to be part of Gaza Peace Board — report

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, gestures and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to the media as they arrive for a meeting in New Delhi, India, Jan.15, 2018. (AP Photo, File)

US President Donald Trump invited India to be a part of the Gaza Board of Peace, ANI news reports, citing sources.

The report by the Indian news agency comes after Pakistan, India’s neighbor and rival, confirmed that it received an invitation to the board.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had a close relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sharaa meets with US envoy, insists on sovereignty over all Syria during advance on Kurds

President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with US envoy Tom Barrack and insists on Syria’s sovereignty across the country, a statement says, as his forces advance against withdrawing Kurdish fighters in the north and east.

Sharaa “affirmed Syria’s unity and sovereignty over all its territory, the importance of dialogue at the current stage and to rebuild Syria with the participation of all Syrians,” a presidency statement says, adding that Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also attended the meeting.

Barrack, Sharaa, and Shaybani pic.twitter.com/G2cAfMNQ21

— Aaron Y. Zelin (@azelin) January 18, 2026

A day earlier in Erbil, Barrack met Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, according to the presidency of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Monitor says ‘some online services’ restored in Iran after shutdown during protest

Some internet access has been restored in Iran 238 hours after authorities imposed a shutdown on January 8 over mounting anti-regime protests, a monitor says, noting ordinary connectivity remained “disrupted.”

“Traffic data indicate a significant return to some online services including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled, corroborating user reports of partial restoration,” Netblocks says in a social media post.

“Not internet as usual, even for Iran,” the group says in a subsequent post.

ℹ️ Update: While ordinary internet connectivity in #Iran remains disrupted at hour 238, traffic data indicate a significant return to some online services including Google, suggesting that heavily filtered access has been enabled, corroborating user reports of partial restoration pic.twitter.com/YR1YfkxZCU

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 18, 2026

UTJ’s Goldknopf demands Haredi draft dodgers in military prison get special Shabbat meals

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf at the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf demands that Haredim arrested for IDF draft evasion be granted special privileges not provided to others held in military prison.

Writing to Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Goldknopf calls for their “immediate intervention,” insisting that limiting the number of visits permitted to the rabbis of the draft evaders “is a serious violation of their rights.”

He declares that he is shocked that yeshiva students who dodge the draft “are being thrown behind bars as criminals simply because of their devotion to Torah study.”

The Hasidic politician goes on to insist that “in the Jewish state there is no reason” why the prisoners should not be provided with special rations on Shabbat, stating that they should be served fare “that is adapted to their lifestyle and Shabbat tradition.”

“For a Haredi man, this is a serious violation of his well-being and ability to maintain the character of the [Shabbat] day,” he states.

Goldknopf’s letter comes after he and fellow United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush visited ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers in military prison this morning, claiming, falsely, in two separate statements that the men had been incarcerated for studying Torah.

“Our hearts are broken to see a 19-year-old boy, who completed the Talmud twice and has spent his entire life studying Torah, languishing in prison simply because he wanted to continue studying in the yeshiva. It is difficult to accept this reality, especially under a right-wing government,” said Goldknopf, demanding that “every Torah student” be allowed to continue studying without disruption.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have paid multiple visits to yeshiva students incarcerated for refusing to enlist in the IDF in recent months.

UN spokesperson, asked about Gaza Peace Board, says countries are ‘free to associate’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a news conference at the COP30 UN Climate Summit, November 20, 2025, in Belem, Brazil. (AP/Fernando Llano)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “believes member states are free to associate in different groups,” his spokesperson says when asked about a draft US charter for a Board of Peace.

“The United Nations will continue with its mandated work,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq says.

The charter of the Board of Peace, which was founded to oversee Gaza’s postwar development, does not mention the Strip. That may suggest that the US wants the Board of Peace to assist in the resolution of other conflicts around the globe. However, the mandate of the board approved in November by the Security Council is limited to Gaza and lasts only until the end of 2027.

Ministers advance NIS 6.2 billion plan to ease reservists’ burden while expanding benefits

Reservists of the Jerusalem Brigade operate in the northern Gaza Strip, in a handout photo issued by the military on January 17, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation, chaired by Defense Minister Israel Katz, has given its initial approval to an NIS 6.2 billion ($2 billion) compensation and recognition framework for reserve soldiers in 2026, Katz’s office announces.

The plan, expected to be brought before the cabinet for final approval in the coming days, would reduce the overall reserve burden by roughly one-third, such that on a typical day, about 40,000 reservists would be serving. At the same time, benefits and compensation granted in 2025 would be preserved and expanded, with priority given to combat soldiers and commanders.

The framework would also introduce, for the first time, a model developed by the IDF that classifies reservists into six tiers based on the nature and intensity of their service, with benefits adjusted accordingly.

“This is our way of telling them that the State of Israel sees them, appreciates them – and will always stand behind them and their families,” Katz says, noting that reservists carried an “especially heavy burden” during the multi-front fighting of 2025. Reservists saw the extent of their call-ups increase following the outbreak of the war in Gaza with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The framework, which Katz’s office says is aimed at maintaining operational readiness while strengthening the economic, familial and mental resilience of reserve service members, serves as a continuation of a series of government decisions adopted since October 2023, entailing roughly NIS 20 billion ($6.37 billion) of funding.

Katz thanks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for their cooperation in advancing the plan.

Netanyahu meets with Honduras president, says countries ‘refashioning’ their relationship

Honduran president-elect Nasry "Tito" Asfura (left) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on January 18, 2026. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with visiting Honduran President-elect Nasry “Tito” Asfura, telling him that they are “refashioning the relationship” between their countries, according to a statement from the premier’s office.

“We’re refashioning the relationship between Israel and Honduras to the traditional lines of friendship, but we want to also seize the future,” the premier tells Asfura in the readout, adding that he looks forward “to working with your government, both in economic fields and agriculture and technology in any of the areas that I think are laid before us.”

Asfura responds that he is “convinced that we will be able to implement everything you said and also lead toward the peace, brotherhood and [the] future of our countries.”

The conservative president-elect, who is of Palestinian Christian descent and is expected to open a friendlier chapter with Israel after four years of leftist rule in his Central American country, met today with President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Herzog and Asfura discussed strengthening “trade and cooperation” between their countries, and also held an unofficial meeting with US Senator Lindsay Graham, who is visiting Israel as well, according to a readout from Herzog’s office.

October 7 survivor Shaylee Atary says state was ‘negligent’ when she reported rape in 2011

Shaylee Atary (right) and her late husband Yahav Winner in an undated photo (Courtesy of Go2Films)

October 7 survivor Shaylee Atary testifies at the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality, saying the state gave an inadequate response to the violent sexual assault that she underwent in 2011.

“In April 2011, I was violently raped on the asphalt of a residential parking lot beneath my apartment in Tel Aviv,” says Atary during a committee session on support for survivors of sexual violence.

After she went to the police, providing evidence of her injuries, “the police were negligent, and the prosecution closed the case for lack of evidence,” she says.

“The court protected the perpetrator under a gag order. The investigation materials show serious negligence and a lack of willingness to get to the truth. My main witness, who found me unconscious, was never even questioned — the person who saw my injuries and heard me screaming at the rapist,” Atary continues.

Atary survived the Hamas-led massacre at her home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. Her husband, Yahav Winner, was killed protecting Atary and their newborn baby, Shaya, enabling them to flee. They were rescued after hiding out for more than 24 hours.

Atary says that she and the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel are drafting a bill that will soon be brought before the Knesset to grant victims the right to be “kept informed of proceedings regarding a request for a gag order for a suspect in sexual offenses, and to express [their] position regarding the request.”

Atary notes that victims of sexual assault, as in other violent crimes, are not considered “a party to the proceedings” under Israeli law and are given limited rights during the judicial process.

Thousands of Israelis mark ‘Dugo Day,’ eating falafel in Holocaust survivor’s memory

88-year-old Holocaust survivor David 'Dugo' Leitner, left, and President Reuven Rivlin at the President's Residence in Jerusalem for a falafel lunch, January 17, 2019. (Mark Neiman/GPO)

Thousands of Israelis around the country today are marking “Dugo Day” by eating falafel in honor of a Holocaust survivor’s personal celebration of life.

“Dugo Day” was launched 11 years ago to commemorate a tradition begun by David “Dugo” Leitner, who would eat falafel every January 18, the date he and some 66,000 others set out on the Auschwitz death marches in 1945.

Freezing, starving and exhausted, Leitner, 14 at the time, motivated himself to keep going by dreaming about his mother’s bilkalach — small golden buns of bread made in his native Hungary and across Central Europe.

Years later, after Leitner survived and moved to Israel, that memory came rushing back to him when he first encountered falafel at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.

“The fried balls immediately took me back to the march — and my mother’s kitchen — and I had two portions one after another,” Leitner told the Srugim website in 2018.

Leitner made it a tradition to eat two portions of falafel every January 18 to celebrate his survival. Later, in his honor, the Testimony House, a small Holocaust education institution in the town of Nir Galim, launched “Operation Dugo” in 2016, encouraging people to eat a falafel on that date and share a photograph on social media with the #OperationDugo hashtag in Hebrew.

Leitner died in 2023, but the event lives on, with schoolchildren, IDF soldiers, youth movements and private individuals continuing the tradition. Many schools have also integrated lessons about Leitner’s life into the day’s curriculum.

Next month, the Israel Postal Company will issue a stamp honoring Leitner as part of a commemorative project, according to Hebrew media reports.

This year also saw a great-grandson, David Amichai, named in Leitner’s honor.

Knesset women’s rights panel chair: Ex-minister accused of assault shouldn’t lead aerospace giant

MK Meirav Cohen leads the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality on November 25, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen, chair of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality, says the committee will urge the Defense Ministry against appointing former Likud minister Silvan Shalom, who has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault, to lead Israel Aerospace Industries.

During a committee session on support and assistance for victims of sexual violence, a woman who goes by Michal testifies that Shalom assaulted her when he served as science and technology minister.

“Make sure this man is not in a public position,” she says, adding that he should be in jail.

“You are placing Israel’s security in the hands of a rapist,” she continues.

Thirteen women in all came forward to make allegations against Shalom. None filed police complaints, and the police investigation into the allegations was subsequently closed. Shalom has denied the allegations.

Shalom’s former secretary said that after she told Likud lawmaker Gila Gamliel about his assault on her, Gamliel referred her to the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.

Shalom resigned from political life in the face of the mounting allegations in 2015.

Journalist Hadash Shteif testifies that she knows of at least four other women who worked at the Knesset who were assaulted by Shalom.

“This man is a sex offender. Period,” says Shteif.

“It’s unacceptable that a man who has harmed so many women would be given such a senior position,” she says.

In response, Cohen says that the committee will approach Defense Minister Israel Katz to urge him not to approve Shalom’s appointment.

Calcalist reported last week that Shalom was being recommended by Katz and Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem to take the helm of the state-owned IAI.

His nomination has drawn criticism from sexual assault victims’ advocates, including the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, which said, “His appointment will cast a heavy shadow on IAI and send a sharp and painful message about the priority of women’s safety.”

Herzog to attend Davos conference, tout Israeli economy

President Isaac Herzog speaks at an Israeli Air Force pilots' graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Airbase, December 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

President Isaac Herzog will fly out on Tuesday to participate in the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, his office says.

The event, which runs from tomorrow through Friday, is considered the premier meeting of the global economic elite and is attended by world leaders. This year’s attendees include US President Donald Trump, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Leaders attending from the Middle East include Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.

According to the President’s Residence, during the two-day visit, Herzog will hold diplomatic meetings, participate in the main plenary sessions, and “represent the State of Israel in various international forums to highlight the strengths of the Israeli economy to key audiences and decision-makers.”

Iran considering ‘gradually’ restoring internet access after shutdown amid protests

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian authorities say they are considering “gradually” restoring internet access after imposing an unprecedented communications shutdown 10 days ago, which rights groups say masked a violent crackdown that killed thousands during mass nationwide protests.

Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into anti-regime protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years.

The rallies subsided after a crackdown that rights groups call a “massacre” carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8 as the protests grew in size and intensity.

Government officials say calm has been restored, with schools reopening today — Iran’s weekend falling on Thursday and Friday — after a week of closure.

Late yesterday, the Tasnim news agency reported “the relevant authorities announced that internet access would also be gradually restored,” but gave no further details.

Citing an unnamed “informed source,” the agency said local messaging applications “will soon be activated” on Iran’s domestic intranet.

This morning, AFP was able to connect to the internet from its Tehran office, though the vast majority of internet providers and mobile internet remain cut.

Outgoing international calls have been possible since Tuesday, and text messaging was restored yesterday morning.

For days, text messages and international phone calls — and at times even local calls — were cut off.

Iran has since been relying on its intranet, which has supported local media websites, ride-hailing apps, delivery service and banking platforms. Despite the restrictions, information had still filtered out, with reports of atrocities emerging, according to rights groups.

Amnesty International says it has verified dozens of videos and accounts in recent days.

They show “that security forces have been relentlessly firing at protesters from the streets and from elevated positions” and that hospitals had been “overwhelmed with the injured” in a “massacre of protesters,” says Amnesty’s Iran researcher Raha Bahreini in a video posted online.

Canada’s Carney says he agrees to Gaza Peace Board in principle, details being worked out

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to Mishal Husain on Bloomberg Podcasts in interview published October 17, 2025. (Screenshot, Bloomberg Podcasts)

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has agreed to US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza in principle, although details are still being worked out.

Carney says Trump raised the idea with him a few weeks ago and Carney said Canada will do what it can to relieve suffering in Gaza.

“We haven’t gone through all the details of the structure, how it’s going to work, what financing is for, et cetera,” Carney tells reporters in Doha. “We will work through those in the coming days.”

Pakistan receives US invitation to join Trump’s Board of Peace on Gaza

In this handout photograph taken and released by Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) on November 12, 2025, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses parliament session on constitutional amendmen (Photo by HANDOUT / Pakistan Press Information Department (PID) / AFP)

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has received US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace for Gaza, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs says in a statement.

“Pakistan will remain engaged with international efforts for peace and security in Gaza, leading to a lasting solution to the Palestine issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions,” the statement adds.

Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Court extends ban on Netanyahu’s chief of staff working in PM’s office until hearing on Tuesday

The Lod-Central District Court extends the ban on Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, from working in the Prime Minister Office and contacting anyone involved in the Bild leaked documents affair until an appeal against a lower court decision to cancel the restrictions is heard.

The court sets a hearing for the appeal for Tuesday.

The police filed an appeal today against the decision to remove the restrictions from Braverman and another suspect, Jonatan Urich.

Netanyahu urges steps to increase IDF enlistment rates, beyond ultra-Orthodox community

Demonstrators take part in a march in support of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF, from the entrance to Jerusalem to the Knesset, January 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the establishment of a special team chaired by Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs to draw up a list of recommendations for steps, including sanctions, that can be taken to increase enlistment across the board and not just among members of the ultra-Orthodox community, Hebrew media reports.

According to television network i24, during this morning’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu stated that “steps are needed that affect the entire public. It is not right to create arrangements that target only one sector,” concluding that sanctions would apply to draft evaders but not all yeshiva students.

The network, along with ultra-Orthodox news site Behadrei Haredim, further reports that the sanctions would not affect “fundamental rights” nor be so broad in scope as to fail to meet legal tests.

Today’s discussion comes after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara last week accused the government of violating a High Court of Justice order by failing to create a policy to enforce draft notices sent to tens of thousands of Haredi men who haven’t enlisted.

i24 adds that Fuchs told cabinet ministers that the government’s Haredi exemption bill — which proposed continued military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students while purportedly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions — could be approved for its second and third readings by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in two weeks.

The legislative panel’s legal adviser has stated that the bill needs to include harsher sanctions in order to be effective.  Many critics see the bill as laden with loopholes and unlikely to increase enlistment.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders visit jailed Haredi draft dodgers

Agudat Yisrael MK Meir Porush enters a military prison to visit yeshiva students arrested for draft evasion, on January 18, 2026 (Courtesy of Porush’s Shlomei Emunim movement)

Agudat Yisrael chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf and MK Meir Porush visit ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers in military prison, claiming, falsely, that they have been incarcerated for studying Torah.

“Our hearts are broken to see a 19-year-old boy, who completed the Talmud twice and has spent his entire life studying Torah, languishing in prison simply because he wanted to continue studying in the yeshiva. It is difficult to accept this reality, especially under a right-wing government,” says Goldknopf, demanding that “every Torah student” be allowed to continue studying without disruption.

In a separate statement, Porush declares that he had “met several young men who are being detained for the crime of studying Torah,” calling it “heartbreaking.”

“We need to try to come here more, but I am also busy with discussions in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and I shared with them what was happening in the discussions. We pray that God will help us and save us from this trouble,” he adds.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have paid multiple visits to yeshiva students incarcerated for refusing to enlist in the IDF in recent months.

In August 2025, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Israelis clashed with police outside the Beit Lid military prison following a protest against the detention of yeshiva students organized by leading Haredi rabbis.

Testifying before the Knesset State Control Committee in mid-September, the head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate dismissed the military’s efforts to crack down on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers as ineffective.

However, Lt. Col. Avigdor Dickstein, head of the Haredi branch of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, told the Kan public broadcaster last week, after over 530 Haredim enlisted within one week, that mass issuance of draft orders to Haredim and subsequent enforcement, including imprisonment, has been “unequivocally effective” in boosting enlistment numbers.

Knesset legal adviser said to give government one-week deadline to pass 1st reading of state budget

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen with ministers and MKs in the Knesset in Jerusalem, on January 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The government has just one week to pass the 2026 state budget in a first reading in the Knesset to avoid dissolving the house and triggering early elections, according to Hebrew media reports.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik informed lawmakers today that a first reading must be held by next week because at least two months must pass between the first and second readings of the budget, the latter of which must be held by the end of March.

Under Israeli law, if the government fails to pass the budget by the end of March, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, resulting in early elections three months later. Elections are currently expected to be held in October.

The timeline is further compressed by the fact that Passover begins on April 1, and the Knesset effectively enters its spring recess in the preceding week, further pushing up the deadline to pass the budget.

The timeline creates political issues for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the ultra-Orthodox parties vowing not to vote for the budget until the passing of a law on draft exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students. That law has yet to be legislated.

Rom Braslavski identified as freed hostage attacked at Tel Aviv night club

Former hostage Rom Braslavski at the Israeli Premier League match between Maccabi Netanya and Beitar Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on November 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Rom Braslavski is identified as the former hostage who was attacked at a Tel Aviv nightclub, with his mother pleading with the public to be compassionate toward the former captives.

“Last night there was an incident that I prefer not to comment on at the moment since the matter is already under investigation by the police and I am sure they will handle the matter properly,” Braslavski’s mother Tami writes in a social media post.

“However, I would like to remind you that those who have returned to us may seem as if everything is fine, but they are going through storms inside,” she writes. “No one, not even me or anyone else, can understand what they went through and what they are going through except them, and no one can even imagine. They are in a difficult post-traumatic state and it is important to be more sensitive in words, criticism and actions.”

Police in Tel Aviv are investigating the incident in which Braslavski was allegedly attacked by David Ziton, a former reality show contestant and the partner of popular singer Nasrin Qadri.

According to reports, the former hostage said he stood at the entrance to the club where Qadri was having a party and was refused entrance. When he complained, he was attacked by Ziton.

Police are conducting initial investigations into the case and are looking to question Ziton, but have not yet filed any charges.

Qatar says it’s taking part in Gaza Executive Board to help achieve ‘prosperity for the people of Gaza’

Qatar says that its representative on the US-backed Gaza Executive Board, Ali Al Thawadi, is on the body to support “international efforts aimed at effective governance and the achievement of long-term, sustainable peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza.”

Thawadi, strategic affairs minister in Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s office, “has been a key figure and effective facilitator in Qatar’s mediation efforts, engaging in sustained dialogue with Israel, Hamas, and mediation partners,” says Qatar in a statement, adding that he was central to Qatar’s contributions to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza.

Israel came out against the make-up of the board last night in a rare public critique of the Trump White House, likely because of the presence of Thawadi and Turkey’s foreign minister.

Border guards nab couriers carrying NIS 12 million in cash at Jordan border crossing

A bag of cash being smuggled through the Allenby border crossing in a picture released on January 18, 2026. (Israel Police)

Police announce that border guards at the Allenby crossing from Jordan to the West Bank caught two couriers carrying some NIS 12 million (3.8 million) in cash across the border.

The statement says the money was likely meant to finance Palestinian terror activities in the West Bank. The two couriers were detained and taken for questioning.

The border guards were acting on a tip from military intelligence, the police say.

Welcoming visiting president-elect Asfura, Sa’ar says ‘Honduras will again be Israel’s close friend’

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar meets with Honduran president-elect Nasry “Tito” Asfura at the Foreign Ministry, during the latter’s visit to Israel this week.

“I’m certain that under his leadership, Honduras will again be one of Israel’s close friends and allies. We intend to do all that we can to assist Honduras,” Sa’ar says in a post welcoming the conservative president-elect, who is of Palestinian Christian descent and is expected to improve ties with Israel after four years of leftist rule in the Central American country.

Honored to welcome the President-elect of Honduras @titoasfura to Jerusalem, following his historic victory in the elections. I'm certain that under his leadership, Honduras will again be one of Israel's close friends and allies. We intend to do all that we can to assist… pic.twitter.com/PN4hxStWyi

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) January 18, 2026

Asfura is currently meeting with President Isaac Herzog, according to Herzog’s office, and is expected to meet later with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Portugal presidential vote opens as far-right surge expected

The presidential candidate of the Chega party, Andre Ventura, gives a thumbs-up during a street rally in Lisbon on January 16, 2026. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)

Portugal started voting in the first round of a presidential election in which a far-right candidate could, for the first time, make it to a run-off, but with the final result hard to call.

Polls predict Andre Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega (“Enough”) party, could top the first round but would lose round two, regardless of which of the other candidates he faces there.

This would be the first time in four decades that a candidate has not won outright in the first-round ballot, which requires securing more than 50 percent of the vote.

Among the record 11 candidates in the running, only five have a realistic chance of making it to the decisive vote on February 8 to succeed conservative incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

In addition to Ventura, 43, they are: Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro, 63; liberal European Parliament lawmaker Joao Cotrim Figueiredo, 64; right-wing government candidate Luis Marques Mendes, 68; and Henrique Gouveia e Melo, a retired admiral who led Portugal’s Covid vaccination campaign.

Pollsters predict any of the four of Ventura’s potential rivals would trounce him in a second-round vote.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT), and exit polls will be announced at 8 p.m.

Chega won 22.8 percent of the vote and 60 seats in a general election last May, overtaking the Socialists to become the biggest opposition party.

Iranian official says verified death toll in Iran protests reaches at least 5,000

A protester holds a placard reading "Stop the massacres in Iran" during a rally in support of the Iranian people in Paris on January 17, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

An Iranian official in the region says the authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, blaming “terrorists and armed rioters” for killing “innocent Iranians.”

The official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, also tells Reuters some of the heaviest clashes and highest number of deaths were in the Iranian Kurdish areas in northwest Iran, a region where Kurdish separatists have been active and where flare-ups have been among the most violent in past periods of unrest.

“The final toll is not expected to increase sharply,” the official says, adding that “Israel and armed groups abroad” had supported and equipped those taking to the streets.

The Iranians authorities regularly blame unrest on foreign enemies, including Israel, an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched military strikes on Iran’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs in June.

The US-based HRANA rights group said on Saturday the death toll had reached 3,308, with another 4,382 cases under review. The group said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests.

The Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw, based in Norway, has said some of the heaviest clashes during protests that erupted in late December were in Kurdish areas in the northwest.

‘I’m sorry I brought you into such a cruel world’: Yarden Bibas marks 3rd birthday of son Kfir, killed in Hamas captivity

The Bibas family, father Yarden, mother Shiri, baby Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. (Courtesy)

Former hostage Yarden Bibas marks what would have been the third birthday of his younger son, Kfir, killed by Hamas terrorists in captivity, apologizing for bringing him into “such a cruel world.”

Kfir Bibas was less than a year old when he, his older brother Ariel, 4, and their mother, Shiri Bibas, 32, were abducted on October 7 by terrorists from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and murdered in captivity.

“My beloved Kfir, you managed to be evacuated from home because of a round of fighting in Gaza just a few months after you were born,” writes Bibas. “You managed to taste solid food, you started crawling, and you even got to celebrate your brother’s 4th birthday… You didn’t get to celebrate your first birthday, so how can I mark your third birthday?”

“Kfir, I’m sorry I brought you into such a cruel world,” posts Bibas. “I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you!”

Bibas includes a photo of himself holding baby Kfir, and writes that he’s sure his baby son is celebrating in heaven.

Heartbreaking post from Yarden Bibas:
“My beloved kfir, You didn’t get to celebrate your first birthday… so how can I mark your third birthday?

Kfir, I’m sorry that I brought you into such a cruel world.

I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you.

I’m sure… pic.twitter.com/kl1ag9QGsT

— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) January 18, 2026

“I’m sure Mom is giving you the best, happiest birthday possible, just the way she knows how,” he writes. “I love you more than anything in the world, always in the world,” with three orange hearts posted at the end.

Yarden Bibas was taken captive separately from his family and held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and freed in February 2025 with Keith Siegel and Ofer Calderon as part of a hostage deal after 484 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

That same month, Hamas released the bodies of Kfir and Ariel along with an additional body. During the identification process, it was found that the body received was not that of Shira Bibas.

At the end of February, Shiri Bibas’s body was identified and released back to Israel. The bodies of Shira, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were buried at Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Police appeal court decision not to bar Netanyahu’s chief of staff from PM’s office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, is seen at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The police file an appeal to the Lod-Central District Court against a decision by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on Thursday not to bar the prime minister’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman and his senior aide Jonatan Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office or keep other restrictive conditions on them.

Braverman was questioned Sunday over allegations that he said he could quash an investigation into the leak of classified documents to German tabloid Bild in 2024, a claim made by Eli Feldstein, a former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been indicted over his role in the affair.

Urich is a key suspect in the Bild and Qatargate affairs, and the police have sought to keep him from having contact with Netanyahu and returning to work at the Prime Minister’s Office to prevent any possible obstruction of justice.

Netanyahu meeting coalition heads ahead of cabinet meeting, security consultation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on January 4, 2026. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening cabinet ministers for the weekly government meeting at 11 a.m., his office tells The Times of Israel.

He is currently meeting with coalition party chiefs, according to the offices of one of the attendees.

Netanyahu is holding a security consultation with a group of his close advisers this evening.

Hebrew media says that the meetings are in response to the formation of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, whose executive committee is set to include senior officials from staunch Israel critics Turkey and Qatar.

Developments on Iran are also said to be on the agenda.

Jordan says King Abdullah received invitation to join Gaza peace board

US President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, February 11, 2025. (Alex Brandon / AP)

Jordan’s foreign ministry says that King Abdullah received an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join the so-called Board of Peace for Gaza.

The foreign ministry says it is reviewing related documents within the country’s internal legal procedures.

The board is set to supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, which has been under a shaky ceasefire since October.

Knesset discussions on political Oct. 7 commission of inquiry to be boycotted by opposition

Anti-government protesters lift up placards during a demonstration against the prime minister and in support of establishing a state commission of inquiry into Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, in Tel Aviv on November 15, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The leaders of the Knesset opposition declare that they will boycott all deliberations on the government-backed bill to establish a politically appointed probe into the failures of October 7 in place of a state commission of inquiry.

“All opposition faction chairmen announce that they will not take part in the Constitution Committee’s deliberations on the establishment of the cover-up committee. We will not cooperate with a cynical attempt to establish a political committee with one goal: to escape and remove responsibility from the October 7 government and from [Prime Minister] Netanyahu’s own personal failure,” the opposition parties declare in a joint statement issued by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s spokesman.

According to the opposition, “only a state commission of inquiry will arrive at the truth, provide answers to the difficult questions, and prevent the next disaster.”

Last month, lawmakers voted 53-48 in favor of a preliminary reading of the highly controversial bill, drawing heated protests and condemnations from opposition lawmakers and bereaved families.

Likud MK Ariel Kallner’s bill calls for a Knesset supermajority — 80 out of 120 MKs — to appoint a six-member investigative committee and its chairman. If there is no agreement after two weeks, both the opposition and coalition would be allowed to select three committee members each, who would be joined by four supervisory members representing bereaved families.

The proposal states that if either the coalition or opposition does not cooperate in the process or cannot settle on a candidate, the Knesset speaker will choose instead — giving the coalition effective control, as opposition figures have pledged to boycott the commission.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has stated that the proposed alternative investigative panel will probe “the judicial system” and others who “weakened our deterrence” while Culture Minister Miki Zohar has said that “anyone who thinks a commission would conclude that the main, the only, culprit is Netanyahu is living in a dream world.”

Tel Aviv police investigating attack on former hostage at Tel Aviv club

Police in Tel Aviv are investigating an incident in which the partner of a well-known singer is suspected of attacking a former hostage at the entrance to a Tel Aviv club last night, Hebrew media reports.

According to the reports, the former hostage said he stood at the entrance to the club where the singer was having a party and was refused entrance. When he complained, he was attacked by the singer’s partner.

Police are conducting initial investigations into the case, and have not yet filed any charges.

Neither the singer not the former hostage were named in the reports.

Four foreign activists arrested for allegedly attacking settler, two to be deported

File: Armed settlers gather on a hill overlooking the village of al-Mughayyir near Ramallah in the West Bank on April 13, 2024 (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Police say they arrested four foreign activists for attacking a settler in the West Bank, and two of them will be deported.

A police statement says the four attacked a shepherd who was in an approved grazing area near the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir.

The four were detained for assault, creating a public disturbance and violating a military order barring them from the area.

Two of the activists were released and banned from the West Bank for a period of 15 days and the other two will be deported after a hearing, the police say.

Al-Mughayyir has been the scene of frequent clashes between settlers and Palestinians, with foreign activists often trying to document settler attacks.

Gantz reiterates willingness to join government with Netanyahu if it excludes far right, Arab parties

Leader of the Blue and White Party MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 22, 2025.(Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz reiterates his willingness to serve in a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I do not like Netanyahu and am not Netanyahu’s friend,” Gantz tells the Kan public broadcaster. “I am a soldier of the State of Israel; if I am willing to die for the country, can I not sit [in a coalition] with Netanyahu?”

Gantz, who has been struggling in the polls, breaks with most other opposition leaders who say they will refuse to join a coalition with Netanyahu.

But Gantz, who has joined Netanyahu several times before, says it is the only way to keep the far right out of government and not have the government depend on the support of Arab parties for a majority.

“I am not willing to abandon the country to extremists or rely on the Arab parties,” he says.

Pentagon said readying 1,500 soldiers to deploy to Minnesota

Law enforcement detain a man outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The US Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the Washington Post reports, citing defense officials.

The Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the state escalates, the Washington Post report says.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act if officials in the state don’t stop protesters from targeting immigration officials.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday.

The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iranian doctors put death toll in suppressed uprising at over 16,500 — report

A man holds a banner reading 'Europe deaf, blind, mute in front of Iran People genocide' as protestors gather during a demonstration in support of Iranian People in Madrid on January 17, 2026. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP)

The death toll in the suppressed demonstrations in Iran is more than 16,500, the UK’s Sunday Times reports, citing a report put together by Iranian doctors.

The report says that most of the dead are young people under 30 and that a further 330,000 people were injured, with much of the killing coming over a two-day period.

“This is a whole new level of brutality,” Professor Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon, who helped put together the network of doctors, tells the Times. “This time they are using military-grade weapons and what we are seeing are gunshot and shrapnel wounds in the head, neck and chest.”

The report says the figures were compiled from staff in eight major eye hospitals and 16 emergency departments across Iran. It says the doctors were able to communicate using banned Starlink technology during the internet shutdown.

The report also notes a high amount of eye injuries, with security forces also reportedly using shotguns, with at least 700 people losing eyes.

Report: When he asked Trump not to strike Iran, Netanyahu said Israel not fully ready to defend itself

When he lobbied US President Donald Trump not to strike Iran last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reasoned that Israel is not fully prepared to defend against Tehran’s retaliation, The Washington Post reports, citing an unnamed source close to the White House.

An American official reportedly says a key factor was the absence of a significant US military presence in the region, which Jerusalem relied on to help intercept Iran’s ballistic missiles during the 12-day war in June.

The report also says Trump’s top advisers had at one point around Wednesday last week believed a strike was imminent, before a text message from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Trump’s Mideast Adviser Steve Witkoff “kind of also defused the situation.”

Syrian military captures northern town of Tabqa from Kurdish-led fighters — state media

The Syrian military has captured the northern town of Tabqa and its adjacent dam, the largest dam in the country, from Kurdish-led fighters, Syria’s state news agency says.

The move comes despite Washington urging the army to halt its advances through Kurdish-held territory.

There is no immediate comment from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Netanyahu said to summon war cabinet ministers to 10 a.m. meeting

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned ministers in the small war cabinet to a meeting Sunday at 10 a.m., an hour before the full cabinet meeting, Hebrew media outlets report.

The meeting is in response to the formation of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, whose executive committee is set to include senior officials from staunch Israel critics Turkey and Qatar, according to the Walla news site.

“We will hold a discussion and see how we respond to this,” Walla cites an unnamed diplomatic source as saying, after Netanyahu’s office took public issue with the panel’s makeup.

The Ynet news site says the meeting will discuss Iran and the possibilty Trump will order a strike on regime targets.

Settlers assault people, set fire to homes and cars in Bedouin encampment in West Bank

Settlers torch homes and cars during an assault on the Bedouin encampment of Khallet al-Sidra, near Mukhmas in the West Bank, January 17, 2026. (Screenshot)

Settlers assaulted Palestinians and left-wing activists and set fire to at least eight homes and two vehicles this evening in the Bedouin encampment of Khallet al-Sidra, near Mukhmas in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate.

Two Palestinians and two foreign activists were hospitalized for their wounds sustained in the attack, the governorate says.

The IDF says military, police and Border Police troops who arrived on the scene located an Israeli vehicle from which the suspected assailants fled. Inside the car were several clubs, the military says.

Palestinian, Israeli and foreign nationals were injured in the attack, the IDF says, adding that Israeli forces are scanning the area to find the attackers.

WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, reports that the settlers fired guns at the Bedouin encampment before proceeding to assault people and vandalize property inside the encampment.

Security camera footage sent to The Times of Israel by Rabbi Arik Ascherman, an Israeli human rights activist who frequents Mukhmas, shows settlers walking around the encampment and setting tents on fire.

Security camera footage shows settlers setting fire to tents in the Bedouin encampment of Khallet al-Sidra, close to Mukhmas in the West Bank, January 17, 2026. (courtesy)

The footage, which is timestamped to shortly before 10 p.m., also features the apparent sound of gunshots, followed by cries from both people and animals, before the settlers storm the encampment.

Ascherman says about 20 settlers participated in the attack.

Trump administration asking for $1 billion from each country on Gaza Board of Peace

US President Donald Trump arrives at a dedication ceremony for a portion of Southern Boulevard, which the Town of Palm Beach Council recently voted to rename 'President Donald J. Trump Boulevard,' January 16, 2026, at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald Trump’s administration wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on his Gaza Board of Peace for more than three years, according to the full text of the board’s charter, which has been obtained and verified by The Times of Israel.

“Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” who will be US President Donald Trump, the charter says. “The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.”

Gaza Palestinian technocratic committee says it will pursue ‘peace, democracy, and justice’

Ali Shaath, the top official of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, signs the committee's mission statement in a photo posted to his X account on January 17, 2026. (Ali Shaath/X)

In a mission statement published by its top official, the new committee of Palestinian technocrats that will be tasked with running daily affairs in Gaza says it is committed to peace, economic development and seeking Palestinian self-determination.

The 12-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza is headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy planning minister Ali Shaath. It held its first meeting in Cairo on Thursday.

Today, as my first official act, I adopted and signed the NCAG Mission Statement, affirming our governing mandate and operating principles:

Authorized by the UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and President Donald J. Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan, the National Committee for the… pic.twitter.com/WJJZLtW356

— Dr. Ali Shaath (@AliShaathNCAG) January 17, 2026

Shaath posts on X that he adopted and signed the committee’s mission statement, which says it is “dedicated to transforming the transitional period in Gaza into a foundation for lasting Palestinian prosperity.”

The statement says the committee’s “mission is to rebuild the Gaza Strip not just in infrastructure but also in spirit.”

It continues, “We are committed to establishing security, restoring the essential services that form the bedrock of human dignity such as electricity, water, healthcare, and education, as well as cultivating a society rooted in peace, democracy, and justice. Operating with the highest standards of integrity and transparency, the NCAG will forge a productive economy capable of replacing unemployment with opportunity for all.”

“We embrace peace, through which we strive to secure the path to true Palestinian rights and self determination,” it concludes.

Shaath is an engineer by trade and has proposed pushing the vast amounts of Gaza rubble into the adjacent Mediterranean Sea to expand the Strip’s territory amid a dire housing crisis for a population that has been overwhelmingly displaced by the war.

Jacob Magid contributed to this report. 

Former US ambassador to Israel: ‘Trump is going to try to kill the Supreme Leader’

Former US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro attends a farewell session at the Knesset ahead of his departure from the role on January 17, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Dan Shapiro, who served as the American ambassador to Israel under former US president Barack Obama, predicts that US President Trump will attempt to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the coming week.

The prediction comes after Khamenei blames Trump for violence during the mass anti-government protests that spread across Iran in recent weeks, and after Trump says in an interview that Iran needs new leadership and that Khamenei, 86, is a “sick man.”

“Trump’s comments to [Politico] on needing new leadership in Iran, and Khamenei’s mindless baiting of Trump on X, lead me to believe that Trump is going to try to kill the Supreme Leader this week,” Shapiro writes on X. “There will soon be a US carrier strike group in the Middle East, making it easier for the US to carry out extensive strikes in Iran and be prepared to defend against Iranian response strikes.”

Shapiro writes that the US could also carry out other strikes on Iranian forces. The strikes, he says, “would allow Trump to say he is keeping faith with Iranian protesters he encouraged, and fulfilling his threat to make the regime pay for massacring them.” Thousands have been reported killed in the protests.

But he cautions that killing Khamenei “is a long way from achieving regime change in Iran.”

Hw writes, “Khamenei’s elimination, if it occurs, would most likely be followed initially by an [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] takeover, and a still aggressive and repressive regime. The change of regime, when it takes place, will be authored by the Iranian people. Supporting them in their quest for freedom will require sustained focus, and largely non-kinetic measures. It will not be achieved by a one-and-done strike.”

Shapiro served as US ambassador to Israel from 2011 to the end of Obama’s presidency in early 2017. He later served in a few Middle East-related roles in the administration of former US president Joe Biden.