Jan. 4: Parents promise to bring hostage Liri Albag home after Hamas video shows her alive

IDF says rocket that hit Erez Crossing earlier caused damage

A rocket launched from northern Gaza earlier today caused damage to the Erez Border Crossing, which has served as an entry for humanitarian aid to the Strip.

The IDF says the rocket impact caused damage to the crossing and an area adjacent to an aid truck compound.

Since the start of December, over 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza via the Erez checkpoint, including food, water, medical equipment and shelter equipment, the military says.

Father of former hostage: ‘We don’t need to wait for a miracle, we need action’

Efi Shoham, the father of Staff Sgt. Yuval Shoham, who was killed in Gaza, calls for a hostage deal while eulogizing his son on December 30, 2024. (Screenshot from Facebook)

Protesters in Jerusalem demanding a hostage deal memorialize Staff Sgt. Yuval Shoham, who was killed in the Gaza Strip last Sunday.

The fallen soldier was the son of a prominent anti-government activist in Jerusalem, Efi Shoham.

From onstage outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home, organizers screen a clip of Shoham eulogizing his son last week, calling on the government to reach a deal with Hamas to free the remaining hostages.

“On the fresh grave of my beloved son, our beloved son… I demand of you, demand in his name and in the name of so many others, to make a deal,” Shoham said at the funeral.

Yoav Engel, father of former hostage Ofir Engel who was released during the November 2023 truce, also speaks to the crowd.

“Just a short while ago it was Hanukkah, the holiday of miracles, but sadly, no miracle has happened. My friends, we don’t need to wait for a miracle, we need a decision and action,” says Engel.

Former captive: ‘We have no privilege to tarry on hostage deal’

Captivity survivor Almog Meir Jan told a crowd of hundreds earlier at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square rally that for “246 days every basic human right was taken from me.”

“For eight months I was in Gaza, in captivity, bound and broken, physically and mentally,” he said. “Eight months in which I struggled to retain my spirit and hope, which wasn’t quenched even in the hardest moments.”

Meir Jan said he will “never forget the hand that saved my life” in June when Israeli security forces rescued him and three other hostages from Gaza.

“The hand stretched out to hostages and their families is a deal that must be signed,” he said. “A deal to save their lives, a deal to save all our lives.”

Addressing the hostages, Meir Jan said he was “sorry because I know you are the ones putting in ‘the work.'”

“I really ask and wonder, what is our leadership doing?” he continued. “Are you, the leaders of our country, putting in ‘the work’ that you as elected officials are required to?”

“A deal to release them is on the table, and we don’t have the privilege to tarry,” he said.

אלמוג מאיר ג'אן נאם לראשונה בעצרת משפחות החטופים: "הסרטון של לירי הזכיר לי את היום שבו צילמו אותי, סיטואציה מפחידה ומלחיצה"@YoavBorowitz pic.twitter.com/MJ1Onp1Q6z

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 4, 2025

Austria’s chancellor to step down after coalition talks collapse

Austrian Chancellor, Chair and top candidate of Austrian People's Party (OeVP) Karl Nehammer attends a tv show hosted by Austrian public broadcaster ORF after the first exit polls in Vienna, Austria, on September 29, 2024. (Joe Klamar / AFP)

Austria’s conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will step down in the “coming days” after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues.

The surprise move might lead to snap polls being called — or the conservatives might negotiate with the far right that won national elections in September.

Nehammer makes the announcements in a video message and accompanying statement posted on the X platform.

“After the break-off of the coalition talks I am going to do the following: I will step down both as chancellor and party chairman of the People’s Party in the coming days and enable an orderly transition,” he says.

The development comes just one day after Austria’s liberal party withdrew from three-party coalition talks to form a centrist government.

Hezbollah chief warns Lebanese terror group’s ‘patience may run out’

An image grab taken from Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV on November 29, 2024, shows Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem delivering a televised speech from an undisclosed location. (Al-Manar / AFP)

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has warned that the Lebanese terror group’s “patience may run out” as Israel continues to conduct some operations and airstrikes amid the ceasefire.

Israel has said it only acts to enforce the truce and hits Hezbollah operatives or sites violating the terms of the ceasefire. According to the agreement, Israel is to fully withdraw from Lebanon by the end of January, with the Lebanese military taking over and ensuring Hezbollah does not once again gain a foothold near Israel’s border.

“There is no timetable that specifies the resistance’s work, and our patience is linked to the appropriate timing to confront the enemy,” Qassem says in a speech. “Our patience may run out before or after the 60 days, when we decide to do something that you will see directly.”

Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire after the Jewish state decimated the terror group’s leadership — including the elimination of Qassem’s predecessor Hassan Nasrallah — and its fighting capabilities in a two-month offensive between September and November.

“In the past, Israel reached Beirut within days, but in the 2024 aggression, it was unable to advance more than a few hundred meters at the front edge. Israel was unable to advance because the resistance fighters stood firm and stood firm in the face of it,” he says.

Israel did not seek to move beyond the border area in its recent ground campaign, saying it was acting only to eliminate Hezbollah infrastructure threatening communities in northern Israel.

“The enemy was forced to request a ceasefire because of the resistance’s capabilities, and we agreed through the Lebanese state,” he says.

Police detain at least six anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv clashes

Police have detained at least six anti-government protesters on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road after telling them to clear the street.

Officers pile onto one person after he tries to interject in a conflict between police and a protester who was yelling at them.

Mounted officers ride into the crowd as protesters yell slogans against them. A water cannon appears but is yet to be used.

A policeman also snatches a megaphone from the hands of one protester and tosses it into the ashes of a bonfire the demonstrators had lit.

Police violently detain a protester at the weekly anti-government, pro-hostage deal demonstration outside the IDF's Begin Street headquarters. pic.twitter.com/33Yi689PP3

— Noam Lehmann (@noamlehmann) January 4, 2025

There had been no arrests at the weekly protests since the beginning of December, when Hamas released a video of hostage Matan Zangauker.

Ben Gvir’s party to offset PM at Knesset with wayward MK until he recovers — source

Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, July 1, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The far-right Otzma Yehudit party is planning on pairing MK Almog Cohen with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offset the premier’s vote until he recovers from his recent surgery, a coalition source tells The Times of Israel.

Otzma Yehudit chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Saturday evening pledged to continue voting against the coalition but expressed regret for not offering an offset for Netanyahu, who was forced to leave the hospital less than two days after undergoing prostate surgery to cast a vote in the Knesset due to Ben Gvir’s revolt last week. Cohen was the only Otzma Yehudit MK to break party discipline to vote with the coalition on a critical budget-related bill last Tuesday.

The process of giving the coalition a pass by allowing it to retain the same majority margin via an offset for absent government lawmakers is a commonplace gesture, but not a requirement, in the Knesset, frequently arranged between the coalition and opposition for lawmakers who are ill or have pressing social engagements, family commitments, and so on.

“He’s going to have Almog pair off with Bibi — two birds with one stone,” the source states.

This means that as long as Netanyahu cannot make it to vote in the Knesset, Cohen will not vote either. However, given that Cohen has continued to vote with the coalition, such a move would not help Netanyahu in the way a normal offset would.

Instead, assigning Cohen to offset Netanyahu would only serve to prevent him from continuing to vote with the coalition, thus depriving it of another necessary vote —— while at the same time potentially preempting criticism that Otzma Yehudit was forcing the prime minister to attend votes in the plenum before he is fully recovered.

Contacted by The Times of Israel, Cohen says that he is unaware of the matter, while an Otzma Yehudit party spokesman does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speakers at Tel Aviv rally call on Trump: ‘End this fucking war now’

Speakers at the weekly anti-government, pro-hostage deal protest in Tel Aviv call on US President-elect Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza and secure a deal to bring the hostages home.

From a pedestrian bridge over Begin Road, the speakers address around 1,500 people at the protest in front of IDF headquarters.

Many protesters came from an earlier protest on the adjacent Begin-Kaplan junction.

Shahar Mor, the nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder, pleads in English for Trump to “stop arming the revenge campaign in Gaza.”

“We need our hostages back. We’ll perish without them,” he says. “The former administration failed miserably. You can do better.”

Omri Lifshitz, son of captivity survivor Yocheved Lofshitz and hostage Oded Lofshitz, also addresses Trump in English, asking that he “End this fucking war now.”

Below the speakers’ bridge, an anti-government group hands out red hats adorned with that slogan in big white English letters — not unlike Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats.

After the speeches, protesters hoist burning torches and light a fire. They chant that “we are all hostages of the government of blood.” Police burst into the crowd to put the fire out, shoving protesters in the process. When the officers leave, protesters re-light the fire.

שער בגין, עכשיו: אלפים בדרישה לעצור את הקומבינות של ממשלת ההפקרה ולהחזיר את האחיות והאחים שלנו משבי חמאס!
צילום: שב״פ sha_b_p@ pic.twitter.com/YSiB9hgH37

— Stand With Israel ❤️???????? (@TheBlackFlags1) January 4, 2025

At the earlier protest on the Begin-Kaplan intersection, Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibbon said the government has less courage than “a young female soldier named Liri,” referring to hostage Liri Albag. Hamas issued video of the captive soldier earlier today.

Tibbon quoted a speech he gave last year at the same place, warning the government’s judicial overhaul was leading to disaster.

“But I, too, didn’t know how horrible the disaster would be,” he said.

He assailed impending legislation to exempt thousands of ultra-Orthodox men from military service.

“It’s not just sharing the burden, not just equality of blood,” he said of the demand to draft Haredi men. “It’s a real operational necessity.”

Iranian FM claims fully prepared for Israeli attack, warns it may spark large-scale war

In an interview with Chinese media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is “fully prepared for the possibility of further attacks by Israel.”

Israel’s air force carried out a large-scale strike on Iran in October in response to two massive drone and missile attacks the Islamic Republic launched against the country in the past year.

Recently, there have been some calls in Israel for another strike against Iran in response to the ongoing attacks on Israel by Tehran’s proxy in Yemen, the Houthis. The group has fired multiple ballistic missiles at central Israel during the night in recent weeks.

“I hope Israel will refrain from taking such reckless action as it could lead to a large-scale war,” Araghchi tells CCTV.

Police rush into crowd of protesters in Tel Aviv to put out a bonfire

Police burst into a crowd of protesters at Tel Aviv’s weekly anti-government, pro-hostage deal rally to put out a bonfire.

Shoving ensues between police and protesters.

The protests have seen few arrests in recent weeks. It’s unclear if anyone has been arrested. The officers retreat across the street. Protesters follow, chanting slogans against the police.

Jerusalem protesters with little clothing: ‘They are freezing to death in Gaza’

Protesters in scant clothing draw attention to hostages' winter plight in Gaza, Jerusalem, January 4, 2025 (Charlie Summers/ Times of Israel)

A group of protesters dressed in minimal clothing sit in the center of Jerusalem’s King George Street, which police have blocked to make way for the march.

The protesters cover their skin with Hebrew and Arabic writing that reads, “They are freezing to death in Gaza,” and similar messages.

Officers attempt to move the demonstrators to the sidewalk but give up after a few minutes. The small group returns to the spot on the road.

Most marchers continue toward Paris Square, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence. No arrests are made.

Liri Albag’s mother: We’re fighting for you, you’re coming home alive

In a video statement, the parents of Liri Albag comment on the clip of her released by Hamas.

“We demanded of the prime minister that the negotiating team not return [from Qatar] until there is a deal,” says her mother Shira, after the two spoke with Netanyahu earlier.

“I want to tell Liri if she watches this: Liri we’re fighting for you, we’re not giving up on you. You’re coming home alive… Mom and Dad are promising you and we keep our promises. It will happen soon, with God’s help… Believe in it. We’re not giving up, don’t you give up. Keep fighting and surviving.”

שירה אלבג, אמה של לירי אלבג: ״עם ישראל היקר, קיבלנו היום אות חיים מלירי; סרטון שלנו קשה לראות. זאת לא לירי שאנחנו מכירים. רה״מ דיבר איתנו, נשיא המדינה, הרמטכ״ל, שר הביטחון ואמרנו להם שיעשו עסקה. זה הזמן. יש את לירי ועוד 99 חטופים שצריכים לחזור הביתה במהרה> pic.twitter.com/hjBHYKxXMP

— Raz Shechnik (@RazShechnik) January 4, 2025

Minister: Cooked up video of Palestinian prisoner’s abuse prolonging hostages’ suffering

Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu at the annual Jerusalem Conference of the 'Besheva' group in Jerusalem, on February 26, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Following Hamas’s release of a video featuring hostage IDF servicewomen Liri Albag, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu claims that the hostages are suffering due to the leak of a video this summer allegedly showing soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee.

“The price of ‘cooking up’ the blood libel videos in the Sde Teiman affair is being paid dearly by those held hostage in Hamas tunnels,” Eliyahu tweets, arguing that “every day that the IDF’s legitimacy is undermined = another day [for hostages] in the Hamas tunnels.”

“Whoever is behind this blood libel must be brought to justice,” he states — using a term referring to baseless allegations of ritual murder by Jews in medieval Europe as the pretext for antisemitic violence.

Coalition lawmakers have condemned the leak of footage broadcast by Channel 12 in August, which purported to show IDF servicemen sexually abusing a Palestinian security prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility. On July 29, an ultranationalist mob broke into the two military bases to interrupt legal proceedings against the reservist soldiers suspected of the abuse.

During a hearing at the High Court last week, an attorney for one of the suspects in the abuse case claimed that the video had been edited from footage from two separate days, one of which the victim was not even present for, according to the Ynet news site.

Report: Hostage talks progressing slowly, no breakthrough yet

Citing unnamed Israeli sources, Channel 12 news reports that hostage talks continue to advance slowly, but that there has been no breakthrough yet, with a major sticking point being Hamas’s ongoing refusal to supply Israel with a list of hostages it proposes to release in the first stage of a deal.

The network also says that with Israel demanding some 30 living hostages be freed in the first stage, the list necessarily includes young men, all of whom are considered by Hamas as soldiers due to being of fighting age.

The report says the terror group is demanding the release of high-profile Palestinian prisoners in exchange for such hostages.

UNIFIL accuses IDF of destroying border marker in ‘flagrant violation’

UNIFIL accuses the Israeli military of destroying a blue barrel marking the border between Israel and Lebanon, as well as a Lebanese army observation tower near one of the UN observer force’s positions.

“This morning peacekeepers observed an IDF bulldozer destroying a blue barrel marking the line of withdrawal between Lebanon and Israel in Labbouneh, as well as an observation tower belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces immediately beside a UNIFIL position there,” the observer force says.

UNIFIL says the IDF’s “deliberate and direct destruction” of the blue barrel and Lebanese army infrastructure is a “flagrant violation of Resolution 1701 and international law.”

Statement:

This morning peacekeepers observed an IDF bulldozer destroying a blue barrel marking the line of withdrawal between Lebanon and Israel in Labbouneh, as well as an observation tower belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces immediately beside a UNIFIL position there.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) January 4, 2025

“We call on all actors to avoid any actions, including the destruction of civilian property and infrastructure, that could jeopardize the cessation of hostilities,” the observer force adds.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident.

Hundreds demanding hostage deal march to PM’s home in Jerusalem

Demonstrators demanding a hostage deal march from Zion Square to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on January 4, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Hundreds of demonstrators demanding a hostage deal are marching to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem.

The protest comes at the heels of Hamas releasing a video with signs of life from 19-year-old hostage Liri Albag.

Marchers carry a banner that reads, “They are all humanitarian,” referring to the hostages. Negotiations for a release deal have focused on an initial stage that would see “humanitarian” cases freed first.

Earlier today, four protesters were detained by police outside Netanyahu’s residence, the Walla news site reports.

Netanyahu speaks to Liri Albag’s family after Hamas issues video

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with the parents of hostage Liri Albag following Hamas’s release of a propaganda video featuring the captive IDF servicewoman.

“The prime minister told the family that he sympathizes with the suffering that Liri, her family, and all the hostages and their families are going through,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement. “The prime minister assured them that Israel is continuing to work tirelessly to return Liri and all the hostages home, and that efforts are ongoing — including at this very moment.”

A mid-level Israeli hostage negotiating team held talks on Friday with Qatari mediators, who were also hosting Hamas representatives in Doha for parallel discussions, in efforts to overcome sustained differences between the warring parties. A senior Israeli official told Axios that Israel and Hamas remain at an impasse over almost all topics being negotiated.

IDF says it carried out strike on Hamas operatives using aid routes in Gaza for terror activities

Palestinians inspect a car targeted in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Overnight, the IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a group of armed Hamas operatives on the Salah a-Din road in the southern Gaza Strip.

The military says the operatives were involved in “terror activity,” during which they “exploited routes used for delivering humanitarian aid.”

“The strike was carried out at a distance from the movement of humanitarian aid trucks and did not affect the continued entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” the IDF says.

The IDF says that a separate airstrike earlier today against a vehicle in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza hit four armed Hamas operatives.

Ben Gvir apologizes to Netanyahu, Bismuth for forcing them to attend Knesset vote

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by empathetic legislators after leaving the hospital, less than two days after prostate removal surgery, to participate in a crucial budget-related vote in the Knesset, December 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir pledges to continue voting against the coalition while at the same time apologizing for not offering offsets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, forcing them to appear for a vote on a critical budget-related bill last week.

Due to Ben Gvir’s decision to vote against the bill, Netanyahu was forced to leave the hospital less than two days after undergoing prostate surgery to cast his vote while Bismuth had to stop the shiva — seven-day mourning period — for his late mother.

“We will continue to vote according to our principles until a solution is found regarding preventing the closure of police stations, civil defense squads, and the cuts in the salaries of police officers, prison guards, and all of Israel’s national security forces,” Ben Gvir says in a statement.

Ben Gvir has been voting against the coalition over his demand for a larger budget for the police force, which he oversees as national security minister.

“At the same time, I did some soul-searching on shabbat and realized that I was wrong when I saw the prime minister and Boaz in the plenum and we did not offset them,” he continues.

“I apologize to the prime minister and my friend Boaz Bismuth. From now on, we will offset the prime minister until he fully recovers, God willing.”

In a statement last Tuesday evening, Likud stated that it had “requested that MK Boaz Bismuth be offset against an Otzma Yehudit MK and was answered negatively.”

The process of giving the coalition a pass by allowing it to retain the same majority margin via an offset for absent government lawmakers is a commonplace gesture, but not a requirement, in the Knesset, frequently arranged between the coalition and opposition for lawmakers who are ill or have pressing social engagements, family commitments, and so on.

IDF destroys underground Hamas weapons factory in central Gaza

A Hamas weapons manufacturing plant in a tunnel in central Gaza, seen in handout photos issued by the IDF on January 4, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

An underground Hamas weapons manufacturing plant in the central Gaza Strip was recently demolished by troops, the military says.

Members of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, operating under the 99th Division in central Gaza, located and demolished the tunnel, following “precise intelligence” on the site, the IDF says.

The IDF says that inside the tunnel, troops found several lathes and machines for processing and cutting materials used for the manufacture of weapons.

The military also recovered documents, computers, and portable hard drives from the tunnel.

After the tunnel was mapped out and the findings were seized, combat engineers destroyed it.

The IDF says that the demolition of the tunnel is “another blow to the attempts of the Hamas terror organization to recover.”

Family authorizes publication of images from Hamas video of hostage Liri Albag

Hostage Liri Albag seen in an image taken from a video published by Hamas on January 4, 2025 (Hostage Family Forum)

The Albag family authorizes the publication of two still images taken from the video of hostage Liri Albag put out by Hamas.

The family had earlier asked not to use the video or any images.

“The video published today tore our hearts to pieces,” the family says in a statement. “This is not the same daughter and sister we know.”

“She is not in a good condition. Her difficult mental state is obvious,” the statement says.

“We saw heroic Liri surviving and begging for her life. She is only a few dozen kilometers from us and for 456 days we have not been able to bring her home,” says the family.

Appealing to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, the family says, “It is time for you to decide as if your children were there.”

“Liri is alive and must come back alive. This depends only on you,” the family says. “You must not miss this current opportunity to bring them back. All of them.”

Hostage Liri Albag seen in an image taken from a video published by Hamas on January 4, 2025. (Hostage Family Forum)

Two Israelis arrested after being caught after crossing into Syria

A vehicle used by two Israelis to try and drive into Syria on January 4, 2025 (Israel Police)

IDF soldiers detained two Israeli civilians from the northern towns of Tamra and Buq’ata after crossing the border into Syria.

Police say that the suspects entered Syria in a vehicle, before being stopped by Israeli soldiers operating in the area.

The pair were handed over to the Israel Police for questioning.

“The suspects are currently being interrogated, and according to the investigation findings it will be decided on the continuation of the legal process in their case,” police say.

Police note that crossing the border illegally is punishable with up to four years in jail.

Four said detained at hostage protest outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem

Four people are detained by police at a demonstration outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem, calling on him to reach a deal to free the hostages held by Hamas, the Walla news site reports.

The protests come as Hamas releases a video with signs of life from hostage Liri Albag.

The demonstrators accuse Netanyahu of torpedoing previous efforts to reach a hostage deal to safeguard his coalition, with far-right ministers opposing a deal.

*הקפצת עצורים – תחנת מוריה*
שבת 4/1 16:25
????????
ארבעה עצורים בהפגנה מול מעון רוה״מ ברחוב עזה בירושלים נלקחו לתחנת מוריה ברחוב הסדנא 14 ירושלים.
עו״ד יוני נוסבאום בדרך לתחנת מוריה.
מוזמנים/ות לתמוך ????????????

בתמונה: ירושלים ליד בית נתניהו, קריאות להתעורר! ברק דור @barakdor pic.twitter.com/l8meYuKIJf

— Rivka Gelber (@RivkaGelber) January 4, 2025

After sign of life from hostage, families urge public to join demonstrations tonight

Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as they call for the release of the hostages, on the eighth night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, January 01, 2025. (Itai Ron/Flash90)

After the Hamas terror group publishes a video showing signs of life from hostage Liri Albag, the families of the captives urge the public to join demonstrations tonight calling for their release.

“The sign of life from Liri is harsh and undeniable proof of urgency in bringing all the hostages home!
Every day in Hamas’s hell in Gaza poses an immediate risk of death to the living hostages and endangers the ability to recover the fallen for proper burial,” the Hostage Families Forum says in a statement.

“The hostages’ families call on the public to join tonight’s rallies and protest vigils around the world and to cry out with them for their loved ones, trapped in the tunnels,” the statement says.

Albag’s family requested that details or images of the Hamas video not be shared.

Jimmy Carter’s 6-day state funeral begins with a motorcade through south Georgia

People line the street in Plains, Georgia, before the hearse carrying the casket of former US President Jimmy Carter passes through the town on January 4, 2025. (Photo by Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP)

Jimmy Carter’s long public goodbye begins in south Georgia where the 39th US president’s life began more than 100 years ago.

A motorcade with Carter’s flag-draped casket begins at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the former president served as pallbearers and walked alongside the hearse as it left the campus.

The Carter family, including the former president’s four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch in a procession that will take his remains through his beloved hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on its way to Atlanta.

Carter died at his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.

Rocket from Gaza hits Erez Border Crossing, no injuries reported

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid cross into the Gaza Strip from Erez crossing in southern Israel, Monday, October 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A rocket launched from the northern Gaza Strip a short while ago struck the Erez Border Crossing, the military says.

It is unclear if the attack had caused any major damage. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Sirens had sounded in the nearby town of Netiv Ha’asara during the attack.

The crossing is currently used to allow aid into Gaza.

It marks the ninth day in a row of rocket fire from Gaza.

Rocket warning sirens sound near Gaza border

Rocket warning sirens are sounding in the community of Netiv Ha’asara just north of the Gaza border.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Blinken says he had to threaten that Biden would not come to Israel after Oct. 7 in order to persuade Netanyahu gov’t to let aid into Gaza

President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reveals that in the first days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, he had to threaten that President Joe Biden would not visit Israel as planned unless the Netanyahu government allowed aid into Gaza.

Speaking to The New York Times in a wide-ranging interview at the end of his tenure, Blinken talks about the initial siege imposed by Israel on Gaza in the wake of the Hamas massacre in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.

Blinken details how during his trip to Israel five days after the attack, he met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, “arguing for hours on end about the basic proposition that the humanitarian assistance needed to get to Palestinians in Gaza.”

“And that was an argument that took place because you had in Israel in the days after Oct. 7 a totally traumatized society. This wasn’t just the prime minister or a given leader in Israel. This was an entire society that didn’t want any assistance getting to a single Palestinian in Gaza. I argued that for nine hours,” he says.

Ultimately, he says, he had to threaten that Biden would not come to Israel if aid did not start going in.

“I told the prime minister, I’m going to call the president and tell him not to come if you don’t allow this assistance to start flowing. And I called the president to make sure that he agreed with that, and he fully did. We got the agreement to begin assistance through Rafah, which we expanded to Kerem Shalom and many other places,” he says.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make statements to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, after their meeting in Tel Aviv, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)

In the interview, Blinken reiterates that the US does not believe that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, although he says that there were times when Israel was not “doing enough” to allow in humanitarian assistance.

Blinken also denies that Netanyahu was responsible for a cease-fire hostage deal falling apart in July and says that ultimately it has been Hamas that foiled an agreement.

“What we’ve seen time and again is Hamas not concluding a deal that it should have concluded,” Blinken says.

He also expresses deep dismay that most global pressure to end the conflict has been on Israel, not Hamas.

“One of the things that I found a little astounding throughout is that for all of the understandable criticism of the way Israel has conducted itself in Gaza, you hear virtually nothing from anyone since Oct. 7 about Hamas,” Blinken says.

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since October 7 call for their release outside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s hotel in Tel Aviv on March 22, 2024 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

“Why there hasn’t been a unanimous chorus around the world for Hamas to put down its weapons, to give up the hostages, to surrender — I don’t know what the answer is to that. Israel, on various occasions has offered safe passage to Hamas’s leadership and fighters out of Gaza. Where is the world? Where is the world, saying, Yeah, do that! End this! Stop the suffering of people that you brought on!”

Hamas releases video with signs of life from hostage Liri Albag

Liri Albag, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

The Hamas terror group has released a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage Liri Albag, 19.

The three-and-a-half-minute-long video is not dated, though Albag states that she has been held for over 450 days, indicating it was filmed recently.

Albag, a surveillance soldier stationed at the Nahal Oz post, was abducted along with six others by Hamas terrorists on October 7. One was rescued and another was recovered dead after she was murdered in captivity. The other five — Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Naama Levy and Daniella Gilboa — are still hostages.

Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages the terror group is holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare.

Albag’s family ask that the media not publish the video or images from it.

Most Israeli media do not carry the video clips published by Hamas unless the families expressly request so.

Germany’s Scholz says he’s more worried about Musk’s backing of far-right AfD than his insults

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on April 12, 2024 at the Chancellery in Berlin. (Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he’s staying “cool” against critical personal comments made by Elon Musk but finds it worrying that the US billionaire makes the effort to get involved in Germany’s general election by endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Scholz is reacting after Musk, a close aide to US President-elect Donald Trump, called the chancellor a “fool” after his coalition government collapsed in November and later backed the AfD in an opinion piece he wrote for a major newspaper in Germany.

Scholz, head of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), tells German magazine Stern there is “nothing new” in criticism by “rich media entrepreneurs who do not appreciate social democratic politics and do not hold back with their opinions.”

“You have to stay cool,” Scholz tells Stern.

“I find it much more worrying than such insults that Musk is supporting a party like the AfD, which is in parts right-wing extremist, which preaches rapprochement with Putin’s Russia and wants to weaken transatlantic relations,” Scholz says.

The AfD is monitored by Germany’s domestic intelligence service on suspicion of being right-wing extremist and has already been recognized as such in some individual German states.

Elon Musk listens as US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington DC, November 13, 2024. (Allison Robbert/POOL/AFP)

Syria’s Damascus airport to start operating international flights from Tuesday

This picture shows the Damascus Airport building on January 1, 2025. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

Syria says that the country’s main airport in Damascus will resume incoming and outgoing international flights starting next week after commercial trips were halted following last month’s rebel takeover.

“We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from Damascus International Airport from” Tuesday, state news agency SANA says, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the Civil Aviation and Air Transport Authority.

International aid planes have already been landing in Syria, and internal flights have also resumed.

IDF says it destroyed Hamas ‘officers’ neighborhood’ that served as north Gaza terror compound overlooking Israel

Troops of the Kfir Brigade operate in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, in a handout photo issued by the IDF on January 4, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF troops this past week demolished an entire neighborhood in northern Gaza, close to Beit Hanoun, which the military says had been used as a hideout and command center by senior Hamas commanders.

The military says the “officers’ neighborhood” had high-rise buildings overlooking the Sderot area of southern Israel, that served as a “central terror complex” with anti-tank firing positions, booby traps, and tunnels.

The neighborhood also had rocket launchers aimed at Israel, the IDF says.

The IDF says combat engineers destroyed the entire complex and the terror infrastructure it housed this past week.

Reports: IDF may extend south Lebanon presence for 30 more days as Hezbollah regroups

IDF troops with the 769th "Hiram" Regional Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on December 31, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Hezbollah-aligned newspaper says Lebanese army officials have received “serious signals” from the US military official tasked with overseeing the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that the Israel Defense Forces could extend its presence in south Lebanon for an additional 30 days.

The Al-Akhbar report says the message sent by Major General Jasper Jeffers, Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) to the Lebanese military, is that the decision depends on whether Israel can “fulfill its goals of ensuring the end of [Hezbollah’s] ability to carry out a preemptive attack.”

The Kan public broadcaster reports that the IDF may delay its withdrawal from south Lebanon because the Lebanese army is not meeting its terms of the ceasefire and is deploying too slowly in the area, with Hezbollah regrouping.

Additionally, the Lebanese army is not attacking Hezbollah targets, the report says.

As part of the truce agreement, the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers are deploying in southern Lebanon, as the Israeli army pulls out over a period of 60 days.

The IDF under the ceasefire agreement has until late January to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and, in the meantime, it continues to operate against and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure.

The truce went into effect on November 27, about two months after Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon, almost a year after the Iranian proxy started attacking Israeli communities with rockets and drones on October 8, 2023, a day after its ally Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza.

The two sides have since traded accusations of violating the truce.

CENTCOM releases footage of December 31 strikes against Houthi targets

The US Central Command releases footage of its multiple strikes on December 31 against Houthi targets in Sana’a and coastal locations within territory controlled by the rebels in Yemen.

US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV), CENTCOM said at the time.

These facilities were used in Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to CENTCOM.

In addition, US Navy and US Air Force aircraft destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site and seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea, CENTCOM said, adding that there were no injuries or damage to US personnel or equipment.

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers from the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, operating in the Red Sea, launch Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) at Iranian-backed Houthi command and control, weapon production and storage facilities in Yemen on December 31st, within the… pic.twitter.com/cGLffIHVEX

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 3, 2025

1 Palestinian killed, 9 injured during IDF counterterror raid in northern West Bank

The Palestinian Authority health ministry says one person was killed and nine injured during an Israel Defense Forces raid on the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

The IDF says that during the “counterterrorism” operation, “terrorists placed explosives in the area to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, Molotov cocktails and rocks, and shot fireworks at the forces.”

“The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified,” the IDF statement says.

The PA health ministry says an 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, “was killed by bullets from the occupation in the Balata camp,” adding that nine people were injured, “four of whom are in critical condition.”

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began last night and triggered violent clashes.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and “deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.”

Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 835 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 43 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.

Israeli woman says she was attacked in Berlin while wearing Israeli-Palestinian coexistence badge

An Israeli woman tells Channel 12 she was attacked by a gang in Berlin on New Year’s Eve, one of whom shouted that “Israel should be erased.”

The woman named only as Soli tells the outlet that she was wearing a coexistence badge depicting the Israeli and Palestinian flags in the shape of a heart. The badges were distributed by the Israeli-Palestinian Kanaan restaurant in the German capital.

Soli, a resident of Berlin, says she was followed by the three men and a young woman when she got off a train and that she took a photo of them after one of them shouted the anti-Israel slogan.

She says the woman then pulled her hair and when she fell to the ground, the men attacked her.

“I walked away and the young Arab woman came, told me to give her the phone, and said something else in Arabic that I didn’t understand,” Soli tells Channel 12. “She pulled my hair. I pulled back and she kicked me. I fell. The other three came and kicked me in the head.”

The outlet does not say if a complaint was filed with police.

1/2 חשד לתקיפה אנטישמית בברלין | בערב השנה החדשה הותקפה סולי, ישראלית תושבת העיר, בצורה חמורה אחרי שענדה ברכבת התחתית סיכת דו קיום בצורת לב עם דגל ישראל ודגל פלסטין (סיכה שאותה משווקת מסעדת כנען בעיר, מסעדה בבעלות ישראלית-פלסטינית). שלושה צעירים שישבו ברכבת התחתית העירו לה ואחד pic.twitter.com/QP59INhvsG

— Antonia Yamin אנטוניה ימין (@antonia_yamin) January 3, 2025

IDF says Netiv Ha’asara rocket siren was false alarm

The Israel Defense Forces says the recent siren in the Gaza border community Netiv Ha’asara was a false alert.

Rocket sirens sounded several times yesterday in Israeli communities along the Gaza border, in the eighth straight day of incoming fire from the enclave.

Blinken heads to South Korea, Japan and France on last expected trip as top US diplomat

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, December 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will embark on what is expected to be his final overseas trip in office this weekend, traveling to South Korea, Japan and France.

The State Department announces that Blinken would visit Seoul, Tokyo and Paris beginning Sunday.

In South Korea, which is in the midst of political turmoil following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japan, Blinken intends to highlight the expansion of US cooperation with both nations as part of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy.

That strategy is primarily intended to blunt Chinese ambitions in the region but also to deter the nuclear threat from North Korea. Political developments in South Korea, however, after Yoon declared martial law and was later impeached, have raised questions about the stability of Washington-Seoul relations.

The US has taken a cautious approach to the uncertainty, insisting that the US-South Korea alliance remains intact and iron-clad. Blinken will speak with South Korean officials about how “to build on our critical cooperation on challenges around the world based on our shared values,” the State Department says in a statement.

In Tokyo, Blinken will “review the tremendous progress the US-Japan alliance has made over the past few years,” the statement says. That includes a major arms sales approval announced yesterday under which the US will deliver some $3.64 billion dollars in medium-range missiles, related equipment and training to Japan.

China has repeatedly complained about the potential sale, saying it will affect stability and security in the region, allegations that both Japan and the US reject.

Blinken will wrap up his trip in Paris in meetings with French officials to discuss developments in the Middle East and European security, particularly in Ukraine.

Soldier who blew up Tesla at Trump hotel left note saying blast was ‘wakeup call,’ not terror

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department, shows an ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)

LAS VEGAS — A highly decorated Army soldier who fatally shot himself in a Tesla Cybertruck just before it blew up outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas left notes saying the New Year’s Day explosion was a stunt to serve as a “wakeup call” for the country’s ills, investigators said Friday.

Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in notes he left on his cellphone that he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.” Livelsberger served in the Army since 2006 and deployed twice to Afghanistan.

“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives,” Livelsberger wrote in one letter found by authorities and released Friday.

The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said that Livelsberger acted alone.

Livelsberger’s letters covered a range of topics including political grievances, societal problems and both domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He said in one letter that the U.S. was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”

Tesla engineers, meanwhile, helped extract data from the Cybertruck for investigators, including Livelsberger’s path between charging stations from Colorado through New Mexico and Arizona and on to Las Vegas, according to Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren.

“We still have a large volume of data to go through,” Koren said Friday. “There’s thousands if not millions of videos and photos and documents and web history and all of those things that need to be analyzed.”

The new details came as investigators were still trying to determine whether Livelsberger sought to make a political point with the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.

Livelsberger harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, law enforcement officials said. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to “rally around” Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

US said proposing $8 billion arms deal for Israel, including air-to-air missiles, 500-lb bombs

US-supplied military equipment arriving in Israel, December 2023 (Defense Ministry Spokesperson's Office)

The Biden administration has informally notified the US Congress of a proposed $8 billion arms deal with Israel that includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters alongside artillery shells, Axios reports, citing two sources.

The sources tell Axios that some of the deal can be supplied from current US stocks, but most will take a year or more to deliver. The deal will presumably be the last to be approved by the Biden administration.

The package — which needs to be okayed by the House and Senate foreign relations committees — reportedly includes AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles for fighter jets to defend against airborne threats, including drones; 155mm artillery shells; Hellfire AGM-114 missiles for attack helicopters; small diameter bombs; JDAM tail kits that turn “dumb bombs” into precision munitions, 500-lb warheads and bomb fuzes.

In late spring, the US held up a shipment that included 500-lb bombs, but these were subsequently delivered.

Axios quotes a source saying that the State Department told Congress the deal is aimed at “supporting Israel’s long-term security by resupplying stocks of critical munitions and air defense capabilities.”

And it quoted a US official saying, “The President has made clear Israel has a right to defend its citizens, consistent with international law and international humanitarian law, and to deter aggression from Iran and its proxy organizations. We will continue to provide the capabilities necessary for Israel’s defense.”

Syrian leader said to ask US to press Israel to withdraw its forces

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has demanded that the United States tell Israel to pull its forces out of the border buffer zone and the Syrian side of Mount Herman, Israel’s Kan TV news reports.

Israeli officials tell the outlet that they have received no official request on the matter.

They also say that Israel’s military presence at and across the border is necessary to protect its security.

The unsourced report also says the rebel leader has asked the US to provide humanitarian aid to the country.

Judge sets Trump’s sentencing in hush money case for Jan. 10, but signals no jail time

Former US president Donald Trump waits for the start of proceedings in Manhattan criminal court, April 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool, File)

NEW YORK — In an extraordinary turn, a judge Friday set President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case for Jan. 10 — little over a week before he’s due to return to the White House — but indicated he wouldn’t be jailed.

The development nevertheless leaves Trump on course to be the first president to take office convicted of felony crimes.

Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, signaled in a written decision that he’d sentence the former and future president to what’s known as an unconditional discharge, in which a case is closed without jail time, a fine or probation. Trump can appear virtually for sentencing, if he chooses.

Rejecting Trump’s push to dismiss the verdict and throw out the case on presidential immunity grounds and because of his impending second term, Merchan wrote that only “bringing finality to this matter” would serve the interests of justice.

He said he sought to balance Trump’s ability to govern, “unencumbered” by the case, against other interests: the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity and the public’s expectation “that all are equal and no one is above the Iaw,” and the importance of respecting a jury verdict.

“This court is simply not persuaded that the first factor outweighs the others at this stage of the proceeding,” Merchan wrote in an 18-page decision.

Trump communications director Steven Cheung reiterated that the case, which Trump has long described as illegitimate, should be dismissed outright.

“There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead,” Cheung said in a statement. He didn’t elaborate on Trump’s potential next legal moves.

Former Manhattan Judge Diane Kiesel said the ruling can’t be appealed under New York law, but Trump nonetheless might try to appeal it. In any event, he can appeal his conviction, a step that can’t be taken until he is sentenced.

Trump takes office Jan. 20 as the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.

Stormy Daniels at an event in West Hollywood, California, in 2018. (Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)

He was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records. They involved an alleged scheme to hide a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the last weeks of Trump’s first campaign in 2016. The payout was made to keep her from publicizing claims she’d had sex with the married Trump years earlier. He says that her story is false and that he did nothing wrong.

Trump, a Republican, has decried the verdict as the “rigged, disgraceful” result of a “witch hunt” pursued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.

‘Let’s see what happens’: Trump taps ex-State Dept. spokeswoman Ortagus as deputy Mideast envoy

US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, June 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

US President-elect Donald Trump announces his decision to appoint his former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus as his deputy Mideast envoy.

Ortagus will work under Steve Witkoff, who was one of the first appointments Trump made. Both of them are Jewish.

Trump is far from effusive in his Truth Social post announcing the decision.

Ortagus “fought me for three years, but hopefully has learned her lesson,” he says. He doesn’t get into specifics, but Ortagus did back Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential run against Trump in the previous election.

“These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them. Let’s see what happens.”

“She will hopefully be an asset to Steve, a great leader and talent, as we seek to bring calm and prosperity to a very troubled region. I expect great results, and soon!” he adds.

Palestinians say seven wounded in IDF raid of West Bank’s Balata refugee camp

Palestinian officials say Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in the West Bank earlier this evening, wounding seven people with gunfire in the latest violence to hit the territory.

Israeli forces raided the Balata camp near the main northern city of Nablus late on Friday triggering clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

“Seven people have been injured by gunfire during clashes in Balata camp, including two in serious condition with chest wounds,” it says in a statement.

The Israeli military says it is checking reports regarding the raid.

The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, gives the same casualty toll.

“The occupation forces raided the area of Balata camp .. and deployed snipers on rooftops of nearby buildings,” Wafa reports.

State Department approves potential sale of lightweight torpedoes to Saudi Arabia, Pentagon says

The US State Department has approved the potential sale to Saudi Arabia of 20 lightweight torpedoes and related equipment, the Pentagon says.

In total the deals could amount to as much as $78.5 million. The principal contractor would be RTX.N.

Poll: Government supporters favor Levin to succeed Netanyahu atop Likud; most Israelis think PM should fire Ben Gvir

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Justice Minister Yariv Levin (R) at the Knesset on June 7, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin is the most popular candidate among supporters of the government to succeed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when his time ends at the helm of the Likud party, a Channel 12 survey finds. Among all respondents, former defense minister Yoav Gallant is the preferred option.

The poll also finds that a majority of the public thinks Netanyahu should fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose revolt against a crucial coalition budget bill this week forced the 75-year-old premier to come to the Knesset to vote for the bill, leaving the hospital where he was recovering from prostate surgery. Ben Gvir has been voting against the coalition over his demand for a larger budget for the police force, which he oversees as national security minister.

Meanwhile, continuing the trend of previous weeks, the poll finds Netanyahu is seen as a better fit for the role of premier than all major rivals but one — former prime minister Naftali Bennett, whose lead over Netanyahu is slimmer than it was in recent polls. A majority of respondents also supported holding snap elections.

Asked who should succeed Netanyahu atop Likud, Levin, architect of the government’s contentious plan to overhaul the judiciary, receives the support of 6% of all respondents, including 14% of those who support the government. Gallant, who resigned from the Knesset this week over clashes with Netanyahu regarding Israel’s strategy in Gaza and the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill, is supported by 15% of all respondents, including 7% of government supporters.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Nir Barkat is supported by 9% of all respondents, including 11% of pro-government respondents; Defense Minister Israel Katz is supported by 6% of all respondents, including 10% of government supporters; Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who returned to the Likud this week four years after forming the breakaway New Hope party, is supported by 5% of all respondents, including 5% of government supporters; Yuli Edelstein, chair of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee who, like Gallant, has expressed reservations about the military draft law, is supported by 4% of all respondents, including 3% of government supporters; Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter is supported by 3% of all respondents, including 3% of government supporters; Energy Minister Eli Cohen is supported by 2% of all respondents, including 3% of government supporters; Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana is supported by 1% of all respondents, including 2% of government supporters; and Transportation Minister Miri Regev receives 0% support from pro- and anti-government respondents alike.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) interacts with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) in the Knesset on December 31, 2024. Netanyahu left the hospital less than two days after prostate surgery to vote on a budget law that Ben Gvir tried in vain to defeat. (Chaim Goldberg / Flash 90)

Twenty-one percent of respondents, including 16% of government supporters, say they want someone other than the above politicians to lead the Likud post-Netanyahu; and 28%, including 26% of government supporters, say they don’t know.

Asked what motivated Ben Gvir’s vote against the government this week, 60% of respondents say the vote was politically motivated, 21% say it was professionally motivated and 19% say they don’t know.

Fifty-nine percent say Netanyahu should fire Ben Gvir over his conduct, while 24% disagree and 17% say they don’t know. Among government supporters, the result was roughly tied, with 38% saying Netanyahu should fire Ben Gvir, 38% saying he shouldn’t and 21% saying they don’t know.

The survey also finds Netanyahu holding on to his lead over most rival contenders for the premiership.

In a match-up with Opposition Chief Yair Lapid, 40% say they prefer Netanyahu for the role, as opposed to 24% who prefer Lapid, while 32% say neither and 4% say they don’t know. Against National Unity chief Benny Gantz, Netanyahu receives 38% support as opposed to Gantz’s 28%, while 29% say neither and 5% say they don’t know.

(L to R) Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett attend the funeral of Israeli Orthodox Jewish rabbi Haim Drukman, at Merkaz Shapira near Kiryat Malachi on December 26, 2022 (Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP)

By contrast, Bennett inches past Netanyahu, scoring 37% support to the incumbent’s 36%, while 22% say neither and 5% say they don’t know.

Israel’s next election is set for October 2026, but critics of the government have demanded to move it up, arguing that the government must re-seek its public mandate after failing to prevent thousands of Hamas-led terrorists from storming southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Asked when they think the next election should take place, 55% of respondents to the Channel 12 poll say the vote should be held “as soon as possible,” while 39% say it should be held on its scheduled date and 6% say they don’t know.

The poll was conducted by Mano Geva’s Midgam polling company in cooperation with the iPanel online research firm. Channel 12 does not provide a sample size or margin of error.

Poll: 47% oppose draft law, majority thinks it won’t lead ultra-Orthodox to serve

Forty-seven percent of respondents to a Channel 12 poll say they oppose the government’s new draft law, which will formalize the exemption from military service for thousands of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

Just 19% of respondents support the bill, while 13% say they have no opinion and 21% say they haven’t heard of the law.

Asked whether they think ultra-Orthodox will serve in the army as a result of the law, 54% say no, 20% say yes and 26% say they don’t know.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have threatened to topple the government if it doesn’t pass the draft law. Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, whom Netanyahu fired in November in part over the ex-general’s opposition to the law, announced this week that he would resign from the Knesset in protest over the bill.

Asked whom they trust more to cater to the nation’s interests, Netanyahu or Gallant, 41% of respondents to the Channel 12 survey say Gallant, as opposed to 33% who say Netanyahu. Another 19% say neither, and 7% say they don’t know.

Asked why Netanyahu had fired Gallant, 48% say to enable the passage of the law enshrining Haredi non-service in the IDF, while 40% said for “professional reasons.”

The poll was conducted by Mano Geva’s Midgam polling company in cooperation with the iPanel online research firm. Channel 12 does not provide a sample size or margin of error.