Jan. 4: Trump: Report claims Israel provided drones to support Gaza City militia that clashed with Hamas

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP/Virginia Mayo)

European Union countries, with the exception of Hungary, call for restraint by all actors in Venezuela, and say respecting the will of the Venezuelan people is the only way to restore the country’s democracy.

“The European Union calls for calm and restraint by all actors, to avoid escalation and to ensure a peaceful solution to the crisis,” the 26 EU countries and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, say in a statement.

“Respecting the will of the Venezuelan people remains the only way for Venezuela to restore democracy and resolve the current crisis,” the statement adds.

9:53 pm

Turkey offers to help facilitate talks in Yemen crisis

By AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shake hands during a welcome ceremony, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey is ready to help with dialogue between Yemen’s factions, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Saudi crown prince in a phone call today, his office says.

Yemen has been at war since the Iran-backed Houthi rebel terror group ousted the government in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention.

But a new internal conflict involves rival armed factions loosely grouped under the government but separately backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Erdogan told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the phone call that Turkey “is ready to contribute to efforts aimed at bringing parties together,” according to his office.

Ankara is closely monitoring developments in both Yemen and Somalia, Erdogan said, adding that the preservation of the territorial integrity of the two countries was vital for regional stability. Israel recognized the breakaway territory of Somaliland as a nation late last month.

The phone call comes a day after Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry called for Yemen’s southern factions to attend a “dialogue” in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have for years supported various factions within Yemen’s government-run territories, intervening in the neighboring country’s long-running civil war.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

9:14 pm

Trump: New Venezuela leader Rodriguez to pay ‘big price’ if she doesn’t ‘do what’s right’

By AFP

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the press at the Foreign Office in Caracas, Venezuela, August 11, 2025. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

US President Donald Trump threatens that Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez will pay a “very big price” if she doesn’t cooperate with the United States, after US forces seized and jailed the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, yesterday.

“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump tells The Atlantic in a brief telephone interview.

US forces attacked Caracas in the early hours yesterday, bombing military targets and spiriting away Maduro and his wife to face federal narco-trafficking charges in New York City.

The Trump administration says it is willing to work with the rest of Maduro’s government as long as Washington’s goals, including opening access to US investment in the enormous Venezuelan crude oil reserves, are met.

Trump’s warning comes as Rodriguez was confirmed as interim president by Venezuela’s Supreme Court and military officials.

She sounded a defiant note yesterday after the US raid on Caracas, saying that Maduro was the country’s sole legitimate leader and that “we’re ready to defend our natural resources.”

Trump, who long campaigned against US nation-building and regime change in foreign countries, said yesterday that the United States will “run” Venezuela.

He tells The Atlantic that “rebuilding there and regime change — anything you want to call it — is better than what you have right now.”

“Rebuilding is not a bad thing in Venezuela’s case,” he says. “The country’s gone to hell. It’s a failed country. It’s a totally failed country. It’s a country that’s a disaster in every way.”

9:09 pm

Another round of Israel-Syria talks reportedly to begin tomorrow in Paris

By Lazar Berman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) hosts US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria and Lebanon Tom Barrack (left), in Jerusalem on December 15, 2025. (Maayan Toaf / GPO)

The fifth round of talks between Israel and Syria will start tomorrow in Paris, Axios reports, citing an Israeli official and another source with knowledge of the details.

The negotiations are expected to last two days.

US President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart the talks when they met last week at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report.

Trump’s Syria envoy Tom Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, will mediate the talks.

With the resignation of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Netanyahu placed his US Ambassador Yechiel Leiter at the head of the Israeli team, along with Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman and acting National Security Adviser Gil Reich, reports Axios.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani will represent the Syrian side.

8:37 pm

IDF believes West Bank incident in which teen was lightly injured wasn’t terror attack

The IDF believes the incident near the West Bank settlement of Ateret, during which a teenager was lightly injured after being hit by a car, was a hit-and-run, and not a terror attack.

Israeli forces are continuing to search for the driver, but have called off the encirclement of nearby Palestinian towns, according to military sources.

8:36 pm

Body of Charlotte Niddam, Israeli girl who died in Swiss resort fire, is identified

Charlotte Niddam in a social media video posted on September 9, 2025. (Screenshot/TikTok/@charlotteniddam; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The body of Charlotte Niddam, an Israeli girl who went missing in the deadly fire at a New Year’s party in a Swiss ski resort, has been identified, Hebrew media outlets report.

Niddam, who was 15, also had British and French citizenship. Her body was reportedly identified with the help of Zaka, the Israeli emergency services organization.

“This is a very painful and difficult moment,” said Zaka official Nachman Dickstein, according to Channel 12. “We’re still at work here with all of the officials, local authorities, Jewish communal representatives and an Israeli delegation to ensure that every stage [of the process] is carried out with sensitivity and the appropriate respect for the deceased and their families.”

At least 40 people celebrating at Le Constellation bar on New Year’s Eve were killed in the fire, which local authorities have attributed to sparkler candles being carried too close to the ceiling.

With the identification of Niddam’s body, all of the Israelis and Jews who had gone missing in the tragedy have been located, Hebrew outlets report.

Niddam previously attended Immanuel College, a Jewish school near London, according to British media.

8:20 pm

Iranians to receive monthly payment amid economic woes, protests

By AFP

A video appears to show anti-regime protesters marching in Isfahan, Iran, January 1, 2026. (X screenshot: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Iranian authorities announce they will give a monthly allowance to every citizen in the country to alleviate economic pressure, after a week of protests.

“Individuals can receive an amount equivalent to one million Tomans (approximately $7) per person per month, which is credited to their accounts for four months,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani tells state TV.

She says the amount will be given to every Iranian for four months in the form of credit that can be used to purchase certain goods and is intended to “reduce the economic pressure on the people.”

In Iran, which has a population of more than 85 million people, the minimum wage is roughly $100 per month and average monthly salaries are around $200.

Iranians mostly use mobile phones and debit cards for their daily purchases instead of cash.

Iran’s economy has been grappling with biting US and international sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program for years, and December saw a 52 percent year-on-year inflation rate.

The national currency has lost more than a third of its value against the US dollar over the past year, causing a sharp decrease in people’s purchasing power and broad discontent in the country.

Sunday marked the eighth day of protests in the Islamic Republic over economic uncertainty in the wake of the depreciation.

The protests have touched, to varying degrees, at least 40 different cities, mostly medium-sized and in the country’s west, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements and media reports.

At least 12 people have been killed, including members of the security forces, according to a toll based on official reports.

7:56 pm

President, justice minister, judiciary mourn death of Beersheba District Court chief

By Jeremy Sharon

Judge Benny Sagi, late president of the Be'ersheva District Court, who was killed in a traffic accident on January 4, 2026. (Courtesy of the Judicial Authority)

President Isaac Herzog says he is “shocked and pained by the tragic death” of Beersheba District Court President Benny Sagi, 54, who was killed when a vehicle crashed into his motorcycle on Route 6 this evening.

“Judge Sagi was a brilliant and sharp jurist, a wonderful judge who combined great professional knowledge with extraordinary honesty,” says Herzog.

“I was constantly impressed from afar by the rare combination he showed: A judge of stature and authority, with a moving personal story, who was known first and foremost as a man of values, humble and kind, who always saw the person standing in front of him and strove for peace and reconciliation.”

Herzog adds, “The judicial system lost one of its finest sons and leaders today.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says he was “shocked and deeply saddened” to learn of Sagi’s death, describing him as “a brilliant jurist, an exceptional judge, well-liked and respected by lawyers and litigants alike.”

Levin says Sagi transformed his court “from the very beginning of his term into a court that enjoyed broad public trust,” and that “his broad professional knowledge gave him stature as a professional and administrative authority, both among his fellow judges, among lawyers, and among the general public who were familiar with his work.”

In a statement to the press, the Judicial Authority, which represents the courts, says it is “deeply shocked and greatly pained” by Sagi’s death.

“President Sagi was a talented and promising judge, a leader, well-liked and beloved by all who had the privilege of knowing him, who achieved professional achievements at a young age, and his death is a great loss to the judicial system in which he served as a judge for about twenty years,” the body says.

Sagi is survived by his wife and three children.

7:49 pm

Despite protests, IDF personnel officer says hundreds of Haredim enlisted, most in combat roles

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against Haredi conscription outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, January 4, 2026. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men enlisted in the IDF today despite Haredi protests aiming to obstruct them, and most will serve in combat roles, a senior military officer tells lawmakers.

Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, says that as of this afternoon, “there were over 210 fighters and over 140 combat support troops and it is likely that in 10 days this will end with the largest enlistment in recent times.”

The new troops are slated to serve in the ultra-Orthodox Netzach Yehuda battalion, Hasmonean brigade and other Haredi-oriented tracks.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters attempted to stop the recruits at the Jerusalem enlistment office and the Bakum military induction base in central Israel, leading to clashes with police, who used water cannons to disperse them.

According to the Ynet news site, demonstrators yelled that the recruits would become secular in the army, and called them “sinners” and “murderers.”

7:39 pm

Man to be indicted on suspicion of sexually abusing child for years, police say

Illustration: A suspect is arrested during an overnight raid on December 8, 2025. (Israel Police)

State prosecutors will file an indictment tomorrow against a man suspected of sexually abusing a young girl since she was four years old, police say.

The suspect, from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank, was arrested on December 23 after allegedly abusing the 10-year-old over a period of six years.

His remand was extended until tomorrow, but prosecutors are expected to request to keep the man in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.

7:33 pm

UTJ chair compares sanctions on Haredi draft evaders to Nazis’ yellow star, drawing outcry

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf arrives at a United Torah Judaism party meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on May 19, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf compares proposed sanctions on yeshiva students who evade the draft to the yellow star that the Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, sparking outcry from both sides of the aisle.

Addressing the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a debate on the coalition’s proposed Haredi draft exemption bill, the senior ultra-Orthodox politician claims without evidence that more secular Israelis evade service than ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, and insists that “all sanctions should be canceled.”

“I implore the committee: if there are those who study Torah, exempt them from everything. They should not be tied to quotas or targets,” he says. “In what country in the world do they take a rabbi and punish him? Here in Israel, we’ll decide to punish them? A yellow badge, how can we do this?”

Leading politicians in the coalition and opposition condemn the remark.

“My father wore a yellow badge in the Budapest ghetto simply because there was no Jewish army to protect his life. My grandfather wore a yellow badge when he was murdered in a concentration camp,” said Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, calling Goldknopf’s statement “the dream of every antisemite” because he says it simultaneously trivializes the Holocaust and derides the IDF.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also slammed Goldknopf, declaring that there was “no place in our coalition” for such people “who don’t stop harming the people of Israel, IDF fighters and Torah scholars.”

“Our heroic fighters are the ones battling the Nazis of every generation and preventing them from carrying out the Final Solution conceived by the one who devised the yellow badge,” Smotrich posts on X.

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who chairs the committee and is the architect of the bill, says he respects yeshiva students and the Haredi world, but says that “this is not a yellow badge. There’s a limit.”

7:22 pm

Beersheba District Court chief Benny Sagi killed in ‘shocking’ crash on Route 6

By Jeremy Sharon

Ambulances at the scene of a crash that killed Be'ersheva District Court President Benny Sagi on January 4, 2026. (Courtesy of Magen David Adom)

The president of the Beersheba District Court, Judge Benny Sagi, is killed after a vehicle hits his motorbike while he was traveling on Route 6.

According to the police, the vehicle was driving off-road, came up onto the highway, and hit Sagi.

The police state that they have begun an investigation into the incident, which took place close to the Kfar Menachem kibbutz, with police officers from the Kiryat Malachi station and traffic accident investigators examining the circumstances of the crash.

According to Magen David Adom, medics and paramedics who arrived at the scene found Sagi with multiple injuries and no signs of life.

The paramedics described the incident as “shocking.” They said they found him lying on the road, not breathing, without a pulse, and with multiple injuries, and declared him dead at the scene.

7:05 pm

IDF troops dispatched to West Bank’s Ateret after suspected car ramming lightly injures teen

IDF troops were dispatched to the Ateret settlement area in the West Bank following a suspected car-ramming in which a teenager was lightly wounded, the army says.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it treated a 13-year-old boy who was hit by a car on the Route 465 highway near the settlement. MDA says it took the teen to a hospital in Jerusalem in good condition.

The IDF says troops are establishing roadblocks, encircling Ramallah and Birzeit, and scanning the area for the driver, who fled the scene.

“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the military adds.

6:53 pm

Lebanon says 2 killed in Israeli strike in south, after IDF said it targeted Hezbollah there

Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle near the southern Lebanese town of Jmaijmeh, Lebanon’s health ministry reports.

The IDF said that it had targeted a Hezbollah operative in the area.

6:31 pm

One person said lightly injured in suspected car-ramming near West Bank’s Ateret

The IDF says it has received a report of a suspected car-ramming near the West Bank settlement of Ateret.

First responders say that one person is lightly injured in the incident, and that the alleged assailant fled the scene.

6:24 pm

Rubio says idea of Venezuela elections ‘premature’ after US capture of Maduro

By AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to speak during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, DC on December 19, 2025. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says discussions of Venezuela holding elections following Nicolas Maduro’s ouster and arrest by the US were “premature,” with Washington focused on ensuring the remaining leadership in Caracas enacts policy changes.

Asked how soon Venezuelan elections would be following Maduro’s capture by US forces yesterday, Rubio tells NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “All of that, I think, is premature at this point.”

“What we are focused on right now is all of the problems we had when Maduro was there. We still have those problems in terms of them needing to be addressed. We are going to give people an opportunity to address those challenges and those problems,” he says.

6:21 pm

Saudi-backed forces regain control of Yemen’s Hadramout after days of airstrikes

By AP and ToI Staff

Saudi-backed forces spread across Yemen’s Mukalla after retaking the port city, which was seized by southern separatists last month. The capital of Hadramout province was retaken by Yemen’s internationally recognized government following days of Saudi airstrikes.

Video footage obtained by The Associated Press shows the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces being welcomed by residents as the troops drive through streets in armed vehicles. Forces were also seen driving around and outside Mukalla’s al-Rayyan Airport.

Ahmed Samaan and Bakr al-Ketheri, residents of the Hadramout towns of al-Qatn and Seiyun, told the AP that the Emirati-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, had withdrawn from military camps.

Tensions rose after the STC moved last month into the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out forces affiliated with National Shield Forces, which are aligned with the Saudi-led coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthi terror group.

The Houthis also began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre. They have held their fire during the current ceasefire.

Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the north and the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. But the United Arab Emirates, a coalition member, also supports the separatists.

6:02 pm

Palestinian source reportedly says Rafah crossing expected to reopen mid-January, staffed by PA

By Noam Lehmann

The upgraded Gazan side of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt, pictured on December 8, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza is expected to reopen this month and be staffed by the Palestinian Authority, says an unnamed Palestinian source cited by Sky News Arabia.

Israel, which has accused Hamas of using the Rafah crossing to smuggle arms, publicly rejects any postwar role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza’s post-war governance. US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, however, envisions the PA taking part in governing the Strip after it undergoes reform.

According to the source cited by Sky News, PA Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh and intelligence chief Majed Faraj arrived in Gaza today for talks on the PA’s role in operating the crossing, which is expected to reopen in mid-January.

At the beginning of the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, “the Palestinian Authority’s role will be limited to the administration of the Rafah crossing,” says the source.

The crossing will be manned by about 200 civilian technicians, PA presidential guard soldiers and intelligence officers, with European and Israeli forces monitoring the crossing “from afar,” the source says.

The source adds that the PA forces will operate according to a deal that Israel and the PA agreed to in November 2005, before Hamas ousted the PA from Gaza in 2007.

Under that agreement, the PA staffed the Rafah crossing, but had to consult regularly with Israel and submit to oversight by a third party. A civilian EU mission to help monitor the crossing began work there in 2005, but was suspended after Hamas took control of Gaza in June 2007.

Israel has publicly refused to open the Rafah crossing in both directions until the last hostage, slain police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, is returned. However, Channel 12 reported Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to order the crossing be reopened, with an Israeli “inspection site” on the IDF-controlled Gazan side, among other concessions he made to Trump during their meeting in Florida late last month.

Agencies contributed to this report.

5:49 pm

Bismuth accuses opponents of Haredi draft exemption bill of being ‘unrealistic’

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (center) and committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor (right) during a discussion of the government's proposed law to regulate ultra-Orthodox conscription and exemptions, December 28, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz/Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud) accuses opposition lawmakers critical of his Haredi draft exemption legislation of pushing for policies that will lead to the mass arrest of Haredim rather than their enlistment in the IDF.

Arguing with Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Nir, a fierce critic of his bill, Bismuth declares, “If I listen to you, there will be not be 17,000 [Haredi] soldiers, there will be 17,000 prisoners and 5,000 soldiers forced to guard them,” he says. Then, addressing the bill’s opponents, he adds, “You’re unrealistic.”

The bill, which is currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, proposes continued military service exemptions for full-time yeshiva students while purportedly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions through the imposition of minimum quotas.

But critics of the legislation say that it includes too many loopholes and opt-outs to effectively meet public demands to mark a significant increase in Haredi conscription.

5:39 pm

‘Constitutional crisis’: Deputy AG says government flouting court order on Haredi sanctions

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, December 9, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon accuses the government of contravening a High Court order to draw up new sanctions against Haredi draft evaders, calling its refusal to do so a “constitutional crisis.”

“The High Court required the formulation of the policy by today. This constitutes a violation of the ruling,” the Ynet news site quotes Limon as telling today’s cabinet meeting, following the expiration of a court-ordered deadline to present tougher penalties for the draft evaders.

In mid-November, the court gave the government 45 days to draw up effective enforcement measures, including criminal proceedings, against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who have refused to comply with IDF conscription orders.

In a unanimous decision, the court accused the government and state agencies of having almost “totally shirked” their responsibilities to enforce the law when it came to Haredi draft dodgers, which the court said constituted selective enforcement, as well as a violation of the state’s obligation to enforce its laws.

The court instructed the government to begin criminal proceedings against ultra-Orthodox men already deemed legally to be draft dodgers as quickly as possible, and to draw up, by January 4, civil and economic enforcement measures deemed to have a high chance of success against all those refusing to comply with conscription orders.

In response, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs reportedly says that “the government’s policy is to approve the conscription law,” a reference to the bill regulating Haredi conscription and exemptions currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Limon also slams the government, separately, for advancing a highly controversial bill to establish a politically appointed probe into the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack instead of a state commission of inquiry into the matter.

According to Ynet, Limon tells ministers that that bill “establishes a mechanism with full political control over the composition of the committee and the subjects of the investigation” and that the government is “turning the investigation into a political event.”

5:24 pm

Dud grenade found near synagogue in Vienna, police don’t suspect antisemitism

Armed police officers stand guard before the arrival of Austrian Chancellor Kurz and the president of the European Council to pay respects to the victims of the terrorist attack in Vienna, Austria, November 9, 2020. (Joe Klamar/AFP)

Illustration: Armed police officers stand guard before the arrival of officials to pay respects to the victims of a terrorist attack in Vienna, Austria, November 9, 2020. (Joe Klamar/AFP)

A hand grenade was found in a building entrance near a synagogue in the Austrian capital of Vienna today, although police say early indications do not link the device to antisemitism.

The grenade discovered in the Leopoldstadt district of the city was removed by bomb disposal experts and was later found to contain no explosive material, while the detonator was not functional, Vienna police say.

“Based on the information currently available, there is no direct connection to the synagogue located in Tempelgasse or any antisemitic intent,” a spokesperson says.

The state’s counter-extremism office has been notified, and further investigations are ongoing.

Around 5,000 Jewish people are estimated to live in Austria, according to the country’s national statistics office.

According to a 2023 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 73 percent of Austrian Jewish respondents considered antisemitism a big problem, below the European average of 84%.

5:17 pm

IDF says it struck Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah operative in the southern Lebanese town of Jmaijmeh a short while ago.

No further details are given by the Israeli military.

Lebanese media reports that the strike targeted a vehicle in the area.

غارة من مسيرة "إسرائيلية" إستهدفت سيارة بين بلدتي تبنين وصفد البطيخ #جنوب_لبنان pic.twitter.com/l3AnLvBj8i

— nbnlebanon (@nbntweets) January 4, 2026

5:14 pm

Police chief voices support for officer suspected of killing Bedouin man

Police Commissioner Danny Levy speaks during a handover ceremony for the role of Jerusalem District commander in Jerusalem on January 4, 2026. (Israel Police)

Police Commissioner Danny Levy expresses support for the officer suspected in the fatal shooting of a Bedouin man during a raid on his home last night.

Speaking at a handover ceremony for the role of Jerusalem District commander earlier today, Levy says that he “strengthens the hands of the fighter who sought to engage during operational activity.”

At around midnight in the Bedouin town of Tarabin al-Sana, the officer reportedly shot 36-year-old Muhammad Hussein Tarabin in the chest on his doorstep. While the officer reportedly claimed that he felt a “tangible threat” to his life, the slain man’s family members have claimed that the victim was shot almost immediately after opening the door, without having said a word.

The officer who allegedly shot the man was interrogated by the Department of Internal Police Investigations this morning and is currently under house arrest for five days. He is banned from entering police stations for a week.

5:08 pm

Shas threatens to oppose 2026 budget unless coalition passes Haredi draft exemption bill

Chairman Aryeh Deri attends a meeting of the Shas party Council of Torah Sages in Jerusalem, July 16, 2025. (Flash90)

The ultra-Orthodox Shas party will not vote for the 2026 state budget without the prior passage of the coalition’s bill regulating Haredi conscription and exemptions, party speaker Asher Medina tells Radio Kol Barama. The budget must pass by March 31 or the government will break up, triggering early elections.

“From the perspective of the Haredi public, the draft law is as far-reaching as one could possibly imagine. With God’s help, we will support the law because it is the only thing that will save the world of Torah. The only thing that will stop the arrests is not demonstrations, but legislation,” Medina says to the Haredi-focused station.

Addressing the issue in a meeting called to discuss funds for Haredi education, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells representatives of Shas and the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, as well as members of his cabinet, that lawmakers must significantly speed up the passage of the controversial legislation.

“We need to accelerate the completion of the conscription law legislation, everything depends on it,” the Ynet news site quotes Netanyahu as saying, in reference to the 2026 budget.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, causing widespread resentment among non-Haredi Israeli Jews. The Israel Defense Forces has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits.

For the past year, the Haredi leadership has pushed for a law keeping its constituency out of the IDF, after the High Court in 2024 struck down decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to full-time Haredi yeshiva students.

The bill, which is currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, proposes continued military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students while purportedly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions. Critics of the legislation say that it includes too many loopholes and opt-outs to mark a significant change.

If passed into law, the bill would ease economic and legal sanctions that have been placed on the community in order to end systematic draft evasion.

4:57 pm

West Bank Palestinian man arrested for lowering girl over barrier into Israel by rope — police

Police say they have arrested a Palestinian man filmed last month spiriting a young girl over the West Bank security barrier using a rope.

The suspect, a 29-year-old from the West Bank town of A-Ram, was caught on video lifting the girl to the wall’s edge, then lowering her down on the other side with a rope.

He is arrested on suspicion of “smuggling infiltrators over the separation fence and abusing a helpless person,” police say.

He was tracked down by Border Police with surveillance drones and arrested at a shop in A-Ram, just north of Jerusalem.

He is being interrogated at the Border Police headquarters in Jerusalem.

A video appears to show a man lowering a girl down the Israeli side of the West Bank security barrier, and then police arresting him. (Israel Police)

4:35 pm

US to work with current Venezuela leaders if they make ‘right decision,’ Rubio says

By AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks to a secure room in the basement of the Capitol to brief senators on military strikes near Venezuela on December 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The United States is ready to work with Venezuela’s remaining leaders if they make “the right decision,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says after a shock US operation removed the oil-rich country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

“We’re going to judge everything by what they do, and we’re going to see what they do,” Rubio tells CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program today.

“I do know this: that if they don’t make the right decision, that the United States will retain multiple levers of leverage.”

4:26 pm

Thousands of Israelis get texts with their personal ID number, in suspected Iranian op

Illustrative: A woman holds her cellphone with an Israeli flag cover at the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, February 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Thousands of Israelis receive threatening text messages containing their personal information, in what appears to be the latest attempt at psychological warfare by Iranian agents.

“This is your last chance to save yourself and your family. Our shagriruyot [embassies] are open to you. We know you,” the English-language message reads. Some recipients received a link to a page containing their personal information, including their national ID number.

The National Cyber Directorate calls the texts an “attempt at intimidation and social engineering with the goal of creating psychological pressure,” in a statement quoted by Hebrew outlets.

Yesterday, an Iran-linked hacking group claimed to have broken into former minister Ayelet Shaked’s mobile phone, sharing about 60 pictures and videos supposedly stolen from her device.

The group, called Handala, also claimed last month that it hacked the phones of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman and of former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

Iran has long been trying, in various ways, to recruit Israelis as spies by offering payment.

4:25 pm

Porush: Nixing draft dodgers’ daycare subsidies causes ‘starvation,’ may violate human rights

Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush attends a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush claims that withholding daycare subsidies from the families of draft evaders will cause “starvation” among Haredim and suggests that it may violate a United Nations human rights treaty.

In June 2024, the High Court issued a ruling ordering the government to start conscripting Haredi men. Since then, draft refusers have lost access to daycare subsidies for their children and other benefits. Yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have also seen their budgets slashed and the IDF has begun arresting small numbers of evaders, including some attempting to leave the country.

Porush, addressing a debate in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the coalition’s law regulating Haredi conscription and exemptions, demands to know if the daycare sanctions violate Israel’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, whose signatories — including Israel — are required to take measures to ensure that children have access to “adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water.”

Porush argues that this question must be investigated by the panel’s legal adviser, asserting that it is clear that this sanction “causes hunger” and “must be examined to see whether it complies with the UN Convention.”

If passed into law, the coalition’s bill would effectively reset the status of yeshiva students who ignored call-up orders over the past year, including reinstating the subsidies, while yeshivas would immediately receive half of their pre-ruling funding, easing economic and legal pressure on the community.

According to the bill, those who study in yeshiva full-time will receive deferments, though they’ll still be punished by being banned from getting a driver’s license or traveling abroad until age 23. They will also be ineligible for academic scholarships or tax credits until age 26.

Sanctions will ramp up if enlistment targets are not met, in a bid to encourage more yeshiva students to put down their books and pick up guns.

These sanctions include the daycare subsidies in addition to ineligibility for housing assistance, national insurance discounts and transit discounts, also imposed until age 26.

4:01 pm

IDF says it demolished 2-kilometer Hamas attack tunnel in north Gaza

The IDF says it recently demolished a Hamas tunnel stretching two kilometers (1.2 miles) on the Israeli side of the Gaza ceasefire line in the Strip’s north.

The underground route, in the Beit Lahiya area, is described by the IDF as a Hamas attack tunnel.

Troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, alongside the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, located and razed the tunnel during ongoing operations on the IDF side of the ceasefire line, called the Yellow Line, the army says.

This footage published by the IDF on January 4, 2026, shows the demolition of a tunnel network in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya. (Israel Defense Forces)

3:52 pm

Egypt, Qatar sign MOU to boost natural gas sales and import cooperation

This picture taken on February 6, 2023 shows a view of Tibbin dual fuel (natural gas and fuel oil) powerplant and Helwan Steelworks, in the Helwan suburb south of Egypt's capital. (Amir MAKAR / AFP)

Egypt and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales and imports, including terms for supplying Qatari shipments to Egypt’s Ain Sokhna and Damietta ports, Egypt’s petroleum ministry says.

QatarEnergy says in a statement that the agreement includes supplying Cairo with up to 24 liquefied natural gas cargoes for the upcoming summer.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, has been trying to increase its own gas production and diversify import sources to meet its growing energy needs.

Production began declining in late 2022, putting pressure on its ambitions to become a regional supply hub, and forcing it to plan for significant imports from Israel and Cyprus, along with costly LNG cargoes.

Egypt produced 3,635 million cubic meters of gas in October last year, up slightly from 3,525 million cubic meters in September but down from 3,851 million cubic meters in October 2024, according to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative.

Despite the decline, Egypt’s petroleum minister Karim Badawi said last week that Egypt plans to achieve self-sufficiency in oil and gas, according to a cabinet statement.

3:32 pm

Senior Haredi rabbis to join celebrations for ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers’ release from prison

Rabbi Dov Lando in Bnei Brak, August 21, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando and Moshe Hillel Hirsch, two of the senior leaders of the so-called “Lithuanian” non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodox community, will join multiple other prominent Haredi rabbis in Bnei Brak tonight in honor of two yeshiva students being released from military prison after being detained for draft evasion.

According to a spokesman for Lando, the release of the students, Yitzhak Revivo, of the Rabbeinu Chaim Ozer Yeshiva, and Yair Saadeh, of the Kisei Rahamim Yeshiva, will be marked by a celebration at the city’s Nadvorna Beit Midrash at 7 p.m.

Lando, 95, is a steadfast opponent of Haredi conscription to the Israel Defense Forces and has ordered yeshiva students to ignore call-up orders, prompting Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman to file a criminal complaint against him. Earlier this year, a Times of Israel investigation found that the Vaad HaYeshivot (Yeshiva Committee), on whose board he sits, had been actively advising yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders in violation of the law.

He has welcomed released draft dodgers before, having held a similar event in Bnei Brak in August.

Rav Lando dancing with a draft dodger while yeshiva students sing a song about the plots of the Jews’ enemies coming to naught pic.twitter.com/C7lcgtmkik

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) August 21, 2025

Lando’s Degel HaTorah faction has said it supports the coalition’s draft exemption bill, which proposes continued military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students while ostensibly increasing conscription among graduates of Haredi educational institutions through the imposition of quotas.

3:10 pm

Police expected to close probe of reporter over allegedly shoving aide to PM’s wife

Channel 13 reporter Aviad Glickman arrives at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem for a hearing, July 25, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Police are expected to close an investigation into journalist Aviad Glickman, Channel 13’s legal correspondent, due to a lack of evidence against him, Haaretz reports.

Glickman was investigated on suspicion of assaulting a woman in the employ of the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, but denies the allegations against him.

He is expected to appeal the move and request that the case be closed due to a lack of guilt, rather than a lack of evidence.

The incident occurred during a libel hearing in May last year.

Footage showed the reporter jostling Netanyahu’s aide, Gal Dabush, as hearing attendees tried to push through a crowded doorway at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, apparently in order to film Netanyahu as she left the courtroom.

Glickman had previously been summoned for questioning in July over the incident, but Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara contacted police at the time, insisting they first examine the context, citing “the necessary procedural caution needed for investigating journalists in relation to their work.”

אביעד גליקמן תקף אותי באלימות ודחף אותי בחוזקה ביציאה להפסקה בבית המשפט.

ביטחון בית המשפט היו עדים לאירוע האלים והוציא אותו.

אני הגשתי נגדו תלונה במשטרה. אני לא אשתוק מול האלימות של גליקמן. מבטיחה לעדכן.

מה עוד תעשה להם השנאה כלפי משפחת נתניהו?

הם לא רק משקרים, הם לא רק… pic.twitter.com/JhbBV2xWfw

— גל דבוש (@miss__gd) May 28, 2025

The attorney general later greenlit the probe in light of testimonies, security camera footage and medical reports of the alleged victim, who said the incident left her bruised and in pain.

2:44 pm

IDF: 2 Israelis mistakenly crossed into Jordan, were detained and returned

Yesterday, two Israelis mistakenly crossed the border into Jordan and were detained by the Jordanian military, according to the IDF.

The IDF says the pair were released from custody and returned to Israel.

“The IDF emphasizes that crossing the border into Jordan other than through an authorized border crossing is prohibited and dangerous for Israelis, and constitutes a violation of the law,” the Israeli military adds.

2:34 pm

Starmer says he was not aware of ‘abhorrent’ comments by Egyptian activist he welcomed

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in central London on October 29, 2025. (Leon Neal / POOL / AFP)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he was not aware of the “abhorrent” comments made by an Egyptian-British activist when he warmly welcomed him upon his return to the country last month.

Asked about the issue in a lengthy interview with the BBC, Starmer says that X posts by Alaa Abd el-Fattah calling to kill all Zionists and police officers “are abhorrent and I condemn them utterly.”

“As I’ve made clear, I didn’t know about those comments at the time of welcoming El-Fattah to this country,” adds Starmer, arguing that successive British prime ministers had sought Fattah’s freedom from Egyptian detention.

Pressed on why he was unaware of the contentious comments before making his statement welcoming back Fattah, Starmer says, “Your point that somebody in government should have known is one I’ve made myself to the appropriate team, because I do think I should have been made aware and I wasn’t made aware — and that is a failing within the system.”

After Fattah’s history of antisemitic and controversial posts resurfaced, “I wasn’t very pleased about it when I found out, hence we’re taking remedial action.”

According to The Daily Telegraph, the tweets included statements that “I consider killing any colonialists and especially Zionists heroic, we need to kill more of them,” as well as “There was no genocide against Jews by the Nazis – after all, many Jews are left,” and also a tweet reading: “Dear Zionists, please don’t ever talk to me, I’m a violent person who advocated the killing of all Zionists including civilians, so f*** off.”

The tweets had also previously surfaced in 2014, when he was nominated for the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Fattah’s nomination was later withdrawn due to the controversy.

2:31 pm

Chabad House in Kathmandu says it was evicted due to ‘clear antisemitism’

A man prays outside the Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, December 18, 2016. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

The Chabad House in Kathmandu, Nepal, which hosts thousands of Israeli backpackers every year, says it is being forced to abruptly relocate amid growing pressure from its landlord.

In a Facebook post, Chani Lifshitz says that she and her husband, Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz, were “told explicitly: Leave. Now,” after months of “another request from the landlord, another demand, another restriction, another decree.”

At first, she writes, “we were asked to remove all the Hebrew signs — so it wouldn’t be seen that there was a Jewish presence here, so [the landlord] wouldn’t be suspected by Iran of being a spy.”

At the same time, says Lifshitz, the landlord raised the rent repeatedly until it reached a point that was “impossible to meet.” It was becoming clear, she says, that “they don’t want this place to be a home for Jews,” and that their presence was “unnecessary and disruptive.”

The entire experience, she says, came with “a clear feeling of antisemitism, one that could no longer be ignored.”

Once they were kicked out, she says, they packed everything into a large storage space and are now looking for new locations where they can reopen.

Despite being in “a crisis,” Lifshitz writes, “we are not abandoning the mission. We are here. And we’re staying here in Kathmandu.”

Since they opened the Chabad of Nepal some 25 years ago, the couple and their six kids have hosted countless travelers for Jewish holidays, including more than 2,000 people at what has been called the largest Passover Seder in the world. Their experiences have served as inspiration for the Israeli show “Kathmandu,” which can be seen on Netflix in Israel.

In September, when Nepal was engulfed by deadly protests, the Chabad house provided shelter to hundreds of visiting Israelis and Jews.

Chabad outposts around the world — often a country’s most visible Jewish target — have repeatedly been subjected to antisemitic attacks, including last month in Sydney, Australia, when 15 people were gunned down at a Chabad Hanukkah celebration.

Zev Stub contributed to this report.

2:07 pm

At least 16 people have been killed during Iran unrest, say rights groups

This photo taken on January 4, 2026, shows a view of highway traffic west of Tehran towards the summit of Mount Damavand. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

At least 16 people have been killed during a week of unrest in Iran, rights groups say, as protests over soaring inflation spread across the country prompting violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Deaths and arrests have been reported through the week both by state media and rights groups, though the numbers have differed. Reuters has not been able to verify the figures independently.

The protests are the biggest in three years and, while smaller than some previous bouts of unrest to rattle the Islamic Republic, they come at a moment of vulnerability with the economy in tatters and international pressure building.

Kurdish rights group Hengaw reports that at least 17 people have been killed since the start of the protests. HRANA, a network of rights activists, says at least 16 people had been killed and 582 arrested.

1:50 pm

Netanyahu: Now could be moment when Iranians ‘take their fate into their own hands’

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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israelis “identify with the struggle of the Iranian people,” amid widespread protests in the country against the Iranian regime.

Netanyahu says that during his meeting last week with US President Donald Trump in Florida, the pair discussed Iran in depth.

“We reiterated our shared position of zero [uranium] enrichment on the one hand, and the need to remove the 400 kilograms of enriched material from Iran and to subject the sites to strict and genuine oversight,” Netanyahu says in comments at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, according to his office.

“The government of Israel, the State of Israel, and my own policies — we identify with the struggle of the Iranian people, with their aspirations for freedom, liberty and justice,” Netanyahu says. “It is quite possible that we are at a moment when the Iranian people are taking their fate into their own hands.”

Netanyahu says that he and Trump also discussed Gaza, and that the US president “was unequivocal” on the demand that Hamas disarm. “There is no other option,” Netanyahu adds. “This is a necessary and fundamental condition for implementing his 20-point plan.”

Turning to Venezuela, Netanyahu says Israel offers full support for the “decisive action” of the United States in capturing the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, a move he asserts will “restore freedom and justice to that region of the world.”

Finally, addressing growing violence in Israel’s south, Netanyahu commends National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for his efforts to “restore governance” in the area, also praising the minister for a number of his other initiatives, including establishing a National Guard and ushering in changes in the Israel Prison Service.

According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu clashed sharply with Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon during the cabinet meeting over the AG’s demands that he explain why he will not fire Ben Gvir over his alleged improper interference in the Israel Police.

1:33 pm

Philippine ambassador calls for direct flights from Manila to Tel Aviv to boost tourism

Philippine Airlines passenger planes are parked at the carrier's terminal at the Manila International Airport on April 12, 2012, in Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. (AP/Bullit Marquez)

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Aileen Mendiola says she is pushing to establish direct flights from Manila to Tel Aviv to boost tourism between the two nations.

The embassy says the issue is at “the top of her 2026 agenda,” and that Mendiola wants to raise the number of Israeli visitors from around 25,000 in 2026 to 35,000 this year.

“We are actively engaging partner airlines, as well as tourism and transport authorities on both sides, with the goal of achieving concrete outcomes by the third quarter of 2026,” she says.

Mendiola says that even without direct flights, around 25,000 Israelis visited the Philippines in 2025 and around 50,000 Filipinos traveled to Israel throughout the year. Israel employs a large number of Filipino workers as caregivers and domestic helpers.

1:21 pm

Netanyahu said to vow that he will not fire Ben Gvir, despite AG pressure

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir during a 40 signatures debate in the Knesset, November 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly declares that he will not fire National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, entering into a tense exchange with Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon over the matter during today’s cabinet meeting.

According to the Ynet news site, Netanyahu states that Ben Gvir’s firing “will not happen,” after which Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs insists that “there is no precedent for dismissing a minister without an indictment.”

Fuchs adds that to do so would “break the system” and be “the end of democracy,” after which Limon shoots back that “there needs to be an independent police force, Ben Gvir is damaging this.”

“For example, last night a citizen was shot in Tarabin and Ben Gvir didn’t investigate but immediately backed [law enforcement]. This is interference in an investigation,” Ynet quotes Limon as saying, prompting Netanyahu to reply that his comments are “simply embarrassing.”

In a High Court filing last week, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said that Ben Gvir systematically abuses his powers, and Netanyahu must be ordered to explain why he hasn’t fired him.

A month ago, Baharav-Miara endorsed petitions calling for Ben Gvir’s dismissal and has previously accused the far-right minister of exercising undue influence over the police, a force meant to operate independently, and has said that he has violated a compromise the two agreed on last year. Ben Gvir has maintained that he is fulfilling the will of the voters who elected him and branded the attorney general a “criminal.”

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.

1:04 pm

Two people killed by IDF gunfire in southern Gaza, reports Hamas

By Noam Lehmann

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says that Gaza hospitals have received the bodies of two people killed by IDF gunfire in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

The report does not identify the dead or say where they were killed.

Gaza hospitals also attended to 13 people wounded by IDF gunfire over the past 24 hours, the ministry says, without specifying the severity of the wounds.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF.

Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital said this morning that it received the body of a person killed by the IDF on the Israeli-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line southeast of Khan Younis, and the body of another person killed by the IDF on the Hamas-controlled side.

One was identified in Palestinian media as 15-year-old Alaa Asaraf, and the other as Fadi Salah, whose age was not reported.

12:38 pm

Delays expected at Ben Gurion Airport after Greece shuts its airports over radio issue

By ToI Staff and Reuters

Travelers at Ben Gurion Airport, October 23, 2025. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

The Israel Airports Authority says travelers should expect delays after Greece shut down arrivals and departures at all its airports due to unspecified issues affecting radio frequencies.

The IAA says that the Greek shutdown of its airspace is expected to last through at least 4 p.m., and that it will cause delays in both arrivals and departures at Ben Gurion Airport.

Airlines are working “to find alternate routes,” the airports authority adds.

12:21 pm

Officer involved in shooting of Bedouin man said to be placed under house arrest

The officer suspected of fatally shooting a Bedouin man in Tarabin al-Sana has been put under five-day house arrest and barred from all police stations for a week, Channel 12 news reports.

He was interrogated this morning by the Department for Internal Police Investigations, after the agency launched an investigation into the incident.

The shooting of Muhammad Hussein Tarabin, 36, occurred last night in the southern Bedouin village, during an operation by a “special unit” in the police and Border Police’s National Guard force.

Police say the slain man posed a threat to the forces. His family denies this and claims that he was shot by officers without provocation after opening his front door.

12:07 pm

Knesset defense panel legal adviser calls for harsher sanctions on draft dodgers

Ultra-Orthodox men scuffle with police during a protest blocking Route 4 in opposition to the jailing of yeshiva students who refused to comply with an army conscription order, near Bnei Brak, December 28, 2025. (David Cohen/Flash90)

The coalition-backed bill regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment currently being debated in the Knesset should include harsher sanctions, and they should continue after yeshiva students receive a full exemption from military service at age 26, asserts Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel Shor.

Writing to members of the panel ahead of this morning’s discussion, Frenkel Shor argues that efforts to reduce the current inequality in conscription depend “to a crucial extent on the creation of an effective and proportionate mechanism for denying benefits” to those who do not serve in the army, and criticizes the bill’s gradual application of sanctions based on consecutive annual failures to meet enlistment targets.

A model in which the bulk of sanctions are concentrated in the first year “is preferable, in our opinion, to a prolonged distribution” over the course of three years, she writes, adding that lawmakers should examine expanding the sanctions package beyond those currently included in the bill.

Frenkel Shor also calls for reexamining the bill’s clause ending sanctions at age 26, when annual deferments turn into a permanent exemption from service, stating that it is questionable whether the revocation of certain benefits “of long-term economic importance” such as daycare subsidies and housing benefits are effective if they are to be restored at this point.

She additionally questions why, if those not serving in the IDF will not be allowed to receive a driver’s license under the proposed law, should it not also revoke licenses already held by yeshiva students when they received their deferments.

11:46 am

After renewing ties with Bolivia, Israel approves new ambassador to La Paz

After renewing ties with Bolivia last month, Israel approves the nomination of an ambassador to the country.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the government unanimously approves the nomination of Gali Dagan, the Israeli ambassador to Peru, to also serve as the non-resident ambassador to Bolivia.

The appointment will remain in place until Israel opens its embassy in Bolivia and appoints a fixed ambassador to the country, the Foreign Ministry says.

Israel and Bolivia announced the resumption of diplomatic ties a month ago, after La Paz severed ties with Jerusalem in October 2023 over the Gaza war.

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, a centrist/conservative politician, won election in October 2025 and took office in November, marking a significant political shift for the country and paving the way for the resumption of ties.

11:35 am

Family of Bedouin man killed by police: ‘He opened the door to his house and they shot him’

The family of a man who was shot dead during a police raid in the Bedouin town of Tarabin overnight says he was killed the moment he opened his front door.

“From what we understand, the moment he opened the door to his house, they shot him,” Yusef Alwadara, a cousin of 36-year-old Muhammad Hussein Tarabin, tells the Haaretz newspaper.

Alwadara says police took Tarabin’s body, “and none of us know physically where his body is,” calling his death “murder in every way.”

Police have asserted that Tarabin had “endangered the troops that operated in Tarabin.”

Another relative tells Haaretz: “How could he have endangered anyone inside his house when he had just woken up? He just opened his door and got a bullet to the chest.”

The police officer involved in the shooting is being investigated by the Department of Internal Police Investigations, and has been praised by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has urged the crackdown on the town.

10:56 am

Police: 16 more people killed in Swiss bar fire on New Year’s Eve have been identified

By Reuters and ToI Staff

This photograph shows the entrance of the Le Constellation bar, where a fire ripped through the venue during New Year's celebrations in the Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, killing around 40 people and injuring more than 100 others, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on January 2, 2026. (MAXIME SCHMID / AFP)

The bodies of 16 more people who died in the fire that killed 40 people at a bar in Switzerland on New Year’s Eve have been identified, cantonal police say.

Those now identified included 10 Swiss people, two Italians, one person with Italian-Emirati citizenship, one Romanian, one person from France and one from Turkey, Valais police say. No names were given.

Police have now identified 24 of the people who died in the blaze in the mountain resort of Crans-Montana, in southern Switzerland.

Officials are still trying to identify many of those killed in the fire at the Le Constellation bar, which has become one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies. Some 119 people suffered injuries, including severe burns, with many transferred to burn units in hospitals around Europe. Work on identifying the dead and the injured are continuing, the police say.

An Israeli citizen reported missing in the fire has been named as Charlotte Niddam, who attended Jewish schools in the UK.

10:44 am

Palestinian attacker gets life in prison for stabbing Holocaust survivor to death

The scene of a deadly terror stabbing in Herzliya on December 27, 2024. (Magen David Adom); inset: Ludmila Lipovsky, 83, who was murdered in the attack. (Courtesy)

Ibrahim Shalhoub, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, has been sentenced to life in prison for killing 83-year-old Holocaust survivor Ludmila Lipovsky in a terror attack in Herzliya a year ago.

Shalhoub, a former informant for the Shin Bet domestic security service, was indicted on terror charges in January 2025, a month after he stabbed Lipovsky multiple times outside of her assisted living complex.

The indictment said that Shalhoub “drew his knife and stabbed [Lipovsky in the upper body approximately 11 times,” while calling out “Allah is great” and praying in Arabic.

The Tel Aviv District Court sentences Shalhoub to life in prison, as well as damages of NIS 258,000, the highest allowed, according to the Ynet news site.

10:21 am

Police say they’re done with probe of Qatargate affair, hand it over to state prosecutor

Jonatan Urich, a suspect in the so-called Qatargate investigation, arrives for a court hearing the Lod-Central District Court, August 19, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/ Flash90)

The Israel Police has handed over the investigation into the Qatargate scandal to the State Attorney’s Office, saying they’re done with it.

In a filling to the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court this morning, police write that the investigation has been “passed to the prosecutor’s office for consideration.”

The police also requested to extend by two months the restrictions on Jonatan Urich, a former top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including barring him from working in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Urich is suspected of contact with a foreign agent, bribery, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering in connection with the ongoing probe.

According to the Ynet news site, a court decision on Urich’s detention conditions will be made tomorrow.

9:37 am

Internal investigation launched into overnight fatal shooting of Bedouin man during police raid

The Department of Internal Police Investigations has launched a probe into a police officer’s fatal shooting of a man in Tarabin al-Sana during an ongoing raid in the Bedouin town, the agency tells The Times of Israel.

The slain man, 36-year-old Muhammad Hussein Tarabin, was shot during an operation by a special unit in the police alongside Border Police’s fledgling National Guard force.

Law enforcement claims he was a suspect in a string of car arson incidents in nearby Jewish locales, which police describe as “price tag” attacks in revenge for operations in the Bedouin town.

“One of the suspects endangered the force that operated in Tarabin [al-Sana] and was shot. His condition is defined as critical,” police said in a statement confirming the shooting. He soon succumbed to his wounds.

But residents deny that the man was a suspect and claim the shooting was an act of murder. Bedouin leadership in the town places the blame on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police and lauded the forces responsible.

An umbrella group comprising Bedouin mayors, Knesset lawmakers and civil society groups assigns to the far-right minister “direct responsibility for the killing of an Israeli citizen, a resident of Tarabin [al-Sana].”

“The policy of incitement, being quick on the trigger, and the use of forces not subordinate to the police led to an event that ended in murder,” says the group in a statement.

It is not immediately clear whether police suspect Tarabin of partaking in the burning of cars in Givot Bar and Mishmar Hanegev two weeks ago, or a more recent arson attack in a gas station parking lot near Lehavim.

Police believe both attacks were carried out by the same gang, but Lehavim’s residents have reportedly cast doubt on suspicions that the gas station incident was nationalistically motivated.

8:57 am

Deni Avdija’s triple-double helps Portland Trail Blazers down San Antonio Spurs

Deni Avdija of the Portland Trailblazers drives over Luke Kornet (#7) of the San Antonio Spurs in the second half at Frost Bank Center on January 3, 2026, in San Antonio, Texas. (Ronald Cortes / Getty Images via AFP)

Israeli NBA star Deni Avdija amassed a 29-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double that included a key 3-pointer in the final minute to help the visiting Portland Trail Blazers hold on for a 115-110 win over the short-handed San Antonio Spurs last night.

Both teams were playing the second game of a back-to-back, but it was Portland that responded the best.

The Trail Blazers led by four points at halftime and by seven after three periods behind Donovan Clingan and Avdija. Portland quickly expanded its advantage to 93-80 a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, but the Spurs were far from finished.

San Antonio drew to within 105-103 on Luke Kornet’s dunk with 3:14 to play. Avdija and Toumani Camara hit 3-pointers on the Trail Blazers’ next two possessions before a Stephon Castle dunk off a De’Aaron Fox steal closed the gap to 111-110 with 1:36 left.

Avdija responded with another 3-pointer to make it a four-point game, but Caleb Love missed a pair of free throws with 21.7 seconds to play, leaving the door open just slightly for San Antonio. The Spurs could not take advantage and had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Clingan finished with a career-high 24 points along with 10 rebounds, while Camara scored 20 points. Love had 16 off the bench, and Portland won for the second consecutive game and for the fourth time in its past five contests.

8:35 am

Venezuela’s VP says capture of Maduro has a ‘Zionist tint’

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 2025. (AP/Ariana Cubillos, File)

Delcy Rodríguez, the vice president of Venezuela who has been tapped to take control of the country after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, claims that the operation to arrest Maduro has a “Zionist tint.”

“The governments of the world are simply shocked that it is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is the victim and subject of an attack of this nature, which has, without a doubt, a Zionist tint,” says Rodríguez in a televised speech, according to the Mexican public broadcaster.

She adds that “the extremists who have promoted armed aggression against our country — history and justice will make them pay.”

There is no evidence to suggest Israel had any role or even knowledge of the American plan to capture Maduro.

8:12 am

China demands US immediately release Venezuela’s Maduro

This image posted on US President Donald Trump's Truth Social account shows what he says is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro onboard the USS Iwo Jima after the US military captured him on January 3, 2026. (Handout/US President Donald Trump's Truth Social account/AFP)

China’s foreign ministry says the United States should immediately release Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife and resolve the situation in Venezuela through dialogue and negotiation.

The ministry says in a statement on its website that the United States should also ensure the personal safety of Maduro and his wife, saying that their deportation violated international law and norms.

7:28 am

White House shares ‘perp walk’ of Maduro in New York City after capture

This screengrab taken from the X account of Rapid Response 47, an official White House account, shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) escorted by DEA agents inside the headquarters of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Manhattan, New York, January 3, 2026. (X account of Rapid Response 47 / AFP)

The White House shares on social media a video showing captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro being led in handcuffs by agents inside the headquarters of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in lower Manhattan, New York.

“Good night,” he appears to say to those off camera, adding “happy new year.”

The official account of the Trump administration simply captions the video “Perp walked.”

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after seizing Maduro during a bombing raid on Caracas.

Trump’s announcement came hours after a lightning pre-dawn attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife — while air strikes pounded sites in and around the capital city — then whisked him out of the country.

Perp walked.pic.twitter.com/34iIsFUDdG

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026

4:50 am

Venezuela’s Supreme Court orders VP Delcy Rodriguez become interim president

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the press at the Foreign Office in Caracas, Venezuela, August 11, 2025. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court orders that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assume the role of acting president of the country in the absence of Nicolás Maduro, who was detained in an operation by US forces.

The court ruling says that Rodríguez will assume “the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the Nation.”

The ruling adds that the court will debate the matter in order to “determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defense of sovereignty in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic.”

3:06 am

Venezuela’s Maduro helicoptered to Manhattan after landing in US

By AFP

A helicopter carrying Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro comes in to land at the Westside Heliport in New York on January 3, 2026. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has arrived at a military base in the United States and transferred to New York City, after his capture by US forces in Caracas.

FBI agents are seen surrounding Maduro as he descends from a US government plane and slowly escorting him along the tarmac at a National Guard facility in New York state.

The leftist leader is then flown by helicopter to Manhattan, where a large law enforcement contingent awaits, AFP images show.

A motorcade carrying Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro leaves the Westside Heliport in New York on January 3, 2026. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

The 63-year-old leader is to be taken first to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, then to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, according to US media.

Maduro and his wife are to be arraigned at an unspecified date before a judge in New York. They have been charged with “narco-terrorism,” importing tons of cocaine into the United States, and possession of illegal weapons.

2:02 am

Cops shoot dead suspect in Bedouin town amid extended raid; Ben Gvir congratulates forces

National Guard fighters and other Border Police forces stand at the entrance to the Bedouin town of Tarabin al-Sana, which has been closed off with cinderblocks, on December 31, 2025. (Charlie Summers/Times of Israel)

Amid the police’s extended raid in the Bedouin town of Tarabin al-Sana in the Negev, cops shot dead a suspect while operating there tonight, Hebrew media reports.

The operation by a special police unit and Border Police is reportedly aimed at locating suspects in torching cars in nearby Jewish locales over the past few days as revenge for the police anti-crime raids.

Forces received intelligence about the location of one of the suspects, Channel 12 reports, citing an unnamed official familiar with the details. During the operation, the suspect charged at the cops, who felt they were in danger and shot at him.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who initiated the anti-crime raid and has vocally backed it, reacts by backing the troops who shot the suspect.

“I back the fighters who operated in Tarabin,” he tweets, congratulating them. “Whoever endangers our cops and fighters must be neutralized. The days in which cops were endangered and harmed without reaction are over.”

Critics have accused Ben Gvir of treating the raid similarly to anti-terror operations in the West Bank, while noting that violent crime in the Arab community — an issue on which the ultranationalist politician campaigned heavily ahead of the 2022 election — has surged to new heights during his tenure.

1:43 am

Israeli missing in Swiss resort fire named as Charlotte Niddam, 15 — reports

Charlotte Niddam in a social media video posted on September 9, 2025. (Screenshot/TikTok/@charlotteniddam; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Hebrew media reports name the Israeli national missing following a deadly fire in a Swiss ski resort as 15-year-old Charlotte Niddam, who also has British and French citizenship.

At least 40 people celebrating at Le Constellation bar on New Year’s Eve were killed in the fire, which local authorities have attributed to sparkler candles being carried too close to the ceiling.

In a statement Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it received a report that an Israeli citizen was missing after the blaze at the bar in Crans-Montana.

The ministry said it was in touch with the family of the individual.

British media have said that the missing include Niddam, who previously attended Immanuel College, a Jewish school near London.

“Charlotte was a student at Immanuel College, and her family has now moved back to France,” the school told media outlets. “The families have asked that we all keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time. We are all praying for a miracle for Charlotte and the others, and want the families to feel the full strength of the Immanuel College community’s support.”

Now, Hebrew media reports say that Niddam holds Israeli citizenship and is the Israeli national referred to in the Foreign Ministry’s Friday statement.

12:48 am

UK says it and France bombed Islamic State facility in Syria