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The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they happened.
Harris raises $81 million in 24 hours, a record for 2024 presidential campaign
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 22, 2024, during an event with NCAA college athletes. (AP Photo/ Susan Walsh)
US Vice President Harris’s team has raised more than $81 million in the 24-hour period since President Joe Biden announced his decision to quit the presidential race.
The massive fundraising haul represents the largest 24-hour fundraising sum by either party in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump reported raising more than $50 million in the 24-hour period after his felony conviction in the New York hush money trial. Biden reported $38 million in the four days after his disastrous debate performance.
Harris’s new total features donations from hundreds of thousands of first-time donors, the campaign says.
Netanyahu lands in US, ending first flight for Israeli PM on Wing of Zion plane
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara exit the official Wing of Zion plane in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/ Times of Israel)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lands in Washington, DC, ahead of his speech to Congress and a possible meeting with US President Joe Biden.
This is the first time Wing of Zion, the prime minister’s official plane, has carried an Israeli leader.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lands in Washington pic.twitter.com/oH0YUZtnAW
— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) July 22, 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by Israeli Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis upon landing in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/ Times of Israel)
IDF says 10 rockets fired at Galilee in latest barrage, some intercepted
A barrage of some 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says.
Some of the rockets were shot down by the Iron Dome.
There are no reports of injuries.
Hezbollah takes responsibility for the attack, saying it launched dozens of rockets at the northern community of Tzuriel, in response to recent IDF strikes in southern Lebanon that allegedly wounded civilians.
Apparent rockets from Lebanon downed over Galilee; interceptor launched in Haifa false identification
Several Iron Dome interceptions are reported over the Upper Galilee, during an apparent rocket barrage from Lebanon.
Sirens had sounded in several communities.
There are no reports of injuries.
Several Iron Dome interceptions reported over the Upper Galilee, amid an apparent rocket barrage from Lebanon. Sirens sounded in several communities. pic.twitter.com/Wmvp2uKfGQ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) July 22, 2024
Meanwhile, an interceptor missile was fired at a “suspicious aerial target” over the sea near the northern coastal city of Haifa a short while ago.
The IDF says the target was later confirmed to have been a false identification, meaning not a threat.
There is no fear of a security incident, the military adds.
Jewish minyan held on PM’s plane to let ex-hostage’s dad say Kaddish for his late wife
A Jewish prayer held by officials, journalists and relatives of hostages aboard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official Wing of Zion plane during its flight to Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Pool)
Yaakov Argamani, who is flying to the United States in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official Wing of Zion plane, along with his daughter Noa, weeks after she was rescued from captivity in Gaza, asks for passengers on the flight to create a quorum so he can say the Kaddish Jewish mourning prayer for his recently deceased wife Liora.
The Mincha minyan, or quorum of 10 Jewish men — led by The Times of Israel’s diplomatic correspondent — includes government hostage point man Gal Hirsch, journalists, and family members of hostages.
Report: Trump hasn’t yet agreed to meet Netanyahu, likely won’t before Wednesday
Then-US president Donald Trump (left) smiles at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after signing a proclamation recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House in Washington, on March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/ Susan Walsh)
A report by Politico casts doubt over the possibility that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will succeed in securing himself a meeting with Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump during his visit to the United States.
The Kan public broadcaster reported on Thursday that Netanyahu’s team is seeking a sit-down with Trump.
Now, Politico reports — citing two unnamed people familiar with the details — that while the former president has not rejected the idea outright, he has yet to agree.
One of the sources is quoted as saying that if such a meeting is held, it likely would not happen before Trump holds a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday evening, which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Assuming the meeting would not be held late Wednesday after the rally, that would leave Thursday — when Netanyahu is currently slated to return to Israel — or Friday. If Netanyahu were to remain in the US until Friday, he and his entourage will to stay until Saturday night to observe the Jewish rest day of Shabbat.
Report: Palestinian factions agree to work toward unity gov’t at Beijing summit
At a meeting held under the auspices of Chinese authorities, Palestinian factions have reportedly agreed to work toward a unity government that includes all political factions.
The Palestinian Maan news site has published what it says is a joint statement that the factions are slated to soon release, though it is largely similar to previous communiques that pledged to work toward unity deals that were never implemented.
Fourteen Palestinian factions, chief among them Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, and the terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are being represented at the latest unity effort being brokered by China.
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters violently ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.
The leaked joint statement says the sides have agreed to work towards a temporary national unity government, unify institutions in the West Bank and Gaza, launch the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepare to hold general elections as soon as possible.
No timeline is given for when the unity government will be formed or when elections will be held, but the statement says deadlines will be set.
The statement says the factions “commit to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital” and to “guarantee the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with Resolution 194,” a UN decision from 1948.
The factions are further said to agree on the Palestinians’ right to “resist and put an end to the occupation” in accordance with international law.
Repeated reconciliation bids between Hamas and Fatah have failed, but calls have grown since October 7, with violence also soaring in the West Bank, where Fatah is based.
This year, a round of talks was held in Moscow in February, followed by another one hosted by China in April. A follow-up meeting scheduled in the Chinese capital for June was postponed to this week.
Netanyahu-Biden meeting likely won’t be held tomorrow — source
The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden will likely not be held tomorrow due to the latter still being sick with COVID-19, a source in the prime minister’s entourage tells The Times of Israel.
The White House has said Biden is quarantining in Delaware and will return to Washington, DC, once he tests negative, without offering a more detailed timeframe.
Drone entering from Lebanon shot down, IDF says
A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon earlier this evening was shot down by air defenses over northern Israel, the IDF says.
Sirens sounded in several communities in the Galilee panhandle during the incident. No damage or injuries were caused.
Meanwhile, fighter jets struck several Hezbollah targets in Ayta ash-Shab, a facility in Yater, and additional sites in Khiam and Hanine, the IDF adds.
בהמשך להתרעות על חדירת כלי טיס עוין שהופעלו בשעה 19:31 במרחב הגליל העליון, לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו את המטרה בהצלחה. אין נזק, אין נפגעים.
מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו תשתיות טרור של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב עייתא א שעב שבדרום לבנון>> pic.twitter.com/3qWpAzCTzZ
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) July 22, 2024
Netanyahu won’t take swipes at Biden in Congress speech, top minister said to promise
US President Joe Biden (right) is greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport, October 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A top minister has promised Washington on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s behalf that the premier’s speech to Congress on Wednesday will not include criticism of or against US President Joe Biden, Channel 13 news reports, without citing a source.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is said to have made the reassurance in response to repeated requests to Israeli officials by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan for information about what Netanyahu’s address will contain.
Prominent coalition MK Gafni recorded backing immediate hostage deal ‘at any price’
MK Moshe Gafni chairs a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, July 2, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
MK Moshe Gafni, the head of one of the two factions that make up the United Torah Judaism coalition party, has expressed support for an immediate deal to free the remaining Gaza hostages at any price, Channel 12 reports.
“We are in favor of doing an arrangement for the release of the hostages, all of them, now,” the ultra-Orthodox politician is heard in a recording, reportedly while meeting five relatives of hostages this morning, adding that the Jewish principle of redemption of captives “is one of the most important commandments in the Torah, if not the most important.
“But here it is completely clear that this is also a case [in which on the line is] saving lives. Our position, I’m telling you here in this room, within these four walls, and I say it to the prime minister: Today, we have to free the hostages at any price.”
In contrast, several prominent religious Zionist rabbis said in a letter earlier today that the deal currently on the table would endanger the lives of all Israelis, arguing that this consideration trumps those mentioned by Gafni.
Security chiefs said to agree Israel can stand to leave Gaza for 6 weeks if deal reached
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant holds a situation assessment with top officials including IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar, Mossad Director David Barnea, and the ministry's Director General Eyal Zamir, April 4, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)
All of the country’s top security chiefs are in agreement that if a truce and hostages-for-prisoners deal is reached with Hamas, the IDF can stand to fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip for the first six weeks of a potential deal, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Mossad Director David Barnea, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar have all reportedly told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they support such a deal, arguing that the relatively short period of time would not allow Hamas to regroup and rearm in a significant manner.
“We are aware of the security ramifications, but this is the time to prioritize releasing the hostages, whose time is limited,” the four have told the premier, the report says, adding that their position brings into account issues such as control of the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, and the return of Gazans and terror operatives to the Strip’s north.
Channel 12 news reports similar details, saying Netanyahu pushed back against the security chiefs’ flexibility during a long discussion yesterday.
Halevi reportedly told the premier: “We will know how to create all the flexibility needed to honor the terms of the deal. This is the time to combine the military pressure and the negotiations and see how to move forward [to a deal].”
The network says Netanyahu did not give in on his demands, and so they appear in the response that Israel will convey to the mediators as talks are renewed on Thursday, even though there is a possibility that Hamas will therefore say no.
As things stand, the delegation to resume talks is expected to be at a working team level — without senior officials — though that could change, the report says.
IDF confirms it launched renewed ground incursion in Gaza’s Khan Younis
The IDF confirms it has launched a new ground offensive in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, following intelligence of Hamas operatives and infrastructure in the area.
According to the IDF, Hamas has been attempting to regroup in Khan Younis, three months after the military withdrew from the city in southern Gaza.
The offensive is being carried out by the 98th Division, which had previously operated in Khan Younis for four months.
The IDF says that aircraft and artillery struck some 30 sites belonging to terror groups in Khan Younis earlier today, as the offensive began.
The targets included a rocket launching site used in an attack on southern Israel earlier, weapon depots, observation posts, tunnel shafts, and buildings used by Hamas, according to the military.
The IDF says airstrikes and tank shelling also killed several terror operatives.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, around 70 Palestinians have been killed in strikes in Khan Younis since this morning, which cannot be verified.
This morning, the IDF called on Palestinians to evacuate eastern Khan Younis and some areas of the designated humanitarian zone, following repeated rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The IDF had warned that it was readying to “forcefully operate” against terror groups in the Khan Younis area.
Head of police’s operations division to step down after 36-year career
Sigal Bar Zvi in an undated photo. (Courtesy/Israel Police)
In a surprise move, the head of the Israel Police’s operations division, Deputy Commissioner Sigal Bar Zvi, says she will step down at the start of next year following a 36-year service in security bodies.
Bar Zvi, 54, the most senior woman in police, has served in the force since 1991 following her IDF service. She has served in many roles, including being the first woman in various commanding positions.
Hamas ministry claims 70 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Khan Younis; IDF mum
Seventy Palestinians have allegedly been killed and more than 200 wounded by Israeli fire on the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says, in unverified figures that don’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.
It says some of the wounded are in “dangerous condition.”
The IDF warned civilians to evacuate the area today, but it has not acknowledged any military operations there, nor did it respond immediately to a Times of Israel request for comment.
Harris hails Biden’s legacy as ‘unmatched in modern history,’ in 1st remarks since withdrawal
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2024. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
US Vice President Kamala Harris hails her boss’s legacy, in her first remarks since Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed her candidacy.
Biden’s record is “unmatched in modern history,” Harris says at an event at the White House. “In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office.”
Ireland orders Israeli firm Wix to compensate employee fired over anti-Israel posts
The Wix website-building app logo. (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/JTA)
Israeli software company Wix has reportedly been ordered to pay €35,000 ($38,000) to a former employee in its Dublin branch after she was fired in October for sharing posts on social media in which she called Israel a terrorist state, among other inflammatory statements.
According to The Irish Sun, Wix has acknowledged that its firing of 27-year-old Courtney Carey was “procedurally unfair.”
Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission imposed the compensation, which is lower than what Carey demanded, citing what she described as being “blacklisted” from the tech sector following her public dismissal.
In a post shared on her LinkedIn profile just weeks after Hamas’s October 7 massacre in Israel, which started the war, Carey wrote that she was proud to be Irish and to “stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Israeli apartheid.”
Without acknowledging the onslaught — in which 1,200 people in Israel were killed and 251 kidnapped — as the catalyst, Carey attributed the “root cause” of the Israel-Hamas war to “Zionist ideology which promotes an exclusivist state which denies Palestinian identity.
“It is also an expansionary ideology, promoting illegal settlements on Palestinian land,” she claimed. “Do not be fooled by establishment propaganda. You can oppose Zionism as a political ideology while standing firm against antisemitism which is also a form of racism.”
Carey has stood by what she wrote, saying last month: “I think I was very soft-handed. What has happened since to Palestinians and what has been happening at the hands of the Israeli government has only exacerbated and got worse. I’m glad I said what I said.”
Several religious Zionist rabbis warn current hostage proposal would ‘endanger all Israelis’
Several leading rabbis of the religious Zionist community come out in an open letter against a hostage deal with Hamas, arguing that an Israeli-proposed agreement on the table that would withdraw troops from Gaza and swap Israelis in Gaza for Palestinian security prisoners would endanger more Israelis.
“The prices demanded to free the hostages endanger all Israelis, old, young and women,” the letter reads. “For example: releasing all the dangerous monsters so Hamas can rebuild its collapsed army, withdrawing from strategic areas and stopping the fighting before Hamas is defeated.”
The letter claims the dangers posed by the deal outweigh the Jewish imperative to free captives. It is believed that 116 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 44 confirmed dead by the IDF.
“We suggest to our leaders that God will present good counsel on how to redeem the hostages while ensuring the continued existence and well-being of the State of Israel,” the letter continues.
The letter — whose signatories include Ramat Gan chief rabbi Yaakov Ariel and leading hardliners such as settler leaders Dov Lior and Elyakim Levanon and Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu — may deal a fresh blow to hopes that the religious Zionist flank of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition could agree to a deal should terms with Hamas be reached.
IDF says soldier killed by grenade explosion in Gaza while not in combat; probe opened
An IDF officer was killed by a grenade explosion in the Gaza Strip this morning, but not during operational activity, the military says.
The Military Police has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident. The findings will be submitted to the Military Advocate General for review, the IDF says.
The officer is not immediately named.
Family blames Netanyahu for hostage Alex Dancyg’s death, vows to ‘settle the score’
File: Yuval Dancyg, right, attends a press conference at the Italian Jewish Center in Rome, November 22, 2023, with other representatives of families of Israelis abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, shortly after they met with Pope Francis at The Vatican. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The family of one of the two Gaza hostages declared dead today by Israel blames his death on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling the failure to return him alive “much, much greater than the failure of October 7” when he and 250 others were kidnapped and 1,200 were killed in the Hamas onslaught.
Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, have been confirmed by the IDF to have died several months ago while the IDF was operating in Khan Younis, where they are believed to have been held together by Hamas.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to end,” writes Yuval Dancyg, Alex’s son, on Instagram. “You were abducted alive and breathing from your bed on that cursed morning, and you should have returned home alive and in one piece. I’m sorry we didn’t succeed in this task.
“In the last few months I was exposed more and more to the number of people you inspired and to what an amazing legacy you left behind,” Yuval adds. “I promise to carry this legacy with me to every place and to tell your story.
“Now is the time for grieving and memorializing. The time to settle the score with those responsible for what happened will come,” he adds, possibly referring to Hamas, and potentially also to the Netanyahu government.
Another son of Alex, Mati Dancyg, is more explicit, saying that “Dad didn’t just die — he died for the sake of Netanyahu’s government of destruction” and calling on the public to protest the government.
The premier “is continuing to thwart and sabotage any chance for a deal” and is “choosing to save his rotten government rather than save the lives of Israeli citizens whose abduction he himself is responsible for,” he charges.
“The sacrificing of the hostages out of political motives is a much, much greater failure than the failure of October 7. This isn’t just criminal negligence, it is full-on treason,” Mati adds, calling for no IDF soldier to be endangered by being sent on a military mission to retrieve Alex’s body.
Knesset advances 3 bills aimed at shutting down UNRWA
Activists protest against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) outside its offices in Jerusalem, March 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The Knesset approves the first reading of a trio of bills aimed at shutting down UNRWA, amid a wave of popular anger against the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants in the wake of the October 7 attack and the ongoing war.
The first bill, which would ban the organization from operating on Israeli territory, passes 58-9.
The second, aimed at stripping UNRWA personnel of the legal immunities and privileges afforded to United Nations staff in Israel, passes 63-9.
The third, which would brand UNRWA — short for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — a terrorist organization and require Israel to cut ties with it, passes 50-10.
All three bills will now be returned to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for preparation for the second and third readings necessary for the legislation to become law.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, who sponsored the legislation branding UNRWA a terrorist organization, welcomes the vote, stating that “there is not a day that the IDF spokesperson does not publish new findings from the field that link UNRWA to terrorism.”
The agency provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel alleges that some 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite to hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
During the debate, New Hope lawmaker Sharren Haskel denounces the organization as the “cornerstone” of the conflict while MK Ofer Cassif, the only Jewish member of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, argues that the bill will “block access to the education system” for many Palestinian children in East Jerusalem.
IDF says it struck several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
A Hezbollah operative who was spotted entering a building known to be used by the terror group in southern Lebanon’s Chihine was struck by fighter jets earlier today, the IDF says.
It publishes footage of the strike.
The IDF says it also struck areas near Mays al-Jabal and Kfarchouba to “remove threats.”
This morning, seven explosive-laden drones were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel.
According to the IDF, all seven were shot down by air defenses.
IDF airs footage of Gazan gunmen trying to hijack aid trucks along designated route
The Israeli military releases footage showing gunmen climbing onto trucks carrying humanitarian aid in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF, Hamas operatives frequently try to hijack aid deliveries heading along a designated route.
In the past week, troops of the Nahal Brigade raided a school adjacent to the “humanitarian route,” where a group of gunmen were holed up. The IDF says the gunmen had been planning to take control of the route where the aid trucks drive.
The Nahal troops used drones to kill the gunmen, and later found a tunnel shaft in the school’s courtyard, the IDF says.
Additionally, the IDF releases footage of a tunnel that was discovered in the Brazil neighborhood of Rafah, and later demolished.
According to the IDF, the tunnel was several hundred meters long and had multiple levels.
Mom suspected of killing her son said to blame aliens, CIA for act, may not be fit to stand trial
Undated photo of Sigal Yana Itzkovich with her son. (Courtesy; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A woman suspected of murdering her 6-year-old son may not be mentally fit to stand trial, a psychiatric assessment has reportedly found.
Sigal Yana Itzkovich, 33, allegedly wandered the streets of Herzliya after killing her child, wielding an axe and attacking passersby and a security guard who finally restrained her.
Hebrew media reports that a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation received today says it is unsure whether Itzkovich is fit to stand trial, recommending a more in-depth assessment under hospitalization, after an indictment is filed.
The reports say Itzkovich has said during interrogation that she took drugs and drank nail polish before her violent outburst. They add that she has claimed she heard voices of aliens in her head that told her that the aliens and the CIA had inserted a chip into her body, causing her to commit the murder. She has expressed remorse for the action, the reports say.
Smotrich slams IDF brass on hostage deal, urges PM to stand up to US on settler sanctions
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 15, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praises US President Joe Biden as a Zionist who “loves Israel,” even as he calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand up to the White House over the issues of sanctions against West Bank settlers and the potential establishment of a Palestinian state.
Arguing that Israel “must not stop the war before achieving all the goals we have defined,” Smotrich tells reporters in the Knesset that “the State of Israel is facing a tremendous international pressure campaign in order to force it to commit suicide and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
“All means are kosher to achieve this goal: imposing sanctions on settlers and organizations, including threats to impose sanctions on me personally, unilateral recognition [of Palestinian statehood], and disconnected and unfounded decisions in The Hague,” he says — referring to a recent non-binding advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice stating that Israel’s 56-year long presence in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is “illegal.”
“I stand here and pledge to you, I will never give up. The people of Israel will not surrender. We will do everything so that a Palestinian state will never be established in the Land of Israel that would endanger our existence. We are working day and night in the field to thwart this, and God willing, we will also bring about the application of Israeli sovereignty,” he continues, repeating aspirations to annex the West Bank or parts of it.
“I call on the prime minister, do not be silent in the face of the sanctions on the citizens of Israel and the settlers in Judea and Samaria,” he says, using the biblical name for the West Bank.
Turning to the issue of the indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas, Smotrich warns that Israel cannot “re-enter a cycle of fruitless talks that will harm the achievements of the war.”
Criticizing the senior leadership of the IDF, which has reportedly endorsed an Israeli-proposed deal that is opposed by far-right elements in the government, Smotrich says that the army’s senior command “does not know its place and instead of focusing on the continuation and intensification of the fighting against Hamas, voices political and policy positions in favor of a reckless deal while deviating from its authority and role.”
West Bank cell planned to kidnap Israelis, Shin Bet says
A hole in the ground near Aqbat Jabr in the West Bank, where the Shin Bet says a Palestinian cell planned to hide Israelis after kidnapping them, in a screenshot from video released on July 22, 2024. (Shin Bet)
The Shin Bet security agency says it recently foiled plans by a West Bank terror cell from the Aqabat Jabr camp to carry out a kidnapping attack.
According to the Shin Bet, members of the cell dug a hole in the ground where they intended to hold the Israeli hostages.
Troops recently arrested Muhammad Tarik, 19, and Amin Qatash, 20, residents of Aqabat Jabr, near Jericho, over their involvement in the plot. A third member of the cell was detained by the Palestinian Authority security forces, according to the Shin Bet.
The Shin Bet says Tarik and Qatash established the cell, purchased firearms and other weapons, and recruited others to carry out a kidnapping alongside shooting and explosive attacks against IDF troops and civilians in the West Bank.
“It emerged that the cell dug a hole in which they planned to hide the hostages. The hole’s opening was camouflaged and located near the house of one of the cell members,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet says a makeshift submachine gun, an explosive device and other military equipment were seized.
Last week, the suspects were charged with a series of serious security offenses, including charges related to their attempted kidnapping plans.
Border Police officers charged with punching, beating, dragging East Jerusalem suspect
The Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) files an indictment against two Border Police officers, Jarees Hilo and Sarel Avshara, for assaulting and injuring a suspect after having detained him, causing him to pass out as a result of his wounds.
According to the indictment, during a routine patrol in Jerusalem after midnight on March 8, 2023, four police officers came across a group of youths in the area of the A-Tur and Ras al Amud neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, who were “swearing and joking” inside a car parked close to a gas station.
One of the police officers requested that the youths show their identity cards, and when one of them refused, the officers conducted a body search and found pepper spray on him.
The youth was then detained and driven by the police officers to a nearby parking lot. During that time, two of the officers beat the suspect, punching him in the chest and face and hitting him over the head with an unidentified object, the indictment says.
When the patrol car got to the parking lot, the suspect refused to get out of the vehicle and was forcefully dragged out of the car by one of the police officers, being dragged across the ground.
He was then told to go home by one of the police officers, and he managed to make his way back to the gas station but lost consciousness when he arrived, having sustained internal bleeding around his left eye and on his forehead. He was subsequently taken to Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital for treatment.
Hilo and Avshara have been indicted over the incident, while the patrol car driver and the fourth officer have not been charged.
The indictment is the latest in a series of such charges leveled by DIPI against police officers for violent behavior since the Public Defender’s Office publicly rebuked DIPI for failing to crack down on the phenomenon at the end of June.
Golan hails ‘Zionist president’ Biden, blasts Netanyahu for trip to Washington
The Democrats leader Yair Golan attends a faction meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 22, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yair Golan, head of the Labor-Meretz union The Democrats, praises US President Joe Biden before launching into a heated condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
“There was never a Zionist president like Biden and there has never been a past American president who was treated as rudely, bluntly, and irresponsibly by the Israeli government and its leader, as President Biden,” Golan declares.
“The president, in his quick and decisive response, prevented the expansion of the war into other arenas, protected Israel in the world political arena, allowed the IDF to breathe, and physically protected Israel from Houthi and Iranian attacks throughout the long months of the war.”
By contrast, Netanyahu’s flight to the United States to address Congress and meet with the president is an “unnecessary, wasteful, ostentatious, and corrupt PR campaign.”
Netanyahu’s government proved itself to be “irresponsible and incompetent, causing ongoing damage to Israel’s security,” Golan says. “Netanyahu’s trip to Washington is nothing more than a show trip empty of content, absent of real goals, all of which is designed for domestic purposes, and has nothing to do with Israel’s relations with its most important ally.”
Sa’ar hails Knesset vote against Palestinian state as end to ‘incorrect’ policy
New Hope chair Gideon Sa'ar leads a faction meeting, at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on July 22, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The “era of withdrawals, concessions, and containment is over,” New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar declares, following last week’s Knesset vote rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Hailing the end of “30 years of incorrect political and security” policy, Sa’ar, whose party co-sponsored the measure, insists that “we will not allow a return to this [two-state] policy, no matter by whom.”
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Sa’ar calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put the Iranian issue “at the top of the agenda during his visit to Washington.”
Welcoming Saturday’s strike against the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeida in Yemen as “better late than never,” Sa’ar says that Israel must “charge Iran a price for its aggression” and work with its allies “to stop the Iranian nuclear project.”
“The regime in Iran is the cause of the problems in the Middle East and its overthrow is a regional, Western, and international interest,” Sa’ar continues — adding that “the fight against Iran and its proxies cannot be merely reactive.”
Turning to Gaza, Sa’ar says that Israel must not fold in the fight against Hamas because the conflict there directly affects other fronts.
Despite having opposed the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, Sa’ar adds that without a “wide national consensus” on renewing settlement, he cannot support calls to reestablish Israeli communities in the coastal territory.
Asked about Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman’s recent meetings with former prime minister Naftali Bennett and whether he is engaged in talks to create a unified rightwing bloc, Sa’ar replies that he is unaware of such negotiations and does not believe they are taking place.
He also says that while he is in touch with members of Likud, he is not trying to peel away any of the lawmakers from the ruling party who have recently cast doubt on the future of the coalition.
Police arrest reserve officer for faking military ID cards for 6 Palestinians
A fake identity card printed by an IDF reserve officer for a Palestinian, published by the police on July 22, 2024. (Israel Police)
Police say they arrested a 45-year-old IDF lieutenant colonel in the reserves for printing military employee identity cards for six Palestinian residents of the West Bank, allowing them to illegally reside in Israel.
After an undercover investigation, police say they arrested the officer for using a civilian printer to fake the ID cards for Palestinian residents, who are members of the same family from Tulkarm, over several years.
The ID cards claim the residents work in various jobs assisting the military that don’t exist, police say.
This morning, police arrested the reserve officer in his northern home and the six Palestinians ages 21, 29, 31, 34, 35, and 55 for questioning.
The investigation is ongoing.
Firefighters battling large blaze in northern Israel
Six firefighting teams backed up by six planes are working to extinguish a large blaze in northern Israel.
The fire is located between Kibbutz Tel Katzir south of the Sea of Galilee and Mevo Hema in the Golan Heights, according to Fire and Rescue services.
Firefighters are working to control the fire before it reaches populated areas and agricultural fields.
שריפה פרצה בשטח פתוח בעמק הירדן. שישה צוותי כיבוי הוזנקו למקום@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/KFcVJUsEMU
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 22, 2024
Palestinians report IDF troops advancing in Khan Younis
Palestinian civilians move away from the eastern districts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip following evacuation orders by the Israeli army on July 22, 2024. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Palestinian media report that Israeli ground forces are beginning to advance on the Abasan area in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, amid a wave of airstrikes.
This morning, the IDF called on Palestinians to evacuate eastern Khan Younis and some areas of the designated humanitarian zone, following repeated rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The IDF had warned it was readying to “forcefully operate” against terror groups in the Khan Younis area.
The new operation comes three months after the military withdrew from Khan Younis after carrying out an operation against Hamas there for four straight months.
Meanwhile, two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip struck open areas in southern Israel, according to the IDF. Sirens had sounded in the border communities of Nir Itzhak and Sufa.
Hamas-run health ministry says Gaza death toll since Oct. 7 surpasses 39,000
At least 39,006 Palestinians have been killed and 89,818 wounded since the start of Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 327.
Yad Vashem expresses grief over death of employee who was Hamas hostage
The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum says it mourns the death of Hamas hostage Alex Dancyg, who worked for the center.
“Alex’s essence embodied both in spirit and substance, his love for the land and thirst for knowledge. His vast library at his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz reflected his deep connection between his cherished Israeli and Jewish identity and his Polish birthplace,” Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan says in a statement.
“Alex successfully integrated these perspectives into his teaching of the events of World War II in general, and of the Holocaust in particular. The news of his tragic death strengthens our commitment to ensure that Alex’s legacy and the stories he passionately preserved are never forgotten,” Dayan says.
Polish-born Dancyg moved to Israel in 1957 and worked for Yad Vashem to develop training courses for guides of Israeli youth trips to Poland as well as for Holocaust education programs there.
Rocket sirens wail in Gaza border communities for 2nd time within hour
For the second time in an hour, rocket sirens are sounding in Gaza border communities.
Alerts are activated in Sufa and Nir Yitzhak.
Red Alert [13:30:38] – 2 Alerts:
• Gaza Envelope — Sufa, Nir Itzhak#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/2Hs5tqj4oz
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 22, 2024
Palestinian suspect arrested earlier this month for murder of prison guard in his home
Israel Prison Service dog handler Yochai Avni. (Courtesy)
A Palestinian suspect has been arrested over the murder of an Israel Prison Service employee earlier this month, authorities say.
According to police and the Shin Bet security agency, the suspect who allegedly murdered 40-year-old dog handler Yochai Avni on July 8 was detained just two days after the attack.
Avni’s body was found following a fire in his home in the West Bank settlement of Givon Hahadasha, outside Jerusalem.
His colleagues at the prison where he worked noticed his absence from work and turned up at his home to check on him. When they arrived, they saw smoke emerging from the home and called firefighters to the scene.
Two days later, on July 10, Ibrahim Mansour, from the West Bank Palestinian town of Bidu, was detained by members of police’s elite Gideonim unit over alleged involvement in the attack.
Mansour’s remand has been extended until July 29, as police and the Shin Bet continue the investigation.
MKs clash over approval of NIS 17 million for Haredi summer school programs
Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys study on the first day of school at a school in Jerusalem August 9, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Lawmakers trade barbs and allegations of antisemitism after the Knesset Finance Committee approves the transfer of NIS 17 million ($4.6 million) for summer programs for so-called ultra-Orthodox “exempt” schools, which only teach part of the state-mandated core curriculum.
Opposition lawmakers argue that the funds, which are intended for programs held over the summer break, constitute double budgeting for the Haredi schools, which start vacation later than their secular counterparts and spend less time off.
An Education Ministry representative says that both kinds of schools get funding for only 10 months of regular classes regardless of how much time they take off for summer vacation but opposition lawmakers counter that funding for summer programs should not go to schools that continue regular classes.
Speaking with The Times of Israel, Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak, one of the leading opponents of the measure, says that he did not receive satisfactory answers from state representatives regarding the eligibility of the schools nor regarding the impact of reallocating so much money from the education budget.
Members of the opposition have written to Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik to ask for a legal review of the committee’s decision.
Addressing the Knesset plenum following the committee vote, United Torah Judaism MK Yitzhak Pindrus accuses opposition members of antisemitism, asking, “What is wrong with a Haredi [child] that he doesn’t deserve a summer camp in his kindergarten, because he doesn’t learn math?”
IDF confirms deaths of hostages Alex Dancyg and Yagev Buchshtav in captivity
Composite photo of Yagev Buchshtav (right) and Alex Dancyg (Courtesy)
The Israeli military says it has confirmed the deaths of two hostages in Hamas captivity, after obtaining new intelligence information.
Alex Dancyg, 75, and Yagev Buchshtav, 35, were believed to have been held together by Hamas in Khan Younis and died several months ago, while the IDF was operating there.
The military did not detail the circumstances of their deaths, citing an ongoing probe. The possibility that they were killed by Israeli fire is being investigated.
Dancyg and Buchshtav were abducted by Hamas terrorists from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz and Kibbutz Nirim during the onslaught on October 7.
Their deaths were declared by a panel of health experts and members of the rabbinate, following new information obtained from by the IDF.
The IDF has now confirmed the deaths of 44 of the remaining 116 hostages held by Hamas since October 7. The terror group kidnapped 251 people during the onslaught. Hamas is also still holding the bodies of two soldiers since 2014 and two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015.
Hamas in March claimed that Buchshtav had died due to lack of food and medication, and Dancyg had been killed by Israeli fire. The claims have not been confirmed by the IDF.
Buchshtav’s wife, Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, was abducted with him and then released on November 28 in a hostage deal with Hamas.
IDF confirms Canadian attempted to stab troops at Netiv Ha’asara
This handout image shows a knife used by a Canadian assailant during an attempted attack near Netiv Ha'asara, July 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF confirms the stabber who attempted to attack troops outside Netiv Ha’asara earlier today is a Canadian citizen.
According to the military, the suspect arrived at the entrance to the Gaza border community by car, got out, and threatened security forces with a knife.
The troops returned fire, killing the assailant.
“We emphasize that the suspect is a foreign citizen who arrived at the scene from Israel and not from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF adds.
Incoming rocket sirens blare in Gaza border communities
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in Gaza border communities.
The sirens are activated in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha and Kibbutz Nirim.
Red Alert [12:38:41] – 2 Alerts:
• Gaza Envelope — Ein HaShlosha, Nirim#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/Zx5Fasi2Ka
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 22, 2024
Lapid hails Haredi draft orders, but says more are needed
File: MK Yair Lapid attends a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli government and for the release of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, July 20, 2024. (Itai Ron/Flash90)
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes the first round of draft orders sent by the IDF to members of the ultra-Orthodox community this week but criticizes the army for only working to mobilize an additional 3,000 Haredim this year.
On Sunday, the military sent out the first batch of 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 on Sunday morning, in the first of three such waves scheduled for the coming four weeks.
Addressing reporters during his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Lapid states that while the process of recruitment is starting slowly, it will be “impossible to stop it.”
“Experience shows that at first they will shout, and swear that they will not come, then they will discover that they do not have a passport, and they have no [government] funding, and then they will come,” Lapid says.
“It will be necessary to recruit at least 10,000 ultra-Orthodox young people, and they must be recruited quickly, already this year,” he continues, declaring that his party will take action in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to “make sure that enough orders are sent so that there are enough soldiers.”
Speaking with the committee earlier this month, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the military currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, which would be in addition to the 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are drafted annually.
Asked if he was being more Catholic than the pope by demanding a significantly larger initial mobilization, Lapid replies that he is critical of the army “because the question isn’t what they can do but rather what the state ordered them to do.”
“The chief of staff said they need 12-15 battalions, this is the operational need, that’s what they need to mobilize. The state defined the need, an operational need, and the army needs to enlist everybody,” he says.
Canadian who entered Israel as tourist identified as attacker at southern moshav
The stabber who attempted to attack IDF troops at the entrance to Netiv Ha’asara this morning is identified by Hebrew media as a Canadian citizen.
According to the reports, the suspect entered Israel yesterday on a tourist visa.
He was shot by troops during the attempted attack.
Israel’s Olympians head for Paris: We are on a ‘national mission’
Israeli Olympic athletes pose for a photo at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of departing for the 2024 Paris Games on July 22, 2024. (Courtesy Olympic Committee of Israel)
Israel’s Olympic delegation takes off for Paris ahead of the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday.
“We feel like emissaries of the State of Israel — our athletes, every one of them, are here to achieve their goals, but there is another layer, of a national mission,” says Yael Arad, the president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, in a press conference at Ben Gurion Airport ahead of the delegation’s departure.
Arad says the athletes are obviously hoping for medals, “but our first victory is that we’re here, that we didn’t give up, that since October 7 we’ve taken part in hundreds of competitions… What is leading us is the flag of Israel.”
The athletes are also dispatched with words from Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of hostage Romi Gonen, who tells the group that “you are an inspiration to all of us.”
Noting that they are likely to face a hostile reception from many in Paris, Leshem Gonen tells the athletes that “a whole nation stands behind you,” and asks them to not forget the hostages, those who were killed and those who are still fighting: “Keep your heads up with pride, to show that anyone who thinks they can break us has no chance.”
The soccer team departed last week, as they face their first match on Wednesday evening against Mali, before competing against Paraguay on Saturday night and Japan next week. The sailing delegation left yesterday, as did gymnast Artem Dolgopyat and archers Roy Dror and Mikaella Moshe.
Foreigner identified as attacker at entrance of southern moshav
An English-speaking foreigner, possibly an American, is responsible for the suspected terror stabbing at the entrance of Netiv Ha’asara, according to security officials.
According to authorities, the assailant approached soldiers guarding the community and said, “The IDF is killing civilians in Gaza” and then drew a knife.
Troops then shot him. There are no other injuries.
נפגעת חרדה בניסיון פיגוע דקירה בכניסה למושב נתיב העשרה שבעוטף עזה | לכל הפרטים >>> https://t.co/hpcaC1YnRZ@ItayBlumental @ela1949 pic.twitter.com/8tXrn9Wctj
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 22, 2024
UN says Gaza convoy severely damaged after coming under IDF fire
The UN reports that one of its convoys in the Gaza Strip came under heavy IDF fire yesterday.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says that the convoy was composed of clearly marked UN armored cars and it was heading to Gaza City. The incident did not result in casualties, but the UN team members, who were wearing UN vests, had to “duck and take cover.”
“One vehicle received at least five bullets while waiting just ahead of the Israeli Forces’ checkpoint south of Wadi Gaza,” Lazzarini writes in a tweet. “The car was severely damaged, it left the convoy. The teams re-assembled & finally reached Gaza City.”
The UNRWA head further notes that the convoy’s trip had been coordinated and approved by Israeli authorities, and that “those responsible must be held accountable.”
The IDF does not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#Gaza
Heavy shooting from the Israeli Forces at a UN convoy heading to Gaza city.
While there are no casualties, our teams had to duck and take cover.This took place yesterday. The teams were traveling in clearly marked UN armoured cars & wearing UN vests.
One vehicle…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 22, 2024
French FM says Israeli athletes welcome in France after hard-left MP urges their exclusion
A tourist chariot passes in front of a banner calling for the Israeli team to be banned from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Jakarta on July 21, 2024. (Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)
PARIS, France — Israeli athletes are welcome at the Paris Olympics, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne says after a hard-left member of the French parliament sparked outrage by urging them to stay away.
“The Israeli delegation is welcome in France,” Sejourne says ahead of talks with his Israeli counterpart, adding that the call by France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Thomas Portes for the country’s exclusion had been “irresponsible and dangerous.”
Key Knesset panel advances bill changing how judiciary ombudsman picked
The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee votes in favor of a bill dramatically changing how the state ombudsman for judges is chosen, advancing the legislation to its first reading in the Knesset plenum.
The committee rejects requests to revise the language of the bill and decides to push it forward less than a month after the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, ignoring legal objections by the Attorney General’s Office, voted to give the government’s backing to the controversial legislation.
The ombudsman provides oversight and investigates complaints against judges and has until now been chosen by the Judicial Appointments Committee — a body that includes representatives of the High Court, Knesset, and Bar Association — following a joint nomination by the justice minister and the president of the High Court.
Under the new legislation, the ombudsman would be appointed by the president following a vote in the Knesset, with representatives of the judicial system cut out of both the nomination and selection process. Instead, a group of 10 lawmakers or the justice minister would be empowered to nominate candidates.
Hamas said to bolt bilateral talks with Fatah in China
File: Fatah and Hamas officials wait for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, February 12, 2019. (AP/Pavel Golovkin)
Hamas refuses a bilateral meeting with representatives from the rival Palestinian faction Fatah in the Chinese capital Beijing, Palestinian media reports.
Officials announced last week that senior officials from the Hamas terror group would sit down with Fatah, which runs the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, during the course of the current week, in a renewed bid for reconciliation after multiple failed attempts.
The Hamas delegation was supposed to be headed by its Qatar-based political chief Ismail Haniyeh, while the Fatah delegation was to be led by deputy head Mahmud Alul, according to Fatah sources.
The Palestinian News Network (PNN) reports that Haniyeh has been replaced at the last minute by senior official Musa Abu Marzouq and that the Hamas delegation also includes politburo members Fathi Hammad, who lives in Turkey, and Beirut-based Ali Barakeh.
Hamas, however, refused to participate in the bilateral with Fatah yesterday, PNN reports. It is not clear if the meeting of all Palestinian factions that was scheduled to take place today will go ahead as planned.
Hamas has no immediate comment.
The two groups have been bitter rivals since Hamas fighters ejected Fatah from the Gaza Strip after deadly clashes that followed Hamas’s resounding victory in a 2006 election.
Several previous reconciliation bids between Hamas and Fatah have failed, but calls have grown since October 7, with violence also soaring in the West Bank where Fatah is based. China hosted Fatah and Hamas in April but a meeting scheduled for June was postponed.
MDA says woman treated for anxiety after attempted stabbing; no one physically hurt
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says there are no physical injuries in the attempted stabbing attack outside Netiv Ha’asara.
It says medics are treating a woman aged 61 for acute anxiety.
The assailant was shot by security forces, MDA adds.
Two hurt in suspected terror stabbing in southern moshav near Gaza
Two people are wounded in a suspected terror stabbing attack in the southern community of Netiv Ha’asara, near the border with the Gaza Strip, police, medics, and the IDF say.
The assailant has been shot.
Report: Biden wanted to stay in 2024 race right up until meeting two close aides Saturday night
President Joe Biden speaks at the 115th NAACP National Convention in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
US President Joe Biden decided to quit the 2024 presidential race on Saturday night after a game-changing meeting with two of his closest aides, Politico reports.
According to the report, Biden was insistent on running right up until the meeting, telling his senior aides it was “full steam ahead.”
But later that evening, the Democratic incumbent held meetings with two longtime advisers, Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, who presented him with updates on a significant slowdown of fundraising, and internal polls that showed he couldn’t win the November election, five anonymous sources familiar with the matter told Politico.
At 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, Biden notified a large group of close aides that he had made the decision to end his campaign the night before, then, at 1:46 p.m., he posted the letter announcing the move on X.
Shabtai urges successor to keep politics out of police in first speech since leaving force
File: Outgoing Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai speaks during a farewell ceremony in his honor at the National Police Academy in Beit Shemesh, July 14, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Former Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai urges his successor to ensure the force remains apolitical, in what appears to be a swipe at far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
“I expect that whoever replaces me will be careful to maintain the police as an apolitical body, as a professional and impartial system, and will know how to separate considerations and pressures of the political echelon with professional needs,” he says in his first speech as a civilian, at the Western Galilee Academic College.
Shabtai left the role last week, having served for three and a half years, and 39 years overall in the police.
Shabtai and Ben Gvir clashed repeatedly once the minister took up his position and attempted to exert greater control over the police, including regarding how officers responded to different types of demonstrations.
Before becoming a minister, Shabtai had accused Ben Gvir of instigating the unprecedented violence between Jewish and Arab Israelis during Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021.
PM takes off to Washington for speech to Congress, meetings with leaders
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his entourage, as well as families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, pose in front of the Wing of Zion official plane before departing to Washington, DC, at Ben Gurion Airport, July 22, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departs for Washington on the first flight of the premier’s official plane, Wing of Zion.
Netanyahu is headed to Washington for meetings with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as a speech to Congress on July 24.
He is also expected to meet GOP nominee Donald Trump, though that has yet to be confirmed.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
PM hails Biden’s support for Israel during war, in 1st comments on president’s decision to quit campaign
Before boarding Wing of Zion for the first time for his flight to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praises US President Joe Biden, who announced yesterday he is dropping out of the presidential race.
It is his first public comment on the US leader’s decision to quit the campaign.
“I plan to see President Biden, who I have known for over forty years,” says Netanyahu. “This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service, as senator, vice president, and president.”
Netanyahu also stresses the importance of the two countries presenting a united front.
“This will also be an opportunity to discuss with him how to advance in the critical months ahead the goals that are important for both our countries — achieving the release of all our hostages, defeating Hamas, confronting the terror axis of Iran, and ensuring that all of Israel’s citizens can return safely to their homes in the north and the south,” Netanyahu says.
“In this time of war and uncertainty, it is important that Israel’s enemies know that America and Israel stand together — today, tomorrow, and always.”
Before flight, PM vows Israel will remain ally of US no matter who is elected in 2024 race
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before flying to the United States, at Ben Gurion Airport, July 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/The Times of Israel)
Moments before taking off for Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets the freed hostages and families of hostages traveling with him, then strikes a bipartisan tone.
“I am leaving this for a very important trip to the United States at a time when Israel is fighting on seven fronts and when there is great political uncertainty in Washington,” says Netanyahu.
“I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel. And I will tell my friends on both sides of the aisle that regardless of who the American people choose as their next president, Israel remains its most indispensable and strongest ally in the Middle East.”
IDF strikes 35 targets in Gaza over past day; Nukhba terrorist involved in Oct. 7 killed
IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip, in images released on July 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli fighter jets and drones struck more than 35 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the IDF says.
The targets included a primed rocket launcher in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, buildings used by terror groups, and other infrastructure, according to the military.
Additionally, the IDF says a drone strike killed a member of Hamas’s Nukhba force who participated in the October 7 onslaught and was involved in fighting Israeli troops in Gaza.
The strikes come as troops continue to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
Over the past day, the IDF says troops with the 401st Armored Brigade killed dozens of gunmen in the northwestern Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes.
Troops with the Givati Brigade also killed several more gunmen during operations in Rafah, the IDF says.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, the IDF says reservists of the Alexandroni Brigade killed several more terror operatives.
PM’s official jet sits ready for first journey with Netanyahu
Wing of Zion, the prime minister's official plane, sits ready for a flight to the United States, on June 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
Wing of Zion, the prime minister’s official plane, sits ready for its first flight with Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is headed to Washington for meetings with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as a speech to Congress.
He is also expected to meet GOP nominee Donald Trump, though that has yet to be confirmed.
Wing of Zion is divided into four sections — the prime minister’s personal area, and those for his senior aides, security and junior staff, and the press in the back.
There is wood paneling between sections, which are lined with blue seats with white headrests.
The plane has flight attendants, mostly from Arkia, who are permanently assigned to the plane.
The interior of the prime minister’s official plane, Wing of Zion, on June 22, 2024. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
The pilots are Air Force pilots, some in reserves and some in active service.
The plane has a conference room, an ad hoc surgery room, and open and classified communications networks that allow the prime minister to remain in touch with officials in Israel.
Outside, the Boeing 767-300 has a white belly, a gray stripe, and a blue top with a Star of David on the tail.
IDF: Suspected drones launched from Lebanon intercepted over northern Golan
Several suspected drones that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon were shot down by air defenses over the northern Golan Heights a short while ago, the IDF says.
Sirens had sounded in the area amid fears of falling shrapnel.
There are no injuries.
IDF orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone, says Hamas deeply embedded in area
A map showing an adjusted Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, published on July 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Following numerous rocket attacks on southern Israel in recent weeks from the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, the IDF says it is adjusting the zone to target Hamas.
The eastern portion of the zone, in the Khan Younis area, is to be evacuated and the IDF says that “remaining in this area has become dangerous.”
It says that the adjustment to the zone is being carried out “in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terror infrastructure” in the humanitarian zone.
According to the IDF, the early warning is aimed at mitigating harm to civilians.
“The IDF is about to forcefully operate against the terror organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted humanitarian area in al-Mawasi,” the military says.
The IDF’s calls to civilians are being communicated via SMS messages, phone calls, and other media broadcasts.
A military source says hospitals in the area do not need to evacuate, and that the IDF has communicated this to Palestinian health officials and officials in the international community.
Rocket sirens blare in Golan Heights town
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the northern Golan Heights.
Red Alert [07:40:18] – 1 Alert:
• Northern Golan — Majdal Shams#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/5KbV8coyc8
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) July 22, 2024
COGAT: 236 aid trucks entered Strip Sunday, 550 still waiting to be collected
Israel’s civilian coordination agency for the Palestinian territories COGAT states that 236 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza Sunday, but the content of over 550 is still waiting to be collected by aid agencies in Gaza.
COGAT says the humanitarian aid trucks were transferred from Egypt to the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, in addition to seven tankers of fuel and six tankers of cooking gas.
“This is thanks to the UN aid organizations putting in a collective effort to collect the aid waiting on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom,” COGAT says.
Israel has said there is no limit to the amount of assistance that can enter Gaza and that international aid groups are failing to properly distribute aid in the Strip. Israel has also said Hamas seizes humanitarian aid and distributes it, in order both to make money and to preserve its role as ruler of the Gaza Strip.
Aid groups accuse Israel of limiting aid access and say that it is increasingly dangerous to distribute assistance due to the breakdown of law and order in the Strip.
Humanitarian update – July 21:
????236 Humanitarian aid trucks were transferred to Gaza today.
For the first time in weeks, @UN humanitarian aid trucks arrived from Egypt and unloaded on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom. This is thanks to the UN aid organizations putting in a…— COGAT (@cogatonline) July 22, 2024
NYT: Over 3,100 arrested at anti-Israel campus protests, but many charges dropped
A student protester waves a Palestinian flag above Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University, April 30, 2024, in New York. (Pool Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Over 3,100 people were arrested when pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests swept US college campuses earlier this year, though many charges have been dropped, The New York Times reports.
Most students were accused of trespassing or disturbing the peace, while others were charged with resisting arrest, The Times says.
But Delia Garza, the prosecutor in Travis County, says such offenses are minor and nonviolent and are not a priority for the justice system. She dropped charges against over 100 people arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, The Times says.
Some prosecutors are focusing on those facing charges of destroying property and looting, according to the report.
While many no longer face legal troubles, some students face being banned from their campuses or finding themselves unable to graduate, the report adds.
In ‘obvious contrast’ with Netanyahu, Biden put country first by leaving race — US official
This combination photo shows US President Joe Biden, left, on March 8, 2024, in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, October 28, 2023. (AP Photo)
US President Joe Biden’s decision to put the national interest above his personal ambition will be placed in stark contrast with the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli premier comes to Washington this week, a senior administration official tells The Times of Israel.
Explaining his decision to forgo his initial desire to seek reelection, Biden in his Sunday announcement wrote, “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
In a biting critique of Netanyahu, the senior administration official speaking on condition of anonymity argued that Biden’s message of putting the country first “creates the obvious contrast of how he has chosen to act, and how Bibi has acted.”
“It’s not just a disagreement over policy that has led so many people in Israel to call for Bibi to step aside. It’s also a belief that he’s taking other things into account besides the national interest by continuing this war and sabotaging a hostage deal,” the senior administration official charges.
Some US states’ convention delegates begin shifting support to Harris
The Democratic delegations of multiple US states have decided to back Vice President Kamala Harris for the party nomination at next month’s national convention.
“Tonight, all 168 delegates of the North Carolina Democratic Party made history,” North Carolina party chair Anderson Clayton says in a post on the social platform X.
In South Carolina, party chair Christale Spain says in an email statement Sunday night that that state’s delegation met virtually. The vice president “has been fully vetted, and she has earned our unwavering support,” Spain says.
Harris received her first delegates earlier in the day from Tennessee, when the state party posted on X that its delegation voted during a meeting to back her.
Another state where the switch was made was New Hampshire, where the 25 pledged delegates voted unanimously Sunday night to endorse Harris.
US national security adviser to meet Monday with families of American hostages
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Monday with the families of several American hostages being held in Gaza, a White House National Security Council spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.
Trump campaign official says JD Vance won’t attend Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
US Senator JD Vance of Ohio accepts the vice presidential nomination during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, on July 17, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP)
US Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who is Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, will not attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, a Trump campaign adviser tells the Kan public broadcaster.
Jason Miller is quoted stressing Vance’s backing for Israel while explaining he won’t be at the speech due to commitments relating to the campaign. An unnamed Republican source also insists that his absence is no slight.
“This is not a signal or message. JD is a true friend of Israel,” the source says.
California Governor Newsom, seen as possible rival, backs Kamala Harris
US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) waves alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom during a campaign event against his recall election in San Leandro, California, September 8, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
California Governor Gavin Newsom endorses US Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket, removing a key possible rival to the nomination after Joe Biden’s shock exit from the White House race.
“With our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President, @KamalaHarris,” Newsom writes on X.
Biden’s senior staff learned of decision to drop out one minute before announcement
At 1:45 p.m. EST, US President Joe Biden’s senior staff was notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public.
It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in.
His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.
In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sick with COVID-19, the first lady with him as he talked it through with a small circle of people who have been with him for decades.
Geologists record 3.7-magnitude earthquake near Dead Sea
A 3.7-magnitude earthquake occurred near the Dead Sea, according to the Israel Geological Institute, with the tremor felt in the Jerusalem area and parts of southern Israel.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
West Virginia’s Manchin considers reregistering as Democrat to seek presidential nomination
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia chairs a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the health of the electrical power grid, at the Capitol in Washington, June 1, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Though some potential challengers to Kamala Harris for the Democratic bid have already made it clear they would not run, there is some early indication that she might not be alone in seeking the nomination.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year to become an independent, is considering reregistering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president, according to Jonathan Kott, a longtime adviser to Manchin.
Manchin, who repeatedly irked Democrats with his independent streak but was also a lynchpin for the Biden administration’s biggest legislative accomplishments, was the latest senator to call on Biden to drop his candidacy before the president made his announcement Sunday.
Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro backs Harris amid speculation over potential running mate
US Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L) speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Ryan Collerd/AFP)
Democrats are quickly rallying around US Vice President Kamala Harris as their likely presidential nominee after President Joe Biden ’s ground-shaking decision to bow out of the 2024 race.
Among others, endorsements came from Biden; Bill and Hillary Clinton; prominent US senators; a wide swath of House representatives and members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus; and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has been the subject of speculation as a potential running mate.
But the fast-moving political situation remains volatile just months before the November election.
Harris campaign, allies lobbying delegates to lock in support before DNC
WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign officials, allies, and supporters have started making calls to secure the support of delegates for her nomination ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August, multiple sources say
The outreach, which started soon after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday, would be essential to ensuring Harris replaces Biden on the November 5 ballot as the party’s rival to Republican Donald Trump.
“A lot of people are working on it right now,” a source familiar with the matter says. “She has made clear she will work to earn their support,” the source says.
About 4,000 Democratic delegates, meeting in Chicago from August 19-22, will pick the Democratic Party’s nominee. Most are committed to Biden. After his abrupt announcement, they are not bound by any law or party rules to back anyone.
Biden was the party’s presumptive nominee, but he has no direct power over choosing the delegates’ formal nominee.
Harris needs the support of 1,969 of the 3,936 Democratic delegates to secure her nomination at the August convention.
Abortion rights groups including Emily’s List and Reproductive Freedom for All have been reaching out to delegates to make the case also for Harris. The vice president has been the leading voice for abortion rights in the Biden administration.
The vice president’s office declines to comment.
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