US, Iran still on track for deal after overnight talks despite clashes, sources say

After rabbis’ threats, IDF chief says plan to integrate women into tank units won’t come at expense of any community

After the leaders of more than two dozen yeshivas threatened to stop sending their students to serve in tank units because of a pilot program integrating women into the Armored Corps, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the initiative will not come at the expense of one population over another.

“The IDF is the people’s army, and therefore sees paramount importance in integrating all populations into its ranks, especially in combat roles,” he says at a conference.

“This complex integration will always be carried out in a manner that allows one community to serve alongside another, and not at its expense,” Zamir adds.

Content creator asks Seinfeld to say ‘Free Palestine’; comedian responds: ‘It doesn’t exist’

A content creator sees Jerry Seinfeld outside an NBA finals game at Madison Square Garden, asking the Jewish comedian if “I can get a ‘Free Palestine.'”

Jerry Seinfeld appears amused by the request by the creator, who goes by the name FinesseFave, and simply replies, “It doesn’t exist,” before walking off.

Seinfeld has been ambushed by pro-Palestinian activists before.

IDF officer severely hurt, NCO lightly wounded by explosive in West Bank’s Jenin

An IDF officer was severely wounded and a noncommissioned officer was lightly hurt when an explosive device hit Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier today, the military announces.

During operational activity in Jenin, troops spotted a suspicious object, which then exploded, wounding the two soldiers. The military is still probing what set off the blast.

The two wounded troops were taken to a hospital, and their families were notified, the army adds.

US military says it disabled third tanker running Iran blockade this week

The American military says it has disabled another tanker transporting Iranian crude oil in the Gulf of Oman, the third commercial ship hit this week after attempting to violate a US blockade.

In a statement, the US Central Command says it struck the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer “as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman.”

“A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces,” CENTCOM says.

It marks the third time this week that the American military has disabled ships in the area, after Palau-flagged vessels M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello were disabled on Monday and Tuesday.

“Marivex violated the blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port and Settebello attempted to transport Iranian oil,” according to CENTCOM.

CENTCOM says it has “disabled nine non-compliant vessels, redirected 135 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13.”

UK’s defense secretary quits over budget disagreement with Starmer

LONDON — British Defense Secretary John Healey has resigned over a disagreement about defense spending, he says in a letter posted on X.

Britain’s defense and finance ministries have been locked in talks for months over how to meet rising demands to expand military spending, delaying Britain’s Defense Investment Plan since last year.

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats,” Healey says in his letter to Starmer.

The delay has infuriated Britain’s defense industry, which says it cannot invest in long-term programs for the country’s security at a time of huge geopolitical volatility and as the United States pivots away from protecting Europe.

Netanyahu at Galilee cabinet meeting: We will restore security to north, solve drone challenge

Speaking at a special cabinet in the Galilee city of Nof HaGalil, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges the ongoing challenge posed by Hezbollah attack drones.

“We are striking Hezbollah very hard, eliminating hundreds of terrorists every week,” he says at the start of the meeting. “We still have more challenges. A particular challenge is drones. We are working on it.”

Explosive-laden first-person-view (FPV) drones launched by Hezbollah have caused dozens of IDF casualties in Lebanon in recent weeks, including a number of deaths.

“We will restore security to the north and create security in the north just as we did in the south,” Netanyahu promises. “People did not believe us when we said the south would recover and prosper — they said it was boastful talk, an empty promise. Today, they can see the results.”

“What we did in the south, we will do in the north,” he continues. “The challenges are not exactly the same — they are somewhat different — but the outcome will be the same.”

“Therefore, security comes first.”

13 more yeshiva rabbis say they won’t permit students to serve in tank units due to integration of women

Thirteen Hesder yeshiva rabbis add their names to a letter saying that they would no longer send their students to join tank units because of a pilot plan to integrate women into the Armored Corps.

The yeshivas, which now total 25 are all part of the Hesder program, which allows observant young men, typically national religious, to combine several years of Torah studies with a shortened military service, currently set at 17 months.

In the letter published yesterday, the rabbis wrote that they “take a very serious view of the decision by the High Court of Justice to require the IDF to integrate female combat soldiers” in the Armored Corps.

“Virtue… is the foundation for the spirit of the IDF and its success in eradicating the enemy,” they said. Putting female soldiers in tanks alongside with male soldiers “has a spiritual and practical impact on combat ability.”

Despite the claims that men would be forced to serve inside tanks with women, the military has been planning only gender-segregated tanks. This is due in large part to concerns surrounding modesty. If the number of recruits allows, platoons or companies would also be divided by gender. An Armored Corps company is normally composed of 11 tanks.

The IDF responded to the letter yesterday by insisting men and women would be serving in separate frameworks and would not be in the same tanks.

Minister Chikli bars journalist Alice Froussard from entering Israel, sending her back to France

French journalist Alice Froussard was denied entry into Israel after the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry deemed statements she made hostile to Israel.

Froussard arrived in Israel this morning for work, but was intercepted and put back on a flight to France, the ministry says. The French Embassy in Israel has expressed outrage over the move, Hebrew media reports.

Froussard is a prominent French journalist who has spent the last six years living and working in the areas of Jerusalem and Ramallah. She reports for broadcasters and newspapers including Radio France (RFI, France Culture), Le Figaro, TV5Monde, and Mediapart.

As she arrived in Israel today for a long-term work posting, investigators determined that she had made a string of anti-Israeli statements, including legitimizing the October 7 massacre, referring to IDF activity in Gaza as a “massacre,” and accusing the State of Israel of apartheid, the ministry says.

The decision is in line with a Diaspora Affairs Ministry recommendation that was accepted by the Population and Immigration Authority. It follows recent decisions to block entry to other figures deemed by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli as being antagonistic to the Jewish state, including American political activist Linda Sarsour.

“Like Linda Sarsour and other instigators before her, Alice Froussard has also realized that we have changed the rules of the game,” Chikli says in a statement. “Anyone who supports Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the State of Israel will not enter it. Bon Voyage!”

IDF says new IAF F-15 technicians unit established for Haredim

The IDF says it has established another Israeli Air Force technicians unit for male members of the ultra-Orthodox community, allowing them to maintain their religious lifestyle while serving in the military.

The unit is based out of one of the 106th Squadron’s reinforced aircraft shelters at the Tel Nof Airbase in central Israel. The squadron operates F-15 fighter jets.

The military says 20 male soldiers, 15 of them Haredi, recently completed their training and are now certified “level A” technicians for the F-15.

In the past two years, the IDF established the first two IAF technician units for Haredi soldiers at the Ramat David Airbase.

Iran’s new Hormuz authority orders total closure of key waterway, including to those with a ‘permit’

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz confirms a complete closure order for the strategic waterway until further notice, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the move overnight.

“Due to the tensions caused by the aggression of the American forces in the region and the announcement made last night by the Iranian armed forces, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice,” the Persian Gulf Strait Authority says in a post on X.

“Applicants who have been granted a transit permit are asked to be patient and wait for instructions from the PGSA.”