Nov. 18: MBS tells Trump that Saudi Arabia will ‘definitely help’ pay for Gaza’s reconstruction

US judge approves Purdue bankruptcy plan in opioid settlement, ending Sackler control

A US bankruptcy judge formally approves OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harms of opioids.

The plan ends the Sackler family’s control of Purdue and ability to sell opioids in the United States.

Under the $7.4 billion settlement several US states reached earlier this year with the Sackler family and Purdue, the company they owned for decades, funds will also be routed to affected communities and individuals.

“This plan is not perfect,” Federal Judge Sean Lane says. “The court wishes it could do more to ease the suffering of victims in the opioid crisis.”

Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors had been accused of encouraging free-wheeling prescription of their products through aggressive marketing tactics while hiding how addictive the drugs are.

The Sacklers are set to pay $6.5-7 billion, while the company will pay $900 million.

A separate fund of $865 million will be created to compensate victims.

The remnants of Purdue will become Knoa Pharma, a public benefit company, that will provide opioid use disorder treatments and overdose reversal medicines.

“For decades, the Sacklers ran Purdue with one goal in mind: maximizing profits for their family, no matter the cost,” says New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Tuesday’s approval marks a significant step in finalizing the $7.4 billion settlement.

The Sackler family has donated to a variety of cultural and educational institutions in the United States and Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

US-European draft resolution at UN nuclear watchdog demands swift cooperation from Iran

Europe’s top three powers and the US submit a draft resolution to this week’s meeting of the UN atomic watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors, demanding answers and access from Iran over its bombed nuclear sites and enriched uranium stock.

“Iran must … provide the [International Atomic Energy] Agency without delay with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran, and grant the Agency all access it requires to verify this information,” reads the draft submitted today, which diplomats said is highly likely to be passed.

Lebanon death toll rises to 13, officials say

The death toll in the Israeli strike in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon has risen to 13, according to Lebanese authorities.

According to the IDF, the strike targeted a Hamas facility where operatives had been gathered.

IDF confirms Lebanon strike targeting Hamas facility; local officials say 11 killed

Footage showing an IDF strike on a Hamas facility in Lebanon on November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon this evening, saying it targeted terror operatives at a Hamas training facility.

The Lebanese health ministry says that the casualty count from the strike stands at 11 killed and four wounded.

According to the IDF, the “military compound” was used by Hamas operatives for training “in order to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”

The military says it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including by using “a precision munition, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”

“The IDF is operating against Hamas’s entrenchment in Lebanon, and will continue to operate against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate,” the military adds.

The strike marks a relatively rare case of an Israeli attack on the Palestinian terror group in Lebanon.

In July, a prominent Hamas commander was killed in a strike in Tripoli, and before that, in May, another commander in the group was killed in Sidon.

An IDF strike against a Hamas training facility in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, Lebanon, on November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Nurit Yohanan contributed to this report. 

US House votes to force Justice Department to release Epstein files

Survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein walk through the US Capitol rotunda ahead of a vote the "Epstein Files Transparency Act" in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (DANIEL HEUER / AFP)

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives votes to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome US President Donald Trump had fought for months before ending his opposition.

Two days after Trump’s abrupt about-face, the vote passes by 427-1, sending a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records on Epstein to the Senate for consideration. The public and increasingly bitter feud among Republicans over the Epstein files had fractured relations between Trump and some of his most ardent supporters.

Before the vote, about two dozen survivors of Epstein’s alleged abuse joined a trio of Democratic and Republican lawmakers outside the US Capitol to urge the release of the records. The women held photographs of their younger selves, the age at which they said they first encountered Epstein, a New York financier who fraternized with some of the most powerful men in the country.

The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Despite his changed position on the bill, the Republican president remains angry about the attention paid to the Epstein matter.

Trump socialized and partied with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s before what he calls a rift, but the old friendship has become a rare weak spot for the president with his supporters. Trump has said he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes.

It is unclear what the Republican-led Senate will do next. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has declined to comment.

Lebanese media report Israeli drone strike in Palestinian refugee camp on coast

Lebanese media report an Israeli drone strike in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

IDF chief at site of terror attack expresses ‘great appreciation’ for reservists

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir (left) and Judea and Samaria Division commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller (right) speak with other officers at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, following a terror attack, November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking at the scene of today’s deadly terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says reservist troops “demonstrated their willingness to stand on the front line,” after they shot dead both Palestinian assailants.

“Today we experienced a difficult incident in which an Israeli civilian was murdered and three others were wounded. The reserve soldiers once again demonstrated their fighting spirit and their willingness to stand on the front line. Alongside the difficult incident, I want to express great appreciation and commendation. In today’s event, we saw [troops’] engaging, determination and professional conduct, just as we expect,” Zamir says.

He says the troops “acted with vigilance and composure and thwarted a threat to Israeli civilians.”

“We will be required to continue to remain alert alongside intensified and offensive activity; this is our mission in protecting the communities and residents,” Zamir adds.

According to the IDF, Zamir held an initial debrief on the attack with senior commanders, including Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, Judea and Samaria Division commander Brig. Gen. Kobi Heller, Civil Administration head Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, and commander of the Border Police’s West Bank unit Assistant Commissioner Niso Guetta.

Prosecutors set to indict Beersheba’s deputy mayor for assaulting Bedouin men

Beersheba Deputy Mayor Shimon Tubul appears on a Channel 14 news broadcast on January 22, 2025. (Screenshot/X)

Prosecutors are considering filing an indictment, subject to a hearing, against Beersheba’s deputy mayor for assaulting two young Bedouin men on shift at a gas station near the Gaza border last year.

Shimon Tubul, who was on reserve duty at the time and passing through Kfar Aza, was caught on security camera footage hitting and threatening one of the men with his weapon while in uniform.

The apparent assault took place after one of the men had arrived at work while playing Arabic music loudly from his car. The music incensed Tubul, who allegedly told the employee to “turn that garbage off” before assaulting him. He is later seen attacking the man’s shift manager, Ibrahim Abu Asa, bringing him outside and hitting him repeatedly in the presence of several other soldiers.

Tubul confessed to the acts two weeks after the fact, insisting through his lawyer, without evidence, that he acted to stop the employees from attacking Jews.

The far-right city official is known for making incendiary statements to the media. He made waves while appearing on Channel 14 yesterday, where he told an anchor that “we had a golden opportunity to erase this tale called Gaza” during the war with Hamas.

The two men Tubul assaulted filed a complaint at the Sderot police station, but the case was initially passed between the police and the IDF’s Military Police, both of which appeared averse to investigating the incident. Sderot police were eventually handed the case, and now, after over a year, prosecutors are poised to file charges against Tubul.

The hearing currently underway before the official filing of the indictment is meant to ensure state prosecutors have access to all evidence in the case. There is still the possibility that, during the hearing process, prosecutors will reverse their decision to press charges.

Noam Tibon, joining Yesh Atid, calls on Israel’s leadership to ‘go home’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (L) welcomes Noam Tibon to the Yesh Atid party, in a press conference on November 18, 2025. (Elad Gutman)

Retired Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon will be “part of Yesh Atid’s senior leadership,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says, adding that Tibon will be a “central” figure in the party’s struggle against the government’s bill to regulate Haredi conscription, which Lapid calls an “evasion law.”

Lapid makes the remarks at a press conference welcoming Tibon, whom he calls a “hero of October 7,” to the centrist party.

Tibon is well-known in Israel and beyond for mounting a mission during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack to rescue his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, his daughter-in-law and their two young children from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz while it was under attack.

“On October 7, I saw the failure with my own eyes,” Tibon tells reporters. “I drove along roads strewn with bodies. I fought terrorists armed with RPGs and Kalashnikovs, while beside me were soldiers who had jumped straight from home without even a vest.”

He calls for “the entire military leadership, all the heads of intelligence and the entire negligent government headed by [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu” to “go home.”

Tibon says that he is joining Yesh Atid to establish a government for the “serving public” and that he is now enlisting in “the most important mission” of his life, “saving our beloved State of Israel.”

“Today, too, we received a painful reminder from Gush Etzion,” he says, referring to the terror attack at Gush Etzion Junction earlier today. “I was the Etzion Brigade Commander and I love and appreciate the Gush and its people. The poor security situation is the reason I am joining Yesh Atid.”

Lapid says that the former Northern Corps commander brings Yesh Atid “security experience that is second to none.”

“Noam’s joining signals and symbolizes Yesh Atid’s priorities for the next government: cleaning out corruption, ending draft-dodging, restoring personal security to Israel’s citizens, strengthening the middle class and establishing a state commission of inquiry,” Lapid declares.

Describing the struggles of IDF reservists and their families, Tibon slams Netanyahu’s government for pushing a “despicable draft-dodging law” and promises to “lead a brave and determined struggle” against it.

He calls a state commission of inquiry “a security obligation, a moral obligation.”

MBS reportedly to tell Trump, ‘Yes to normalization with Israel, but not now’

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman looks on during a meeting with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will tell US President Donald Trump in their private meeting today, “Yes to normalization with Israel, but not now,” Channel 12 reports, citing an official with knowledge of the details.

MBS will say that normalization is a strategic goal for Saudi Arabia, but the conditions are not right, the network reports. MBS wants to see that the Gaza ceasefire instituted last month doesn’t fall apart, and is demanding a commitment to a pathway to a Palestinian state from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects Palestinian statehood.

Trump wants to see that the Saudis have a roadmap to get to normalization and that they start to make some measure of progress in that direction, Channel 12 says.

Netanyahu, after terror attack: Israel ‘determined to complete the war on all fronts’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, November 9, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

Speaking after a deadly Palestinian terror attack in the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel is “determined to complete the war on all fronts.”

He says that completing the war includes “disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip to ensure that Gaza will not pose an even greater danger.”

Netanyahu says that Israel has struck the Iranian axis from every side, and is capable of doing so again.

The prime minister makes his comments at a Torah dedication ceremony in memory of Maj. (res.) Moshe Leiter, a fallen soldier whose father Yehiel is ambassador to the US.

MBS says Saudi Arabia will ‘definitely help’ pay for Gaza’s reconstruction

US President Donald Trump meets with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says Riyadh will “definitely help” foot the bill for the reconstruction of Gaza.

MBS says an exact figure hasn’t been decided yet, leading US President Donald Trump to chime in and say, “It’ll be a lot.”

In a separate remark during the question-and-answer session at the Oval Office, Trump says, “The Palestinians are doing very well… We’re working very closely with a lot of people that make everybody happy, including Israel, the Palestinians and everybody.”

Man, 20, shot and killed while driving in northern Israel

A 20-year-old has been shot and killed while driving in northern Israel near Musmus, a small Arab village north of Umm al-Fahm.

The victim is named Maytham Ziyoud, Ynet reports. Paramedics called to the scene found him unconscious, with no signs of life, and declared him dead on site.

Officers from the Umm al-Fahm police station have put up roadblocks in the area of the shooting and are currently searching for suspects, police say.

MBS says Saudi Arabia wants to join Abraham Accords, needs clear path to Palestinian state

US President Donald Trump, right, meets with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says Riyadh wants to be part of the Abraham Accords, the framework for normalization deals with Israel, but also wants to secure “a clear path [toward] a two-state solution.”

Bin Salman tells reporters alongside US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office that the pair had a “healthy discussion” on the issue.

“We’re going to work on that to be sure that we can prepare [for] the right situation as soon as possible to have that,” bin Salman says, referring to a pathway to a two-state solution.

Trump interjects, saying, “I don’t want to use the word commitment, but we’ve had a very good talk on the Abraham Accords. We talked about [a] one-state and two-state [solution].” The president says they’ll be discussing the matter further as well, adding that bin Salman has “a very good feeling toward the Abraham Accords.”

“We want peace for the Israelis, we want peace for the Palestinians. We want them to coexist peacefully in the region,” Bin Salman adds, avoiding an announcement or commitment on the issue.

Trump: F-35 jets US will sell to Saudi Arabia are ‘pretty similar’ to those sold to Israel

US President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says the F-35s that the US plans to sell to Saudi Arabia will be “pretty similar” to the ones that Washington provides to Israel.

Trump makes the comments alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office, in response to a question about how he plans to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge by selling the same fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Trump tells reporters that both Saudi Arabia and Israel are great allies.

“I know [Israel would] like you to get planes of reduced caliber. I don’t think that makes you too happy,” Trump quips to MBS.

“As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line,” Trump adds. “We’re going to have a deal. They’re going to purchase F-35s.”

Asked about reports that Israel asked to condition the F-35 sale on Saudi Arabia agreeing to normalize ties with Israel, Trump somewhat dodges the question.

“Israel is aware, and they’re going to be very happy,” he says.

Trump hails MBS’s ‘incredible job’ on human rights, claims Saudi leader ‘knew nothing’ about Khashoggi murder

US President Donald Trump meets with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Kicking off their statements to the press during their Oval Office meeting, US President Donald Trump hails Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the “incredible job he’s done… in terms of human rights.”

MBS is making his first visit to the White House since the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which US intelligence concluded was ordered by the Saudi crown prince.

Trump rejects that conclusion, telling a querying reporter in the Oval Office that Khashoggi was “extremely controversial.”

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about… but [MBS] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass [this gentleman] by asking that question,” Trump says.

Bin Salman also denies involvement in Khashoggi’s murder but calls it a “huge mistake” and one that Riyadh is working to ensure does not happen again

IDF chief visits site of Gush Etzion terror attack

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is seen speaking to officers at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, following a terror attack there, November 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is visiting the scene of the terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, the military says.

Zamir is being debriefed by officers on the attack that left one dead and three injured.

The two Palestinian terrorists were shot dead by IDF troops.

US cancels meetings with Lebanese army chief over remarks on Israel, sources say

A Lebanese soldier sits on top of a military vehicle outside the municipality building of the southern Lebanese border village of Blida in the aftermath of an Israeli army raid on the village, on October 30, 2025 (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

The US has cancelled meetings in Washington with Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen. Rudolf Hachem after objecting to a statement the army issued on Sunday about border tensions with Israel, Lebanese officials familiar with the matter tell Reuters.

A Lebanese security official tells Reuters the cancellations were “sudden and shocking” and prompted Hachem to call off the trip. Hachem was due to arrive in Washington today for meetings on military assistance and border-security cooperation.

The US Embassy in Beirut does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington is a key backer of Lebanon’s army, providing support of more than $3 billion over the last two decades in a policy aimed at supporting state institutions in a country where the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah has long held sway and has launched attacks on Israel.

In Sunday’s statement, the army accused Israel of “insisting on violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the army’s deployment in the south.”

Lebanon condemned the “latest attack” on a UNIFIL peacekeeping patrol and said Israeli actions required “immediate action” from friendly states as they amounted to “a dangerous escalation.” Israel has said the shots at UNIFIL were fired in error.

Israel has troops stationed at several points in southern Lebanon, a deployment the IDF says is meant to enforce the terms of a 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The ceasefire required the terror group not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanon.

Under the terms of the truce, brokered by the US and France, Lebanon’s armed forces were to confiscate “all unauthorized arms,” beginning in the area south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem has said the agreement only applies to the area south of the Litani.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of violating the agreement by not withdrawing and continuing to carry out airstrikes.

Gush Etzion terror attack victim named as Aharon Cohen, resident of Kiryat Arba

Aharon Cohen, the victim in the terror attack at Gush Etzion Junction on November 18, 2025. (Courtesy)

The slain victim of the terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction earlier today is named as Aharon Cohen, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron, local authorities announce.

He was 65, Hebrew media report.

He will be buried later this evening, a spokesperson for the settlement says.

In the attack earlier today, two Palestinian terrorists from the Hebron area rammed their car into people at the junction. They then got out of the car, and one of the attackers started stabbing several victims, including Cohen, fatally.

Three people were injured in the attack, one seriously.

Al Jazeera journalist seen shot and injured at West Bank protest

Residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarem in the West Bank, gather at the entrance of the camp during a protest on November 18, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

An Al Jazeera journalist is shot and injured while covering a Palestinian protest in the West Bank that was dispersed by IDF soldiers, according to AFP journalists who saw the incident.

The demonstrators were protesting their evacuation by Israel from the Nur Shams refugee camp on the edge of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank.

“Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi Yassin was shot in the leg by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarem,” Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, reports.

The journalist was evacuated by ambulance after being shot while working in the middle of a crowd of about 150, AFP journalists report.

“His condition is stable and we managed to control the bleeding,” Palestinian Red Crescent Society paramedic Abdullah Nairat, who handled the medical evacuation, tells AFP. “A bullet entered his right leg from the outside, passed through, and hit his left thigh.”

Nur Shams residents were demonstrating to return to their homes inside the camp, which was evacuated in early 2025 during an ongoing IDF operation in several refugee camps in the northern West Bank. The military says its months-long operation in the territory’s north is aimed at cracking down on terrorists in the camps.

After gunshots rang out from inside Nur Shams, Yassin fell, AFP journalists report. He was then carried to an ambulance.

IDF soldiers then walked down from inside the camp and began to disperse the crowd, briefly detaining two demonstrators and a cameraman for Jordanian television channel Roya.

When asked for comment by AFP, the IDF says it is looking into the incident.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Police announce arrest of two men for assault on Arab bus driver in West Bank

Police arrested two men on suspicion of assaulting an Arab bus driver near the West Bank settlement of Modi’in Illit last week, law enforcement announces.

Both suspects were released to house arrest under restrictive conditions yesterday.

Police say the two suspects broke into the bus and beat the driver as he was working a line on Tuesday afternoon last week. He was taken to a nearby hospital for his injuries.

Part of the attack was caught on film by a bystander and posted to social media, police say. Officers were able to identify the two attackers and put out an arrest warrant for the pair.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, police add. Footage from the assault shows two men near the front of the bus taking turns punching the driver, as he attempts to defend himself while still in the driver’s cabin.

The attack takes place amid a sharp uptick in brutal assaults on bus drivers by passengers during the course of their work, with many of the assailants targeting Arabs in particular.

Transit officials and lawmakers have been pressing for increased security on buses for years, and the Transportation Ministry issued a tender earlier this week for the establishment of a new security unit aimed at providing a rapid response to violence on buses.

The pilot program for the unit will see security guards deployed on motorcycles throughout the streets of seven different cities: Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Beit Shemesh, Modi’in Illit, Beitar Illit and Rahat.

Gov’t officials tour Jordanian border, aiming to bolster ‘settlement, national security, strategic presence’

Israeli officials tour the border with Jordan on November 18, 2025. (Defense Ministry Spokesperson's Office)

Around 20 directors-general of government ministries — including officials from the Defense Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office — tour Israel’s border with Jordan as part of work on a five-year plan to strengthen Israel’s presence along the border.

The tour of the Arava Valley and the West Bank’s Jordan Valley comes a day after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution that envisions a potential “pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” The Palestinian Authority has long claimed the West Bank as the territory of its state.

The government’s border plan, which will be submitted in January, is meant to bolster “settlement, national security and strategic presence along the eastern border,” according to a government statement.

The interministerial team is headed by the Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, Acting PMO Director General Drorit Steinmetz, and Settlement Ministry Director General Avi Meir.

MBS arrives at White House for long-anticipated meeting with Trump

US President Donald Trump greets Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, DC on November 18, 2025. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has arrived at the White House for his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

He is greeted with much pomp and circumstance on the South Lawn.

WATCH: Trump meets Saudi Arabia’s MBS at White House; normalization with Israel on the table

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House in a long-anticipated visit.

This is MBS’s first time in Washington since the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in 2018.

MBS and Trump are expected to discuss a range of issues, including the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh, and the prospect of Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.

Watch the meeting live here:

Texas designates CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood as terror groups

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrives before President Donald Trump speaks at an education event and executive order signing in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations.

“This bans them from buying or acquiring land in Texas and authorizes the Attorney General to sue to shut them down,” Abbott says on X.

CAIR is one of the most prominent Muslim groups in the US. Abbott shares a proclamation dated to today that links the designation to CAIR’s support for the Hamas-led October 7. 2023, attack on Israel, the group’s past ties to a Hamas network in the US, and other issues.

Assailants in Gush Etzion terror attack named by Palestinian officials, both 18

The two terrorists who carried out the car-ramming and stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank earlier today are identified by Palestinian officials as Imran al-Atrash and Walid Sabarneh, both 18.

Al-Atrash is from Hebron, and Sabarneh is from the nearby town of Beit Ummar, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.

The ministry says it was informed of their deaths, meaning that their bodies are being held by Israeli authorities.

الشهيدان عمران الأطرش من مدينة الخليل، ووليد صبارنة من بلدة بيت أمر، منفذا العملية المزدوجة قرب "غوش عتصيون" بين بيت لحم والخليل pic.twitter.com/PHcb9RpCWM

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 18, 2025

Eurovision host Austria hopes for compromise on Israel participation

Yuval Raphael representing Israel with the song "New Day Will Rise" parades with Israeli flag during the dress rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on May 16, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Austria’s public broadcaster, which will host the next Eurovision contest, says it hopes for a compromise on Israel’s participation in the massive song contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest’s organizers, the European Broadcasting Union, said last month that Israel’s participation would be dealt with at its regular gathering in December.

A growing number of countries have threatened to boycott the 2026 edition of the world’s biggest live music television event unless Israel is excluded over the war in Gaza.

ORF director general Roland Weissmann says he has carried out “intense work” to convince his foreign counterparts to come to Vienna next May for the contest.

“Honestly, this is the time for diplomacy,” he tells reporters.

Spain said it would boycott next year’s event if Israel took part. Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.

Other countries such as Belgium, Sweden and Finland have also been considering a boycott.

Sepp Schellhorn, a senior Austrian foreign ministry official, has slammed the boycott calls as “dumb and pointless,” while Germany has also accused the countries behind the push of politicizing a cultural event.

Some 166 million viewers in 37 countries watched the 2025 competition, held in Basel, Switzerland. Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael finished in second place. She survived the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, hiding beneath bodies as Hamas gunmen attacked a music festival, killing hundreds.

Saudi prince to press Trump in meeting to intervene to end Sudan war, sources tell Reuters

US President Donald Trump (right) walks alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of a group picture with Gulf leaders during the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is set to press US President Donald Trump to personally intervene to help end the war in Sudan during talks in Washington today, five people familiar with the matter tell Reuters.

The sources — two Arab diplomats and three Western diplomats — say the Saudi crown prince believes Trump’s direct pressure is needed to break a logjam in talks to end more than two and a half years of war, pointing to his work to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza last month. Trump is expected to press the crown prince to normalize Saudi ties with Israel.

The conflict erupted in 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It has caused ethnically charged bloodletting, widespread destruction and mass displacement, drawing in foreign powers and threatening to split Sudan.

Both the RSF and the army have increasingly relied on drone strikes in recent months, leading to heavy civilian casualties.

In raising the issue with Trump, Saudi Arabia is seeking to appeal to the US president’s view of himself as a peacemaker, the sources say, with Trump having said repeatedly that he is seeking a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to address global conflicts, including by brokering a recent ceasefire in Gaza.

The Saudi government’s media office does not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Saudi plan to discuss Sudan with Trump was earlier reported by the Middle East Eye website.

The US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are members of a group formed to resolve the conflict and informally known as the Quad, though few tangible steps to ending the war have resulted.

For Saudi Arabia, a resolution to the conflict is linked to national security, with hundreds of kilometers of Sudanese coastline lying opposite the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

Hamas calls Gush Etzion terror attack ‘natural response’ to West Bank situation

Hamas says in a statement that today’s terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, in which an Israeli was killed and three others wounded, is “a natural response to Israel’s attempts to eliminate the Palestinian cause and to the rampage of the occupation and the settlers in the West Bank.”

Report: Israeli drone strike targets car in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the southern town of Blida.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

https://twitter.com/Annahar/status/1990794032516370708

Yesh Atid announces that retired general Noam Tibon, known for October 7 rescue, will join party

Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon. (Ilan Bashur)

Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon is joining Yesh Atid, the centrist party led by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, the faction announces, calling him a “hero of Israel.”

Like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former premier Naftali Bennett, Tibon served in the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. He later rose through the ranks, eventually commanding the army’s Northern Corps. He also has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

Tibon is well-known in Israel for mounting a mission during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack to rescue his son, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, his daughter-in-law and their two young children from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz while it was under attack. An award-winning documentary was later made about that rescue. He is a prominent critic of the government and has been a vocal advocate for the hostages held in Gaza.

Tibon’s entrance into politics is welcomed by fellow former general Yair Golan, the chairman of the left-wing Democrats party.

“We are at a critical time for the future of the state and will need everyone who can join the campaign,” Golan posts on X.

Lapid and Tibon are scheduled to hold a joint press conference in Tel Aviv this evening at 7:15 p.m.

Woman seriously hurt in Gush Etzion attack undergoing surgery; 2 others moderately wounded aren’t in mortal danger

Hadassah Medical Center says the woman who was seriously injured in the Gush Etzion terror attack is undergoing surgery led by vascular and orthopedic specialists.

She sustained a gunshot wound to the lower body and was taken to the trauma unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem.

Shaare Zedek says that two others wounded in the stabbing and car-ramming attack, which took place at Gush Etzion Junction, are not in danger of dying. A 30-year-old man is in good condition, and a 15-year-old injured teenage boy is in moderate condition.

‘Oslo on steroids’: Bennett slams government for Gush Etzion terror attack

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett blames the government for today’s deadly terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank.

“Oslo on steroids,” he declares in a statement, which appears to refer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support of a UN Security Council vote yesterday to adopt a resolution that discusses a pathway to Palestinian statehood. The resolution’s focus was authorizing the establishment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the territory.

“A government that, after the most horrific massacre in the country’s history, awards the enemy the prize of a Palestinian state bears responsibility for reigniting terrorism against Jews. We will fix it soon,” says Bennett, who is considered Netanyahu’s most credible challenger in elections due to take place next year.

The Oslo Accords in the 1990s created the Palestinian Authority to administer parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Netanyahu and his government have rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, but the premier’s support of the UN Security Council resolution has sparked protest from right-wing allies.

Levin yet to find official to oversee Sde Teiman leak investigation

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset in Jerusalem, October 29, 2025 (Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin has yet to find a public official to take on the role of overseeing the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak, nearly three days after the High Court of Justice ruled he was entitled to make such an appointment.

Levin has offered the role to two district court judges as well as senior figures in the civil service, according to Hebrew media reports, but all have refused. Levin’s office declined to comment.

The High Court on Sunday ruled that Levin’s decision to appoint State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to oversee the investigation was invalid due to the law banning the ombudsman from serving in any other position or carrying out any other function while in office.

But the court said Levin did have the authority to appoint a senior public servant to oversee the investigation, outside of the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office. Senior officials in those agencies had been involved in a preliminary probe into the leak, which recommended against opening a criminal investigation. The current probe became subject to a dispute between Levin and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, which reached the High Court.

The High Court’s ruling imposed strict parameters for choosing a new official to oversee the investigation due to concerns about political interference in criminal proceedings, which have limited Levin’s options in appointing someone to the role.

Large swaths of internet disrupted, including parts of ToI, due to Cloudflare outage

Large parts of the global internet are not working due to techincal problems at Cloudflare, a leading internet infrastructure provider.

The problems have led to outages at the social network X and the AI service ChatGPT.

It is also intermittently affecting The Times of Israel, impeding ToI’s ability to upload and display photos.

“Cloudflare is aware of, and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers,” the company says.

The Cloudflare problems come less than a month after an outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted large parts of the internet.

Explosives found in car driven by Gush Etzion terrorists

Several explosives were located inside the car belonging to the terrorists who carried out the ramming and stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, the military says.

The IDF says Border Police sappers are disarming the devices.

Both terrorists were shot dead by IDF troops at the scene, the army says.

The IDF says that numerous troops are now blocking roads, encircling nearby Palestinian villages, and carrying out scans in the area.

Liberman blames Gush Etzion terror attack on government ‘feebleness’

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman blames this afternoon’s terror attack in Gush Etzion on the government’s “feebleness and submissiveness.”

“When terrorism smells weakness it raises its head and goes out to kill. Terror attacks are not a decree of fate, but a struggle that requires determination, strength and independence — everything that this government of negligence does not have,” he states.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid sends condolences to the victims and declares his support for “IDF and the security forces in their efforts to restore security and eradicate terrorism.”

Woman seriously hurt during Gush Etzion attack apparently mistakenly shot by soldiers

One of the victims of the terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank was apparently mistakenly hit by Israeli troops’ gunfire.

Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem says that the woman, 55, is in serious condition after sustaining gunshot wounds to her lower body.

The two terrorists initially tried to ram their vehicle into pedestrians at the junction, before one got out and stabbed victims.

A man in his 30s was stabbed to death, and two others, a man in his 30s and a 15-year-old boy, were moderately injured.

Both terrorists were shot dead by IDF troops at the scene.

Two Russian agents suspected of Polish rail line sabotage — PM Tusk

Two Ukrainians working for Moscow have been named as suspects in two cases of rail line sabotage in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk says during a speech in parliament.

The pair “have been operating and cooperating with [Russian] services for a long time,” Tusk says, citing information from prosecutors and investigating authorities.

Man stabbed to death in terror attack at Gush Etzion Junction

A man in his 30s was stabbed to death in the terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, Magen David Adom says.

MDA says it is taking three other victims to hospitals in Jerusalem — a woman in her 40s in serious condition and a man in his 30s and a 15-year-old boy in moderate condition.

Four hurt in Gush Etzion attack, woman in critical condition

Four people were injured in the apparent terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, medics say.

According to Magen David Adom, one of the injured is a woman in critical condition. Two others are in moderate-to-serious condition, and one is lightly hurt, MDA says.

The circumstances of their injuries are under investigation.

The attack was carried out by at least two assailants who accelerated their vehicle into pedestrians at the junction, before one got out and tried to stab victims, according to preliminary findings. Both terrorists were shot dead by security forces at the scene, first responders say.

Reports of West Bank attack involving car-ramming, stabbing attempt

The Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, July 9, 2020. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Medics and security forces are responding to reports of a suspected terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank.

According to preliminary reports, at least two Israelis are injured, and three assailants who were armed with knives were neutralized.

The attack apparently began with a car-ramming attempt, before the assailants exited the car and tried to stab victims.

The IDF says it received a report of a “ramming and stabbing attack” in the area, adding that the details are under review.

EU says UN Gaza plan vote ‘important step’

The European Union hails the UN Security Council’s vote in favor of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan as “an important step.”

It is “an important step in advancing the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict. It consolidates the ceasefire, enables humanitarian access at scale and opens the way for early recovery, reconstruction and institutional reform in Gaza,” the EU’s foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni says.

High Court judges skeptical of petition against Shin Bet chief appointment

Shin Bet chief David Zini attends the state memorial ceremony marking 30 years since the assassination of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, held at Mount Herzl cemetery, in Jerusalem, on November 3, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Judges on the High Court of Justice appear unimpressed by a petition asking them to annul the appointment of David Zini as Shin Bet chief, asserting that the claims made by the petitioners that Zini was an inappropriate choice to head the domestic security agency were based on media reports alone.

“I read your petition. It’s a collection of press cuttings. I don’t come to court for a collection of press cuttings,” Justice Noam Sohlberg says acerbically, according to the i24 news outlet.

Following Zini’s appointment, former Shin Bet chiefs Nadav Argaman, Karmi Gilon and Ami Ayalon, along with several organizations, petitioned the High Court claiming Zini lacked relevant experience and that he was “messianic” in his religious and political beliefs.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has called for the court to reject the petitions, arguing that since the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee reviewed and approved Zini’s candidacy before he was appointed, there was no cause for judicial intervention.

The attorney general’s support for the appointment means that the petitions have little chance of being accepted.

The petitioners, including the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, argue in their petitions that the advisory committee, headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis, did not properly evaluate Zini’s qualifications and ethical track-record.

“There are many claims about the integrity of the person who did the appointing,” head of the Movement for Quality Government Eliad Shraga said before the hearing, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “and additional claims against the integrity of Zini himself.”

Earlier on Tuesday, activists with the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization held a protest rally outside the home of Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, who is one of the three justices on the panel hearing the Zini case.

Im Tirtzu said their protest was to tell Amit that the court had “no authority” to determine who should be the head of the Shin Bet, and claimed that it was not even legitimate for the court to hear the case.

Minister: Oct. 7 inquiry will probe ‘judicial system’ and others who ‘weakened our deterrence’

File: Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu speaks at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on July 7, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The government’s commission of inquiry into failures surrounding October 7 will probe “the judicial system” and others who “weakened our deterrence,” declares Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of the ministerial panel appointed to determine the mandate of the government’s controversial commission of inquiry.

In a lengthy post on X, Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, says Israel will have to “look the truth in the eye,” and the commission “will have to deal not only with what happened, but with how we got there: the moral, strategic, and tactical failure that led to the greatest security collapse in the state’s history.”

“I will enter that room with one goal: to ensure that the commission investigates the full truth. The commission I will fight for will not be another out of touch committee of those who have lived their whole lives in an ivory tower, but a commission that will include those who know firsthand the smell of gunpowder, who know what it is to fight the enemy, sometimes with their hands tied,” he continues.

Rather than dealing with tactical issues such as “which outpost fell and when,” the government’s investigation will focus on “the rotten root, without ignoring the elephant in the room: the role of the state prosecution, the judicial system, former chiefs of staff, and all those who weakened our deterrence.”

“The commission will also have to investigate those who imposed absurd and delusional moral rules on the IDF, rules that tied the hands of the soldiers; those who led the IDF to a mindset of victory in only one arena: the competition to be the most moral army in the world, a competition in which the only participant is the IDF,” he adds.

There has been little evidence to suggest Israel’s judicial system had a significant role in determining the government’s policy in Gaza in years past. Critics of the government accuse it of seeking to set up a commission that will shift the blame from the current and previous governments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The government on Sunday decided to establish its own probe rather than set up a state commission of inquiry, which is the traditional method to to investigate significant disasters and which polls show is supported by a significant majority of Israelis.

Despite being touted as an “independent” investigation, the government commission’s mandate will be determined by cabinet ministers. The government says it will strive for its makeup to receive “as broad public approval as possible.”

The ministerial panel determining the commission’s mandate on which Eliyahu sits is being chaired by Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

Critics say that the commission will be a political body whose composition and mandate will be determined by those who are to be investigated.

In his post, Eliyahu rejects allegations that the government investigation will be a “political commission,” stating that it will integrate security professionals rather than being “dominated by jurists” and says that it will be a “broad investigation” focusing on the period “from Oslo until today.”

The Oslo peace accords in the 1990s created the Palestinian Authority to administer parts of the West Bank and Gaza.

The commission, Eliyahu says, will provide “real accountability” by “identifying those who created the conditions for this terrible disaster.”

IDF says it killed two terror operatives who crossed Gaza’s Yellow Line

An Israeli army staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, November 17, 2025 (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)

The IDF says it killed two terror operatives who crossed the Yellow Line demarcating the Israeli-controlled area of Gaza and approached troops in the southern Strip today.

The military says the operatives “posed an immediate threat” to the troops of the Nahal Brigade, who opened fire “and eliminated the terrorists to remove the threat.”

The IDF says it remains deployed in Gaza “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”

UN chief welcomes Security Council’s adoption of Trump’s Gaza plan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls the passing of a US-backed resolution on Gaza at the Security Council an important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire, in a statement sent to reporters.

“It is essential now to translate the diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground,” Guterres says in the statement, adding that the UN is committed to scaling up humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

Guterres also says it is important to continue advancing to the next phase of the US plan, and expresses hope this will lead to a political process to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Gaza water provider suspends services after Hamas detains staff member

A barefoot boy walks in the rain carrying a plastic jerrycan of water in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A Gaza company that operates water desalination plants serving nearly half of the enclave’s population has stopped operations to protest at Hamas’s detention of one of its staff.

Youssef Yassin, a board member of the Abdul Salam Yassin Company, says the move would affect more than 1 million people who normally receive water from the company.

Over 70 trucks that carry water containers across the enclave have also stopped operations, he adds, risking further supply disruption after the pipeline network was badly damaged during the war.

“I know it is catastrophic but protecting our employees is a sacred issue,” Yassin tells Reuters.

Yassin says Hamas has given no reason for the arrest late yesterday. Hamas had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

Hamas has been gradually reasserting control in areas of Gaza that Israel has withdrawn from as postwar talks over its future grind on. Foreign powers demand the group disarm and leave government but have yet to agree who will replace them.

The move is a rare show of dissent against Hamas, which has run the Palestinian enclave since 2007. Demonstrations briefly erupted in March and April, demanding an end to the war and that Hamas give up power, but fizzled out after a warning that public disorder would not be tolerated.

If the protest by the company persists, it could exacerbate the chronic water crisis in the enclave, which was worsened further by two years of war.

First Syria trial of suspects in coastal massacres begins

A member of the Syrian forces stands on a vehicle during deadly violence in which some 1,500 members of Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect were killed, in Latakia, Syria, March 7, 2025. (Karam al-Masri/Reuters)

The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year begins today.

The massacres in March, which authorities say broke out after attacks by supporters of ousted president Bashar al-Assad against their forces, left at least 1,426 people dead, most of them civilians, according to a national commission of inquiry.

Seven men, including former military personnel, accused of attacking government forces, and seven members of the forces loyal to the new Islamist authorities, appear in court.

“The court is sovereign and independent,” says judge Zakaria Bakkar as the trial opens in northern Syria’s Aleppo.

Assad’s supporters are being prosecuted for “sedition, incitement to civil war… attacks against law enforcement, murder, looting, and vandalism,” according to the indictment.

The seven accused from government forces are being prosecuted for “premeditated murder.”

Defense Ministry says it plans reforms to boost defense exports

The Defense Ministry says it seeks to implement a series of reforms to boost Israel’s defense exports.

The decision by Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram comes after a panel of experts appointed to look into the issue of defense exports made a list of recommendations.

The ministry says the recommendations that Baram approved include a “significant easing” in the licensing process and a shift to a single-stage licensing procedure for most non-classified products; a “substantial expansion” of the list of permitted countries for export; and “increased enforcement and strengthened commitment by exporters to responsible and safe export.”

The reforms are still subject to approval by Defense Minister Israel Katz and, in some cases, also legislative changes.

Annual Israeli arms sales reached nearly $14.8 billion in 2024, a new record for the fourth consecutive year, amounting to double the value of exports of five years ago, according to data published in June.

Herzog lauds UN’s Gaza resolution as a ‘historic diplomatic achievement’

President Isaac Herzog attends a conference in Jerusalem, November 17, 2025 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog hails the UN Security Council’s approval of a US-sponsored resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, calling it a “historic diplomatic achievement” that must advance progress toward “the day after” in Gaza and the wider region.

“I welcome last night’s UN Security Council decision, which supports and backs [Trump’s] plan,” Herzog says, speaking at a state memorial ceremony in the Har Herzl military cemetery for soldiers who fell in Israel’s 1956 Sinai Campaign. “This is a historic diplomatic achievement by President Trump — an achievement that can and must lead us toward ‘the day after’ — in Gaza and in the entire region,” he continues.

“This step — now backed by a Security Council resolution — has already significantly advanced the return of the hostages, and it must continue with the dismantling of Hamas’s weapons and the removal of the organization from any position of governing power,” Herzog says.

“A historic and sensitive time such as this requires responsibility and restraint,” the president adds, before condemning a group of Jewish extremists who clashed with police and attacked a West Bank Palestinian village last night.

“The violent riots in Judea and Samaria harm the rule of law and undermine our values as a people and as a state,” he says, using the biblical term for the West Bank. “The law must be enforced against lawbreakers with full severity and full determination.”

In separate remarks to a German delegation visiting Israel, Herzog says that the resolution’s passing “could only have been carved out by President Trump,” adding that he hopes “that Europe will move away from its old assumptions and the blame game against Israel, and say clearly to the Palestinian leadership and nation to reform, stop paying terrorists, and stop encouraging the rhetoric that encourages terrorists.

“There has to be much more intensive dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians,” he continues, saying, “We have to enable a future of hope, and I hope this resolution of the Security Council, plus people-to-people activities and new initiatives, should lead, hopefully, to some sort of a positive outcome.”

Lapid: US pressure has led Netanyahu to abandon ‘destructive’ West Bank policy

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on July 28, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

American pressure has led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back away from his policy of delinking the West Bank from Gaza, declares Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.

“Under American pressure, Netanyahu announced this morning that he accepts the UN Security Council resolution that includes the principle of ‘unification of the fronts,'” Lapid says in a statement.

“For years Netanyahu tried to separate Gaza from the West Bank, and from that grew the destructive policy of strengthening and funding Hamas while turning a blind eye to its armament. It was a terrible strategic mistake, and it’s good that the Americans have put an end to it. The most right-wing government in the country’s history is officially abandoning annexation and setting out principles for cooperation with the Palestinian Authority,” he adds.

Netanyahu earlier welcomed the UN Security Council’s vote yesterday to adopt a US-sponsored resolution authorizing the establishment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, saying the plan will help end Hamas rule and broaden normalization.

In rallying support for the initiative, the US organized a joint statement on Friday that said Trump’s plan offers a pathway to a future Palestinian state. The language raised some eyebrows, as it goes further than the actual text of the 20-point plan, which only says that it “may” provide for such a result.

The tightening of the language, likely needed to get additional countries on board, infuriated Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners, who issued a flood of statements pledging not to allow Palestinian statehood, leading the premier to do the same on Sunday, even though the joint statement wasn’t binding.

Netanyahu did verbally accept the 20-point plan when it was unveiled by Trump during the premier’s visit to the White House in September. But the actual ceasefire agreement signed by Israel and Hamas was a separate document that only focused on the truce, Israel’s initial withdrawal, the hostage-prisoner swap terms and humanitarian aid provisions.

AI-based study: 20% of opinion columns in PA’s official newspaper that mention Jews are antisemitic

Vehicles move through congested traffic along a main street in Ramallah in the West Bank on September 22, 2025. (John Wessels/AFP)

A new study by JPPI (Jewish People Policy Institute) uses artificial intelligence to examine more than 2,300 articles published in the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, between January 2022 and August 2025.

According to the institute, about 20% of the articles that mention Jews contain clear antisemitic content — including denial of the existence of a “Jewish people,” claims of Jewish control over the global economy and American elites, and comparisons between Israel and Nazism, the Crusaders, or other colonial entities.

The institute doesn’t provide examples supporting these findings, and adds that no significant change was found in the level of antisemitism before or after October 7, 2023.

The study also examines attitudes toward Hamas and the events of October 7 in opinion pieces across three time periods: before October 7, between October 7 and the first ceasefire on November 30, 2023, and after that ceasefire.

According to the research, in the overwhelming majority of opinion columns reviewed, Hamas is portrayed as a negative and illegitimate actor, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran.

In the period before October 7, 62% of articles about Hamas were classified as “very negative,” 21% as negative, and another 5% as “somewhat negative.” About 10% were defined as neutral. Overall, 82% of articles described Hamas as “illegitimate.” However, during the first weeks after October 7, there was a temporary moderation in attitudes toward Hamas: During this period no articles were classified as “very negative,” and only 22% were labeled “negative.” After that period, opinion pieces returned to sharply criticizing and condemning Hamas.

The institute doesn’t provide examples or explain the criteria used to distinguish between the categories.

Regarding the events of October 7 themselves, according to the study, coverage in opinion pieces was mostly negative: about 67% of the articles addressing October 7 presented it in a negative light — 39% were classified as “very negative,” 21% as “negative,” and another 7% as “somewhat negative.” A quarter of the articles (25%) were neutral, and only about 7% were positive.

However, most of the criticism did not focus on the horrific violence against Israelis on that day, but rather on the claim that the attack “provided a pretext” for Israel to expand its military operations.

Netanyahu welcomes UN vote for Gaza plan, says it ‘will lead to peace and prosperity’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes the UN Security Council’s vote yesterday to adopt a US-sponsored resolution authorizing the establishment of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan, saying the plan will help end Hamas rule and broaden normalization.

In an English-language post on his official premier X account, Netanyahu praises Trump’s plan and the UNSC’s endorsement of it, saying the framework “will lead to peace and prosperity because it insists upon full demilitarization, disarmament, and the deradicalization of Gaza,” which, “true to President Trump’s vision,” will “lead to further integration of Israel and its neighbors as well as expansion of Abraham Accords.”

The United Nations Security Council fully endorses President Trump‘s 20 Point Plan, and the appointment of the Board of Peace to be led by President Trump.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 18, 2025

Netanyahu adds that under Trump’s plan, Israel expects to receive the remaining three deceased hostages in Gaza “with no delay,” and “to begin the process of disarming and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and ending Hamas’s rule over Gaza.”

“President Trump’s breakthrough leadership will help lead the region to peace and prosperity and a lasting alliance with the United States,” he writes.

Netanyahu says “Israel extends its hand in peace and prosperity to all of our neighbors and calls on them to normalize relations with Israel and join us in expelling Hamas and its supporters from the region.”

To the right’s chagrin, the UN resolution also endorses the plan as a “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” Notably, Netanyahu did not issue a direct statement welcoming the approved resolution on his personal accounts, amid political tensions within his coalition over the resolution’s implication of future Palestinian statehood.

Bank Leumi reports quarterly profits up 18 percent year on year

Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s two largest lenders, saw its quarterly profits jump 18 percent to NIS 2.7 billion ($827 million) in the July to September period, from NIS 2.3 billion ($704 million) in the corresponding period last year, as credit to mortgage and loan holders increased.

Net interest income declined 1.6% in the reported quarter of the year to NIS 4.47 billion ($1.37 billion) from about NIS 4.55 billion ($1.39 billion) during the same period in 2024. Fee income generated NIS 977 million ($299 million) in the third quarter, down 0.7% compared to the NIS 984 million ($301 million) posted during the same period last year.

Net credit to the public amounted to NIS 495.4 billion ($149.8 billion) as of September 30, up 10.8% from the NIS 447 billion ($135.2 billion) recorded a year ago.

Housing loans or mortgages rose 8% to NIS 154.1 billion ($46.6 billion) as of the end of September, from NIS 142.7 billion ($43.2 billion) year-on-year. Credit to retail customers was up 2.6% in the third quarter and totaled NIS 31.1 billion ($9.4 billion), compared to NIS 30.3 billion ($9.2 billion) a year ago.

Reports of Israeli drone strike on car in southern Lebanon

Lebanese media reports an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

????غارة من مسيرة إسرائيلية استهدفت بصاروخين سيارة في بنت جبيل pic.twitter.com/TigYF11Dhs

— bintjbeil.org (@bintjbeilnews) November 18, 2025

IDF formally opposes US plans to sell F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia

An F-35 Adir from Squadron 140 takes part in an Israeli air force show during the graduation ceremony for soldiers who have completed the IAF Flight Course, at the Hatzerim Air Base in the Negev desert, June 29, 2023. (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)

The IDF submitted a formal position paper to Israel’s political echelon on Sunday, in which the Israeli Air Force presented an explicit objection to the US’s sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

The document was first reported by Ynet news, and later confirmed by the military.

According to the document, Israel’s air superiority could be eroded if other countries in the Middle East possess the advanced stealth aircraft, a point over which Israel has expressed concern several times in the past.

Israel is anxious to preserve its qualitative military edge in the region by having the most advanced aircraft, and in the past worked to prevent the sale of the F-35 to other nearby countries, including Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The IDF confirms that it “presented its positions on the issue to the political echelon.”

Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with F-35s in its arsenal, currently operating 45 of the aircraft with another 30 units on order.

Yesterday, US President Donald Trump confirmed that Washington will be selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Even if the sale goes through, it will likely take at least seven years for the first aircraft to be delivered.

Man killed in crash during police chase in south

A man in his forties was killed overnight when a stolen car carrying six suspects overturned during a police chase near Dimona, police say.

Officials say the suspects fled after attempting to steal a safe from a local gas station, and had earlier apparently robbed another station in the Arava area. As police gave chase, the suspects crashed into an electric pole, killing the man.

The five other suspects were injured and arrested. Police are investigating the incident.

Trump to welcome Saudi crown prince with offer of fighter jets, business deals

US President Donald Trump (left) arrives with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the group photo with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders during the GCC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

US President Donald Trump will roll out the red carpet today for Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for a visit expected to advance the sale of F-35 fighter jets and a host of business deals with the kingdom.

It will be the first trip by bin Salman, widely known as MBS, to the US since the 2018 killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, which triggered global outrage. US intelligence concluded that MBS approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a prominent critic. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

The warm welcome he will receive in Washington is the latest sign that relations have recovered from the deep strain caused by Khashoggi’s murder.

During a day of White House diplomacy, MBS will hold talks with Trump in the Oval Office, have lunch in the Cabinet Room and attend a formal black-tie dinner in the evening.

Trump hopes to cash in on a $600 billion Saudi investment pledge made during his visit to the kingdom in May. A senior White House official tells Reuters that US-Saudi deals on technology, manufacturing, defense and more are expected.

Trump told reporters yesterday the US will be selling F-35s to the Saudis, who have requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft. This would be the first US sale of the fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and mark a significant policy shift. The deal could alter the military balance in the Middle East and test Washington’s definition of maintaining what the US has termed Israel’s “qualitative military edge.” Until now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35.

Beyond military equipment, the Saudi leader is seeking security guarantees, access to artificial intelligence technology and progress on a deal on a civilian nuclear program.

“The Saudis will be spending a lot of money tomorrow on the US,” a senior White House official tells Reuters.

Former US negotiator in the Middle East Dennis Ross, who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says Trump wants to develop a multifaceted relationship that keeps Saudi Arabia out of China’s sphere. “President Trump believes all these steps bind the Saudis increasingly to us on a range of issues, ranging from security to the finance-AI-energy nexus. He wants them bound to us on these issues and not China,” Ross says.

Trump is expected to pressure MBS for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel. The Saudis have been reluctant to take such a major step without a clear path to Palestinian statehood, a goal that has been forced to the backburner as the region grapples with the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Hamas blast UN’s Gaza resolution: ‘Imposes mechanism aimed at fulfilling occupation’s goals’

Hamas issues a statement rejecting the UN Security Council’s approval of the American draft resolution on the future of the Gaza Strip.

The statement says the resolution does not meet the demands and rights of the Palestinian people, and that it “imposes on the Gaza Strip an international guardianship mechanism and a mechanism intended to achieve the goals of the occupation.”

It further states that granting powers to an international force — including the dismantling of “resistance” weapons — strips such a force of its neutrality.

“Any force must be present only along the borders and be fully subject to the United Nations,” the statement reads.

Route 1 partially closed on eastbound lanes after truck catches fire

The Route 1 highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been partially closed off on the eastbound lanes due to a truck that caught fire near Ben Gurion Airport.

Police have said they expect heavy traffic in the coming hours until the road is fully cleared.

Larry Summers says he is stepping back from public commitments after Epstein emails released

Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers attends a conference on July 9, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers says he will step back from all public commitments, days after President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate his and other prominent Democrats’ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers, a former president of Harvard University, where he is a professor, tells the university’s student newspaper that the move was to allow him “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

The announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee released thousands of files related to Epstein last week, including documents that showed personal correspondence between Summers and Epstein.

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers tells The Crimson.

“While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort,” Summers adds.

Summers, a Democrat, served as former president Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary and former president Barack Obama’s National Economic Council director. He currently serves on the board of OpenAI and as a director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

OpenAI and Harvard don’t immediately respond to requests for comments. Summers also doesn’t immediately respond.

PA hails UN’s approval of US resolution, calls for its immediate implementation

The Palestinian Authority praises the UN Security Council’s approval of a US resolution backing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, calling for its immediate implementation.

In a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency, the PA says it’s willing to work with the Trump administration, EU, Muslim states and others to implement the measure “in a way that ends the suffering of our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and advances the political path leading to peace, security, and stability between Palestinians and Israelis, based on the two-state solution grounded in international law and international legitimacy.”

It also thanks those who back “Palestinian efforts toward ending the occupation and achieving freedom and independence, based on their commitment to advancing a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question—one that brings peace, stability, and security to the region and the world at large.”

Trump claims UN’s approval of his Gaza plan will lead to ‘further peace all over the world’

US President Donald Trump hails the UN Security Council’s vote in favor of his Gaza peace plan, claiming it will lead to “further Peace all over the World.”

The vote is “acknowledging and endorsing the BOARD OF PEACE, which will be chaired by me,” he writes on social media. “This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations (and) will lead to further Peace all over the World.”

Trump thanks the UN Security Council members who voted for the plan, listing each of them as well as other nations who “strongly backed the effort,” while making no direct mention in the post of Gaza, Israel, Hamas or the Palestinians.

Liberman lashes out at government over UN vote on Trump’s peace plan: ‘A fire sale of Israel’s security’

Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman holds a faction meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

Opposition Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman hits out at the government after the UN Security Council approves a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace proposal, which calls for a pathway to a Palestinian state.

“What happened tonight at the UN is a result of the Israeli government’s failed conduct,” Liberman writes on X. “The decision led to a Palestinian state, a Saudi nuclear [program] and F-35 planes for Turkey and Saudi Arabia.”

“This is a fire sale of Israel’s security. The face of the Middle East is changing, and not to our benefit,” he adds.

After UN vote, Danon says Israel determined to ensure Hamas is disarmed

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz talks with Israel Ambassador Danny Danon as members of the UN Security Council meet to vote on a draft resolution to authorize an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, on November 17, 2025 in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images/AFP)

In a statement on the UN Security Council vote, Israel’s envoy to the United Nations notes US President Donald Trump’s peace plan calls for disarming Hamas.

“Just as we are determined to bring all the hostages home, we will demonstrate the same determination in ensuring that Hamas is disarmed,” Ambassador Danny Danon says in a statement. “We will not stop or let up until Hamas no longer presents a threat to the State of Israel.”

Rejecting UN resolution, Hamas says it won’t disarm and that resistance against Israel ‘by all means is a legitimate right’

Hamas rejects the United Nations Security Council passing a US-drafted resolution endorsing American President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, saying it fails to meet Palestinians’ rights and demands and seeks to impose an international trusteeship on the enclave that Palestinians and resistance factions oppose.

“Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation [Israel],” the terror group adds, while claiming that “resisting occupation by all means is a legitimate right.”

Trump and MBS to sign deal on US-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation — source

US President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman during a bilateral meeting, in Riyadh, May 20, 2017. (Evan Vucci/AP)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The United States will sign the framework of a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia during a visit by its crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a person familiar with the negotiations says.

The prince, who is the kingdom’s de facto ruler, and President Donald Trump will sign a framework during talks at the White House on Tuesday, the person says on condition of anonymity.

UN Security Council approves US resolution endorsing Trump’s Gaza peace plan, referencing potential Palestinian statehood

Members of the UN Security Council raise their hands to vote in favor of a draft resolution to authorize an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, on November 17, 2025 at UN headquarters in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images/AFP)

The UN Security Council votes in favor of a US resolution bolstering Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan that includes the deployment of an international force and a path to a future Palestinian state.

Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in September, is included as an annex in the approved proposal.

The resolution’s text says that “conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” once the Palestinian Authority has carried out a reform program and Gaza’s redevelopment has advanced.

“The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” it says.

There were 13 votes in favor of the text, which Washington heralds after the vote as “historic and constructive,” with Russia and China abstaining and no vetoes.

Bill expanding powers of rabbinical court passes its final Knesset votes

The Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court seen on August 3, 2017. (Miriam Alster/ FLASH90/ File)

The Knesset gives its final approval to a controversial bill expanding the authority of rabbinical courts, voting 53-38 in its final readings and passing it into law.

The legislation, sponsored by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, allows rabbinic courts to arbitrate civil disputes — including relating to child custody — with the consent of both parties.

Rabbinical courts were allowed to act as arbitrators in financial disputes until 2006, when a court determined that they had no standing to do so.

Supporters have argued that expanding the courts’ authority will bring them in line with private rabbinical courts and arbiters, while critics assert that the bill will create a power imbalance that is harmful to weaker segments of society.

A survey released by the religious rights organization ITIM earlier this year found that more than half of Israelis who appeared before a rabbinical court in the past five years felt they were wronged during the procedure.

The bill passed its first reading earlier this month with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party. Its backing was reportedly part of a quid pro quo in which UTJ voted in favor of Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill giving the government significant control over broadcast media, news sites and other media.

Levin to head ministerial panel setting powers of government’s Oct. 7 inquiry; Ben Gvir, Smotrich will be members

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, right, and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, left, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 10, 2023. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin of the ruling Likud party will head the ministerial panel that will determine the powers of the government’s controversial commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs announces.

In a letter to members of the government, Fuchs also names the ministers who will be on the panel. They are:

• Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism);
• National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit);
• Minister in the Finance Ministry Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope);
• Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter (Likud);
• Science and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud);
• Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock (Religious Zionism);
• Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit);
• and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli (Likud).

The special ministerial panel will have 45 days to submit its recommendations to the government regarding the commission’s mandate, including the topics and timeframes that will be probed.