Sept. 12: IDF, Shin Bet say 3 senior Islamic Jihad terrorists killed in West Bank strike

Greece to begin towing oil tanker struck by Houthis near Yemen on August 21

This photo released by the European Union's Operation Aspides naval force shows the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion burning in the Red Sea following a series of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sept. 2, 2024. (European Union's Operation Aspides via AP)

Greece’s coastguard says that it will soon begin towing an oil tanker abandoned near Yemen after it was struck by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on August 21.

The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion was hit by missiles off the coast of Hodeida on August 21 while carrying 150,000 metric tons of crude oil.

Damage to the vessel had threatened a Red Sea oil spill four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

“Two tugboats have left the port of Piraeus and are now near the Sounion,” escorted by a Greek and a French warship, the Greek coastguard says.

The Sounion’s crew, made up of 23 Filipinos and two Russians, was rescued the day after the attack by a French frigate serving with the European Union’s Red Sea naval mission, Aspides.

The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi rebels, who since November have waged a campaign against international shipping that they claim is an act of solidarity with the Hamas terror group in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Since November, the Houthi attacks have resulted in the sinking of two ships and the deaths of at least four crew members.

Trump says he won’t participate in another debate with Kamala Harris

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

Former US president Donald Trump says he will not participate in another election debate against his rival US Vice President Kamala Harris.

“THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” he writes on Truth Social, after participating in a debate against US President Joe Biden in June and Harris earlier this week.

IDF says fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets struck several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun, Marimin, and Chihne, the IDF says.

A Hezbollah rocket launcher in Zibqin, used in a previous attack on northern Israel, was destroyed in a drone strike, the military adds.

במהלך היום מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנים צבאיים ששימשו את ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים עיתרון, מרמין ושיחין שבדרום לבנון.

כמו כן, כלי טיס תקפו משגר של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחב זבקין שבדרום לבנון אשר בוצעו ממנו שיגורים לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל בעבר pic.twitter.com/p3xrnzFYp5

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 12, 2024

Jewish Chronicle investigating journalist accused of publishing disinformation about Gaza war

The British Jewish newspaper the Jewish Chronicle says it is investigating one of its freelance writers amid allegations that he fabricated claims regarding the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Earlier this month, the outlet published an article by writer Elon Perry in which he alleged that a document had been uncovered in Gaza proving that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and some of the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, out of Gaza via the Philadelphi Corridor and from there to Iran.

However, the IDF said it was unaware of any such document actually existing, and as the claim was similar to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent talking points, some have speculated that false information was being distributed as part of a disinformation campaign.

In a statement, the Jewish Chronicle says it is “aware of allegations concerning a freelance journalist, which we take very seriously.”

‘The Jewish Chronicle is the oldest Jewish newspaper in the world and has always maintained the highest standards of reporting and integrity. An investigation is underway and there will be an update in due course,” it adds.

Left-wing online news outlet +972 Magazine reports that there are also doubts surrounding the veracity of Perry’s claims regarding his career.

Perry states on his own website that he served as a commando soldier during Operation Entebbe, and that he was a professor at Tel Aviv University for 15 years — yet according to the +972, there are no records of him having done either of these things.

IDF, Shin Bet say 3 senior terrorists killed in Tulkarem drone strike last night

Three senior terror operatives were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem last night, the IDF and Shin Bet say.

The military says the strike targeted a group of gunmen who were driving in a car.

The Shin Bet identifies the dead as Mohammed Abu Attia, Imad Shahdeh, and Saleh al-Badu, all top members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad behind recent shooting and explosive attacks.

Abu Attia is also suspected of killing Border Police officer Master Sgt. Maxim Razinkov during a raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp in October, the joint IDF and Shin Bet statement adds.

בפעילות משותפת של צה"ל ושב"כ, כחלק מהמבצע בצפון השומרון, אתמול כלי טיס תקף חוליית מחבלים מתשתית הטרור בנור א-שמס אשר נסעו ברכב בעודם חמושים>> pic.twitter.com/LgfWDwLlYJ

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 12, 2024

Parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin call for public to keep fighting for hostages ‘before it’s too late’

The parents of slain-Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin call on the public to keep protesting for a deal that will enable the release of the 101 hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

In a video published online, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin wear masking tape on their shirts with the number “342” written on them, to signify the number of days that have passed since 251 hostages were abducted on October 7, 97 of whom are still in captivity.

Hersh, along with Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat and Almog Sarusi, was executed in a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah late last month, and his body recovered by the IDF overnight on August 31.

Watch :
Rachel and Jon Goldberg Polin in a special request ????️????????♥️:
Bring them home ????️ pic.twitter.com/W2758eZFXs

— Iris (@streetwize) September 12, 2024

“We are still in mourning, but we are also in an emergency situation,” Jon starts. “We are speaking on our behalf, but also in the sweet memories of the precious souls of Hersh, Alex, Almog, Ori, Eden and Carmel.”

“Their deaths could have and should have been avoided,” he says. “People in positions of power failed them and failed us as their families. No other family should experience what we are experiencing. We must continue to act to save the remaining 101.”

Rachel takes over, reiterating her husband’s statement about an “emergency situation.”

“We have people whose lives are hanging in the balance and we don’t want any other family to experience what we are currently experiencing, along with the precious other five that Jon mentioned,” she says.

Addressing the many people she says have offered help in recent days, she asks them to: “Keep writing to the White House house, keep writing to the prime minister, keep wearing the tape, keep going out and advocating.”

“We have to figure out a way to get these people home before it’s too late,” she says. “So please keep doing what you have been doing for all of these days. It’s day 342. Let’s get this to an end in the memory of those beautiful six.”

IDF denies report that Chief of Staff Halevi plans to step down in December

The IDF denies a report by Channel 12 this evening, claiming that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi is planning to step down in December.

“The report on the expected resignation date of the chief of staff is false and baseless,” the IDF says.

“The chief of staff is now entirely focused on managing the war, leading the IDF in fighting our enemies and achieving the goals of the war,” the military adds.

IDF Chief Halevi said making preparations to step down in late-December

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi speaks to the media in southern Israel, October 12, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi is making preparations to resign in late December, Channel 12 reports, citing conversations Halevi has been having with those around him.

By then, the IDF is set to have completed all of its internal investigations into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 invasion and slaughter in Israel. He will thus be able to sign off on those probes, and present them to the public before stepping aside, the report says.

By then, too, the IDF is expected to have completed all its preparations for a potential all-out war in Lebanon — preparations that Halevi is overseeing.

“Once those two major immense issues are dealt with, he may feel more comfortable about stepping down,” the report says.

It adds, however, that if a significant campaign against Hezbollah erupts in the interim, Halevi may stay on to see it through, so as not to hand over to a younger and less experienced army chief in mid-war.

Halevi succeeded Aviv Kohavi as IDF chief in January 2023. IDF chiefs usually serve for three years, with many serving a fourth year.

Halevi has several times acknowledged full responsibility for failing to thwart the Hamas massacre. In his first public statement after the onslaught, on October 12, he said, “The IDF is responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not handle it.”

In May, at a Memorial Day ceremony, he said, “As the commander of the Israel Defense Forces during the war, I bear responsibility for the fact that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel on October 7. I feel its weight on my shoulders every day, and in my heart, I fully understand its meaning.”

Albania to open commercial liaison office in Jerusalem, prime minister tells Herzog

President Isaac Herzog meets with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Albania, September 12, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama tells President Isaac Herzog that his country will open a commercial liaison office in Jerusalem.

“The decision marks a significant upgrade in the strong relationship between the two nations, and represents a symbol of the deep friendship between the two peoples,” says Herzog, according to his office.

Herzog is the first Israeli president to visit the Muslim-majority nation.

Four people succumb to injuries sustained in Ramle car explosion, hospital says

Shamir Medical Center says in a statement that four people have succumbed to wounds sustained in a car explosion in Ramle earlier today.

It says that six injured people are still undergoing treatment in the hospital, including one in critical condition. The other five are lightly to moderately injured.

At site of Ramle blast, Ben Gvir blames AG for crime wave, advocates use of administrative detention

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir addresses the press at the scene of a car explosion in Ramle, September 12, 2024. (National Security Ministry)

Speaking from the scene of the car explosion in Ramle, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir appears to blame Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara for the ongoing wave of crime in Israel, claiming that she has denied his request to use administrative detention against criminal offenders.

“The attorney general refused my request to hold criminals in administrative detention,” he tells reporters. “If we could go in tonight and arrest all the criminal families, all the criminals, that would change the situation.”

He claims that the police “know exactly who they are” and that he has given the attorney general a list of people he believes should be held in detention without trial.

“Administrative detention must be used against the crime families,” he reiterates.

Administrative detention is a controversial tool whereby Palestinian terror suspects and, more rarely, Jewish terror suspects, are detained without charge or trial.

The tool is typically used when authorities have intelligence tying a suspect to a crime but do not have enough evidence for charges to stand up in a court of law.

Critics say the policy denies prisoners due process, and human rights organizations have warned that it is a breach of civil rights.

Ben Gvir’s fellow coalition members have in the past accused him of failing to curb violence in the Arab Israeli community.

IDF declares Hamas’s Rafah Brigade defeated; no active cross-border tunnels found

A large Hamas tunnel found along the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza's Rafah, September 12, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The Hamas terror group’s Rafah Brigade has been decimated, at least 2,308 of its operatives have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and over 13 kilometers worth of tunnels have been destroyed, military officials tell reporters in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city.

“The Rafah Brigade has been defeated,” Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, the general in charge of the offensive in the city, tells reporters from the Philadelphi Corridor. “Their four battalions have been destroyed, and we have completed operational control over the entire urban area.”

Cohen, who commands the IDF’s 162nd Division, says that his combat engineering forces located 203 separate, but interconnected, tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor, stretching from the Egypt border to about 300 meters away on the outskirts of the city of Rafah.

“Most of them we have destroyed,” the general said. “We are operating at the other sites to investigate them, and when we will finish investigating, they will be destroyed.”

Out of the 203 tunnels, Cohen confirms that the IDF had so far located a total of nine that had crossed into Egypt, but every single one had been blocked up previously, either by Egyptian authorities or Hamas themselves.

“There are a total of nine underground sites [tunnels] that cross into Egyptian territory, but they have collapsed, they are not usable, they are not active,” he says.

Number of injured in Ramle car blast rises to 13, including five in critical condition, one of them a baby

Magen David Adom raises the number of people injured in the car explosion in Ramle to 13, as the police say that it has ruled out the possibility that the blast was the result of a bomb.

MDA says a two-month-old baby, a 5-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and a 15-year-old girl are all critically injured, as is a 50-year-old woman.

One person is seriously injured and two others — a 52-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman — are moderately injured.

Another five people are being treated for minor wounds.

Bomb squads called to the scene found no indication that the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in the vehicle, Hebrew media reports, and the police are now investigating other options, including the possibility that a grenade or a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the car, sparking the ignition.

Harvey Weinstein indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of New York retrial

Disgraced ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges in New York ahead of a retrial in his landmark case, Manhattan prosecutors say at a court hearing Thursday.

The indictment will remain under seal until Weinstein is arraigned on the new charges, tentatively scheduled for September 18. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg discloses in court that the indictment charges “Mr. Weinstein with additional crimes” and that multiple accusers are prepared to testify against him.

Weinstein, 72, is recovering from emergency heart surgery Monday at a Manhattan hospital to remove fluid on his heart and lungs and is not at Thursday’s hearing.

Prosecutors retrying Weinstein’s overturned rape conviction disclosed last week that they had begun presenting to a grand jury evidence of up to three additional allegations against Weinstein, dating as far back as the mid-2000s.

They include alleged sexual assaults at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, now known as the Roxy Hotel, and in a Lower Manhattan residential building between late 2005 and mid-2006, and an alleged sexual assault at a Tribeca hotel in May 2016.

Because the indictment is under seal, it is not known whether the new charges involved some or all of the additional allegations.

“We don’t know anything,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, says outside court. “We don’t know what the exact accusations are, the exact locations are, what the timing is.”

Gantz rebuffs calls for unity government, says it can only come about through elections

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz speaks in the Knesset plenum, September 12, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset Spokesperson)

National Unity chairman and former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz rebuffs calls for a unity government during a speech in the Knesset plenum.

“No one will suspect me of being against unity but I look at what is happening here” and see the government attempting to stymie military service for the ultra-Orthodox while creating a “discourse of hatred” against the army’s leadership, hostages and demonstrators, he says.

“Then I hear people I really appreciate in the coalition talking to me about unity. What are you talking about?” he asks.

“Unity is expressed in actions, and not in the swearing-in of a few more ministers to the government,” Gantz continues. “After a year of the war, it’s time to go to elections, let the people have their say, and establish a government of national consensus that will truly bring unity, trust and real victory in the war.”

Gantz’s comments come after MK Matan Kahana, a member of his centrist party, welcomed Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer’s (Religious Zionism) call for a unity government yesterday.

Sofer’s statement followed widespread reports that the ultra-Orthodox Shas party is pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring opposition parties into the coalition to dilute the influence of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

IDF says it carried out two drone strikes in southern Syria

In a rare admission, the IDF says it carried out two drone strikes in southern Syria today, targeting a Hezbollah operative and another Iran-linked terrorist.

The military says the first strike, in the Quneitra area, killed Ahmed al-Jaber, a member of Hezbollah’s so-called Golan File unit.

Another strike, in the al-Rafid area, targeted a “terrorist who advanced terror acts against the State of Israel, and acted with the cooperation and direction of Iran.” the IDF says.

כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב קונטרה, בהכוונת אוגדה 210, וחיסל את המחבל אחמד אלג׳בר, מחבל ביחידת ״תיק הגולן״, שלוחת ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בסוריה.

בתקיפה נוספת, במרחב רפיד בדרום סוריה, הותקף מחבל אשר קידם פעולות טרור נגד מדינת ישראל ופעל בשיתוף ובהכוונה איראנית>> pic.twitter.com/H43ZK9RoL6

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 12, 2024

Meanwhile, the military says several explosive-laden drones were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel today, impacting near the Keren Naftali area.

Also today, some 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee.

There were no injuries in the attacks.

At least 12 injured in car explosion in Ramle, police suspect criminal motive, not terror

Police forces at the scene of a car explosion in Ramle, September 12, 2024. (Israel Police)

At least twelve people were injured in a car explosion in the central Israel city of Ramle a short while ago, sparking a fire that spread to two nearby stores.

According to Magen David Adom, the twelve were treated for their injuries at the scene of the explosion before being taken to Shamir Medical Center and Kaplan Medical Center for further treatment.

It says that four people — a two-month-old baby, a 5-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, and a 15-year-old girl — are in critical condition. One person is seriously injured and two others — a 52-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman — are moderately injured.

Another five people are being treated for minor wounds.

In a statement, the Israel Police says that Central District Police Commander Avi Bitton is at the scene of the blast, and bomb squads are examining the remains of the vehicle to ensure that it poses no further risk to the public.

At the same time, police forces are working to evacuate people trapped in two stores which caught on fire as a result of the blast.

Police say that they are treating the incident as “criminal,” indicating that they don’t suspect a terror motive.

פיצוץ רכב ברמלה: 5 עוברי אורח נפצעו, חנויות עולות באש
יממה לאחר ששני בני אדם נרצחו, רמלה שוב בוערת: פיצוץ עז אירע ליד השוק, 5 עוברי אורח נפגעו קל עד בינוני. הרקע ככל הנראה פלילי pic.twitter.com/wRURCm53yH

— יוני בן מנחם yoni ben menachem (@yonibmen) September 12, 2024

Bill aiming to increase 2024 state budget by more than NIS 3 billion passes first reading

Lawmakers pass in its first reading the second of two related bills necessary to increase the 2024 state budget by almost NIS 3.4 billion ($924 million) in order to help fund evacuated civilians and reserve soldiers until the end of the year.

The bill passes 57-51 despite the warnings of both professionals in the Finance Ministry and the opposition, which argues that it fails to curb coalition spending and that its increased expenditures come at the expense of the middle class.

The bill — which will now be forwarded to the Knesset Finance Commission for preparation for the second and third readings necessary for it to become law — increases the state budget to NIS 727.4 billion ($194 billion) while increasing the spending limit to NIS 587.45 billion ($157 billion), an increase of NIS 3.35 billion.

“We are in a fiscal deficit only because of the conduct of the government and the mere opening of the budget a second time is a failure,” declares National Unity chief Benny Gantz. “But there is one goal for increasing the deficit and the cost of harming the citizens of Israel – the survival of the government.”

The 2024 budget was previously amended in March.

The move will lead Israel “to more credit rating downgrades” and the coalition has failed to show fiscal responsibility by closing surplus government ministries and halting coalition funds, he adds.

Credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded Israel’s credit last month, stating that ” the conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025 and there are risks of it broadening to other fronts.”

Fitch expressed concern that increased military spending could have a negative impact on the economy.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also slams the legislation, declaring that the budget supplements come at the expense of the working public and that “the only thing that is being cut is the Israeli middle class.”

MK Vladimir Beliak of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party adds his own criticism, saying that Israel’s bonds “today trade at the level of Mexico.”

“This budget is the third budget for 2024 and it is not certain that it will be the last,” he adds. “A lot has changed since the original budget was approved in May 2023, but what hasn’t? The coalition funds, the unnecessary offices and the audacity.”

Pushing back against opposition criticism, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi argues that the additional funds are being allocated “to give assistance to those who are having a hard time now – the displaced, reservists and hostage families.”

The bill’s passage comes two days after a related bill also needed to amend the budget passed the plenum in its first reading in an 58-52 vote.

IDF names 9 Hamas operatives killed in Nuseirat school strike, including 3 UNRWA staffers

After UNRWA said six staffers were killed in an IDF strike yesterday on a school in the central Gaza Strip, the military names nine Hamas operatives killed in the attack, including some who were also employed by the UN Palestinian refugee agency.

The IDF had said yesterday that it struck a Hamas command room in the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat, and took steps to mitigate civilian harm. Hospital officials in Gaza reported 14 dead, and UNRWA later said six were members of the agency.

The military says that “upon receiving the allegation that local Palestinian workers of the UNRWA agency were killed in the strike, the IDF contacted the agency yesterday for details and names in order to examine the allegation in-depth and as of this writing it has not yet been answered despite repeated requests.”

So far, the IDF says it has identified nine Hamas operatives killed in the strike, three of whom were also UNRWA staffers.

They are named by the IDF as:

• Ayser Qardaya, a member of Hamas’s internal security force
• Muhammad Adnan Abu Zaid, a members of Hamas’s military wing who launched mortars at troops, and a UNRWA staffer
• Bassem Majed Shahin, the commander of a Hamas military wing cell, who participated in the October 7 onslaught
• Omar al-Judaili, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force
• Akram Saber al-Ghalidi, a member of Hamas’s military wing and internal security force
• Muhammad Issa Abu al-Amir, a member of Hamas’s military wing who participated in the October 7 onslaught
• Sharif Salam, a member of Hamas’s military wing
• Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and emergency committee in Nuseirat, as well as a UNRWA staffer
• Iyad Matar, a member of Hamas’s military wing and a UNRWA staffer

Body overseeing rehabilitation of Gaza border communities issues call for green energy projects

The Energy Ministry, Finance Ministry and Tekuma Administration, which is responsible for overseeing the rehabilitation of Gaza border communities, issue a call for green energy projects worth NIS 33 million ($8.8 million).

This is the first call for implementation of a five-year green energy plan for the region, budgeted at NIS 300 million ($80 million).

According to a statement, the Energy Ministry’s initiative aims to provide regional resilience and energy independence and will include funding for energy storage facilities and the burial of power lines.

Funding will be allocated along different tracks to the kibbutzim and moshavim impacted by the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, as well as to the four regional councils and the city of Sderot.

The statement says that the two ministries and the Tekuma Administration will work with the various communities to develop a strategic plan to turn the Gaza border into a flagship for clean energy, resilience and energy independence. Within this framework, an RFI (request for information) will be made to the public for innovative technologies.

Yossi Shelley, director general of the Prime Minister’s Office and head of the Tekuma Administration, says the administration and the local authorities have identified renewable energy as a “strategic and economic anchor.”

“In order to provide energy security for the residents, some of whom found themselves cut off from electricity on October 7 during critical hours, and to ensure continuity in the energy supply both during normal and emergency periods, today’s call will make funding available to each community on the Gaza border and to each of the local authorities to promote energy security for its residents,” he adds.

Woman sentenced to 8 years in prison over drunk driving crash that killed baby

Maayan Domanovich, who was killed in a car crash, and Yana Bloom (inset), suspected of causing the accident (Courtesy National Transplant Center; screenshot Channel 12)

Yana Bloom, who was indicted last year for reckless homicide after causing the death of an infant while driving under the influence of alcohol, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

In April 2023, Bloom crashed her vehicle into an oncoming car at the southern Negev Junction on Route 40, killing ten-month-old Maayan Domanovich and injuring his parents and three siblings.

In addition to the prison time, Bloom will also be required to pay NIS 100,000 in compensation to the affected family, and will be banned from receiving a driving license for the next 20 years.

According to the indictment filed in May 2023, Bloom, a 25-year-old resident of Rishon Lezion, took a cannabis-type drug and drove to the desert for a party where she was working, the evening before the crash.

The day after the party she drank alcohol before getting into her car.

Bloom’s driving license had expired in 2022 and she did not have valid insurance.

When handing down the sentence earlier today, Judge Yuval Livadaro said he had taken into account “her quick confession and the fact that she is a young woman and this is her first prison term.”

Prime Minister’s Office denies Netanyahu has established new war council

After sources tell Israeli outlets, including The Times of Israel, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has established a new war council to run the effort to destroy Hamas, his office denies the reports.

“There is no ‘new small security forum,'” says The Prime Minister’s Office.

The statement says that the premier “holds frequent security meetings, to which he invites different ministers each time in accordance with their area of responsibility.”

“That was the case last week when [Education] Minister Yoav Kisch participated in the cabinet meeting, and yesterday when [National Security] Minister Itamar Ben Gvir took part in consultations,” the PMO says.

Sources told The Times of Israel that the body is made up of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and MK Aryeh Deri, and that the forum is scheduled to meet this evening.

Commander of IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit announces his resignation

The commander of the IDF’s Unit 8200, Brig. Gen. Yossi Sariel, has notified his superiors and subordinates that he intends to resign.

The IDF says Sariel is due to be replaced “in the coming period.”

8200 is the IDF’s main signals intelligence unit, and is among the units that failed to prevent Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.

Israel to revoke press cards of Al Jazeera journalists after banning network earlier this year

An employee of Qatar-based news network and TV channel Al Jazeera is seen at the outlet's Jerusalem office on July 31, 2017. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

The Government Press Office announces it it revoking the press cards of all Al Jazeera journalists working in Israel.

In a statement, the GPO, which operates as part of the Prime Minister’s Office, says the move follows the government’s May 5 decision — in accordance with an emergency law passed in April — to take the network off the air and block its broadcasts for violating national security.

The journalists will be given a hearing before the revocation, which does not apply to the network’s producers and photographers.

“This is a media outlet that disseminates false content, which includes incitement against Israelis and Jews and constitutes a threat to IDF soldiers. Therefore, the use of GPO cards in the course of the journalists’ work could in itself jeopardize state security at this time of military emergency,” says GPO director Nitzan Chen in a statement.

Son of prominent Ukrainian rabbi laid to rest after falling in combat against Russia

Matityagi Samborsky, the son of Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman -- one of Ukraine's several self-declared "chief rabbis" -- is laid to rest after falling in combat against Russian forces, September 12, 2024. (Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine)

Matityagi Samborsky, the son of Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman — the leader of Kyiv’s Brodsky synagogue and one of several self-declared Ukrainian “chief rabbis” — is being laid to rest after falling in combat against Russian forces.

Hundreds of people, including non-Jewish Ukrainians, attend the ceremony at the synagogue and at the gravesite. Israel’s ambassador Michael Brodsky is in attendance.

The funeral is a leading item in Ukrainian news coverage, and dozens of outlets send reporters to the synagogue. Some reports note that politicians send their sons abroad during the war while sons of leading rabbis fall in battle, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine.

Samborsky, 32, was adopted by Azman 22 years ago after living in a Jewish orphanage. He studied in Chabad schools in Kyiv and in a Chabad yeshiva in Dnipro.

Matityagi Samborsky (circled) attends a wedding in this undated photograph, released September 12, 2024, after he fell in combat against Russian forces. (Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine.)

According to the FJCU, Samborsky was drafted earlier this year as part of the country’s mandatory conscription and was killed in the Donetsk region.

His family knew his unit had been hit by a missile earlier this summer and there was no chance that anyone survived, but Samborsky’s body was only located yesterday and identified by his wife.

Samborsky’s first daughter was born in May, and he was drafted a week later.

According to the FJCU, the organization has helped bury 47 Jewish Ukrainian soldiers but estimates that at least five times that number have lost their lives.

The military funeral of Anton Matityahu Samborsky, the son of @RabbiUkraine who fell in Donetsk in July and was laid to rest today. pic.twitter.com/GXlDSHUOUz

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) September 12, 2024

“Ukrainian Jews do not have blue blood,” says Azman. “The best of our sons are at the front against the Russian occupier in order to defend the homeland. Matityagi went to the front, fought bravely for Ukraine, for justice, and for peace, and fell a hero.

“We will not forget him and we will dedicate activities to his memory. Your death will not be in vain. We will win and remember you always!”

UN chief says Netanyahu has been refusing to take his calls since Oct. 7

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters, September 20, 2023. (AP/Craig Ruttle)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters that he has not spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the October 7 Hamas terror assault last year, as the premier has been refusing to answer his calls.

The two met in person last September at the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, and Guterres says he would be willing to do so again later this month — if Netanyahu were to ask.

“I have not talked to him because he didn’t pick up my phone calls, but I have no reason not to speak with him,” Guterres says. “So if he comes to New York and he asks to see me, I will be very glad to see him.”

When asked if Netanyahu planned to meet with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says that the prime minister’s schedule hasn’t been finalized yet.

After Gaza strike said to kill UN staffers, Blinken says Israel must protect humanitarian workers

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw, Poland, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for the protection of humanitarian workers after UN staffers were killed in Gaza, and says a US-backed ceasefire and hostage deal is the best way to ensure their safety.

“We need to see humanitarian sites protected, and that’s something that we continue to raise with Israel,” Blinken tells reporters on a visit to Poland.

Rescuers said the Israeli strike on a school in central Gaza last night killed 18 people, including the six UNRWA staffers.

Israel’s military said it hit a Hamas control center located inside the Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat. Though inactive amid the war, the school has been used as a shelter by displaced Palestinians.

According to the IDF, Hamas was using the school to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israel. The IDF said it carried out “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

US backs 2 UN Security Council seats for African nations in bid to repair ties over war in Gaza

FILE - US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses members of the UN Security Council, April 24, 2024, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)

The United States supports creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield will announce today.

The move comes as the US seeks to repair ties with Africa, where many are unhappy about Washington’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and deepen relations with Pacific Islands nations important to countering Chinese influence in the region.

Thomas-Greenfield tells Reuters she hopes the announcement will “move this agenda forward in a way that we can achieve Security Council reform at some point in the future,” describing it as part of US President Joe Biden’s legacy.

The push for two permanent African seats and a rotating seat for small island developing states is in addition to Washington’s long-held support for India, Japan and Germany to also get permanent seats on the council.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

2 civilians rescued after boat begins to drift toward Lebanese waters

The IDF says two Israeli civilians were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea earlier today when their boat began to drift toward sovereign Lebanese waters.

The military says aircraft and naval vessels were dispatched to the area, and forces returned the ship to Israeli waters.

מוקדם יותר היום, התקבל דיווח אודות שני אזרחים ישראליים על כלי שיט אזרחי תקול, אשר נסחף לכיוון המרחב הימי של לבנון.
עם קבלת הדיווח, כוחות זרוע הים וחיל האוויר הוקפצו למרחב>> pic.twitter.com/EJByz0GnZ9

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 12, 2024

Germany says deaths of UN staff in Gaza ‘totally unacceptable’

A member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) checks the courtyard of the Al-Jawni (Jaouni) school after an Israeli air strike hit the site, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on September 11, 2024. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Germany says the deaths of six UNRWA staff in an IDF strike in Gaza are “totally unacceptable” and calls on Israel “to protect UN staff and aid workers.”

“Humanitarian aid workers must never be victims of rockets,” the foreign ministry says on social media platform X. “The death of six UNRWA staff at a school in Nuseirat is totally unacceptable.”

Rescuers said the Israeli strike on a school killed 18 people, including the UN staffers.

Israel’s military said it hit a Hamas control center located inside the Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. Though inactive amid the war, the school has been used as a shelter by displaced Palestinians.

According to the IDF, Hamas was using the school to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israel. The IDF said it carried out “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

In a statement, the UN said that the Nuseirat school had been “deconflicted.”

Netanyahu to convene unofficial war council and security cabinet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking outside his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet is scheduled to convene in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 8:30 p.m., an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

This evening, Netanyahu is convening his unofficial new war council, made up of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and MK Aryeh Deri.

WHO ‘confident’ that polio vaccine drive in Gaza hit target of 90% of kids under 10

A child receives a vaccination for polio in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 5, 2024 (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

The World Health Organization says it’s “confident” that a giant polio vaccination drive in Gaza has hit its target of reaching more than 90 percent of children under 10.

“We are confident that we probably reached the target,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative for the Palestinian territories, tells reporters on the final day of the first phase of the campaign aiming to provide hundreds of thousands of children with a first dose of the vaccine.

Man jailed for 5.5 years over killing of new immigrant teen; victim’s family: ‘No faith in justice system’

Yoel Lhanghal (Courtesy)

A man is sentenced to five and a half years in jail for the killing of an immigrant teen in 2022 in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona.

Liad Edri was 21 years old when he killed Yoel Lhanghal, 18, at a birthday party.

In addition, Edri must pay compensation of NIS 50,000 (approximately $13,300) to Lhanghal’s family,

Edri was initially accused of murdering Lhanghal, but signed a plea deal in which the murder charge was dropped and replaced with aggravated assault with intent, as well as obstruction of justice.

The prosecution had asked for a jail term of 12-15 years.

“Five years is nothing. We didn’t believe that this would be the result. The truth has not come out. We have lost faith in the justice system,” Lhanghal’s family says.

A senior prosecution official says the compensation amount set by the court is “low and shameful,” the Ynet news site reports.

Surveillance footage of the killing showed dozens pouncing on Lhanghal at a party, hitting him and punching him until he collapsed.

A number of individuals were arrested but Edri was the only one charged.

Three police officers were indicted for obstructing justice. According to a report from the Kan public broadcaster, the daughter of one of the officers had been in a relationship with Edri.

PM’s office: Israel accepted US hostage deal bridging proposal in August, Hamas is thwarting agreement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walking outside his office at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

As attempts to make progress on a deal to free hostages from Hamas remain stuck, the Prime Minister’s Office releases a statement accusing the terror group of “trying to hide the fact that it continues to oppose a deal to release hostages, and thwarts it.”

“While Israel accepted the ‘final bridging proposal’ that the US brought up on August 16, Hamas turned it down, and even murdered 6 of our hostages in cold blood,” the statement continues.

“The world must demand from Hamas that it release our hostages immediately.”

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a new formula for a hostage deal would be presented to Israel and Hamas “very soon.”

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

WHO says it evacuated nearly 100 patients from Gaza for medical care in the UAE

The World Health Organization says it evacuated nearly 100 people, including dozens of children, from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates, calling for regular medical transfers out of the enclave to be allowed to resume.

“This was the largest evacuation yet from Gaza since October 2023,” Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the Palestinian territory, tells journalists, referring to an operation that took place yesterday.

“Gaza needs medical corridors. We need a better organized and sustained system,” he says, adding that over 10,000 Gazans were awaiting transfer.

WATCH: Jewish tech billionaire about to begin first-ever private spacewalk

This image made from a SpaceX video shows the crew of the first private spacewalk led by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman inside the capsule, Sept. 12, 2024. (SpaceX via AP)

A Jewish billionaire kicks off the first private spacewalk, teaming up with SpaceX on the daring endeavor hundreds of miles above Earth.

Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and his crew waited until their capsule was depressurized before popping open the hatch.

Isaacman is to be the first one out, aiming to join a small elite group of spacewalkers who until now had included only professional astronauts from a dozen countries.

All four on board donned SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits to protect themselves from the harsh vacuum. They launched on Tuesday from Florida, rocketing farther from Earth than anyone since NASA’s moonwalkers. The orbit was reduced by half — to 458 miles (737 kilometers) — for the spacewalk.

It is the main focus of the five-day flight financed by Isaacman and Elon Musk’s company, and the culmination of years of development geared toward settling Mars and other planets.

This first spacewalking test, expected to last about two hours, involves more stretching than walking. The plan calls for Isaacman to emerge from the capsule but keep a hand or foot attached to it the whole time as he flexes his arms and legs to see how the new spacesuit holds up. The hatch sports a walker-like structure for extra support.

In 2021, Isaacson told CNN that he did not plan to fast for Yom Kippur even though the Jewish holiday coincided with the launch date of his first trip to space.

“To be very honest, I’m actually not a religious person,” he said.

Watch Dragon’s first spacewalk with the @PolarisProgram’s Polaris Dawn crew https://t.co/svdJRkGN7K

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 12, 2024

Lapid: Rational members of coalition won’t support new Haredi draft exemption bill

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid addresses a meeting of his Yesh Atid faction in the Knesset, September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“The rational” members of the coalition, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, will refuse to support a new draft exemption bill for the ultra-Orthodox, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares.

Addressing the annual conference of IDEA: The Center for Liberal Democracy, Lapid says he fails to see how the coalition can “pass a law that exempts the ultra-Orthodox from conscription when we already have more than 700 dead soldiers and close to 10,000 wounded.”

“We are talking about it quietly with the rational ones in Likud, and not only in Likud. They won’t support this,” he says.

According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu promised Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of the coalition’s United Torah Judaism party, yesterday that he would expedite a planned law facilitating sweeping exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community from mandatory military service.

Netanyahu pledged to push to fast-track the exemption when the Knesset reconvenes later this month, apparently responding to Goldknopf’s threat not to support the 2025 state budget, whose failure to pass would bring down the government.

“When the discussion of the conscription law began, the army chief of staff said that the IDF lacked 12 to 15 battalions. What has happened since then is that the IDF has lost another 12 battalions of wounded and dead. Under these conditions, it is impossible to give up recruiting the ultra-Orthodox,” Lapid says, predicting the fall of the government in the coming months.

An exemption bill currently being debated by lawmakers has failed to advanced significantly in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) has promised to advance legislation only “with broad agreement.”

Rocket sirens sound in northern border towns

Sirens sound in multiple towns along the northern border with Syria.

Residents in 13 communities are told to seek shelter amid incoming rocket fire.

Ukraine issues 2nd urgent plea for Jewish pilgrims to forgo annual Uman pilgrimage due to war

This general view shows Hasidic Jewish pilgrims on a street next to the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, ahead of Rosh Hashanah, in Uman, central Ukraine, on September 15, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP)

Ukraine puts out the second statement in as many days warning Jewish pilgrims not to come to Uman for Rosh Hashanah this year.

“Russia’s ongoing full-scale military aggression against Ukraine poses real threats to people’s lives and safety,” says the Foreign Ministry, “[and] makes it impossible to guarantee the safety of foreign citizens on the territory of Ukraine.”

Kyiv warns that there is a “regime of martial law which provides for a number of additional regulations, including restrictions on freedom of movement, a curfew and enhanced patrols, a ban on holding mass events and gatherings, as well as the application of coercive measures against persons who will not comply with the established restrictions.”

It also stresses that there are not enough bomb shelters in Uman, that transportation infrastructure has suffered shelling, and that there are not enough medical personnel.

An Israeli diplomat told The Times of Israel that the number of worshipers this year could reach a record 50,000, but with Moldova refusing to approve charter flights to its main airport, far fewer might end up making the journey.

Uman, where the Hasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Breslov is buried, is a major pilgrimage site for Hasidim and other Jews.

Reports: Israeli troops raided IRGC weapons facility in Syria, removed equipment and documents before destroying it

A fire sparked by an alleged Israeli strike in the Masyaf area of central Syria, late September 8, 2024. (SANA)

Israeli special forces carried out a raid on an Iranian weapons facility in the Masyaf area in Syria earlier this week, according to a number of unconfirmed reports.

A series of alleged Israeli strikes hit military sites in central Syria late Sunday, killing at least 14 people, wounding 43 and sparking fires. Local Syrian media reported at the time that the strikes hit a scientific research center in Masyaf, which has long been associated with the manufacture of chemical weapons and precision missiles by the Syrian regime and Iranian forces.

However, today’s reports were the first to claim that there were Israeli troops on the ground during the operation.

The opposition Syria TV network says that Israeli helicopters did not land on Syrian soil, but instead hovered as special forces rappelled down ropes.

The report says there were violent clashes in which a number of Syrians were killed, and two to four Iranians were captured.

The outlet additionally says that a Russian communications center was among the sites targeted as part of the operation.

Channel 12 news cites researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis, who says she was told by a “security source” that it was an IDF operation against an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility for the development of ballistic missiles and drones, and which also provides logistical support to Hezbollah.

Koulouriotis tweets that roads surrounding the facility were targeted with airstrikes to stop Syrian troops reaching the area, before the Israeli helicopters carrying special forces approached the area, with air support from combat helicopters and drones.

She says that Israeli troops entered the compound, removed equipment and documents, and then laid explosives to destroy the facility.

The US-government owned Al Hurra network reports that the “raid” targeted several sites in the Masyaf area, and that their intensity and the death toll were “unusual.”

The Masyaf area, west of Hama, is thought to be used as a base for Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, and has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks widely attributed to Israel.

It contains the Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, which according to Israel is used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles.

Western officials have long associated CERS with the manufacture of chemical arms. According to the United States, sarin gas has been developed at that center, a charge denied by the Syrian authorities.

There was no immediate comment on the strike from Israel, which rarely acknowledges individual operations in Syria.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

Smotrich meets with union chief Bar-David to discuss 2025 budget

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (C) meets with the head of the Histadrut Labor Federation Arnon Bar-David (2nd L) meet on September 12, 2024 (Courtesy/Smotrich's spokesperson)

Less than two weeks after accusing it of playing into the hands of Hamas by announcing a nationwide strike over the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meets with the head of the Histadrut Labor Federation to discuss the 2025 budget.

In a statement, Smotrich’s office says the minister met with Arnon Bar-David and the two “agreed that they will work together responsibly out of an understanding of the challenges facing the State of Israel, for the sake of Israel’s economy, for the benefit of the workers and for all the citizens of Israel.”

A spokesman from the Histadrut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Coalition MK says compromising images distributed in effort to damage his reputation

MK Hanoch Milwidsky attends a committee hearing at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 13, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

What are presented as nude photos of Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky were sent from an anonymous email address to several lawmakers’ bureaus in the Knesset, according to Hebrew media reports.

Milwidsky says that the images and accompanying correspondence are fabricated and had previously been circulated to many of his acquaintances two years ago in an effort to cause him damage.

The Knesset IT department is said to have removed the content from the legislature’s network.

Likud minister: ‘There’s no doubt that military pressure is endangering the hostages’

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on December 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Culture Minister Miki Zohar tells Haredi radio station Kol BaRama that there is “no doubt” that military pressure is putting the hostages held in Gaza in danger.

“Attempts to reach a deal did not succeed because we are facing a terrorist organization that is not rational and only understands military power,” Zohar says. “We really want a deal and hope there will be a deal. The price Israel will need to pay is heavy, but it is not an impossible price that would damage Israeli security.”

When asked how an agreement can be reached, Zohar responds: “Only with military pressure.”

“It has not yet reached a point where Sinwar and his emissaries have decided to make a deal,” says Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

However, when asked about the incident last month in which six hostages were murdered by their captors in a Gaza tunnel as IDF troops neared, Zohar says that “there is no doubt that military pressure endangers the hostages.”

“It’s not that we think the hostages are in a good situation. Their lives are in constant danger, especially when there is fire close to where they are, or even where they are, and this is the complexity of this war,” he says.

Zohar also repeats the government line that the large protests calling for a deal and for elections are hardening Hamas’s negotiating position, and says he believes there should be a unity government, but that it should not exclude any of the political parties already in the coalition.

“There is no doubt that if there were a unity government and there were no political demonstrations, we would be in a different place. I am unequivocally in favor of a unity government. On the other hand, pushing parties out is not a unity government,” he says.

2 killed in Israeli strike near Quneitra – Syrian media

Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle close to Quneitra, Syrian media reports.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Syrian media says one of the two was from “the military”; however, it is unclear if that refers to the Syrian army or the Hezbollah terror group.

Israeli strike targets vehicle on Damascus-Quneitra highway, casualties reported – Syrian media

Syrian media reports that an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle traveling on the highway between Damascus and Quneitra.

There were casualties in the strike, reports say.

Goldknopf said to tell PM his party would have quit coalition over draft exemption law if not for the war

Left: Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, leader of the United Torah Judaism party, June 26, 2024 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); Right: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)

Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his United Torah Judaism party would have quit the government long ago over military draft exemptions for Haredi men if it were not for the war, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

“We would have resigned from the government a long time ago due to the violation of promises regarding the conscription law,” Goldknopf told Netanyahu during a meeting.

The outlet does not clarify when the meeting took place.

Netanyahu promised Goldknopf during a meeting on Wednesday that he would expedite a planned law facilitating sweeping exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service, according to Hebrew media reports.

Netanyahu reportedly told Goldknopf that he would push to fast-track the exemption when the Knesset reconvenes.

Goldknopf has threatened to vote against the upcoming budget several months from now if the law does not advance, which could force elections.

The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.

Australia introduces new hate crime legislation after rise in incidents amid Israel-Hamas war

Australia’s government introduces new hate crime legislation that would impose criminal penalties including jail for offenders if they targeted a person’s race, gender, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation.

The bill comes as the government responds to a rise in hate incidents following the Israel-Hamas war, and follows landmark laws passed last year which banned the Nazi salute and public displays of terror group symbols.

“No Australian should be targeted because of who they are or what they believe,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says in a statement.

“We proudly live in a vibrant, multicultural and diverse community which we must protect and strengthen.”

The bill proposes jail sentences of up to five years for anyone threatening to use force or violence against a group or person, and if a person fears that the threat would be carried out. Offenders could get seven years in jail if the threats pose a danger to the government.

The Labor government says it will also introduce separate legislation to tackle “doxxing,” the malicious release of anyone’s personal data online, threatening offenders with jail of up to six years.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February promised to take steps to outlaw doxxing after names, social media accounts and other personal details of hundreds of Jewish Australians were published online by anti-Israel groups.

The anti-doxxing bill would include a provision for victims to sue for “serious privacy invasions” though journalists and intelligence agencies would be given exemptions.

Former head of Hamburg Islamic center linked to Hezbollah leaves Germany after deportation order

A police officer walks outside the Islamic Center Hamburg with the Imam Ali Mosque during a raid, July 24, 2024, Hamburg, Germany. (Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP)

The former head of an Islamic centre in Germany banned for its alleged links to extremist and terror groups has left the country after being served with a deportation order, local authorities say.

Mohammad Hadi Mofatteh, who was the head of the Hamburg Islamic Centre before it was banned in July, left Germany on Tuesday evening, the Hamburg interior ministry says in a statement.

Mofatteh, 57, had been ordered two weeks ago to leave Germany or face being deported at his own expense.

He will not be allowed to re-enter Germany for 20 years and could face up to three years in prison if he does, the ministry says.

Andy Grote, interior minister for the state of Hamburg, describes Mofatteh as “one of Germany’s most prominent Islamists.”

“We will continue to take a tough line against Islamists with all legal means at our disposal,” he says in a statement.

Investigators swooped on the Hamburg Islamic Centre in July after concluding it was an “Islamist extremist organization” with links to Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

Iran reacted angrily to the accusations and shut down a German language institute in Tehran in what appeared to be a tit-for-tat move.

Israeli security forces arrest attempted bomb attack suspect at West Bank hospital

Overnight, Israeli security forces arrested a wanted Palestinian from a hospital in the southern West Bank city of Halhul, who had been wounded in an attempted car bombing attack last month.

Members of police’s elite Yamam unit and Shin Bet agents raided the hospital near Hebron overnight in a joint operation with the IDF.

The Shin Bet says that the detained suspect was involved in a car bomb that detonated in Halhul on August 13, in which he was also injured. He was taken to the hospital in the city where he was detained.

US activist was killed in West Bank half an hour after peak of protests – Washington Post

Palestinian activists lift a banner and portraits of slain Turkish-American International Solidarity Movement activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi during a funeral procession in the West Bank city of Nablus, September 9, 2024. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

A report by the Washington Post challenges the IDF’s version of events surrounding the fatal shooting of an American activist by Israeli troops in the West Bank last week, saying the protesters had retreated down the road and did not pose a threat to soldiers at the time of the killing.

Dual Turkish-American national Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot dead Friday while taking part in a protest against Israeli settlement activity in the northern West Bank.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said the activist had in all probability been mistakenly hit by troops aiming at another individual. “The incident occurred during a violent gathering of dozens of Palestinian suspects, who burned tires and threw stones at forces at Beita Junction,” the IDF said, adding that it “expresses its deepest regret over the death.”

However the Washington Post report, based on eyewitness accounts and video, says Eygi was shot over half an hour after the peak of the protests and some 20 minutes after the demonstrators had moved down the road, meaning she was approximately 180 meters (200 yards) away from the troops when she was killed and could not have posed a threat.

Witnesses tell the newspaper that a Palestinian teen who was standing about 18 meters (20 yards) from Eygi, was wounded by IDF fire, but the military would not say if he was the target.

Residents and activists say that while the army initially began by using tear gas to disperse the crowd, they quickly switched to live ammunition.

Eygi was “shocked by the swift escalation,” the newspaper says, and moved further down the road.

Activists and residents tell the newspaper that the moment in which Eygi was killed was not caught on film because there was not much happening at the time.

The newspaper says the IDF declined to comment when asked why troops had fired at the protesters when they were so far away.

Israeli envoy hits out at UN chief for criticizing Israel over strike on Gaza school

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations hits out at UN chief Antonio Guterres for denouncing an Israeli strike targeting Hamas operatives at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza, which the latter said killed six staffers from UNRWA.

“What is ‘unacceptable,’ [Guterres], is the fact you refuse to recognize reality and continue to distort it,” Danny Danon writes on Twitter. “It is unconscionable that the UN continues to condemn Israel in its just war against terrorists, while Hamas continues to use women and children as human shields.”

“I suggest you carefully investigate who these terrorists were, what they were doing in the past and what atrocities they were committing when they were eliminated before making statements,” Danon adds, without directly addressing the issue of the UNRWA staffers.

US aircraft carrier heads home from Mideast after extended deployment

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is seen in the South China Sea, July 4, 2024 (Seaman Ryan Holloway/US Navy, via AP)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished, as the USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home, according to US officials.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. The Biden administration beefed up the US military presence there to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard US troops.

US commanders in the Middle East have long argued that the presence of a US aircraft carrier and the warships accompanying it has been an effective deterrent in the region, particularly for Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip began last fall with the terror group’s October 7 attack, there has been a persistent carrier presence in and around the region — and for short periods they have overlapped to have two of the carriers there at the same time.

Prior to last fall, however, it had been years since the US had committed that much warship power to the region.

UN chief slams Israel over ‘totally unacceptable’ Gaza strike in which 6 UNRWA staffers killed

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas operatives at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza killed six staffers from the UN Palestinian refugee agency, following an earlier announcement from UNRWA.

“What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable,” Guterres says in a post on social media platform X. “Six of our @UNRWA colleagues are among those killed.”

UNRWA called it the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.

“This school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children,” UNRWA separately posted on X.

NY museum fires 3 employees for wearing keffiyehs in violation of new dress code

In this illustrative photo from April 2013, lamps designed by the late sculptor Isamu Noguchi are displayed on shelves at the gift shop of the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz)

New York City’s Noguchi Museum says it fired three employees after they violated its updated dress code by wearing keffiyeh head scarves, which have become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Last month, the art museum — founded by Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi — announced a policy prohibiting employees from wearing anything that expressed “political messages, slogans or symbols.”

“While we understand that the intention behind wearing this garment was to express personal views, we recognize that such expressions can unintentionally alienate segments of our diverse visitorship,” it says in a statement.

Natalie Cappellini, one of the three gallery attendants who was fired, takes to Instagram to say the museum leadership is weaponizing the term “political” against the Palestinian cause.

Reuters is unable to reach the other two fired employees.

Smotrich said set to propose shuttering 5 ministries in effort to curb deficit spending

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will propose closing five government ministries as part of a Treasury plan set to be unveiled in the coming days to get Israel’s ballooning deficit spending in check amid the continued economic strains of the ongoing war, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

According to the report, Smotrich will propose that each of the coalition’s five parties offer to close one of the ministries they hold, though officials at the Finance Ministry have recommended that twice that number be shuttered.

The report adds that the move is an effort to tamp down criticism after Smotrich’s recent budget proposal did not include the closing of ministries seen as superfluous or cuts to coalition spending, and also says it’s meant to quiet opposition from the Histadrut labor federation.

UNRWA says 6 staffers killed in Nuseirat, where IDF struck Hamas operatives in school

The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says six staffers were killed in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking what it says is the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.

There is no immediate comment to UNRWA’s statement from the Israel Defense Forces, which earlier said it struck Hamas operatives at a command room embedded within a UN school in Nuseirat that is being used as a shelter.

Far-right MK confronts wounded terrorist in hospital bed: ‘We’ll make sure they kill you’

Far-right MK Zvi Sukkot is seen threatening a Palestinian terrorist in his hospital bed on September 11, 2024 (Screencapture X: used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Far-right MK Zvi Succot burst into a hospital room where a wounded terrorist was being treated and told the man he would work to have him put to death.

Succot, of the Religious Zionism party, was at Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek hospital when he learned that the Palestinian who carried out a deadly truck-ramming attack earlier in the day at a West Bank bus stop was being treated there.

Succot entered the room and told the man, “We’ll make sure they kill you. The State of Israel will kill you. We will pass a law to kill you.”

He is then escorted out of the room by a soldier.

Succot posts a video of the incident on X.

בעת ביקור בבית החולים שערי צדק גיליתי במקרה שמאושפז שם לא אחר מהמחבל שביצע את הפיגוע הקשה בגבעת אסף.
זה מה שהיה חשוב לי להגיד לנאצי הזה: pic.twitter.com/3byCWrQrG8

— צבי סוכות (@tzvisuccot) September 11, 2024

Several far-right and right-wing lawmakers have been pressing for Israel to implement the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.

The attack, in which the assailant drove his fuel tanker at speed into an IDF guard post next to the bus stop, killed Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the northern city of Nof Hagalil.

The attacker was shot and wounded by soldiers and an armed civilian.