The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.

9:31 pm

UAE foreign minister to visit Israel next week — report

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan will visit Israel next week to mark two years since the signing of the Abraham Accords, Channel 12 reports.

The foreign minister was last in Israel in March for the Negev Summit along with Bahraini, Moroccan, Egyptian and US counterparts, where they agreed to form a regional forum to discuss regional issues. This will be his first bilateral visit.

Bin Zayed will meet with Prime Minister Yair Lapid, President Isaac Herzog, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who continues to deal with issues related to Iran.

9:30 pm

Tel Aviv lights up to honor queen as condolences pour in

Tel Aviv’s city hall is lit up with the Union Jack to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

Laying it on, Mayor Ron Huldai says the queen was “among the most important and influential leaders the world has known.”

Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offers thoughts and prayers, while opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu sends condolences.

Elsewhere, World Jewish Congress head Ron Lauder praises Elizabeth as “an inspiration and source of comfort to Anne Frank in her hiding place in Amsterdam,” while noting the monarch’s visit to Bergen-Belsen in 2015 to commemorate its liberation.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburg, Prince Philip lay a wreath during a visit to the memorial site of former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen on June 26, 2015. (AFP/JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE)

“Queen Elizabeth’s refusal to flinch in the face of evil, but instead to fight it with every formidable fiber of her character, will be an inspiration for generations to come,” he says.

9:02 pm

Lapid, Herzog hail queen’s legacy

Prime Minister Yair Lapid sends his condolences to the British people and the royal family over the death of Queen Elizabeth.

“She leaves behind an unparalleled legacy of leadership and service. May her memory be for a blessing,” he tweets.

President Isaac Herzog, who comes from Irish stock, calls the death of the queen “the end of an era.”

“Queen Elizabeth was a historic figure: she lived history, she made history, and with her passing she leaves a magnificent, inspirational legacy,” he says in a statement released by his office.

“Throughout her long and momentous reign, the world changed dramatically, while the Queen remained an icon of stable, responsible leadership, and a beacon of morality, humanity and patriotism. In her life and in her service to her people, the Queen embodied a spirit of integrity, duty and ancient tradition.”

He notes that his father, Dublin-born Chaim Herzog, and mother Aura Herzog met Elizabeth II several times.

“Her fond welcome and warm hospitality left a profound impression down the generations,” he says.

8:56 pm

Israelis, others join outpouring of grief over queen’s passing

Israeli politicians and others are quick to tweet condolences over the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews says the queen’s “wisdom, benevolence and dedication to duty served as an inspiration to generations.”

Leaders from other former British holdings are also reacting to the death of the monarch, who ruled for 70 years.

8:36 pm

Queen Elizabeth dead at 96

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II waits in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral, in Scotland, September 6, 2022. (Jane Barlow/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II waits in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral, in Scotland, September 6, 2022. (Jane Barlow/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, has died. She was 96.

8:26 pm

Moroccan army chief, other foreign brass, to gather in Israel for IDF confab

By Emanuel Fabian

The Israel Defense Forces says it will hold a week-long “operational innovation” conference at the military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv next week.

The IDF says that military delegations from 25 nations are expected to participate, nine of which will send their military chiefs.

In a statement, the IDF says the conference will “enable the deepening of cooperation in the areas of strategy and defense, as well as for the expansion of in-depth mutual learning and international cooperation when developing and operating military capabilities.”

“The conference is an additional milestone in strengthening the cooperation between the IDF and other countries worldwide as well as for the creation of regional security and stability,” the IDF adds.

The nations participating include the US, Greece, Cyprus, Finland, Poland, Italy, Morocco, the Czech Republic, India, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Hungary, France Canada and Australia, as well as NATO.

Morocco is among the nations sending their military chief, Belkhir El Farouk, who hosted IDF chief Aviv Kohavi in the North African nation in July.

8:21 pm

Brother of Jaffa suspect arrested in West Bank — report

The brother of the heavily armed Palestinian suspected of planning a terror attack in Tel Aviv has been arrested in the West Bank, Channel 13 news reports.

Authorities believe the brother may have helped the suspect, from a Nablus refugee camp, sneak into Israel to carry out the attack, according to the unverified report.

8:06 pm

Israel won’t stand by while Iran cheats world, Mossad chief warns US

Mossad head David Barnea told US officials that Israel won’t twiddle its thumbs while Iran hoodwinks the world, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

Barnea presented “sensitive intelligence” on Iran in meetings with a series of officials, including CIA head David Cohen, FBI Chief David Wray, Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley and many others, the PMO says.

Barnea “emphasized that Israel cannot stand by idly while Iran continues to deceive the world,” according to the statement.

US officials promised Barnea that they are committed to Israel’s security and will not allow Iran to get a nuclear bomb, the PMO says.

7:51 pm

Gantz says Israel will step up West Bank operations

The army has set up checkpoints in the West Bank near the settlement of Ariel amid a search for additional suspects who may have been involved in a suspected mass casualty attack thwarted in Tel Aviv, Army Radio reports.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz says Israel will step up anti-terror raids in the West Bank and elsewhere, without specifically tying the effort Thursday’s alleged thwarted attack.

“We will deploy more forces and more measures, bolster cooperation among defense agencies, speed up building the [West Bank] seam-line barrier,” he says at a ceremony for outstanding officers.

“Just in the past week we prevented a number of attempts to harm Israelis” emanating from the West Bank, he adds.

“Where ever terror is not being dealt with, we will deal with it,” says the former general.

7:30 pm

Lapid looking for quick fix to West Bank tensions, vows ‘harsh’ response to terror

Prime Minister Yair Lapid says police prevented a “significant attack” with the capture of a Palestinian suspected of being on his way to carry out a terror attack in Tel Aviv, vowing resolute action.

“The state of Israel will deal harshly and uncompromisingly against anyone who tried to harm us,” he says in a statement released from his office.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Lapid met earlier in the day with defense and military brass at IDF headquarters to discuss rising violence in the West Bank. Police and internal security officials did not attend.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid, second from left, meeting with defense and security officials at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv on September 8, 2020. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

“The goal of the meeting was to look into tools which can immediately stabilize the situation in the [West Bank] and stop it from snowballing,” the PMO says.

Tensions have been rising in the West Bank in recent days, with an uptick in Israeli raids and Palestinian attacks. On Sunday, six soldiers and a driver were injured when the bus they were in was fired on in the Jordan Valley.

7:15 pm

Cop tells of stopping Palestinian suspect, despite no prior intel on attack plans

Sharif Hasson, one of the cops involved in the arrest of an armed Palestinian suspected of planning a terror attack in Tel Aviv says the man had “no chance to resist arrest.”

“We were in Jaffa, we identified a suspicious person, stopped him and while we were checking him he admitted that he was in Israel illegally, didn’t have any papers or ID,” he tells gathered media.

“He had a bag, and there was something metal poking out. The bag was heavy, really heavy. While checking the bag we saw it was a gun. We told the guy to get on the floor, that he was under arrest,” he adds.

He says the suspect was wearing all black, with a hat and a big bag, which aroused the officers’ suspicion.

“He had no chance to resist arrest,” Sharif tells Army Radio.

A police source tells the Walla news site that there was no specific intel on an attack that led the police to be extra alert, though there had been warnings about the suspect himself, who had recently been released from prison after being caught with a knife on the Temple Mount.

“A dangerous evening was averted,” the source says.

6:53 pm

Mossad chief meets top Biden official in Washington

By Jacob Magid

Mossad chief David Barnea met yesterday with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington, a White House National Security Council spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.

“Director Barnea has long had a pre-scheduled visit for this time,” the spokesperson says, seemingly pre-empting any possible attempt to tie the talks to the Iran nuclear deal.

He adds that the two discussed “a range of global and regional issues.”

“We appreciate our close consultations, as always, with him and other senior Israeli officials,” the spokesperson adds.

Israeli officials have stepped up contacts with American and European counterparts in recent weeks to weigh in on a possible revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

6:29 pm

Police to deploy in force across Tel Aviv to look for more suspects — report

Police are set to deploy additional forces throughout Tel Aviv this evening amid a manhunt for anyone who may have helped a heavily armed Palestinian man caught in Jaffa and suspected of planning a terror attack, Walla news reports.

Thursday night is among the busiest in Tel Aviv, the country’s nightlife capital, and a number of attacks have taken place in recent years targeting those out at bars, clubs and cafes.

Tensions have been ramping up in the West Bank in recent weeks amid an Israeli military campaign to crack down on terror activity, much of it centered in the northern West Bank.

The offensive was initially launched in the spring following a string of deadly attacks emanating from the northern West Bank that left 19 people in Israel dead. Authorities in the past have spoken of worries regarding copycat attacks during times of increased tensions.

6:17 pm

US says Ukraine counter-offensive making steady progress

By AFP

Ukraine is making steady progress with the counter-offensive it recently launched against Russian troops in the south, top US General Mark Milley says.

“Their progress is steady and it’s deliberate,” says Milley, cautioning however that it is “still too early” for a comprehensive assessment of how Kyiv was doing.

6:16 pm

Police chief says ‘large-scale attack’ prevented in Tel Aviv

By Emanuel Fabian

Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai says the armed Palestinian man arrested in Jaffa earlier was planning a major terror attack.

Shabtai says the suspect arrived at the scene with a loaded ‘Carlo’ submachine gun and two pipe bombs filled with nails.

The commissioner says the 19-year-old from Nablus admitted he was on the way to carry out an attack in Tel Aviv, and was looking for a crowded place.

“He was looking to commit a massacre,” Shabtai says.

He thanks the Yasam officers who “prevented a large-scale deadly terror attack” by noticing the man and questioning him.

6:08 pm

Austrian diplomat tapped to head UN human rights body

By AP

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres proposed Wednesday a veteran Austrian diplomat to head the global body’s human rights office at a time when it is facing harsh criticism from China for accusing Beijing of abuses against Muslim minorities.

The proposal of Volker Tuerk, currently undersecretary-general for policy in Guterres’ office, needs to be approved by the UN General Assembly.

Tuerk, who spent many years working for the UN refugee agency, would succeed Michelle Bachelet of Chile as High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva.

Bachelet’s term ended in August with the release of a highly anticipated report on human rights in China’s western region of Xinjiang. The report accused Beijing of serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups that may amount to “crimes against humanity.”

Tuerk can also expect to face pressure from human rights activists. Amnesty International’s secretary-general, Agnes Callamard, said he is being appointed “at a time of considerable threats to human rights around the world.”

5:51 pm

Police spokesman: Terror attack averted

Police spokesman Eli Levy says that police prevented a terror attack with the arrest of a Palestinian man in Jaffa.

Levy tells Channel 12 news others have also been detained as police probe the chain of events that brought the Nablus man to Jaffa as well as following other investigatory threads.

According to the channel, the suspect spent four months in Israeli prison after being caught with a knife on the Temple Mount.

 

5:41 pm

Meretz and Labor chiefs agree to Lapid-brokered unity talks

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Leaders of the Knesset’s left flank confirm they were invited to a meeting by Prime Minister Yair Lapid, amid public pressure from the prime minister upon the leaders of Labor and Meretz to run together in the upcoming November elections.

Lapid has said that it’s “incredibly important” for the parties to unite their slates in order to prevent either one from slipping below the 3.25% vote threshold to enter Knesset. November’s race is expected to be tight, and votes wasted on a party that doesn’t cross the threshold will likely cost Lapid’s bloc a shot at maintaining power.

Both Labor’s Merav Michaeli and Meretz’s Zehava Galon confirmed Lapid’s invitation to meet with Lapid Saturday night.

Meretz chair Zehava Galon and Labor MKs Erel Margalit and Merav Michaeli vote in the Knesset’s Finance Committee on June 18, 2013. (Flash90)

Michaeli, who has been the holdout, says she will attend, but did not indicate any softening of her stance. Labor has dropped from six to five seats in recent polls, skirting right above the four-seat minimum to enter Knesset.

“I received the prime minister’s invitation and of course, I’ll come with an open mind for a discussion on the matter,” she says. “The main goal is to prevent the return of a right-wing government.”

Galon, who recently retook Meretz’s reins after a break from politics, is polling between four and five seats and has been open to unification discussions since she was voted in as party leader last month.

“Of course I’ll go,” Galon says. “There might be cake and drinks.”

5:26 pm

Palestinian arrested in Jaffa was previously nabbed with knife on Temple Mount – police

Police say the armed Palestinian man arrested in Jaffa had been caught in April with a knife on the Temple Mount, according to Hebrew-language media reports. Such an offense would normally carry a lengthy jail term, raising questions.

According to unconfirmed reports also carried by some Hebrew media sites, the Nablus man, 20, admitted that he wanted to carry out an attack in a crowded area of Tel Aviv.

4:59 pm

Police suspect armed Palestinian caught in Jaffa was planning attack

By Emanuel Fabian
Police arrest an armed Palestinian man in Jaffa on September 8, 2022. (Israel Police)
Police arrest an armed Palestinian man in Jaffa on September 8, 2022. (Israel Police)
A makeshift gun found on a Palestinian man captured in Jaffa September 8, 2022. (Israel Police)

Police indicate that they suspect that the Palestinian man arrested in Jaffa with a firearm and two explosive devices was planning a terror attack.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, the man is from the Nablus area. Police say he did not have a permit to enter Israel.

Images circulating on social media and later released by the police show what appears to be a makeshift gun the man was armed with, rather than a Kalashnikov, as originally reported.

Police spokesman Eli Levy refuses to confirm if the man is suspected of planning an attack, but says “Yasam officers prevented a disaster today,”

4:41 pm

Police probing motive of Palestinian nabbed in Jaffa

An armed Palestinian man was arrested near Clock Tower Square, a major landmark and tourist attraction in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Channel 12 reports.

Police are probing whether the man had been planning a terror attack, or whether the weapons were intended for sale on the black market for use by criminals involved in non-nationalistic activity, according to the channel.

The arrest was carried out by the police’s Yasam anti-terror squad, according to Walla news.

4:30 pm

Palestinian armed with rifle and bombs arrested in Jaffa

By Emanuel Fabian

Officers have detained a Palestinian man in Jaffa, carrying a Kalashnikov rifle and two pipe bombs, police say.

The suspect, who apparently does not have a permit to enter Israel, has been taken for further questioning, police say.

The circumstances of the incident are not immediately clear.

4:29 pm

Pole-dancer crashes Labor presser held at converted strip club

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

The head of the Israeli Strippers Association is protesting at a Labor party press conference held at the former Pussycat gentleman’s club, charging that the repurposed Tel Aviv landmark has left her and fellow colleagues without a source of income.

“This is our place of work,” Efrat Rubinstein says. “They took it from us without any compensation… People have kids, how is it humane?”

Wearing a shirt emblazoned with the phrases “Sex work is work” and “Blow job is job,” Rubinstein says she came to the event in order to raise awareness of what she feels is discrimination against her profession.

Stripper Efrat Rubinstein, left, speaks with Labor MK Ibtisam Mara’ana at a Labor press event at a converted strip club in Tel Aviv on September 8, 2022. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)

Labor MK Ibtisam Mara’ana sits with Rubinstein, telling her that “it’s your right to do what you want, and it’s my right to worry about you.”

She is eventually forced out.

A dancing pole at the former Pussycat club (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)

Labor sources tell The Times of Israel that the party chose the unusual location for a campaign press conference to highlight its conversion from a strip club to a community center.

“It was a place that symbolized taking advantage of women,” party leader Merav Michaeli says.

4:11 pm

Israeli ambassador wishes ailing queen a full recovery

Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, says she is praying for Queen Elizabeth’s full recovery after doctors indicated that they are concerned for her health and family members rushed to the 96-year-old monarch’s side.

Israeli spoon-bender Uri Geller, who lives in the UK, is sending positive energy.

4:04 pm

Ukraine says areas near Kharkiv, Donbas taken back from Russia

By AFP

The Ukrainian army says it has recaptured nearly two dozen towns near Kharkiv and territory in Donbas and southern Ukraine, in a counteroffensive against invading Russian troops.

Ukrainian “military units have penetrated 50 kilometers (31 miles) beyond the enemy lines. During active operations in the Kharkiv area, more than 20 settlements have been liberated,” says senior military official Oleksiy Gromov.

Gromov adds that Kyiv’s troops have advanced “deep” into Russian lines and “recaptured several settlements” in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces had also made gains in the eastern Donbas region, including around Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, he says.

 

 

3:59 pm

Queen’s children on way to Scotland castle, as health concerns grow

All four of Queen Elizabeth’s children are either at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, or en route, the BBC reports.

The fact that the whole family is gathering around the ailing monarch, 96, indicates the seriousness of the worries around her health, according to the outlet.

Grandson Prince William is also on his way, though his wife Kate has stayed behind for their children’s first full day of school. William’s brother Harry and his wife Meghan are also on their way, Sky News reports.

Dozens of well-wishers are gathered outside the castle, says Sky.

3:47 pm

Southern towns without clean water for second day, residents say

Residents of southern Israel say they are on a second day without clean water, after issues were discovered during installation of a new water line Wednesday.

People living in Sderot, Netivot and a number of smaller communities near the Gaza border were told by the Health Ministry late Wednesday to run their taps until the water runs clear and to boil water before consuming it.

That came several hours after the Mekorot water company reported that the installation of a new water pipe had run into problems.

Mekorot said at the time that it would work all night to deal with flow issues, but as of this afternoon, residents say they are still without clean water.

“This is intolerable,” a resident of Kfar Maimon tells Channel 12 news. “If this was in Tel Aviv they would have fixed it in an hour.”

3:15 pm

Gas extraction at disputed Karish field set to begin ‘in weeks,’ Energean says

By Emanuel Fabian

Greek energy firm Energean is expected to begin extracting gas from Israel’s offshore Karish gas field “within weeks” the company says.

“Energean remains on track to deliver first gas from the Karish development project within weeks,” it says in a press release.

The field has been at the center of a maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon. Recent reports and official statements have indicated that the sides are nearing an agreement after over a year of off-again, on-again talks.

Energean’s floating production system (FPSO) at the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. (Energean)

The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, which opposes Lebanese concessions in the US-brokered negotiations, has threatened gas extraction installations moving into Karish.

In July, Hezbollah launched four unarmed drones toward the gas field, which were downed by the Israeli military. And last month, the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned that “any arm” it sees as reaching to steal Lebanon’s wealth “will be cut off.”

2:45 pm

Doctors for British queen ‘concerned for her health’

Queen Elizabeth II looks on during a visit to officially open the new building at Thames Hospice, Maidenhead, Berkshire, July 15, 2022. (Kirsty O'Connor/Pool Photo via AP)
Queen Elizabeth II looks on during a visit to officially open the new building at Thames Hospice, Maidenhead, Berkshire, July 15, 2022. (Kirsty O'Connor/Pool Photo via AP)

Doctors for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth are “concerned for Her Majesty’s health,” Buckingham Palace says.

She has been placed under medical supervision at Balmoral, Scotland, where she is summering. She has been suffering mobility issues amid reports of declining health in recent months.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, left, welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government, Sept. 6, 2022. (Jane Barlow/Pool Photo via AP)

“The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral,” Buckingham Palace says.

British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who met Elizabeth on Tuesday as she was appointed premier, says her thoughts are with the monarch.

Sky News reports that Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Bowles are on their way to Balmoral, along with grandson Prince William.

Charles is next in line for the throne.

2:35 pm

Sex offender rabbi who spent years on run okayed to fly to Uman

A Jerusalem court has okayed felon Eliezer Berland, a convicted sex offender who once spent several years on the lam overseas, to fly to Ukraine for a pilgrimage over the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

Berland, the head of the Shuvu Bonim cult, was most recently released from prison in December after serving part of an 18-month sentence for defrauding sick and elderly followers out of millions of shekels.

Before that, he spent three years on the run in Europe and Africa to escape allegations of sex offenses. He was captured in 2016 and convicted on two counts of indecent acts and one case of assault.

He has been linked to suspects arrested last year for their alleged involvement in a 35-year-old murder case, and a judge said last year that he had implicated himself in the crime, but the rabbi, 83, has not been charged.

Rabbi Eliezer Berland arrives for a court hearing in Jerusalem, November 2, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Berland will be allowed to fly to Uman, site of the grave of Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, in exchange for a bond of NIS 650,000 ($190,000) to be with the court, the Walla news site reports. Hundreds of Berland’s followers are expected to make the trip with him, the site says.

Israel, Ukraine and the US have urged pilgrims to avoid travel to Uman due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The pilgrimage generally draws tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims, mainly Hasidim, for Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year — which is celebrated this year between September 25 and 27, and many are expected to make the trip despite the danger.

In 2020, Jewish pilgrims ignored official bans on travel due to the coronavirus pandemic and massed at Ukraine’s border in an attempt to reach the gravesite.

2:14 pm

Blinken makes surprise trip to Kyiv as Ukrainians press counterattack

By AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on surprise trip to Kyiv as Washington unveiled nearly $2.7 billion in new military support to Ukraine and neighbors to face Russia.

Blinken traveled in secrecy on his second trip to Kyiv since the Russian invasion in February.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, third right, arrives to visit a children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday Sept. 8, 2022 during his trip to Ukraine. (AP/Emilio Morenatti)

“The secretary very much wanted to come on this trip now because it’s such a consequential moment for Ukraine,” a senior US official accompanying Blinken says.

She points to Ukraine’s counter-offensive nearly seven months into the invasion, with President Volodymyr Zelensky announcing Wednesday that Kyiv had retaken several places in the Kharkiv region.

“All of the security assistance is trying to help ensure that Ukraine is successful in the counter-offensive,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“If they are, I do think it is very significant in terms of how the war moves forward.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, meeting allies at the Ramstein base in Germany, announces another $675 million in military assistance that includes more arms, ammunition and supplies for Himars, the precision-guided rockets that can hit targets as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) away and have been credited with helping put Russian forces on the defensive.

In addition, Blinken approves $2 billion in foreign military financing, a program in which the United States offers loans or grants to other nations to buy US-produced weapons.

Half of the new $2 billion package will go to Ukraine and the rest to 18 other nations seen as under threat from Russia, another State Department official says.

2:12 pm

Shin Bet foiled hundreds of terror attacks in last year, Lapid says

By Emanuel Fabian

The Shin Bet security service thwarted hundreds of terror attacks this year, Prime Minister Yair Lapid says at an awards ceremony for the organization’s agents who excelled in intelligence operations in 2021.

“The Shin Bet foiled hundreds of attacks since the beginning of the year. Shooting attacks, explosives, suicide [attacks], and kidnappings,” Lapid tells assembled agents and staffers from the Shin Bet and other intelligence and defense agencies gathered for the biennial event at the Shin Bet’s northern Tel Aviv headquarters.

Illustrative. IDF soldiers during terror suspect arrest operations in the West Bank, August 10, 2022. (IDF)

One operation recognized at the event involved the arrest of more than 60 Hamas members in a major operation in the West Bank in late 2021, disrupting alleged plans for major terror attacks “in the immediate term,” according to Lapid’s office. Dozens of weapons and explosives were seized in the operation, which sought to crack down on Hamas efforts to build a terror infrastructure in the West Bank, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

“Intelligence organizations from around the world come here regularly to learn from the Israeli Shin Bet how to fight terrorism and threats that no Western country faces. The advanced technology that is developed in the service allows the State of Israel to always be one step ahead of the enemy,” Lapid adds.

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