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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Friday, December 19, 2025

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Pallbearers carry out a coffin after the funeral of Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed while trying to thwart the Bondi Beach terror shooting, at the Sydney Chevra Kadisha on December 19, 2025. (Saeed Khan/AFP)

Swimmers paddle out to sea to honor victims

4 more victims of Bondi Hanukkah attack laid to rest, including couple that tackled terrorist

By ToI Staff and Agencies

Boris and Sofia Gurman died ‘not just because they were Jewish, but fighting for being Jewish,’ says rabbi; ‘Charitable’ Edith Brutman, ‘gentle’ Boris Tetleroyd also memorialized

The victims of the December 14, 2025, Sydney Hanukkah terror shooting: top row (left to right) - Reuven Morrison, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Dan Elkayam, Alex Kleytman, Rabbi Eli Schlanger; middle row (left to right) - Edith Brutman, Peter Meagher, Tibor Weitzen, Marika Pogany, Matilda [last name withheld]; bottom row (left to right) - Tania Tretiak, Boris Tetleroyd, Adam Smyth, Sofia and Boris Gurman. (Composite: Times of Israel; Images: Courtesy/social media, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The 15 people slain in the Dec. 14 terror attack on Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration

Beachgoers are seen behind a piece of cloth bearing messages left by mourners at the promenade of Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 18, 2025, to honor the victims of the terror attack that targeted a Jewish community event marking the first night of Hanukkah on December 14. (David Gray / AFP)

Intel further confirms Bondi Hanukkah terror attack was ‘ISIS-inspired,’ says Australian PM

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Illustrative: Researchers search a burning house hit by an Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, on November 22, 2025 (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Live updates (closed)

Dec. 19: IDF says it’s probing Gaza City strike and regrets civilian harm after 5 reported killed

Army says troops fired at suspects on opposite side of Yellow Line, but doesn’t say how they posed threat in what appears to amount to ceasefire violation * Dermer’s departure creating vacuum impacting US-Israel ties

9:59 pm

US reportedly strikes Islamic State targets in Syria
9:56 pm

Stefanik drops run for governor, will leave Congress
9:40 pm

Rubio says immediate US goal on Sudan is cessation of hostilities into new year

Analysis

They came seeking freedom: Russian-speaking Jews bore the brunt of Bondi attack

Many victims of the Hanukkah terror attack near Sydney had roots in the former Soviet Union, a community accounting for as much as a quarter of Australia’s Jews

The casket of Holocaust survivor and Bondi shooting victim Alex Kleytman is carried out during the funeral at Chevra Kadisha in Sydney, December 18, 2025 (Dean Lewins/AAP Image via AP)

Police officers intercept two cars carrying seven men heading in the direction of Bondi Beach, Sydney, and detain the passengers on the suspicion that they were planning to carry out a "violent act" on December 18, 2025. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Australian police arrest 7 men en route to Bondi after tip on possible ‘violent act’

By AFP and ToI Staff

This handout photo taken and received from the NSW Premier's Department on December 15, 2025, shows Ahmed Al Ahmed, the man who tackled and disarmed one of the Bondi Beach terrorists, at St George Hospital in Sydney. (Handout/ NSW Premier's Department/AFP)

Australia’s ‘Bondi Hero’ handed check for $1.65 million collected from fundraising

By Reuters and ToI Staff

From Our Sponsor

Jewish Book Council presents Nu Reads, a curated bimonthly book series

Join a community of readers dedicated to Jewish stories. Use code HAPPYHANUKKAH at checkout for 20% off and learn more at nureads.org.

Palestinians distribute bread to displaced people in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, December 8, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

IPC monitor says ‘famine conditions’ over but Gaza food security still ‘critical’; Israel rejects findings

By Jeremy Sharon

COGAT slams ‘distorted and biased’ report, says 500,000 tons of food has entered Strip since ceasefire, well over the enclave’s nutritional requirements as stated by the IPC

Settlers enter Gaza on December 18, 2025. (Nachala)

Dozens of settler activists enter Gaza, plant Israeli flags in bid to resettle enclave

By Jeremy Sharon

US army personnel and other officials monitor screens displaying imagery of the Gaza Strip during a media tour of a newly established joint command center operated by the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) inside the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, on November 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

AnalysisAfter initial enthusiasm wanes, little progress made at Gaza truce coordination center

By AFP

France's human rights ambassador Isabelle Lonvis-Rome speaks to The Times of Israel in Jaffa, December 18, 2025. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

Interview

‘From the river to the sea’ chant is antisemitic, says France’s human rights envoy

By Lazar Berman

Speaking to The Times of Israel from Jaffa days after deadly Sydney shooting, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome says attacking Israel’s ‘existence’ is intolerable

French court jails nanny for poisoning Jewish family but dismisses antisemitism charge

By AFP and Zev Stub

High-level Mamdani appointee resigns after old antisemitic comments surface

Jewish organizations slam US Coast Guard for quietly easing rules against swastikas

By Andrew Lapin

Ultra-Orthodox protesters clash with police during a protest following the issuance of a parking ticket, in Jerusalem, on December 18, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Several arrested in Ashkelon unrest

13 cops hurt as ultra-Orthodox riot in Jerusalem; police use tear gas, arrest four

By Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol

Violence began after inspector issuing parking ticket was attacked by two young men, apparently draft-dodgers, who threatened to ‘slaughter’ him; Rioters also attack bus with soldiers

Shas MKs Michael Malkieli and Haim Biton visit ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers in military prison, December 18, 2025. (Courtesy)

Shas lawmakers visit draft dodgers in military prison, pledge to pass exemption bill

From the Blogs

Faith can’t be forced: The dangers of coerced Judaism

When the Knesset legislates religious practice, it not only harms Israel’s democracy but undermines the Jewish identity it claims to protect

A vehicle belonging to Israelis who entered the city of Nablus overnight, which was abandoned there, in the West Bank, on December 19, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Hasidic cult members illegally enter Nablus, ram Palestinian with their car

By Emanuel Fabian and Noam Lehmann

IDF says it detained several suspects who fled on foot after abandoning car in West Bank city; in separate incident, mentally ill Israeli extracted from Hebron

Tamar Noy, left, and Aviezer Silverman at the Melamed Lab in Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (Courtesy/Yosef Adest)

'Antibiotic resistance is one of the top health threats'

Newly discovered RNA molecule could lead to new treatments in war against ‘superbugs’

By Diana Bletter

As antibiotic-resistant bacteria threaten global health, Hebrew University scientists use innovative method to discover PreS, a ‘secret switch’ that boosts bacteria-eating viruses

Israel, a country of wasted abundance

The shocking amount of food that Israelis throw away reflects personal fears and policy failures

Adam S. Ferziger

Jewishness comes home to Jewish Studies

After years of prioritizing academic detachment, Jewish Studies scholars are rediscovering the power – and necessity — of Jewish community

Highest-level meeting of mediators since Gaza ceasefire

Witkoff to meet mediators amid frustration over implementation of Gaza deal

By Lazar Berman and Jacob Magid

Talks to be held in Miami with Qatar, Egypt, Turkey on transition to phase two of ceasefire; countries that brokered the truce feel Israel and Hamas both seeking to delay next stage

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attends a meeting with Ukrainian officials, November 30, 2025, in Hallandale Beach, Florida. (AP/Terry Renna)

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, December 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Trump: Netanyahu meeting not formally scheduled, but he’ll probably visit me in Florida

Military vehicles and equipment, parts of the S-400 air defense systems, are unloaded from a Russian transport aircraft, at Murted military airport in Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019. (Turkish Defence Ministry via AP, Pool)

Turkey said hoping to return Russian air defense systems to clear way for F-35 sale

By ToI Staff and Reuters

Jean Meltzer, author of 'The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.' (Courtesy)

Interview'I believe in the idea of connecting with your beshert'

Let Jean Meltzer’s new Hanukkah-themed romance put the spark in your Festival of Lights

By Rich Tenorio

The American Jewish author and onetime rabbinical student adds to the winter holiday canon with ‘The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah,’ the People of the Book’s answer to ‘A Christmas Carol’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh. (Collage/AP, AFP)

Exclusive

Huckabee holds rare meeting with PA official to discuss West Bank tensions — officials

Hussein al-Sheikh raises Israeli withholding of Palestinian tax revenues and asks for US envoy’s assistance in securing access to Jerusalem, Bethlehem holy sites for Palestinian Christians

This picture taken on February 6, 2023 shows a view of Tibbin dual fuel (natural gas and fuel oil) powerplant and Helwan Steelworks, in the Helwan suburb south of Egypt's capital. (Amir MAKAR / AFP)

Egypt says major natural gas deal with Israel is ‘purely commercial,’ not ‘political’

By AFP

Cairo approved agreement after weighing ‘economic and investment considerations,’ government media official says, stressing Egypt’s commitment to Palestinian cause

Danielle Pletka (courtesy) / President Donald Trump and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi hold signed documents during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, October 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

ToI podcastLazar Focus: Danielle Pletka on what Trump wants in the Middle East

By Lazar Berman

A vehicle is seen damaged, next to an ambulance, after a car accident in which Israeli singer Gidi Gov was involved, on the Ayalon Highway, September 15, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

With 443 fatalities, 2025 is Israel’s deadliest year on the roads in two decades

By Charlie Summers

Fatal accidents surge, with six traffic-related deaths in past week; police and road safety agency say they lack necessary funds, personnel to enforce traffic laws

Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official captured by Israeli naval commandos on November 1, 2024. (Social media)

IDF: Hezbollah operative nabbed last year was key to group’s ‘secret maritime file’

By Emanuel Fabian

Military says Imad Amhaz was member of Hezbollah’s coast-to-sea missile unit, involved in advancing classified project directed by former terror chief Nasrallah

This photograph taken during a press tour organized by the Lebanese army shows Lebanese soldiers standing atop a military vehicle in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on November 28, 2025. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

US, French officials press Lebanon’s army chief to hasten Hezbollah disarmament

By Reuters, AFP and ToI Staff

This picture, taken from video, shows a person walking along the coastline of the famed coastline of Iran's Hormuz Island's after the rain transformed it into a striking natural scene, December 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

Crimson tide

Rain colors the coast of Iran’s Hormuz Island crimson

By AP

Beach’s famous red sand, created by high levels of iron oxide, washes into the Persian Gulf following rare rainfall

More Headlines

Claudio Neves Valente, suspected in the killing of an MIT professor and a deadly shooting at Brown University. (FBI Boston)

Suspect in both Brown University shooting and murder of MIT physicist found dead

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and Eric Tucker

Illustrative: Prison guards operate in a special wing of the Damon Prison established for Israelis accused of spying for Iran, in the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, northern Israel, July 1, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Russian citizen in Israel on work permit indicted for spying for Iran

By Charlie Summers and Reuters

Illustrative: People hold a certificate after breaking the Guinness World Record for most nationalities in an exhibition soccer match organized by FIFA, in Rabat, Morocco, November 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

US Jewish legal group accuses Guinness records of consumer fraud for hiding ban on Israel

By Luke Tress and Zev Stub

Comedian Rob Reiner speaks at a ceremony honoring fellow actor Billy Crystal, April 12, 2019. at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Robyn Beck/AFP)

In recorded Hanukkah video, Reiner urges Holocaust survivors to be resilient in scary times

By AP and ToI Staff

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court, ICC on December 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

US slaps sanctions on two more ICC judges over cases against Israel

By Jacob Magid, AFP and ToI Staff

A 17-year-old suspected of taking part in a large-scale arson attack against Palestinians in the northern West Bank in November 2025, after being arrested on December 18. (Israel Police)

Police arrest third Israeli suspect, a teen, over arson attack in northern West Bank

By Charlie Summers

Seated, left to right, are billionaire Thomas Pritzker, former prime minister Ehud Barak and director Woody Allen, as magician David Blaine stands to the left and late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein stands between Barak and Allen, in an undated photo from Epstein's estate published by US Congressional Democrats on December 18, 2025. (House Oversight Democrats)

Former PM Ehud Barak seen in a new Epstein estate image released by US Congress

By ToI Staff and Reuters

MKs Limor Son Har-Melech (Otzma Yehudit) and Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) at the first meeting of the newly established 'Knesset Caucus for the Renewal of Settlement in the Gaza Strip,' June 18, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Far-right MKs Har-Melech, Sukkot set to take over Knesset panels vacated by Shas

Palestinians burn electronic waste illegally near Azzoun, in the Qalqilya Governorate, northern West Bank, November 24, 2025. (Sue Surkes/Times of Israel)

Katz, Smotrich declare West Bank waste fires a security issue, unveil emergency plan

By Stav Levaton

Iranian oil tanker Fortune is anchored at the dock of the El Palito refinery near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, May 25, 2020. (AP/Ernesto Vargas)

US imposes sanctions on 29 ‘shadow fleet’ tankers carrying Iranian oil

By Reuters and ToI Staff

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