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The Daily Edition

What Matters Most On Thursday, December 25, 2025

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A Hamas terrorist in a body bag is seen in Kibbutz Be'eri, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Golan: 'A desecration of the memory of the fallen'

Contentious law for politically appointed Oct. 7 probe passes preliminary Knesset reading

Opposition MKs removed from plenum during heated session; Lapid pledges to ‘not cooperate with this shameful farce’ as coalition calls to investigate judicial system, High Court

Bereaved October 7 families seen during a plenum session at the Knesset on December 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)

ToI podcastDaily Briefing Dec. 25: Day 811 – Initial Knesset vote on contentious Oct. 7 probe bill sparks anger

By Jessica Steinberg, Ariela Karmel and Sam Sokol

Australian officials examine a car bearing a 'Happy Chanukah' sign whose interior was torched, reportedly using a firebomb, in Melbourne's St. Kilda East neighborhood, December 24, 2025. (Screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Rabbi’s car with ‘Happy Chanukah’ sign torched in Melbourne, as antisemitism wave persists

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Vehicle was parked in heart of Jewish St. Kilda East neighborhood; no injuries reported; separately, Australian authorities charge man over online support for Bondi attack

US conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro speaks during Turning Point's AmericaFest conference in remembrance of late right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, in Phoenix, December 18, 2025. (Olivier Touron/AFP)

AnalysisBen Shapiro’s desperate stand against right-wing antisemitism is receiving major pushback

By Andrew Lapin

The US Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba sits docked during a visit with crew by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in Panama City, June 24, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool photo via AP)

After backlash, US Coast Guard again retracts policy easing rules against swastikas

By Andrew Lapin

Romi Gonen speaks to 'Uvda,' in a program aired December 25, 2025. (Video screenshot, Channel 12)

Live updates (closed)

Dec. 25: Former hostage Romi Gonen recounts repeated sexual assaults by captors in Gaza

IDF kills Hezbollah operative allegedly involved in rebuilding terror infrastructure * Katz: Israel will ‘never fully withdraw’ from Gaza

9:33 pm

Former hostage Romi Gonen recounts repeated sexual assaults by captors in Gaza
8:24 pm

Man seriously injured in car crash on Route 5 in northern West Bank
8:08 pm

IDF probes fatal shooting of Bedouin man during suspected smuggling near Egypt border

From Our Sponsor

Compassion in action: Yad Sarah brings hope to a nation in crisis

As Israel continues to endure and heal, Yad Sarah remains committed to standing by our people, providing vital medical equipment, transportation, and support in moments of crisis.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli at the Knesset on December 24, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In first, minister calls to ‘fully’ probe Qatargate allegations surrounding PM’s aides

By Ariela Karmel

Amichai Chikli and Likud MK Eli Dallal join chorus urging further investigation into escalating scandal; Lapid says Netanyahu’s chief of staff, set to become envoy to UK, must be checked out

Eli Feldstein seen at the Tel Aviv District Court on May 15, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

PM’s ex-aide reportedly feared he would be harmed if he named top official in Bild leak probe

By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

Reporter's notebook

Haredi rabbis push English-speakers to dodge IDF draft, worried they might join up

Ultra-Orthodox leaders hold event in Ramat Beit Shemesh taking aim at a community of immigrants thought more likely to enlist than other Haredim, drawing small crowd of protesters

English-speaking ultra-Orthodox rabbis hold an anti-conscription event in Ramat Beit Shemesh, December 22, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Bethlehem sees full Christmas revelry for first time since outbreak of Gaza war

By AFP

Hundreds parade down Manger Square, thought to be Jesus’s birthplace, as bagpipes and drums return to West Bank city, which hosted subdued celebrations as conflict gripped region

Pope Leo XIV looks on as he performs the Christmas mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on December 25, 2025. (Tiziana FABI / AFP)

In 1st Christmas mass, Pope Leo laments ‘rain, wind, cold’ facing displaced Gazans

By Agencies and ToI Staff

Palestinian parishioners check a recently installed Christmas tree after the previous one was destroyed at the Holy Redeemer Latin Church in the West Bank town of Jenin, December 23, 2025. (Majdi Mohammed/AP)

3 Palestinians arrested for torching Christmas tree at West Bank Catholic church

By AP and ToI Staff

In this photo taken July 5, 2014, a server hands a small plate to a customer from a variety of dishes on a food cart at Bo Lings Chinese restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP/Charlie Riedel)

Explainer

Merry Jewish Christmas: How Chinese food became a time-honored tradition for US Jews

‘Chinese food and a movie’ has long been the trope of American Jewish Christmas, as, like other minority groups, Jews have created ways to adapt to the societies in which they live

I was a Bondi Beach baby. It was our safe place.

From an optimistic migrant childhood to facing threats and communal loss: a life shaped by belonging, vigilance and resilience

Janine Muller Sherr

3,000 Jewish women raise the roof in Manhattan

The crowd celebrated with Bracha Jaffe and Ishay Ribo, and then went wild for Elitzur’s ’anthem’ of these hard times: Things will get better. Here, it seems possible

Shannon Cummings

What Christmas carols still tell us about Israel

The lyrics predate the creation of modern Israel by centuries, and yet back then, nobody seemed confused about where the story took place

Trump’s broken promise: From ’America First’ to ’America Only’

When nationalism fails to deliver its inherently flawed vision of belonging and self-sufficiency, the next step is obvious: Blame the Jews

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett arrives for a court hearing in his defamation lawsuit against journalist Boaz Golan at the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion, December 2, 2025. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

Israeli man charged with filming ex-PM Bennett’s home on behalf of Iran

By Charlie Summers

Rishon Lezion resident, who reportedly worked as a handyman at IDF headquarters, allegedly used dashcam to film doorway in Ra’anana, and was arrested weeks later

Defense Minister Israel Katz attends a conference of the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Katz again vows Israel ‘will never fully withdraw’ from Gaza Strip, eyes outposts

Days after walking back remarks on establishing settlements in Palestinian enclave, defense minister asserts he didn’t ‘reverse’ his position, still wants military pioneer sites

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan talks to journalists during a news conference following a meeting about Gaza with his counterparts from Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates, in Istanbul, Turkey, November 3, 2025. (Khalil Hamra/AP)

Turkey hosts Hamas officials as pro-government media casts Israel as ‘number one threat’

By Reuters, Stav Levaton and Lazar Berman

An Israeli Namer APC operates in the Gaza Strip in an image released on August 22, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel vows response to Hamas ‘violations’ after officer injured in Gaza blast

By Emanuel Fabian and Lazar Berman

Former hostage Segev Kalfon attends an Israel Hayom conference in Jerusalem, November 17, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ex-hostage Segev Kalfon: Leaders put war over human lives, I had to pay the price

Former captive Alon Ohel will perform in a one-night show on February 9, 2026, in Tel Aviv. (Courtesy)

Comeback performanceConcert of former captive Alon Ohel sells out in hours

By Jessica Steinberg

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar attends a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, December 2, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

‘Morally wrong’: Sa’ar slams countries condemning new West Bank settlements

By AFP and ToI Staff

Foreign minister says critical statement from 14 nations is ‘discriminatory’ against Jews and their right to live in the Land of Israel

A view of Esh Kodesh, an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, on December 14, 2025. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

14 countries condemn Israeli approval of new West Bank settlements

By AFP and Jeremy Sharon

A collage of screengrabs taken from a social media video showing a charred home in the Palestinian town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya, after an apparent settler attack, December 2, 2025. (X)

Palestinian home in West Bank burned, vandalized in apparent settler attack

By Noam Lehmann

Israeli police stand guard near the site of a shooting attack where two soldiers were killed at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, September 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel said to quietly return body of Jordanian truck driver who killed 2 IDF soldiers

By Noam Lehmann

Family of Allenby crossing attacker Abd al-Muttalib al-Qaisi says his remains were handed to Jordan overnight; military sources say body returned following government directive

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, on October 27, 2025. (Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)

Sa’ar again accuses PA of lying about reforms to ‘pay-for-slay’ policy

By Lazar Berman

IDF troops demolish the home of a Palestinian terrorist in the West Bank village of Bazariya, December 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF demolishes West Bank home of Palestinian terrorist behind deadly July attack

By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies

Baroness Ruth Deech. (CC BY 3.0/ House of Lords)

Interview'Being trusted is not the same as being accurate'

UK parliamentarian: BBC coverage of Israel is so ‘distorted,’ only bottom-up change can help

By Robert Philpot

Ruth Deech, who served on the public broadcaster’s board of governors, says staff have an ‘absolute obsession’ with the Jewish state, but little training or historical knowledge

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji speaks during a joint press conference with his counterpart from Egypt at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Cairo on April 22, 2025. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Lebanese FM demands full dismantling of Hezbollah’s military; IDF hits rocket sites

By ToI Staff and Emanuel Fabian

As Beirut moves to confiscate Iran-backed group’s weapons, Youssef Rajji calls Hezbollah’s refusal to give up arms ‘unacceptable,’ says Lebanon has ‘deep problems’ with Tehran

Rabbi Jacob Yisrael Herzog in Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, November 2021. (Courtesy)

Self-appointed chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia says he was denied entry at border

By Grace Gilson

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at an Israeli Air Force pilots' graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim Airbase, December 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel investing over $100 billion in homegrown arms production, Netanyahu reveals

By Lazar Berman

Premier says country will build an independent munitions industry over the next decade, ‘reduce dependence on all players’ after threat of arms embargoes, boycotts during Gaza war

Illustrative: The entrance to Army Radio's headquarters in Tel Aviv, June 2, 2023. (Omer Fichman/Flash90)

Army Radio staff claims civilian jobs frozen; Defense Ministry issues denial

By Stav Levaton and ToI Staff

From 'Stay Forte,' Doron Eran's movie about the three hostages accidentally slain by the IDF in Gaza on December 15, 2023. (Courtesy)

Interview'My war is to get it out in the best cities in America'

Israeli director sees Oct. 7 drama ‘Stay Forte’ as his personal war against Hamas

By Jessica Steinberg

Doron Eran says his fictionalized film about hostages Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samar Talalka, accidentally killed by the IDF, is his way of fighting denial of the terrorist atrocities

Mohammad Bakri, director of controversial ‘Jenin, Jenin,’ dies at 72

By ToI Staff and AFP

More Headlines

Imran Ahmed speaks onstage at the TAAF Heritage Month Summit at The Glasshouse in New York City, May 2, 2024. (JP Yim / Getty Images via AFP)

US Jewish groups defend European media monitors barred from entering US

By Andrew Lapin

Illustrative: Construction waste. (lusia599; iStock by Getty Images)

Environment Ministry inaugurates new facility for recycling building waste

The alleged conspirators in a far-left bombing plot in California, in photos released by US federal authorities in December 2025. From left: Audrey Carroll; Dante Gaffield; Zachary Page; and Tina Cheng-Ting. (US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California)

Ringleader of leftist group charged in LA bomb plot called herself ‘a Hamas fangirl’

This photo illustration taken in Washington, DC, on December 19, 2025, shows photographs the US Justice Department released from the investigation into the politically explosive case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)

After missing deadline, US Justice Dept. says it needs more time to release Epstein files

By Seung Min Kim, Eric Tucker and Michael R. Sisak

'Anne Frank: The Exhibition,' at the Center for Jewish History in New York City, January 2025. (John Halpern)

German painting of Anne Frank wearing keffiyeh sparks outrage

An artist's rendition of the planned building complex near Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market. (Ian Bader Architects)

In historic housing deal, American Jews buy two full apartment buildings in Jerusalem

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