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Bezalel Smotrich

Ilustrative: Offices of Discount and Hapoalim banks in the center of Tel Aviv (Miriam Alster/ FLASH90)
August 21, 2026, 1:11 am
Progress made in talks with Israeli banks to delay move that could collapse PA economy
Sources tell ToI that Discount and Hapoalim are likely to hold off on threat to stop providing critical correspondent services to Palestinian banks, following Western intervention
By Jacob Magid
View of the area of the planned E1 project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, seen August 21, 2025. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)
August 21, 2026, 12:00 am
EU said readying cross-industry sanctions against Israel over E1 settlement project
Brussels reportedly devised list of sanctions — said to cover academics, commerce and security — for use if construction begins in area seen as key to future Palestinian state
By ToI Staff and Nava Freiberg
Israeli settlers stand outside houses after the reopening of the settlement of Ganim in the West Bank on August 13, 2026. (ILIA YEFIMOVICH/AFP)
August 13, 2026, 5:56 pm
Families move into rebuilt West Bank settlement of Ganim, 21 years after evacuation
Some two dozen prefabricated homes installed, with construction ongoing; IDF carries out demolitions of nearby Palestinian stores and blocks roads to adjacent villages
By ToI Staff and AFP
Israeli soldiers seen on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, August 5, 2026. (Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90)
August 9, 2026, 5:53 pm
Netanyahu rejects Trump’s 15-point Gaza plan, insists he can stand up to US president
PM stresses Israel’s categorical opposition to Board of Peace’s deal that Hamas agreed to, saying IDF won’t withdraw from any part of Strip until terror group fully disarms
By Lazar Berman, Reuters and ToI Staff
Minister of Finance and Head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich attends the Religious Zionism party primary ahead of the upcoming general election, in Jerusalem, July 26, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 7, 2026, 12:38 pm
Smotrich placates coalition on Haredi draft, but pays a cost among settler base
After voting last month to keep ultra-Orthodox evaders out of jail, far-right minister risks losing onetime supporters who serve in IDF and bear heavy burden in wartime
By Reuters and ToI Staff
Protesters from the Arab-Jewish left-wing movement Standing Together block the entrance to the Religious Zionism party's office in Shoham, August 5, 2026. (Standing Together on X)
August 5, 2026, 6:54 pm
Left-wing demonstrators with ‘bloody hands’ protest outside Religious Zionism party HQ
Protesters from Arab-Jewish left-wing movement Standing Together block entrance to party’s Shoham office, accuse Smotrich of funding settler terror
By Sam Sokol
US bureau chief Jacob Magid appears on the Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
August 4, 2026, 2:08 pm
Daily Briefing Aug. 4: Banking on politics — Israel and the Palestinian financial crisis
US bureau chief Jacob Magid reports on Trump’s frustration with Iranian regime, Board of Peace disarmament talks, and a deep dive into the Palestinian banking crisis
By Jessica Steinberg and Jacob Magid
A woman walks near Tzur Misgavi, an illegal outpost in Gush Etzion, in the West Bank, November 17, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 31, 2026, 12:06 pm
God, land and politics: As Israel heads to elections, where do religious Israelis stand?
Bombastic, hardline politicians have become the face of the Religious Zionist community, but recent polling shows that while core beliefs are unchanging, the group is far from a monolith
By Rossella Tercatin
Police arrest an ambulance driver in northern Israel on suspicion of espionage for Iran in June 2026. (Israel Police)
July 30, 2026, 3:17 pm
Ambulance driver charged with Iran espionage, allegedly spied on Herzog and Smotrich
Prosecutors say Amir Hisham Mohammad Titi, 34, sent his Iranian handler photos of top officials on hospital visit, also documented former defense minister Gallant’s neighborhood
By Charlie Summers
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends the Religious Zionism party primary ahead of the upcoming election, in Jerusalem, July 26, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 29, 2026, 11:19 pm
Smotrich says he weighed quitting after Oct. 7, but ‘couldn’t find anything’ he did wrong
Far-right finance minister recounts opposing Israeli territorial withdrawals decades ago, appearing to repeat previous claims that they contributed to Hamas-led massacre in 2023
By ToI Staff
Settlements Minister Orit Strock at the Religious Zionism primary vote, Jerusalem, July 26, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
July 26, 2026, 11:07 pm
Settlements Minister Strock wins 2nd spot after Smotrich in Religious Zionism primary
Voting limited to far-right party’s central committee rather than full membership; hostage father Tzvika Mor set to be given 3rd spot on Knesset slate, one of two reserved for Smotrich’s picks
By Ariela Karmel
July 26, 2026, 2:53 pm
Daily Briefing July 26: West Bank clashes turn deadly
Settlements correspondent Jeremy Sharon examines Friday’s fatal gunfight near Nablus and how Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is fueling the rising tensions across the West Bank
By Gabriella Jacobs and Jeremy Sharon
Palestinian residents put out a fire after vehicles were torched along with homes in an attack reportedly by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Sarra, west of the city of Nablus in the West Bank on July 24, 2026. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP)
July 24, 2026, 11:19 pm
Settlers rampage across West Bank amid burial of civil security officer shot by Palestinian
Father of Israeli killed amid settler foray into Palestinian village calls on gov’t to build settlements in Gaza and Lebanon, as settlers ransack over a dozen villages, set fire to buildings and farmland
By ToI Staff and Emanuel Fabian
IDF troops operate at the scene of a shooting near the West Bank village of Tell, July 24, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
July 24, 2026, 5:52 pm
2 Israelis, 4 Palestinians killed in gunfight sparked by settler foray into Palestinian village
Palestinian snatches weapon of civil security squad member Benayahu Mellet, who had been called to the scene, before fatally shooting him and IDF commander Yuval Ezra, as six others caught in crossfire
By Emanuel Fabian, Jeremy Sharon, Nurit Yohanan and Lazar Berman
A Palestinian woman reacts as she holds the dust from the rubble of her house which was demolished by Israeli security forces, in the Palestinian village of Beit Awwa in the southwest of the West Bank on February 11, 2026. (HAZEM BADER/AFP)
July 23, 2026, 6:35 pm
West Bank demolitions far higher for Palestinians than Israelis in 2025, rights group says
96% of demolition orders against Palestinian illegal construction were enforced, compared to 20% in settlements; no Palestinian building permits approved, vs 27,350 for settlements
By Jeremy Sharon
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