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Tisha B'Av

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (C) enters the Temple Mount during the day of Tisha B’Av, in Jerusalem, on July 23, 2026. (ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP)
July 23, 2026, 4:40 pm
Thousands of Jews visit Temple Mount for Tisha B’Av; some pray openly
Advocacy group says over 3,000 people visited holy site on day marking destruction of Temples; Ben Gvir among the worshipers; Jordan blasts ‘flagrant violation’ of status quo
By Charlie Summers, Nava Freiberg and AFP
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray during the fast day of Tisha B’Av at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
July 23, 2026, 4:22 pm
At the Western Wall on Tisha B’Av, prayers for redemption mingle with hopes for peace
Worshipers say the annual fast, which commemorates the destruction of the holy temples, is shaped by visions of national unity and an end to years of conflict
By Zev Stub
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandoned airport in East Jerusalem on July 5, 2026. (ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
July 23, 2026, 1:02 am
Netanyahu promises to unite country in campaign video ahead of Tisha B’Av fast
After attacking rival Eisenkot with AI-generated content, PM urges the public to see beyond political disagreements; Religious Zionism, Yashar, Noam reveal new candidates
By Lazar Berman and Ariela Karmel
Screen capture from video of an ultra-Orthodox social media influencer speaking about preparations for the Tisha B'av fast. Bottom line of text reads 'in cooperation with the Haredi Authority in the Prime Minister's Office'. (Yael Zien)
July 22, 2026, 9:05 am
Prime Minister’s Office funding ultra-Orthodox influencers’ recipe videos – report
Video clips on what to eat ahead of Tisha B’Av fast carry caption showing they were made ‘in cooperation with the Haredi Authority in the Prime Minister’s Office’
By ToI Staff
In an address to the nation, President Isaac Herzog warns against violence surrounding the upcoming elections, July 21, 2026. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
July 21, 2026, 11:50 pm
Full text of President Herzog’s speech warning against violence ahead of elections
Addressing nation ahead of Tisha B’Av fast, president implores Israelis not to cross ‘red lines,’ law enforcement to act against all ‘internal and external’ threats
By ToI Staff
In an address to the nation, President Isaac Herzog warns against violence surrounding the upcoming elections, July 21, 2026. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
July 21, 2026, 11:50 pm
‘Elections are not a civil war’: Herzog warns of ‘dangerous violence’ at outset of campaign
In address, president pleads for civility, commitment to election integrity; noting Tisha b’Av fast, Herzog stresses past eras of Jewish sovereignty were destroyed by infighting
By Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff
Eight-year-old Charlotte Herzberg before she was killed in a car accident in June 2026 (Courtesy/Yudi Herzberg)
July 21, 2026, 4:19 am
A father forgives the friend who accidentally killed his daughter, inspiring others to reconcile
After embracing the driver who struck his 8-year-old, a New York dad launches a campaign ahead of Tisha B’Av asking others to let go of anger
By Zev Stub
The growth rings of the wooden beams discovered in the City of David, believed to have been burnt in 586 BCE (Efrat Bocher)
July 20, 2026, 1:55 pm
Rare well-preserved Iron Age wood said to offer evidence of First Temple’s destruction
Ahead of Tisha B’av, archaeologists announce discovery of beams charred from fires they believe were caused by razing of Jerusalem holy site in 586 BCE, likely kept as-is by returning Israelites
By Zev Stub
Illustrative: Jewish men attend a Passover sacrifice reenactment on March 30, 2015, in Jerusalem. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
September 20, 2025, 7:59 am
What do the Third Temple movement and Noahide laws have in common? A far-right vision
In her new book ‘Messianic Zionism in the Digital Age,’ Rachel Z. Feldman documents a growing fringe movement to hasten the messiah’s coming – and its incendiary geopolitical implications
By Rich Tenorio
Haviv Rettig Gur (courtesy) / Illustrative: Jews visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, on Jerusalem Day, May 26, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 5, 2025, 10:55 pm
What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: When Temple Mount prayer is a call to settle Gaza
ToI’s senior analyst on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s prayer-leading on Tisha B’Av, why World War III didn’t erupt and what the far-right politician hoped to gain
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Haviv Rettig Gur
Visitors look out at the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av, August 3, 2025 (Zev Stub/Times of Israel)
August 4, 2025, 4:17 am
‘The whole nation needs to feel their pain’: Hostages’ plight looms over Tisha B’Av fast
Amid ongoing war and deepening societal divisions, visitors to Jerusalem’s Western Wall sing, pray, and dream of a better future on saddest day of the Jewish calendar
By Zev Stub
Iris Haim lights candles on the sixth night of the Jewish holiday of Hannukah, during a Knesset ceremony on December 30, 2024 .(Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
August 3, 2025, 6:50 pm
Slain hostage’s mother says Israel should ‘surrender’ to Hamas to save captives
Iris Haim, who son Yotam was mistakenly killed by the IDF in late 2023, calls for end to war, says Israel needs to choose ‘whether we go to our destruction or revival’
By ToI Staff
Right-wing and left-wing activists protest and clash at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, ahead of the Jerusalem Day Flag March, May 26, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 2, 2025, 8:39 pm
Israelis lament, and cling to, societal divides on a holiday mourning ancient disunity
Increasingly riven by the ongoing war in Gaza, secular and religious, left and right are all mourning on Tisha B’Av – but for vastly different reasons
By Deborah Danan
A group of Jews stands on a balcony overlooking the Moroccan Quarter and the Western Wall, with the Dome of the Rock in the distance behind it. Circa 1920–1933. (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)
August 2, 2025, 10:27 am
Western Wall, 1929: A Tisha B’av protest is ground zero of the Arab-Israeli conflict
In an excerpt from her new book, ‘Ghosts of a Holy War,’ author and journalist Yardena Schwartz details a pivotal moment in Israel’s pre-state history and its haunting reverberations today
By Yardena Schwartz
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber in his office in Jerusalem on July 22, 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
August 1, 2025, 4:15 pm
In a polarized time, new chief rabbi envisions revamped Rabbinate with a wide embrace
From the Haredi draft to marriage and kashrut, top Ashkenazi cleric Kalman Ber says he believes love, unity and quiet action — rather than public fights — are key to lasting change
By Rossella Tercatin
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