Israel News

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday wrapped up a major military exercise in Cyprus, simulating a military ground offensive deep inside Lebanon in a potential war against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.

The Iron Beam, a new laser defense system under development, will “bankrupt” Israel’s foes, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said after a visit to the project’s Haifa facility on Wednesday.

Israel and the USA this week pledged to continue coordinating their economic, diplomatic, and military efforts to block Iran from producing nuclear weapons, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. Israeli and US defense officials have met several times since the beginning of the Biden administration to coordinate efforts in dealing with the Iranian threat.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted air maneuvers over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday night, simulating striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

The coalition’s New Hope party is holding behind-the-scenes talks with the opposition Likud over options for a potential alternate government, Hebrew-language media reported on Wednesday.

Israel is launching its first-ever government plan to support the Israeli LGBT community, Newsrnd reports. Emphasizing security and the creation of equal opportunities for LGBT citizens, the program is part of a coalition agreement between the Yesh Atid and Meretz governing parties.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran on Tuesday of stealing internal U.N. nuclear watchdog reports under a plan to prepare ways of staving off scrutiny of its nuclear program.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi arrived in Cyprus on Monday night to take part in a joint Israeli-Cypriot military drill.

Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a comprehensive, “groundbreaking” free trade agreement on Tuesday in a bid to boost economic ties between the two countries, as trade hit about $2.5 billion in the less than two years since the US-brokered Abraham Accords were inked, according to recent estimates.

Israel on Monday issued a direct warning to citizens not to travel to Turkey, after Iran threatened retaliation against Israelis worldwide for last week’s assassination of a colonel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. Israel has not claimed responsibility or officially commented on the assassination.

Saudi Arabia is allowing Israeli businesspeople to enter the country with their Israeli passports after receiving a special visa, sources close to the matter have told “Globes.”

Israel is renewing offshore natural gas exploration and hopes to reach an agreement soon for exporting gas to Europe, Israel’s energy minister said on Monday.

An estimated 50,000 Israelis took to the streets on Sunday and participated in the Jerusalem Day flag march, an event celebrating the reunification of Israel’s capital city in 1967.

Hundreds of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, including special forces, headed to Cyprus on Sunday to participate in the final week of a major month-long exercise, simulating war against the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group.

Israeli leaders vowed Friday that they would not be intimidated by threats of violence from Palestinian terror groups over Sunday’s contentious Jerusalem Day Flag March, which will go ahead as planned through the Old City’s Muslim Quarter as in the past.

Israeli cities could be bombarded with 1,500 rockets a day, and the death toll could quickly reach into the hundreds should war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon break out, according to a military assessment shared Thursday.

The leader of Lebanon’s terror organization Hezbollah warned Wednesday there could be “a major explosion” if Israel’s Jerusalem Day Flag March passes through the Old City’s Damascus Gate and Muslim Quarter on Sunday, Ynet News reports.

Israel reportedly told US officials that it was behind the assassination of a senior member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps earlier this week, which was carried out in order to warn Tehran against the continued operation of an alleged covert unit the target helped lead.

The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday ruled against four Jewish teens who prayed on the Temple Mount, reversing a lower court decision, which Palestinians and Jordan claimed had legitimized the violation of the status quo at the flashpoint site.

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a Hamas finance official and a network of financial facilitators and companies that have generated revenue for the Palestinian militant group, the Treasury Department said.