Israel News

The Israel Defense Forces has been on a training spree over the past month, holding several large exercises for its Ground Forces in the Northern Command, with plans to continue doing so into next year, following two years of relative stagnation due to a combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of a national budget.

In his first-ever phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett thanked the Turkish leader on Thursday for his “personal involvement” in bringing about the release of an Israeli couple arrested and held for over a week in Istanbul.

An Israeli man who worked as a house cleaner for Defense Minister Benny Gantz was arrested earlier this month for allegedly offering to spy on the minister on behalf of Iran, the Shin Bet security service said Thursday.

Charges that the Palestinian Authority was not doing enough to enforce law and order, amid increased scenes of anarchy and violence in some parts of the West Bank, emerged Wednesday.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield toured Israel’s northern and southern borders on Tuesday, with IDF officials briefing the envoy on the diverse array of security challenges posed by Iran’s influence in the region.

Elbit Systems and Roboteam have released the ROOK UGV, which will support infantry in a number of frontline roles.

A fortress from the Hellenistic period, destroyed and set on fire by the Hasmoneans, was unearthed during excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

The United States voted last week to abstain on a resolution concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the U.N.’s agency that handles Palestinian refugees—part of several resolutions put forth in the U.N. General Assembly concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that largely targeted Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met Monday with Rob Malley, the US special envoy on Iran, during the latter’s visit to the region, as the Biden administration works to coordinate with Mideast allies before the resumption of indirect talks with Tehran, aimed at reviving their multilateral nuclear accord.

The United States’ pandemic czar on Friday cited Israeli data as the proof that a third dose of the Covid vaccine is essential to curb the spread of the virus.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Israeli Ministry of Finance will work together to address cybersecurity and ransomware issues, officials announced Sunday.

The US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley is set to arrive in Israel next week ahead of the resumption of talks on the Iran nuclear deal, Hebrew media reported on Thursday.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled a family of new electronic warfare (EW) systems on Thursday which can combat a range of threats, including UAVs, ships, missiles and radar systems.

A US mediator has reportedly informed Israel and Lebanon that if they cannot agree to a compromise over a disputed maritime region, he will end his involvement in the talks.

Israel will hold a nationwide drill on Thursday to prepare for the possibility of future coronavirus variants, the Prime Minister’s Office announced, saying the exercise would be the first of its kind in the world.

Israeli security chiefs ramped up their rhetoric against Iran on Tuesday, with the head of the Israel Defense Forces warning that the military was ramping up its preparations for a possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Israeli military struck a number of sites in western Syria in a rare early evening attack on Monday, Syrian state media reported.

The Trump administration was “very close” to getting Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords last year, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who says the Biden administration has squandered the momentum to expand the historic normalization agreements between leading Gulf Arab powers and Israel.

The IDF began a drill in northern Israel on Sunday, as part of which reservists in the 36th Division, also known as the Ga’ash Formation, will be called up.

Israel will do what is necessary to protect itself against the Iranian existential threat, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Thursday, as world powers are expected to hold November 29 talks in Vienna with Tehran on the renewal of the 2015 nuclear deal.