A plea to the prime minister: Heed the lessons of our history in this land, and pull back from the brink

You may consider this appeal itself divisive and unjustified, but do internalize that many fine, patriotic and responsible Israelis feel this way.

By David Horovitz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) attends the graduation ceremony of an IDF officers’ course in southern Israel, June 25, 2026. (Flash90)

Hear this, you rulers of the House of Jacob, You chiefs of the House of Israel, Who detest justice And make crooked all that is straight, Who build Zion with crime, Jerusalem with iniquity!

Her rulers judge for gifts, Her priests give rulings for a fee, And her prophets divine for pay; Yet they rely upon GOD, saying, “GOD is in our midst; No calamity shall overtake us.”

Assuredly, because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.

Naftali Bennett: This Existential Moment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_OJBml2jVM

Israel autoriza 34 nuevas comunidades en Cisjordania.

El gabinete de seguridad de Israel aprobó discretamente el establecimiento de 34 nuevas comunidades israelíes en Judea y Samaria, marcando la mayor autorización única de nuevas comunidades en una decisión y elevando el número total aprobado por el gobierno actual desde 2022 a 103. La medida representa una aceleración dramática en la política de construcción israelí, casi duplicando el número de comunidades recientemente autorizadas y señalando una expansión estratégica de la presencia judía en todo el corazón bíblico de Israel.

Según informes publicados por primera vez por i24 y posteriormente confirmados por The Times of Israel, varias de las

Are we building the Third Temple?

Yes, Jews believe the Temple will one day be rebuilt – but contrary to viral conspiracies, Jewish tradition says we’re nowhere near building it now.

Thousands of Palestinians attend Eid prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem's Old City, marking the muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, March 30, 2025. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Now that the whole world is talking about the Third Temple in Jerusalem, let’s go there. I am a Jew, a Chabad follower, and a rabbi, so you can trust what I’m about to share a lot more than the conspiracy theories podcasters have tried to share in my name.

First, the old news:

El arqueólogo Gabriel Barkay, pionero de la investigación del Monte del Templo, muere a los 81 años

El descubridor de los rollos Ketef Hinnom y fundador del Proyecto de Tamizado del Monte del Templo fue una figura más grande que la vida que generó controversia, amó Jerusalén e hizo de la ciudad su misión

El icónico arqueólogo israelí Gabriel “Gabi” Barkay murió el domingo a los 81 años después de una larga enfermedad. Fue muy conocido por su trabajo pionero en el suelo del Monte del Templo y por su descubrimiento de uno de los fragmentos más antiguos del texto bíblico jamás encontrados.

Considerado por muchos como uno de los gigantes de su generación, la voluntad de Barkay de emplear métodos de investigación no tradicionales y su enfoque maximalista de algunas cuestiones al seguir la Biblia como fuente histórica también provocaron críticas de algunos eruditos.

Smotrich presenta plan para anexar el 82% de Judea y Samaria e impedir un Estado palestino

El ministro de Finanzas, Bezalel Smotrich, presentó el miércoles un plan para anexar el 82% de Judea y Samaria, a pesar de la advertencia de Emiratos Árabes Unidos de que la medida significaría el fin de la integración de Israel en Medio Oriente, informó The Times of Israel.

El plan, presentado junto con un mapa de las fronteras, es la expresión más concreta hasta la fecha del creciente impulso del gobierno de derecha del primer ministro Benjamín Netanyahu para aplicar la soberanía israelí sobre Judea y Samaria en respuesta al plan de varios países occidentales de reconocer un Estado palestino.

Smotrich y otros defensores de la anexión israelí del territorio afirman que ha llegado su momento, a pesar de las advertencias internacionales en contra de tal medida. “El amplio consenso sobre la soberanía es resultado directo de la profunda comprensión de que nunca podemos permitir que una amenaza existencial se establezca entre nosotros, y tras décadas de vacilación, es hora de

Is the government using the housing crisis to drive the settlement movement?

As home ownership inside the State of Israel climbs out of reach, Israelis flock to West Bank settlements — and receive generous government support.

By Ariela Karmel

Aerial view of Ma'ale Adumim, a West Bank settlement outside of Jerusalem, February 25, 2025. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)

When Tova Dvorin moved to the West Bank settlement of Ariel from Jerusalem in 2013, she didn’t anticipate that she’d be living there 12 years later.

“We originally came for my husband’s physical therapy studies at the university. I thought it would be temporary,” said Dovrin, a 35-year-old mother of three, as she sipped her iced coffee at a quiet cafe in Ariel on an unseasonably warm May day.

In the West Bank, settler harassment swiftly uproots a Bedouin hamlet

Entire community of Maghar al-Deir flees within days after Israelis set up shepherding outpost 100 meters from homes and begin intimidating residents, amid ongoing campaign.

By Nurit Yohanan

Palestinian residents of Maghar al-Deir pack up belongings as they flee the West Bank village on May 22, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

One Sunday earlier this month, settlers began showing up at Ahmad Malihaat’s village. Four days later, Malihaat and the rest of the small hamlet of Maghar al-Deir were gone.

Video from the day the settlers arrived, May 18, shows a group of young men sporting the long hair and sidelocks typical of extremist settler youth drilling a post hole into the rocky earth near the village, situated a few kilometers east of Ramallah.

New film shows how escapees from 1st Nazi death camp revealed Final Solution to the world

Screening in NY to mark Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, director Lior Geller’s ‘The World Will Tremble’ tells true story of daring revelation of plan to exterminate world Jewry.

By Rich Tenorio

Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Solomon Wiener, left, and Jeremy Neumark Jones as Michael Podchlebnik in 'The World Will Tremble' by Israeli director Lior Geller. (Courtesy)

Inside a German military truck, soldiers guard a group of Jewish forced laborers en route to a grim task: The burial of the latest Jews gassed to death by the Nazis in a village in occupied Poland known as Chelmno.

Two Jews in the truck — Solomon Wiener and Michael Podchlebnik, both hailing from nearby villages — are planning to escape. They aim to let the world know about the unimaginable horrors occurring at this secret Nazi death camp, the first on a list that will also include such places as Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor. 

Israel approves plan to ‘conquer Gaza’ as Smotrich claims territory won’t be returned in any deal

Chief of Staff warned of the dangers that hostages could be "lost".

By JN Reporter

In the belly of the beast: Israeli captive Arbel Yehoud, 29, who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as she is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis

In an operation dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, Israel’s security cabinet has unanimously backed a plan to broaden the military offensive against Hamas by relocating the civilian population and “conquer Gaza”, despite warnings from the chief of staff that it could lead to the remaining hostages being “lost”.

An Israeli official quoted by the Times of Israel said the plan provided for the “conquering of Gaza and holding the territories.” The official said it would see the IDF take control of territory in Gaza, move the civilian population toward the south, attack Hamas and prevent the terror group from taking control of humanitarian aid.

Failure and slaughter: IDF’s Be’eri probe shows army’s colossal errors, residents’ bravery

Investigation into Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of kibbutz, where 101 civilians and 31 security personnel died, finds disastrous response by military amid battle against hundreds of terrorists.

By Emanuel Fabian

CCTV footage shows the early moments of the attack carried out by Hamas on Kibbutz Be'eri, as well as the taking of Kibbutz members as hostages, on October 7, 2023 (Social media/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law); Scenes showing the destruction left across the Kibbutz premises, as seen on November 16, 2023 (Leo Ramirez/AFPTV/AFP)

On the morning of October 7, 2023, hundreds of terrorists swarmed into the unsuspecting Gaza border community of Kibbutz Be’eri, in what would become one of the deadliest killing grounds amid the Hamas-led terror onslaught, and the worst attack on a single community.

Farewell Herzi Halevi, uniformed embodiment of our national tragedy, leader of the fightback

A resilient and decent man, he knows nothing will ever obscure the catastrophic consequence of the IDF’s failure, under his command, to give even minimal credence to the evidence that Hamas was preparing to invade.

By David Horovitz

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi attends a state ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, October 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

This Editor’s Note was sent out earlier Wednesday in ToI’s weekly update email to members of the Times of Israel Community. To receive these Editor’s Notes as they’re released, join the ToI Community here.

So farewell, then, to Herzi Halevi, the IDF chief of staff on whose watch Hamas burst through Israel’s obscenely unprotected border to carry out the deadliest one-day attack in our country’s modern history.

Released hostages will be taken to hospitals in central Israel, do not need urgent medical evacuation

Top row, left to right: Released hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami seen on a stage set up by Hamas in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, before the terror group handed them over to the Red Cross, February 8, 2025. Bottom row, the three Israelis as pictured before they were abducted. (Eyad Baba / AFP; courtesy)

Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami are undergoing an initial medical assessment at an IDF facility near the border community of Re’im after being released from Hamas captivity.

Netanyahu’s offer to Lapid and Gantz: Early elections in a year’s time

PM wants opposition leaders to back his government through the hostages’ release, in exchange for holding early elections one year after the last captive returns.

By Shalom Yerushalmi

Head of the National Unity party Benny Gantz and head of Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid in a joint press conference at the Knesset. 6 November 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is offering MKs Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz a deal that would have the the two opposition leaders provide his government with a “safety net” to complete the hostage deal even if Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his far-right allies will leave the government, The Times of Israel has learned. In exchange, Netanyahu, Lapid and Gantz would agree to hold early elections one year after the day of the last hostage’s return, sometime around April 2026.

Why the law banning UNRWA might wind up benefiting Hamas

90 days after legislation was passed to outlaw an agency complicit in terror, and 2 days before it takes effect, Israel has not taken steps to insure it plays out as MKs intended.

By Tal Schneider

Israelis protest against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) outside the organization's offices in Jerusalem, March 13, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

The law prohibiting contact with UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which was approved in the Knesset 90 days ago, will come into effect on Thursday.

How Swedish MEP Alice Teodorescu Mawe became Israel’s most outspoken European ally

At home and in the European Parliament, the staunch advocate for Jews and Israel is leading the fight against overt antisemitism, as well as Jew-hatred masquerading as anti-Zionism.

By Batya Levinthal

Less than a day after three female hostages were released as part of Israel’s ceasefire and hostage deal with the Hamas terror group, Swedish politician Alice Teodorescu Mawe fired off a searing invective during a speech to the European Parliament that targeted the Red Cross and Hamas and its supporters — and she did it while wearing a yellow pin in support of the hostages.

“The masks have fallen from the so-called freedom fighters, who, together with many of those taken for innocent civilians, surrounded like hyenas the three young women who were taken from Hamas’s violence yesterday,” she said.

¿Construirá Israel su propia red de proxies en el Medio Oriente?

Irán dominaba gran parte de la región a través de sus grupos armados leales; tras el trauma del Líbano, Israel se alejó de ese enfoque, pero ahora se habla de alianzas con minorías.

Manifestacion kurda flameando la bandera israeli Foto Consulado Gral. de Israel

Los dirigentes israelíes han estado alardeando del éxito del país en degradar a los aliados de Irán durante los últimos meses. “Derribamos a Hezbolá, que se suponía que debía proteger a Irán”, dijo el primer ministro Benjamín Netanyahu a principios de diciembre. “Irán tampoco protegió a Hezbolá. Y ninguno de ellos protegió a Bashar al-Assad”.

“Simplemente partimos ese eje por la mitad”, agregó Netanyahu. Irán “gastó probablemente 30 mil millones de dólares en Siria, otros 20 mil millones en el Líbano, y Dios sabe cuánto en Hamás. Y todo eso se fue por las cañerías”.

Estos son los nombres de los 33 rehenes que serán liberados en primera fase de acuerdo

La unidad de coordinación de rehenes y personas desaparecidas del gobierno de Israel, notificó este viernes a los familiares de los 33 rehenes que serán liberados en la primera fase del acuerdo con Hamás, informó The Times of Israel.

Los rehenes que serán liberados en un periodo de 42 días, son los llamados casos “humanitarios”: mujeres, niños, personas mayores y enfermos.

Cabe destacar que Israel no ha sido informado de cuántos de los 33 rehenes están vivos. Israel recibirá un informe completo sobre la condición de cada uno siete días después del alto al fuego. Algunos informes de prensa no confirmados indican que Israel insiste en recibir primero a los vivos entre los 33 rehenes liberados.

El orden de liberación aún no se conoce. Se espera que las identidades de los que serán devueltos se proporcionen 24 horas antes de cada liberación.

With hostage deal, Netanyahu is going all in on Trump

The prime minister is risking a schism with his closest political allies to advance a deal with Hamas. He has good reason to think it’s worth the gamble.

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone with US President-elect Donald Trump on January 15, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

At the time of writing, the deal between Israel and Hamas for a hostage release and temporary ceasefire in Gaza has not, despite much fanfare around the world, actually been signed and sealed. Claims of last-minute demands from Hamas have prevented a formal announcement.

On Hamas’s side, the last hiccup seems to be the identities of some of the terrorist prisoners Israel will be required to release under the terms of the deal.

As European and Arab leaders rush to meet Syria’s new leader, Israel calls for caution

Ahmed al-Sharaa is hoping to convince the world that he’s left his jihadist past behind, but FM Gideon Sa’ar and other senior officials are not persuaded.

By Lazar Berman

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA shows France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (C) and Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) walking with Syria's new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa ahead of their meeting in Damascus on January 3, 2025. (SANA/AFP)

As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.