HEADLINESNetanyahu vows buffer zones in enemy territoryUltra-Orthodox push to suspend draft arrestsNew York woman charged with funding PIJThe time is now 12:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.In Operation Lion's Roar, Netanyahu said Oct. 7 reshaped his security approach, defending buffer zones in enemy territory and promising a third strike on Iran if necessary to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. In a Channel 14 interview cited by Ynet, he said after October 7 he learned lessons and that buffer zones should be in enemy territory, not in ours. He emphasized that he has enormous appreciation for soldiers, commanders, and the security services, but what happened after October 7 reinforced that Israel is a state with an army. He noted that relations with President Trump are very good and, while focusing on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, he also described Hezbollah as a key link in the Iranian axis and said IDF troops would remain in Lebanon as long as Hezbollah poses a threat.In Israeli Domestic Politics, the ultra-Orthodox parties are using the dissolution of the Knesset and the upcoming elections to press concessions from the dying government. Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday called to advance a proposal to temporarily freeze the arrests of haredi draft evaders as the Knesset moved a bill to enshrine Torah study in a Basic Law. The bill would suspend arrests from a decided start date until the end of 90 days, and Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs, in a letter to the committee, argued that arresting yeshiva students who evade military service undermines efforts to enlist broader forces. In a separate development, Israel’s Public Defender’s Office warned in its 2025 annual report of a worsening incarceration crisis and a broad expansion of police and enforcement powers. The report notes the office represented 31,677 criminal cases in 2025, with 1,273 indictments withdrawn in magistrates’ courts, about 8.7% of concluded cases. It also highlights a High Court ruling that blocked consent-based searches of suspects’ phones without judicial orders, canceling the practice and related directive. The office argued that a suspect’s consent cannot substitute for a warrant. A new Central Bureau of Statistics poll shows healthcare and the IDF as Israel’s most trusted institutions, while confidence in government, the Knesset, and the judiciary lags. Health system trust stands at 87%, the IDF at 83% (92% among Jewish Israelis), with older respondents showing greater trust in the military. Trust in police is 55% and in the judiciary 48%; government trust is 36% and the Knesset 33%, underscoring broad political discontent, while ultra-Orthodox respondents rate courts at only 13%.In Antisemitism and Anti-Jewish Hate, a 37-year-old New York woman, Catherine Beth Washburn, was arrested and charged with attempting to provide funding to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the Department of Justice. Washburn is described as a leader of the Direct Action Movement for Palestinian Liberation, an extremist group founded after the October 7 massacre. DOJ says she conducted about 80 cryptocurrency transfers totaling roughly $30,116 to an account used by a PIJ member. In messages recovered by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Washburn celebrated acts of terror, praised PIJ terrorists, and stated she hates Jews “very much” and that she wished Israel “would disappear,” adding that she “wished every day were October 7th.” Separately, in New Jersey, Adolf Hitler appeared in the baby photos section of a Paramus middle school yearbook. School officials condemned the image, and authorities said an investigation is ongoing. East Brook Middle School said it is coordinating with law enforcement, removed the yearbooks from distribution, and is working with the yearbook company to find a way to redistribute after removing the offensive content while preserving students’ records.In Israeli Economy and Business, Naftali Bennett, as head of the Yashar Party, unveiled a plan titled A New Agreement on the Cost of Living aimed at restoring balance to the economy. The plan targets monopolies, import restrictions, and barriers to competition, proposing divestment of brands under monopolistic control and barring exclusive importers from distributing other major brands, with a goal of reducing food prices to OECD averages and saving a typical Israeli family about 8,000 shekels a year. Separately, the government announced a 1.6 billion shekel ($430 million) rescue package for high-tech and exporters to offset the rapid rise of the shekel. The plan includes about 1 billion shekels in fast-track grants to startups and growth-stage companies, support for manufacturers and exporters, workforce training, and tax incentives, alongside a government-led broader review of long-term competitiveness. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the Bank of Israel to ...
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