Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that Israel rejects President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza. 
He said the Israeli military will not pull back a single step until Hamas is stripped of every weapon it holds, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-rejects-trumps-15-point-plan-gaza-pm-netanyahu-says-2026-08-09/">according</a> to Reuters.
“Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting. “The military will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed … it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry.”
He had made the same point Tuesday in a social media post. Israeli officials have already shared their reservations with Washington. Netanyahu said the two sides are still talking. “They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us,&#8221; he said of the Americans.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-touts-a-historic-gaza-disarmament-agreement?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Touts+A+%E2%80%98Historic%E2%80%99+Gaza+Disarmament+Agreement">announced</a> the deal late last month and called it a historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and every other armed group in Gaza. The framework, negotiated with Arab mediators in Cairo and overseen by Trump&#8217;s Board of Peace, laid out a phased process.
Hamas would surrender both heavy and light weapons over several months, disclose the locations of tunnels and weapons depots, and allow a new Palestinian technocratic administration to take control under the Board’s supervision. 
Israeli forces would leave only after areas were independently verified as demilitarized. An international stabilization force would then work with a new Palestinian police unit to keep order. Trump said that the arrangement would finally stop Gaza from being used as a launchpad for attacks and give Israel the security it needs.
That second phase was meant to follow the October 2025 ceasefire, which covered the exchange of hostages and prisoners and brought a sharp decline in intensive fighting. The new document tackled the harder issues which were complete disarmament, Israeli withdrawal, and who actually runs Gaza afterwards.
The two sides immediately disagreed on the order of those steps. Israel insists on complete disarmament first. The plan describes a more deliberate process in which weapons are removed sector by sector and Israeli troops then leave those cleared areas. 
The Board of Peace has <a href="https://x.com/BoardOfPeace/status/2084333685869084696">said</a> Israeli forces will not withdraw beyond current lines until Hamas&#8217;s weapons are fully decommissioned. Nikolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace&#8217;s highest representative for Gaza, has met with Netanyahu repeatedly in recent months, most recently on Monday, when he pressed Israel to stop airstrikes and abide by the terms of the earlier ceasefire.
Israel has already changed how it operates on the ground. Attacks have been scaled back since Monday, when Mladenov met with Netanyahu. A source familiar with Israel’s position told Reuters the military is now limited to responding to only to what it sees as immediate threats. 
Approval for any remaining strikes was tightened so that the chief of staff must sign off rather than subordinate commanders, <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjoyhyjlzx">according</a> to Ynet Global.
The Israeli military reported <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-rejects-trump-plan-for-hamas-disarmament-2d1475cb?mod=middle-east_news_article_pos1">no strikes</a> in Gaza for six days as of Sunday. Netanyahu said the military will continue to act against threats to Israeli forces and citizens.
Hamas says it remains committed to the plan agreed upon in Cairo about ten days ago. Senior official Basem Naim told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-rejects-trumps-15-point-plan-gaza-pm-netanyahu-says-2026-08-09/">Reuters</a> the group expects the mediators and the United States to press Netanyahu and his government to stick to the plan and not obstruct it for internal political or electoral reasons. 
Hamas avoids the word “disarmament.” It describes the arrangement as handing weapons over for storage under a U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic administration supervised by the Board of Peace. Hamas also insists that implementation depends on Israel first meeting its own commitments, withdrawal and a halt to attacks.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu’s stand. “We went to war with a central goal: the destruction of Hamas,” he said. “The [military] cannot withdraw even a millimeter from the Gaza Strip.”
Netanyahu is under pressure on multiple fronts. An election is scheduled for October 27, and polls show him struggling to put together a ruling majority. His coalition partners have objected loudly to any concessions. 
At the same time the Trump administration has pushed hard for progress on the plan, treating it as a major foreign policy goal of the president’s second term. Relations between the two leaders have been strained for months amid differences over the Iran conflict, with reports of tense phone calls.
Israeli forces still control and have largely emptied two-thirds of the enclave. More than two million residents are confined to a narrow coastal strip under Hamas control, most living in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.

Hamas

Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s Gaza Plan: No Withdrawal Until Hamas Gives Up ‘All Weaponry’

Benjamin Netanyahu

foreign affairs

Gaza

Iran war

Israel

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Trump

President Donald Trump on Tuesday eulogized the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) as &#8220;the giant of the United States Senate&#8221; whose unwavering belief in American strength defined both his public career and his personal life, telling mourners gathered at Washington National Cathedral that the longtime South Carolina Republican &#8220;felt in his bones that our destiny is to win.&#8221;
Speaking before a congregation that included Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, members of Trump&#8217;s Cabinet and congressional leaders from both parties, the president remembered Graham as one of the U.S. Senate&#8217;s defining figures whose influence stretched far beyond Capitol Hill.
&#8220;The giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Nothing of consequence happened in this capital without Lindsey Graham knowing about it. Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it.&#8221;
Trump centered much of his remarks on Graham&#8217;s worldview, describing the late senator&#8217;s foreign policy philosophy as one rooted in projecting American strength abroad. &#8220;Above all, Lindsey Graham believed in a strong America,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;He had unwavering faith in the righteousness of American power and prayer. &#8230; He felt in his bones that our destiny is to win — and that his job was to do everything he could to ensure our enemies would lose.&#8221; 
Trump said that conviction motivated Graham&#8217;s 33 years of military service in the Air Force and Air National Guard, as well as his frequent overseas travel as a senator. &#8220;It was this conviction that took him as a senator to almost every country on earth, confronting America&#8217;s adversaries and standing up for America&#8217;s friends,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a testament to his towering impact that among those mourning him here today are leaders, presidents, prime ministers from all over the globe.&#8221;
The president also reflected on his unlikely friendship with Graham, recalling their bitter rivalry during the 2016 Republican presidential primary before the two became close political allies. &#8220;We became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years,&#8221; Trump joked. &#8220;I always cherished the memories of our golf games.&#8221;
Trump acknowledged Graham&#8217;s reputation as one of the Senate&#8217;s most hawkish members while framing it as an extension of his patriotism. &#8220;He was extremely hawkish. I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn&#8217;t like,&#8221; Trump said to laughter. &#8220;Only his true friends would understand that — but he wanted it for the good of our country.&#8221;
Fox News host Sean Hannity, one of Graham&#8217;s closest friends, echoed many of those themes during his own eulogy, rejecting criticism that Graham was a warmonger. &#8220;The truth was the opposite,&#8221; Hannity said. &#8220;Lindsey desperately wanted a lasting peace in the Middle East.&#8221; Hannity argued that Graham&#8217;s support for a strong military stemmed from what he called the senator&#8217;s &#8220;moral clarity.&#8221;
&#8220;He understood right from wrong, good from evil,&#8221; Hannity said. &#8220;He knew &#8230; there can be no path to peace until evil is defeated.&#8221; The longtime television host also reflected on Graham&#8217;s decades of military service, his devotion to South Carolina, and his friendship with Trump, saying the president had given Graham &#8220;the greatest gift of his life&#8221; by allowing him &#8220;a front-row seat at the highest levels of history.&#8221;
Graham&#8217;s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, offered a more personal portrait of the senator, reflecting on his deep pride in his family and the relationships that shaped him away from public life. She described him as more than an uncle or senator, but &#8220;the foundation of our family.&#8221; 
Roberts recalled how he became both brother and parent to her mother after their parents died, and said that despite decades in national politics, Graham never failed to prioritize his family, making time for holidays, vacations, graduations, hospital visits, and phone calls from home, no matter what demands awaited him in Washington.
The funeral concluded ahead of Graham&#8217;s burial in South Carolina, where the longtime senator will be laid to rest after more than three decades in Congress.

Services Held For Late Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham Funeral

Trump Honors Lindsey Graham: ‘The Giant Of The United States Senate’

Darline Graham

Darline Graham Nordone

Donald Trump

funeral

Lindsey Graham

Sean Hannity

Senate

Senate GOP

South Carolina

U.S. Senate

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

President Donald Trump on Monday brushed aside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s objections to selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying the United States alone will decide what weapons it exports. 
Speaking aboard Air Force One ahead of Netanyahu&#8217;s White House visit, Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while making clear that foreign leaders would not dictate U.S. arms sales.
&#8220;Nobody tells me what we should be selling,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Turkey has been a tremendous ally for me.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&#8220;Prime Minister Netanyahu opposes sending the F-35s to Turkey&#8230;&#8221;<a href="https://x.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not. Turkey has been a tremendous ally.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/8gSzavJ6Ce">pic.twitter.com/8gSzavJ6Ce</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2081797692389286004?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
Trump&#8217;s remarks came just weeks after Netanyahu urged Washington not to approve a sale, arguing Turkey&#8217;s increasingly hostile posture toward Israel makes transferring the stealth fighters too risky. 
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think they should be given F-35s or engines for their fighter jets,&#8221; Netanyahu said in an interview with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6400346259112">Fox News</a>. 
In the same interview, Netanyahu described Turkey as &#8220;a regime infected by the Muslim Brotherhood&#8221; and warned that it posed a growing regional threat to both Israel and the United States.
Trump, however, dismissed the notion that Israel&#8217;s concerns should determine American policy. 
&#8220;Turkey&#8217;s not a big fan of Israel. You know that, right? They&#8217;re not a big fan of Bibi,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;But they&#8217;ve been great for me.&#8221; He went on to praise Turkey&#8217;s military capabilities. &#8220;Very powerful country, by the way. Tremendous military. Very big military. Very powerful military. Has a lot of great equipment.&#8221;
The exchange highlighted one of the few areas where Trump has publicly broken with Netanyahu, continuing to pursue closer ties with Turkey despite Israeli objections. 
The proposed sale remains complicated, and certainly not final. Trump indicated during a July meeting with Erdogan that he favored moving forward, but the State Department recently <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-903578">informed</a> Congress that Turkey still does not meet the legal requirements necessary to rejoin the F-35 program.
Turkey was removed from the multinational F-35 program in 2020 after purchasing Russia&#8217;s S-400 air defense system, triggering sanctions under the Countering America&#8217;s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The State Department told Congress that American policy &#8220;remains unchanged&#8221; and that Turkey must resolve the S-400 issue before any sale can proceed.
The F-35 is widely regarded as the world&#8217;s most advanced operational fighter jet, and Israel is currently the only country in the Middle East to operate the aircraft. Israeli leaders have long sought to preserve that military edge by opposing sales of the jets to neighboring countries.
&nbsp;

U.S. President Trump Arrives In Ankara, Turkey For NATO Summit

Trump Won’t Budge For Netanyahu: ‘Nobody Tells Me What We Should Be Selling’

Allia

Arms sale

Executive

F-35

Foreign Policy

Global Politics

Muslim Brotherhood

NATO

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Trump Administration

Turkey

Happy Friday, folks.
Let’s check in on our favorite socialist mayor’s city. Shall we?
In the span of 24 hours, the terror sympathizing, Ugandan native took to X to proclaim that if landlords stepped out of line he&#8217;d seize their property, that his &#8220;talk with the people&#8221; (more like Hugo Chávez&#8217;s rambling Aló, Presidente) is dropping soon, that anyone sitting on a second home worth over five million dollars in New York City should expect a little love letter in the mail about their new pied-a-terre tax, and that HE HAS BEEN BRIEFED on the terror attack on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were stabbed with a screwdriver by a Muslim screaming &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
Be careful subscribing to his social media pages. You might get whiplash. Or have a heart attack.
But of course all of this comes as a shock to no one. This is a man who ran for office promising to come for pesky landlords’ buildings and squeeze every last penny from New York&#8217;s most successful residents. He is, by his own design, a communist cosplayer whose favorite new hobby is announcing “he has been briefed.”
The only shocking thing about a shocking week is that we&#8217;ve all stopped being shocked.
He <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DbLNFpFhBaP/?hl=en">spent</a> time at a a mosque earlier this year that has documented ties to an Iranian-government front, where the imam sang about &#8220;the killing of the infidels by your sword.&#8221; (Infidels, for those keeping score at home, means anyone who isn&#8217;t Muslim. So, most of his subjects.) He says, often and loudly, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, and that he&#8217;ll use his vast and terrifying mayoral power to have him arrested for &#8220;genocidal actions.&#8221; (He has no such power, and appears equally unclear on what &#8220;genocide&#8221; means.) This week he posted a moody little video branding the Jewish state as evil incarnate and urging New Yorkers to use &#8220;every tool they have&#8221; against it. He also declined to condemn the call to &#8220;globalize the intifada,&#8221; a rallying cry for violence against Jews and Israelis.
So no, my jaw did not hit the floor when a man took his wisdom to heart and stabbed a man on his way to synagogue.
Jewish New Yorkers are furious, and rightly frightened. City leaders used a press conference to accuse the mayor of &#8220;fanning the flames of hatred and division.&#8221; Which is exactly what he&#8217;s done. Even Hedge Hero Bill Ackman suggested the mayor take a little field trip to the Holocaust Museum, presumably so someone can finally explain to him what the word he keeps butchering actually means.
The <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/2080641750058639606/video/1">NYPD</a> has had it with the smarmball, too. Their relationship soured the moment the internet unearthed a video of Mamdani claiming the department&#8217;s boots are &#8220;laced by the IDF,&#8221; and they&#8217;ve been in full breakup mode ever since. President of the New York City Police Benevolent Association Patrick Hendry warned that the mayor&#8217;s rhetoric is pushing things too far: &#8220;When the mayor of the city is actively calling for demonstrations, violent agitators will assume they have permission to cause as much havoc as possible.&#8221; NYPD Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro put it more bluntly, saying Mamdani &#8220;acts like he&#8217;s leading a protest movement instead of running the largest city in America.&#8221;
Yep. And boy has havoc ensued. Because for the Left, violent protest is encouraged, excused, and practically canonized, so long as it&#8217;s done in the name of the almighty omnicause.
And Zohran, ever the multitasker, tries to hold every banner at once. He&#8217;s pro-trans, throwing pride parties at Town Hall and announcing a $15 million investment in gender-mutilative care (one imagines the imam was thrilled). He&#8217;s pro-&#8220;underprivileged,&#8221; except his rent freeze is quietly crushing the immigrants and working-class renters he claims to champion, who are now staring down record-high payments. He&#8217;s pro-Palestine, a cause whose governing authority executes gay people for the crime of existing, and he&#8217;s decidedly anti-America, a country he insists is starving its children while oligarchs run wild.
He’s doing cartwheels around these ideologies. It’s exhausting to try and follow.
But that&#8217;s who he is, and how he clawed his way to the top. A theater kid turned failed rapper who talked his way into Gracie Mansion and started acting like a warm and fuzzy dictator instead of what he actually is: the overseer of a five-borough sanitation budget.
None of his promises have landed. Bus fares are more expensive. Rents are up, not down; the city isn’t safer, it’s louder. But he will keep pretending to fix these problems after being duly “briefed.”
He’s a walking contradiction in a suit and keffiyeh.
Twenty-five years after this country buried nearly 3,000 people killed in the name of the very rhetoric Mamdani can’t bring himself to condemn, New York elected a mayor who sat through a call to kill the infidels and called it a privilege to be there. History does not usually repeat itself so quickly, or so loudly, but here we are. Ahlan.
Happy Friday, indeed.

Mayor Mamdani Commemorates America’s 250th Anniversary

NYC Suffers Under Theater Kid Commie Rule And No One Should Be Surprised

9/11

DW Opinion

New York City

Patrick Hendry

Scott Munro

Zohran Mamdani

The United States and Israel appear to be preparing for a potential escalation with Iran, as Washington surges military assets into the Middle East, Israeli cities reopen bomb shelters, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington next week for high-stakes talks with President Donald Trump.
The moves follow nearly two weeks of U.S. strikes against Iranian targets and increasingly aggressive rhetoric from both Washington and Tehran. 
While neither country has announced plans for a broader offensive, a series of military, diplomatic, and civil defense moves suggests officials are preparing for that possibility.
<a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-surges-forces-toward-middle-east-giving-trump-options-to-expand-iran-war-e5d627b1">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that the Pentagon has quietly expanded its military footprint in recent days, deploying special operations forces, fighter squadrons, aerial refueling tankers, and placing bomber aircraft on heightened alert. 
The Journal also reported that approximately 150 additional medics have arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where wounded U.S. service members from the Middle East are typically treated.
The buildup follows <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-will-never-recover-widow-of-u-s-soldier-killed-in-middle-east-shares-heartbreaking-tribute?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98I+Will+Never+Recover%E2%80%99%3A+Widow+Of+U.S.+Soldier+Killed+In+Middle+East+Shares+Heartbreaking+Tribute">the deaths</a> of several U.S. service members in recent Iranian attacks, including three troops killed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and another soldier killed in northern Iraq while attempting to detonate an explosive from an Iranian drone.
Israel has also begun taking measures that suggest officials are preparing for the possibility of direct Iranian retaliation.
Israeli journalist Amit Segal <a href="https://x.com/AmitSegal/status/2080643117569528009/photo/1">reported</a> that the country&#8217;s alert levels have reached their highest point, with the Israeli Air Force and Military Intelligence Directorate placed on heightened readiness. Home Front Command personnel have reportedly been told to expect call-up orders, while reservists and recently discharged soldiers have been warned they could soon be mobilized. 
Segal also reported that Mossad Director Roman Gofman traveled to Washington roughly two weeks ago to meet with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and White House officials.
Cities across Israel have begun reopening public bomb shelters. 
Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen announced his city had reopened all public shelters after a security assessment concluded that &#8220;the risk of missile fire from Iran over the weekend has increased and is no longer negligible,” reported the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-903421">Jerusalem Post</a>.
The southern city of Eilat also reopened shelters and ordered emergency personnel to remain prepared to open additional facilities immediately if needed. Israel&#8217;s Health Ministry reportedly has reviewed emergency hospitalization plans with hospitals nationwide.
Despite the moves, there have not been any nationwide changes to Israeli Home Front Command guidance.
The preparations come as Netanyahu is set to visit Washington next week for talks with Trump at the White House. 
In recent days, the president has increased his rhetoric against Iran, including pledging that the U.S. will seize Iranian assets to compensate for damages caused during the conflict. 
He also vowed to hold Iran directly responsible for future Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, warned that any Iranian attack on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz would result in U.S. strikes on bridges or power plants near Tehran, and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/23/trump-axios-iran-interview">told Axios</a> he is considering &#8220;a massive attack&#8221; that would be &#8220;bigger than ever before.&#8221;
Earlier this month, Trump publicly threatened to strike Iran&#8217;s deeply buried &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-is-pickaxe-mountain-and-why-is-trump-talking-about-it?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=What+Is+Iran%E2%80%99s+Pickaxe+Mountain+%E2%80%94+And+Why+Is+Trump+Talking+About+It%3F">Pickaxe Mountain</a>&#8221; nuclear complex, saying the United States had &#8220;eyes on it&#8221; and that it was &#8220;a possible target for a nice big fat shot right in the front door.&#8221;
The site is believed by some analysts to be among Iran&#8217;s most heavily fortified nuclear facilities.
Asked about Israel&#8217;s potential role in any upcoming attack, Trump said the Jewish state &#8220;would join in two minutes if I asked them to,&#8221; while adding that &#8220;we don&#8217;t need anybody.&#8221;
Iran has continued issuing threats of its own.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned civilians across the Middle East to stay at least 500 meters away from U.S. military installations, signaling that additional attacks could be imminent. 
Tehran has also warned that if Iranian oil exports are blocked, no country will be able to export oil safely, adding that the Strait of Hormuz &#8220;will not return to pre-war conditions.&#8221; 
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also condemned Trump&#8217;s proposal to use frozen Iranian assets to compensate victims of the conflict, calling it &#8220;an incendiary precedent.&#8221;
Despite absorbing 13 consecutive nights of U.S. strikes, Iran has largely confined its retaliation to Gulf countries hosting American troops rather than opening a direct front against Israel.
Tehran has struck Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan, all of which host U.S. forces. Although some attacks near Aqaba, Jordan, triggered Israeli air defenses in nearby Eilat, Iran has yet to unleash the sustained missile barrages against Israel that characterized previous confrontations.

Donald Trump & Benjamin Netanyahu

The Signs U.S. And Israel’s Most Punishing Move Against Iran Is Closing In

Iran

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s plan to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu came to a screeching halt and turned into a social media post on Tuesday night after he realized mayors cannot arrest foreign leaders. 
“My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here,” he said. “It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.” 
Mamdani then said that even though his administration does not have the authority to arrest Netanyahu, he wants “to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City.” 
Mamdani then called on President Donald Trump to execute the International Criminal Court’s warrant. On Monday, Trump said that Netanyahu will not be arrested “in any way, shape, or form while in the United States of America.” 
Trump’s comments came after Netanyahu&#8217;s office responded to Mamdani’s original arrest threat, saying, “The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis. Its bogus arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu was issued by a disgraced former ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, a few days before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public. It was a clear attempt by Khan to divert public attention and seek protection from scrutiny.&#8221;
“Instead of backing Khan&#8217;s criminal behavior, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York,&#8221; Netanyahu&#8217;s office added. 
The Israeli prime minister is <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/mamdani-arresting-netanyahu-visits-nyc-un-general-assembly/">expected</a> to travel to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this fall. 
While Mamdani focuses on condemning Netanyahu, New York City continues to face challenges with violent crime and the economy. On Monday, an anti-ICE activist lit an incendiary device at the entrance to the city’s largest immigration court. Months earlier, two men threw improvised explosive devices into a crowd of people protesting. The bombs did not detonate. 
Affordability — the centerpiece of Mamdani&#8217;s campaign — has also remained a major concern. In the last month, Manhattan&#8217;s median asking rent <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/13/us-news/nyc-housing-crisis-hits-defcon-1-as-rents-jump-to-more-all-time-highs/">climbed</a> to a record $5,295, an 8% increase from a year earlier. 
In his seventh month in office, Mamdani&#8217;s approval rating sits at under <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/zohran-mamdani-approval-rating-polls-popularity-32vr9jqhm">40%</a>. While Mamdani remains most popular with young New Yorkers, his popularity with baby boomers saw a large increase, from 21% to 35%, since he was elected.
Mamdani&#8217;s success has lifted the democratic socialist movement across the country with other members gaining traction. Two Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates recently won congressional primaries for U.S. House in New York City.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani Holds Press Conference At Deno’s Wonder Wheel On Coney Island

Mamdani’s Netanyahu Arrest Plan Goes Up In Flames

anti-Israel

A Brooklyn, New York, state assemblyman is calling on New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate whether New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani broke the law by threatening to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to the U.N. General Assembly.
In a scathing letter to the state’s top prosecutor, Democrat state Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein warned that Mamdani’s anti-Israel grandstanding crosses the line from political posturing into potential criminal official misconduct. Under New York law, mayors cannot simply order local police to arrest individuals without a judge-issued warrant or local probable cause. Because the U.S. does not recognize the International Criminal Court (ICC), and visiting heads of state enjoy absolute diplomatic immunity, Eichenstein argued that pressuring the NYPD to carry out an illegal arrest abuses executive power and threatens the independence of law enforcement.
“While elected officials possess the right to express their personal opinions, a public official cannot attempt to leverage their executive authority to direct local law enforcement actions against an individual based on personal, political, or ideological views,” Eichenstein wrote. “Furthermore, because the United States is not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), nor does it recognize the ICC, any ICC warrants carry no legal jurisdiction within the United States of America. &#8230; Under New York Penal Law § 195.00, a public servant who knowingly performs an unauthorized act, and misuses their official position to pressure law enforcement into making an arrest, may be guilty of official misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨Today, I asked Attorney General Letitia James to review if NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani&#39;s actions ordering a city agency to explore arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu violates NY state law. New York’s Criminal Procedure Law prohibits mayors from meddling with or… <a href="https://t.co/SBWlsWNEbv">pic.twitter.com/SBWlsWNEbv</a>
&mdash; Simcha Eichenstein (@SEichenstein) <a href="https://x.com/SEichenstein/status/2079300247017115774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“It is utterly ridiculous for the mayor of New York City to even suggest that he might have the authority to order the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu or any visiting foreign head of state,” CNN’s Elie Honig <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-legal-analyst-calls-out-utterly-ridiculous-claim-mamdani-netanyahu-arrest">pointed out</a>. “First of all, the mayor of New York City has zero law enforcement authority. He does not tell the Manhattan D.A., the NYPD, who to arrest, who to indict. &#8230; This warrant that we&#8217;re talking about here was issued by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, which we are not signatories to here in the United States. So, that warrant, issued by the ICC, has zero legal effect here in the United States.”
Mamdani, however, remained unrepentant. He <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu/">doubled down</a> in recent comments, claiming his legal team is actively exploring the city&#8217;s legal authority to potentially execute the ICC’s warrant when Netanyahu arrives in Manhattan.
President Trump declared that Netanyahu will not be arrested &#8220;in any way, shape, or form,&#8221; while Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman bluntly dismissed the mayor’s stunt as &#8220;clown&#8221; behavior. Local Jewish leaders and Israeli diplomats also slammed Mamdani, warning that his demagoguery actively fuels antisemitic hatred on New York streets.
Mamdani’s political theater looks even more absurd given the explosive scandal corrupting the tribunal he purports to enforce. The ICC faced severe backlash following shocking allegations that its then-chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/qatar-promised-to-look-after-icc-prosecutor-if-he-targeted-netanyahu-witness-claims">promised protection</a> by Qatar, which has hosted and funded Hamas, in exchange for pursuing warrants against Israeli leaders.
Reports reveal that Khan rushed the indictments just as serious sexual misconduct allegations involving a subordinate began to surface against him. Investigators probed audio recordings and evidence of a Qatar-linked intelligence operation designed to discredit Khan’s accuser by prying into her family background and attempting to tie her to Israeli intelligence. Khan allegedly used the pending Israeli warrants to pressure his accuser into silence, claiming any public scandal would undermine the tribunal&#8217;s cases.
Legal scholars have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-international-criminal-court-is-in-bed-with-our-enemies-and-its-time-we-clean-house">argued</a> these revelations prove the ICC is not an impartial judicial body, but an unaccountable political tool easily co-opted by hostile states.

Midtown Manhattan Buildings Evacuated After Collapse Warning

Mamdani’s Netanyahu Threats May Have Broken The Law, NY Rep Says

United Nations

Rahm Emanuel flew 6,000 miles to deliver a stump speech and billed it as a friendship. On Wednesday at Tel Aviv University, the former ambassador, mayor, and undeclared candidate for president told Israelis that the American relationship “cannot stand or survive as it has been,” then laid out his terms: cut the military aid, sanction the banks, accept the blame. He called it truth-telling between friends. Read it the way a lawyer reads a complaint, weighing what it alleges against what it omits, and it is something else entirely: an indictment of the victim, drafted for a jury that lives in New Hampshire.
Start with the premise. Emanuel says American policy stood behind Israel “without conditions, without demands, and without consequences.” That sentence cannot survive contact with his own résumé. He served an administration that clashed publicly with Jerusalem over Iran and settlements, and he watched another pause shipments of 2,000-pound bombs in the middle of a war to force a change in Israeli operations. Every American weapon Israel buys travels through the Arms Export Control Act, end-use monitoring, and congressional notification, the same as every other purchaser. The unconditional ally of Emanuel’s telling has been conditioned, lectured, vetoed, and paused for 50 years. He knows this. He was in the room for some of it.
Next, the charge. Emanuel told the Associated Press that Israel has been “reckless and careless” and accused it of “using food and medicine as an instrument of your military goals.” That is a war-crimes allegation, delivered in a pre-speech interview, unencumbered by evidence. Here is what he said, and here is what he left out. He left out that Hamas started the war by murdering some 1,200 people and dragging 250 more into tunnels. He left out that Israel facilitated aid into Gaza throughout a war against an enemy that hijacked the trucks on camera. He left out that the one sustained pause in assistance was an attempt to pry hostages out of those tunnels. A prosecutor who omitted that much from a charging document would be sanctioned.
Then the dodge. Asked directly whether Israel committed genocide, Emanuel answered that he is “ready to have that discussion” but worries the term is being politicized. Genocide has a precise legal definition: specific intent to destroy a people as such. A man with Emanuel’s experience knows the elements are not met, because a nation bent on destroying a population does not run humanitarian corridors into its territory or treat its patients in Tel Aviv hospitals. If he believes the accusation, he should say so and defend it. If he does not, the honest answer was available, free of charge, and one syllable long.
No is a complete sentence. He declined to say it because roughly half his primary electorate believes the charge, and he checked the polls before he booked the flight.
On the money, Emanuel wants to end American “subsidies,” so Israel buys arms under the same terms as every other trusted ally. Call it a subsidy, and you have already miscounted. The funds flow under a 10-year memorandum of understanding; the overwhelming share is spent with American defense manufacturers, and flagship programs like Arrow are joint American-Israeli developments that feed directly back into American missile defense. As for “every other trusted ally”: name the other one with a genocidal militia dug in on its border, a United Nations apparatus dedicated to its prosecution, and an enemy sworn in writing to its destruction.
Then come the sanctions, where the speech stops being wrong and starts being dangerous. Emanuel proposes sanctioning not only violent individuals, whom Israeli law already reaches, but also “companies and banks that support settlements.” That is the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions program with a federal letterhead. Punishing a bank for serving customers based on where those customers live is punishment by address, and everyone involved understands what the address stands in for. More than 30 American states have passed laws refusing to do business with entities that boycott Israelis, precisely because those legislatures recognized the address as a proxy for the Jew who lives there. Emanuel would write the proxy into federal policy.
His strangest passage is the one he thought was his strongest. “You’ve lost Europe,” he warned: Israeli scientists excluded from research networks, Israeli artists and academics shut out of exhibits and conferences. Every word of that is true, and every word of it describes discrimination, recited as evidence against the people being discriminated against. My organization represents Israeli researchers thrown out of international consortia for the crime of holding the wrong passport. Under American civil rights law, that is national origin discrimination, full stop. Run the substitution test. Tell Emanuel that Chinese scientists are barred from conferences because their government is unpopular, and he would call it bigotry and demand hearings. Tell him it is Israelis, and he calls it leverage.
He did not cite the discrimination as a problem. He cited it as ammunition.
To be clear, Emanuel gets one thing right. The Arab League’s 21 members have spent decades exploiting the Palestinians as a slogan while investing nothing in their governance, and his “23-state solution” at least says so out loud. But watch where the enforcement points. The Arab states receive an invitation to roll up their sleeves. Israel receives sanctions, aid cuts, and conditions. It is a plan that assigns the homework to 21 governments and grades only the 22nd.
Which returns us to friendship. Emanuel opened by declaring that a true friend tells the truth even when it is painful. Agreed. So here is one. A &#8220;friend&#8221; who arrives carrying a list of your sins, a catalog of your enemies’ talking points, and a demand schedule enforceable only against you is not being a friend. He is conducting a focus group. Fifty-eight percent of his party now says America is too supportive of Israel, up 13 points in 30 months, and Emanuel did not fly to Tel Aviv to reverse that number. He flew there to ride it. Popularity is a weathervane. He mistook it for a compass.
The speech was never for Tel Aviv. It was for New Hampshire.
***
Mark Goldfeder is CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and a law professor at Touro Law School, where he directs the nation’s first antisemitism law clinic. @markgoldfeder on X.

Laver Cup Previews – Day 4

With Friends Like Rahm…

Democrats

Rahm Emanuel

Tel Aviv

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed reports of a rift with President Donald Trump, saying their relationship &#8220;couldn&#8217;t be better&#8221; despite disagreements over key foreign policy issues.
<a href="https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/benjamin-netanyahu-war-iran/2026/07/07/id/1262083/">In an interview</a> on Newsmax&#8217;s &#8220;The Record With Greta Van Susteren,&#8221; Netanyahu said the close relationship between the two leaders has allowed them to speak candidly, including on issues where they do not see eye to eye. 
&#8220;He said it couldn&#8217;t be better,&#8221; Netanyahu said, referring to Trump&#8217;s own description of their relationship. &#8220;Friends can have agreements and disagreements.&#8221;
Netanyahu acknowledged that one disagreement involves the Trump administration&#8217;s consideration of selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Trump has said he would consider the sale while also moving to lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey, drawing concerns from Israeli officials.
&#8220;I think this is not a good thing,&#8221; Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader stressed that he has conveyed those concerns directly to Trump rather than through public statements.
&#8220;What I&#8217;m telling you, I say to my friend, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, in private conversations. It&#8217;s not that I&#8217;m hiding it,&#8221; he said.
Rather than viewing those disagreements as evidence of a strained alliance, Netanyahu argued they demonstrate the resilience of the relationship between the two countries.
&#8220;This is a real friendship, a real alliance.&#8221;
He said Israel remains deeply appreciative of its alliance with the United States, describing both nations as democratic societies where political disagreements can occur openly without undermining the broader partnership.
&#8220;We&#8217;re a robust democracy, too,&#8221; Netanyahu said of Israel. &#8220;I never lose sight of the fact that it is the ability to have disagreements that marks a free country.&#8221;
Contrasting Israel and the United States with countries such as Iran and Turkey, Netanyahu argued that authoritarian governments suppress dissent rather than tolerate open political debate.
&#8220;That&#8217;s not the American way, and it&#8217;s not the Israeli way,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Thank God we have our two democracies to continue the tradition of freedom and open discourse.&#8221;

Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump

Netanyahu Dismisses Trump Rift Reports: ‘Couldn’t Be Better’

Politics

United States

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ended a tumultuous week dealing with the war in Iran and negotiations with Middle Eastern countries by describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a &#8220;warrior.&#8221;
Flanked by his brand new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, the president spoke from Joint Base Andrews where he emphasized the U.S. relationship with Israel and praised Netanyahu.
&#8220;Bibi Netanyahu is a warrior, prime minister, and he should be acknowledged as that,&#8221; Trump said on Friday. &#8220;They should give him credit.&#8221;
The president&#8217;s comments come after a long week of disputes over the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States — a memorandum that caught Netanyahu by surprise.
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A U.S. official shared with reporters earlier this week that Israel had not asked for the final text of the memorandum before Trump announced it, but said that the White House had kept Netanyahu updated throughout the negotiations.
Just five days ago, Trump told Axios that Netanyahu had &#8220;no f*cking judgement&#8221; after Netanyahu ordered a strike in Beirut that could have negatively impacted the United States&#8217; deal with Iran.
On Wednesday, during the G7 summit, the president told world leaders: &#8220;Bibi is a good man. He gets a little excited sometimes. But we have an amazing partnership. We are the big partner and he is the very small partner.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s remarks come one day after Vice President JD Vance addressed those within Netanyahu&#8217;s circles who have recently expressed concern about the deal.
“You have seen people within Bibi&#8217;s cabinet have attacked the deal and personally attacked the President of the United States,&#8221; Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room on Thursday afternoon.
&#8220;My message to them would be twofold,&#8221; the vice president said. &#8220;Number one: Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world superpower.&#8221;
&#8220;If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,&#8221; he noted. &#8220;And to some of these cabinet members in Israel who are attacking the president of the United States, the other thing I would say is that over the last three months, 2/3 of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.&#8221;
&#8220;The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump,&#8221; Vance added. &#8220;And anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.&#8221;

US-ISRAEL-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-NETANYAHU

Trump Offers Israel’s Netanyahu A Public Boost After Rocky Week

JD Vance

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing a new congressional resolution that calls for phasing out U.S. military aid to Israel and replacing it with a joint strategic partnership between the longtime allies.
The resolution, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) after a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week, <a href="https://stutzman.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-stutzman-introduces-resolution-transition-us-israel-relations">calls</a> for ending the current military aid framework and replacing it with expanded cooperation on defense technology, intelligence sharing, weapons development, and strategic planning.
The proposal reflects a position Netanyahu has increasingly embraced over the past year: that Israel should reduce its dependence on American military assistance and build a more self-sufficient defense industry while maintaining a close alliance with Washington.
“As I said in our meeting in Jerusalem on May 27, 2026, Israel deeply appreciates the financial component of the military aid the United States has generously provided us over the years,” Netanyahu wrote <a href="https://stutzman.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/stutzman.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/usa-rep-marlin-stutzman-defense-cooperation-1.6.26.pdf.pdf">in a letter</a> endorsing the legislation. “The time has now arrived for us to move from aid recipient to partner.”
Israel receives roughly $3.8 billion annually in U.S. military aid under a long-standing memorandum of understanding between the two countries. Most of that funding must be spent on American-made military equipment and defense systems.
Stutzman said the resolution would mark “a new era” in the U.S.-Israel alliance.
“Above all, the United States and Israel stand together against totalitarianism and for freedom,” Stutzman said in a statement. “We are bound by the shared Western values that built both our nations.”
“This resolution affirms that the United States stands with Israel not out of obligation, but out of shared strength and shared strategic interest. Israel has come of age where our nations should contribute equally and share results equally.”
Supporters of the move argue the current aid structure no longer reflects Israel’s military and economic strength, noting that Israel is now one of the world’s top arms exporters and spends a larger share of its GDP on defense than nearly every NATO ally. Backers also say the plan aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader foreign policy approach of encouraging allied nations to take greater responsibility for their own defense while maintaining close strategic partnerships with the United States.
Even U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a decades-long supporter of Israel, suggested this week that the future of the relationship lies beyond traditional aid, arguing that the alliance already delivers significant returns for the United States.
“Israel receives $3.8 billion but spends far more than that buying U.S. military goods,” Huckabee <a href="https://x.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/2061406904140845427?s=20">wrote on X</a>. “U.S. also receives intel, tech innovations so that ROI is many times more.”
He added that a future U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding could reflect that shift, writing: “New MOU w/ Israel ends aid &amp; will be based on trade.”
Israeli leaders have increasingly argued that dependence on foreign weapons shipments creates vulnerabilities during wartime. Those concerns intensified after the Biden administration temporarily <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-halts-weapons-shipments-to-idf-to-send-a-political-message-to-israel-report">halted a shipment</a> of heavy bombs and threatened to withhold offensive weapons if Israel launched an assault on Rafah. It wasn’t until Trump took office that all of the weapons were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-releases-weapons-to-israel-that-biden-withheld-for-political-reasons">shipped</a>. 
Netanyahu recently <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-israeli-soldiers-lost-their-lives-in-gaza-due-to-biden-era-arms-embargo/">blamed</a> the embargo for the death of soldiers because of the lack of ammunition. 
“At a certain stage, we simply didn’t have enough ammunition and people fell, heroes fell,” he said. “Part of that shortage of ammunition was the result of an embargo.”
During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the Obama administration <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-official-confirms-us-nixed-missile-sale-pm-blamed-for-soured-ties/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">suspended a shipment</a> of Hellfire missiles and increased oversight of weapons transfers.
Retired Israeli Brigadier General Amir Avivi told The Daily Wire that episodes like those convinced many Israeli defense officials that the country needed greater manufacturing independence. 
“This really shook the Israeli defense establishment and an understanding that you cannot really rely, during a moment of truth, on getting what we need,” Avivi said.
Avivi added that he reached a similar conclusion while serving as chief auditor of Israel&#8217;s defense establishment in 2014.  
“We really lacked the capabilities because we transferred many capabilities to the U.S., and this really hurt our readiness but also our sovereignty — our ability as a country to defend ourselves,” he said. 

Other Israeli officials and defense analysts argue that the current aid structure has made Israel increasingly reliant on American suppliers while weakening incentives to expand domestic production. Under the military aid agreement negotiated during the Obama administration, the percentage of U.S. aid that Israel can spend on its own defense industry has steadily declined — from 25% to just 11% this year — and is scheduled to reach zero by 2028, a change critics say undermines Israel’s long-term military independence.
When unveiling his $108 billion, decade-long plan to build an independent Israeli munitions industry, Netanyahu emphasized the goal to “reduce our dependence on all players, including friends.”
Israel is already one of the world’s leading arms exporters, generating roughly $19 billion in weapons sales in 2025, but it remains dependent on foreign suppliers for key munitions and military equipment.
Advocates of the transition also contend that ending aid would strengthen political support for the alliance in the United States because it “creates antagonism both among the hard right and the delusional left.” 
“In the United States, some — such as Tucker Carlson — use the aid to attack Israel,” Avivi said. “They ask why American taxpayers are funding Israel and its wars. Israel wants to remove this argument entirely and say: ‘We don’t want aid.’”
Lawyer and Israeli activist Ran Bar-Yoshafat told The Daily Wire that ending aid would reduce both political friction and foreign leverage over Israeli military operations. 
“The use of force is constrained according to American preferences,” Bar-Yoshafat, a reservist combat special forces officer, said. “The Americans, depending on the administration and military establishment, routinely dictate what weapons we can use and where in the field.”

Netanyahu

Netanyahu Backs Bill That Few Expected Him To Support

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is gearing up for yet another political battle as the Israeli Knesset weighs dissolving early ahead of elections expected this fall. For many Israelis, the coming vote will be another referendum on Netanyahu himself. 
After years of political chaos, repeated elections, war, and deep internal divisions, the campaign is shaping up less as a debate over policy and more as a simple question facing the country yet again: whether Israelis want the Bibi era to continue.
Netanyahu is facing political pressure from multiple directions ahead of the upcoming election. His coalition is fracturing over the controversial issue of military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Israelis, public anger over the failures surrounding the October 7 attacks continues, and opposition parties are attempting to unite.
Netanyahu is no stranger to political survival. Even before the October 7 attacks, Israel had already gone through four elections in just a few years as coalition governments repeatedly fell apart. Netanyahu himself served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and then again from 2009 to 2021, becoming the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.
His current government is now approaching the end of his four half term in office, which is the maximum allowed under Israeli law and a rare achievement in Israel’s notoriously unstable parliamentary system. Elections must legally be held by October 27 at the latest. 
While the Israel Netanyahu governs today is different from the country that existed before October 7, focus is shifting back to deep domestic divisions.
Just prior to the Hamas attacks, Israel was consumed by internal division over Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms, with massive protests rocking the country and raising fears of a constitutional crisis. 
Then came October 7, the deadliest terrorist attack in Israeli history, followed by war in Gaza and escalating regional conflict involving Iran and its proxies. In the aftermath, a wartime coalition government was formed, temporarily muting some political tensions while all focus was on ensuring the Jewish state’s defense and survival. 
Now, even as negotiations with Iran continue to stall and fears of a broader regional war remain, Israeli domestic tensions are once again exploding ahead of a possible election.
At the center of the immediate political crisis is one of the most sensitive issues in Israeli society: military service exemptions for the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community. 
Netanyahu’s coalition included and depended on Haredi political parties that oppose drafting young men studying in religious seminaries, or yeshivas, into the Israel Defense Forces. Many ultra-Orthodox leaders fear military service could pull students away from religious studies, expose them to secular and forbidden lifestyles, or place them under non-religious authority structures. 
But after nearly three years of war, support has grown significantly among the broader Israeli public for requiring Haredi Israelis to serve alongside their peers. Many Israelis argue the military needs additional manpower to alleviate reservists who have carried an unsustainable burden through repeated deployments since October 7. Others say it is unfair that Haredi communities receive significant economic assistance without their young people serving in the military.
That is not to say that no Haredi Israelis serve in the military. While still a minority, some ultra-Orthodox men do enlist, including in the IDF’s all-ultra-Orthodox Hasmonean Brigade. The brigade, founded after October 7 in response to the needed manpower and the sense of duty that some Haredi men felt to protect their nation, operates as an all-male unit with religious accommodations for its soldiers. 
According to <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bj8by8ec11e?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Ynet</a>, the brigade has recently carried out raids targeting weapons and terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, while its first class of soldiers also recently completed officer training courses.
If the Knesset dissolves this week, the timing itself would only move elections up by a matter of weeks, but it would create one significant complication. Israel will enter what is known as a caretaker government, in which the outgoing government continues governing with limited powers until a new coalition is formed after elections in order to avoid a vacuum in leadership. 
During that period, key appointments cannot easily be confirmed, which has become a major issue because Israel has still not finalized confirmation of a new Mossad director, a priority Netanyahu reportedly wants completed.
At the same time, caretaker governments can be advantageous to sitting prime ministers by giving them greater operational flexibility with an inactive Knesset. Dissolving the government early could also help ensure elections take place several weeks before the third anniversary of October 7, when public anger and emotions surrounding the attacks could intensify even further. 
The opposition is already preparing to make the next election a referendum on accountability for October 7.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has pledged that if he forms the next government, the very first cabinet meeting would establish a formal commission of inquiry into the failures that led to the October 7 massacre. Several opposition figures argue Israel must fully investigate what went wrong militarily, politically, and institutionally. 
Bennett is attempting to rebuild a coalition spanning the Israeli political spectrum. Politically, he is trying to convince centrist and left-leaning voters that he can pull support away from Netanyahu while also reassuring conservatives who abandoned him after he previously partnered with left-wing and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Arab parties in 2021 to remove Netanyahu from power. 
Former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot is also emerging as a major political figure. Viewed as a centrist with strong national security credentials, Eisenkot has become increasingly attractive to voters seeking military credibility without Netanyahu’s polarizing political baggage. His recently-founded Yashar political party has already caught the eye of many Israelis.
<a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-896302">Polling shows</a> the opposition could become significantly stronger if alliances form. According to a recent Maariv poll, 55% of Israelis surveyed said Netanyahu should retire from political life, while only 38% said he should continue running. The same poll found that if Eisenkot joined Bennett and left-wing opposition leader Yair Lapid on a joint list, the alliance could potentially win 49 seats in the Knesset. A minimum of 61 seats is needed to form a governing coalition.
It’s important to note that Israeli polling remains notoriously unreliable at this stage because the final political alignments remain unclear. A political insider compared the current numbers to early American presidential straw polls conducted before candidates officially announce their campaigns. 
Another insider added that the upcoming election will likely be another referendum on “Bibi,” with many voters sorting themselves into camps that are pro-Netanyahu, anti-Netanyahu, or anti-anti-Netanyahu — meaning voters who may not personally support Netanyahu but are exhausted by what they see as relentless political opposition to him. 
One insider described it as a type of political infection similar to Trump derangement syndrome.
“They will do anything to get rid of Bibi, even allying with those they have far deeper ideological disagreements with politically.”
Some of Netanyahu’s supporters see him as advantageous both because he is feared by his country’s enemies and because of his close relationship to President Donald Trump.
While some Americans believe removing Netanyahu from power could significantly alter Israel’s wartime posture, many analysts believe an opposition government would prosecute the wars in Gaza and against Iran-backed forces in largely similar ways. 
The bigger question may be whether a government without Netanyahu may be more open to international pressure for a Palestinian state in Gaza and parts of the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria. Especially if expanding the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia required concessions on Palestinian statehood. Some Israelis also believe that a different leader could repair their country&#8217;s relations with leaders in Europe and Democrats in the United States.
Netanyahu’s age and health may also become factors in the campaign. The 76-year-old prime minister has dealt with heart-related health issues in and recently underwent treatment for prostate cancer. 
For now, it appears Netanyahu intends to run again. It’s never been his nature to back down from a fight, especially one that could protect his legacy. But after years of political dominance, coalition maneuvering, and survival, the next Israeli election may become the clearest test yet of whether the country is ready to move beyond the Netanyahu era.

They’ve Tried To Take Down Bibi Before. Here We Go Again.

Knesset

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