The Attorney General’s Office has instructed authorities to postpone issuing a construction tender for 1,234 housing units in the strategic E1 area adjacent to Ma’ale Adumim by one month, ensuring it will be published only after the upcoming Knesset elections. The decision sparked fierce condemnation from the Ma’ale Adumim Municipality, which said it will petition the High Court of Justice against the move.
The E1 area between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim | Photo: Jamal Awad, Flash90
Under the legal opinion, the tender—slated for release in the near term—must be frozen because it falls during an active election cycle. The Ma’ale Adumim Municipality countered that the strategic government decision to advance the project was finalized long before elections were called, and that the tender had been progressing along a professional, routine administrative track ever since.
Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrah sharply criticized the legal intervention, stating that “halting the tender is itself an intervention carrying distinct political meaning.” According to Yifrah, while housing tenders continue to move forward unhindered across the country, the E1 initiative was singled out for suspension despite enduring decades of bureaucratic and diplomatic delays.
Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
Yifrah emphasized that the city will not accept the ruling and is mounting an immediate legal challenge. “We have waited more than 30 years for E1. Our young couples and our children are not hostages. We will not back down, and we will utilize every legal remedy at our disposal to ensure this tender proceeds,” he said.
The E1 master plan, which includes the construction of 1,234 residential units, has been at the center of international and domestic dispute for years, enduring recurring delays under intense foreign diplomatic pressure against Israeli construction connecting Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.
Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF on Sunday to impose a general closure over the Judea and Samaria region, following professional operational recommendations from the defense establishment and the military. The decision was formalized amid heightened security preparations ahead of the Sukkot festival and intermediate holiday days (Chol HaMoed), aimed at ensuring a comprehensive defense envelope and maintaining security across the sector.
Judea and Samaria, Archive | Photo: Samaria Regional Council
Under the updated directive, the entry of Arab laborers into Israeli communities throughout Judea and Samaria will not be permitted during Sukkot and the intermediate days of the holiday. Concurrently, defense officials clarified that entry for essential workers into industrial zones in Judea and Samaria will be authorized only on a selective, case-by-case basis, subject to rigorous security protocols established by Central Command.
Furthermore, it was determined that no exceptional entry permits will be approved during the closure period, except for isolated permits stemming from formal State commitments submitted to the High Court of Justice. Security forces are deployed in reinforced numbers throughout the sector to strictly enforce the directives and fully protect residents and holiday travelers.
In a joint statement issued Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) confirmed that Israeli forces struck in the Nuseirat area of the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, eliminating terrorist Saher Nidal Lutfi Saqr. The operation was executed through seamless intelligence and operational coordination between the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police Lahav 433 Gideonim elite counterterror unit (Unit 33). Saqr was an active member of Global Jihad networks operating within the Gaza Strip and, throughout the war, supplied weaponry and munitions to the Hamas terror organization.
Video: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit
On October 7, the terrorist invaded Israeli sovereign territory during the murderous cross-border assault. He served as the motorcycle driver who abducted Noa Argamani and her partner Avinatan Or from the grounds of the Nova music festival near Re’im. The horrifying footage showing Argamani screaming for her life while being driven into Gaza on the back of his motorcycle was broadcast globally, becoming one of the most recognizable and searing symbols of the October 7 barbarism. Israeli security forces have now closed the circle with the terrorist who spearheaded the abduction.
The defense establishment emphasized that in recent days, Saqr had been actively coordinating and advancing imminent terror plots targeting IDF personnel and Israeli civilians, liaising directly with military operatives from both Hamas and ‘Palestinian’ Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in systematic breach of ceasefire understandings. Consequently, an aerial strike was authorized to remove the immediate threat he posed. Israeli security forces remain deployed across the sector in accordance with operational frameworks and will act decisively against any immediate threat.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel Friday after a lightning diplomatic visit to New York, centered on his combative and widely-noticed speech at the UN General Assembly. The address, which made waves at home and abroad and landed on the front page of the New York Post under the headline “We will win because we have no other choice,” came during a tense period and amid protests outside UN headquarters.
Photo: Aryeh Leib Abrams, Flash 90
To shouts of “Am Yisrael Chai” and support in the hall, Netanyahu took the podium as dozens of foreign delegates stood up and walked out in protest. The prime minister didn’t hold back, calling out to those representatives: “If there are any cowards left in the hall who haven’t left yet—do it now.” In private conversations, he later revealed, some of the delegates who chose to abandon the hall thanked him privately for the moves against Iran, calling it “hypocrisy beyond description.” At the heart of his speech: pushing back against international criticism of Israel, presenting achievements against Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, and a sharp attack on Israel’s enemies. Netanyahu addressed the destruction of Iranian nuclear facilities and called it the easiest decision he ever made, because if he hadn’t done it—”we would all be dead.”
Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO
He pulled out a pager from the podium to illustrate the blows Hezbollah has absorbed, and displayed a Starlink router meant to enable free internet access for Iranian citizens against the regime, offering to give it to the Iranian delegation “so they can tell their story when they defect.” The prime minister revisited the horrors of October 7, emphasizing that at the time of the massacre there was no Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip whatsoever. He compared the scale of the massacre to 40,000 murdered Americans—16 times the Twin Towers attack. He also sharply attacked Qatar and Turkey, pointed an accusing finger at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for harming regime opponents and occupying territories, and went head-to-head against New York City Councilman Zohran Mamdani over his attempts to prevent Netanyahu’s arrival and for distorting reality around the security of the city’s Jews.
Photo: Flash 90
During the whirlwind visit, Netanyahu managed to hold a series of working diplomatic meetings with prominent leaders, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, the president of Panama, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, aimed at strengthening Israel’s economic and security partnerships. The visit and speech ended with an uncompromising Israeli message on the international stage, alongside a clear illustration of the complex diplomatic and public relations battle Israel faces against global criticism.
As part of ongoing operations to remove threats and eliminate terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre, Israeli forces struck targets across the Gaza Strip over the past week. During the operations, forces eliminated Hassan Mahmoud Siam, a commander in the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. Siam invaded Israeli territory during the Oct. 7 massacre and, throughout the war, was involved in holding hostages Amit Soussana, Keith and Aviva Siegel and Dafna Elyakim captive in the Gaza Strip.
Soldiers | Photo: IDF Spox
In a separate strike in the Gaza City area earlier this week, Israeli forces eliminated Adham Sobhi Salim Ziara, another operative in Hamas’s military wing. Recently, the two terrorists had been advancing terrorist attacks against IDF forces and Israeli civilians and working to rebuild Hamas’s capabilities, while systematically violating the ceasefire agreement. As part of these efforts, the terrorists were involved in plans to open fire on Israeli forces and plant explosive devices in the area of the Yellow Line. The terrorists were eliminated in precision airstrikes to remove the threat they posed.
The Torah world is mourning the death of Rabbi David Batzri, head of the Shalom Kabbalist Yeshiva and one of the generation’s leading Kabbalist scholars, who died Friday morning at age 85. Political leaders and chief rabbis rushed to eulogize his decades of work spreading Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.
Rabbi David Batzri z”l | Photo: Nati Shohat, Flash 90
Israel’s Chief Rabbi David Yosef said: “With great sorrow I received the bitter news of the passing of the righteous scholar and Kabbalist Rabbi David Batzri, head of the Shalom Kabbalist Yeshiva, one of the greatest disseminators of Torah and Kabbalah in our generation, who dedicated his entire life to Torah, prayer, and serving God in purity. The deceased was an outstanding Torah scholar, a holy and pure man, whose greatness in Torah was bound up with his humility and the pure fear of Heaven that burned within him.”
Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri said: “I am pained and tearful over the passing of the righteous scholar Rabbi David Batzri, the elder of the Kabbalists in our generation, a servant of God with every fiber of his soul, a humble and righteous man who dedicated his life to Torah, prayer, and the Jewish people. For decades I was privileged to have a close and deep friendship with him, to visit his yeshiva often and to be enriched by his Torah and advice. Rabbi David stood by the Shas movement and by me with love and loyalty in all difficult times, especially during the ‘Lion’s Roar’ days, and strengthened me with the power of his faith and prayers.”
Noam party chairman MK Avi Maoz said: “The crown has been lifted and the diadem removed. With great pain I received the bitter news of the passing of the Kabbalist scholar Rabbi David Shalom Batzri, head of the Kabbalist Yeshiva, one of the greatest Kabbalah scholars of our generation, who dedicated all his days to Torah, prayer, and bringing merit to the many. I send condolences to his family, his many students, and those who honor his memory.”
Otzma Yehudit party chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir added: “I received with great sorrow the news of the passing of the Kabbalist scholar Rabbi David Shalom Batzri, head of the Kabbalist Yeshiva. The people of Israel lost today, immediately after Yom Kippur when the sins of Israel are atoned for and at the opening of Sukkot, one of the greatest Kabbalah scholars of our generation, who dedicated his life to Torah, prayer, and strengthening the people of Israel.”
Itamar Ben Gvir | Photo: Avshalom Sassouni, Flash 90
Rabbi Batzri collapsed earlier Friday on Rabbi Landa Street in Bnei Brak and required advanced resuscitation. Rescue teams rushed to the scene and worked to restore his pulse. After it returned, he was evacuated sedated and ventilated to Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center. Despite doctors’ prolonged efforts to save his life, his condition deteriorated rapidly and doctors were ultimately forced to pronounce him dead.
Rabbi David Batzri was born and raised in Jerusalem, where he studied at the renowned Porat Yosef Yeshiva under leading Sephardic Torah scholars. Already in his youth he became connected to Kabbalah under the guidance of his uncle, the Kabbalist Rabbi Salman Mutzafi, and dedicated all his days and nights to studying the teachings of the Arizal and the Rashash, Rabbi Shalom Sharabi, particularly the mystical intentions in prayer.
Rabbi David Batzri zt”l | Photo: Nati Shohat, Flash 90
Later he established the Shalom Kabbalist Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which became a global spiritual center for studying the writings of the Rashash and mystical Torah. Over the years the yeshiva also published important Kabbalistic books and trained generations of Torah scholars who continued his path. The rabbi was particularly identified with the tradition of Kabbalist prayer according to the Rashash method, and his prayers sometimes lasted many hours and included deep mystical intentions.
Over decades of work, Rabbi Batzri became a central address for thousands seeking advice, blessings, and salvation in personal and spiritual matters, and led mass prayer gatherings and soul redemption ceremonies during times of national crisis. He also devoted himself extensively to writing and publishing important Kabbalistic works, and his figure uniquely bridged the tradition of Babylonian and Jerusalem Jewry with the broader Israeli public.
The Israel Defense Forces continue to strike at Hamas’s vital lifelines and military resurgence efforts across the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Israeli Air Force aircraft eliminated two key operatives in the terror group’s military wing in targeted strikes across Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis. Both were actively operating to rebuild military infrastructure and execute terror plots against Israeli forces in violation of existing understandings. Among those eliminated were Jaber Muqbel, a central figure in a hawala money-changing network that funneled millions from abroad into Hamas coffers, and Hassan al-Batta, a senior sniper operative.
Hamas terrorists, Gaza | Photo: Flash90
At the center of the strikes was the elimination of Jaber Muqbel in Deir al-Balah, who headed the Muqbel Exchange Company and served as a critical financial lifeline for Hamas’s military wing. According to defense establishment intelligence, the network transferred large sums in foreign currency to pay operatives’ salaries, procure weapons, and repair operational headquarters and underground tunnels damaged during combat. Meanwhile, in an additional strike conducted in the Khan Yunis sector, aircraft neutralized Hassan al-Batta, an operative in Hamas’s sniper network. The IDF noted that both operatives were actively involved in executing imminent terror plots targeting IDF forces and the Israeli home front, emphasizing that the strikes removed immediate operational threats.
The air operations unfolded against the backdrop of deep national mourning following a deadly incident in the northern Gaza Strip, in which Master Sergeant (res.) Nadav Kally, 24, of Har Halutz, and Master Sergeant (res.) Ofek Mualem, 23, of Jerusalem—both fighters in the 16th Brigade’s 7007th Battalion—fell in the line of duty. A preliminary investigation revealed that the force launched two explosive attack drones toward a spotted terrorist: while the first drone successfully hit its target, the second craft reversed course for reasons under review, crashing onto a succah structure inside the outpost. As the soldiers approached to inspect and secure the damaged device, it exploded, inflicting fatal injuries.
Hamas terrorists | Photo: Said Mohammed, Flash90
Following the fatal mishap, the IDF Chief of Staff ordered an immediate operational freeze on all explosive drone operations involving the “Atalef” and related models pending a comprehensive technical inquiry. Military expert teams are examining multiple lines of inquiry, chief among them whether Hamas deployed electronic warfare and frequency jamming that caused the drone to loop back, alongside potential navigational and flight-control system failures.
Earlier this week, the IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated Muhammad Abu Alwan, head of Hamas’s finance department, in Khan Yunis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement confirming the strike, praising security forces and affirming that the campaign against Hamas targets not only frontline commanders, but the financial nerve centers sustaining the organization’s operational survival.
Airfares could rise next year as statutory aviation fees for 2027 are set to increase, a shift expected to affect the prices travelers pay for airline tickets directly. The fee adjustment is made annually under the regulatory mechanism set out in the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) fee regulations.
Ben Gurion Airport | Photo, archive: Avshalom Sassoni, Flash90
The 2027 update reflects a 1.54% rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In addition, shifts in dollar-denominated rates are heavily influenced by foreign exchange valuations. The Airports Authority emphasizes that the statutory fees are legally set in Israeli Shekels. At the same time, the dollar figures are recalibrated in line with the indexation formula established in the official regulations.
Among the levies with the most direct bearing on passenger ticket pricing is the passenger departure fee:
Terminal 3: In 2027, the fee will be $37.68, up from $33.87 in 2026—an increase of $3.81 per passenger.
Terminal 1: Passengers departing from the low-cost facility will also pay higher surcharges, with the rate climbing to $17.36, compared to $15.61 in 2026—an increase of $1.75 per passenger.
Illustration | Photo: Avshalom Sassoni, Flash90
The fee increase is not necessarily billed as a separate line item when a traveler purchases a ticket. Statutory fees, port charges, and government levies are integral cost components that airlines and ticketing agents factor in when calculating baseline fares. Consequently, the fee increases are expected to roll over, in whole or in part, into the final retail price consumers pay.
The Israel Airports Authority stressed that, beyond the technical indexation required by statutory regulations, it imposed no structural increases on baseline tariffs. According to officials, the upward shift in dollar-denominated fees stems from fluctuations in the dollar-shekel exchange rate and the administrative mandate to preserve the real Shekel value of airport revenues.
Photo: Yossi Aloni, Flash90
The finalized tariff schedule is scheduled to be officially published by October 1, 2026. For consumers, the takeaway is clear: even if underlying base airfares remain flat, auxiliary mandatory travel components will rise starting in 2027—at a time when multiple surrounding cost pressures already constrain airline ticket prices.
Binyamin Governor Ganz revealed in a conversation with Israel’s Olam Katan newspaper today that the IDF has begun preparations to open a road in the region that was blocked to Israeli traffic about 26 years ago out of security concerns due to ‘Palestinian’ Islamic terrorism. The road is a regional transverse route that starts at the Nili Junction in the west and ends at Road 466 near Al-Bireh in the east, connecting east to west in Binyamin.
It was closed to Israeli traffic during the Second Intifada, and as a result, the drive between the Telamonim bloc and the Beit El area lengthened from about 13 minutes to nearly an hour. Regional activists and residents from the area have been conducting daily drives along the route in recent weeks to establish Jewish presence in the field and bring about a security and political decision that will allow continuous traffic; according to Olam Katan, the Binyamin Regional Council has also obtained approval to open the road.
Claims have been circulating today (Thursday) alleging that Israelis were besieging a ‘Palestinian’ house in the village of Qusra. However, drone footage taken over the area this afternoon reveals a completely different picture – journalists arriving at the house, which is flying an American flag, to document the alleged incident. And the footage exposes the truth: There is no one around the house, no Israelis present at the scene, and no siege of any kind.
Qusra has become the focus of a series of highly disputed confrontations in recent weeks, with sharply conflicting accounts emerging over incidents involving Israelis from nearby communities and residents of the Arab village. On August 29, the IDF and Border Police reported that forces had been dispatched to Qusra following a violent confrontation in which stones were thrown. According to the security forces’ initial account, dozens of Israelis had barricaded themselves inside a ‘Palestinian’ home while local residents were inside. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently condemned the Israelis involved, describing them as a small group of lawbreakers whose actions harmed the wider community.
Photos of the Qusra home, manipulated to portray it as a ‘prison’ | Screenshot
Residents of nearby Tel Talpiot later presented a sharply different account, backed by footage from the confrontation. They said an Israeli security patrol had encountered dozens of Arabs who had erected roadblocks and thrown stones from the vicinity of what the Israelis described as an abandoned construction site. The residents alleged that Arabs subsequently entered the empty structure and threw stones from it in an effort to create images of Israelis “besieging” a ‘Palestinian’ home. Footage cited by C14 showed Arabs throwing stones with foreign journalists positioned behind them.
Arabs throwing stones in Qusra | Photo: Usage Section 27A of the Copyright Law
The following day, journalist and settlement activist Elchanan Gruner told C14 that the Qusra confrontation was part of a broader campaign centered on allegations of “settler violence.” Gruner claimed that Arabs had erected stone barricades around Tel Talpiot and initiated the confrontation by throwing stones, while activists and media subsequently amplified a different account of the incident.
The tensions around Qusra also follow earlier security incidents involving residents of the village. In June, C14 reported that police had arrested two Qusra residents suspected of manufacturing and planting explosive devices near Ein LeZion Farm. According to police, the two admitted during questioning that they had made and planted the explosives with the intention of targeting Israeli security forces and residents, as well as participating in incidents involving stones, Molotov cocktails and fireworks.
Photo: From the X account of Elisha Yered
Similar questions have emerged in nearby Turmus Ayya, another Arab village that has become a focal point of allegations against Israelis in Judea and Samaria. An investigation first published by C14’s Sophia Tupolev in August, based on findings by the Regavim movement, found that as many as 90% of the village’s permanent residents hold American citizenship and examined how activists connected to the village have used those ties to bring allegations involving Judea and Samaria directly into the U.S. political arena.
C14 Israel Debrief on Youtube
According to the investigation, one U.S.-based activist connected to Turmus Ayya was identified with Fatah and photographed alongside ‘Palestinian’ Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and senior PLO officials, while another was accused of publicly praising figures associated with Hamas and Hezbollah. Regavim said advocacy connected to the village had contributed to four letters from U.S. senators and legislation backed by more than 100 members of Congress.
The issue returned to the spotlight in September when U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Turmus Ayya to hear allegations of Israeli violence from American citizens living there. During the visit, locals presented the passage of an Israeli security vehicle as a “real-time” incursion onto their property. C14 subsequently reported that the vehicle was conducting a routine security patrol from a neighboring farm along a route that was known in advance — raising further questions about how confrontations involving Israelis in the area are presented to American officials and international media.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee | Photo: Arabic social networks
Against that backdrop, Thursday’s renewed claim that Israelis were surrounding a home in Qusra quickly drew attention. This time, however, aerial footage taken while the allegation was circulating showed no Israelis around the property. Yisrael Ganz, governor of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, responded to the footage, accusing those behind the reports of manufacturing a false narrative against the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria.
“This is exactly how a blood libel against the communities of Judea and Samaria is manufactured: a false claim is spread about ‘settlers besieging a house,’ cameras and journalists are summoned, and then footage from the scene reveals that no one is there,” Ganz said.
“There is no siege and there are no residents from the communities there, only a coordinated campaign designed to generate images and headlines against the State of Israel,” he continued. “These falsehoods quickly become headlines around the world, international actors fall into the trap, and the entire State of Israel pays the price. This time, the cameras caught the lie in real time.”
