Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named Roman Gofman as director of the Mossad, despite Gofman having no background in intelligence or special operations. The Mossad is a profession, not a political posting. An appointment based on personal loyalty rather than professional expertise places Israel’s security at risk.
While the US is set to request curbs on IDF operations, officials acknowledge that no comprehensive Middle East arrangement is possible while the Iranian regime survives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington in the coming weeks to meet President Donald Trump. On the table: expanding the Abraham Accords, a regional mega deal, the war in Gaza and dismantling Hamas, and the possibility of an arrangement with Syria.
The prime minister's letter hints could suggest something is brewing. Sources see regime collapse as viable amid civilian strife. That could transform Israel's security and strategic situation, lifting its top existential threat.
Iran is rebuilding its missile program and extending the range of its missiles, promoting a rehabilitation and rearmament plan for Hezbollah, and senior regime figures are pressing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to authorize the development of nuclear weapons.
The prime minister did not choose the timing to request a presidential pardon by chance. Even if his request is denied, the move will still serve his election campaign.
Instead of criticizing Mike Huckabee's meetings with Jonathan Pollard, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, along with the criticism of his television ads before his appointment, Israeli media and public should be "celebrating" the fact that the United States finally has an ambassador who understands Israel's situation from the depths of his heart and defends it without any apology or reservation.
Exile is not only a punishment but also a correction. Many times, leaving it does not happen kindly, but as a flight. In our dialogue with the world, we present our immense contribution to humanity, and we almost always receive Laban’s eternal answer to Jacob: “all that you see is mine” (Genesis 31:43). And then comes the timeless call to return home. Reflections for the weekly Torah portion “Vayetse Jacob”.
After the fall of the Assad regime, Israel moved quickly and ordered the IDF to take control of the buffer zone on the Syrian Golan Heights. Over the past year, IDF forces have thwarted Hamas-directed cells, Islamic State-inspired cells and cells guided by Iranian emissaries. The operation is also shaping developments inside Syria that directly affect Israel’s long-term strategic interests.
Echoing the rhetoric of Poland’s far-right nationalist camp, Rose declared that suggesting Poles had any role in the Shoah was “a grotesque falsehood and the equivalent of a blood libel against the Polish people and Polish nation.”