70-year-old man murdered and IDF soldier seriously wounded after terrorist attempted to ram pedestrians at bus stop before opening fire on them.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

One person was murdered and a second seriously wounded in a terrorist shooting attack in northern Israel Monday morning.

The attack occurred near the Tishbi Junction on Route 66, outside the city of Yokneam at approximately 9:40 a.m., when an Arab terrorist attempted to ram into pedestrians waiting at a bus stop.

When he failed to hit his intended victims, the terrorist exited his vehicle carrying a rifle and opened fire.

At least two people were wounded, including a 70-year-old man and an IDF soldier in his 20s.

Emergency first responders from Magen David Adom (MDA) and United Hatzalah were dispatched to the scene to treat the victims.

According to MDA paramedic Ofer Vinik, the elderly victim was declared dead at the scene, while the second victim is listed in serious condition as doctors attempt to stabilize his condition. He has been evacuated to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

“This is a severe scene,” said Vinik.

“We arrived at the location and saw, near a bus station, a man about 70 years old and a young man about 20 years old, both suffering from penetrating injuries to their bodies. We conducted medical examinations on the 70-year-old man—he had no pulse and was not breathing, and unfortunately, we had to pronounce him dead at the scene.”

“Additional MDA teams provided medical treatment to the 20-year-old, who was conscious, and urgently evacuated him to the hospital in an MDA mobile intensive care unit. His condition is serious and unstable.”

The terrorist was shot and killed during the attack by Border Police officers who were traveling on Route 66 to a training exercise.

According to preliminary reports, the terrorist was identified as a 25-year-old Arab citizen of Israel from the town of Ma’ale Iron, in the Wadi Arab region.

The post Elderly man gunned down in terrorist shooting in northern Israel appeared first on World Israel News.

Israel aiding Gazans to relocate from the Gaza Strip under newly-established Defense Ministry agency, charged with implementing President Donald Trump’s Gaza resettlement plan.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

A growing number of Gazans are emigrating permanently from the Gaza Strip and resettling abroad, according emigration data, as Israel works to implement President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle the coastal enclave’s entire population of roughly 2,000,000.

On Saturday night, the government voted to formally establish a new authority within the Defense Ministry to help facilitate mass migration by Gazans out of the Gaza Strip to third-party countries, coordinating travel through Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip to the Port of Ashdod and Ramon Airport.

While the new authority has yet to begin operations, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has already helped facilitate the departure of hundreds of Gazans in recent weeks.

According to a report by Channel 12 published Monday morning, 1,000 Gazans have permanently emigrated from the Strip since the beginning of March, with 600 more slated to leave this week.

Last week, 70 Gazans departed on two flights for Romania and Italy.

The 1,000 recent emigrants join some 35,000 others who are estimated to have permanently left the Gaza Strip. Channel 12 did not provide a source for this figure.

In January, the Palestinian Authority’s Central Bureau of Statistics estimated that the Gaza Strip’s population has declined by roughly 160,000 since the beginning of the war, including 100,000 Gazans who are no longer present in the Strip.

It is not clear, however, from the PCBS data how many of those Gazans who have left the Strip have resettled abroad and how many are only temporarily abroad.

While the total number of Gazan emigres over the first 17 months of the war outstrips the rate of outward migration in March, the vast majority of the migration abroad occurred during the first month and a half after the October 7th invasion, with 35,000 Gazans exiting the Strip to Egypt after Cairo partially opened the Rafah crossing in November 2023.

Efforts by the Trump administration and Israel to secure host countries for Gaza residents have yet to yield fruit, and the emigration of Gazans thus far has been limited to three categories of migrants: Gazans with dual citizenship or with relatives abroad claiming citizenship in the host country, Gazans who have managed independently to secure visas to third-party countries, and Gazans who have been accepted into third-party countries for medical treatment.

Migrants enter Israeli territory via the Kerem Shalom border crossing where they undergo security checks by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency.

Afterwards, they are transferred out of the Strip, either to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing, or across Israeli territory to the Ramon Airport north of Eilat or to the Allenby border crossing on the Jordanian frontier.

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Palestinian terror group reportedly left Hezbollah flag, picture of Nasrallah at launch site to create false impression that Hezbollah was behind the attack.

By World Israel News Staff

An offshoot of the Palestinian terror group Hamas were behind Saturday’s rocket launch targeting Israel, not Hezbollah, according to a report from Hebrew-language outlet Walla.

On Saturday, six rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards the northern Israeli town of Metula, which is believed to have been the hardest-hit municipality during the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Three of the rockets fell short in Lebanon, while three were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. No injuries or damage to property were reported.

The launches marked the first attack originating from Lebanon on Israel since the signing of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attacks, but the IDF responded forcefully, bombing dozens of targets across Lebanon affiliated with the terror group.

Walla reported on Monday that an obscure terror group affiliated with Hamas was actually the entity responsible for the launches.

The group was said to have left behind a Hezbollah flag and photo of its slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah, at the launch site, in order to trick the Lebanese army into believing that Hezbollah was responsible.

Hezbollah’s vehement denials that it was behind the launch and its public statements that it is “fully committed” to the ceasefire indicate that the war with Israel has fundamentally changed the reality on the ground for the terror group, Walla noted.

It appears that Hezbollah is fearful of being accused of breaking the ceasefire and is concerned that Israel will resume hostilities against the group.

According to a Ynet report, the IDF initially intended to bomb Beirut following the rocket fire, in order to send a message that such attacks would not be tolerated.

However, American officials pressured Israel not to attack the Lebanese capital and instead focus on other Hezbollah targets throughout the country.

The post Report: Hamas offshoot fired Saturday rockets from Lebanon appeared first on World Israel News.

IDF notes use of “precision munitions” to minimize harm to civilians during assassination of major Hamas official.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Hamas official designated as the terror group’s new prime minister of the Gaza Strip was killed in an Israeli airstrike Sunday evening.

Ismail Barhoum was killed during a strike at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where he was hospitalized after being wounded in a previous strike.

Barhoum “replaced Issam Da’alis, the previous prime minister who was eliminated a few days ago,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement confirming the slaying.

In a statement, the Israeli army referred to Barhoum as a “key Hamas terrorist,” adding that “precision munitions” were used in the strike in order to minimize risk to civilians.

Footage of the strike circulating on social media showed that the hospital appeared largely undamaged, save for the area in which Barhoum had been hospitalized.

Five people, including Barhoum, were said to have been killed in the bombing.

“The Hamas terrorist organization exploits civilian infrastructure while brutally endangering the Gazan population,” the IDF statement added.

“The cynical use of an active hospital as a shelter for the planning and executing of murderous terrorist attacks is in direct violation of international law.”

Several high profile Hamas officials have been assassinated in IAF airstrikes since last Tuesday, when Israel resumed hostilities after the first phase of the ceasefire expired and Hamas backed away from negotiations to extend it.

New IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has reportedly pushed for an expansion of military activity in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas is stalling for time, it’s a strategy, not a tactic,” Zamir told Israeli government leaders, according to a Channel 12 News report.

“The IDF’s operation hurts [Hamas] and causes some movement, but it doesn’t lead it to release the hostages,” Zamir reportedly said.

“Therefore, there is no choice, the pressure must be increased.”

The post New Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza assassinated in IAF strike appeared first on World Israel News.

“Hamas is completely in control; the blow the organization has suffered is not enough to bring it down,” says Israeli who warned IDF of October 7th attacks in advance.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli man whose warnings about the October 7th attacks were ignored is once again sounding the alarm about Hamas’ capabilities in Gaza.

Rafael Hayon, a resident of the southern city of Netivot, warned the Israeli army in early 2023 about a flurry of suspicious communications between Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ma’ariv reported.

Hayon had intercepted radio and phone calls between the two terror groups via equipment he independently obtained, and listened in on their conversations from his own home.

According to Hayon, he told the IDF that a major military operation appeared to be in the works, based on discussions that he overheard.

Military officials confiscated Hayon’s equipment, scolded him for allegedly endangering soldiers, and brushed off his warning, he told Ma’ariv.

Now, Hayon said he once again has heard worrying indications about Hamas’ strength and military prowess, saying that the terror group is far from defeated after nearly 18 months of war.

“As of this moment, Hamas is training non-stop, mainly underground and in places where the IDF, at least for now, is not operating,” Hayon told Maariv on Monday. “Not only is it training, it is also recruiting a large number of new people for its ranks.”

Hayon noted that since the October 7th terror onslaught, Hamas has revamped fighting strategy to prioritize propaganda and public visibility.

“Today, they ask every fighter to have a camera on them to record and broadcast everything in real-time,” Hayon said.

Hayon added that Hamas operatives are now battle-hardened after protracted fighting with Israel.

“Hamas’s current warfare strategy is such that one Nukhba terrorist today is worth ten Nukhbah terrorists of October 7,” Hayon said.

“Their survival rate, the conditions they find themselves in, their combat strength, and their method of guerrilla fighting” has made them more formidable than previously, he continued.

“Hamas is completely in control; the blow the organization has suffered is not enough to bring it down.”

The terror group “has learned, and in the process of learning, they changed all their tactics,” Hayon added.

The post ‘Hamas in control of Gaza, getting stronger,’ warns watchdog appeared first on World Israel News.

The Houthis have downed 20 American Reaper drones since the beginning of the conflict, for a total cost of $30 million.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, described on CBS Sunday the progress and strategy behind the American strikes against the Houthis.

Waltz discussed the severity of the Houthi threat, adding that they are armed with more advanced weapons than other terror groups and have the backing of Iran.

“These guys are like Al-Qaeda or ISIS with advanced cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and some of the most sophisticated air defenses, all provided by Iran,” Waltz said.

The Houthis have downed 20 American Reaper drones since the beginning of the conflict for a total cost of $30 million.

However, Waltz added that the US has made decisive strikes against the Houthis.

“We’ve taken out key Houthi leadership, including their chief missileer, weapons depots, communications hubs, and even some of their over-the-water drone facilities, just in the last couple of days,” he said.

“President Trump has decided to hit the Houthis and hit them hard, as opposed to the last administration, when weeks or months would go by after one of these attacks. As a result, we’ve had one of the world’s most critical sea lanes get shut down.”

Waltz emphasized the need to attack the Houthis, given their disruption of international shipping.

“The last time one of our destroyers went through that area, it was attacked 23 times. Seventy-five percent of our US-flagged shipping now has to go around Africa instead of through the Suez Canal. Keeping that route open is part of our national security.”

The Houthis have officially declared an aerial blockade of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, stating they will continue launching missiles at the airport until the IDF withdraws from the Gaza Strip.

Ben Gurion Airport, located near Tel Aviv, is Israel’s largest airport and is the primary hub for international flights to and from the country.

“Following the success of our Yemeni Armed Forces in halting Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, we are now imposing a blockade on Ben Gurion Airport in occupied Palestine,” the Houthis posted on X.

The post ‘Houthis are like Al Qaeda with Iranian technology,’ US National Security Advisor Waltz says appeared first on World Israel News.

The Heroism Forum reports this isn’t the first time protesters have tried to vandalize or destroy banners honoring fallen IDF soldiers. 

By World Israel News Staff

Anti-government protesters tore down banners on Sunday bearing pictures of fallen soldiers close to the Hagvura (Heroism) Forum’s protest tent in Jerusalem.

A video circulating on social media shows several protesters tearing down the banners while bystanders question their actions.

According to the Forum, this isn’t the first time that protesters have tried to vandalize or destroy banners honoring fallen IDF soldiers.

The Forum is devoted to supporting bereaved IDF families and hosting events and lectures supporting the effort to achieve total military victory. Ahead of the demonstrations, it called on the Jerusalem District Police Commander Amir Arzani to prevent such incidents.

“In the Holy Land, which our ancestors dreamed of in exile, nothing sacred remains,” the Forum, which includes among its  members over 340 families of soldiers who fell in the war, stated.

“Is this the true face of the protest? The slaughter of pictures of IDF martyrs? How much further will you drag the country?” the Forum asked.

The U.S. Department of State issued a travel warning for Israel over the weekend, citing renewed rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, missile strikes by Houthi rebels in Yemen, and an uptick in anti-government protests.

Along with the military threats, the State Department’s warning also highlighted the recent escalation of anti-government protests, which followed Thursday’s vote by the Israeli government to dismiss Shin Bet Internal Security Chief Ronen Bar.

“Given the ongoing security situation, including the resumption of red alerts and large-scale protests, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to remain cautious and stay aware of their security. This includes avoiding large gatherings and demonstrations and knowing the location of the nearest shelter in case of a red alert, as security incidents—such as mortar, rocket, and missile fire, as well as unmanned aircraft system (UAS) intrusions—can occur with little or no warning,” the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem stated.

“The security environment is complex and can change rapidly,” it added.

On Saturday evening, thousands gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to protest Bar’s dismissal and to voice opposition to a hearing scheduled for Sunday regarding the potential removal of State Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

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The IDF conducted targeted strikes in Gaza, eliminating two Hamas commanders, Ahmed Salman Och Shmali and Jamil Amar Jamil Wadiah, who were involved in planning attacks against Israel, as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities.

The post WATCH: IDF airstrikes eliminate two senior Hamas commanders appeared first on World Israel News.

The 13 newly recognized independent communities include Tal Menashe, Migron, Shvut Rachel, Haresha, Leshem, Nofei Nehemia, Gvaot, Kerem Reim, Neriya, Alon, Ovnat, Brosh Habika, and Ibei Hanahal.

By Jewish Breaking News

Israel’s security cabinet took a bold step forward towards strengthening the Jewish presence in its ancestral homeland on Sunday by approving a plan to recognize 13 Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria as independent communities.

“We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote in celebration on X.

Israel’s determination to maintain security control over Judea and Samaria has been reinforced in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, with IDF forces recently conducting counter-terrorism operations in Jenin after the Palestinian Authority’s failure to crackdown on extremists.

The 13 newly recognized independent communities include Tal Menashe, Migron, Shvut Rachel, Haresha, Leshem, Nofei Nehemia, Gvaot, Kerem Reim, Neriya, Alon, Ovnat, Brosh Habika, and Ibei Hanahal.

“Their new status will enable direct government funding for each settlement, eliminating the previous requirement to channel resources through their parent communities.”

Needless to say, the PA’s Foreign Ministry criticized Israel’s historic decision and Hamas condemned the move as a ”desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground,” Israel continues to assert its legitimate rights to the territory.

Approximately 700,000 Jewish Israelis currently live in communities throughout Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, areas liberated by Israel during the defensive Six-Day War in 1967.

Though many nations dispute Israel’s right to build in these areas, Israel stands firm on its historical and biblical connections to the land, which date back thousands of years to the time of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

The post Israel advances settlement sovereignty in biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria appeared first on World Israel News.

Steve Witkoff praises Qatar as an “outstanding” and well-motivated mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks, calling them “good, decent people” and a key U.S. ally, while dismissing criticisms of their intentions as “preposterous.”

Steve Witkoff has no background in diplomacy but has turned out to be the most effective American diplomat in a generation. Here’s how he’s trying to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

(0:00) What Witkoff Has Learned as Trump’s Global Negotiator
(4:10) Negotiating With… pic.twitter.com/7AUh4gvwke

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 21, 2025

Witkoff spoke about Qatar in his Tucker interview:

“In the case of the Qataris, they’re criticized for not being well-motivated. It’s preposterous. They’re well-motivated. They’re good, decent people”

He said they aren’t allies of Iran and used to be more Islamist in the past pic.twitter.com/lr4a6PAs7T

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 22, 2025

The post WATCH: Witkoff says he ‘trusts the Qataris,’ calls leader a ‘special guy’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Supporters of the student have demonstrated on campus this week after observing what they believed to be law enforcement outside his home.

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

A pro-Palestinian activist at Cornell University has been ordered to report to immigration authorities, in a sign that the Trump administration is planning to deport him.

Momodou Taal, a Gambian-British national who was briefly suspended from Cornell over his activism, had preemptively sued to block any effort to deport him, saying that the administration was penalizing protected speech in its mass crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters.

Now, his lawyers have filed for a restraining order against the government, saying he has been told to “surrender to ICE custody” at a Department of Homeland Security office in Syracuse, New York, about 50 miles north of Cornell.

Taal’s supporters have demonstrated on campus this week after observing what they believed to be law enforcement outside his home.

Taal’s lawsuit cited advocacy against him by the pro-Israel group Betar US, which says it has submitted names of protesters eligible for deportation to the government.

“Betar confirms that @MomodouTaal was among those on our list of jihadis which we submitted to various government offices for deportation,” the group tweeted on Friday. “We are pleased he has been ordered to surrender to @ICEgov.“

Using the formulation “Shalom Momodou,” reflecting a recent Trump administration catchphrase intended to be threatening, the group said it urged more deportations, including of “jihadis who have [become] naturalized citizens.”

The group also said it had “reason to believe” that two other pro-Palestinian activists it has lobbied against — Mohsen Madawi, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia, and Mosab Abu Toha, a poet who is working at Syracuse University after fleeing Gaza in late 2023 — are “on the short list of those who will shortly be deported.”

It is unclear how much the group’s advocacy has set priorities for the Trump administration as it carries out its vow to deport “Hamas sympathizers” on college campuses.

But Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia protest leader who is facing deportation despite holding a green card, faced criticism from the group shortly before he was arrested earlier this month.

The post Pro-Israel group takes credit after Cornell anti-Israel activist is told to surrender to be deported appeared first on World Israel News.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz commented on U.S. efforts to eliminate the Yemen-based Houthis and warned that Iran must dismantle its entire nuclear program or face the consequences.

BREAKING: White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks on how weak the Iranian Regime:

“Iran is in the worst place it has been since 1979–all because of Israel.”

pic.twitter.com/834SWeSDv1

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 23, 2025

The post WATCH: Mike Waltz – ‘Iran is in their weakest moment since ’79 all thanks to Israel’s military efforts’ appeared first on World Israel News.

The new plane comes as part of a “family of systems” intended to “counter adversaries such as China and Russia,” according to Reuters.

By Matthew Xiao, The Washington Free Beacon

The Pentagon has awarded Boeing a billion-dollar contract to build the Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet, President Donald Trump announced Friday.

The Next Generation Air Dominance program will replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor with Boeing’s F-47, a sixth-generation jet designed to operate alongside drones in combat.

While details of the new jet remain classified, the aircraft is expected to feature stealth capabilities, advanced sensors, and new engines, Reuters reported.

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said at the White House.

“An experimental version of the plane has secretly been flying for almost five years, and we’re confident that it massively overpowers capabilities of any other nation.”

The new plane comes as part of a “family of systems” intended to “counter adversaries such as China and Russia,” according to Reuters.

The contract is valued at more than $20 billion, with Boeing expected to receive hundreds of billions of dollars in orders.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, standing alongside Trump during the announcement, said the new jet “sends a very direct, clear message to our allies, that we’re not going anywhere, and to our enemies, that we will be able to project power around the globe unimpeded for generations to come.”

“We’re going to write the next generation of modern aerial warfare with this,” said Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Allvin.

Dominate the Skies

Get your first look at what will be the most advanced, lethal, & adaptable fighter ever developed… the U.S. Air Force’s F-47. pic.twitter.com/ca1CeBABb5

— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) March 21, 2025

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Talia Butzchak, honoring her fallen brother Sergeant Oshri Moshe Butzchak, graduated from the Nachal Brigade’s officers’ course, receiving his green beret from their parents in a powerful tribute to his sacrifice.

The post WATCH: Graduating IDF soldier receives fallen brother’s beret in moving ceremony appeared first on World Israel News.

During the same rally on Saturday, Yair Golan, chairman of the opposition’s The Democrats party, went one step further by appearing to call for a coup.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, Amelie Botbol, JNS

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on Sunday slammed opposition leader Yair Lapid’s call to shut down the economy during wartime if the government defies a High Court injunction against a Cabinet decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

“Yair Lapid should be ashamed. In my opinion, his deterioration in the polls is bringing him to a political behavior that is endangering the State of Israel,” Likud Party lawmaker Tally Gotliv told JNS on Sunday.

The threat from Lapid, who chairs the Yesh Atid Party, of a tax revolt undermines the Jewish state’s resilience during wartime while failing to “take into account the consequences for the country,” said Gotliv.

“Lapid is the lowest kind of politician there is in that he is concerned with his political survival in a way that betrays all of his values,” she added.

Speaking at an anti-government rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Lapid said that if Netanyahu’s coalition “decides not to obey the court’s ruling, it will turn itself that day, that moment, into a criminal government.

“The economy needs to strike, the Knesset needs to strike, courts need to strike, local authorities need to strike, not only the universities need to strike, but also the schools,” urged Lapid, who added, “If we can organize a tax revolt, we will organize a tax revolt.”

The remarks came after some ministers vowed to defy the court’s temporary injunction preventing Bar’s dismissal despite the Cabinet’s unanimous decision on Thursday to fire him.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insisted, “Supreme Court judges will not run the war or decide its commanders. Period.”

The court on Sunday scheduled a hearing to hear petitions against the sacking on April 8.

During the same rally on Saturday, Yair Golan, chairman of the opposition The Democrats party, went one step further by appearing to call for a coup.

“A government in Israel that refuses to obey the High Court of Justice’s ruling is illegal and dangerous,” Golan said. “A government that refuses to obey the law is a dangerous government that must be stopped. It must be overthrown!”

Likud Party MK Moshe Passal told JNS on Sunday he was “very concerned about the violent discourse and slogans such as ‘Bibi [Netanyahu] must die,’ ‘Bibi is a traitor’ and ‘Government of blood,’ and assertions that there will soon be a dictatorship [or] civil war.”

“In a democracy, people are allowed to demonstrate. This is the essence of democracy. I am glad that Yair Lapid expressed a reservation and said it is forbidden to refuse to serve in the IDF, and that he understands that what was done before Oct. 7 was wrong,” Passal continued, in reference to past refusals to serve in the IDF in protest of Netanyahu’s judicial reform program.

The Likud lawmaker concluded, “We must remember that in the end, debates and decisions in democracies are decided at the ballot box, not by violence. Everyone should remember this.”

Religious Zionism Party MK Simcha Rothman told JNS on Sunday that “those people who talk and shout about democracy have no clue what it is. In a democracy, the head of the Shin Bet has to be under the control of elected officials,” he said.

“The people who say that Oct. 7 was the biggest disaster stand behind the head of the Shin Bet, under whose watch this happened. It shows they don’t care about responsibility or any other issue, they only care about their political agenda,” he added.

Netanyahu said on Friday that he has the authority to dismiss Bar, while insisting that the heated debate over the issue will not deteriorate into civil war.

“There will be no war between brothers! The State of Israel is a state of law, and according to the law, the government of Israel decides who will be the head of the Shin Bet,” the premier wrote on X.

The post Coalition MKs slam Lapid’s call for anti-gov’t strike, ‘tax revolt’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Qatar is not a mediator. It’s a state sponsor of Hamas and other Islamic terror groups. By collaborating with Qatar, Witkoff is by definition collaborating with Hamas.

By Daniel Greenfield, Frontpage Magazine

Steven Witkoff, the Trump administration’s official envoy who had past business ties to Qatar, sat down with Tucker Carlson, the former FOX News talking head turned Qatari apologist who had recently featured Qatar’s leader, to talk about how wonderful Qatar is.

“Sheikh Mohammed… is a good man,” Witkoff gushed.

“He certainly is,” Tucker Carlson agreed.

“He’s a special guy. He really is,” Witkoff said.

“In the case of the Qataris, they’re criticized for not being well motivated. It’s preposterous. They are well motivated. They’re good, decent people. What they want is a mediation that’s effective, that gets to a peace goal. And why? Because they’re a small nation and they want to be acknowledged as a peacemaker.”

Steve Witkoff in this interview with Tucker Carlson, lays out the truth for all those anti-QATAR voices here in the United States, political and otherwise.

When I hear the negatives, you have to question their motives and the money behind them. pic.twitter.com/tEKe45Mzqw

— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) March 22, 2025

Witkoff said of a country that serves as a state sponsor of every Islamic terrorist group from the Taliban to Hamas, and which harbored the mastermind of 9/11.

Tucker complained that Witkoff was being attacked for working for Qatar by the “news media and social media.” The truth is that the news media praises Witkoff, he’s being condemned on social media.

Witkoff replied by defending Qatar. “I’ve had a couple of experiences where first I was attacked as being pro-Qatari sympathizer. By the way, Qatar is a mediator here. They’re not a party to the conflict, they’re a mediator. So I am—how could I not collaborate with the mediator? And if I’m not collaborating with the mediator, I’m bound to be ineffective. It’s not even possible that I could do the job. I had to know everything that they knew. So that means collaboration.”

Qatar is not a mediator. It’s a state sponsor of Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups. By collaborating with Qatar, Witkoff is by definition collaborating with Hamas.

Witkoff praised Biden envoy Brett McGurk. According to Witkoff, McGurk told him, “this is where I want to get to, Steve.”

And that’s what led to the first disastrous deal with Hamas.

Tucker Carlson then lied that this approach of appeasing Islamic terrorists was “so different from the posture that the last couple of generations of diplomats have taken, which is like, here’s what we want. Shut up and do it. And I just don’t think, leaving aside moral considerations, I don’t think it’s been very effective.”

In reality, trying to win over terrorists is exactly what Bush, Obama and Biden did. And it never worked.

Tucker knows it. He’s talked about it back when he wasn’t acting like an employee for the Gulf Muslim oil states.

Tucker Carlson then lied that Qatar are “often accused, almost universally accused in the US Media of being agents of Iran.”

In fact the media bends over backward and promotes anything that Qatar and its Al Jazeera media outlet say. There’s virtually no criticism of Qatar in the media here. Tucker knows it.

He’s propagandizing for Qatar to his conservative audience by making it seem like it’s at odds with the media.

In reality, the media is in Qatar’s pocket.

“They’re a Muslim nation. In the past, they’ve had some views that are a little bit more radical,” Witkoff claimed. “From an Islamist standpoint than they are today, but it’s moderated quite a bit. There’s no doubt that they’re an ally of the United States. There’s no doubt about that.”

Tucker agreed with Witkoff at every turn about how wonderfully moderate Qatar is.

Witkoff told Tucker that he had never spoken to Hamas, but “I think you have to trust the Qataris. If I didn’t trust the Qataris, then that would be really problematic, not meeting with Hamas.”

After the Qatari propaganda, Witkoff and Tucker turned to Hamas.

Witkoff then made an argument for the UN’s 15-20 year reconstruction plan for Gaza.

“What’s acceptable to us is they need to demilitarize. Then maybe they could stay there a little bit. Be involved politically. But they can’t be involved militarily. We can’t have a terrorist organization running Gaza because that won’t be acceptable to Israel,” Witkoff said.

So from a starting point of expelling Hamas and Gazans, we’re now down to Hamas getting to be “politically involved” in running Gaza as long as it goes through some show of disarming.

“You know, what we heard in the beginning of this conflict is Hamas is ideological. They’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons,” Witkoff told Tucker. “I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in. They’re not ideologically intractable. I don’t. I never believe that.”

The contention that Hamas is not really ideological and is willing to make a deal was a feature of both the Bush and Obama administrations.

“Smart. Smart. That is total. That is smart. But it’s. How hard was it to come to that conclusion?” Tucker cheered.

The rest of the conversation essentially had Tucker Carlson channeling the Saudi line, claiming that “looming over all of these countries and their remarkable success both economically and socially, there’s like great countries, in my opinion is the conflict in Gaza. And not just Gaza, but the idea that, wow, this could all blow up tomorrow because we don’t know what the Israeli plan is.”

During the conversation, Tucker repeatedly demonstrated that he knew nothing about the region except whatever the Saudis and whoever else in the Gulf oil states was feeding him, leading him to say at one point that, Turkey’s “Erdogan is seen by some in his country as a tool of Israel.”

In reality, Erdogan recently threatened war against Israel and praised Hamas.

Tucker claimed “that the conflict in Gaza, which is of course streamed in everyone’s iPhone, a lot of people killed in Gaza, a lot of kids. And that’s inflaming the populations of some of these countries again, specifically Egypt and Jordan.”

Tucker complained to Witkoff that the ‘two-state solution’ has become controversial.

Witkoff said that “the Israelis going in is in some respects unfortunate and in some respects falls into the “had to be” bucket. It kind of had to be. Hamas was not responding. And their responses were unreasonable.”

Then Witkoff recycled most of the Bush/Obama calls for “real elections in Gaza”.

That’s how Hamas took over Gaza in the first place.

One of Tucker’s parting remarks to Witkoff was, “I hope for our sake you wind up in Tehran.”

The post US envoy Witkoff is collaborating with Hamas – opinion appeared first on World Israel News.