🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 608, 2023

🎗️Day 608 that 56 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivity🎗️

There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!

“I’ve never met them,
But I miss them.
I’ve never met them,
but I think of them every second.
I’ve never met them,
but they are my family.
BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!
‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

Air force shows off chopper taking down Houthi drone

The IDF publishes a video showing the moment a drone launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen was intercepted by an Israeli Air Force helicopter.

The interception, which took place a day ago, occurred over the Egypt border area. video

Hostage Updates

Until the last hostage

Bodies of hostages Gadi Haggai, Judih Weinstein recovered from Gaza

The Israeli military recovered the bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein from the Gaza Strip overnight, their hometown Kibbutz Nir Oz announces.
The two, a married couple, were murdered during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and their deaths were confirmed by the military in December of that year.
The pair held US citizenship.
The IDF has not yet commented.
The bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein were recovered from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says, confirming the joint military and Shin Bet operation.
The couple had been held by the Mujahideen Brigades, a relatively small terror group in the Strip that was also responsible for the abduction and murder of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir.
The IDF says the operation was carried out using “precise intelligence” from the IDF’s Hostages Headquarters unit, the Intelligence Directorate, and the Shin Bet.
Haggai, 72, and Weinstein, 70, both US citizens, were on their morning walk around the kibbutz when they were murdered and abducted to Gaza by Hamas-led terrorists.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are now holding 56 hostages, including 55 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
They include the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF. Another 20 are believed to be alive, while there are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.

Hostages’ families say recovery of bodies will help ‘heal uncertainty,’ urge deal to bring back rest

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says the return of the bodies of Judih Weinstein and Gadi Haggai will help lessen some of the pain around their slayings during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, while calling for the government to reach a deal to bring back all remaining hostages held in Gaza.
“The return of the Judih and Gadi is painful and heartbreaking, yet it also brings healing to our uncertainty” around their deaths, the group says in a statement. “Their return reminds us all that it is the state’s duty to bring everyone home, so that we, the families, together with all the people of Israel, can begin the process of healing and recovery.”
The Forum adds that “there is no need to wait another 608 agonizing days” for a hostage deal to clinch the return of the 56 people still held in Gaza, including the bodies of 33 believed to be dead.
“A grave is not a privilege,” the families say. “A grave is a basic human right, without which personal and national recovery is impossible.”
It notes that the Haggai and Weinstein families have requested privacy at this time.

Shin Bet grilling of Gazan detainee led IDF to hostages, defense official says
The overnight operation that recovered the bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein was enabled by intelligence obtained during a Shin Bet interrogation of a Palestinian terror operative who was detained in Gaza, an Israeli defense official tells The Times of Israel.
“The intelligence that is obtained in Shin Bet interrogations is valuable and important, and helps the ground operation and missions like the one carried out overnight,” the official says.

Son of returned hostages says recovery puts spotlight on those still in Gaza
Ahl Haggai at his house in Ammikam on December 8, 2023. (MARCO LONGARI / AFP)

The son of Judih Weinstein and Gadi Haggai says he is caught in a swirl of emotions following the news that his parents’ bodies were recovered from Gaza, over 600 days after they murdered and abducted while on a morning walk in their home kibbutz of Nir Oz.
“This is a shocking moment,” Ahl Haggai is quoted telling the Ynet news site. “I am both relieved and anxious. This isn’t simple, despite it easing things and removing something [weighing] on the heart. There was an uncertainty that has ended.”
Haggai says their return “shines a spotlight” on the 56 hostages remaining in Gaza and efforts to bring them home as well.
“This was really surprising and I’m thinking why did we deserve for our loved ones to return and not others,” he says.
Couple’s remains were held in Khan Younis by same group behind murder of Bibas mom, kids — IDF
The bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein were recovered from southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says, confirming the joint military and Shin Bet operation.
The couple had been held by the Mujahideen Brigades, a relatively small terror group in the Strip that was also responsible for the abduction and murder of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir.
The IDF says the operation was carried out using “precise intelligence” from the IDF’s Hostages Headquarters unit, the Intelligence Directorate, and the Shin Bet.
Haggai, 72, and Weinstein, 70, both US citizens, were on their morning walk around the kibbutz when they were murdered and abducted to Gaza by Hamas-led terrorists.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are now holding 56 hostages, including 55 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023.
They include the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF. Another 20 are believed to be alive, while there are grave concerns for the well-being of three others, Israeli officials have said.

Eli Sharabi: Hostages realized we would’ve been freed sooner if not for makeup of Israeli government

Eli Sharabi, a former hostage, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting recounting his time in Hamas captivity in Gaza on March 20, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP)

Former hostage Eli Sharabi says he and other captives understood while being held by Hamas in Gaza that they would have been freed a lot sooner if it weren’t for the current makeup of Israel’s government.

The damning determination is voiced during a Channel 12 interview by Sharabi, a national consensus figure who to date has largely avoided criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. He was even tapped by Israel’s Foreign Ministry to testify before the UN Security Council earlier this year.

“We didn’t have a doubt, even when we were in a tunnel 50 meters underground — and the four of us [hostages] discussed this point exactly — that if there was a different political makeup [of the Israeli government], we would’ve been freed a long time ago,” Sharabi tells Channel 12.

“This was what we said. It was clear to us [then], and it has been more clear to us since our release,” Sharabi says.

Netanyahu asserts that freeing the hostages is a top priority of the government, but he has acknowledged that defeating Hamas is of greater importance, and has accordingly rejected Hamas offers to release all the hostages at once in exchange for a permanent end to the war, arguing that doing so would leave the terror group in power.

The stance has put him at odds with the majority of Israelis, as polls suggest most support ending the war in exchange for the release of the remaining 58 hostages. But Netanyahu also faces pressure from his far-right coalition partners who have threatened to collapse the government if he were to agree to such an exchange.

Polls for months have also shown that if elections were held today, the current coalition parties would be far off from having the majority needed to form a government. link Eli Sharabi and the other hostages who spoke about this are absolutely right and there is hardly a person in Israel who would disagree. This government under Netanyahu has failed miserably on so many things since the beginning of the war, but none more than with the hostages. Any other government would have put the hostage crisis as the number one goal and issue before them. Their image and political standing would have taken a back seat as would coalition concerns. They would have worked out a deal at the very beginning, before a ground invasion to get every hostage home, even at a cost of emptying out the Israeli prisons from Palestinian prisoner. Many people say that would be dangerous but there were many ways to mitigate this. Firstly, they all should be released to the West Bank which would provide Israeli security services with easier ways to track them. In this scenario, all of the newly unemployed or underemployed people from the prison services would be shifted into positions, after training, of tracking every single dangerous prisoner released. If they were to go back to terror activities, we would know that very early and the prisoner would either be rearrested or killed. With all the hostages back home, a ground operation could be launched throughout Gaza without the worry of hurting or killing hostages. The war could have been far more effective and taken less time to achieve real goals, not the illusory and undefined goals that Netanyahu deliberately stated so he could not be held accountable - "total victory".
And one other main issue is missing from the entire equation. Any normal government with normal political leaders would have taken responsibility on day one and would have either resigned immediately or put in place a mechanism for a war time government to be followed by elections by a certain date in the near future, even during the war. This government and this prime minister have shirked all responsibility and the failed and dangerous prime minister has spent all of the war, since October 8 trying to pin all responsibility on the security organizations exclusively and none on the political echelon even though he has been prime minister for most of the last 15 years. The buck never stops with him.

Mediators optimistic Hamas will soon submit softened hostage deal proposal — sources
Mediators are optimistic that Hamas will soon submit an updated hostage deal proposal that will be closer to what US special envoy Steve Witkoff presented last week, three sources familiar with the matter tell The Times of Israel.
Hamas submitted an earlier response to Witkoff’s proposal on Saturday, which the US envoy blasted as unacceptable.
Since then, Egyptian and Qatari mediators — along with Witkoff’s representative in Doha, Palestinian-American businessman and political activist Bishara Bahbah — have been working with Hamas officials to soften or remove some of the changes they made to the US proposal, an Arab official and a second source familiar with the matter say.
A third source says Witkoff is optimistic about the chances for a breakthrough before the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which is slated to begin on Friday.
Witkoff met yesterday with a group of hostage families in the White House, along with several other senior Trump aides.
Even if Hamas submits a softened proposal, the sides will still need to hold a round of proximity talks aimed at ironing out final details, including the exact parameters of Israel’s partial withdrawal from Gaza during the 60-day temporary truce currently under discussion.
The main issue of contention in the talks remains whether the temporary truce under discussion leaves enough of a window for Israel to resume fighting after it expires or if the proposal’s assurances from the Trump administration are enough to convince Hamas that the ceasefire will hold permanently.

Gaza and the South

Sources confirm Israel arming Gazan gang to bolster opposition to Hamas

Armed members of the Abu Shabab clan in uniform in the Rafah area, May 2025. (Screenshot: Twitter, clause 27a)

Israel provided members of an armed group in Gaza with Kalashnikov rifles to protect themselves against Hamas, as part of an effort to strengthen opposition groups in the Strip, the Israeli military censor permits for publication.
The group, which is sometimes described as a militia and sometimes as a criminal gang, is led by Yasser Abu Shabab, a member of a large clan in southern Gaza.
The weapons that Israel provided to Abu Shabab’s gang included some that Israel seized from Hamas during the war, defense sources say.
The militia is operating in Rafah, in an area that is under Israeli military control. Last week, Hamas published a video showing it targeting members of the group.
Abu Shabab claims to be securing humanitarian aid convoys entering Gaza, while some have accused his gang of looting them.
The arming of Abu Shabab was carried out without the approval of Israel’s security cabinet. It was led by Israeli security bodies, and was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to defense sources. link Abu Shabab is nothing less than a war lord in Gaza. He runs his clan as do others as criminal enterprises who have done business with Hamas in the past when it was convenient to them. Netanyahu has tried to work with various clans which also operate as war lords to have them take over fiefdoms in Gaza instead of Hamas. It failed miserably. The situation of using war lords to replace the local governance has failed in every place it was attempted. I guess Netanyahu never heard of Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Former defense minister Avigdor Liberman says Israel is arming a criminal gang of Gazan jihadists, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of unilaterally approving weapons transfers to the group.

Liberman, who heads the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, appears to be referring to the Abu Shabab clan, an armed gang opposed to Hamas which has been documented in recent days operating in an area near the Kerem Shalom crossing under Israeli military control.

“The Israeli government is giving weapons to a group of criminals and felons, identified with Islamic State, at the direction of the prime minister,” Liberman tells the Kan public broadcaster. “To my knowledge this did not go through approval by the cabinet.”

Liberman claims that the head of the Shin Bet is aware “but I don’t know how much the IDF chief of staff was in on it.”
According to Tel Aviv University researcher Michael Milshtein, Abu Shabab is known in Gaza as drug dealers and thieves, and was previously involved in looting aid trucks.
In recent days, footage published online, including by clan leader Yasser Abu Shabab, has shown member of the gang wearing military-style uniforms with the Palestinian flag and the words “Counter-Terrorism Mechanism” emblazoned on them.
The Prime Minister’s Office releases a statement in response to Liberman but does not deny the allegations.
“Israel is working to defeat Hamas through various means, based on the recommendations of all the heads of the security establishment,” it says.

IDF airs clip of drone strike on Gaza terror operatives who were carrying explosives
The IDF publishes a video it says shows a drone strike on two Palestinian terror operatives who were carrying explosive devices meant to be used in an attack on troops in the Gaza Strip.
The video appears to show secondary blasts, indicating that the pair were carrying explosives.
The strike was carried out during operations of the Nahal Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, the military says.

IDF intercepts drone likely fired from Yemen, near Egypt border
A drone launched at Israel “from the east” was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the military says.
The drone, likely launched from Yemen, was shot down over the Be’er Milka area on the Israel-Egypt border.

Targeted assassination at a barbershop: Airstrike reported in Khan Younis
Attack reported in southern Gaza; footage shows heavy smoke rising and many people gathering in the area; Palestinian terror group sources: 'Reports of the killing of a senior official are false, the IDF attacked empty towers'

A rare Israeli airstrike Wednesday afternoon reportedly hit a barbershop in a city in southern Gaza, according to local Palestinian media. Footage from the scene showed heavy smoke rising and large crowds gathering nearby.
Sources affiliated with Palestinian terror groups, quoted in Gaza-based media, denied claims that a senior operative had been assassinated in the strike. “Reports of a high-profile elimination are false,” they said, alleging that “the IDF struck empty towers.”
Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis

Separately, Palestinian reports stated that three people were killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza. Earlier in the day, additional strikes were reported in the Hamad neighborhood of northwest Khan Younis and near a mosque in the al-Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City. As of Wednesday evening, Israel had not issued a statement addressing these specific incidents.
Gazan sources also reported a “heavy Israeli strike” near the Shuhada Shati School, adjacent to al-Quds University in western Gaza City, as well as another strike at the Tamos junction in the al-Nasr neighborhood.
Attack in Hamad, northwest of Khan Younis

In recent weeks, forces from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade have been operating in Beit Lahia under the command of the 162nd Division. During their deployment in the area, troops have targeted a wide range of terrorist infrastructure both from the air and on the ground, including operatives, weapons caches, booby-trapped buildings, and tunnel shafts.
In one documented operation, soldiers destroyed a booby-trapped building identified via drone surveillance. The structure concealed explosives hidden inside a sack, apparently intended to target Israeli forces.
GHF pictures show Gazans getting food at soon-to-be-shuttered Rafah site

Gazans collect goods at an aid distribution site near Rafah in a photo released on June 5, 2025. (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation)

Images shared by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund show Gazans picking up food from the Swedish Village distribution site near Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, which it says is being shut down in favor of a new site closer to Rafah.
Scenes from near the unfinished “Kuwaiti” hospital along the Egyptian border show relative disorder as civilians open boxes and fill bags to carry, but the area appears relatively uncrowded.
A video clip shared by the US- and Israeli-backed organization shows a staffer with a camera photographing about a dozen smiling and waving Gazans.

IDF says it hit Islamic Jihad command center near Gaza hospital
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike at the Al-Ma’amadani Hospital in Gaza City, saying it targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad command center in the medical center’s courtyard.
According to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza, the strike hit a press compound and killed three people. Reports named one victim as Ismail Badr, a cameraman for the Palestine Today channel, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad. A second journalist named Suleiman Hajaj was also killed, according to reports.
The IDF says the compound was used by Islamic Jihad operatives to plan and carry out attacks on troops and Israeli civilians.
The military says it took steps to minimize civilian harm, including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

Gazan aid truck drivers call strike after attack on convoy
A labor union representing Gazan truck drivers says it is halting transport of aid deliveries within the Strip following an incident in which several truckers were shot dead by gunmen.
The Private Transport Association says it is calling the strike in response to an incident a day ago in which a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid was attacked by gunmen in the central part of the Strip. According to a statement from the union, gunmen shot and killed several drivers in the Deir al-Balah area, while others were wounded and abducted by the gunmen.
It is unclear what the effect of the strike will be on aid deliveries within the Strip, where Israel says hundreds of trucks packed with food, medicine and other assistance are awaiting transport from the Kerem Shalom crossing to warehouses run by the UN and humanitarian groups throughout Gaza.
The union’s ties to the Hamas are also hazy. Before the war, most unions in Gaza were affiliated with the terror group.

Northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria

Reports of explosions at air defense base’s munitions depot near Syrian city of Hama
A short while ago, explosions were reported at a munitions depot at an air defense base near the Syrian city of Hama.
The reports are not confirmed by official Syrian media or authorities.
The cause of the blast is not immediately clear.

Hezbollah attempts to reestablish presence in southern Lebanon
Amid its declining standing, Hezbollah is attempting to reestablish its foothold in Shiite villages in southern Lebanon through a civilian 'association' that provides temporary structures to residents — which are later expected to become terrorist outposts
Footage from the funeral of a Hezbollah operative recently killed in southern Lebanon illustrated the complex situation unfolding in the country. Hundreds of the terrorist organization’s supporters marched through the rubble-strewn streets of the village of Aita al-Shaab, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting religious songs associated with the terror group, just a short distance from IDF troops stationed along the border.

The terrorist, Mohammad Ali Srour, was killed in a drone strike that targeted a vehicle on the Aita al-Shaab–Debel road in southern Lebanon. Following the announcement of his death, Hezbollah-affiliated social media accounts circulated an invitation to attend his funeral in the village, which lies just one kilometer from the Israeli border. According to the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, the funeral was held “in view of Israeli soldiers positioned in the area of al-Raheb.”

Targeted IDF strike in Lebanon

Meanwhile, alongside Hezbollah’s ongoing activities, Lebanon’s official authorities are also calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from five locations still held by the IDF in the country’s south. Their demands also include a halt to airstrikes and the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. Hezbollah would likely be pressing these same demands through far less diplomatic means, were its standing in the country stronger. For now, residents of southern Lebanese villages, many of them from Hezbollah strongholds, are gradually returning to their homes, resuming daily life, and awaiting aid and reconstruction.

Hezbollah’s 'association' and the kidnapped fisherman

Israel continues to monitor Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon, and the ongoing airstrikes reflect the sustained military pressure. On Wednesday, Lebanese media reported that Israel distributed leaflets threatening a senior Hezbollah figure residing in the village of Yaroun, Mohammad Abbas Shahin. The message warned Shahin that he was under aerial and ground surveillance and urged him, “for his own sake and for the sake of the residents of Yaroun,” not to cooperate with the association Wa A’inu Ala al-Birr — a Hezbollah-linked civilian group that allows the organization to operate under the guise of social aid.

This group has donated portable structures to several villages in southern Lebanon, many of which have been targeted by the IDF in recent months. Israel’s precision strikes against Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure have reinforced suspicions that the association serves as a civilian cover for military activity, similar to the previously exposed Hezbollah-affiliated organization “Green Without Borders.”

On May 17, a security source told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, that Israel had struck all of the prefab structures in towns along the western sector of the border.

The Alma Research and Education Center, which studies security developments in northern Israel, published a report in April detailing Hezbollah’s use of Wa A’inu Ala al-Birr. The report stated: “The association’s charitable and social aid activities are part of Hezbollah’s broader influence strategy.” It also noted that “the campaign to deploy mobile structures along the contact line is part of Hezbollah’s renewed military footprint in southern Lebanon.” According to the report, the association’s financial ties to Hezbollah and Iran are explicit, and its director, Afif Shuman, appears to be exploiting its financial resources for personal enrichment at the expense of Hezbollah’s Shiite base.

The center further noted that Hezbollah’s tactic is clear: flood the contact line with identical portable structures. While some of the structures may indeed be used by civilians and farmers, others — especially those placed in locations designated by Hezbollah as operationally strategic — are expected to become terrorist outposts staffed by terrorists.

At the same time, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that “four Israeli boats crossed the buoy line and abducted a fisherman from his boat off the coast of Ras al-Naqoura.” According to Al-Akhbar, contact was lost with the fisherman, identified as Ali Fneish, after Israeli vessels surrounded two fishing boats approximately four kilometers into Lebanon’s territorial waters near Ras al-Naqoura.

The IDF has yet to respond to the Lebanese reports of the alleged “abduction.” link

Syria says it stymied attempt to smuggle missiles, ammo into Lebanon
Syria’s Interior Ministry says security forces seized a shipment of anti-tank guided missiles and 30mm caliber ammunition in the town of Al-Qusayr, near the Lebanese border.
The shipment was intended to be smuggled into Lebanese territory, according to the ministry, which says the driver transporting the arms was arrested and the weapons and ammunition were confiscated.
It’s unclear who the missiles and the ammunition were intended for. In the past, Hezbollah was known to smuggle weapons and ammunition into Lebanon via Syria using a route that passed through the same area today’s shipment was seized.

West Bank, Jerusalem, Israel and Terror Attacks

Palestinians report 7 injured, buildings set on fire in settler attack in village near Ramallah

Scenes from a settler attack on the Palestinian village of Deir Dibwan, near Ramallah, in the West Bank, on June 4, 2025. (X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Palestinian media reports that settlers set fire to vehicles and buildings in the village of Deir Dibwan in the Ramallah area of the West Bank, and threw stones at residents.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says two Palestinians were injured and evacuated to a hospital, while five others sustained lighter injuries and were treated at a clinic in the village.

The Israel police have not yet issued a response.

Residents of the village tell the Times of Israel that dozens of settlers joined the attack.

One resident estimates that the settlers burned or partially burned around 10 houses in the village.

Politics and the War and General News

PM’s office claims incorrectly that Gallant, Halevi prevented establishment of Haredi IDF units

The Prime Minister’s Office accuses Channel 13 of misrepresenting a leaked recording of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling a senior Haredi rabbi that he removed top defense officials from their posts to pass legislation exempting Haredim from military service, in a statement that only partly addresses the contents of the recording.

“As can be clearly heard in the recordings — without the distorted interpretation of Channel 13’s so-called ‘analysts’ — the Prime Minister notes that it was the former chief of staff and Defense Minister who prevented the establishment of dedicated units for Haredi service,” writes the PMO.

“In contrast, the current Defense Minister and Chief of Staff are advancing the issue swiftly and professionally, and we are proud of that,” concludes the statement.

Contrary to Netanyahu’s claims, former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and former defense minister Yoav Gallant did, in fact, advance and approve the establishment of dedicated units for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, including the IDF’s first-ever Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade.

Halevi also suggested establishing a yeshiva in the Jordan Valley to benefit Haredi soldiers who could serve there as part of a new eastern division Link Netanyahu always lies when it doesn’t go in his favor He us a petty politician who doesn’t care who gets hurt by his political maneuvering, even when it’s the entire country and our security

In leaked recordings, Netanyahu says he dismissed top defense officials to push through Haredi draft exemption bill

In leaked recordings aired by Channel 13, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a senior rabbi that his effective removal of former IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and former defense minister Yoav Gallant was intended to eliminate them as “obstacles” to advancing legislation demanded by the Haredi factions in his coalition that would exempt ultra-Orthodox men from military service.

Channel 13 publishes the recordings after the spiritual leader of Degel Hatorah, one of the two factions that make up the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, instructed their MKs to introduce a bill to dissolve the Knesset due to the coalition’s failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from conscription.

It says the conversation took place in March, just ahead of the vote on the 2025 state budget.

“We need the time to pass the law in a proper way that cannot be challenged,” Netanyahu is heard telling Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, a member of the Council of Torah Sages of Degel HaTorah and a leader of the Lithuanian-Haredi community, in the English-language call.

“The reason we weren’t able to do it is because we had enormous obstacles that we removed. You know, when the defense minister is against you and the chief of staff is against you, you cannot move. Now we can move,” he says.

He tells Hirsch that with Halevi gone, the IDF is now working to improve its ability to integrate Haredi soldiers.

“In fact, it’s because we changed the chief of staff, because we changed the defense minister who was blocking us all this long period, we are now able to move more confidently and more professionally,” the premier says.

“We can save the Torah world,” declares Netanyahu, adopting a term used by Haredim to refer to religious Jewish communities. “We can finish this matter once and for all. And get this heavy load that they put on us and on the Torah world, get rid of this once and for all.”

He tells Hirsch that doing this would be possible “with your help.”

The premier elaborates on what he says are the legislative challenges of passing the bill, saying, “To put a deadline that is too quick will impair the process. I think Rosh Hashanah is a sufficient time,” referring to the Jewish holiday, which this year falls in September.

The extended deadline is necessary, says Netanyahu, as the legislative process in the Knesset moves slowly, and the opposition will try to prevent the law from passing.

He says he thinks they need another eight weeks until the legislation is ready, but that there may be “obstacles.”

“So I don’t want to be caught in a deadline that I promised you, and I won’t be able to keep. But if there’s an agreed-upon time that is feasible and is beyond their ability to block, then we’ll get it done and that’s it,” he says.

The premier also takes the opportunity to attack those on the political left, accusing them of “trying to bring down the government to hurt the Torah world.”

These people are against the Torah world,” he says of his left-wing and centrist opponents. “This is the biggest threat to the Torah world. If we don’t pass a law, they will continue to try and bring it down.”

He adds that he needs the rabbi’s help in order to pass the conscription law, saying, “If we work together, we can finish this thing — and once and for all.”

Crisis of the Draft Exemption Law: Decisive Discussion at the Attorney General, the IDF Extends Reserve Service

Despite the political attempts to reach a compromise with the ultra-Orthodox parties, legal sources warn that only a law with personal sanctions will withstand the test of the High Court of Justice • In the army, they fear images of widespread arrests in Bnei Brak and say they do not have manpower for enforcement, the police refuse to assist • Meanwhile, the service of reservist soldiers is expected to increase from two months to three months per year

The Legal Adviser to the Government, Gali Baharav-Miara, will hold today (Thursday) a critical discussion that will determine the framework of enforcement of the ultra-Orthodox draft for the upcoming draft year. The discussion is taking place while the government is in the midst of intensive political contacts with the ultra-Orthodox parties to formulate a compromise, but legal sources warn that any legal arrangement must pass the High Court of Justice's tests of equality in enlistment. In parallel with the legal and political discussions on the ultra-Orthodox evasion, the manpower crisis in the army is only worsening: the IDF informed the reservist soldiers of the extension of their service from two months to three months per year.

IDF representatives will present today before the Legal Adviser to the Government the planned enforcement strategy for the upcoming draft year, which begins in July. They will be required to detail how they intend to issue draft orders on a large scale and ensure that ultra-Orthodox individuals actually arrive at the recruitment office (Bakum). This, following the announcement of the Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, at the beginning of May, about a new policy according to which a draft order will be sent to every boy and girl reaching the age of 16, without exception, whether ultra-Orthodox or secular.

At the center of the discussion will stand the central question of the personal sanctions that will be imposed on those who choose not to comply with the draft orders. The Legal Adviser and the army are already preparing to formulate the sanction mechanisms, over which a parallel intensive political discussion is being conducted. The critical question that will be on the table is how to ensure that whoever receives a draft order indeed comes and enlists, and what will happen to someone who chooses to ignore the order.

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrations outside the recruitment office, archive | Photo: Tomer Neuberg, Flash 90

Legal sources who spoke with N12 place a big question mark over the government’s discussions to reach a political compromise with the ultra-Orthodox parties. “With all due respect to the effort to find a law formulation that will speak of community targets, in the current situation only a law that defines personal enlistment, a personal enlistment obligation, and personal sanctions will be able to meet the threshold set by the High Court of Justice,” explains a senior legal source.

The crisis of the ultra-Orthodox draft began following a ruling of the High Court of Justice that demanded the implementation of equality in enlistment, and therefore, according to them, any solution that will be formulated must meet the tests set by the Supreme Court. The question at hand is whether a solution without clear personal responsibility for ultra-Orthodox draft evaders will be able to pass the legal test.

The cost: Reservists will serve more

Against the background of criticism over the lack of enforcement against deserters and evaders, in the IDF there is concern about images of widespread arrests in ultra-Orthodox cities. Moreover, the army is dealing with a problem of lack of manpower needed to carry out wide-scale enforcement and even made a request to the police for operational assistance. However, the police clarified that it is willing to assist only “in the second circle” and does not wish to be directly involved in the enforcement processes.

The direct result of the manpower crisis and the ultra-Orthodox evasion during wartime falls on the shoulders of the reservist soldiers. In the coming months, reservist soldiers will receive official notices about the extension of their service period from an average of two months per year to three months – a 50% increase in the service burden. link I desperately want this government to fall and for new elections to be called. This is the feeling of a majority of the public. The most disgusting issue that may cause the government to fall is the 'Earth 2' view of the Haredi community,

The Region and the World

Macron: Tougher steps against Israel over Gaza war to be decided on in ‘next couple of days’
France’s President Emmanuel Macron says he will decide “in the next couple of days” whether France will harden its position against Israel and take concrete steps over the Gaza war.
Macron could recognize a Palestinian state around a UN conference on the topic, which France is hosting with Saudi Arabia later this month.
Standing alongside Macron at a press conference, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accuses Israel of carrying out “premeditated genocide” in Gaza.
“It’s a premeditated genocide from a far-right government waging a war against the interests of its own people,” he says.

Personal Stories

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

IPS - Israel Prison System

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

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