Israel Update 26.2.26

Purim Sameach to all my readers!

IRANIAN THREAT

 

Senior IDF officials have warned their U.S. counterparts that Iran continues to expand missile production and could possess at least 5,000 ballistic missiles by the end of 2027.
Iran is currently producing 100 ballistic missiles per month, with output expected to increase.
Tehran is relying on volume as even advanced air defence systems have limited capacity against sustained, large-scale barrages.

Last June, Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and about 1,000 drones toward Israel. 86% of the missiles were intercepted and 99% of the drones shot down.
Missiles caused significant damage in several Israeli cities. Report here

 

On Iran’s long-range ballistic missile arsenal, out of 584 launchers, 178 are currently assessed as operational. Iran is rebuilding them remarkably fast, with material and technological backing from China and Russia. Current projections suggest that by the end of 2026, Iran could field 2,000 missiles and 600 launchers. That is a very real strategic threat, not only to Israel but to the wider region. Report here

 

Iran is reportedly close to a deal with China to purchase supersonic anti‑ship cruise missiles with a range of about 290 km (180 miles) and are designed to evade shipborne defences. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to US naval forces. Report here

 

Iran transferred $1.7 billion to terror proxies through cryptocurrency in 2025. Report here (paywall)

 

Footnote:

Hizbullah is currently being overseen by officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), rather than its traditional Lebanese leadership, in preparation for a potential military conflict. Report here

 

HAMAS

 

Hamas is preserving its influence and grip in Gaza ‘from the bottom up’ by means of integrating its supporters in government offices, security apparatuses and local authorities. “There is no opposition to Hamas within the Yellow Line now, and it is taking over all economic aspects of daily life,” according to an Israeli military official. Report here

 

The terror group is preparing a shadow government, and working to insert military commanders into civil roles once the Palestinian Authority-linked technocratic leadership begins its activities in Gaza. Report here

 

DEFENCE

 

12 U.S. F-22 fighter jets have landed in Israel as part of a buildup of U.S. forces ahead of a possible strike on Iran.
The advanced stealth F-22 has not been sold to any foreign airforces. Report here

 

 Israel Aerospace Industries has delivered an unmanned submarine to the German Navy in a deal worth tens of millions of euros. The BlueWhale autonomous submarine was developed in collaboration with German company Atlas, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp. Report here

 

SPAIN’S SPIKE MISSILE DEAL PARADOX.

 

Last June, Spain’s government cancelled a €285 million deal for Spike LR2 missiles directly from the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, and is now purchasing the MELLS (the European variant of the Spike LR2) via EuroSpike, a joint venture where Rafael owns 20%, while two German companies each hold 40%.

Further, despite the official embargo, official data shows that Spain continued to buy millions of euros worth of Israeli weaponry and ammunition in 2024 and 2025 (€10 million worth in 2025).

Spain’s diplomatic stance is contradicted by its ongoing reliance on Israeli-designed defence technology obtained through European subsidiaries and third-party partners. Report here

 

VISIT OF INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MODI

Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to address the Israeli parliament (the Knesset). During his speech, he described Israel and India as “ancient civilizations” whose partnership is a source of strength in an “uncertain world”. He strongly condemned the October 7 massacre, stating that India “empathized” with Israel and would stand firmly with the country in its counter-terrorism efforts. Modi also outlined plans to strengthen relations by working together in innovation, technology, and economic advancement.  Report here

 

Mr Modi is expected to sign defence deals with Israel totalling $8-10 billion. This comes in the aftermath of the  May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict which highlighted New Delhi’s vulnerabilities in the areas of drones, missiles, and cyberwarfare.
India has been Israel’s largest defence purchaser for years, including 34% of total sales from 2020-2024. Total arms sales to India during this period were $20.5 billion. Many Israeli defence companies have established subsidiaries there. Report here

 

ISRAEL’S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

 

More than 70% of Israel’s 188,000 Christians live primarily in the north, especially in the Galilee. They play an huge role in education, medicine, and business, out of proportion to the community’s size/
Prominent Israeli Christians include Jacob Hanna, a leading stem-cell researcher; Hossam Haick, a pioneer in nano-sensor technology; and Johnny Srouji, who helped lead Apple’s research and development expansion in Israel.
Statistics show Christians as Israel’s most highly educated and most fully employed population per capita.Report here

 

MEDICAL RESEARCH

 

Novocure was founded in Haifa in 2000 by Prof. Yoram Palti, who discovered the effects of TTFields (tumour treating fields) on cancer cells. Today, it’s an international oncology company.

 

Recently The U.S. FDA has approved a first-of-its-kind device for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Optune Pax, developed by Novocure, is a portable, non-invasive device that delivers TTFields to the abdomen. Reports here& here

 

IFSW

 

The International Federation of Social Workers has voted not to expel the Israeli Union of Social Workers following weeks of debate. The vote was instigated by the Irish, Spanish and Greek affiliates of the IFSW. Report here

 

CYBERATTACKS

 

In 2025, Israel suffered the most cyberattacks (1881) of any country in the world by geopolitically motivated hackers and malicious actors. With 12.2% of all such global attacks, almost one in eight was directed against Israel. Report here

 

RAMADAN

 

Jerusalem: Some 80,000 Muslim worshippers, including several thousand from the West Bank, gathered at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the first Friday noon prayer of Ramadan, which passed peacefully. Report here

 

Somaliland: In December Israel became the only country in the world to recognize Somaliland’s independence. As Ramadan began almost all its citizens were happy to praise Israel. Typically, a truck driver Abdilrashiid Adam Jamac said he now had an Israeli flag hanging in his home. “I will think of Israel during Ramadan… The Jews are my friends. Are Muslims helping us? No!”. Report here

 

SATELLITES

 

Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems has developed technology that is powering more than 100 satellites worldwide.
Rafael holds a rare record of 100% success in satellite propulsion, making it a preferred supplier for the European Space Agency and the French space agency. Report here

 

FORMER HOSTAGES UPDATE

 

At the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) former Israeli hostages David & Ariel Cunio attended a screening of a documentary about their own family’s captivity—a film that had to be rewritten and recut following their actual release. David and Ariel were among the last hostages released from Gaza in October 2025 after 738 days in Hamas captivity. The family is currently using crowdfunding to help the brothers rebuild their lives from scratch and process the severe trauma of their two-year ordeal.Report here

 

On Oct. 7, Nimrod Cohen, 19, was the only survivor of his tank crew. He recently spoke about his hostage ordeal in Gaza.
“When we got to Gaza they tore off all my clothes with a knife, my overalls, everything I had on. They left me completely naked, tied my hands behind my back and took me into a tunnel…The young people in Gaza were raised on pure hatred from age zero. They see us as monsters…The older people, who maybe worked in Israel and spoke a little Hebrew, saw us as human beings. They behaved more moderately and you could communicate with them, but they were also the ones who educated the younger ones to hate.” Report here (paywall)

 

ECONOMY

 

 Israel’s GDP grew by 3.1% in 2025, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported, compared to 1% growth in 2024 during the height of the war.
GDP per capita increased by 1.7%, after two consecutive years of decline. Report here

 

Israel’s vital tech sector, dragged down by the Gaza war, is showing early signs of recovery, buoyed by a surge in defence innovation and fresh investment momentum. Israeli tech companies raised $15.6 billion in private funding in 2025, up from $12.2 billion in 2024.

 

Deep tech, innovation based on major scientific or engineering advances such as artificial intelligence, biotech and quantum computing, returned in 2025 to its pre-2021 levels.Report here

 

NETANYA

Netanya has been named one of the 24 winning cities (out of over 630 applications worldwide) in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, the first Israeli city to be selected among the winners of this global competition. Its winning, innovative project, Kesher Nolud (A Bond Is Born), involves child development professionals meeting parents and children in local public parks. The goal is to provide tools, guidance, and early intervention services in a familiar, accessible setting rather than requiring families to seek them out in clinical environments. Report here

 

SPORT

 

Israel’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics Champion, Artem Dolgopyat, won the gold medal in floor gymnastics at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany on Saturday. Report here

 

Israeli kickboxer Ahavat Hashem Gordon maintained his unbeaten run on Saturday, defeating Turkish fighter Ali Koyuncu, who had taunted him ahead of the clash with a series of anti-Israel posts on social media.Report here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Iran

 

Times Editorial: Any deal on the nuclear programme, even if unenforceable, would hand the Islamist government a diplomatic and moral victory and diminish to vanishing point the chances of regime change. It would also render the U.S. naval build-up in the Gulf superfluous. The threat of imminent bombardment may indeed have hastened Iranian flexibility, but the fleet’s withdrawal, unused after a costly stay, would send the despairing Iranian opposition the message that help was indeed not on the way.
U.S. negotiators must be clear that time is running out and that Washington is ready to take a far tougher line. It is a message that must be delivered forcefully. Editorial here (paywall)

 

David Yaari: Over the last 20 years, Israel has experienced more “missile fall” days than rainfall days… The effectiveness of defence systems like the Iron Dome should not diminish the gravity of the intent behind the attacks, which are designed to kill civilians…

It’s time to state unequivocally that the country will no longer serve as the “region’s dumping ground for missiles”. Children should not routinely have to run to shelters in the middle of the night. Families should not lie awake waiting to see what was hit this time. A response that forces aggressors to think 10 times before launching another missile is not escalation; it is prevention. Article here

 

Gaza propaganda

 

Mark Zlochin: In January 2024, a six-year-old Palestinian girl named Hind Rajab was killed in Gaza City together with six members of her family. Major news outlets turned a chaotic battlefield episode into a tale of deliberate execution. This review traces how a fluid, uncertain battlefield encounter was transformed into a tale of innocence executed – through shifting testimonies, selective omissions, and partisan “forensic analysis” that together manufactured a narrative of deliberate atrocity, meticulously engineered for maximum outrage. On close examination, every single element of this narrative, when examined in detail, proves to be false. (& see article below)  Article here

 

Oscars

 

Gary Rosenblatt critiques several pro-Palestinian films that have been short-listed for the 98th Academy Awards. A “new genre” of filmmaking is emerging that casts Palestinians as “noble victims” and Israelis as “violent, inhumane” villains, often ignoring historical facts and the context of terrorism.

The Voice of Hind Rajab: While the film is emotionally powerful, it fails to mention Hamas or the October 7 attacks that initiated the conflict, effectively “flattening war into myth”.

Palestine 36: Starring Jeremy Irons, this film dramatizes the 1936–1939 Arab revolt against British rule, omitting Arab violence against Jews during that period and ignoring the role of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a known Nazi collaborator.

 No Other Land: This documentary, which focussing on evictions in the West Bank’s Masafer Yatta, is criticized for presenting a one-sided narrative that ignores Israeli security concerns and historical records regarding the land.Article here

 

Gaza

 

Prof. Eyal Zisser: While various international actors speaking on Hamas’s behalf say the group will lay down its arms and relinquish control of Gaza, no Hamas official has made such a declaration. In fact, its spokesmen have repeatedly stressed their determination to retain their weapons and their refusal to disarm.
Israel must define clear red lines from which it will not retreat, especially regarding the link between Hamas’s disarmament and any progress on other issues in Gaza. Israel cannot afford to accept a situation in which Hamas retains its weapons and gradually reestablishes its presence.Article here

 

Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), established in accordance with President Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war, is expected to start operating in Gaza even though Hamas continues to control nearly half of it, with more than 90% of the population still under its jurisdiction.  Although Hamas has expressed its willingness to hand over its government institutions to NCAG, there are indications that Hamas seeks to control the new committee.
Hamas’s actions on the ground are in violation of Trump’s plan, which states: “Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form.”
We are currently witnessing direct and indirect efforts by Hamas to continue governing in Gaza.
Anyone who believes that NCAG will be able to operate as an independent governing body is abysmally uninformed. Article here

 

Yaakov Lappin: U.S. Central Command head Maj.-Gen. Jasper Jeffers, commander of the International Stabilization Force for Gaza, said there are plans to train 12,000 Palestinian police officers tasked with maintaining internal order.
Former Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat views the creation of an armed Palestinian police force in Gaza with deep suspicion, saying the nature of Gazan society after nearly two decades of Hamas rule makes the idea of a trustworthy police force nearly impossible. “Even if there were an ability to filter people during recruitment, it cannot be guaranteed they will not transfer their loyalty to Hamas or other hostile elements immediately after they begin to serve. There are very high support rates for Hamas in Gaza, as well as relatively high support for the Oct. 7 attack.” Article here

 

THE UK

Ben Dror Yemini: The UK government has informed the United States that it opposes the use of British military bases in the region, specifically Diego Garcia, for potential strikes against Iran. This move is a form of  weakness and appeasement. The UK is hiding behind international law (referencing the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute) to avoid confronting a “repressive regime of terror. Article here