Israel Update 18.12.25

OUT OF DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT: FREED HOSTAGES CELEBRATE CHANUKAH

At the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, Segev Kalfon — who was held hostage in Gaza for 738 days, before being among the last 20 living hostage returned to Israel on October 13 — lit the first candle at the holy site’s central menorah.

He said “The first candle symbolizes the small spark that can conquer great darkness…When I came out of captivity, the light almost blinded me, the light of people who worried about me and prayed for me, people who didn’t know me but put my name in their heart…But I stand here for the one who’s still there, for Ran Gvili (the last hostage whose body remains in Gaza)…Our light is the thread that will pull him back home.”

Rom Braslavski, also released in October, attended a Hanukkah event at the Jewish Old Age Home in Rome where he met Italian Auschwitz survivor Sami Modiano, and the two lit the menorah together.

Other former hostages who released videos showing themselves candlelighting were Emily Damari, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, the four female surveillance soldiers Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, Omer Shem Tov, Evyatar David and Eli Sharabi.

Also on Sunday, President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, hosted a candlelighting ceremony alongside several freed hostages. Report here

Footnote:

Released Hamas hostages Avinatan Or, an Israeli employee of chip giant NVIDIA, and his girlfriend Noa Argamani met the company’s founder and CEO Jensen Huang at its US headquarters last Thursday evening. Throughout 738 days of his captivity, employees who had never met Or held signs with his photo daily, company meetings routinely opened with calls for his return, and his workspace was left untouched until he came home. Report here

SYDNEY ATROCITY

A team from Israel’s volunteer rescue service ZAKA arrived in Sydney Tuesday to assist Australian authorities after the Bondi Beach deadly terrorist attack. The 12-member team is helping recovery efforts, ensuring the proper handling of the victims’ remains in accordance with Jewish law, faith and tradition, working alongside local police and emergency services. Reports here& here

HAMAS

An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Gaza City on Saturday killed Ra’ad Sa’ad, chief operational planner of the Oct. 7 massacre. He was considered Hamas’s second-in-command and was leading efforts to rebuild the group’s weapons production capabilities and re-armament. IDF sources gave specific examples of soldiers wounded by IEDs planted at Sa’ad’s direction in recent weeks since the ceasefire.Report here Report here

The IDF operated to dismantle Hamas infrastructure along Gaza’s Yellow Line in eastern Rafah last week. The troops located weapons and surveillance equipment, including AK-47 rifles, RPG rockets, and cameras used by Hamas against IDF troops operating in the area. The soldiers also worked to dismantle tunnels and kill terrorists who posed threats to Israeli troops. Report here

GAZA AID CONTINUES

Between 600 and 800 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have entered Gaza daily since the start of the ceasefire, with the UN only providing 20% of the aid reaching Gazans.
Foreign nations and international NGOs provide the majority of aid.Report here

HIZBULLAH THREAT FROM LEBANON

Israeli defence authorities have determined that the Lebanese Army’s actions against Hizbullah infrastructure are not keeping pace with the group’s rearmament efforts, prompting the IDF to carry out daily strikes in Lebanon. In addition, Hamas continues to operate on Lebanese soil and is attempting to establish itself as an ally of Hizbullah.

However, Rearmament activity by Hizbullah in areas near the border with Israel has not been detected, in part due to the presence of five Israeli outposts in Lebanese territory. IDF officials say the Lebanese Army is struggling to operate in Shiite-majority areas. Most of Hizbullah’s rearmament efforts are concentrated in the Beirut area and the Bekaa Valley. Hizbullah is estimated to currently possesses 20% of the arms it had on Oct. 7, 2023.
IDF officials estimate that Hizbullah will not disarm. They say Israel’s political leadership has instructed the military to push Hizbullah into a postion in which it cannot strategically threaten Israel. Report here (paywall)

The IDF struck Hizbullah infrastructure across Lebanon on Thursday, which had been recently used by Hizbullah, in direct violation of the ceasefire. Because the Lebanese government is failing to disarm Hizbullah, the IDF has been escalating attacks within the parameters of the ceasefire. Report here

REHABILITATION

Every day, dozens of wounded soldiers enter the hyperbaric pressure chambers at the Israeli Navy’s Institute for Maritime Medicine in Haifa, which was originally intended to treat diving injuries.
Since Oct. 7, it has become a critical rehabilitation hub for injured soldiers with severe burns, amputations, blast injuries, and hearing damage. At the height of the war, up to 50 soldiers a day were treated at the institute which has advanced hyperbaric chambers that can treat up to 12 patients simultaneously. Report here

MAJOR GAS DEAL WITH EGYPT

Israel has signed a $34.7 billion deal to export gas from Israel’s offshore Leviathan reservoir to Egypt until 2040.

Egypt uses Israeli gas both for domestic needs and for liquefaction and export to Europe, a vital source of foreign currency

Reports here & here

GERMANY

Germany has approved the expansion of its Arrow 3 deal with Israel Aerospace Industries by an additional $3.1 billion, bringing the total to $6.7 billion.
The first Arrow 3 system supplied by Israel to Germany became operational on Dec. 3. Report here

THE “STANS”

Israel is seeking to expand its diplomatic ties and trade with five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Although they are Muslim-majority nations, the “Stans” have discovered the benefits of working with Israel.
While even post-independence, the Central Asian nations were dependent upon Russia. After 35 years of independence, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many Central Asian states have distanced themselves from Russia politically and economically, seeking to diversify their diplomatic friendships. Israel is seen as technologically advanced with much innovation, politically stable, and militarily competent, but geographically distant and non-threatening. Report here

ECONOMY

Two years after the start of the war, Israeli exports are recovering strongly and the Economy and Industry Ministry forecasts total exports for 2025 at nearly $160 billion, close to the 2022 record of $165 billion. Growth is driven by high-tech services such as software, computing, and R&D. Report here

ENVIRONMENT

Israeli researchers are working to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by speeding up the natural weathering process by which rain dissolves rock. Despite international agreements aiming to curb human-made CO2 emissions, they are still rising and scientists are trying to develop methods to remove some of the CO2 from the atmosphere artificially. Report here

THE UK

The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces have said they will arrest people holding placards and chanting the phrase “globalize the intifada” – an Arabic word for uprising. Following Sunday’s mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, they said: “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed – words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests….We will also use powers under the Public Order Act, including conditions around London synagogues during services.”

Four individuals were arrested for chanting “Globalize the Intifada” during a Palestine Coalition protest in London on Wednesday. Reports here & here

Extracts from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech to Labour Friends of Israel (LFI)

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, told LFI recently:
“We must not tacitly accept the distortion that Zionism is something to be apologized for.”
“Progressive friends of Israel – whatever their criticism of particular governments – must be willing to say, unapologetically: I am a Zionist. And that I am a Zionist not in spite of my belief in democracy and freedom and equality, but because of those beliefs.”
“As the late Rabbi Sacks reminded us: ‘Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem. It’s a problem for society. Wherever antisemitism flourishes, society is in danger.’”
“A society in which antisemitism thrives is one in which disinformation replaces truth, extremism supplants moderation, conspiracy theories unseat reason, blame usurps responsibility, and hate takes the place of tolerance. These are the stakes.” Report here

The BBC was criticised for referring to the First Intifada as a “largely unarmed and popular uprising,” yesterday.

Expressing outrage, Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “In reality, sixteen civilians were murdered during the First Intifada, and some 1,400 were injured. Over 1,500 soldiers were injured or killed. There were more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives. Hamas was born during this period.”

The BBC subsequently retracted its original wording.Report here

Two British-Lebanese men appeared in a London court on Tuesday, charged with belonging to the banned Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah and attending terrorism training camps, with one of them accused of helping procure parts for drones. Report here

IRAN & CHINA

A U.S. special operations team boarded a ship in the Indian Ocean last month and seized military-related articles headed to Iran from China, in an interdiction operation aimed at blocking Tehran from rebuilding its military arsenal.
The cargo consisted of components potentially useful for Iran’s conventional weapons, according to an official who said that the shipment was destroyed. The U.S. had gathered intelligence suggesting the cargo was going to Iranian companies that specialize in procuring components for its missile programme.
“By remaining a permissive jurisdiction for the export of illicit technologies, China is an enabler for Iran’s ballistic missile programme,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies adding that “ Companies in China typically provide technologies that improve the precision of Iran’s missiles”. Report here (paywall)

COMMENT & OPINION

Gaza

Ron Ben-Yishai: The decision to carry out a targeted killing of a senior Hamas figure in the heart of Gaza City during a ceasefire was highly unusual. Israeli officials cite several factors behind the decision. First, the strike eliminated one of the central architects of the Oct. 7 attack. Ra’ad Sa’ad had played a key role in building Hamas’s military capabilities…Second, the operation sent a message to Washington and regional mediators that Israel will not accept any scenario in which Hamas remains a dominant military or governing force in Gaza, even during a ceasefire. Despite U.S. calls for restraint, Israeli officials have made clear they are unwilling to tolerate signs of renewed freedom of movement or consolidation of power by Hamas terrorists.
Third, by striking Sa’ad in a highly visible manner, Israel sought to send a clear warning to senior Hamas figures that no ceasefire, diplomatic process, or international pressure will allow them to remain in Gaza as an armed or governing authority. Israel is signalling that Hamas’s survival as a military force in Gaza remains a red line for Jerusalem. Article here

Amine Ayoub: The Yellow Line in Gaza separating the areas controlled by the IDF and Hamas is not a political border designed for annexation; it is an operational necessity designed for sanitation. It represents the shift from a failed doctrine of “containment.”
For two decades, the assumption was that a high-tech fence on the 1967 armistice line, combined with economic inducements, would contain the threat. Oct. 7 demonstrated the catastrophic failure of that approach. We learned that allowing a terror state to metastasize just metres from civilian communities creates an intolerable risk.
The Yellow Line corrects this strategic depth deficit. It acknowledges that security cannot be maintained from the outside looking in; it requires internal lines of control that prevent the adversary from achieving strategic mass.
If the IDF withdraws its forward positions today, there is no “revitalized” Palestinian Authority capable of stepping into the breach. The only organized force with the logistical capacity and the will to seize control is the remnant of the Hamas battalions, currently melting into the civilian population.
The diplomatic obsession with the “Day After” often ignores the reality of the “Day Present.” Stabilization is impossible without security, and security in a post-conflict zone requires area denial. To demand the dismantling of the Yellow Line is to demand that Israel voluntarily surrender its leverage and its security for a return to the status quo ante. From a strictly military standpoint, removing this crucial “firebreak” before the total capitulation of Hamas would be operational malpractice.
If the international community wants the line to fade, they should stop pressuring Israel to withdraw and start pressuring Hamas to surrender. Article here

Saudi Arabia

Dr. Edy Cohen: On Dec. 12, the designated weekly preacher in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Imam Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah bin Humaid, asked God to punish the Jews, describing Israel as a “cruel Zionist enemy.” The sermon was broadcast on Saudi state television, spread on social media, and circulated via many Saudi-funded TV channels, reaching tens of millions of people.
The sermon is translated into dozens of languages and reaches Muslims who are not Arabs, including Turks, Indonesians, Pakistanis, and others. What are millions of Muslims supposed to think when they hear the imam in Mecca vilifying and cursing Jews?
Only if the Americans, who in practice protect the Saudis in the Gulf against Iran, instruct the crown prince to stop (them), will the antisemitic sermons stop. Anyone who thinks the Saudis are moderates is captive to a dangerous misconception. Article here

Demonisation of Israel and Jews

Michal Cotler-Wunsh and Nadav Steinman:
For decades, efforts to demonize, delegitimize and apply double standards to Israel, and implicitly justifying violence against Jews, occurred mostly in academic institutions, fringe activist movements and international forums. But lately, these ideas have migrated into mainstream public life in the West – into sports stadiums, concert halls, music festivals, and entertainment platforms. Demonizing and otherwise targeting Jews and the Jewish state, once the realm of UN resolutions or academic debates, have now become commonplace in mainstream forums.
The working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), adopted by more than 40 countries including the U.S., Germany, France and Britain, explicitly identifies as antisemitic the denial of Jewish self-determination and the application of double standards to Israel. Today’s virulent anti-Zionism, masquerading as criticism of the Israeli government, has stoked Jew-hatred and helped unleash and normalize it in the public square.
Israel, the Jew among nations, is uniquely targeted for bans from cultural events, Israeli artists and athletes are singled out, Jewish visibility is increasingly framed as provocation, and convicted terrorists are recast as political prisoners. The letter signed by 200 celebrities calling for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti reflects an environment where violence against Israelis is romanticized, and anti-Zionism is presented as a moral duty, couched in the language of human rights…
The Barghouti letter shows not just the moral lapse of celebrities. It is a siren warning of a fire that isn’t even close to being extinguished. Article here

Nikki Haley: Surging antisemitism is among the most disturbing trends in our national life and around the world. But where is the corresponding defence of the truth about the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel?
There is an urgent need for elected officials to confront antisemitic falsehoods and declare without fear that America is right to stand with Israel for the sake of our own national security and theirs.
Enemies of Israel loudly shout about its “occupation.” In fact, not a single Israeli soldier or civilian was in Gaza after 2005. That’s nearly 20 years of Palestinian governance with zero Israeli presence.
Israel’s actions in the Gaza War are denounced as genocide. In fact, in the history of modern warfare, no army has taken more steps to avoid civilian casualties than Israel’s has. Its troops have been killed because Israel has tried to save the civilians whom the terrorists hide behind… Israel is a military and intelligence juggernaut in a strategically vital region of the world. When America supports Israel, we are directly investing in the protection of our own citizens.
Israel is fighting enemies that seek our destruction too. When we sell weapons to Israel, we spare our own troops from being sent into harm’s way. Article here

The People of Forever Are Not Afraid

Liel Leibovitz: Hanukkah has never been a holiday of passive faith. It commemorates a moment when Jews refused to surrender their identity to those who demanded conformity. Hanukkah teaches that Jewish survival is not rooted in denial of danger, but in the courage to affirm who we are anyway. Article here

A War on Xmas was never about Israel

Dan McLaughlin: There’s a habit or reflex in discussing antisemitic violence to explain or even excuse it as being a response to purported Israeli injustices. Yet it is hard to explain exactly how attacking Jews celebrating Hannukah in Australia has anything to do with Gaza. It is also thunderingly obvious that Islamist radicals are not principally acting out of grievance at Israeli foreign policy, as they are simultaneously waging war on open and public Christianity in Europe. Article here