There have been multiple reports coming out of Syria indicating that Israeli commandos launched a significant operation on Sunday, targeting a secret missile facility run by Hezbollah and Iran. The facility, which is reportedly entirely underground, was infiltrated by the commandos, who both seized documents and took prisoners. According to these reports, the commandos not only gathered intelligence but also used explosives to completely destroy the facility from within. The exact nature of what was taken remains unclear, and we may never know the full details. However, operations of this kind have a long history within Israel’s Special Forces.
In addition, Israel announced that it had eliminated a member of the Hezbollah Golan Brigade. In response, Hezbollah fired a significant barrage of attacks on Northern Israel.
8200 COMMANDER RESIGNS
The Commander of Unit 8200, Israel’s primary Signal Intelligence unit, responsible for intercepting and analyzing enemy communications, has resigned. This follows the resignation of the head of the entire Intelligence Corps. In his resignation letter, focusing on his accountability for the failures on October 7, he wrote:
We all failed as an intelligence and operational system in connecting the dots to see the full picture and prepare for the threat. Personally, I failed to understand enough and thus didn't reflect sufficiently that in the unique reality on the Gaza border, we as a system are obligated to manage risks differently. With two Nukhba commando divisions just minutes away from Israeli towns, relying solely on signal intelligence warnings isn't enough. The responsibility for Unit 8200's part lies entirely with me. I deeply apologize and humbly bow my head.
Netanyahu ATTEMPTS TO Secure Budget Support WITH Yeshiva Exemption Promise
Prime Minister Netanyahu met Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf last night, head of the United Torah Judaism Party. Reports indicate that Netanyahu assured Goldknopf that the government would pass a law exempting Yeshiva students from military service before a new budget was passed, thereby securing Goldknopf's support for the budget. Previous attempts to pass such a law before the Knesset recess were unsuccessful and such a law would be widely unpopular. However, this has not deterred Netanyahu in the past.
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UNITY GOVERNMENT?
There have been reports of another push toward forming a unity government. MK Benny Gantz addressed the Knesset with the following statement:
I hear people I greatly respect in the coalition talking to me about unity. What are you talking about? Unity is expressed through actions, not by swearing in a few more ministers and giving them titles. After a year of war, it's time to call elections, let the people have their say, and form a national consensus government that will truly bring unity, trust, and a real victory in the war.
GAZA
Again, last night, media outlets reported a terrible Israeli strike on a UN school, resulting in 17 fatalities, including UN employees. Here is the Army’s response to the incident, as conveyed by the IDF Spokesperson this afternoon:
Last night (Wednesday), in a targeted operation directed by military intelligence, the Shin Bet, and Division 252, militants operating in a command and control center at the former Al-Ja'ouni school in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, were attacked.
Following reports that local Palestinian UNRWA employees were killed in the strike, the IDF reached out to UNRWA for details and names to investigate further but has yet to receive a response.
So far, the deaths of several Hamas militants have been confirmed, including:
Isser Karcayya – militant in Hamas' military wing and internal security.
Mohammed Adnan Abu Zaid – Hamas militant involved in mortar fire against IDF and Israel, also worked for UNRWA.
Bassem Majid Shaheen – Hamas military wing commander who participated in the October 7 massacre.
Omar Al-Jadili – militant in Hamas' military wing and internal security.
Akram Saber Al-Ghlibi – militant in Hamas' military wing and internal security.
Mohammed Issa Abu Elmair – Hamas militant who took part in the October 7 massacre.
Sharif Salam – militant in Hamas' military wing.
Yasser Ibrahim Abu Sharar – Hamas military wing militant and emergency committee member at UNRWA.
Eyad Matar – Hamas militant and UNRWA employee.
The IDF Spokesperson issued a report tonight regarding the destruction of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade:
For about three months, Division 162 forces have been operating in the Rafah area. So far, the division's forces have eliminated over 2,000 terrorists and destroyed approximately 13 kilometers of underground tunnels. The division's forces dismantled the Rafah Brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization.
In recent weeks, the brigade combat teams of the Nahal Brigade, Givati Brigade, 401st Brigade, Yahalom Unit, and Shayetet 13 have been fighting in the 'Tel Sultan' neighborhood.
During the operation, over 250 terrorists were eliminated, including the commander of the Tel Sultan Battalion, Mahmoud Hamdan, and most of the battalion's command chain.
The forces have destroyed 80% of the underground routes identified near and beneath the Philadelphi Route. The division's engineering forces and Yahalom Unit continue to locate and destroy underground routes and terror infrastructure in the area
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BOMBING IN RAMLA
This afternoon at 5:15 PM, a car explosion on a main street in Ramla, wounding 12 people, five of whom were severely wounded. Sadly, four of those severely injured later died from their injuries. The explosion also ignited a nearby store, impacting those inside. Authorities believe the incident is linked to criminal activity.
The USS Roosevelt has departed the region. For the last few weeks, two US aircraft carriers have been deployed in our area, with the USS Lincoln arriving early to replace the USS Roosevelt. However, the Roosevelt has now left the theater to return to its home port.
FRIEDMAN’S “FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM”, STILL RESONATES…
During my trip to America, I’ve been staying with my eldest daughter in the house where I grew up. Earlier today, I came across a book I read many years ago, “From Beirut to Jerusalem” by Thomas Friedman, which I fondly remember for its insights when it was released in 1983. As I leafed through it, one passage particularly resonated with me. I wanted to share this selection because it remains as relevant today as it was then:
For Palestinians, this spotlight has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing for Palestinians is that it is because their enemy happens to be the Jew, and the battlefield the holy land, both of which loom so large in Western eyes, the Palestinians have received more attention and visibility than any other refugee community or national liberation movement in the world. The Palestinians have had the great fortune to be cast as supporting actors in a large and long-running historical drama starring the Jew, who one season, is playing a tortured Hamlet, the next season King Lear, and the next Goliath. This means that the Palestinians have always gotten a hearing, year after year, while other defeated nations who didn't have the Jews for enemies, were ignored. Had the Palestinians had the bad luck of the Armenians, who got stuck with the Turks as their enemy, or of the Kurds (who were promised the state by the Allies after World War I), who ended up with the Iraqis, their cause would be as unknown in the West as Kurdish and Armenian nationalism.
Western news cameras do not flock to Israel to film Palestinian stones; they come to film Jewish billy clubs. Israel Television’s Arab Affairs reporter, Ehud Ya’ari, once witnessed an incident in the al-Amari refugee camp in the West Bank in which television cameramen literally stood around for hours outside the camp waiting, not to talk to Palestinians, but for that inevitable moment when Israeli soldiers would begin to beat some of them up.
“Israeli soldiers were standing off at a distance,” said Ya’ari, “facing a big, violent crowd of Palestinian demonstrators who were throwing rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails. The following conversation took place between the [American] cameraman and the Israeli officer in charge. The officer said, ‘We are not going to go in. We are not going to do it for you.’ And the cameraman said, ‘You will have to go in, so you might as well do it now.’ Everyone understood his role very well. Eventually, the soldiers went in, and as soon as they started breaking into homes to capture rioters who had fled, the cameras all started to roll.”
When the Palestinians are not victims of the Jews, but of other Arabs, or when they themselves are victimizers, the West in general is simply not interested in their fate.
HAMAS SUPPORTERS AT U.S. UNIVERSITIES
Assistant Professor Shai Davidai in the Management Division of Columbia Business School told an interesting story this morning. It starts with Prof. Al Arian, who in 2001 was a professor at South Florida University. He was quoted as saying, “Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel. Revolution, Revolution until victory, Rolling to Jerusalem.”
After 9/11, Arian could have recanted what he said, but instead, he chose to reiterate them. Five years later, he was found guilty of supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a banned terror organization in the U.S. Arian served a short prison term and was then deported to Turkey, where he founded the Center of Islam Global Affairs. Arian hosted Professor Jonathan A.C. Brown, who had just published “Islam and Blackness,” at the center. Meanwhile, Arian’s wife remained in the U.S., and participated in the Columbia encampment this past Spring. His daughter, who attended Columbia Journalism School and later went to work for Al Jazeera, married Professor Brown. Currently a professor of Islamic civilization at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Brown has publicly supported and justified the actions of Hamas.
It should be noted that according to Davidai, Brown is just one of many examples of American University Professors who have been heavily influenced and being supporters of radical Islamic causes.
WHY FOCUS ON HI-TECH?
A few readers have questioned why I include a section on business—typically focusing on startups—in the daily update, given its lack of relevance to the war. The reason is that this sector represents Israel’s future. I have covered this arena for a long time and have some involvement in it. I look forward to the day when high-tech, once again, becomes a main focus of Israel’s news.
BUSINESS
MEDX Biomed Incubator
The leadership team of MEDX Biomed Incubator, including Shai Poliker, Gal Atarot, and Noam Teichler, has launched a new venture capital fund named Edge Medical Ventures, aimed at the medical device sector. They are targeting $70 million for the fund and have already secured $15 million in their first closing, with prominent investor Vincent Tchenguiz from CBG Investments among the contributors. The fund plans to invest in companies that have developed initial products and passed preclinical stages, offering $1-3 million for early rounds and up to $6 million for later stages.
The venture capital team also plans to create a startup “studio” to foster new projects in the medical field. This studio, to be named Edge Labs, will work closely with strategic partners, health professionals, and researchers to identify unmet needs and develop pioneering medical devices. Edge Labs will be launched after MEDX concludes its current investment cycle, with a focus on fostering innovation in medical technology.
MEDX has operated for seven years as part of the Israel Innovation Authority's incubator program. With its success in supporting startups through initial development stages, Edge Medical Ventures aims to build upon this foundation and further drive growth in the medical device sector through its fund and venture studio.
Datricks
The Israeli startup Datricks, which develops software to detect financial risks within organizational systems, announced today (Wednesday) that it raised $15 million in a Series-A funding round. The round was led by Team8, with participation from JVP (which led the seed round) and strategic investor SAP. Founded in 2019 by Chaim Halperin (CEO) and Roy Rosenblum (CTO), Datricks has raised a total of $21.5 million to date. The founders previously worked together in the Israeli military’s computer unit (Mamram) and later in the consulting firm Exact Soft.
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A PIECE OF HISTORY
Shmuel HaNavi Bus Bombing
The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing occurred on August 19, 2003, when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive device on a crowded Jerusalem bus in Jerusalem. Disguised as an Orthodox Jew, the bomber, boarded the bus and detonated his explosive. The blast caused significant devastation, shattering windows and blowing apart the bus. Many passengers, including children, were trapped and burned in the wreckage.
The bus was filled with families returning from the Western Wall. This heinous attack killed 23 people, including six children, and injured over 130 others. Chani Jacobovitz, a 10-year-old passenger, remembered a “deafening explosion” that triggered immediate chaos, with the blast ripping through the bus. Rescue efforts were immediate, with emergency personnel working through the night to assist survivors and recover bodies.
Hospitals in Jerusalem were quickly overwhelmed by the large number of casualties, and the scenes at the hospital were chaotic as families searched for missing loved ones. Rescue workers arrived swiftly, and worked tirelessly into the night to free survivors and recover bodies from the smoldering wreckage.
The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was carried out by Hamas, which claimed it as retaliation for Israeli military actions. This attack was one of the deadliest incidents in Jerusalem during the Second Intifada that deeply affected Israel, and prompted widespread condemnation.
Professor Brown’s quote on October 7 is very disturbing. What’s more disturbing is that he continues to teach at Georgetown University Islamic civilization to foreign service officers. One can only imagine what is being taught, and the impact on Western Foreign policy.
Professor Brown’s quote on October 7 is very disturbing. What’s more disturbing is that he continues to teach at Georgetown University Islamic civilization to foreign service officers. One can only imagine what is being taught, and the impact on Western Foreign policy.