Today, Israelis celebrate Independence Day, marking the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
Since then, Israel – the only democracy in the Middle East – has grown into a vibrant, innovative and resilient country.
Happy Independence Day!
At 11am local time this morning, across the country, Israelis paused wherever they were, including on motorways, and stood in silence as a two-minute siren sounded.
Today is Memorial Day in Israel, which commemorates the fallen Israeli soldiers and civilian victims.
Over the last year, 172 soldiers and 56 civilians were killed, marking a total of 25,648 soldiers who have fallen in war and the 5,313 civilians who were murdered in terror attacks.
Rather than attempting spectacular attacks to maximise casualties, HAYI tends to use or claims to have used incendiary devices or drones against these organisations, then creates videos of the attacks which are uploaded onto Iranian-linked Telegram channels.
This includes the two most recent incidents from this weekend, an arson attack targeting Kenton United Synagogue on Saturday, and attack on a building with links to the Jewish community on Friday.
HAYI target Jewish and Zionist organisations with relatively unsophisticated arson attacks
🧵 The most terrorist attacks attempted or perpetrated by Iran’s newly established proxy Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) were carried out in London.
🇮🇱🤝🇱🇧 Israeli and Lebenese ambassadors met yesterday with the goal of reaching a peace agreement between the two countries.
Details 👇
www.bicom.org.uk/lebanese-and...
..requires, us to go to war for the sake of good, for the sake of life. Europe, which vowed after World War II to defend the good, is infested today with a deep moral weakness. Europe is losing control over its identity, its values and its commitment to protect civilisation from barbarism.”
with President Trump and the United States.”
Netanyahu also criticised Europe, which he said “has forgotten so much since the Holocaust, can learn many things from us, primarily: the sharp distinction between good and evil, which, in the moment of truth,
vast quantities of other weapons systems. Had we not acted, the names Natanz, Fordow, Isfahan and Parchin might have been remembered eternally in infamy, just like Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, and Sobibor. But we acted, and how—in an unprecedented historic partnership..
Prime Minister Netanyahu connected the memory of the Holocaust to the Iranian threat. Netanyahu said, “Indeed, we have destroyed large parts of the industry of death that the Iranian regime had developed over decades: the nuclear plants, missiles, UAVs, the naval fleet, the air force, and..
..I visit, I see Israeli society and the spirit that animates it. Across the length and breadth of the land, in bomb shelters, at sites destroyed by missile attacks, in hospitals, in command centres, and volunteer hubs, I see the solidarity, the heroism, the devotion, and the mutual responsibility.”
🧵 Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day
In his speech President Herzog noted, “There are those who seek to destroy this home that we built, even today. For two and a half years, the State of Israel has been at war, since that frightful day, the October 7th massacre. In every place and every site..
Both governments have a shared interest in limiting Hezbollah outsized influence, with the efforts thought to include intelligence sharing of the movements of Hezbollah members and the locations of its hidden weapons storehouses.
Behind the scenes it is thought that Israel and Lebanon have been exchanging messages for more than a year.
In addition Lebanon is expected to reaffirm its commitment to the agreement signed in November, 2024. Significantly, this authorised Israel to continue to target Hezbollah fighters and in general prevent their efforts to rearm.
The IDF are also expected to retaliate against Hezbollah for any attacks on Israel’s home front.
The starting point for the talks is expected to be based on UN Resolution 1701 from 2006, that never fully implemented the removal of all terrorist infrastructure south of the Litani River.
Despite Israel’s public commitment to continue striking Hezbollah, it is expected that the intensity will now be reduced. However the IDF’s ground operation is expected to continue with efforts focused at removing Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
This was a significant positive development that reflects the domestic anger toward Hezbollah for importing a conflict at the behest of Iran against the interests of the Lebanese population. Israel did not formally respond to Aoun’s proposal until last night.
At the same time he sought to reassure the residents of the north that currently, “there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we restore your security.
On Thursday night Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that, “Following repeated requests from the Lebanese government to open peace negotiations with us, last night I instructed the Cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon.”
⚓⚔️ The gradual buildup of US marine and airborne forces in the region has led analysts to speculate that an offensive operation is under consideration.
What are the four possibilities most widely discussed?
Find out more including the latest from the war 👇
www.bicom.org.uk/muslim-state...
This comes as the situation escalates after Iran attacked Qatari facilities in the South Pars gas field in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Iran’s domestic gas infrastructure. This is the latest example of an Iranian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring countries.
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The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE called on Iran to immediately halt its attacks.
Two Israelis, an elderly couple in their 70’s, were killed in an Iranian missile attack on Ramat Gan overnight. The couple were at home, but did not manage to make it to the safe room in their apartment in time.
More, inc. the latest from the war👇
www.bicom.org.uk/iranian-ille...
🚨 The missile fired at central Israel contained a cluster munition, which splits into multiple small explosives distributed over a broad area. Its use over an urban area, targeting civilians is a war crime.
🤔 How is the war with Iran evolving? And what could come next?
We examine these questions in the latest episode of BICOM's podcast with Mossad veteran Sima Shine, now a senior researcher at INSS.
Listen now 👇
www.bicom.org.uk/podcasts/epi...
Israelis were also asked whether in-school classes should be resumed with 65 % preferring continuation of remote schooling, and only approximately half of the parents said that they would send their children to schools if in-school classes were resumed.
If the elections were held, Netanyahu’s Likud would remain the largest single party with 25 seats in Knesset, however the current government bloc would lose the majority by obtaining just 51 seats out of 120.