🛡️ IDF TESTS MULTI-FRONT DEFENSE IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: The Menashe and Judea Regional Brigades completed large-scale exercises involving simultaneous incidents in communities, along roads, in the seam zone and deeper within the area. Commanders practiced decision-making under uncertainty and mass-casualty scenarios while coordinating with local authorities, Border Police, Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Services, Magen David Adom and other security bodies. The drills also included cooperation between special Ground Forces units and the Israeli Air Force and were part of the IDF’s planned 2026 training program.
✈️ SECOND ISRAELI KC-46 PEGASUS HEADS TO NEVATIM: A new Israeli Air Force KC-46 Pegasus “Gideon,” tail number 312, departed Boeing’s Seattle facility for Nevatim Airbase and is expected to arrive in Israel tomorrow. It will be the Air Force’s second Pegasus aircraft.
🏘️ RETURN TO FOUR NORTHERN SAMARIA COMMUNITIES COMPLETED: The first families moved this morning to Kadim, completing the return to the four northern Samaria communities evacuated during the Disengagement.
🕍 RABBI YITZHAK YOSEF ASSUMES SHAS SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP: Sources close to Rabbi Yosef said he was appointed Shas’s spiritual leader during a meeting with Aryeh Deri, 13 years after the death of his father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. The development has political significance because Rabbi Yosef recently said Shas could potentially support Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister, while Deri has publicly maintained that the party will support Netanyahu. Deri told Rabbi Yosef: “We ask Maran the Rabbi to continue leading in the tradition of his father, Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, and to guide all the representatives.” Rabbi Yosef will lead the party spiritually, while Deri will continue directing its political activity.
🤝 NETANYAHU APOLOGIZES TO LAPID: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called opposition leader Yair Lapid and apologized after keeping him waiting for an extended period before a security briefing yesterday, prompting Lapid to leave.
🛫 BEN GURION OPERATIONS RESUME AFTER SURPRISE STRIKE: A surprise employees’ union strike caused heavy congestion and temporarily halted arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport, while departures continued gradually under a revised schedule. The transportation minister instructed the Israel Airports Authority to petition the Labor Court, calling the strike “thuggish and illegal” and accusing its organizers of taking tens of thousands of citizens “hostage.” Critics also called for the union to be dismantled and broadened their criticism to organized labor. After several hours of disruption, arrivals and departures were set to gradually resume from 3:00 PM.
🎗️ ELIYA COHEN AND ZIV ABUD MARRY: Former hostage Eliya Cohen and massacre survivor Ziv Abud were married last night.
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