Free Republic

In an address to the Knesset on Monday, Likud lawmaker Dan Illouz decried what he said was a “new enemy” rising within American politics: Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. “We are used to enemies from outside. We fight terror tunnels of Hamas. We fight the ballistic missiles of Iran. But today I look at the West, our greatest ally, and I see a new enemy rising from within,” said Illouz, who is originally from Canada originally, in an English address. “I am speaking of a poison being sold to the American people as patriotism. I’m speaking of the intellectual vandalism...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday said support for terror groups has “no place in our city,” after a pro-Hamas protest in a Jewish neighborhood sparked outrage from other elected leaders. Anti-Zionist activists chanted “We support Hamas,” “Death to the IDF,” “Intifada people’s war,” and other violent and discriminatory slogans during a Thursday night protest against an Israeli real estate event held at a synagogue in the Kew Gardens Hill neighborhood in Queens.

Spain is ready to send troops to Palestine for peacekeeping “when the opportunity presents itself,” just as it is willing to deploy forces to Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday. “I will propose to parliament, when the opportunity presents itself, that we send peacekeeping troops to Palestine, once we can see how to advance this task of pacification,” he told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid. “Of course, we have not forgotten Palestine and the Gaza Strip… Spain must actively participate in rebuilding hope in Palestine. The situation there remains intolerable.” …

State prosecutors on Monday filed an indictment against a Rishon Lezion resident accused of carrying out surveillance missions on behalf of a foreign agent, including filming the street outside the home of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, in what authorities described as another attempt by Iranian intelligence to collect information on senior Israeli figures. The indictment, filed with the Central District Court in Lod, charges Lekachao Demsash, 31, with contact with a foreign agent, an offense that carries a potential prison sentence. Prosecutors have also requested that he be held in custody until the conclusion of legal proceedings, citing the...

Delcy Rodríguez, the vice president of Venezuela who is now serving as acting president, accused Israel of orchestrating the U.S. operation that led to the capture of former leader Nicolás Maduro. Speaking in a televised address alongside senior figures from Maduro’s inner circle, Rodríguez blamed “the Zionists” for the events surrounding his arrest, echoing familiar rhetoric long used by Venezuela’s Chavista leadership to fault Israel and its allies for international pressure on the regime. “The attack on Venezuela has an undoubtedly Zionist character,” Rodríguez declared, offering no evidence to support the claim. She reiterated that Nicolás Maduro “is the only...

Tensions between Israel and Turkey are rising amid competing visions for Gaza’s reconstruction and widening strategic friction in Syria, even as both countries remain embedded in a U.S.-led diplomatic framework following the ceasefire with Hamas. Israel has made clear it will not allow Turkish armed forces to operate inside Gaza, viewing Ankara as a destabilizing actor despite its public efforts to present itself as a reconstruction partner. Turkish sources told Fox News Digital that Ankara does not seek to deploy troops in Gaza, instead focusing on humanitarian aid, infrastructure projects and political influence. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center...

Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen said she endured repeated sexual assault, harassment and intimidation during her 471 days of Hamas captivity, speaking publicly for the first time about her experience and her fear of becoming a “sex slave” in Gaza. Gonen, now 25, was kidnapped at age 23 from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and released as part of the January 2025 hostage deal. In a two-part interview broadcast this week on Israel’s Channel 12 program Uvda, she recounted several incidents of sexual harassment and assault by three different men. “Only when you’re in this situation can...

Security officials assess that alongside strengthening its military capabilities, Hamas is also tightening its control over the Gazan population.

US officials aligned with President Trump request weekly election surveys from Israeli contacts, focusing on top contenders and rising far-right figures; interest grows as Bennett reenters political arena and calls for inquiry into Oct. 7 failures. Beyond simply collecting data, U.S. officials are also seeking clarification about the various candidates and parties, focusing primarily on those leading the polls — Netanyahu and Bennett — while also tracking the strength of the far-right bloc, particularly ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Bennett, for his part, has reportedly begun formulating his post-election strategy, assembling a policy team that includes former education minister...

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett claimed on Tuesday that the suspects in the Qatargate scandal deserve a life sentence for having “maliciously sabotaged” Israel’s ties with Egypt while promoting the image of Qatar, which Bennett branded an “enemy.” The comments, made in a social media video, were Bennett’s latest volley of harsh rhetoric about the scandal, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior aide Jonathan Urich and former spokesperson Eli Feldstein are accused of working as paid lobbyists on behalf of Doha while in the premier’s employ. In a subsequent post, Bennett shared the text of the law in question,...

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud claimed in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he has intelligence indicating Somaliland agreed to accept displaced Gazans in exchange for Israeli recognition. According to the president, intelligence sources also suggest that Somaliland has agreed to allow the establishment of an Israeli military base on its territory and to join the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states. He added that there had already been “some Israeli presence” in Somaliland in the past. Mohamud argued that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland was intended to destabilize Somalia and the region. He noted...

Thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets in the nation’s largest cities on Saturday night amid a series of damning reports about Qatar’s ties with aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The focus on Qatar, a key backer of Hamas, came after the publication this week of reports and interviews that appeared to tie Netanyahu to the so-called Bild and Qatargate probes in which his top aides have either been prime suspects or indicted. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Qatargate “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.” The anti-government rallies are backed by a...

While soon-to-be-former Georgia Republican Congresscritter Marjorie Taylor Greene continues her one-sided breakup from President Donald Trump, one of her favorite conspiracy theories just became reality in Israel. That's right: Jewish Space Lasers are real, everybody. Well, kind of. As of this week, there are lasers, and they are deployed for the defense of the Jewish homeland, but the Jewish lasers are not actually out in space. Although we're working on that as part of Trump's Golden Dome missile shield. More on that story soon, I hope. But you might recall that way back in 2018 — two years before her...

Israel has taken the controversial decision to recognise the breakaway state of Somaliland as an independent nation, sparking condemnation from many other countries. China is the latest to condemn the decision, with its foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian telling reporters: "No country should encourage or support other countries' internal separatist forces for its own selfish interests." China outlined its position ahead of the UN Security Council holding an emergency session to discuss Israel's decision. Israel on Friday became the first country in the world to acknowledge Somaliland as a standalone republic, more than 30 years after the region declared independence...

It’s hard to be optimistic about the future of Gaza. The cease-fire agreement brokered by the Trump administration is holding, but Israel continues to occupy more than half of the territory, and its forces have killed more than 350 Palestinians since the truce was reached on Oct. 10. Hamas, meanwhile, is resurging in Gaza—replacing key commanders killed in the two-year war with Israel; executing its Palestinian opponents; and hiding weapons and fighters in its tunnel system, more than half of which remains intact. So, where does that leave Palestinians and Israelis? And what does it mean for the rest of...

Ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli officials are concerned that Washington may force a transition to Phase II of the Gaza agreement without the return of the last killed hostage, Israel Police Yamam special operations unit Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, and without firm commitments to Hamas’ disarmament and the demilitarization of the Strip. In Jerusalem, there is concern that the Americans will seek to move forward “at any cost,” potentially demanding further Israeli withdrawals and the opening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, while showing less interest in the facts...

Turkish Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday that Turkey intends to seal an energy exploration agreement with Syria in 2026 to assess possible offshore energy resources along the Syrian coast.In an interview with Turkish digital news platform GDH on Monday, Bayraktar said that Ankara and Damascus had already signed a general framework agreement on energy cooperation earlier this year."We plan to sign a specific offshore deal in 2026," he said. "After signing the deal, we may conduct seismic research to see what the field offers us".Bayraktar cautioned that the agreement does not necessarily mean Turkey would carry out drilling...

Hamas is expected to elect a new leader within days or a few weeks, Saudi outlet Asharq reported Saturday, citing sources close to the Palestinian terror group’s leadership. However, the same sources also reportedly “ruled out holding general elections before the war comes to a complete end.” The two main candidates are former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and current Gaza politburo chief Khalil al-Hayya, the report said. Their main immediate policy difference relates to the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to the sources. Hayya, who is seen as close to Iran, was said to support the continuation of “armed conflict...

...Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Sunday that Israel "kidnapped" a terrorist from the Islamic Jihad organization from within Gaza City several days ago. According to the report, the terrorist was kidnapped in the area near Palestine Square, in the heart of Gaza City, and only about a kilometer from the Yellow Line. It was also reported that the terrorist is connected to the possession of the body of hostage Ran Gvili.

The Defense Ministry says Iron Beam is now operational at scale, offering low-cost laser interception of drones, rockets, missiles, and mortars, and reducing reliance on costly interceptors.The Defense Ministry on Sunday announced that the Iron Beam paradigm-shattering laser anti-air defense has been rolled out in the field. Already in June, the ministry and Rafael, the lead company of multiple defense tech companies involved, including Elbit and others, had announced that Lite Beam, a smaller relative of Iron Beam, was operational. In mid-September, the Defense Ministry announced that Iron Beam was operational and that a full series of batteries would be...