On Sunday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu welcomed U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to his office in Yerushalayim during her official trip to Israel.
According to a release from the Prime Minister’s Office, Secretary Noem voiced her firm backing for both the Prime Minister and the State of Israel.
She also commended Netanyahu’s leadership in handling the war and praised his initiative to construct a barrier along Israel’s border with Egypt.
Among those present at the meeting were Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman, Netanyahu’s Military Secretary; Dr. Ophir Falk, his Foreign Policy Advisor; Dr. Omer Dostri, the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson; and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Channel 12 reported on Sunday that Liri Albag, a survivor of Hamas captivity, was stopped and questioned at JFK Airport in New York City this past Thursday.
Albag had flown to New York with friends for a much-needed vacation when she was unexpectedly pulled aside by U.S. passport control officers. The agents informed her that, according to their system, she was still marked as being held hostage and suspected that someone might be impersonating her.
She was held for about an hour, during which officials from the Israeli Consulate in New York got involved to clarify her identity and resolve the confusion. After their intervention, she was cleared and allowed to proceed.

ISA director candidate David Zini, who currently leads the IDF Training and Drill Command and serves on the General Staff, gave a brutally honest appraisal of the military’s breakdown during the October 7 Hamas onslaught. In a striking admission, he described the events as “a crazy failure, greater than the Yom Kippur War.”
Zini was addressing residents of the Gaza border region, many of whom he joined in combat on the day of the attack. He laid bare the strategic and operational flaws that, in his view, were at the heart of the catastrophe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly found himself flying directly into a Ukrainian drone barrage during a recent visit to Russia’s Kursk region, according to both Russian and Ukrainian news outlets.
The commander of air defenses in the Kursk area, Yuri Dashkin, stated that Ukrainian drones launched a heavy strike while Putin’s helicopter was airborne.
“The intensity of the attack during the flight of the aircraft carrying the supreme commander over the territory of the Kursk region significantly increased,” Dashkin said, as quoted by Russia’s Vesti news agency.
Dashkin explained that air defense forces were actively engaged during Putin’s travel through the region.

The Knesset Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint submitted by MK Ofer Cassif of Hadash-Ta’al regarding remarks made by Likud MK Nissim Vaturi in which he called to “burn Gaza” during public statements made between late 2023 and early 2024.
The panel, which is responsible for reviewing and enforcing ethical conduct among lawmakers, stated that it had “examined the remarks and believes they are of political nature and accurately reflect the Knesset’s member’s ideology.”

A man from Colorado is accused of attempting to set fire to a U.S. diplomatic office in Israel and making threats to assassinate President Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, federal prosecutors announced Sunday.
Joseph Neumeyer, who holds both American and German citizenship, appeared in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York on charges that he tried to destroy the U.S. Embassy branch in Tel Aviv.
Authorities said Neumeyer was expelled from Israel on Saturday and is now in custody in the United States as he awaits trial. Details were disclosed in a formal complaint released Sunday.

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem landed in Israel on Sunday for a brief yet significant diplomatic mission.
Her trip was initiated under the explicit instruction of President Donald Trump, following the tragic killings of Israeli embassy personnel Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, DC last week.
While in Israel, Noem made a visit to the Kosel and held meetings with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials. She also spent time with individuals affected by acts of terror.

An Israeli military representative has released updated figures and insights on the current campaign in Gaza, dubbed Operation “Gideon’s Chariots,” which builds on the IDF’s ongoing operations over the last 18 months.
According to the information provided, the Israel Defense Forces are on track to gain complete tactical control over roughly three-quarters of the Gaza Strip within the next two months. At present, they have secured just over 40% of the region.

A newly released exposé sheds light on what the authors describe as a deeply insular and powerful group of advisers controlling the Biden White House, likening the dynamic to that of a “politburo” operating behind closed doors, as the president’s physical and cognitive condition reportedly continued to diminish.
This inner circle, dubbed the “politburo” in Original Sin, consisted of longtime political operatives like Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reed, as well as close family members, including First Lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden, the president’s son.

In recent days, the United States has appealed to Israel to hold off on launching a full-fledged ground invasion of Gaza, according to two individuals with knowledge of the situation who spoke with The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. The appeal is rooted in Washington’s desire to give diplomatic efforts surrounding a potential hostage release more time to bear fruit.
The Biden administration’s request reportedly involved two central elements: holding back on an expansive ground campaign and allowing negotiations to unfold concurrently with military actions already underway.