News Digest — 7/8/26
Hegseth Slated For First Israel Visit To Address Turkey F-35 Concerns
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth organized his first official visit to Israel for Wednesday (8th). According to three individuals with knowledge of the itinerary who were quoted by CNN.
It is not yet apparent whether his travel timeline will be disrupted following overnight US military strikes inside Iran.
During the trip, Hegseth is slated to hold high-level consultations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, one source indicated to CNN.
A primary objective of the mission is to soothe anxieties in Jerusalem regarding a potential American deal to supply advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, a policy option floated by President Donald Trump at the ongoing NATO summit in Ankara.
Hegseth had planned to visit in May of 2025 but ultimately cancelled the visit. He visited Israel in 2018 while he was still a journalist.
Word of his planned visit follows an interview with CNN earlier Tuesday (7th), in which Netanyahu sharply criticized the Turkish leadership, asserting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “not exactly a model ally of the United States.”
The prime minister further remarked that Erdogan “threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state,” Currently, Israel remains the sole nation in the Middle East operating the F-35, which represents the pinnacle of American aviation technology.
A US official tracking the diplomatic scheduling noted, according to CNN, that Hegseth, who initially accompanied the president to the NATO summit in Turkey, intends to separate from Trump’s primary delegation on Wednesday ()8th).
When approached for confirmation, the White House did not immediately issue a statement, while the Pentagon declined to comment on the matter.
Hamas Rakes In Millions, Prepares For War – Lilach Shoval
Israeli security officials say Hamas is continuing to grow stronger and rebuild itself for a confrontation with Israel, both through money reaching it from outside Gaza and thanks to the “humanitarian” aid that continues to enter Gaza unchecked, about 600 trucks a day, while the real need is only about 200-250 trucks a day.
Hamas directly taxes the incoming trucks, collecting tax of 15-30% from merchants. Hamas also forces merchants to sell their goods to traders operating under its auspices at a “supervised” price, so it can take a cut of the profits. In addition, Hamas manages to smuggle banned products into Gaza, such as cigarettes, which are sold at high prices and taxed at a higher rate.
There is evidence that Hamas sells electricity produced by hospital generators to residents living near the hospitals, using fuel that enters Gaza for humanitarian needs. It also charges rent for local merchants operating markets and stalls, and imposes fees for renewing business licenses. All of this enables Hamas to efficiently fund its military arrays.
Sources in the defense establishment said, “The money Hamas receives from outside Gaza, along with the strengthening it achieves through the aid entering the Strip, enables it to rehabilitate military infrastructure and recruit new and young operatives who cannot find other work in Gaza. The money Hamas offers is their solution.”
“We cannot repeat the statements we made before Oct.7, according to which Hamas was deterred and would not attack. We cannot once again ignore what the other side is doing.”
Israel Prepares Post Hezbollah Lebanese Peace Pact
Israel is working to draft a comprehensive peace agreement framework with Lebanon that could be implemented once Hezbollah is no longer a factor, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said on Monday (6th).
Speaking at a Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington, Leiter said Jerusalem aims to prepare a “full-fledged peace agreement, A-Z,” and “put it on the shelf,” ready for use when conditions allow.
“Imagine for a moment that there is no Hezbollah, just Lebanon and Israel,” he said, outlining a vision that includes trade, visas, embassies, and tourism.
During the fifth round of talks in Washington on June 26, representatives of Beirut and Jerusalem, including Leiter, signed a U.S, – brokered framework agreement that, among other provisions, calls for the disarmament of the Iranian terrorist proxy.
Leiter said Israeli and Lebanese teams are expected to meet in Rome on July 14-15 to begin discussions through working groups on key issues including border disputes.
“It would be like negotiating the Abraham Accords,” he said, noting that points of contention would be addressed through structured talks between “two sovereign countries” recognizing each other’s security needs.
The US-brokered Abraham Accords were initiated in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term, normalizing relations with several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
The Israeli and Italian foreign ministers on Tuesday (7th) confirmed next week’s Rome meetings.
“Less than two weeks ago, Israel, Lebanon and the United States reached a historic framework agreement. These talks are due to continue next week in Rome, Italy,” FM Gideon Sa’ar said alongside his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, who was visiting Jerusalem Tuesday (7th) to sign a Yad Vashem Holocaust museum funding accord.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the next round of US-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome, describing the city as a “crossroads of peace and dialogue.”
Tajani said Italy had previously expressed its willingness to host negotiations and support efforts to advance regional peace, citing the government’s diplomatic engagement and international role.
Germany To Provide Yad Vashem With 5 Million Euros Annually Under New Agreement With Israel
The German government agreed to provide Yad Vashem with 5 million Euros per year until 2030 for Holocaust research and education, a commitment formalized on Tuesday (7th) in a signing ceremony.
The agreement is replacing an older one agreed upon in 2020, in which Germany committed to one million Euros annually until 2031
Under the new agreement, Germany will reduce the contributions back to one million Euros per year in 2031.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited Israel Tuesday (7th) in order to sign the agreement, as a guest of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Following the signing of the agreement, it was brought to the floor of the Knesset and later approved by the government.
In May, Yad Vashem announced plans to open an educational center in Munich and a satellite branch in Leipzig, its first permanent facilities outside Israel.
A day later, former Israeli educator and Jewish intellectual Meron Mendal raised concerns over Yad Vashem’s planned expansion into Germany, warning in comments to German media that the Holocaust memorial institution’s educational work could be “influenced by Israel’s far Right government.
His criticism was echoed by Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation, who questioned how the decision to establish the German branches had been reached.
Ireland Passes Bill Banning Imports From Israeli Communities In Judea And Samaria
Lawmakers in Dublin took a step toward implementing one of Europe’s most stringent trade actions against Israel on Tuesday (7th), passing legislation that restricts product imports from Israeli communities located in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, AFP reported.
The legislation – titled the Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) bill – specifically targets agricultural, commercial, and residential operations by barring goods originating from “certain Israeli settlements.”
Although Ireland originally spearheaded the proposal within the European Union, Spain was the first member state to enforce a series of import limitations last October.
Ireland’s center-right governing coalition formulated the text following a 2024 advisory ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which asserted that Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip violates international law.
The Irish parliament advanced the bill in November of 2025, drawing sharp criticism from the US State Department, which warned the legislation could “adversely affect American businesses operating in Ireland.”
Dublin has consistently ranked among the fiercest European critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, launched after Hamas terrorists executed an attack on Israel in October 2023.
In April of 2024, then-Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris failed to mention the hostages being held by Hamas during his first speech after being elected leader, resulting in criticism from Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Later, Harris criticized Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, accusing Israel of a “pattern of flouting international law and disregard for rules of engagement.”
A month later, Ireland joined Spain, Norway, and subsequently Slovenia in officially recognizing a Palestinian state. In response, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructed the closure of Israel’s embassy in Dublin, citing Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.”
Tensions deepened further last month when Irish authorities issued entry bans against national Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
If fully enacted, the economic fallout of the Irish ban on Judea and Samaria goods will remain largely symbolic. Total bilateral import volumes from the affected territories – consisting primarily of timber, fruits and vegetables – amounted to less than one million euros in total between 2020 and 2024.
The bill now heads to the Irish parliament’s upper chamber for final confirmation.
Anti-Zionism Is Repackaged Antisemitism – David Harris
Yes,anti-Zionism is antisemitism. Unless one believes, in the spirit of John Lenon’s “imagine,” in a world without any nation states, denying the Jewish people the right to a state – where more than 10 million live today and which is roughly the size of Wales – goes far beyond political disagreement. It signals deep-seated prejudice.
There are 193 UN member states. Only one – Israel, the lone Jewish-majority nation – has its legitimacy routinely questioned. That is ironic, since very few states can match the longevity of the Jewish people’s ancestral link to a specific territory, stretching back more than three millennia.
The Hebrew Bible is replete with place names that existed in ancient times and endure today, beginning with Zion – a hill in KIng David’s Jerusalem.- and Jerusalem, the ancient and modern center of Jewish national life and capital of Israel. The Christian Bible builds on the Hebrew Bible, and its geography is inseparable from Jesus, the Judean Jew. The seventh-century Quran contains more than 40 references to the “Children of Israel.”
Wars imposed on Israel since its rebirth in 1948 by those who rejected any Jewish national presence led to conflict. But Zionism’s core purposes are to ensure Jews are no longer dependent on the goodwill of others for their survival, to provide a safe haven after centuries of persecution, to serve as a “light unto the nations:” and to establish a state at peace and in coexistence with its neighbors.
Israel rests on multiple layers of international recognition of a Jewish national home in the land. Compare that to the “legitimacy” of other states. What precisely are the foundations of legitimacy for the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? In historical terms, they rest on conquest and subjugation of indigenous populations.
Most states derive legitimacy from the simple fact of their existence: they exist, therefore they are. Only Israel is persistently required to relitigate its right to exist in the face of persistent anti-Zionism – even 78 years after its birth and 77 years after joining the UN.
The writer is executive vice chair of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) in New york
I’m An Arab Muslim – I Still Don’t Understand The Antisemitic BDS Movement – Loay Alshareef
I understand grievances . I understand the pain of a conflict that has cost lives on every side. What I do not understand is a movement that insists it advances justice by demanding that human beings reject the very things that heal them, feed them, protect them and connect them.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: if you truly boycotted everything Israel has given the world, you would have to dismantle a large part of modern life. You must give up Waze, which now tells half the planet how to get home. Much of the chip architecture inside the world’s laptops was developed in part at Intel’s research labs in Haifa. The USB flash drive was developed in large part by the Israeli company M-Systems.
Teva is the largest maker of generic medicine on Earth. Mobileye, the collision avoidance system, came out of Israel’s Hebrew University. Check Point, the modern firewall that shields banks, hospitals, and governments from cyberattack, was built by an Israeli company. Wix, the website builder used by millions of small businesses worldwide is Israeli.
Since the Abraham Accords, I have met Israelis who want nothing more than to live beside us in peace. I have learned that you do not honor the Palestinian people by impoverishing everyone, including yourself. You honor them by demanding leaders who choose negotiation over slogans, and life over hatred.
The writer, born and raised in Saudi Arabia and now based in Abu Dhabi, is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute inOttawa.
