News Digest — 9/18/26
Shin Bet Chief Zini: ‘We Will Hunt Down Every Hamas Member Involved In October 7, Across The Globe’
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) will hunt down every single Hamas member involved in the October 7 massacre, no matter where they are or where they are hiding, Shin Bet Director David Zini said Thursday (17th) at a ceremony honoring Shin Bet agents for their exceptional service.
“To the planners of the slaughter, to its implementers, and to all who took part in the disgrace of the honor and blood of the State of Israel, and to all who seek our destruction, we have one uncompromising message: There is no place in the world too far, there is no forgiveness, and there is no expiration date,” he said.
“We pursued, we are pursuing, and we will continue to pursue you down to the last co-conspirator,” Zini said. “The long and determined arm of the Israeli defense establishment will reach all who harm us – deep in a tunnel, in concealed command centers, and in every corner of the globe.”
“This is our sacred duty to the nation and for humanity,” he said.
The Israeli government promised the Trump administration after a failed attack on Hamas officials in Qatar last September that it would not attack them on Qatari soil again. But those particular Hamas officials were to leave Qatar, so Zini’s threat might still apply.
Zini told the Shin Bet operatives, “You are the proof that even from a great fall, we can rise up, improve, and flourish. This agency rises, learns and wins every day.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog attended the ceremony.
The Shin Bet had succeeded in stopping about 1,000 terrorist attacks in the West Bank, and had hunted down the vast majority of the Hamas terrorists responsible for the October 7 massacre, Netanyahu said.
Zini said the award winners were operatives from various missions, including agents who fought Iran and Hamas, those who stymied terrorists in the West Bank, and some who protected Israel’s cybersecurity.
“There were 18 awardees, including three women.
For example, one of the awardees was a female agent given the alias “A.” She is a desk analyst in the counter-espionage Division and is a mother of four.
“A” operates against highly complex targets and has achieved security success by configuring a sophisticated intelligence picture,” the Shin Bet said in a press release. “She demonstrated exceptional capabilities in translating her analyses into operational outcomes.”
Another one of the awardees was a male agent, also listed as “A,” who is a handler and recruiter of agents in the Shin Bet’s Southern Division. He is a father of five.
“A” significantly expanded the roster of agents in his area of responsibility and recruited high-value, significant sources who have provided a wealth of invaluable intelligence in recent years,” the Shin Bet said.
Shin Bet must work on a non-partisan basis to help preserve election integrity, Herzog warns.
Herzog said the Shin Bet must work closely, effectively, and on a nonpartisan basis to preserve electoral integrity as Election Day on October 27 nears.
The Knesset’s Shin Bet oversight committee, led by government officials, endorsed Zini’s position over those of its own advisory committee.
Al-Houthi Denies Mecca Attack, Claims ‘Zionist Enemy’ Is Real Threat
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Thursday (17th) denied claims that Yemeni had targeted Mecca, calling the allegation “the lie of the age” and “a great slander,” and claimed that the “Zionist enemy” represented the true threat to Mecca and other Islamic holy sites.
“The real threat is the Zionist enemy, which seeks to target all Islamic holy sites, including Mecca, Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque,” al-Houthi said. “We are ready to confront it as an Islamic alliance.”
Addressing the allegations against Yemeni forces, al-Houthi said: “This is an exposed lie intended to conceal failure on the battlefield and to incite others.”
He said the Yemeni people were a people of faith and wisdom who held the Islamic holy sites in the highest regard.
“Our lives, our souls, and our possessions are ready to be sacrificed for Mecca,” he declared.
Al-Houthi added that those who accepted and condemned the allegation without investigating it were, in his view, participating in the falsehood and bearing religious and moral responsibility.
In the address, al-Houthi thanked Allah for what he described as victories achieved by the Yemeni people against what he called “the unjust Saudi aggression,” which he said was continuing under American supervision and with Zionist backing.
“These victories, with the help of Allah, were achieved within the framework of our legitimate national struggle,” he said.
Al-Houthi said Yemen was continuing to face what he described as aggression and an unjust blockade in its twelfth year.
During the period of reduced tensions, he claimed the Saudi government had not taken serious steps toward peace, but had instead used the period to impose severe restrictions and establish what he described as “infidel military formations.”
He further claimed that the latest escalation began with a Saudi attack on Sana’a Airport.
“At every stage, it has been the one that began the aggression,” al-Houthi said. “We are in a defensive position. We are not the ones that initiate aggression.”
He accused Saudi forces of targeting civilians, a center for the blind, and historical sites over the course of the conflict.
Al-Houthi said the blockade remained a major issue, citing closed airports and restrictions on imports which, he said, had affected food, medicine, and the payment of government salaries.
Al-Houthi concluded by announcing that mass demonstrations would be held on Friday (18th) in Sana’a and other provinces to express opposition to the allegations regarding Mecca.
The ‘One Standard’ Test That Awaits The Next UN Chief – Linda Sadacka
Antonio Guterres’ second term as UN secretary general ends this December. A successor is already being chosen, and by January the world will have a new man or woman occupying the most consequential unelected office on earth.
Every profile of every candidate will ask the same predictable questions: temperament, diplomatic experience, regional bloc, whether it is finally a woman’s turn. Almost none will ask the only question that actually matters. Will this person apply one standard, or two?
The UN’s own record answers what it has been doing so far. Since 2015, the General Assembly has passed 173 resolutions condemning Israel and 80 condemning every other country on earth combined, according to UN Watch, which tracks every vote.
Since 2006, the Human Rights Council has passed 112 resolutions against Israel alone, compared with 45 against Syria, 16 against Iran, 11 against Russia, and 4 against Venezuela.
Israel is the only country in the world with its own permanent agenda item at the Human Rights Council, a standing slot reserved for one nation while every other country’s record gets folded into the general debate. Israeli officials estimate the UN spends roughly $100 million a year maintaining the infrastructure built around scrutinizing it.
These are not close calls, and they are not explainable by Israel’s conduct being worse than Syria’s civil war, Iran’s executions, Russia’s invasion of a neighbor, or Venezuela’s collapse into a police state. They are explainable by one fact only: the rules change depending on who the victim is.
A body that condemns the Jewish state more than it condemns the regimes that gas their own citizens, starve their own children, and jail their own journalists has not been practicing human rights. It has been practicing selective outrage and calling it principle.
That is the test worth applying to whoever takes Guterres’ chair. Not what they say about peace, which costs nothing, but whether the sentence they use to condemn a massacre survives being said about any other massacre, and whether the resolution they are willing to sponsor against one country is a resolution they would also sponsor against an ally.
A standard that only holds for the Jewish state was never a standard, but a pretext wearing a standard’s clothing, and every new secretary general has the chance, for exactly one moment, to decide whether he intends to keep using it.
We should not wait until after the appointment to ask him. We should be asking now, publicly, loudly, and by name, because institutions rarely reform themselves after the fact. They reform, if they reform at all, while someone is still watching and still has something to lose by getting the wrong answer on the record.
The rules should not change depending on who the victim is. Say it about Israel. Say it about Syria. Say it about Ukraine. If the sentence only survives for some of them, it was never a principle to begin with.
US Said Planning $2.8 Billion In Munitions Sale To Israel, Including 2,000-lb Bombs
US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to sell to Israel a munitions package worth $2.8 billion, which will include tens of thousands of highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs, according to a US official familiar with the sale.
The planned sale, which has been informally communicated to relevant congressional committees that weigh in on large arms sales, includes 20,000 MK 84 and 20,000 BLU-117 2,000-pound bombs, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
News of the package was first reported by The Washington Post, which added that the sale also includes a package of 20,000 1-2000 Penetrator warheads.
Asked about the pending sale, a senior White House official told the paper that “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”
The Israeli embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 2,000-pound bombs have been regularly used by Israel in Gaza as well as in Lebanon, drawing scrutiny from rights experts, who argue that they cause widespread damage when used in urban areas as they are capable of leveling entire buildings.
The Post report quoted a former US Army explosive-ordnance-disposal technician as saying that Israel “uses them when they’re trying to target a building,” adding, “If Hezbollah is in a building, an MK-84 will bring down the whole building.”
Israel says it never intentionally targets civilians, and that its strikes are intended to neutralize terror threats and military infrastructure.
Israel Won’t Commit National Suicide To Please Britain – Maj, (ret,) Andrew Fox
Britain’s latest sanctions are intended to bring a two-state solution closer, yet the British government possesses neither the leverage to impose one nor the means to guarantee Israel’s security afterwards. Israelis are being asked to commit national suicide.
Israel’s narrow coastal plain contains much of its population and critical infrastructure. The West Bank’s high ground overlooks that concentration of people, including the approaches to Ben-Gurion Airport. The Golan Heights and Mount Hermon offer similar advantages in the north. Israeli security presence in the West Bank buys warning time and space to halt an attack.
It is an abject fantasy to expect Israel to relinquish the West Bank’s strategic depth while Palestinians retain their ambition to destroy Israel from the river to the sea. The two-state solution will not happen under these conditions, however often British ministers repeat the phrase.
Palestinian attacks prompt tighter Israeli security measures. Breaking that cycle first requires pressure on the Palestinian leaders and institutions that sustain the violence. Palestinian responsibility should become the lynchpin of British policy if we are serious about peace in the Middle East. Diplomatic and financial support should be entirely contingent on ending incitement and dismantling the systems that reward attacks.
Britain’s sanctions on Israel offer ministers a cheap, crowd-pleasing way to display resolve while moving not an inch toward peace. Israelis will keep the ground they believe they need to survive, and Palestinians will remain behind their checkpoints for as long as they preach the destruction of Israel, indoctrinate their children to hatred, and reward violence.
The writer, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, served for 15 years in the British Army. (Jewish Chronicle – UK)
US Ambassador: America Has Never Defended Israel, Only Its Own Interests – Itamar Eichner
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee makes Israel’s case as he notes the growth of Israel’s Christian population from 34,000 in 1948 to nearly 200,000 today: Arab doctors heading departments at Hadassah Medical Center and supervising Jewish staff; and the fact that his own wife was treated by an Arab doctor and a Jewish doctor who have worked together for 20 years. “So if that’s apartheid, they’re not good at it,” he said.
Asked what the U.S. would be prepared to do to defend Israel, Huckabee responded, “America has never defended Israel. Not one time since 1948 has America ever put boots on the ground for Israel. When we are partnering against Iran, we’re not defending Israel, we’re defending the United States. Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we’re the entree.” For nearly 50 years, Tehran has been saying “death to America,” and Washington should take that threat seriously. Partnering with Israel serves American interests.
Huckabee said President Trump had made the calculation of what was in America’s best interest twice during his tenure, first by sending B-2 bombers against Iran and then during the 2026 war with Iran. “He didn’t do that because Israel was here begging, saying, ‘Please help us, we can’t handle it.’ Israel never begged anything. Israel never pushed President Trump into engaging. He did it from his own volition. He did it because he sees Iran as a threat to America and to Americans.” (Ynet News)
