News Digest — 12/29/25
2025 saw sharp drop in immigration to Israel even as arrivals from Western nations surged
Some 21,900 new immigrants moved to Israel in 2025, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry said Monday, a steep drop of about one third from last year’s numbers as arrivals from Russia dried up.
However, aliya (Hebrew for immigration to Israel) from the United States, France, the UK and other Western countries rose sharply, amid skyrocketing antisemitism affecting Jewish communities around the world, including high-profile deadly terror attacks against Jewish targets like the Yom Kippur attack on a Manchester synagogue and this month’s massacre at a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia.
Some 13,600 non-Russian immigrants arrived in 2025, a 23.6% increase from about 11,000 in 2024 and an 81% increase from the 7,500 new immigrants in 2023, according to an analysis of ministry data.
(Read more at timesofisrael.com)
Netanyahu arrives in US for Trump summit seeking freedom on Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon – analysis
Monday’s meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will mark their sixth encounter since Trump took office nearly a year ago.
Once again, the agenda is expected to revolve around three familiar concerns: Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon.
What sets this meeting apart is that hostilities have formally ended across these fronts, at least in Washington’s view. According to Israeli officials, however, roughly 30% of Israel’s operational objectives remain unfulfilled, namely, the return of Ran Gvili, the final hostage whose remains are being held by Hamas.
Netanyahu is expected to arrive in Washington to convince the US president that Israel must retain the freedom to act.
That means finishing the dismantling of Hamas’s military infrastructure in Gaza, curbing Iran’s ability to resume ballistic missile development, and remaining on high alert in Lebanon and Syria, where officials say security conditions are still too fragile for normalization.
(Read more at jpost.com)
Historic change: Jews to be allowed at Joseph’s Tomb even during daylight
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday announced that Jews will be allowed to visit Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) during daylight hours, for the first time in 25 years.
The decision marks a dramatic change in the policies governing the site: Since the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva at Joseph’s Tomb was evacuated in the year 2000, there have been no organized visits by Jews during daylight hours.
During the next visit to the site, the Jewish visitors will be allowed to remain at the compound until 8:00 a.m., instead of being required to leave by 4:00 a.m. The change will also allow the Shacharit (morning) prayers to be held at the site.
Later, the option of allowing Jews to remain at the site for additional hours will also be examined.
All Jewish visitors to the site are currently required to arrive only during the nighttime hours, and only in cooperation with Israeli security forces.
(Read more at israelnationalnews.com)
Defying Trump’s deadline, Hezbollah chief rejects Israeli-US disarmament ‘plot’
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Sunday accused the United States of colluding with Israel against the terror group, and rejected American demands that Hezbollah disarm immediately.
In a televised address, Qassem dismissed the December 31st deadline set by the White House for Beirut to show substantial progress in demilitarizing the Iranian-backed Shi’ite organization, calling it part of an “Israeli-American plot” against Lebanon.
“Disarmament is an Israeli-American plot,” Qassem said, before laying out terms for handing over the terror group’s arsenal to the Lebanese government.
While the terms of the November 2024 ceasefire – as well as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, passed in 2006 – require Hezbollah to immediately surrender its weapons, Qassem conditioned disarmament on an end to Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah terrorists and the withdrawal of IDF forces from five enclaves on the Lebanese side of the border.
“To demand exclusive arms control while Israel is committing aggression and America is imposing its will on Lebanon, stripping it of its power, means that you are not working in Lebanon’s interest, but rather in the interest of what Israel wants,” Qassem said.
(Read more at worldisraelnews.com)
Ritual bath from Second Temple period uncovered beneath Western Wall
A rock-hewn ritual bath from the late Second Temple period, containing ash traces that provide evidence of the Temple’s destruction, was uncovered in recent days during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation beneath the Western Wall plaza.
The ritual bath is rectangular, measuring 3.05 meters (10 feet) in length, 1.35 meters (4.4 feet) in width, and 1.85 meters (6 feet) in height. It was carved into bedrock, and its walls are plastered. In its southern section, four hewn steps that led into it were exposed. The ancient installation was discovered sealed beneath the destruction layer from the Second Temple period, a layer dated to 70 CE. Within this layer, which contains burnt ash providing evidence of the destruction, numerous pottery vessels were found, along with stone vessels characteristic of the Jewish population that lived in the city on the eve of the destruction.
(Read more at israelhayom.com)
