News Digest — 8/20/26
Danon Calls For Security Council Reform, Says Emergency Meetings Are Abused
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, called on Wednesday (19th) for reforms to the Security Council’s working methods.
The ambassador warned that the mechanism for convening emergency meetings has lost its original purpose and has become a political tool repeatedly used against Israel, rather than a means of addressing the most serious threats to international peace and security.
In his remarks, Ambassador Danon presented an Israeli proposal for reform under which convening an emergency meeting would require the approval of three Security Council Members, rather than a request from a single member. The proposal also calls for clear criteria to determine when circumstances genuinely warrant an emergency meeting.
Ambassador Danon noted that over the past four years, the Security Council has held approximately 100 meetings concerning Israel, including at least 17 emergency sessions. By contrast, Iranian aggression, Houthi attacks on international shipping routes, Hamas holding hostages, and Turkey’s military entrenchment in Syria have rarely prompted emergency meetings.
The Security Council has been very good at holding meetings, but very bad at making a difference. Instead of focusing its time on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, it is repeatedly drawn into political theater. The Security Council was not created to hold fruitless meetings. It was created to prevent wars. It is time to return to the mission for which it was established,” he said
Ambassador Danon stressed that the Security Council’s success should be measured by results, not by the number of meetings it holds. Has terrorism been weakened? Has the next escalation been prevented? Is the world safer as a result of the Council’s actions?”
“The Council’s purpose should not simply be to meet. Its purpose should be to make the world safer,” he stated.
Chief Of Staff In Syria: ‘We Won’t Allow Enemies To Establish Themselves On Our Borders’
IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir visited the 210th Division on Wednesday (19th) and toured the security zone in southern Syria, warning that Israel will not permit hostile forces or significant military threats to establish themselves along its borders.
Zamir was accompanied by Northern Command Commander MG Rafi Milo, 210th Division Commander BG Yair Peli, 474th Regional Brigade Commander Col. Y., and additional commanders.
During the visit, the Chief of Staff held an operational situational assessment and toured the security zone. He also met reservists operating in the field and expressed his appreciation for their continued service and operational activity.
“We are operating in a multi-front reality, in which the challenges are constantly changing and developing – the Syrian arena is one of them.”
“We see what is happening and are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front – we must prepare for them accordingly. We will not allow hostile forces to re-establish themselves on our borders, and we will know how to use our operational capabilities precisely where and when needed.”
Zamir stressed that the IDF must act both against emerging terrorist infrastructure and against development of a conventional military threat near Israel.
“We must prevent the development of terrorist threats, while also preventing the formation of a significant military threat on our borders,” he said.
“In Syria as well, we have created a forward defense posture that serves as a buffer at the front of the communities, where our troops are operating.”
The Chief of Staff warned that despite developments on the various fronts, the IDF continues to regard the current situation as a multi-front war requiring constant readiness.
“We are still in a multi-front war, alert and operating in all arenas – escalation can develop in any one of them, and we must remain in constant readiness for that,” Zamir said.
He also praised the work of the 210th Division and devoted part of his remarks to the reservists serving in the sector, many of whom have accumulated hundreds of days of reserve duty since the beginning of the war.
“The division is doing excellent work. I want to express deep appreciation to the reservist troops who are here.” Zamir said. “I met a high-quality and professional reserve battalion here, reservists who have served hundreds of days since the beginning of the war.”
“You were called up for a long period. I am aware of the heavy burden placed on your shoulders, appreciate your work, and I am working extensively to ease the weight on you and on your families.”
“The entire people of Israel are deeply indebted to you,” the Chief of Staff concluded.
“Armed To The Teeth”: Syrian Buildup, Ankara Involvement Necessitated Israeli Strikes – Experts Say
Israel’s strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in the Idlib province in northwestern Syria on Tuesday (18th) were necessary to avoid a direct clash with Turkish forces on its borders, two experts in the region told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday (19th).
Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yaarocak, an expert on Turkey at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told the Post that Jerusalem was “not interested in clashing with Turkey, and was therefore “doing everything possible to keep Turkey away from the borders.”
Ankara rejected allegations made by Jerusalem that the deployment of Turkish forces violated the “status quo” and posed a threat to Israel’s security. Turkey’s Presidency said Netanyahu’s remarks stemmed from his intention to pursue “expansionist and destabilizing policies” ahead of elections, adding that lasting regional peace could only be achieved if Jerusalem abandoned its “aggressive and coercive policies.”
“The untenable allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office are intended to legitimize Israel’s unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said on X.
“Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the destabilization of Syria.”
“Yanarocak said that “the geographical contiguity between Turkey and Syria” makes it harder for Israel to avoid a direct clash with Turkey.
“So long as Turkish forces remain in their current positions in the north and do not seek to gradually penetrate southward…Israel can feel secure,” he said.
Jonathan Hessen, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said Turkish influence was far more deeply embedded in Syria and that the threat from Syria, even if it is a “country in creation,” was not limited to Ankara’s presence alone. Israel has faced numerous attacks from Islamist forces in Syria under the Assad regime, while many members of the new Syrian Transitional Government have yet to sever their ties with groups that have also expressed hostility toward the Jewish state.
“If we focus on the emergence of the new government in Damascus, which was essentially installed with Turkish backing in December 2024, we also need to take into account the developments that have taken place from a geostrategic perspective, including efforts by Turkish forces, or Turkey specifically to establish a military presence beyond the security belt it had established over the course of the past several years to defend itself against potential threats emanating from Syria during the Assad regime,” he said.
Claiming that Damascus’ Defense Ministry is controlled “in many respects” by Turkey, Hessen noted that it was strange for such a newly established regime to be “armed to the teeth” and to have built up its military so rapidly, particularly given the economic challenges in Syria that might have demanded another government’s attention at the expense of the military.
“It is investing heavily in its military buildup, despite the fact that many people within its military are clearly still maintaining their jihadist pasts in both local form as well as indicating their unruliness in areas of friction with minorities and other aspects,” he said.
The National reported in June 2025 that Syria had recruited 100,000 personnel into its new army, half of its planned 200,000-strong force, including 30,000 members of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.
The new military also incorporated foreign fighters, including a 3,500-member brigade composed mostly of Uyghurs, many of whom belong to the Al-Qaeda-linked Turkistan Islamic Party. The fighters were reportedly promised Syrian citizenship in exchange for their service.
Hessen said that Israel’s use of military force must be understood in the context that it is being utilized in a region marred by years of violence and where there are evident threats in addition to “concrete intelligence of malign intentions towards Israel.”
“We’re also talking about Turkey’s proactive and deliberate effort to establish a military presence in Syria, with a number of bases already established in northern Syria and efforts to expand that presence, particularly its aerial presence into areas such as the T4 airbase,” he continued.
“Turkey attempted to rehabilitate the base to its own advantage, which Israel, in a decisive signal as part of its messaging, essentially struck on March 21-22, 2025.
Though Israel had previously targeted the base to prevent Iranian and Assad-era forces from using it to transfer equipment to Hezbollah, Israel’s March strike specifically targeted T4’s runways after Turkey sought to convert the base into a Turkish drone base following the fall of Bashar al-Assad as previously reported by the Post.
Despite the strikes and condemnation from Syria and Turkish leadership, Hessen maintained that there was likely some degree of diplomacy behind the scenes and reporting on the attack “might be framed differently than what actually is happening on the ground.”
US Ambassador to Turkey and the Trump administration’s special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack told the Post that the Israeli attack was “serious” and could have resulted in military escalation. However, Hessen said he “wouldn’t necessarily say” that Washington was seriously at odds with Jerusalem over the incident.
Hessen argued that the United States understood Israel’s “new realm of more assertive doctrine,” but that there were also competing interests within Washington, with some officials more concerned about the fiscal benefits of a stable Syria than Israel’s security interests.
“Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is essentially the point man for Syria, has, I think, projected a lot more pro-Turkish sentiment through his role as ambassador to Turkey, at the expense of Israel in Syria, in a manner that does not necessarily align with the national security interests of the State of Israel or the United States,” he said.
Washington has been very coherent and very clear about the necessity for Damascus to prove itself on the ground and the need to de-escalate the situation. The reality on the ground is very different from what many people try to project or sell, so to speak, to the international community. There are clear interests in Europe in seeing stability in Syria consolidate into an environment that would once again give European nations the opportunity to repatriate all those Syrians who entered continental Europe illegally.”
Once Rejecting Israeli Citizenship, The Golan Druze Are Now Getting Ready To Vote – Adi Hashmonai
Walid, 35, resident of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, said, “For 60 years, people here were afraid to speak out against the Syrian regime, fearing harm to their relatives across the border,” before mentioning the massacre of Druze in southern Syria’s Sweida province by government and Bedouin forces a year ago. “I feel that we’re nearing the completion of the Israelization of Druze society in the Golan – toward a new era.”
In 1981, when Israel annexed the Golan, most Druze there refused to accept Israeli citizenship, declaring loyalty to Syria. Three decades later, the Syrian civil war broke out and the number of Druze who requested Israeli citizenship steadily increased from single digits to hundreds annually. Still, by 2023, only a fifth of the Golan Druze were Israeli.
But in 2024, 572 residents from the four Druze towns requested Israeli citizenship, a number that ballooned to 2,750 in 2025. In the first half of 2026, 1,444 Druze from the Golan requested citizenship.
Now 44% are citizens. The main reason was the massacre in Sweida and the Israeli airstrikes in the province and Damascus that followed.
“I think the Druze in the Golan had an epiphany, mainly because Israel was the only one that stood by the Druze in Syria,” said Salim Brik, a political scientist at the Open University of Israel. “The sharp increase in Golan-Druze citizenship is probably also linked to the disaster of July 2024, when 12 children in Majdal Shams were killed by a Hezbollah rocket,” he said.
Israel Advances E1 Construction Plans With Tenders For 1,400 Homes
Israel has taken a long-delayed step toward construction in the E1 area, opening tenders for roughly 1,400 housing units between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.
The Israeli Land Authority said Tuesday night (18th) that it would begin marketing the first phase of the project, comprising roughly 1,400 housing units, to contractors and developers. A separate Housing Ministry tender covers about 1,200 additional units, with bids due October 19.
The broader E1 plan, also known as Mevasseret Adumim, envisions approximately 3,400 homes.
The area, covering about 12 square kilometers, is intended to expand the Israeli city of Ma’ale Adumim westward and establish a built-up connection with Jerusalem.
The project has been under discussion since the 1990s, with successive Israeli governments backing the development of Ma’ale Adumim and its connection to Jerusalem.
Construction has repeatedly been delayed by diplomatic pressure, bureaucracy, and budgeting issues.
Under Israeli-Palestinian agreements, Israel attains full administrative and security control over the area, classified as Area C.
Supporters regard E1 as strategically important for maintaining Israeli territorial continuity around Jerusalem.
Opponents say development there could undermine the possibility of a contiguous future Palestinian state.
Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach called the tender a historic milestone.
“After more than 30 years of promises, struggles, and international pressure, we are today turning a vision into reality,” he said.
“The first 1,400 housing units are underway, and they will be joined by approximately 2,000 additional units later.”
The bidding deadline falls one week before the Knesset elections of October 27.
