News Digest — 9/18/25
Many Gazans Seeking To Emigrate: ‘We’re Fed Up’
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Unit addressed a recent post that revealed attempts by senior Hamas officials to leave the Gaza Strip via the Israeli mechanism that is meant for residents who wish to leave for a third country.
Al-Munaseq, the unit’s Arabic language, published screenshots of comments by Gazans who expressed annoyance with the Hamas leadership and their desire to leave the Gaza Strip.
One wrote: “Leave them (Hamas officials) in the Strip, we want to leave. We don’t want Gaza, we are fed up.” Another asked: “Can I submit a request and give up on the entire Gaza? How does it work? A third wrote, “Get us out of Gaza and do what you want with it.”
According to COGAT, 550 residents of the Gaza Strip left on Wednesday (17th) for different countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Britain, Romania, and other EU countries. Some of those leaving are ill, accompanied by family members.
So far, more than 5,000 residents of the Gaza Strip have left via the Allenby Bridge crossing or Ramon Airport.
COGAT addressed Gazans in the post, stating: “We hear you and we know that there are some of you who want to leave the Gaza Strip, and you have written to us about it in the comments and private messages on the ‘Al-Manseq’ page as well. For example, after we posted earlier this week about top Hamas leaders fleeing the sector and using you as human shields, many of you wrote and expressed in your comments your desire to leave the sector.”
“We would like to make it clear that many embassies around the world call you by your name and ask to welcome you in their countries. We are not restricting exits and will continue to coordinate additional departures at the request of embassies. Departures will be carried out upon receiving an order from the embassy of the future country.”
Netanyahu Hails Fiji PM: ‘You Were A Soldier Of Peace’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (17th) attended the official dedication ceremony of the Fijian Embassy in Jerusalem, alongside Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Saar.
During the event, Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed the Fijian delegation and praised the decision to establish the embassy in Israel’s capital.
“It;s a moving moment to have you here, with your ambassador, your staff, your delegation, our foreign minister, deputy foreign minister, and all the friends who’ve gathered here at this important moment,” Netanyahu said.
Referring to the symbolic timing of the embassy’s inauguration, Netanyahu noted, “Only one time you can be seventh. Then comes eighth, ninth; seven is an important number, it’s a symbolic number in our tradition. You are opening an embassy in the ‘City on the Hill, ‘ the city of Jerusalem.”
He emphasized the historic and spiritual significance of Jerusalem, stating, “Here next to the walls of our ancient city, the prophets spoke, the kings of Israel ruled, and some of the greatest insights of human faith and values were inscribed here.”
Netanyahu also highlighted the deep cultural and moral ties between Israel and Fiji, remarking, “We have a common bond, a common civilization, even though you are on the other side of the Earth in the middle of an ocean.”
Commending Rabuka’s background in peacekeeping, the Prime Minister said, “You were a soldier of peace. The idea that all human beings are endowed with the right to live, the right to be free… That is a bedrock of our common faith and our common values.”
Netanyahu referenced ongoing regional threats faced by Israel, describing a “seven-front war” against groups opposing those shared values.
“They wish to extinguish the life of the Jewish state, but they threaten the lives of all who share our values and all who share the core of our civilization,” he said.
He also expressed appreciation for Fiji’s support and reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties: “We talked today about many other things we can do, and we intend to take this on with much vigor and much enthusiasm.”
Concluding his remarks, Netanyahu thanked Fiji for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying, “You have come here, and you have put your embassy in Jerusalem and you recognize a truth that everybody should recognize, This has been our capital for 3,000 years, since the days of King David.”
Addressing Prime Minister Rabuka personally, Netanyahu added, “Welcome to our house, Mr. Prime Minister, which is your house and the house of the people of Fiji.”
Fiji becomes the seventh country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Israel’s Population Tops 10 Million Ahead Of Rosh Hashanah
Israel’s population is nearing 10.15 million, the country’s Central Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday (17th), following a 1% increase in the general population over the past 12 months.
The bureau released key demographic statistics ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, marking population growth since the last Jewish New Year.
However, this marks a decline compared with recent years. From 2022 to 2023, Israel’s population grew by roughly 2%.
The slowing of Israel’s population growth was fueled both by negative migration and a modest reduction in birth rates.
While the number of live births peaked in 2021 at 185,040, that number fell to 179,000 over the past 12 months.
The number of deaths, however, has remained relatively stable, with approximately 50,000 residents of Israel dying over the past 12 months, compared to 50,984 in 2021.
About 25,000 new immigrants arrived over the past year, with an additional 21,000 Israeli citizens returning home and some 5,000 others given residency status through family reunification.
However, there were roughly 79,000 Israelis who emigrated from Israel since last Rosh Hashanah.
Of Israel’s population of 10.148 million, 9.888 million are Israeli citizens or permanent residents, with 260,000 foreign nationals residing in the country on visas.
Broken down by ethnic groups, 78.5% of Israeli citizens and permanent residents are in the “Jewish and others” category, totaling 7.758 million people, compared to 2.13 million Arabs, who make up 21.5% of the population, including the 260,000 foreigners with visas.
The CBS data released on Wednesday (17th) did not further break down Israel’s ethnic makeup.
According to the bureau’s data for 2023, Israeli Jews made up 73.2% of the population, compared to 5.7% in the “others” category, most of whom were non-Jews who immigrated to Israel from eastern Europe alongside Jewish relatives under the Law of Return.
Elbit On Path To Next Stage In Laser Military Technology: Air Force Lasers
As the Defense Ministry and Rafael announce new developments regarding Israel’s ground-based laser defense systems, Elbit continues its long path toward the next stage in laser military technology – lasers on aircraft.
Experts in the field have stated that this is a much longer-term challenge, one that is expected to take years, possibly even five.
However, Elbit chief technology officer for electro-optic systems Oded Ben David told the Jerusalem Post that air-based lasers have distinct advantages over ground-based ones.
He explained that dealing with turbulence and other atmospheric challenges is far easier when striking a target from above than when attempting to ascend from the ground to shoot down an aerial threat.
Aerial lasers are also the holy grail of lasers in that they can be used more effectively and suddenly on both defense and offense, as opposed to ground-based lasers, which must adjust the direction and goal of their firing much more slowly.
Next he pointed out that Israir, EL Al, and other Israeli aircraft have had a weaker form of laser defense-direct infrared countermeasures – for many years, such that the idea of an air-based laser has already been achieved.
Yet, he explained that these lasers work very differently from those that Elbit plans to develop, which will be able to strike aerial threats at much greater distances and which will have much more powerful laser beams.
In addition, the existing air defenses protect against aerial threats approaching the aircraft directly, whereas the purpose of future air-based lasers will be to shoot down threats that are in a completely different area, nowhere near the aircraft carrying the lasers.
Elbit Systems President and CEO Bezhalel Machlis stressed that the laser will be fully Israeli-made, arguing, “It will transform the country’s defense array.”
“The company is dedicated to developing high-energy laser systems for military applications, first and foremost an airborne laser with the potential to bring a strategic change to air defense capabilities,” he said.
Judge orders Anti-Israel Activist Mahmoud Khalil Deported
An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered the deportation of anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, to either Syria or Algeria, Politico reported on Wednesday (17th).
The order issued by Judge Jamee Comans on September 12, stems from Khalil’s alleged failure to disclose certain information on his green card application.
The ruling comes despite an existing federal court order in New Jersey that explicitly blocks his deportation while that court reviews his argument that his detention and removal are unlawful retaliation for his pro-Palestinian Arab advocacy.
Khalil’s lawyers, in a recent federal court filing, indicated their intent to appeal the deportation order but expressed significant concern that the process would be “swift and unfavorable.” They have a 30-day window from the September 12 ruling to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
They wrote that a subsequent appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is unlikely to succeed, as that court “almost never” grants stays of removal to non-citizens.
Khalil, a former Columbia University student who organized anti-Israel protests on campus, made national headlines earlier this year when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March for allegedly posing a threat to national security. He was released in late June after a judge ruled that his detention was unconstitutional.
Despite this setback, the Trump administration has continued its efforts to deport Khalil, adding a new rationale to the case: that he failed to disclose his full employment history and membership in certain organizations when he applied for his green card.
The controversial activist faced widespread condemnation for his defense of the October 7, 2023 massacre that ignited the Israel-hamas War. In an interview with the New York Times on August 6, he bizarrely attempted to justify the massacre as a “desperate attempt” by Hamas to “just break the cycle” of Palestinian Arab suffering. He also refused to describe the attack as “a mistake,” acknowledging only that “targeting civilians is wrong.”
Days after his release, Khalil joined an anti-Israel rally in New York City. Footage posted to social media showed Khalil during the protest, which included chants of “Palestine will live forever” and “from the river to the sea.”
He appeared at yet another anti-Israel demonstration last month, where he quoted an Al-Jazeera correspondent who also served as a Hamas terrorist and was eliminated by Israel in Gaza.
The Post–October 7 Security Strategy Driving Israeli Actions – Meir Ben Shabbat and Asher Fredman (Foreign Affairs)
• Hamas’ brutal attack on Oct. 7, 2023 – which left 1,200 dead and hundreds more held captive, made clear to Israel’s leaders and citizens alike that the country must change its approach to national security to ensure its survival. Oct. 7 demonstrated that it is impossible to contain groups such as Hamas or to accept their existence along Israel’s borders without compromising the country’s safety.
• In the subsequent two years, Israeli decision-makers have discarded old security paradigms in favor of new strategies. Israel had generally sought to limit its actions to the minimum necessary to remove immediate threats and restore quiet. Today, however, Israel is no longer content with weakening, rather than defeating, its adversaries. Instead, Israeli leaders are much more willing to employ the country’s military strength to proactively shape a new order that protects its national interests.
• Israel’s targeted killings of senior leaders in Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, and elsewhere show that Israel no longer adheres to red lines that its neighbors believed it would never cross. Israel will not grant immunity to any leaders of hostile groups, no matter their political title or location, if Israel believes they are involved in terrorist activity. Israel is willing to establish war goals that are far more ambitious than the ones it has pursued in the past, even if achieving those goals is costly and requires sustained or multi-front military action.
• Israel must avoid security concessions based on visions of peace that overlook the hatred of Israel and extremist views that have taken root among the Palestinians and other Arab populations. As soon as Israel suggests a compromise for peace, countries hostile to Israel see it as evidence that the country will buckle under pressure.
• There is only one way to truly end the conflict in Gaza: removing Hamas as the dominant force and demilitarizing the territory by ridding it of weapons in the hands of hostile actors: killing, capturing, or exiling the vast majority of enemy commanders and fighters: and dismantling any infrastructure that allows Hamas to manufacture weapons or maintain its rule.
• By embracing a strategy that prioritizes real security concerns over wishful diplomacy and proactive intervention over reactive restraint, Israel is making itself stronger, not weaker. It can thrive only if its borders are secure, existential challenges on its periphery are removed, and its regional partnerships grow deeper.
Meir Ben Shabbat, Chair of the Misgav Institute for National Security, served as Israel’s National Security Adviser from 2017 to 2021. Asher Fredman is Executive Director of the Misgav Institute.
