News Digest — 9/24/26
Ambassador’s Son Critically Wounded In Terror Attack: ‘Neria Needs A Miracle’
Neria Leiter, the son of Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, was critically injured Wednesday (23rd) in a car-ramming terrorist attack on Route 443 near Beit Horon in the Binyamin region.
According to police, a terrorist drove his vehicle toward a Judea and Samaria District police patrol car in which a police woman and a soldier were operating as part of a joint mission, deliberately attacking them. Leiter suffered head injuries and was evacuated to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem where doctors are fighting to save his life. Security forces killed the terrorist at the scene.
Leiter’s critical injuries are another tragedy for the family that has already paid the heaviest possible price. Neria’s older brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, may God avenge his blood,was killed in November 2023 in a powerful explosion in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, alongside several other soldiers.
While on his way back to Israel, Ambassador Leiter issued an emotional appeal for prayers for his son,
“I am grateful to the IDF, to the medical team at Shaare Zedek who are now fighting to save the life of Neria Dov ben Chana, and for the prayers of the people of Israel,” he wrote. “I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen. Neria needs a miracle.”
The ambassador added: “Neria continued to serve in the reserves after losing his older brother Moshe Yedidya Leiter, of blessed memory. Since October 7, he has served hundreds of days in the reserves on multiple fronts.
Moshe Leiter, Neria’s late brother was 39 when he was killed and was a father of six who lived in Ein Tzurim. He had served in the elite Shaldag Unit and was a reserve company commander in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion.
Katz Pushes Back Against Syrian President, Says Golan Heights Is Part Of Israel Forever
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday (23rd) that the Golan Heights would remain under Israeli sovereignty and warned Syria against threatening Israeli forces or territory, responding to remarks by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the United Nations General Assembly.
Al-Sharaa reaffirmed Damascus’ claim to the Golan Heights, saying US President Donald Trump had no authority to give the territory to Israel.
“Trump does not own the Golan Heights,” Al-Sharaa said.
The Syrian president also recalled a previous meeting with Trump in which he said he challenged the president over the issue.
“Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You do not own the Golan Heights to give them away, but you do own New Jersey,” al-Sharaa said.
Katz rejected the Syrian president’s position and said Israel considers its sovereignty over the Golan permanent.
“My clear answer to the Syrian President who makes loud declarations in the UN, is: the Golan Heights is under Israeli sovereignty; it is an integral part of the State of Israel forever,” Katz declared.
Addressing Israel’s military presence beyond the Golan Heights, Katz said Israel would not return to earlier security arrangements.
“We will not withdraw from Mount Hermon and the security zones that were conquered in 1973 and give over in the Disengagement Agreement in 1974. Under conditions which were violated when Syria became an Iranian base and threat on our borders.”
Katz said the IDF entered the summit of Mount Hermon and the security zone in Syria following the fall of Assad to prevent threats against Israel.
He said Israeli forces would remain while threats from Syrian security forces or other jihadist groups and organizations persisted along the border.
The Defense Minister also warned Damascus against attacks on Israeli troops or Israeli territory within Syria. “If they attack our forces or the territory of the State of Israel within Syria, we will have to act and respond, and any territory we take will remain ours forever, in accordance with the laws of war.”
“We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the State of Israel, and we will act to preserve this when necessary.”
Milei Calls UN ‘Useless’ During General Assembly Address
Argentine President Javier Milei delivered a blistering attack on the United Nations during his address to the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (23rd) , describing the international body as “useless” and accusing its officials of acting as “fatally arrogant parasites.” Milei opened his speech by acknowledging the principles behind the UN creation, including peaceful conflict resolution and the promotion of freedom and human dignity. But he argued that the organization has abandoned those ideals.
“This is to say, it has become a useless organization whose only purpose is to sustain a caste of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats,” he charged.
Milei accused the UN of responding to its failures by reinforcing rather than reconsidering its policies. “Every time the UN failed, rather than reviewing the model or apologizing, they doubled down.”
He also attacked the organization’s record on international security and human rights. “Those who were supposed to guarantee collective security and human rights failed in their task. They allowed chaos, violence and international terrorism to flourish,” he said.
“The alleged defenders of human rights have sheltered bloodthirsty dictatorships and regimes that stone women in the streets, they have systematically voted against Israel while remaining silent in the face of Islamic terrorism and the genocide of Christians in Africa.”
Milei then turned to Argentina’s dispute over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. ”And if that were not enough, an organization established to defend the territorial sovereignty of its members decided to look the other way with regard to the situation of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, South Georgia Islands, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.”
He argued that the issue demonstrates a broader disconnect between international institutions and reality, saying the islands “are a test of the gulf that exists between the words of international institutions and the reality upon which they purport to act.”
“There’s no shortage of words or resolutions; what is lacking is consequences,” he asserted. “Because an institution that cannot ensure that its words carry weight in the real world loses the most important thing of all, its authority.”
Milei further accused the UN of creating what he called a “bureaucratic leviathan” that seeks to dictate how people should live. “This amounts to a curious mixture of anarchy and tyranny, impotence in the face of those who break the most basic rules, such as bloodthirsty dictatorships and terrorist organizations coupled with Orwellian control and impositions on liberal democracies that abide by the rules.”
The Argentine President made similar criticisms of the UN during his 2024 General Assembly address, when he focused in particular on the organization’s anti-Israel bias. He criticized the organization for “voting against the State of Israel, the only country in the Middle East to defend “liberal democracy.”
“”We have simultaneously shown a total inability to respond to the scourge of terrorism,” he added.
“In this same house, that purports to defend human rights, we have also included bloody dictatorships in the Human Rights Council, including Cuba and Venezuela without reproach,” Milei said.
Following that speech, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon met with Milei and praised his remarks.
“I was moved to hear the speech of the President of Argentina at the General Assembly. President Milei, you are a true friend of the State of Israel. In this hall where we were slandered all day, you showed courage and supported Israel! Thank you,” Danon wrote in a post on social media at the time.
IDF Strike Eliminates Hamas Financial Chief In Gaza
The Israeli Defense Forces on Wednesday (23rd) eliminated Muhammad Abu Alwan, who headed the financial operations of the Hamas terror group, in a strike in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement.
Netanyahu and Katz praised the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) for the “precise operation” in the southern Gaza City of Khan Yunis.
“We will continue to hunt down Hamas commanders and operatives, target its courses of funding and destroy its terrorist infrastructure,” the statement said.
“We will not allow Hamas to rebuild its strength, nor will we stop until Hamas no longer exists in Gaza,” it added.
The Board of Peace on Tuesday night (22nd) hailed the progress made in Gaza over the past year, saying that the work ahead to implement the updated 15-point roadmap for peace and transition in Gaza “will not be easy.”
But with the help of international partners, including the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, and others, “we are confident that we can succeed and turn the plan’s vision into reality,” the international body tweeted.
US President Donald Trump praised the progress made as well, during his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (22nd).
A year ago, the war in Gaza was still raging “brutally,” the hostages were still held captive in Hamas tunnels and “there was no end in sight,” Trump stated.
“But world leaders took the first steps toward a diplomatic solution at the previous UNGA, and “changed everything,” the president continued.
“The war ended , lives were saved and the remaining hostages returned home, both living and dead, every single one of them,” said Trump.
On Monday (21st), the Board of Peace reaffirmed its commitment to accomplish demilitarization and deradicalization in Gaza, an Israeli withdrawal from the Strip:an effective Palestinian civilian and secure administration also known as a technocratic governing body, and reconstruction with sustained humanitarian assistance.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday (22nd) issued a stark warning to Hamas against planning and attempting to kidnap a soldier or civilian, during an address at a memorial ceremony for the fallen of the 1973 Yom Kippur War..
“If even one Israeli soldier or civilian is abducted, Gaza City – with its homes and terrorist towers – will be evacuated southward of its one million residents,” Katz said, adding that Gaza City “will be dealt with in the same manner in which Rafah and Beit Hanoun and 70% of the Gaza Strip were dealt with, until he/she is returned.”
He further pledged not to withdraw from the so-called Yellow Line that runs through the Gaza Strip – where the IDF is deployed – as long as Hamas remains in Gaza and the Strip does not become a demilitarized zone.
(jns.org)
Somaliland President Hopes For Security Cooperation With Israel By End Of Year
Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi expects security cooperation with Israel to begin by the end of the year after the Jewish state recognized the breakaway republic in December.
Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a two-week visit to Washington last week, Abdullahi left open the possibility of an Israeli military presence in the country that most of the world, including the United States, still recognizes as part of Somalia.
“My priority is water,” Abdullahi said. Israel “gave training for 50 Somaliland water engineers, and they will start some water projects, including desalination of Berbera seawater.”
“Hopefully, before the end of the year, they will start to cooperate in the security sector,” he told reporters, including JNS.
Berbera is the main port of Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991.
Abdullahi and Somaliland supporters in the United States are pressing for a greater degree of normalization for the country, which has no official diplomatic relations with the United States and is currently recognized only by Israel.
Those measures include access to the SWIFT banking system, separating the State Department’s travel advisory for Somaliland and that of Somalia and greater military cooperation.
Potential military cooperation may now have greater importance for the United States given Somaliland’s proximity to Yemen and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which is under threat from the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group.
“We gave an offer to the United States for partnership in security, whether it’s counterterrorism, maritime security, or protection of ships in the area,” Abdullahi told reporters.
“Officials from the administration, the Department of War, confirmed that they wish for the relationship to grow.” (US President Donald Trump refers to the Pentagon as the War Department).
During his time in Washington, Abdullahi also met with representatives of the Jewish community, including the American Jewish Committee, and said that he hopes that those talks might lead to greater economic development for the country of six million people, which, if it gained independence, would be one of the poorest in the world.
“We’re discussing with these Jewish organizations that we now have full cooperation with Israel, and hopefully they will encourage Jewish or Israeli investment in Somaliland,” he said.
He described some of the economic challenges the country faces, including its reliance on shipping traffic to generate tax revenue, which has plummeted amid the conflict between the United States and Iran.
“Because of the war, the number of containers coming to Berbera became about 48% less,” he said. “We don’t know if that will continue or how long we can manage.”
“Hopefully, this will be a temporary issue. The war will be over. The problem will be solved,” Abdullahi said. “We pray for that.”
(jns.org)
Israel’s Enemies Misjudged The Resilience Of Israeli Society – Meir Ben Shabbat
The assumption that Israel would collapse under three years of missile attacks has proved mistaken, according to a recent position paper published by Mada al-Carmel, the Arab Center for Applied Social Research, based in Haifa. It said Israel’s Jewish public has demonstrated sustained resilience, broadly supports the continuation of military campaigns, and is willing to bear the human and economic costs because of a shared perception of an existential threat.
Similar observations have been made by Dr. Abdel Moneim Said, chairman of the advisory board of the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, who highlighted conceptual failures that worked against Hamas leaders and Iran’s “axis of resistance.” The first was a misreading of the effect Israel’s internal divisions would have on Israeli society. Instead, Israeli society came together and displayed a resilience that surprised decision-makers in Gaza and Tehran.
Israel’s war is not yet over, but victory will be unmistakable if it produces a change in the enemy’s consciousness: a recognition that Israel cannot be defeated by force and that attempting to do so is not worthwhile.
The writer, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, headed Israel’s National Security Council (2017-2021) and served for 25 years in the Israel Security Agency.
