News Digest — 9/8/26
Some 20,000 Immigrated To Israel Since Last Rosh Hashanah, As Western Aliyah Rises
Some 20,000 new immigrants arrived in Israel in the past 12 months, the Immigration and Absorption Authority said Monday (7th) ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday that marks the Jewish New Year.
The ministry declined to provide a more exact figure, with a spokesperson saying the final number was still subject to change. If it holds, the number provided for the Hebrew year 5786 – which included data from September 23, 2025 through September 3, 2026 – is a decline of about 6 percent from the 21, 244 that arrived in the previous year.
Immigration – aliyah in Hebrew – actually increased from most Western countries, but was countered by a sharp decline in Russian immigrants. Some 5,685 immigrants arrived from Russia in the past year, compared to 9,282 in 2024-25 and 19,407 in 2023-24. That decline was expected, as Russian immigration spiked sharply after the country declared war on Ukraine in 2022, and has been leveling out ever since.
The ministry argued that the rising numbers arriving from Western countries showed that rising antisemitism throughout the world, alongside growth in Zionist fervor and Jewish identity following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, were leading the Jews to move their lives to Israel.
Aliyah from France rose 65% to 4,364, up from 2,649 a year earlier. Immigration from the United States rose 15% to 3,333 , while that from the UK reached a 40-year high of 975.
Additionally, 797 immigrants came from Ukraine, 491 from Belarus, 440 from Canada, 247 from Australia, 243 from Argentina, 241 from Georgia, 210 from South Africa, 210 from Germany, and 200 from Brazil.
Among the new immigrants , 35% are aged 18-35 and 24% are under 18. Another 18% are aged 36-50; 9% are aged 51-60; 5% are aged 61-65; and 10% are aged 66 and over.
“Especially in a complex and challenging year, the choice to immigrate to Israel and build a future here is a strong Zionist and national statement,” Immigration and Absorption Authority Minister Ofir Sofer said. “The trend of immigration from Western countries is expected to strengthen, and this is a national opportunity that the State of Israel cannot afford to miss.”
The Immigration and Absorption Ministry has launched a number of new initiatives recently to promote successful immigration, including plans to integrate immigrants into the Israeli labor market. During the past year, 414 doctors from around the world immigrated to Israel, helping to ease the manpower shortage in the field, as some Israeli physicians left the country over the past three years.
The two oldest immigrants who immigrated to Israel this year are 102 years old – one from Russia and the other from France. The youngest immigrant is a two-week-old baby, who came to Israel with his family from Mexico.
Tel Aviv was the most popular city for new arrivals, with 2,762 new immigrants. That was followed by Netanya (2,224), Jerusalem (2,134), Haifa (1,504), Ra’anana (1,042), Bat Yam (957), Ashdod (846), Beit Shemesh (680), Ashkelon (534) and Rishon Lezioon (450).
Interest in future immigration is also on the rise, the ministry said, with more than 28,000 Jews around the world opening aliyah files through the Jewish Agency. France saw a 32% increase in new aliyah files, while the United States saw a 17% increase, the United Kingdom saw a 68% increase, Canada saw an 11% increase, and Australia saw a jump of 90% in immigration files.
Overwhelming Majority Of Israelis Fear Oct.7-Style Attack From Judea And Samaria
The Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security said Monday (7th) that most Israelis are concerned the Palestinian Authority’s security forces could mount a major assault from Judea and Samaria resembling the Oct.7, 2023, Hamas attack.
According to the findings, 77% of Israelis share that concern, with the figure rising to 86% among Jewish respondents.
The study also found broad resistance to creating a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines. Overall, 67% of Israelis opposed such a state, including 75% of Jewish Israelis.
The survey results come as Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Monday (7th)that the IDF had been directed to prepare for an “all-out war” in Judea and Samaria in the event that the PA or groups connected to it carry out or appear to be preparing an Oct.7-style assault on Israeli forces or settlements.
Katz said the directive came from him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for the military to be ready for a wide-ranging response following reports of a potential coordinated attack involving several fronts.
“We will not allow a return to the reality of an intifada lasting for years, as was the case in the past,” Katz said.
The response envisioned by Katz could involve operations throughout Judea and Samaria against senior PA figures, Palestinian security personnel and what he identified as terrorist infrastructure, i24NEWS reported. Israeli forces could carry out targeted killings, move civilians away from fighting and dismantle terrorist facilities, while maintaining a military presence in areas brought under their control.
Katz cited Israel’s security zones in Gaza and Lebanon and earlier operations in Jenin as models for the approach.
Separately, an Israeli was stabbed Monday (7th) at the Maoz Yehuda settlement farm near the Palestinian village of Usarin. Magen David Adom said the victim suffered moderate-to-serious injuries.
Katz’s warning also came after Maariv reported last week that Israeli intelligence indicated Iran was preparing a future multiple-front assault involving Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq.
Arab media reports indicate Iran is considering activating the different fronts simultaneously from the beginning of a future conflict.
Israel To Expand Defense Ties With Japan
Israel is stepping up efforts to gain a larger foothold in Japan’s defense market, bringing together dozens of Israeli companies and Japanese industry representatives as part of a broader push to open new markets for the country’s booming defense sector.
The Defense Ministry announced Sunday (6th) that its International Defense Cooperation Directorate, known as SIBAT, recently held a seminar devoted specifically to helping Israeli defense companies navigate the Japanese market and turn their technologies into commercial deals.
About 70 Israeli companies participated alongside representatives of Japanese manufacturers and trading companies, a significant turnout as the ministry seeks to translate growing interest in Israeli military technology into new business opportunities in Asia.
The gathering went beyond showcasing Israeli technology, with Israeli firms holding direct meetings with Japanese representatives from the innovation, trade and investment sectors to explore potential partnerships.
The seminar also focused on the practical challenges of entering the Japanese market, including navigating its distinct business culture and procurement process.
The initiative comes as Israel’s defense industry is experiencing unprecedented overseas demand. Israeli defense exports reached a record $19.2 billion in 2025, nearly 30% higher than the previous year and more than double their level five years earlier.
Asia and the Pacific accounted for 32% of the total, making the region Israel’s second-largest defense export market after Europe.
Japan is increasingly emerging as a target of that expansion.
Israel opened its first national pavilion at the DSEL Japan defense exhibition in 2023, with 14 Israeli defense companies participating.
By DSEL Japan 2025, the Defense Ministry was again leading a sizable Israeli delegation, showcasing systems ranging from autonomous platforms and cyber defense to surveillance and communications technology.
The latest effort appears designed to move beyond exhibitions and help individual Israeli companies establish a lasting commercial presence in Japan.
At the seminar, SIBAT unveiled a new three-month program called BRIDGE that will select a limited number of Israeli defense companies for intensive assistance in entering the Japanese market.
Participating companies will receive one-on-one mentoring from Japanese professionals and develop business plans specifically tailored to Japan.
The program will culminate with a showcase in Japan and face-to-face meetings with prospective partners, according to the Defense Ministry.
The seminar was led by SIBAT Director BG (res.) Yair Kulas and included Gilad Cohen, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Political Affairs Division and a former Israeli ambassador to Japan.
The Japan initiative is part of a wider Defense Ministry campaign to diversify the countries buying Israeli weapons and defense technology.
The ministry has increasingly treated defense exports as a strategic tool, arguing that overseas sales help finance the IDF’s force buildup while strengthening Israel’s diplomatic relationships and domestic defense industry.
Earlier this year, SIBAT brought together Israeli and Indian defense companies for a dedicated seminar and business meetings aimed at expanding cooperation and export opportunities.
For Japan, the new BRIDGE program marks the next stage of that strategy: not simply introducing Japanese buyers to Israeli technology, but giving Israeli companies the local knowledge and contacts needed to turn that interest into contracts.
Hamas Has No Intention Of Disarming: So Why Is The U.S. Still Negotiating? – Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas has no intention of surrendering its weapons, abandoning its armed “resistance” against Israel, or relinquishing control over Gaza. Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Nov. 10, 2025,, “No one said that we will hand over our weapons.” Instead, Hamdan said, the agreed framework calls for the “containment and storage” of Hamas’ heavy weapons by the Palestinian Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Palestinian “resistance factions.”
Khalad Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Iran, told the Islamic Republic News Agency on Aug. 19, 2026, that Hamas regards weapons as essential to its struggle against Israel. He rejected the idea that the question of weapons would even be discussed before Israel’s military presence in Gaza ends. Hamas wants the international community to recognize its political claims while treating its military arsenal as an internal Palestinian issue.
Hamas cannot insist on retaining the weapons that it used – and clearly plans to use again to attack Israel. The victims of Hamas’ weapons have a say in the matter too. Hamas’ laying down its weapons and relinquishing its political and military control over Gaza must be unconditional. Hamas is a terrorist organization that launched the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre. It is not a sovereign state entitled to negotiate the terms of its own disarmament.
Was ISIS ever asked to “store” its weapons? Terrorist organizations are supposed to be disarmed, Their weapons are supposed to be confiscated and destroyed. There is no legitimate reason for Hamas or any other Palestinian terrorist faction to possess weapons. Palestinians do not need rockets, explosive drones and anti-tank missiles to build a better future. Hamas, like its benefactors in Iran, may well believe that its best strategy is to drag out negotiations for as long as possible, at least until Trump is no longer president and someone more accommodating might take his place. Hamas is telling the world exactly what it intends to do: keep its weapons. So why is Washington still negotiating the arms”
There is only one viable solution for Gaza: Hamas must be eliminated as a political and military entity. Its weapons must be confiscated or destroyed, not “stored, contained, or hidden.” Until this happens, Hamas remains armed and the threat of another Oct. 7 massacre – or more – remains in the works.
Hamas Has A Human Sacrifice Strategy – Maj. (ret.) John Spencer Interviewed By Yanya Kellick (American Thought Leaders)
Maj. (ret) John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, said in a podcast on Saturday (5th):
“Hamas has a very unique version of human sacrifice, as their goal is to actually get their people killed. They need civilian deaths to achieve their political goals.” They say “they need the blood of their women, children and elderly to achieve their goals. They said they not only want it, they need it to achieve the goal of theirs in the afterlife, martyrdom and everything. So it’s a really sick political strategy.”
“Even the Japanese, the Nazis, while they accepted civilian casualties, that wasn’t their strategy to get their own population killed in order to achieve this political goal…It’s in Hamas’ public statements that anybody can reference that they have this human sacrifice strategy.
“There’s 60 miles of tunnels in Gaza…There’s 2.2 million people there. All of them could fit in their tunnels with ease and escape what’s going on at the surface. But Hamas actually makes written and public statements saying these tunnels are not for civilians and civilians are not allowed…If I go to Ukraine, where I’ve been many times, the civilians go to the subways to seek refuge from the bombings that are happening on the surface.”
“I’ve seen mountains of evidence, literally fields of food and [Israeli] soldiers doing the opposite of genocide, but the world spreads it…Israel has implemented more of these civilian harm mitigation measures, trying to prevent civilians from getting hurt, like evacuations, phone calls, flyers, all of that, but also daily pauses to allow civilians to get out of harm’s way, giving out maps, tracking civilians by their cell phones, not taking airstrikes. They’ve actually done more of these than any military has ever tried in war, but then are accused of targeting civilians when all of the evidence, real evidence, actually there’s no cases of Israel targeting civilians.”
“Egypt wouldn’t allow the civilians out, which I’ve never seen in a war that I’ve ever studied, where one country could save thousands by just creating a humanitarian zone outside of the main combat area.”
“Early in 2024, the IPC (one of the groups that would determine famine around the world) did this study of nutrition in Gaza and reported that it was nearing famine conditions because they had changed their own metrics of the number of deaths related to starvation that would equate to famine. And now, that same organization provides the data showing that none of it was true. There weren’t cases of death by malnutrition and starvation that would equate to the famine marker.”
“Everybody thought there were just awful things happening, despite the actual amount of food that was going in and the lack of deaths from malnutrition and starvation that were happening. Of course, now it’s too late. A year later the actual data provided from Gaza showed that , during the war, Gaza had higher nutrition than other parts of the Middle East where there was no war. Everybody could have gone and seen the amount of food that was going into Gaza.”
