Wednesday 22 Teves – US green card holder, a Moroccan national, wounds 4 in Tel Aviv terror stabbing spree – IDF launches major counterterror raid in West Banks Jenin – On his First day in office, Trump Lifts Limits On Arms Sales To Israel; Revokes Sanctions On Israelis and Restores Sanctions On ICC and more…

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Australia’s federal police have said they are investigating whether “overseas actors or individuals” are paying criminals to carry out antisemitic crimes in the country.

There has been a spate of such incidents in recent months, the latest of which saw a childcare centre in Sydney set alight and sprayed with anti-Jewish graffiti. No-one was injured.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a snap cabinet meeting in response, where officials agreed to set up a national database to track antisemitic incidents.

Thus far, the federal police taskforce, set up in December to investigate such incidents, received more than 166 reports of antisemitic crimes.

“We are looking into whether overseas actors or individuals have paid local criminals in Australia to carry out some of these crimes in our suburbs,” Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Reece Kershaw said, adding that it was possible that cryptocurrency was involved.

The digital currency can take longer to identify, Mr Kershaw said.

The commissioner said police were also investigating whether young people were carrying out these crimes and whether they had been radicalised online.

British Airways has announced that the airline is going to resume flights between Tel Aviv and London. According to the current plan, flights will be renewed next April 5th, which is the end of the week of Eid, about a week before Passover. The airline plans to start with one flight a day, and not long after that go up to two flights. A day.

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Storm Eowyn has been named by the Met Office ahead of strong winds across the UK on Friday and into Saturday.

The winds, caused by low pressure, will lead to disruption such as damage to buildings, power cuts and flying debris which could threaten lives.

It will also cause disruption to travel, with road, rail, airports and ferries likely to be affected.

The storm is expected to sweep close to or over the northwest, bringing “very strong” south-easterly and south-westerly winds.

The Met said gusts could reach 60mph inland and 80mph in coastal areas but should lose some of their force on Saturday.

People should beware of potential large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties by the strong gusts.

The Met Office has also issued yellow weather warnings for “very strong winds” across the UK for 24 hours on Friday.

The areas set to be affected by the storm on Friday include East Midlands and West Midlands, London and southeast England, northwest England, southwest England, Wales, Yorkshire and Humber.

Parts of Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar, Northern Ireland, Orkney and Shetland, southwest Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde, will also be affected.

For Saturday, a yellow wind warning is in place for parts of northern England and Scotland.

Eowyn is the fifth named storm to hit the UK since the end of October.

To minimise travel disruption, the Met recommends being prepared by checking road conditions and timetables beforehand if planning on driving or using other means of transport.

When it comes to the risk of power cuts, people should consider gathering essential items such as torches and batteries and a mobile phone power pack.

Those living in coastal areas should exercise caution as “even from the shore large breaking waves can sweep you off your feet and out to sea”, the forecaster added.

A Jewish childcare center was torched near a Sydney synagogue on Tuesday, causing the Australian state of New South Wales to commit more police to investigate a spate of antisemitic crimes, officials said.

The childcare center was also spray-painted with anti-Jewish graffiti before it was set alight early Tuesday, police said. The building was extensively damaged, but police said no one was hurt.

The arson is the latest in a spate of targeted attacks in Australia’s largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023. Sydney and Melbourne are home to 85 percent of Australia’s Jewish population.

Acting New South Wales Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said Strike Force Pearl, which was formed several months ago to investigate antisemitic crimes in Sydney, “will have its resources increased as of today.”

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders related to Israel, Jews, and their enemies only hours after his inauguration on Monday.

Trump lifted all restrictions on the sales of arms to America’s ally Israel, including the supply of 2,000-pound bombs held back by Biden in order to pander to his pro-Hamas supporters. Biden also had frozen a shipment of 134 D9 bulldozers, a decision that cost the lives of numerous IDF soldiers, and refused Israel’s urgent requests for Apache attack helicopters following Hamas’ October 7 assault.

Trump also revoked the Biden administration’s executive order placing sanctions on some Jewish residents of Yehudah and Shomron, a move prompting Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich to publicly thank Trump.

“I thank President Donald Trump for his just decision to revoke the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against settlers and right-wing activists,” Smotrich stated. “These sanctions were a severe act of blatant foreign interference in Israel’s internal affairs.”

The newly sworn-in President also restored sanctions on the International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor, a morally corrupt individual under investigation for suspected crimes, dared to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant shortly after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Ex-President Joe Biden had overturned the sanctions previously imposed on the ICC by Trump in his first term.

Trump also signed an order implementing a 90-day pause on all U.S. foreign development assistance programs to review their “alignment with administration policy,” which will likely lead to funding cuts to the UNWRA and the Palestinian Authority which he imposed during his first term and were reversed by Biden.

Finally, Trump signed an order “protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public threats,” a move aimed at deporting foreign nationals, especially university students, in the US who support terror.

The order states that the US government must ensure that visa-holders do “not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”

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Four people were wounded Tuesday evening by a terrorist who went on a stabbing spree in a trendy Tel Aviv neighborhood, emergency services and Israel Police said, before he was shot dead.

The assailant who carried out the stabbing was Moroccan national Abdelaziz Kaddi, a US green card holder, according to an ID found on his body. He was shot dead at the scene.

Kaddi was flagged by security when he arrived in the country a few days ago but was nonetheless granted entry, a decision the Shin Bet said late Tuesday it was investigating.

It was the second terror stabbing in three days in the Israeli metropolis.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said four people were wounded in the attack in Nahalat Binyamin. The victims include two men aged 24 and 28 in moderate condition, and two others aged 24 and 59 in good condition, MDA said.

Kaddi entered Israel on January 18 with a tourist visa.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said that immigration officials had identified Kaddi as a threat when he arrived in the country at Ben Gurion Airport and sought to bar him from entry. He was handed over to security officials for questioning.

“To my regret, they decided to allow his entry into Israel,” Arbel said in a statement. He called on the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to investigate the incident, which the security agency shortly later confirmed it was doing.

Upon the subject’s entry into Israel, he underwent a security assessment that included his interrogation as well as additional checks, at the end of which it was decided that there was no information that established grounds to prevent his entry into Israel for security reasons,” the Shin Bet said in response to a query.

The attacker apparently stabbed three people before running to an adjacent street, where he wounded a fourth person.

Victims were taken to the city’s Ichilov Hospital.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Tuesday notified Defense Minister Yisrael Katz that he intends to resign on March 6.

“I informed the Minister of Defense today that in light of my recognition of responsibility for the failure of the IDF on October 7th, I wish to conclude my role by March 6, 2025,” Halevi’s statement said.

“In the remaining time, I will complete the investigations [on Oct. 7] and prepare the IDF for security challenges. I will transfer command of the IDF in a comprehensive manner to my successor. I have sent a letter to the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister regarding this matter.”

The report comes after Defense Minister Betzalel Smotrich demanded that Halevi be dismissed as part of his conditions for his party to remain in the government despite its opposition to the ceasefire/hostage release deal.

Halevi’s letter stated: “In the last four decades, the mission of defending the security of the State of Israel has been a mission of my life. From a young soldier and commander to Chief of Staff, I found pride in my affiliation with the IDF. I saw it as a model organization and felt a heavy responsibility as one of the defenders of the State of Israel and its citizens.”

“I knew well that upon taking command of the IDF, I bore the great responsibility of ensuring that the IDF would be ready to stand the ultimate test of war, know how to deter its enemies, and where it had not neutralized a threat in advance – know how to separate enemies from civilians.”

“On the morning of October 7th, the IDF under my command failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel. The State of Israel paid a heavy and painful price – in human lives, in hostages, and injuries to bodies and souls. The acts of daring heroism by many – security forces, IDF soldiers and commanders, and brave civilians – were not enough to prevent the heavy disaster. My responsibility for this terrible failure accompanies me day by day, hour by hour, and will continue for the rest of my life.”

“The IDF knew how to rise from a very difficult starting point to intense fighting, for more than a year and three months, in seven different combat arenas. The military achievements of the IDF changed the Middle East. The IDF inflicted very severe damage on the military wing of Hamas and created the conditions for the return of hostages, caused an unprecedented blow to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and significantly weakened Iran and its regional activity.”

“The IDF defends the residents of the Golan Heights from the Syrian buffer and succeeded in destroying the main capabilities of the Syrian army. In the Yehuda and Shomron sector, the IDF operates daily and nightly on effective counter-terrorism missions. These achievements are far above any achievement discussed with the political echelon for each of the arenas, and this significance is stronger in light of the connection of the arenas.”

“These achievements belong first and foremost to the commanders and soldiers of the IDF. My troops, IDF fighters in regular service and reserves, from all parts of Israeli society, stood up for the just war, fought bravely and selflessly, and won every encounter with the enemy. We achieved these accomplishments at a heavy price. We suffered losses of our best fighters, the bereaved families expanded, and the war left wounds and scars among many. The IDF will forever be committed to the families and the memory of the fallen.”

“The objectives of the war have not yet been fully achieved. The IDF will continue to fight for the dismantling of Hamas and its governing capabilities, for the return of all hostages, and will strengthen the security conditions created to complete the safe return of residents of the south and north to their homes.”

“The IDF initiated and implemented an unprecedented and comprehensive investigation process during the war, for the purpose of learning and improvement, strengthening combat and defense capabilities, and as part of the commitment to the bereaved families, to the hostages and their families, and to the public as a whole.”

“In light of my recognition of my responsibility for the failure of the IDF on October 7 and at a time when the IDF recorded exceptional achievements and restored the deterrence and strength of the State of Israel, I wish to conclude my role on March 6, 2025. I made this decision long ago. Now, when the IDF is dominant in all combat arenas and an additional hostage return agreement has been put into action, the time has come. In the remaining time, I will complete the investigations and continue to strengthen the IDF’s readiness for upcoming challenges. In doing so, I will pass command of the IDF in a qualitative and orderly manner to my successor. I will always be a soldier of the State of Israel.”

Following Halevi’s announcement, Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman, the commander of the IDF’s Southern Command, also submitted a letter of resignation to Katz.

In his resignation letter, Major General Finkelman wrote: “On October 7, I failed to defend the western Negev and its beloved and heroic residents.”

“By my conscience and the guiding values that guide me, I have decided to end my role as Commander of the Southern Command and my service in the IDF. This failure is engraved in me for all my life.”

The Israel Defense Forces launched a major counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday afternoon, which military sources said was expected to last several days.

The operation began with a series of drone strikes on infrastructure used by terror groups in Jenin, a military source said.

Palestinian media outlets reported several airstrikes and local health officials said at least 10 people were killed and 40 were wounded.

Footage published by Palestinian media showed Israeli Air Force helicopters flying over Jenin.

In a brief joint statement, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency confirmed the operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” and said further details would be provided later.

IDF sources said large numbers of troops, including special forces, Shin Bet agents and Border Police officers, were operating in the city.

The goals of the operation were to “preserve the IDF’s freedom of action” in the West Bank, neutralize terror infrastructure and eliminate imminent threats, according to military sources.

The sources said the operation would last at least several days.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was “another step in achieving the goal we set, strengthening security in Judea and Samaria.”

Judea and Samaria is the biblical name for the West Bank.

“We are operating in a systematic and decisive way against the Iranian axis wherever it sends its arms, in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

On Monday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the military was preparing for “significant operations” in the West Bank, amid a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“Along with the intense defense preparations in the Gaza Strip, we must be prepared for significant operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days in order to preempt and catch the terrorists before they reach our citizens,” he said during an assessment, in remarks released by the IDF.

On Sunday, military officials said the Central Command was readying to carry out offensive actions in the West Bank, to prevent Hamas from establishing a foothold in the West Bank in light of the release of members of the terror group in the ceasefire deal.

The offensive plans were being coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, which also fears its rival Hamas gaining power in the West Bank, the officials said.

Hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners are due to be released to the West Bank in the hostage deal and ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including many convicted of deadly terror attacks.

The Tuesday raid came a day after an Israeli reservist soldier was killed and four others were wounded, including a senior officer in serious condition, when they were hit by a roadside bomb in the northern West Bank.

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