Military police reportedly telephoned a ben yeshivah in a Chareidi neighbourhood of Yerushalayim on Wednesday evening, told him a delivery was waiting downstairs and arrested him when he came out of his home.

The reported use of a delivery pretext came amid renewed arrests of bnei yeshivah. The bachur was taken into military police custody. No independent military response to the account was available.

In a separate case on Wednesday, a Torah B’Tiferes bachur received ten days in military prison after being transferred from police in Kfar Saba. He had reportedly been involved in a road accident on Tuesday and was found driving without a licence. During the investigation, police discovered that he was wanted over his military-service status.

Demonstrators gathered outside the station to oppose his transfer. Further protests took place at the Ra’anana junction on Route 4 and at the entrance to Elad.

MK Yaakov Asher accused the authorities of using intensified arrests to disrupt the election campaign. Shas demanded the immediate release of the detained bachurim.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara urged the High Court on Wednesday to consider stripping further economic benefits from men who have not complied with draft requirements, arguing that the state’s arrest and enforcement efforts were insufficient.

The submission opens another front in the pressure on bnei yeshivah, calling for additional financial sanctions while criticising the authorities for failing to exhaust the powers already available to them.

Baharav-Miara put the number of men with outstanding draft obligations or service orders at approximately 110,000 across the population. About 60 per cent were Chareidi men sent reporting orders during the past two years, while a further 21 per cent were also estimated to be Chareidi.

She cited a slowdown in planned arrests, coordination difficulties between military police and Israel Police, and operations that ended with few detentions or the release of men at the scene.

The Attorney General asked the court to consider further operational directions withdrawing economic benefits. The measures remain a request to the court; Wednesday’s submission did not itself impose new sanctions.

Special transport and security arrangements are in place for visitors to Kever Rachel for the hilula of Rachel Imeinu on 11 Cheshvan, with access restrictions continuing through Thursday.

The arrangements began on Wednesday afternoon. Private vehicles are not permitted to enter the site, and visitors are being directed to dedicated buses from the western car park at Teddy Stadium in Yerushalayim, near gates eight and nine.

Routes 662 and 663 were scheduled to operate from 3 p.m. on Wednesday until 6 a.m. on Thursday, resuming on Thursday from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. There is a break in the dedicated service between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Buses drop passengers near the yellow gate on the Rosmarin approach. Visitors then continue on foot towards the kever, with assistance vehicles planned for elderly visitors and people with disabilities.

Organisers have arranged refreshments and continuous tefillos at the site. Travellers are asked to follow police and stewards’ instructions and check transport updates, as crowding and waiting times are possible. Rav-Kav cards should be loaded before travelling.

The Government has accepted all 27 recommendations of an independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England, after findings that three in five Jewish pupils aged 16 to 19 had experienced or witnessed antisemitism.

The review, led by Sir David Bell and published on Wednesday, identifies a significant and growing problem affecting Jewish pupils, students and staff. It calls for a consistent response across the education system.

The measures include dedicated training for school leaders and safeguarding staff, stronger guidance on political impartiality and improved reporting and monitoring of antisemitic incidents. Schools and colleges will also be encouraged to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said implementation was now her priority. The Government has established a group to oversee delivery and commissioned Sir David to assess progress after one year.

The Government’s response stresses that tackling antisemitism is a responsibility for every school and college, including those without Jewish pupils. It says political expression must not become a means of intimidation, discrimination or harassment.

A man accused of assaulting three Orthodox Jewish women on Clapton Common was remanded in custody after appearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Abdisamad Siad, 33, pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault by beating. The charges relate to incidents on Monday afternoon in which all three women suffered minor injuries.

Prosecutor Shubhangi Mitra told the court that the first complainant reported being slapped across the face at about 1.30 p.m. A second woman was allegedly punched twice while pushing her baby in a pram six minutes later.

The prosecution alleged that a third woman was punched several times before the attacker ran away. The allegations have not been proved, and Siad denies the three assault charges.

Shomrim volunteers detained a suspect before police were called to the common at approximately 1.40 p.m. on Monday. The Metropolitan Police said patrols had been increased locally and officers were working with the Jewish community and partner organisations to provide reassurance following the assaults. The court proceedings remain ongoing.

Russia is willing in principle to resume three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States next month, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin met US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.

Ushakov said the proposed negotiations would address a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict. Such talks have not taken place since February.

Witkoff briefed Putin on discussions held in Oslo the previous day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Norway’s prime minister and Finland’s president. Ushakov said the American had presented new approaches from Kyiv and European leaders, while indicating that Moscow remained critical of much of their content.

The meeting lasted almost three hours. The two sides also discussed implementation of an October agreement between Putin and President Donald Trump concerning Russian diesel supplies, as well as the crisis over Iran.

The Kremlin’s account describes readiness to return to negotiations. It does not announce a ceasefire, a peace agreement or a confirmed date for a new round involving all three parties.

The IDF announced on Wednesday that a Hamas Nukhba operative involved in planning an attack which killed four Israeli soldiers had been eliminated in an airstrike in Gaza City.

The military identified the terrorist as Musa Abd Muhammad Hamouda and said he was killed on Sunday. Wednesday’s statement disclosed the result of that operation.

According to the IDF, Hamouda helped plan the explosive-device attack on a tank belonging to the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armoured Brigade on September 8, 2025. Four members of the tank crew were killed in the attack.

The military said Hamouda had recently continued advancing attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and had worked to rebuild Hamas’s military capabilities. It described those activities as systematic violations of the ceasefire.

The IDF and Shin Bet said they carried out the operation together. The announcement linked Hamouda both to the planning of the deadly 2025 bombing and to more recent efforts to restore the terror organisation’s capacity to carry out further attacks.

Israeli soldiers began casting ballots on Wednesday ahead of the October 27 Knesset election, with approximately 850 military polling stations deployed across Israel and at positions beyond its borders.

The early voting arrangements allow regular troops and reservists in remote or operational areas to participate without leaving their posts. Stations will remain available through election day, according to the military.

About a quarter of the polling stations are mobile, serving units including those at some 40 outposts in Gaza, positions in Lebanon and nine outposts in Syria.

Around 3,000 soldiers, mainly young conscripts trained by the Central Elections Committee, are staffing the stations. Mobile teams follow predetermined routes between units, accompanied by an armed officer responsible for security. Ballot boxes remain locked while in transit.

Soldiers may alternatively vote at civilian polling stations on October 27. Military ballots use double envelopes so that voters’ names can be checked against their home polling station records, preventing the same person from voting twice. Tens of thousands of troops are eligible to use the military stations.