Two IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon were wounded on Friday after an anti-tank missile hit their position in the second incident that day in which Israeli soldiers were injured.The soldiers were performing forward defensive operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon when several anti-tank missiles were fired towards their force.As a result, two of them were wounded and evacuated, while the terrorist squad that carried out the attack was engaged soon thereafter.Following the incident, the IDF established a curfew for nearby communities in order to increase alertness, although the military clarified that there were no suspicions of possible terrorist infiltrations into Israeli territory.<figure><img alt="IDF soldiers injured in southern Lebanon evacuated to Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, March 5, 2026." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/710062"></figure>The incident is the fourth of its kind in recent days, raising the total of IDF soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon to 14.<h3>Five soldiers injured by anti-tank missiles</h3>Earlier on Friday, five Israeli soldiers from the Givati ​​Brigade were badly wounded by anti-tank missiles as they were deploying near the border with Lebanon in northern Israel, the IDF confirmed.The military added that, in the same incident, three other Givati soldiers were lightly wounded.The IDF's confirmation that its soldiers had been wounded comes after Hezbollah, earlier that morning, issued a statement saying that it had initiated a "series of operations" targeting "Israeli sites and bases."Sam Halpern contributed to this report.

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Two IDF soldiers wounded by anti-tank missile fire during operations in southern Lebanon

<figure><img src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/572656"></figure>To say that the exhibition Yakir’s Light – which would have opened on March 2 at the Jerusalem Theatre in its Theatre Gallery had the war not broken out – is unusual and moving would be an understatement on both counts.&nbsp;First, the show combines drawings and photographs with pictures of architectural projects, which is a little unusual. Second, one artist is living, and the other is dead, which is very unusual.And third, the two artists, Chaya Hexter and Yakir Hexter, are mother and son. Chaya’s determination to show the world the brilliance and spirit of her son, who was killed while serving as a combat engineer in the 8219th Battalion of the Commando Special Forces Unit in Gaza over two years ago, has led her to create an exhibition that elicits more emotion than any art show you are ever likely to see. The show will be presented to the public when the Jerusalem Theatre is permitted to reopen.&nbsp;“Everything is a story for me these days,” said Chaya, sitting in the cafe at the Jerusalem Theatre for our interview a few days before the scheduled opening. She has the manner of a person who wants to say many things and isn’t sure she can get to everything. “Since Yakir was killed, my life is like this every day. I keep seeing all these connections wherever I go.”The story she wants to tell through the exhibition is about the relationship between her grief and the way she found to express it, and to give a glimpse into her son’s soul, through his art.<figure><img alt="The last photograph of Yakir Hexter, before he was killed in Gaza. ‘He is sitting amid garbage but finds a piece of paper and makes a paper airplane; showing his innocence, love for fun, even in the dark danger,’ Chaya said." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709978"></figure><h3>A peek into the light Yakir brought into the world</h3>The exhibition is comprised of “very dark and very powerful and real photographs” that she has taken since he passed away, and through Yakir’s own work and photographs, which she hopes will give “a peek into Yakir’s genius and the light he brought into the world.”Yakir, an architecture student at Ariel University, lost his life on his second tour of duty in Gaza on January 8, 2024, just before his 27th birthday. The eldest of three boys in the Hexter family, he also studied in a hesder yeshiva. Chaya said that while her son was a yeshiva student, “He was also so many other things – a top athlete, studious; he had so many sides to him.”Chaya, an American immigrant who made aliyah as a student and met her husband, also American, in Israel, has worked in many professions and has a background in photography. She ran a photography gallery and developed her own black-and-white photographs, although she never had a show of her own work before. But after Yakir’s death, she found herself using photography to process her grief.&nbsp;“I started taking pictures at moments that were just too impossible to comprehend, or even ingest, or process,” she said, calling being a bereaved mother “a whole new entity.”<h3>A diary of grief</h3>Chaya’s photographs are like a diary of her two years of grief, captured in clear images that draw the viewer into her sorrow. With some, you instantly know exactly what you’re looking at, and it can bring you back to moments when you were mourning someone, such as pictures she took of the death notices for Yakir, when they were new, and later as they were battered by the wind and rain.Others show the box the family received with Yakir’s belongings, photographed in a way that makes you feel what Chaya went through when she received it. Text added to this photo of the box references the trauma of dealing with the military bureaucracy. “Each time, there was a new ‘unknown’ surprise to deal with and more bureaucracy,” she said.In a black-and-white photo, there is sky glimpsed from below in a curving structure, which turns out to be the Memorial Hall at the national military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, which evokes the desire to float away and escape the reality that has brought her there.<figure><img alt="An architectural drawing by Yakir, whose assignment was to draw a house without using a ruler." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709981"></figure>The drawings by Yakir, many of which are from a sketchbook that his parents looked at only after his death, show the workings of a young artist who was developing rapidly and in unexpected directions. There are many different sketches of people and places around him in his life, while others show images that came from his imagination.Assignments for his architecture studies are included, and several show his vision for projects he dreamed of building. One shows a house attached to a tree, seemingly growing out of it, in a forest, a house that looks like an organic extension of the tree on which it has been mounted. Chaya noted that on this assignment, he had to draw without using a ruler, although you would never guess that from looking at it.There are photographs of other projects he built as models, including one of a “mushroom chapel” that features curving lines, and looks like it could be some kind of retreat or even a set for a sci-fi movie.Finally, there are photographs that further complete this portrait of the artist as a young man, including one of him hovering in the air as he jumps for joy at a friend’s wedding.“The photograph of him jumping at his best friend’s wedding shows him full of life and endless possibilities just beginning to spread out before him, just as his limbs do....The last photograph of him was taken moments before he was killed. He was in a school used for terrorism [in Gaza]. He is sitting amidst garbage but finds a piece of paper and makes a paper airplane; showing his innocence, love for fun, even in the dark danger.”<figure><img alt="Chaya and Yakir together years ago." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709982"></figure>The heart aches for the loss of this son and this artist. As Chaya spoke about the exhibition, she veered back and forth between describing it in artistic terms and wanting to give an even fuller picture of the son she loved, and whom you sense she is still getting to know through engaging so deeply with his work.Curator Yair Medina spoke about why he felt it was important. “The exhibition is about the story of the tragedy and the truth of the mother and the child, and those pictures captured a moment of understanding and the feeling. Everything is not necessarily clear, and everything is complicated, but everything is connected.”He mentioned the photographs of the death notices. “Chaya took a picture a day after, and six months after, and then she took this picture again a few months ago, and it’s already almost vanished. The only thing that’s left is the masking tape. So, this is a kind of philosophical reflection about what’s gone, and how can you deal?... It’s a collection of moments.”Curating this exhibition affected him deeply, and he feels others will have a similar response: “We wanted to create a place where everyone can identify with something from it. And for me, it begins to heal the wound our society suffers from. And Yakir – it shows the beauty of this person.”Chaya spoke of her son’s love for his Israel, and his devotion to the country, saying he didn’t have to go back for his second tour because he was a university student. But his mother recalled that he said, “There’s no way I’m leaving my brothers,” meaning his comrades in arms. “Inside, I was begging, but I just said, ‘Yakir, you did enough. You did so much.’”She spoke of how long he fought in his first tour and under what difficult conditions. As a family of immigrants to Israel, she said she felt “We didn’t get the handbook,” that there would be such a long and deadly war. She has spoken to his fellow soldiers at length, and said, “I do know the circumstances of his death but still don’t know the details because once I do, I can’t ‘un-know’ them.”She prefers to focus on who he was in life. In addition to being an extremely talented architecture student – “His professors said they hadn’t had a student like him in 40 years” – he was an athlete who won the Jerusalem Marathon in his age category when he was 18. In 2023, he ran a half-marathon barefoot. “But because he was an artist, he drew on one foot ‘Nike’ and the other foot ‘Adidas’ with a Sharpie,” she said. When I suggested that Yakir made that run into a piece of performance art, she agreed. “He was like a Renaissance man.”For his studies, he did projects in Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood using graffiti and created plans for urban renewal projects in Jerusalem. “But it always incorporated the human aspect – the contrast between public and private space. Not just aesthetic, not just practical – philosophical ideas.”Yakir was a barman at Jerusalem’s popular Nocturno night spot, where he invented a cocktail; he often volunteered, raising money for causes such as Alyn Hospital, and dedicated runs and bicycle races to various causes. Some of his charity work she knew about, but much of it he kept private, and she only learned about it after his death.Perhaps most importantly, he was a valued friend and was close to people who were secular and religious. “I got calls during the shiva, some of them from people I didn’t know, saying, ‘He saved my life.’ He helped people in all kinds of ways. He had an impact.”She also learned that even in the toughest moments of war, he held on to his humanity. When his unit captured terrorists, other soldiers tied them up tightly. “And Yakir went around and said, ‘No. We don’t. This is not the way we act.’ He untied the terrorists’ hands and retied them so it wouldn’t hurt them. That’s who he was. He didn’t change, no matter the circumstance…It’s inspirational.”Nothing about any of what the Hexter family has gone through is easy or simple, and Chaya feels that because of the inevitable focus on saving the hostages taken by Hamas, in some ways the more than 900 fallen soldiers were swept aside in the public consciousness. She noted that many don’t realize the heavy price paid by the olim (immigrants to Israel) community, which lost so many of their sons. She said that it was frustrating that American Jews abroad don’t seem as aware of this fact as she wishes they would be.The exhibition came about as she looked into her son’s sketchbook and kept taking photographs documenting her own grief. “I thought at first, I would do two exhibitions – mine and his – but my good friend from Berlin, a curator I worked with at an art gallery named Nathalie Arfi, said, ‘You have to do both.’”The exhibition features some short text, but Chaya said, “The stories won’t be written. I want people to take in the images. I’ll give tours – so people can understand the story behind the pictures and Yakir. But even without too much information, it’s powerful. You’re not going to experience what we lived through by seeing these pictures. But it’s a little peek.”She compared it to the impact of Anne Frank’s diary: “You can’t take in six million stories, but you can relate to one and understand what was lost… And I want people to get to know Yakir – a little – through his art, and through that, understand.”Chaya wears a dog tag like the ones worn to support the hostages, only hers features an image of Yakir and the words Nisht pashut, Yiddish for “not simple,” in the elaborate calligraphy of a religious scribe, a skill he taught himself.A friend of Yakir’s from the army who was also his roommate at the university said at Mount Herzl on the occasion of the shloshim (mourning period), the one-month commemoration of his death, “Nothing is black and white… That Yakir wasn’t complicated, but he was complex. That’s what ‘nisht pashut’ means. That’s what my exhibition is about.”She had words of gratitude to Medina, the curator, and the team from Jerusalem Fine Arts Prints. “He’s been amazing. His team has been sensitive. It’s been therapeutic and very hard at the same time.”She said that she hopes the show would be a new beginning for the family and for those who remember Yakir. One project using his work is already underway. “We’re building a lookout in nature near Ness Harim, where Yakir used to bike. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Tel Aviv and the ocean. There are architects involved – classmates and professors – who are using Yakir’s ideas to build the lookout. It will be based on Yakir’s designs. And there’s work we still haven’t seen. We haven’t gone into his laptop yet – it’s been two years. It’s still too painful.”Chaya’s statement at the beginning of the exhibition was the last message she sent to Yakir in Gaza. It reads: “Yakir, my dearest, You inspire us and remind us why we love this land and our Torah, and why we live. You represent everything that is good and pure. You are forever in my heart. I send you love, light, and strength... I hope you always feel it. With love, Mom.”But this isn’t all she would like to tell him. “I was shocked by how he progressed as I looked at his work. He designed a whole new plan for that area by the area across from the Old City walls. He redesigned the whole area. It’s incredible. I walk around Jerusalem and think what ideas he would have put to use here – how the city would have looked different.“Beyond his architectural ideas, he has definitely changed the world for the better and is still spreading his light,” she said.It would please Chaya to know that those who see the show will think, too, about how Yakir might have changed Jerusalem for the better. And that thought will achieve something of what she is striving for in the exhibition, to show the world Yakir’s “light.” It’s also a way of marking the continuing evolution of their relationship, which has not ended with his death.<h3>The Jerusalem Theatre galleries bring art to the capital</h3>Yakir’s Light is one of many upcoming exhibits being shown at the Jerusalem Theatre, which is a cultural venue that brings together the arts of the stage and screen, as well as the plastic arts, with original initiatives that express the meeting point between ideas and art.While the venue is currently closed due to the war, the exhibition program at the Jerusalem Theatre consists of eight galleries with monthly and bi-monthly changing exhibitions of original works of contemporary art, showcasing emerging and new artists in various mediums – photography, acrylic and oil, pen and ink, watercolor, and prints – alongside gifts and long-term loans of original artworks.Exhibitions on social and community issues have always been a priority of the Theatre and its director, Sharon Yardeni Abramovitch. The Theatre acted for the community during the Israel-Hamas War, serving as an active cultural center connected to and influenced by the Israeli pulse, including a video presentation with the hostages’ images displayed in the Theatre’s Foyer.Several exhibitions on the theme of the October 7 massacre, with the participation of artists from the communities of the Gaza Envelope and the surrounding southern areas, were shown, including: watercolor drawings of a combat soldier who served more than 300 days in Gaza and Lebanon; artistic journals of the Women of Be’eri, three of whom were murdered on October 7 2023; a solo exhibition of Ta’ir Bira, who was murdered, along with members of her family, also at the start of the war; a group exhibition entitled #Creating Hope, initiated by monday.com; a photography exhibition of Sharon Gabay, who accompanied the Zaka Search and Rescue team in Kfar Aza; and more. – H.B.Once the theater reopens when the war ends, all exhibitions will be on view free of charge to the public, from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays; Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday night, from the opening of venues, until 9:30 p.m.To apply for a monthly newsletter of Art Events and Exhibition Openings, and to artists interested in exhibiting at the Theatre, write to the curator, Dr. Batsheva Ida at: batsheva@jth.org.il.&nbsp;For more information, see the website: www.jerusalem-theatre.co.il/eng/Exhibitions

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Exhibition 'Yakir's Light' brings together art by a fallen soldier and his mother

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How Mikhael Mirilashvili sees Netanyahu, Trump, and Israel’s national priorities - interview

The IDF carried out ground operations in Lebanon aimed at locating the artifacts related to the 1986 disappearance of Israeli fighter pilot Ron Arad overnight on Friday, the military confirmed on Saturday.No items related to Arad were uncovered at the scene of the search, the IDF stated, adding that it will “continue to operate tirelessly, day and night, and out of a deep commitment to returning all of our sons, the fallen and the missing, home to Israel.”Earlier reports from Lebanese news outlet An-Nahar stated that IDF helicopters were spotted landing near the Nabi Chit village in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon. The helicopters reportedly entered Lebanon from across the Syrian border.Israeli troops were then seen entering a cemetery in the village, where they were spotted by Hezbollah terrorists in the area, who began exchanging fire with the IDF soldiers.According to An-Nahar, it is suspected that the cemetery in Nabi Chit has some connection to Arad’s disappearance.<figure><img alt="Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Lebanon, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, March 5, 2026." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709941"></figure>According to Lebanon's health ministry, at least 16 people were killed, and 35 were injured during the Nabi Chit operation.<h3>Efforts to locate missing Arad</h3>In December, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that a former Lebanese security officer suspected of being involved with Arad’s kidnapping had gone missing.According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Ahmad Shukr was allegedly kidnapped by Israel, a claim that the Shin Bet and Mossad declined to comment on at the time.Arad was captured on October 16, 1986, by the Lebanese Shi’ite group Amal after the aircraft in which he was flying was damaged, forcing him and the plane’s pilot to escape the plane.While in captivity, Arad sent three letters home before Israel lost track of his whereabouts in 1988.Reuters, Miriam Sela Eitam, and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

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IDF attempts operation to locate items tied to Ron Arad disappearance in Lebanon

Three raids a day and a staggering munitions pace that shattered global standards. As pilots raced to Iran on stimulant pills, the partnership with the United States and the ingenuity of the women in the force created a single arm that choked off Tehran’s launching capabilities.It is horrifying to recall what the IDF had to deal with ahead of this operation. The repeated attacks on Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, appointed by this government and then abandoned to the claws of propagandists who branded him a “Kaplanist” and smeared him from morning to night. A chief of staff who has become a regional commander, not only leading the IDF to extraordinary operational achievements, but also coordinating actions with his many counterparts across the region and working closely with the American chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the commander of CENTCOM in what is described as nothing less than a masterwork.Consider what they did to Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar during the judicial overhaul period, when he had to deal with the rising emotions of hundreds of pilots, some of them older reservists, who threatened to stop volunteering if the legislation advanced. Bar knew he did not have the luxury of dismissing so many pilots from the IDF, especially since they were not refusing orders but exercising their democratic freedom to protest and suspend what was, in effect, voluntary reserve service. He was torn between worlds, yet somehow managed to hold both ends of the stick.He, nor anyone else, had any doubt that when the moment came, all of them would show up, far beyond the expected mobilization numbers, and that is exactly what happened. But they demanded his removal, and then raged over the excellent appointment of Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder as head of Military Intelligence, replacing the resigning Aharon Haliva. True, Binder bears some responsibility for October 7, though not a dominant share, but under the circumstances and reality of those days, he was the most necessary and appropriate appointment.The man who appointed him, then-chief of staff Herzi Halevi, planned the campaign against Iran after the Mossad’s original plan had collapsed. He knew Binder was the most suitable man on the General Staff to take over Military Intelligence, rebuild the organization on the move, and prepare it for the decisive rounds ahead. These days, it is becoming clear just how right Halevi was, and how brilliant Binder is. I spoke this week with several people in the Air Force, and they did not know how to express their amazement at the quality of the intelligence fed to them in Tehran, Beirut, and everywhere else. “It’s insane work, what Military Intelligence did, pure magic. Everything starts there,” one of those who carried out the operations said.<figure><img alt="IDF Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder speaks during a replacing ceremony held at the IDF Intelligence Command headquarters in Glilot, August 21, 2024." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/704107"></figure>By the time we got to the Air Force, there was already a shortage of superlatives. There is no choice but to open the emergency stockpiles: it begins with Tomer Bar’s quiet leadership. Unlike his predecessor Amikam Norkin, who was an excellent Air Force commander but also highly extroverted, Bar is quiet, keeps away from media storms — though unfortunately they pursued him — and does not engage in glorifying his own name, which has been glorified for him in his absence.<h3>The race between launchers and bombers</h3>The Air Force’s preparations for war were fascinating. Because the number of aircraft and pilots is fixed and known, and because it was clear a race would develop between Iran’s launch capability and the Air Force’s ability to destroy launchers and missiles, the solution devised by the Air Force was to increase the number of waves. How? Fly to Iran and back three times a day. Every pilot. And how is that done? With stimulant pills. That was the trick they planned. And it worked.When every pilot does this three times a day instead of once or twice, the number of strikes soars, literally and figuratively, the number of strikes surges, and the ability to reduce Iran’s launch capability is dramatically strengthened. “We understood that we had to bring as many bombs as possible to the target in as little time as possible,” an IDF official said this week, “to jam them up, destroy them, and bring them down as quickly as possible, without giving them time to lift their heads.”The Iranians are no fools. We were not the only ones preparing for the event. They were too. The previous operation taught them a few things, and they stationed large numbers of bulldozers and tractors at launch sites so they could quickly reopen bombed tunnels after each wave. They were counting on attacks frequency, but the high pace left them no chance.A learning competition developed here between our side and the Iranians. A competition that was decided, but not without effort. And we have not yet spoken about the American aircraft that joined in. Bottom line: by Wednesday afternoon, the Air Force had dropped its 5,000th munition on targets in Iran in four days. Throughout all 12 days of the previous operation, 3,700 munitions were dropped.The heart of the race was during the first 48 intense hours. With medical supervision, the Air Firce found the most suitable stimulant pills and trained with them to ensure there were no side effects, no damage to the pilot’s sharpness or motor skills, while also identifying the optimal nutrition for such a situation. They also learned from the Americans’ experience, since the Americans are used to long-duration flights of this kind. B-2 bombers, for example, can fly continuously for very long hours.What happened was that the pilots and ground crews were pushed beyond anything they had ever experienced during the first three days. The only ones who pushed harder were the Iranians. They took the full blow, and the sharp decline in the pace of launches recorded in recent days is the result of that effort. As of Thursday, the assessment was that the Air Force was on the verge of breaking Iran’s launch capability. No, not reducing it to zero, but bringing it down to “manageable” dimensions that would leave the interception systems with a reasonable workload.In wartime, the Air Force’s motto is: “Either you’re flying, or you’re sleeping, or you’re eating.” In the current war, that was shortened to: “Either you’re flying, or you’re eating.” They simply did not sleep. Throughout all this, everyone had to be kept on a tight leash, to make sure there was no hubris, no excess self-confidence, no creeping contempt. The historic downing of an Iranian aircraft by an F-35 improved morale, but did not reduce the intensity. Here and there Iranian MiGs also took off against our pilots, but quickly broke contact.And despite the clear results, the Air Force is not getting confused. It is not underestimating the Iranians. They are fighting, someone said, they are putting up a fight, they came to wage war, they learned, they prepared, they are not giving up on anything, they still take off here and there, they continue launching even though they know that after every launch they will be hit. They are more determined in this round than they were in the previous campaign.What kept the pilots and ground crews going at this murderous pace? Simple: in addition to the uncompromising professionalism of the force, there was also the knowledge that every sortie, every takeoff, every flight of hours out and hours back, was intended to ensure that the family of that pilot, that female pilot, that extraordinary ground crew member, would have to run to shelters fewer times.<figure><img alt="An IAF F-35 participates in Operation Roaring Lion, March 5, 2026." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709980"></figure><h3>The force multiplier</h3>The Air Force is not only pilots. The ground crews are another unresolved wonder. During every visit by American or foreign officers to Air Force bases, the visitors try to understand how it can be that the servicing, preparation, and arming time of an Israeli fighter jet between strike waves is significantly shorter than in the United States, Britain, or anywhere else, and with less manpower, or women-power. Try explaining that to them. They won’t understand.Speaking of women, it is an advantage. Everyone I speak to about the issue praises the extra ingenuity and intelligence of the young Israeli women who race with endless energy between the hardened shelters, bombs, and missiles, making sure as few minutes as possible pass between one takeoff and the next. Books will still be written about the cooperation with the American gorilla. It was an unprecedented event in which the naval, air, and intelligence arms of the two countries were integrated as equals and became a single arm.Israelis suddenly understood American power. The fact that more than 100 modern refueling aircraft flooded the skies of the Middle East meant that every Israeli pilot could change course or stop for refueling almost anywhere. The dialogues between the refueling pilot and the pilot being refueled will one day be published and warm many hearts. Then there is the intensity with which the United States can strike anywhere, at any time, at any hour, with any munition, from any possible bomber. The unchallenged air superiority of the F-22s, and of course the B-2 bombers, the strategic game-changers.But the Americans, too, got a chance to witness some extraordinary things: the professionalism, precision, and capabilities that exist only in the Israeli Air Force; intelligence so precise it is jaw-dropping, down to a hair’s breadth; and endless creativity that we will only learn about in the distant future. Interlocking American-Israeli tools that made history this week.

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Shorter, faster, deadlier: World’s militaries stunned by the power of the Israel Air Force

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Eichmann trial, which mesmerized the Jewish world. The trial was held in Jerusalem at Beit Ha’am because courtrooms at the time were not large enough to hold all those – especially Holocaust survivors or family members of victims – who came to testify and bear witness against the notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.The iconic opening address by Polish-born attorney-general Gideon Hausner, who was the chief prosecutor, is considered to be one of the great speeches of the 20th century.“In rising to present the case against the accused, I am not alone. I am accompanied and surrounded by six million prosecutors, who unfortunately cannot stand and point their finger of accusation against the man in the dock, declaring, ‘I accuse.’ Their ashes are either at Auschwitz and Treblinka or in graves scattered all over Europe. Their blood cries out. Their voices are silent and unheard. It is in their name that I present this terrible, awful indictment…”In commemorating the Holocaust, the slogan “Never Again” rings hollow, as violent antisemitism continues to spread around the globe. Complacency is not an option, especially as efforts by governments to curb antisemitism by imposing severe penalties on perpetrators are not sufficiently effective.Israelis also need to be reminded of what can happen when antisemitism is rife. On March 20, Beit Ha’am will once again echo with the tales of travesties heard at the Eichmann trial, at the opening night of Motti Lerner’s play The Eichmann Trial, directed by Ilan Ronen, with Gil Frank as Gideon Hausner. The text is based on transcripts from the actual trial.<h3>Annual Martin Buber Memorial Lecture</h3>Another of Jerusalem’s noted residents was internationally acclaimed philosopher Martin Buber, who, prior to settling in the city’s Talbiyeh neighborhood, delivered public lectures in Frankfurt, Germany, and was head of a facility that trained Jewish teachers. When the Nazi secret police forbade him from continuing with his lectures, thereby silencing his voice of reason, he left Germany in 1938 and made his home in what was then Mandatory Palestine.He had been one of the advocates for the establishment of a university in Jerusalem, and following his arrival in the city, it did not take long for the Hebrew University to offer him a professorship in social philosophy. He later founded a teachers training college for adult education. Buber was the first president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which was founded in 1959 and formally chartered by law in 1961.The academy’s annual Martin Buber lecture is scheduled for March 9 at 5 p.m. The guest lecturer will be Prof. Marcin Wodzinski, professor of Jewish studies at the University of Wroclaw, whose topic will be “Understanding Hasidism: Theology, Tales, Charisma.” A prize-winning expert on Jewish history and other Jewish studies, Wodzinski’s main academic interests are 19th-century Polish Jews, the Haskala (Enlightenment), Hasidism, and Hebrew epigraphy. He has worked on various projects with Israeli universities and for 14 years served as a historical consultant to Warsaw’s POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.The Martin Buber Memorial Lecture will take place at the Academy House, 43 Jabotinsky Street, Jerusalem.Incidentally, March 28 is the anniversary of the passing of Buber’s multi-talented Jerusalem-born great-granddaughter Tirzah Agassi, who lost a valiant battle with cancer in 2008 and died in the US. A journalist, author, scriptwriter, psychotherapist, and peace activist, she lived in several countries and studied at three universities in Israel and the US. She worked at WT for 10 years as a journalist and music critic.<h3>Towers in Jerusalem</h3>It is miraculous that the results of Iranian missile hits in Jerusalem were not as severe as those in Tel Aviv and Beit Shemesh. All in all, the number of fatalities and wounded was far less than expected, given the damage to property. But every loss of life is a tragedy for bereaved families.On more than one occasion, there have been warnings in this column of what could happen if a rocket strikes a tall tower apartment building or if there is an earthquake. In the years that Teddy Kollek was mayor, with rare exceptions, apartment complexes were three or four stories high. Even the tallest exceptions were seldom higher than 12 floors.But now, despite the objections of residents, a 45-story residential complex is going up in Beit Hakerem unless an appeal to the Jerusalem District Court finds an understanding and sympathetic ear. Former Jerusalem mayor and current Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat lives in a freestanding house in Beit Hakerem. It is not known how he feels about the tower. Every mayor introduces certain changes to his city, but none of the predecessors of Mayor Moshe Lion changed the whole character of Jerusalem.&nbsp;<h3>Home Front Command error</h3>On Sunday night, within less than two minutes of a radio announcement that people all over the country could leave their safe rooms, loud explosions were heard in Jerusalem, and people on the highway leading to and from the city were wounded. Home Front Command is to be commended for the alerts it posts on smartphones urging the public to take shelter before missile attacks from Iran, but the system needs to be improved.<h3>Passing of Leah Stoller</h3>Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, has lost a cherished figure in English-language amateur theater. Leah Stoller, a cofounder of JEST (Jerusalem English Speaking Theater), served for many years as its volunteer director. She died last Saturday, at age 96.Born in New York’s Bronx to parents who fled the pogroms of Europe, Leah, a voracious reader, was a Hunter College graduate in English Literature. Her husband, Larry, whom she married in 1953, graduated from the City College of New York with a degree in business administration. He ran a successful business decorating clubs on military bases. She taught fifth- and sixth-grade classes in New York public schools.They lived with their two sons, Josh and Jeremy, in a large, beautiful house in Queens.A few years after the Six Day War in 1967, the Stollers, who were ardent Zionists with a strong sense of adventure, decided to check out Israel to see if they could live so far from family and home. They came on vacation in 1972 and lived in two kibbutzim. A year later, they returned to live in Israel permanently.They spent seven years on the kibbutz before moving to Jerusalem in 1980. Larry had a number of roles on the kibbutz, and Leah taught English. Each year, as part of her teaching, she staged a well-known Broadway musical, with her pupils assigned the various roles. These productions were always popular. When the family moved to an urban environment and began to volunteer in various organizations, most of them with fellow volunteers from English-speaking backgrounds, Leah cofounded JEST. Over the years, until 2014, she directed over 50 productions and later led play readings. JEST paved the way for other English-language theater groups in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country.Leah Stoller provided an outlet for dramatic talents, pleasure for thousands of English-speaking theatergoers, and a social outlet for immigrants from English-speaking countries.She is survived by her husband, Larry; sons, Josh and Jeremy; grandchildren; many friends; and three generations of actors and actresses.

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Grapevine: Ringing hollow

<figure><img src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/572656"></figure>In these sad, tempestuous, horrific times, for me at least, the sense of being in a helpless sitting duck position is highly frustrating and only serves to exacerbate feelings of doom and gloom. Besides, naturally, doing what we possibly can to stay safe and secure, we also need to try our best to stay on an emotional even keel so that when the bad news inevitably filters through, we can take it on board, regroup, and get back to life.As an avid cyclist, I tend to adopt the mindset cheerily propagated by that irreverent chappie strapped to a cross along with the title character in the closing scene of Monty Python’s hilariously iconoclastic cinematic romp Life of Brian. As Brian bemoans his fate at the hands of the all-conquering Romans, Eric Idle breaks into a stirring rendition of the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” That ludicrously oxymoronic satirical approach may seem a philosophical stretch these days as we wake up to wailing sirens generally followed by explosions of varying volume levels, but in my humble opinion, it wouldn’t hurt.Back to the human-powered two-wheeler line of thought and proactive take on our predicament, I am reminded of cycling-themed reflections on our corporeal existence. One such adage suggests that life is like riding a bicycle; if you don’t move, you fall over. Another, a little more in the sardonic line, posits that if you feel things are easy for you, that’s because you’re “over the hill.” Most cyclists tend to take a more positive, relaxed, and appreciative view of descents, especially if they have sweated their way up a challenging ascent, gasping for breath with leg muscles on fire, to earn the joyous payoff of the freewheeling downward turn. However, the proverbial point is duly taken.Earlier this week, as I turned out of Moshav Mata in the Jerusalem Hills, made a right turn onto Route 375, and sped down the Ella Valley toward a health food shop in Beit Shemesh, my thoughts wandered back to last May. When my Holocaust survivor mom passed away at the end of 2023, at the age of 92, I decided to salute her life – and the basic fact that she brought me into this world – and combine my love for her with my cycling addiction.<figure><img src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709992" alt="My thoughts turned to last May, when I cycled my way across Europe. Pictured: Cyclists in Vienna; illustrative. (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)"></figure><h3>Cycling through historic Europe</h3>I cycled my way across Europe, from my mother’s birthplace of Vienna to London, where she and the vast majority of the 10,000 or so mostly German and Viennese children, on the Kindertransport eve-of-WW II rescue operation, ended up. As I pedaled across Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands, before boarding a ferry to the UK and biking from the port town of Harwich to Liverpool Street train station in East London, I had plenty of time to observe my natural and human surroundings.&nbsp;At various junctures along the way, I observed children playing happily on a soccer pitch, or frolicking insouciantly in some field or playground. And why shouldn’t they? Why should it be any different? Or, riding into Nuremberg one Friday evening, passing by cafés and bars packed with people of all ages hanging out with their pals, sipping a beer, some other alcoholic beverage, or coffee, as they made the habitual seamless transition from their income-earning weekday activities into laid-back weekend mode.Presumably, none of the parents of those gamboling youngsters considered even the slimmest of notions that their offspring might have to join the armed forces after graduating from high school, and subsequently find themselves embroiled in life-threatening battlefield scenarios. And none of the bar revelers had very much in the way of existential concerns on their minds, other than where to go for their summer vacation, what movie or TV show to catch over the two-day hiatus, or, possibly, how to pay their gas and electricity bills and keep up with their mortgage payments.As I observed those commonplace, perfectly normal, Western European dynamics, as an Israeli making his way across former Nazi-controlled Europe, I felt as if I had entered some kind of parallel universe where very different rules of conduct and sentiments applied. And let’s not forget – although, as crisis follows crisis in these parts at an ever more dizzying pace, recent tragic events tend to rapidly drop off the short-term memory radar to be overtaken by the here-and-now challenges – this was while the war in Gaza was still raging and our hostages were still languishing in indescribably inhuman conditions.So, how can we deal with all this abnormal normality? The constant sirens, the fearsome explosions, of missiles falling, or the IDF’s interception system doing its work but resulting in shrapnel dispersing all over the show?Perhaps a little giggle here or there wouldn’t go amiss. One might permit oneself the odd bleakly comedic aside. Dark humor is, after all, a useful tool for managing life-threatening situations. Taking a leaf out of Viktor Frankl’s book might not be a bad move. In his much-lauded Man’s Search for Meaning, published just one year after the end of WW II, the late Austrian Holocaust survivor neurologist, psychiatrist, and philosopher, suggested that “Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation.” The specific locations of that struggle to keep body and soul connected were Theresienstadt and Auschwitz, where Frankl lived for three years to the very best of his physical and emotional abilities.While our predicament is undeniably grim, even at the height of this round of violence and madness, one assumes few would compare it with the experiences endured by concentration camp inmates. My exchanges over the past few days, with people in all kinds of situations, have more often than not featured some wry observation or downright comic interjection. When I’d collected all the goods I wanted at the Beit Shemesh health food store, I noticed the checkout guy had left his station, so I jovially chastised him – I was a regular customer, and we always shared a joke – for making me wait all of three seconds. “There’s definitely going to be a siren any minute, so I won’t be able to serve you,” he quipped.Little did he or I know. No more than five or six minutes later, I was cycling back home along Route 3855 – aka the well-named Kvish Hakikarot, or the “Traffic Circle Road;” there are eight of them strung along the road – at the foothills of the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood, when the sirens started wailing at an ear-piercing volume, followed by an almighty explosion. I literally almost fell off my bike but kept on pedaling.That was really loud, and I suspected the neighborhood and, possibly, some of its residents, had taken on serious damage. My worst fears were confirmed when I first heard, then saw, at least 10 ambulances in quick succession speeding to the vicinity of the rocket landing. Car and truck drivers stopped by the side of the road, presumably to take some kind of shelter in case there were more Iranian projectiles on their way. I saw half a dozen members of an Orthodox family huddled tightly at a bus stop, although I couldn’t see how that would help. And the driver of an enormous semi-trailer truck, who’d also stopped, looked at me with disbelief, suggesting vociferously, in an unmistakable Arabic accent, that I join him and take cover behind the truck. I just smiled and pedaled onward to the Ella Valley and the long climb back to Mata.A few minutes later, as the truck passed me, the driver gave me a friendly wave but still looked more than a little bemused at the idea of a lone cyclist out on the open road. A couple of minutes later, another driver sent a friendly, admiring honk and smile my way as he overtook me. That made a nice change from some of the less supportive hoots I sometimes get, generally from motorists who dish out similar treatment to other drivers whom they feel are slowing their progress. I’ve learned, over the years, not to take that personally.AS I cycle on my ownsome, and generally without musical accompaniment, I get plenty of meditation time. In addition to great cardiovascular exercise, my rides offer me hours of downtime as thoughts pass through my head naturally and subconsciously invited, and images of past experiences surface unbeckoned.On my way home from Beit Shemesh, I suddenly recalled how, during the Second Lebanon War, I’d accompanied internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter David Broza as he leapfrogged his way betwixt kibbutzim and moshavim near our northern border, performing for the locals in a selfless morale-boosting effort. After a few hours and four impromptu gigs, I had to get back home and was riding southward on Highway 2, near the southern reaches of Haifa, when I heard sirens indicating that Hezbollah was sending more rockets our way. Almost all the other drivers stopped, jumped out of their vehicles to take cover if any was available, or lie spread-eagled in some field. Aware that the rockets had, after all, limited range, I just floored it to try to get into safer climes as quickly as I could.That line of thinking, that a moving object offers less of a target, kept me turning my 22-gear carbon-frame road bike’s pedals as I snaked my way homeward with – it must be said – far fewer motorized vehicles to deal with than in the regular commuter run of things. That, in turn, reminded me of a previous unhappy chapter with some positive reward. During the pandemic lockdowns, my fellow pedalers and I very much had the country’s highways and byways to ourselves, with far less traffic-generated pollution to inhale and the clearly audible joyous twittering of birds to regale us. I enjoyed some more of that mellifluous feathered friend chorus while replacing an inner tube on my bike’s rear wheel – flats are part and parcel of the cycling life – by the side of the road just before the steepest section of the Ella Valley. Other than three ambulances, screaming their way down to Beit Shemesh, there was little traffic, and the birds chirped merrily away while I tended to my carbon-framed seed next to a towering pine tree with anemones and cyclamens dancing in the chilly breeze.<figure><img alt="Cycling amid chaos: ‘I turned out of Moshav Mata in the Jerusalem Hills, made a right onto Route 375, and sped down the Ella Valley toward Beit Shemesh.’" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/709990"></figure>Oh, earlier I caught a dab of seasonal cheer when I espied four nine- or 10-year-olds in Beit Shemesh in full Purim costume garb. They looked a little forlorn, standing in a group on the sidewalk of the main road, but they also looked intent on squeezing out something of the Purim spirit. I looked on in admiration and gratitude as I continued on my way to the store.As I finished the roadside bicycle repair, I noticed a new WhatsApp message. It was from an Iranian friend I had met in Vienna some years ago, who lives in Germany. He wanted to know how I was doing and expressed concern over my welfare. Later that day, another Iranian friend, a Christian Vienna-based artist who’d suffered discrimination from the ayatollah regime in his country of birth, also WhatsApped me asking if I was all right. Interestingly, I also have several Austrian-born friends in Vienna, none of whom has been in touch over the past few days. Perhaps you have to have some feral politically motivated distress in your personal bio to more fully identify that among others and send out some empathetic signals.My expat Iranian pals’ messages warmed the cockles of my heart and reminded me that when you get away from the politicians and their Machiavellian financial gain-seeking agendas, people are just people the world over. We all – the vast majority of us – just want to get on with our lives, make sure our offspring are healthy, well fed and clothed, and safe. We sustain our breadwinning efforts and, if at all possible, try to eke out some fun and/or restful leisure time. And, if we could make some sense out of the human condition in the process, that would be nice too.In his follow-up release, Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning, Frankl wrote: “The last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. And there were always choices to make.” That is a great source of encouragement and comfort in these trying times, and something I periodically mull over while pedaling my way around this traumatized beloved country.

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Getting around in times of turmoil: How to keep up morale in Israel during Iran war

An El Al rescue flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv encountered an operational emergency on Friday as it was on approach for landing, after the IDF detected missile launches from Iran towards Israeli territory.The flight, LY1006, departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 7:15 pm on Thursday. The long-haul flight, part of the repatriation missions to bring Israelis back from abroad, was scheduled to land at Ben-Gurion Airport at 8:06 am on Friday.As the aircraft approached the Israeli coastline, an alert was issued regarding missile launches from Iran towards Israel. At that moment, the aircraft was already over the Mediterranean, just moments away from its final approach to Tel Aviv.<figure><img alt="An El Al rescue flight is seen on it's final approach into Ben Gurion Airport after delaying it's arrival due to incoming missile sirens on March 05, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/710198"></figure>In response to the alert, the flight was instructed by air traffic controllers at Ben-Gurion Airport to enter a holding pattern over the Mediterranean. Tracking maps showed the aircraft flying in circles off of Israel’s coastline, rather than continuing straight-in to land.The delay lasted approximately twenty minutes, during which the crew awaited confirmation to proceed with their approach to landing. Once the security situation cleared and the risk around Tel Aviv subsided, the green light was given for the final approach. The aircraft eventually landed safely at Ben-Gurion Airport at 8:50 am, about 44 minutes after its scheduled landing time.<h3>Iran war disrupts Israeli civil aviation</h3>Incidents like these have become part of the complex reality of civil aviation in Israel since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran. The missile launches towards the country, which has closed its airspace except for one rescue flight per hour, require halting air traffic when aircraft are at low altitudes similar to the trajectory of missiles.When a launch is detected or a security alert is issued, Israeli aviation authorities and air traffic controllers act quickly to move aircraft away from the danger zone. At times, this means directing aircraft to enter a holding pattern over the Mediterranean, flying in circles until the danger passes, or, in exceptional cases, diverting to a different destination.This challenge is especially significant for long-haul flights coming from the United States and other distant locations. Such flights are extremely long, with some exceeding 14 hours, and are carefully planned with fuel reserves. Any delay in landing forces air crews and flight controllers to make real-time adjustments to maintain safety margins and properly manage fuel.During this tense period, flights to Israel require close coordination between several agencies. Air traffic controllers, the IAF, the IDF Home Front Command, and airlines work together to ensure the safest possible arrival in Israel under the ongoing Iranian missile threat.

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El Al flight aborts landing in Tel Aviv due to missile launches from Iran

Public morale among the Israeli populace has shifted dramatically since the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion, according to a study that concluded on Tuesday.The study, which launched on February 26, 2026, originally aimed to assess public attitudes in Israel towards a range of issues and included items designed to measure morale and a person's sense of security. After the war broke out on March 1, 2026, the opportunity arose to study these aspects in relation to the Iran war.The final sample included 3,217 respondents, all Israeli citizens aged 18 and above, representing a balanced demographic based on gender, age, religion, region, and political affiliation.<figure><img alt="A woman sits with her dog Rio as people take shelter in a train station during an ongoing rocket attack from Iran in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 1, 2026." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/710203"></figure>The study revealed a sharp increase in concern for personal safety after the war began. Prior to the operation, approximately 22% of Israelis expressed great concern for their personal safety. However, following the outbreak of the war, this number surged to nearly 45%, highlighting a significant shift in public perception regarding their well-being during wartime.Concern for the state's security also rose notably. Nearly 50% of Israelis reported high levels of concern for national security after the war broke out, compared to about one-third before the conflict. This change reflects the heightened anxiety over the broader implications of the war.<h3>Positive implications of the study</h3>In terms of national morale, the outlook on Israel’s future has shifted. Before the war, approximately 37% of Israelis expressed optimism about the country’s future. Following the outbreak, this number rose significantly to about 50%. Despite the war, many Israelis have displayed a renewed sense of optimism, showing resilience in the face of adversity.The study also investigated attitudes toward Israel's military actions. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents supported the attack on Iran, while 24% opposed it, with the majority of dissent coming from Israeli Arabs. About 13% of the population remained undecided.

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Israel's public morale shifts dramatically amid Iran war, survey finds

The US State Department said on Friday it has approved a $151.8 million sale to Israel for munitions and munitions support, without submitting it for congressional review.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined an emergency existed that required an immediate sale to Israel, the State Department said, with the announcement coming a week after the US and Israel started their attacks on Iran.Israel had requested 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies, the State Department said in a statement. The principal contractor will be Repkon USA, located in Texas, it said.<figure><img alt="US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to deliver Congressional briefings on Iran at the US Capitol on March 3, 2026 in Washington, DC." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/710204"></figure>The State Department said on Friday that Rubio had determined that the sale is "in the national security interests of the United States."Democratic US Representative Gregory Meeks said Rubio's decision to use emergency authority to bypass congressional review showed a lack of preparation for the war with Iran.<h3>US 'fully prepared' for Iran war</h3>"The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it was fully prepared for this war. Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration's own creation," Meeks said in a statement.The US and Israel launched an air assault on Iran on February 28, and Iran responded with its own attacks in Israel and regional countries with US bases.In the last week, US and Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians, and thousands more have been wounded, according to Iran's UN ambassador. Many top Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have also been killed.The US military has said six US service members were killed in a strike on a Kuwait facility, while Israel has said at least 10 Israeli civilians have been killed.

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US skips congressional review to approve munitions sale to Israel

<a href="https://verum.im/">Verum Messenger</a> announces the launch of new financial features within the application, including USDT (Tether) deposits and withdrawals, as well as the purchase and sale of licensed digital gold <a href="https://verumgold.com/">Verum Gold</a>.The update has been implemented as part of the development of the <a href="https://bank.verum.im/en">Verum Finance </a>financial module and is aimed at expanding users’ ability to manage digital assets directly within the ecosystem.With the introduction of these new tools, Verum Messenger takes another step toward creating an independent digital environment that combines communication technologies with financial infrastructure.<h4>Financial Operations with USDT</h4>The integration of the USDT (Tether) stablecoin allows Verum Messenger users to perform a wide range of digital asset operations directly within the application.Users can now:• deposit USDT • withdraw USDT • buy USDT • sell USDTThe integration of one of the most widely used stablecoins in the world ensures convenient international transactions, increases financial flexibility, and opens additional opportunities for platform users.<h4>Digital Gold Verum Gold</h4>As part of the update, Verum Gold has also been integrated — a licensed digital gold asset fully backed by physical reserves.The service allows users to:• purchase digital gold • sell the asset • track the gold price in real timeAll operations are carried out through a licensed provider in accordance with applicable regulatory standards.The integration of Verum Gold expands the value-preservation tools available within the Verum digital environment.<h4>Verum Ecosystem</h4>The development of financial functions is part of the long-term strategy of the Verum Ecosystem aimed at building an independent digital infrastructure that unites communications, technology, and financial services.The ecosystem includes:• <a href="https://verum.im/">Verum Messenger</a> — secure messaging • <a href="https://vpn.verum.im/">Verum VPN</a> — secure internet access • Offline Chat — messaging without internet • <a href="https://verum.email/">Verum Mail</a> — secure email • <a href="https://ai.verum.im/">Verum AI</a> — intelligent digital services • <a href="https://esim.verum.im/">Verum E-SIM</a> — next-generation mobile connectivity • Online Mining — digital mining within the ecosystem • <a href="https://bank.verum.im/en">Verum Finance</a> — financial infrastructure • USDT (Tether) — stablecoin operations • <a href="https://verumgold.com/">Verum Gold </a>— licensed digital goldBy integrating these technologies, Verum creates a unified digital environment for communication, financial operations, and digital asset management.“Freedom is one of the most valuable gifts a person can have. But how we use that freedom depends on each of us.Our mission is to create technologies that give people more opportunities: to communicate freely, manage their assets securely, and independently decide how to shape their digital future,” said a representative of the Verum Ecosystem.<h4>About Verum Ecosystem</h4>Verum Ecosystem is an emerging next-generation digital platform that brings together communication technologies, financial services, and digital asset management tools within a single technological space.The ecosystem is being developed as an independent digital infrastructure that provides users around the world with access to modern communication and financial technologies.<a href="https://verum.im/">Verum Messenger</a> — communication, finance, and digital freedom in one application.

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Verum Messenger Launches USDT Operations and Licensed Digital Gold Verum Gold

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the Iranian missile strike in Beersheba on Friday, during which he emphasized that Israel is on the path to completing all its military objectives, both in Iran and in Lebanon."We are hitting the enemy, both its leadership, its oppressive regime, and various targets, including in Lebanon," Netanyahu said during his visit. He added that Israel's adversaries would soon discover even more of Israel's capabilities as Operation Roaring Lion continues into its seventh day.Netanyahu was accompanied by Deputy Minister Almog Cohen, Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovich, and Acting CEO of the Prime Minister’s Office, Drorit Steinmetz.During the visit, he expressed full support for the IDF and sent his best wishes for the recovery of those wounded in the conflict, including the son of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.<h3>PM wishes wounded soldiers a speedy recovery</h3>"I want our soldiers and wounded to know that the entire nation stands behind them," the prime minister said.Five Israeli soldiers were severely wounded, and three others were lightly hurt in an operation in southern Lebanon on Friday, the IDF said. The incident was the third of its kind in recent days, raising the total of IDF soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon to 12.Netanyahu went on to praise the resilience of local residents. "I am here in Beersheba, a city that has endured much," he said, referencing previous attacks on the southern city, particularly on the Soroka Hospital&nbsp;during the previous conflict with Iran in June 2025."In defense, what is needed is iron discipline, and firm endurance, and we have plenty of that here. In offense, what is needed are three things: first, determination, second, initiative, and third, cunning," Netanyahu said, adding, "We have plenty of these as well, as the enemy has already discovered."

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Netanyahu visits Beersheba strike site, vows Israel will achieve war goals