Tonight: Total lunar eclipse visible across Israel

 This evening, Sunday, 7 September 2025, a spectacular astronomical event will occur: a total lunar eclipse, also known as "blood moon", that will be visible across the country.

The eclipse will be unusually long — the phase of totality will last about 80 minutes. The peak of the eclipse will occur at 21:12.

The lunar eclipse is expected to be visible in the skies over Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

The eclipse is called a "blood moon" because, during totality, sunlight passes through Earth's atmosphere, is refracted and scattered — mainly at longer red wavelengths — and reaches the Moon, which takes on a deep red color.

The next total lunar eclipse is expected to take place on March 3.

Saudi Arabia Signals Agreement for UAE to Reconsider Ties With Israel if West Bank Annexation Advances

Saudi Arabia has quietly given the United Arab Emirates a green light to pull back from its normalization deal with Israel if Jerusalem moves ahead with annexation in the West Bank, according to a report by Israel’s Kan news outlet.

The development, cited by a source close to the Saudi royal family, comes after a closed-door meeting last week in Riyadh between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed. The official Saudi Press Agency acknowledged the meeting, saying the leaders discussed “the latest developments in Palestine,” though it made no mention of annexation.

Kan quoted the source as saying both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi agreed that rolling back participation in the Abraham Accords would be a “realistic” response to Israeli annexation moves. The source added that such a step would also bring ongoing Saudi-Israeli normalization talks to a standstill.

The warning underscores the fragility of the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 when the UAE normalized ties with Israel in return for then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shelving annexation plans. That breakthrough was widely believed to have Saudi Arabia’s tacit blessing.

In recent weeks, Abu Dhabi has issued a series of increasingly sharp warnings to Israel against renewed annexation efforts. These included an on-the-record interview with The Times of Israel, an official UAE government statement, and private messages relayed through backchannels. The Washington Post reported that the warnings were serious enough to push Netanyahu’s government to remove annexation from the agenda of a scheduled cabinet meeting Thursday night.

The Saudi intervention comes as Riyadh has ramped up its criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza. Earlier, the kingdom accused Israel of “genocide” against Palestinians in a strongly worded statement. While that communiqué did not reference annexation, Kan’s reporting suggests the issue is very much at the center of high-level Saudi-Emirati coordination.

Any Emirati withdrawal from the Abraham Accords would mark the first unraveling of the landmark U.S.-brokered agreements and could trigger a wider diplomatic crisis across the region. For Netanyahu, already under intense domestic and international pressure, the warning from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi presents yet another red line he is now forced to navigate.

 

So? Who was right after all???? WZO Certifies Recent Election, Confirming Frum And Right-Wing Majority For First Time Ever

The results of the 2025 World Zionist Congress elections were officially certified this week, confirming a dramatic shift in representation: for the first time, frum and right-wing slates together hold a majority in the American delegation.

The certification followed months of disputes over voting irregularities, including fraudulent ballots, that were ultimately resolved by the American Zionist Movement’s election tribunal and the Zionist Supreme Court in Jerusalem.

According to the American Zionist Movement, which oversees the U.S. elections, a record-breaking 224,969 valid votes were cast—nearly double the turnout of 2020 and the highest in history. Twenty-two slates competed for 155 American seats, which make up almost one-third of the body’s elected membership. Delegates from across the world will join representatives from Israel at the 39th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, scheduled for October 28–30.

The World Zionist Congress, founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897, determines the allocation of over $1 billion annually through the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael (JNF-KKL), and Keren Hayesod. Decisions made at the congress affect Jewish education, settlement initiatives, and the character of Jewish communal life in Israel and the Diaspora.

This year’s results highlight the growing presence of the Orthodox community within the WZO’s political framework. Am Yisrael Chai captured 21 seats, while Eretz HaKodesh secured 19. Combined with the Orthodox Israel Coalition–Mizrachi, which won 18 seats, the religious bloc now holds significant influence, an outcome unthinkable just a decade ago.

Other religious and right-wing groups also gained ground, while some centrist and progressive factions lost strength. The Reform movement’s “Vote Reform” slate remained the largest single faction, winning 33 seats, though fewer than the 39 it held in the last congress. The Conservative movement’s Mercaz USA gained modestly to 19 seats, while progressive lists such as Hatikvah dropped sharply.

The elections were not without controversy. Shas was initially disqualified over ballot issues but was later reinstated with two seats. Achdut Israel, another slate, was disqualified completely after investigators found evidence of fraudulent registrations.

Smaller groups also managed to carve out a presence. Aish Ha’am, linked to Aish HaTorah, secured five seats, while newcomers like Kol Israel, Vision, and the Israeli American Council each won four.

 

Huckabee: US never asked Israel not to annex Judea, Samaria

“The United States has never asked Israel not to apply sovereignty” in Judea and Samaria, Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told broadcaster Channel 14 on Friday.

Huckabee’s statement came on the backdrop of Hebrew-language reports claiming that Washington asked Jerusalem not to advance policies that could cause harm the stability of the Palestinian Authority.

“I have repeatedly said that the United States respects Israel as a sovereign state and will not tell Israel what to do. That’s also what Secretary of State Rubio said just last week,” Channel 14 quoted the American envoy as saying in response to these reports.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “abruptly” canceled a Cabinet discussion on a plan to annex part of Judea and Samaria, Channel 14 reported.

The report provided several reasons for the cancelation, including American pressure not to press forward with this agenda.

An unnamed Israeli official reportedly said that the meeting was only postposed due to schedule congestion.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday that an “unusual message” delivered by the United Arab Emirates had prompted Netanyahu and several senior ministers to remove the annexation plan from the Cabinet’s agenda.

“Annexation would be a red line for my government, and that means there can be no lasting peace. It would foreclose the idea of regional integration and be the death knell of the two-state solution,” Special Envoy of the Emirati Foreign Ministry Lana Nusseibeh told Hebrew and international media on Tuesday.

It was reportedly the first time an Emirati official has publicly put under question the Abraham Accords, which the UAE and Bahrain were the first Arab countries to sign onto on Sept. 15, 2020.

The public message followed several warnings in diplomatic back-channels, which were met with silence by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, according to the Post.

Asked by reporters on Thursday in Ecuador to comment on this development, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “What you’re seeing with [Judea and Samaria] and the annexation, that’s not a final thing—that’s something being discussed among some elements of Israeli politics. I’m not going to opine on that today.”

He went on to say that Washington had harsh words for world leaders, who have said that they plan to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

“We told all these countries, ‘If you guys do this recognition stuff—it’s all fake, it’s not even real,” Rubio told reporters during the diplomatic visit to Quito, Ecuador. “If you do it, you’re going to create really big problems.”

Rubio is expected to visit Israel on Sept. 14.

 

Trump weighs ban on Iranian diplomats from Costco

 The Trump administration is considering imposing travel restrictions on the Iranian delegation at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in New York City, including bans on shopping at membership-based wholesalers popular with economically-isolated governments.

The Associated Press reported on an internal U.S. State Department memo, which details potential restrictions on delegations from Iran, Brazil, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

The report comes after the department announced last week that it was denying visas for officials from the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization, including Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who was scheduled to speak at the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level debate week, which begins on Sept. 23.

The AP reports that discussions on Iranian restrictions are ongoing.

The United States, as the U.N. host country, typically must agree to provide visas to visiting diplomats but has made exceptions based on national security.

More often, it has instead granted visas but restricted travel to the U.N. district, which is a defined area including the U.N. headquarters and the surrounding neighborhood. This provision has often been applied to visiting Iranian officials.

The internal memo indicates the Trump administration is considering banning the Iranians from shopping at stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club without obtaining permission from the State Department.

Iranian diplomats are known to shop at such wholesalers to purchase items in bulk and at discount rates that aren’t available back home due to sanctions and other economic restrictions.

The memo reportedly stated that the department was weighing broader wholesale club membership restrictions on foreign diplomats posted in the United States.

 

Jewish Leaders Cancel Meeting With Macron Ahead of UN Assembly

 

French President Emmanuel Macron had planned to meet with senior leaders of the American Jewish community on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but the meeting has been canceled, i24NEWS reported.

The cancellation was attributed to scheduling conflicts with the Jewish High Holidays and widespread opposition within the community. Groups considered for the meeting included AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee. Sources said community leaders were concerned that a photo opportunity with Macron could be used to bolster his image, despite disagreements over his positions on Israel, rising antisemitism in France, and France’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state.

While Macron may still meet with some individual representatives in the future, the report noted that the broader American Jewish community would not have welcomed the visit.

UNBELIEVABLE WATCH! Emily Austin, an American journalist goes deep to uncover the story of October 7th

We hope this video helps viewers understand the destruction and the causes of war.

 Sometimes it’s easy to become numb because we keep hearing about the war in Israel, but it’s incredibly important to recognize the real damage it has caused._

 

What's happening to Jews Around the World!

 

Horror Stories of How Ashkenazi Principals Treat Sfardie Girls

 

Testimonies came out this week regarding the deep discrimination faced by Sephardic-haredi girls seeking to enroll in high schools run by Ashkenazic haredim.

L., a 13-year-old student, described the difficulties she has experienced since being rejected from high school.

"I've been at home for six months, since around the exams; we're waiting for something to happen," she described to Channel 13 News.

L. also shared that during the application process, she was asked illegal questions about where her father prays and whether her brothers attend Ashkenazic or Sephardic yeshivas.

"The principal told me that I am 'a complete waste.' and that even if Rabbi Ovadia [Yosef] himself came, she would not accept me," she added. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was a former Sephardic Chief Rabbi and a revered Torah scholar and authority on Jewish law. He passed away in 2013.

According to L., the educational institution even demanded that she change her family name, which she refused to do.

In another testimony, Michal, mother of a number of children, agreed to the institutions' demand and changed her family's name to something "that would sound more like one of ours and less Sephardic."

"I tried to change it for two children, and it was accepted," she said. "I think I did the right thing for them. They're doing well, they're accepted, they're happy."

At the same time, she expressed pain over the act, saying, "It hurts me that some of my children have one family name and some have another family name. We're the same family."

Yael, mother of two girls who have no school placements, described, "The worst thing I've gone through in my life is to see my daughter sitting at home and silent."

According to Yael, her older daughter was left without a school placement for half a year, which prevented her from being able to register her younger daughter for school.

"My daughter was accepted into four good schools in Jerusalem, but the Haredi Education Department decided to say no," she said. "For what and why would they leave a girl at home for six months? She's a girl who excels in her studies, she excels socially."

Criticizing the proposed separate solutions, she accused: "Why is [Shas chief] Aryeh Deri going to open a Sephardic Seminar Yashan? Whoever wants to create Ashkenazic schools that are for Ashkenazis only can open a private school. If you live off our taxes - schools should not be by ethnicity. The creation of Sephardic-only schools will not solve the problem. Our goal is not to perpetuate the discrimination."

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Terrorist who bragged about murdering 10 Israelis to his mommy is eliminated

The face of evil

The terrorist who bragged about murdering 10 Israelis during the October 7 massacre, Mahmoud Afana, was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah on Thursday.

The chilling conversation in which he repeatedly boasted about the killings was revealed two and a half weeks after the massacre during a United Nations Security Council discussion.

Then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen released a recording of Afana speaking with his parents: “I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her and her husband; with my own hands, I killed 10,” he told his father. Afana had called from the phone of one of the victims, whose body was later recovered during searches in the Gaza envelope area.

In the recording, he continued: “Dad, 10 with my own hands. I’m inside Mefalsim, Dad, I killed 10. Their blood is on my hands. Give me Mom.” His mother replied: “Oh my son, may God protect you.” Afana insisted: “I swear, 10 with my own hands, I killed 10 with my own hands.” His mother said: “May God bring you back safely.” Afana added: “Dad, get back on WhatsApp, I want to do a live broadcast for you from Mefalsim.”

His mother encouraged him further: “I wish I were with you.” Afana replied: “Mom, your son is a hero.” At that point, his brother joined the conversation, asking: “You killed 10?” Afana confirmed: “Yes, I killed 10, I swear.”

The brother asked if he was in Zikim; Afana responded: “I’m in Mefalsim, not in Zikim. I’m the first to enter, under the protection and with help of Allah. Raise up your head, Dad.”

His brother urged him to return to Gaza, to which Afana replied: “Return? There’s no return. It’s either death or victory. How can I return? Open WhatsApp, see how many are dead. How I killed them with my own hands.”