🚨 Benny Gantz and his Blue & White party withdrew from the election today, just eight days before polling day. Gantz is a former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and served as Israel’s alternate prime minister from May 2020 to June 2021.

Ten days ahead of the election, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented Israel’s new National Security Doctrine on Sunday evening. In the preamble the new two page document that was formulated with the National Security Council noted, “The October 7, 2023 attack compelled Israel to wage a fierce war. Through continuous combat – from Gaza to Yemen, from Lebanon to Iran – Israel warded off an imminent existential nuclear threat and removed the chokehold of the Iranian axis. The Government and the Security Cabinet made well-considered decisions, the IDF and security branches struck with immense force, and the civilian home front stood firm.” The new doctrine prioritises: ❗ Prevention and offense over containment and defence, including launching pre-emptive strikes to thwart evolving threats. ❗Upholding advanced warnings but obtaining and maintaining a continuous and effective intelligence picture of the possibility and intentions of the enemy. ❗Strengthening home front defence against new threats. Including containing threats of invasion at the borders, by maintaining buffer zones. ❗Cementing Israel’s status as a regional power, whilst promoting regional and international alliances. ❗Building maximum independence in munitions. ❗Advancing production technology, and reducing dependence on external sourcing. ❗Ensuring superiority in the most advanced technologies. ❗Intensifying the fight against global waves of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. ❗Ensuring victory by breaking the enemy’s power and his belief in his ability to pose a real threat. ❗Safeguarding the “spirit of the people” – national cohesion and agreement on fundamental principles, chief among them: Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, democratic government, willingness to fight for the security of the state while striving for victory, encouraging independent thinking, settling the Land of Israel and cultivating the heritage of Israel, maintaining contact with Diaspora Jewry and encouraging immigration. The document further noted the key threats which include: nuclear weapons, precision guided missiles,  drones, cyber, AI, quantum computing, illegal weapons inside Israel and the ability of Israel’s enemies to rearm at rapid pace. The main threat arenas include: The Shiite Axis, Palestinian territories, terrorism and internal security threats, delegitimisation and isolation from allies and the northern, eastern and western borders. 💬 Leader of Yashar, Eisenkot criticised Netanyahu for publishing his "security doctrine" ten days before the elections. According to Eisenkot, Netanyahu decided to do this “three years after the most severe failure and disaster in Israel's history, when all war fronts remain open. Two hollow pages, full of slogans that have nothing to do with a security doctrine. Therefore, I will remind Netanyahu: on October 7, 2023, the greatest failure since the establishment of the state occurred. That same failure he is trying by every means to bury, refusing to investigate and learn from it in order to prevent the next disaster. That same night, Netanyahu defined four war goals, in all of which he has failed despite the achievements of the security forces and the sacrifices of the people of Israel.” 📸 Ma’ayan Toaf (GPO)

From the Yom Kippur War to October 7, BICOM’s Senior Research Associate Dr Amira Halperin reflects on her uncle Rami’s death in 1973 and how grief and remembrance connect generations: blogs.timesofisrael.com/octo…

🇮🇱🤝🇨🇴 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲. At the ceremony visiting Columbian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar declared, “Today, we are taking a concrete step toward restoring diplomatic relations between us... Israel is a strategic partner, it always has been, and from now on, it will be even more so.” Colombia became the tenth country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. Most of Israel’s allies including the UK maintain their embassy in Tel Aviv linking their decision to the UN vote on 1947 (that was never implemented) that Jerusalem should remain corpus separatum, a “separate entity.” It proposed that the UN administer the city through its “Trusteeship Council,” to protect the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and preserve access and freedom of worship. When Israel did take over the whole city in 1967 it pledged to protect the freedom and access of all monotheistic faiths, as enshrined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. It has been argued that this is an inconsistent stance by much of the international community. If you have your embassy in Tel Aviv – because Jerusalem was considered a corpus separatum in 1947 – you should engage with the Palestinians from Ramallah. If you engage with the Palestinians from East Jerusalem you should have your embassy in West Jerusalem.

Three years on. 1,163 murdered. Civilians, security guards, soldiers. Mothers and fathers. Friends and neighbours. Young people at a music festival. Sons and daughters. 251 hostages were taken to Gaza. Three years ago, dreams were shattered. Israel remembers. Video credit: State of Israel 🇮🇱

Speaking at the @CFoI and @JewishChron event at the Conservative Party Conference, BICOM’s Chief Executive addressed speculation that the UK government is planning to expel Israeli diplomats and their families: “Threats to expel Israeli diplomats come as both the British and Israeli sides are in the midst of election campaigns — in Holborn and St Pancras and a general election respectively. Cooler heads should prevail. Both sides should remember that Britain and Israel are key strategic partners with shared interests.”

🚨 Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has decided this evening to declare Green Party leader Zack Polanski barred from entering Israel. Details 👇

🇮🇱 Assaf Rajuan, an insurance agent who was on his way home from Thailand. He was one of the Israelis who foiled attempted hijacking of Tel Aviv-bound FlyDubai flight

Unofficial Translation of PM Netanyahu’s statement from Wednesday, September 30th, 16:20 (Israel time): This morning, there was an extremely serious security incident on a flight from Dubai to Israel. Almost all of the passengers on the flight were Israelis. During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board. I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers. He told me that the plane began to spin and dive. He told me that, somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit together with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralized the pilot who carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft’s systems. Another aircrew member who was on the plane entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the aircraft. I salute these heroes, who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives. They prevented a major disaster. The plane landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. All of the passengers are out of danger. The pilot who carried out the stabbing was arrested. He is currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities. We are maintaining continuous contact with the relevant authorities in order to ensure the passengers’ continued safety and to ensure their safe return home to Israel. I have instructed the security services to prepare for additional potential threats. We are conducting ongoing situational assessments, and we will update you in accordance with developments.

🇮🇱🤝🇦🇪 Statement by the Israeli Ambassador to the UAE 👇

🚨 IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir cancels his US trip. Zamir was due to meet the @CENTCOM commander and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Zamir’s decision comes amid heightened alert across all fronts. “You can’t put the military on alert and then fly abroad,” a senior IDF official told @ynetnews.

More footage from the FlyDubai flight. xitter.cf/ItayBlumental/status/2…

Testimony of the passenger of FlyDubai flight with blood on his face: "We overpowered the terrorist, we need help."