Good morning. Today's briefing covers a shocking domestic murder in Beersheba, the start of former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit's testimony in the Netanyahu corruption trial, rising tension over the West Bank olive harvest, and international fallout from a deadly Houthi missile strike on a Saudi airport.

Security

A woman in her 40s, named locally as Malda Nania, was stabbed to death in her Beersheba apartment on Sunday. Her husband was arrested after reportedly confessing, telling police on the phone "I murdered my wife". The couple's five-year-old son was in the flat at the time of the killing and remained outside the building for around two hours afterwards, accompanied by municipal and police personnel. Separately, the IDF scrambled forces across a wide area after an unidentified object was detected flying through Israeli airspace from Lebanon before disappearing; the military says it has not yet established what the object was, and no special instructions have been issued to residents. Tension is also rising in the West Bank ahead of the olive harvest, with the IDF barring Palestinian farmers from state land and coordinating access to private plots in sensitive areas. Security officials are concerned Hamas could exploit the friction for attacks, amid separate calls from police leadership to resume administrative detentions against extremist Jewish settlers if other measures fail to curb violence. Meanwhile, police are examining whether Otzma Yehudit MK Itzhak Krauser and the party's director-general, Eitiel Nieman, were involved in a violent confrontation with officers near Ma'ale Yericho, in which two officers suffered a broken nose and hand. Krauser denies wrongdoing, saying he was the one attacked by police.

Politics

A new poll shows Benny Gantz ally Gadi Eisenkot's party leading among opposition contenders, but with Netanyahu's bloc and the Zionist opposition virtually tied at around 52.3 seats each, leaving the overall outcome inconclusive. Within Likud, a special team has reportedly been established with the specific aim of peeling Knesset members away from Eisenkot's list after the election, using tactics previously deployed against MKs such as Sa'ar and Shikli — including background checks and searches for past statements — while scouting for right-wing religious candidates to approach. Separately, former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit is due to begin testimony in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial, with the premier himself expected to attend court.

International

Saudi Arabia is reeling after a Houthi strike on an airport killed 12 people and wounded hundreds, with the dead including four Saudis as well as nationals of Bangladesh, the US, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Sudan and Egypt. World leaders have condemned the attack as a flagrant violation of international law, and US President Donald Trump said Washington was "looking at" the incident and would make a decision on a response, noting "we move very quickly". Analysts suggest the Houthis, like Iran's targeting of US bases in the region, are seeking to disrupt civilian life in Saudi Arabia by forcing airport closures and flight cancellations. In related regional developments, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said only a negotiated solution could end the standoff, with Tehran still awaiting Washington's final position on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump suggested a deal could be close. Elsewhere, International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric addressed Israeli criticism of the organisation, saying earlier pressure for hostage releases "could have saved more lives", while insisting that visiting hostages was far more complicated than securing their release and that Israel remains legally obligated to grant the ICRC access to Palestinian prisoners. In Britain, the Green Party faces renewed antisemitism accusations after Barnet Labour MPs criticised the local Green branch for backing a "Zionism is racism" motion, while Jewish community leaders in Hastings likened the party to the British Union of Fascists. Green MP Ellie Chowns said the party must guard against "capture by racists". Meanwhile, ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt made a solidarity visit to Jerusalem's Kol Haneshama Reform synagogue, which has been repeatedly vandalised, saying "no congregation should be targeted because it chooses to be inclusive".

Other Developments

A nursery assistant, Rawan Abd al-Hai, who worked at a daycare centre known as "Sigal's Garden", was sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of 277 counts of violence against infants aged eight months to a year and a half, committed over a three-month period. The judge told affected parents not to blame themselves, while one parent described lasting trauma, saying their child's body still reacts fearfully to hot water.

Sources: Ynet, Walla, www.israelhayom.co.il, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post