Israel's political landscape continues to shift ahead of elections, with opposition leaders publicly sparring over unification strategy at a major democracy conference. Security agencies also revealed new threats, from a Turkish network hunting IDF soldiers online to a domestic terror case involving Islamic State sympathies.

Security

The Diaspora Affairs Ministry has exposed a network operating in Turkey that identifies IDF soldiers holding Turkish citizenship, mapping their families and military units before filing criminal complaints against them, with links to terrorist organisations. Separately, a 39-year-old man from the Galilee who previously served in the IDF has been indicted for allegedly planning to travel to Syria or Africa in 2024 to join Islamic State, having expressed solidarity with the group. Defence Minister Israel Katz, speaking at a public conference, said Israel remains prepared to respond to any Iranian attack, noting that Tehran 'likes to strike during Jewish holidays', while declining to comment on suggestions of internal betrayal surrounding 7 October. In an unrelated enforcement matter, six young men subject to military draft orders were detained at Ben Gurion Airport moments before boarding flights to Uman, part of a wider crackdown on Breslov Hasidim attempting to evade conscription despite rabbinical appeals not to do so.

Politics

At Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth's 'Time to Decide' conference on democracy, held with the Israel Democracy Institute, opposition leaders delivered sharp attacks on the government. Yair Golan warned that incitement branding political opponents as traitors is dangerous, citing the 1995 assassination, and accused the Prime Minister's office of fuelling a campaign against him. Naftali Bennett called for unifying opposition parties and setting aside 'nonsense and ego', while Avigdor Liberman urged bloc-wide mergers to avoid wasted votes but ruled out any alliance with Gadi Eisenkot, calling his positions unclear. Eisenkot himself revealed that as IDF Chief of Staff in 2018, he could not reach Netanyahu for two hours after an F-16 was shot down over Syria, forcing him to independently order extensive strikes that Netanyahu later halted. On the right, Bezalel Smotrich called for uniting right-wing parties with Likud, citing poor polling, and pledged to remove 'post-Zionist' officials from the Israel Land Authority and cancel programmes he said created Arab territorial contiguity in the Galilee. Separately, Likud and Otzma Yehudit are finalising Tali Gotliv's transfer to Itamar Ben Gvir's party, likely into fourth place on its list, after she accused Netanyahu of 'stabbing her in the back'. Within Degel HaTorah, discussions are under way about replacing Moshe Gafni following failures to pass the military exemption law and address sanctions against Haredi draft evaders, with younger candidates being considered for the party list. The Attorney General has also proposed holding a private ceremony to mark Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's legacy before the election and a state ceremony afterwards, to balance commemoration with electoral fairness, a move criticised by Shas as 'defiant'.

International

A bus travelling from the Dahab-Nuweiba road in Sinai towards Amman overturned, killing 21 people, including ten Jordanian nationals. No Israelis are believed to have been aboard, though the route is popular with regional travellers.

Other Developments

Police have brought in an additional investigative team to help crack the January 2025 murder of Anastasia Orlov, found dead in her Jerusalem flat. More than 100 testimonies and investigative actions have been carried out worldwide, with 16 publication bans issued in the case, which police describe as involving an unusually complex crime scene.

Sources: Ynet