Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu used a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday to again reject personal responsibility for the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, arguing that the intelligence he received did not point to an impending invasion and that earlier efforts to deter Hamas were blocked by senior defense officials.
Leaks from the meeting to Hebrew-language media said Netanyahu told lawmakers that although “there was a serious intelligence failure” ahead of the attack, “there was no treason.”
When questioned by a committee member about allegations of treason — including claims circulated publicly by Netanyahu’s son, Yair — the prime minister said his aim was to clear away the “cloud of treason” hanging over the events of October 7.
During the discussion, Netanyahu also reportedly accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of falsifying the protocol of a meeting held early on the morning of October 7, shortly before the Hamas assault that sparked two years of fighting in Gaza.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu said that no one at the time believed Hamas was about to launch an attack that day.
The prime minister pointed to a series of conversations with senior figures, including Bar, former defense minister Benny Gantz and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, which he said demonstrated that they, too, believed Hamas was deterred. Reports did not specify when those discussions took place.
Netanyahu further claimed that he sought to assassinate Hamas leaders in 2014 but was blocked by the security establishment. Channel 12 reported last week, however, that Netanyahu rejected 11 opportunities to kill Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the months preceding October 7.
Netanyahu also told committee members that Bar altered a document from the early hours of October 7 by adding language stating that he had instructed that the prime minister be updated. Bar resigned last year after Netanyahu moved to dismiss him in a dispute that ultimately reached the High Court of Justice.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu alleged that Bar retroactively changed a clause in the protocol of a Shin Bet meeting held early that morning, before the Hamas invasion, inserting wording indicating that Netanyahu was to be informed of developments. Channel 12 reported, however, that the meeting minutes were entered into Shin Bet systems at 6:06 a.m. with the instruction included, and that Netanyahu’s military secretary was updated by the Shin Bet chief’s bureau chief at 6:13 a.m. — about 16 minutes before Hamas-led terrorists breached the border.
Official minutes from Thursday’s session released by the Knesset Spokesman’s Office said Netanyahu presented lawmakers with materials he had previously submitted to the State Comptroller regarding the period leading up to October 7.
In December, the High Court of Justice ordered the comptroller to suspend his October 7 investigation following petitions arguing that the probe was fundamentally flawed, could compromise evidence and investigative procedures, and that only a state commission of inquiry was suitable to examine the disaster.
The Knesset spokesman said Netanyahu attended the five-hour closed meeting and “responded at length to committee members’ questions,” with the discussion centering on the comptroller’s now-halted investigation.
According to the spokesman, Netanyahu presented “materials relating to the question of when Hamas decided to turn the idea of an attack into an operational plan, and whether internal divisions within Israel were connected to that decision.”
Netanyahu described the High Court’s decision to freeze the comptroller’s investigation just six days after his own testimony as having “unusual timing,” the Knesset spokesman said.
“After two years in which the media has been rewriting history in real time, the prime minister came to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and set the historical record,” said committee chairman Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, a close ally of Netanyahu. “Sometimes the truth is also an option. The question that should concern every household in Israel is why the High Court of Justice halted the state comptroller’s review process.”
Members of the opposition Yesh Atid party walked out of the meeting in protest, with the faction posting on X that it would “not participate in this media circus, which is intended to evade responsibility and turn the committee into an empty PR show.”
“Netanyahu arrived with pre-prepared messages from his office in a desperate attempt to engineer public perception and rewrite history, but no spin will blur the failure: 2,000 Israelis murdered, communities conquered, children burned, and citizens kidnapped on his watch,” the party said. “The faction members will continue to fight against his failed government so that such a debacle never happens again.”
Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz wrote on X that Netanyahu had told the committee two months before October 7 that “Hamas is deterred.”
Opposition figures Benny Gantz, Avigdor Liberman and Gadi Eisenkot all sharply criticized Netanyahu on Thursday, accusing him of trying to absolve himself of responsibility for the most severe intelligence and strategic failure in Israel’s history.
Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister, wrote on X that in 2014, “when I presented the option of conquering Gaza,” Netanyahu leaked the proposal to the media “to frighten the public.”
“When I proposed taking control of the Netzarim Corridor — you were afraid,” Gantz added, referring to the strip dividing the Gaza Strip. “When I spoke about replacing Hamas, you preferred separation and leaving ‘Hamas deterred and weakened.’”
Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of having a “selective memory” regarding the period before and after October 7.
“In October 2023, we voted together on the decision to destroy Hamas’s rule,” Eisenkot wrote Thursday. “I left the cabinet in June 2024 because you refused to advance its destruction. You are still failing at this task. You are running away.”
Liberman said Netanyahu’s claim that no one anticipated the October 7 attack was false, stating that “as defense minister, in December 2016, I personally handed him a severe warning document that described exactly the scenario that ultimately occurred.”
“He received it, he knew — and he chose to ignore it,” Liberman said. “Unfortunately, Netanyahu is once again fleeing from the truth.”
{Matzav.com}
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul for another term, giving the governor support from a prominent progressive figure as she confronts a primary challenge from the left in her race for a second full term.
Writing in an op-ed published by The Nation, Mamdani, a Democrat, acknowledged his disagreements with Hochul but said he has “come to trust Governor Hochul as someone willing to engage in an honest dialogue that leads to results.”
The endorsement underscores an unlikely partnership between two Democrats who represent different wings of the party, with Mamdani a young democratic socialist who campaigned on sweeping change and Hochul a centrist, self-described “mom governor” from Buffalo.
Hochul had previously backed Mamdani in his mayoral run, providing him with establishment support, and the two have aligned on issues such as affordability and child care. At the same time, the governor has distanced herself from parts of Mamdani’s platform, including his push to raise taxes on the wealthy, casting herself as a moderating influence on his new administration.
In a statement responding to the endorsement, Hochul thanked Mamdani for his cooperation, saying, “I know that he’ll stand strong alongside me as we fight against Donald Trump’s attacks on this state.”
Mamdani’s support could help Hochul blunt criticism from the left ahead of the June Democratic primary. Her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, is challenging her with a progressive campaign that mirrors Mamdani’s approach and seeks to channel the energy that helped propel the mayor to office and national attention.
Following Mamdani’s endorsement, Delgado issued a statement accusing Hochul of falling short on key commitments, saying she “has broken a lot of promises” and has not embraced tax hikes on the wealthy or other progressive priorities. He added that he is the “partner for any leader who also values these critical measures.”
Republicans and other critics on the right are expected to use the endorsement to argue that Democrats have veered too far left. Bruce Blakeman, a Long Island county official running for governor, has already signaled that line of attack.
“New Yorkers who want a check on Mamdani and Hochul’s radicalism have one choice: elect Bruce Blakeman Governor in November and vote Republican at all levels of government,” said David Laska, a spokesperson for the NYGOP.
Hochul previously served as lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo and stepped into the governor’s office in 2021 after Cuomo resigned amid multiple sexual harassment allegations and the near certainty of impeachment. She went on to become the first woman elected governor of New York the following year, defeating Lee Zeldin, now the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in a closely fought contest that tightened as Zeldin focused on public safety issues.
{Matzav.com}
Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange prisoners as the warring parties pressed ahead with “detailed and productive” negotiations to end the four-year conflict, according to President Donald Trump’s special envoy.
The two sides will swap 314 prisoners in the first such exchange in five months, Steve Witkoff said in a post on platform X on Thursday. He cited progress in three-way discussions in Abu Dhabi, with results expected “in the coming weeks.”
“This outcome was achieved from peace talks that have been detailed and productive,” Witkoff, who was joined in the United Arab Emirates by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, said. “While significant work remains, steps like this demonstrate that sustained diplomatic engagement is delivering tangible results and advancing efforts to end the war in Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy this week called the negotiating round a test of the Kremlin’s commitment to the process after Russian forces unleashed the biggest missile-and-drone attack on Kyiv this year, plunging the capital further into darkness.
The assaults on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have left large swathes of the country without heating, power and water as temperatures fell to -25C (-13F) this week.
The head of Ukraine’s delegation, national security chief Rustem Umerov, called the talks in Abu Dhabi “meaningful and productive” late Wednesday. Discussions were ongoing as of noon Thursday, according to an Umerov aide.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said the discussions had not yet yielded a conclusion.
Negotiations zeroed in on the issue that’s proved the most implacable in the talks: territory. Russia has insisted on seizing control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including parts that its forces have failed to take since fighting there began in 2014.
(c) 2026, Bloomberg · Daryna Krasnolutska
Iran’s Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian government, reported that the Khorramshahr-4 missile has been stationed for the first time inside underground IRGC installations known in Iran as “missile cities.” The report described the move as a significant step aimed at boosting the effectiveness and preparedness of Iran’s ballistic missile forces, noting that the missile is among the most advanced and powerful in the country’s inventory.
Fars claimed the missile is capable of reaching speeds of up to 16 times the speed of sound, translating to tens of thousands of kilometers per hour outside the atmosphere and roughly Mach 8 while flying within it. Based on those figures, the agency said the missile’s flight time to targets in Israel would be approximately 10 to 12 minutes after launch.
https://twitter.com/i/status/2019414551402631402
The Khorramshahr-4, which was first publicly unveiled in May 2023 and is also referred to as “Kheiber,” is categorized as a medium-range ballistic missile. Open-source assessments describe it as a single-stage, liquid-fueled system with a declared operational range of about 2,000 kilometers, putting much of the Middle East within its reach.
According to the report, the missile is also designed to carry a particularly heavy payload, with estimates placing the warhead weight between 1.5 and 1.8 tons.
The decision to house the missile in fortified underground complexes is intended to provide the Revolutionary Guards with a “second strike” capability and improve survivability should Iran’s nuclear or missile infrastructure come under a preemptive attack.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu briefed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee behind closed doors on Thursday on security and diplomatic matters, but the discussion quickly devolved into a tense showdown with opposition lawmakers.
In the course of the session, Netanyahu disclosed that at 5:15 a.m. on October 7, 2023, the Shin Bet (ISA) circulated a formal document summarizing all alerts received overnight from the Gaza Strip. He said the paper did not reach his office until 9:47 a.m., more than four hours after it had been issued.
Netanyahu asserted that the original version of the document contained no directive to notify the Prime Minister. He said that only in more recent Shin Bet submissions did an instruction to inform him suddenly appear, alleging that the agency retroactively inserted that directive. The document bears the signature of then–Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.
The Prime Minister added that he forwarded these findings to State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as part of the ongoing probes into the October 7 events, saying Englman was “amazed” by what he saw. Members of the committee were also described as reacting with disbelief.
Earlier in the briefing, Netanyahu read aloud excerpts from previous Cabinet meeting protocols and argued that former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had repeatedly prevented large-scale operations in the Gaza Strip.
“Bennett always opposed the occupation of Gaza,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying as he cited the protocols.
The atmosphere deteriorated further when several opposition lawmakers walked out of the meeting, voicing sharp criticism. “Is this why we came to the session? To hear Bibi reading us protocols from the Cabinet against Bennett, [Gadi] Eisenkot, and [Benny] Gantz?”
“Does he think we’re stupid? They didn’t even let us ask a single question.”
{Matzav.com}
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday was presented with a draft provisional constitution for the proposed “State of Palestine,” a move that advances the Palestinian leadership’s ongoing campaign to lay the groundwork for independent statehood.
The effort traces back to August, when Abbas approved the creation of a panel of legal and policy experts charged with drafting a constitutional framework. The proposed document is designed to serve as the legal foundation for a transition from the existing Palestinian Authority to the institutions of a sovereign state.
Those involved in drafting the text say it is rooted in the 1988 Palestinian declaration of independence and sets out core principles such as the right of return, commitment to international law, United Nations resolutions, global human rights conventions, and agreements concluded by the Palestine Liberation Organization or under the banner of the “State of Palestine.”
In the written authorization launching the initiative, Abbas said the provisional constitution is intended to anchor a democratic system based on the rule of law, a clear separation of powers, and safeguards for civil rights and personal freedoms.
Upon receiving the draft, Abbas proclaimed 2026 the “Year of Democracy,” outlining plans for a broad slate of elections throughout the year. These would include voting for the Palestinian National Council both within the Palestinian territories and among Palestinians abroad, local municipal elections, and the convening of the eighth congress of the Fatah movement.
Abbas instructed that the draft constitution first be distributed to members of the PLO Executive Committee for examination. After that review, the document will be released publicly to invite feedback and suggested revisions.
Officials say the push to advance a constitutional framework comes amid mounting international pressure on the Palestinian Authority. The United States and several European governments have urged sweeping institutional reforms, linking them to any future role the Authority might play in governing the Gaza Strip and in shaping political arrangements after the war concludes.
{Matzav.com}Nearly two decades after a deadly terrorist attack in Nachal Telem, a military court in Judea on Thursday imposed three life sentences on terrorist Ali Dandis, bringing a measure of judicial closure to a case that has haunted the families of the victims for 19 years. Alongside the prison terms, the court ordered Dandis to pay an unprecedented 5.2 million shekels in compensation to the families of slain soldiers David Rubin and Achikam Amichai.
The ruling stems from a 2007 attack in which Rubin and Amichai, both off-duty IDF soldiers, were hiking in Nachal Telem in Judea when they were ambushed. The assault was carried out by a terrorist cell composed of members of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, according to the indictment.
During the exchange of gunfire at the scene, one of the terrorists was killed, while Dandis and another accomplice managed to flee. The two later surrendered to the Palestinian Authority, where they were placed in what was described as “protective custody.”
Court documents revealed that this arrangement did not halt Dandis’s activities. Even while incarcerated in a Palestinian Authority prison, he continued to direct terrorist cells, procure weapons, and orchestrate additional attacks, including a shooting at a bus in the Hebron Hills, all while supposedly under official supervision.
Dandis remained beyond Israel’s reach for years and was apprehended only about a year ago, after leaving the PA facility, in a coordinated operation involving the Shin Bet, the Yamam, and the Israel Defense Forces. The court adopted the prosecution’s arguments in full, citing both the double murder and Dandis’s ongoing terror activity over two decades in handing down the severe sentence.
Attorney Chaim Bleicher of the Honenu organization, which represents and supports the bereaved families, responded sharply to the verdict: “Despite the verdict, the circle has not yet closed. There is another terrorist still in ‘protective custody’ under the Palestinian Authority who has yet to face justice. While the punishment of the terrorist is necessary, it is not enough to eradicate terrorism. The State of Israel must dry up the terrorist breeding ground – the Palestinian Authority, which continues to encourage terrorism, pay salaries to terrorists, and educate for terror. We await the day when the State of Israel will hold accountable and eliminate all terrorists and their handlers.”
{Matzav.com}New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pressing city prosecutors to abandon attempted murder charges against a man who was shot by police after allegedly advancing toward officers with a knife during what relatives describe as a severe mental health episode.
The incident unfolded on January 26 in a Queens residence, according to body camera footage released by the New York Police Department. Officers were dispatched following a 911 call from family members who said 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was in the midst of a psychiatric emergency and needed to be taken to a medical facility. During the call, a relative reported that Chakraborty had thrown a glass against a wall. When police arrived, they were allowed inside by a woman at the door, at which point Chakraborty appeared behind her holding a large kitchen knife. As the woman extended her arm in front of him, officers drew their weapons and issued commands.
Video from the encounter shows officers shutting the front door, placing it between themselves and Chakraborty. Despite the barrier, authorities say Chakraborty continued to press forward and attempt to push through the door, leading one of the officers to fire four shots.
Chakraborty was rushed to a hospital and remains in intensive care, where he is listed in stable but critical condition.
In the aftermath, the Queens District Attorney’s Office moved to pursue criminal charges against Chakraborty, who family members say has schizophrenia. Relatives have objected strongly, insisting they called for medical help, not law enforcement action, and arguing that police responses intensified an already fragile situation.
“Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier.”
Mamdani, who centered his mayoral campaign on reforming how the city handles mental health emergencies, echoed the family’s objections and said prosecution is not the appropriate response in this case.
“In viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” Mamdani said.
“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” Mamdani continued.
{Matzav.com}
1[Video below.] The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday sharply criticized comments made by Dr. Mehmet Oz in a recent interview, accusing him of promoting harmful stereotypes about Hasidic Jews and warning that such language can worsen the current climate of antisemitism. The organization circulated excerpts from a two-week-old appearance Oz made on Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders,” saying the remarks risk fueling discrimination.
The comments came as Oz, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, was speaking about investigations into healthcare fraud in Minnesota. In trying to show that fraud cases are not confined to a single state, Oz referenced the Hasidic community in New York in a manner the ADL said unfairly cast them in a negative light, suggesting they were “foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans.’”
“Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans’ is straight out of the antisemitic playbook,” the ADL wrote on X. “This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city just reported a 182 % year-over-year spike in antisemitic hate crimes in January. Words matter, and public officials must do better.”
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, a former Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, and a self-described secular Muslim, has taken on a more visible role in public policy discussions in recent years. Advocacy groups said that while he appeared to be drawing comparisons between states, his choice to single out New York’s Hasidic community drew particular concern.
Civil rights advocates have long warned that comments made by prominent figures about minority groups can shape public attitudes and, in some cases, contribute to discrimination or violence. The ADL said its response reflects broader concerns that even remarks made weeks earlier can take on renewed significance as antisemitic incidents continue to rise across the country.
WATCH:
Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or “not real Americans” is straight out of the antisemitic playbook. This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city… pic.twitter.com/pD0t1bWRSN
— ADL (@ADL) February 5, 2026
