Israel’s Competition Authority said Sunday that it plans to formally classify El Al as a monopoly on flights into and out of Israel for the period spanning October 7, 2023, through May 2024, and is seeking to levy the maximum fine permitted by law — NIS 121 million — pending the outcome of a hearing.
The regulator said that once foreign carriers halted operations in the wake of the Hamas attack, El Al’s share of the aviation market surged sharply, climbing from roughly 20% prior to October 7 to more than 70% within days. During the initial months of the war, the airline’s overall market share remained above 50%. The authority also found that average airfare during this time increased by approximately 16%, with hikes on major routes ranging between 6% and 31%.
According to the Competition Authority, those fare increases were “excessive and unfair” in light of the reduced competition and the heightened demand from travelers.
El Al pushed back against the findings, arguing that the pricing methodology used by the regulator is fundamentally flawed and without precedent. The airline said it intends to challenge the conclusions and present its position during a formal hearing process.
{Matzav.com}
Iran intensified its public threats against Israel and the United States on Sunday, erecting a large and ominous sign in central Tehran that openly signals hostility as preparations continue for another round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
The display, placed in Falastine Square in the center of the Iranian capital, features the phrase “Rain of Missiles” alongside a map depicting central Israel. The message is being viewed as an unmistakable and deliberate threat aimed at Israel, delivered in full public view at a sensitive diplomatic moment.
Against that backdrop, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made clear earlier in the day that Tehran has no intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions, regardless of the consequences.
Araghchi said Iran is willing to consider certain constraints on its nuclear activities but will categorically reject Washington’s demand for a full suspension of uranium enrichment.
“We insist on our right to a nuclear program, even if it leads to war,” he said in a conversation with diplomats in Tehran. “They attacked our nuclear facilities but did not achieve their goal. The only option left for them is negotiations.”
He further framed Iran’s posture as ideological defiance rather than purely military power, adding: “The secret of the Islamic Republic’s strength lies in its ability to say ‘no’ to the great powers. Our atomic bomb is the power to say ‘no’ – not physically, but ideologically.”
U.S. negotiators, meanwhile, are pressing for sweeping concessions, including a complete end to uranium enrichment, severe restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program — with one proposal calling for a maximum missile range of 500 kilometers, while Israel is demanding a stricter cap of 300 kilometers — and a halt to Tehran’s support for allied armed groups throughout the region. Those groups include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militias operating in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen.
{Matzav.com}Israel’s political-security cabinet on Sunday signed off on a broad package of decisions that will dramatically reshape the legal, civil, and administrative systems governing Judea and Samaria, marking one of the most extensive policy shifts in the area in years.
The initiative was promoted by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yisroel Katz and drafted by the Settlement Administration within the Defense Ministry. The changes are designed to dismantle longstanding regulatory hurdles, cancel outdated Jordanian laws, and speed up settlement growth across the region.
One of the most consequential steps deals with land registration. Until now, land records in Judea and Samaria were kept confidential, unlike registries inside the Green Line, a situation that complicated real estate transactions and left room for abuse. Under the new directive, land registries will be opened and published, a move intended to improve transparency and make lawful land purchases more accessible.
The cabinet also nullified a Jordanian-era statute that barred Jews from purchasing property. In the past, Jewish buyers were forced to acquire land through corporate entities and seek special approvals from the Civil Administration. That requirement has now been scrapped, and the prohibition on sales to foreigners has been lifted, allowing Jews to buy property under rules similar to those applied in Israel’s major cities. Additionally, the need for authorization from the Deputy Commander for Land Registration has been replaced with professional qualification criteria, further easing constraints on the local real estate market.
Planning authority in Hebron was also addressed. After years of delays attributed to the Palestinian municipality, responsibility for issuing building permits in Jewish areas near the Cave of the Patriarchs and other sacred sites will be transferred directly to the Civil Administration’s planning bodies. The cabinet said this change will create a permanent framework for planning and end the reliance on temporary arrangements. Alongside this, the Hebron Directorate was granted full municipal authority, enabling it to manage services, respond to residents’ needs, and enforce regulations independently.
Rachel’s Tomb is set to receive a parallel administrative upgrade. Because the site lies within Bethlehem’s municipal jurisdiction, it has long suffered from inconsistent municipal services. The cabinet approved the establishment of a dedicated municipal directorate that will oversee sanitation, garbage collection, landscaping, and ongoing maintenance at the site.
Beyond municipal and land issues, the cabinet approved an expansion of state enforcement activities in Areas A and B. These efforts will concentrate on illegal water usage, harm to archaeological sites, and environmental dangers that affect surrounding areas.
Another notable decision revives a long-dormant government body. A committee tasked with facilitating land purchases, which has been inactive for roughly 20 years, will resume operations. Its renewed mandate is to allow the state to proactively acquire land in Judea and Samaria in order to safeguard reserves for future settlement needs.
Defense Minister Katz said the package reflects a decisive policy aimed at strengthening Israel’s hold in Judea and Samaria and bolstering the settlement enterprise. He described the territory as vital to Israel’s security and national interests and stressed the government’s intention to provide legal clarity and equal civil conditions for Israelis throughout the country.
Finance Minister Smotrich framed the decisions as a turning point, saying they bring an end to what he called discriminatory legal arrangements and move toward normalizing everyday life in Judea and Samaria. He added that the government plans to continue dismantling bureaucratic barriers and pushing forward settlement expansion across the region.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli Air Force jets were dispatched Sunday afternoon to intercept and accompany a Wizz Air passenger aircraft traveling from London to Ben Gurion Airport after authorities received what was deemed a credible security concern.
The incident unfolded when two passengers noticed that the word “terrorist” appeared in Arabic on their mobile phone while onboard the flight.
Disturbed by what they saw, the passengers notified the cabin crew, who followed established emergency procedures and immediately relayed the information to Israeli security officials and air traffic controllers.
Given the sensitive nature of the report, security officials activated a formal response protocol. As part of that process, two Israeli Air Force fighter jets were launched and proceeded to escort the aircraft from the moment it entered Israeli airspace until it landed at Ben Gurion Airport.
The plane landed without incident, and all passengers and crew exited the aircraft safely.
Security forces and police units were already positioned on the runway upon arrival. During a rapid on-site questioning of passengers, authorities determined that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding: the couple’s son had earlier renamed their phone’s mobile hotspot with a threatening label as a “joke,” without their parents’ awareness.
Despite the clarification, all passengers were subjected to further and heightened security checks after leaving the aircraft to ensure there was no remaining risk.
The Israel Airports Authority said: “Due to suspicion of suspicious behavior on the aircraft, security forces acted in accordance with protocols. The incident has concluded. The plane landed, and it was determined that there was no actual security event.”
{Matzav.com}
New York has authorized medical aid in dying for certain terminally ill residents after Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Friday permitting the practice for patients diagnosed with less than six months to live.
State officials said the statute includes safeguards designed to prevent pressure or abuse, while also protecting healthcare workers and religiously affiliated medical institutions from being compelled to participate in the process.
The measure establishes a required five-day interval between the time a physician issues a prescription and when it may be dispensed. It also mandates mental health assessments for individuals seeking the medication.
Eligibility under the law is limited to residents of New York.
“Our state will always stand firm in safeguarding New Yorkers’ freedoms and right to bodily autonomy, which includes the right for the terminally ill to peacefully and comfortably end their lives with dignity and compassion,” Hochul said in a statement.
The new policy marks a reversal from the state’s legal position nearly a decade ago. In 2017, New York’s Court of Appeals dismissed a case arguing that mentally competent, terminally ill patients were entitled to prescriptions for life-ending drugs, determining at the time that doctor-assisted suicide remained illegal.
With the signing of the bill, New York becomes the 13th state, along with the District of Columbia, to permit some form of assisted suicide. Oregon pioneered such legislation in 1994.
Advocacy organizations supporting access to assisted suicide praised the decision. Among them was End of Life Choices New York, whose executive director, Mandi Zucker, described the enactment as a “mile marker in the long and winding road towards fairness, choice, peace, and dignity for all of those watching loved ones struggle with a terminal illness.”
Zucker said the organization plans to launch a broad public education effort over the next six months to inform patients and families about the new law.
{Matzav.com}Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on Sunday reiterated the terrorist group’s opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand to lay down arms and vowed “to defeat our enemy, Israel, God willing.”
Speaking at the 17th Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Qatar, Mashaal said that the Islamist group would not disarm during the current Phase 2 of Trump’s plan, which calls for Hamas to lay down its weapons with the deployment of an International Stabilization Force to the Gaza Strip.
“As long as our people are under occupation,” he told attendees, “talk of disarmament is an attempt to turn our people into victims, to make their elimination easier and to facilitate their destruction at the hands of the Israeli side, which is armed with every international means of warfare.
“Questions about the resistance’s weapons are being raised forcefully. Some want to place it in the context that whoever carried out Oct. 7 must be cornered and made to pay the price,” continued Mashaal, in reference to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of some 1,200 people.
“As those who participated in the resistance, we must not accept this,” he declared, saying that “resistance is the right of occupied peoples.”
Mashaal praised the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, during which around 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians, were murdered, thousands were wounded and 251 were taken hostage.
The massacre “returned the Palestinian cause to the forefront of regional and international attention, and it is no longer possible to bypass it; resolving it has become a necessity,” he told the forum.
Mashaal again vowed to defeat Israel, saying that the Jewish state “represents an existential threat and danger to us and the region.”
Asked about the U.S.-backed National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a transitional Palestinian body meant to exclude Hamas, Mashaal stressed the terrorist organization’s rejection of “foreign rule” over the Strip.
“We do not accept the logic of guardianship, foreign intervention or the re-imposition of a new mandate,” the Hamas leader told the summit.
Mashaal praised Doha for its support of the Palestinian cause, saying, “Qatar is a small country, but its role is great and respected.”
Doha “sympathizes and has an honorable stance on the issue, but Israel resents it,” he said. “They waged a campaign against it for this position.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursday sharply criticized the Al Jazeera Forum, describing it as a “gathering of jihadists and their support staff.”
Trump warned on Jan. 21 that Hamas terrorists would be “blown away very quickly” if they fail to lay down their weapons under the second phase of Washington’s peace plan.
Speaking at a question-and-answer session in Davos, Switzerland, after his address to the World Economic Forum, the U.S. president said Hamas had “agreed to give up their weapons” as part of his 20-point plan.
Mashaal has repeatedly rejected demands to disarm, including on Dec. 6, when he declared that “protecting the resistance project and its weapons is the right of our people to defend themselves.
“The resistance and its weapons are the ummah‘s [Islamic nation’s] honor and pride,” he told an anti-Israel summit in Istanbul.
Senior Hamas terrorist Musa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera on Jan. 28 that the terrorist group had never agreed to disarm.
“Not for a single moment did we talk about surrendering weapons,” Abu Marzouk told the outlet, claiming the issue was never raised in the talks. JNS
{Matzav.com}
