Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu intensified his criticism of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a Thursday interview, sharply condemning what he called Canberra’s “appeasement” of terrorist groups and their backers in the West. He also pledged to move forward with a complete military takeover of Gaza, even if Hamas agrees to a ceasefire and a deal for the release of hostages.
“I’m sure he has a reputable record as a public servant, but I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of these Hamas terrorist monsters,” Netanyahu said of Albanese in his interview with Sky News Australia.
“When the worst terrorist organization on earth, these savages who murdered women, raped them, beheaded men… when these people congratulate the prime minister of Australia, you know something is wrong.”
For years, Australia has been seen as one of Israel’s closest allies, but tensions between the two nations have deepened since Canberra’s announcement last week that it would formally recognize a Palestinian state.
On Tuesday night, Netanyahu escalated his attacks by taking to X, where he accused Albanese of betrayal and labeled him a “weak politician who betrayed Israel.”
Australia responded forcefully on Wednesday, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke countering that strength was not measured by “how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”
In the interview — one of many Netanyahu has conducted with international media outlets supportive of his policies, while largely avoiding critical Israeli press — the prime minister insisted that Israel was “on the verge of completing this war.”
This has been a repeated claim from Netanyahu over the past year and a half. Since February 2024, he has argued that capturing the southern Gaza city of Rafah would bring the conflict to an end within weeks, declaring in April that victory was “a step away.” But after Israeli forces entered Rafah in May 2024, those predictions failed to materialize.
Nearly two years into the war, Netanyahu continues to face mounting domestic and international pressure to negotiate an end to the fighting and secure the release of hostages. Despite this, his government recently signed off on a plan to seize Gaza City in the north, where roughly a million displaced civilians are sheltering. The move has drawn heavy criticism worldwide, and even some Israeli security officials have warned it could put the remaining hostages at greater risk.
Netanyahu has repeatedly portrayed Gaza City as the final bastion of Hamas power, comparing the situation to the Allies’ capture of Berlin to end World War II — a comparison he repeated during Thursday’s interview. Last year, he invoked a similar argument when defending Israel’s push to take Rafah.
The interview appears to have been recorded earlier this week, coinciding with reports that Hamas was close to accepting a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal previously approved by Israel. Hamas has since publicly stated it has accepted the plan, but Jerusalem has remained silent for at least three days.
When interviewer Sharri Markson asked Netanyahu if Israel still intended to take full control of Gaza and dismantle Hamas even if the terror group agreed to a truce and released hostages, his answer was unequivocal.
“We’re going to do that anyway. That there was never a question that we’re not going to leave Hamas there,” he said, while adding that the war “could end today” if Hamas “lays down its arms and releases the remaining 50 hostages, at least 20 of which are alive.”
Netanyahu pointed to reports of rising resentment toward Hamas among Gazans, saying his aim was not to permanently occupy the Strip but “to free Gaza, free them from Hamas tyranny, free Israel and others from Hamas terrorism, give Gaza and Israel a different future.”
Regarding the growing rift with Australia, Netanyahu expressed regret, emphasizing that there had been a “great underlying friendship there for over a century” which has “gone astray because I think leaders did not show the strength and conviction that they should have when we’re actually fighting the war of Western civilization against these barbarians.”
He linked recent spikes in antisemitic incidents in Australia to broader global extremism, warning that radicals were exploiting democratic freedoms to undermine society from within. He urged Australians to confront this growing threat head-on.
“I’ve seen this tsunami of antisemitism, this racism and this deliberate targeting of the innocents, the burning of a synagogue in Melbourne and so on. These are horrible things and if you don’t stop them when they’re small, they get bigger and bigger and bigger and ultimately they consume your society,” he warned.
“The Western leaders, including unfortunately in Australia, are… trying to feed the crocodile of militant Islam that has claimed the lives not only of Jews, but Christians and Arabs, many Muslims and so on, and they think they’ll pacify, they’ll appease the crocodile,” Netanyahu continued.
“The more you pour fuel into this antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-Western fire, the greater the fire will grow, it will consume you in the end. You have no protection unless you stand up to it.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition from Republican state legislators attempting to block Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw the state’s congressional map.
“Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” the court wrote in a short order posted on the docket.
Newsom has been pushing back against Republican redistricting maneuvers in Texas by advancing a proposal for a special election this November. The goal is to secure voter approval for a new congressional map that would benefit Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
With the court’s decision, the California Legislature can now move forward and is expected to vote as early as Thursday on legislation that would authorize the special election.
At the heart of the Republicans’ challenge was a constitutional rule requiring a 30-day waiting period before lawmakers can pass a newly introduced bill, unless three-fourths of the Legislature agrees to waive the restriction.
Democrats attempted to bypass that requirement by taking bills that had been introduced in February, removing their original text, and replacing it entirely with redistricting provisions.
Four Republican lawmakers — Sen. Tony Strickland, Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, Assemblymember Tri Ta, and Assemblymember Kate Sanchez — petitioned the state’s highest court on Tuesday to halt the Democrats’ strategy.
The petition sought to delay the process until at least September 18, which would have made it nearly impossible to prepare for the planned November 4 special election. In their filings, the lawmakers’ attorneys conceded that the case presented a novel legal question but argued that allowing Democrats to move forward would be “comically absurd.”
In a joint statement after the ruling, the four lawmakers criticized the court for offering no explanation and vowed to keep fighting. “This means Governor Newsom and the Democrats’ plan to gut the voter-created Citizens Redistricting Commission, silence public input, and stick taxpayers with a $200+ million bill will proceed,” the statement said.
“We will continue to challenge this unconstitutional power grab in the courts and at the ballot box. Californians deserve fair, transparent elections, not secret backroom deals to protect politicians,” the statement added.
{Matzav.com}
Prosecutors in Manhattan revealed on Thursday that a former senior adviser to Mayor Eric Adams is among seven individuals now facing additional charges in an ongoing corruption probe tied to City Hall, which has been under investigation for the past two years.
Although Adams himself has not been accused of wrongdoing, the case is expected to once again put a spotlight on the allegations surrounding his administration as he works to rebuild public confidence ahead of a highly competitive election in November.
The expanded indictments name Adams’ former chief of staff and longtime ally, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, along with her son Glenn D. Martin, former state Senator Jesse Hamilton, and two of Adams’ campaign donors — siblings Tony and Gina Argento — among those charged.
Lewis-Martin, along with the other defendants, was scheduled to appear before a judge on Thursday.
Her resignation came back in December, prior to a separate indictment alleging that she and her son accepted bribes in return for expediting approvals for construction projects. That case is still moving through the courts. Despite the charges, Lewis-Martin has remained involved with the Adams campaign in a volunteer capacity while awaiting trial.
In the latest development, Lewis-Martin now faces four more counts of conspiracy and accepting bribes, charges outlined in new indictments that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg characterized as “classic bribery conspiracies that had a deep and wide-ranging impact on city government.”
“As alleged, Lewis-Martin consistently overrode the expertise of public servants so she could line her own pockets. While she allegedly received more than $75,000 in bribes and an appearance on a TV show, every other New Yorker lost out,” Bragg stated.
Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, responded on Thursday, saying she intends to plead not guilty to these new charges. “She has broken no laws, and she is not guilty,” he declared in a statement.
Aidala issued a further statement defending his client, saying: “Ingrid Lewis Martin is facing charges classified at the lowest level of felony in our justice system. Her only so-called ‘offense’ was fulfilling her duty—helping fellow citizens navigate the City’s outdated and often overwhelming bureaucracy. At no point did she receive a single dollar or any personal benefit for her assistance. Yet, the District Attorney seeks to portray a dedicated and honest public servant as a criminal. This is not justice—it is a distortion of the truth and a troubling example of politically motivated ‘lawfare.’ We will vigorously fight these charges and ensure that the facts prevail. The public deserves to know the truth, and we will not allow this injustice to stand.”
{Matzav.com}
A New York appeals court on Thursday tossed out the staggering $464 million judgment against President Trump, which stemmed from a civil business fraud case.
The Appellate Division, First Department, reversed the ruling in which Trump, 79, had been accused of artificially inflating his net worth by billions over a ten-year span to obtain more favorable loan and insurance deals.
If the February 2024 decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron had remained in place, Trump would have been required to pay more than $500 million, including over $100 million in accumulated interest.
The appeals court ruling followed a dramatic 11-week trial that threatened Trump’s long-cultivated image as a real estate powerhouse and risked labeling him a fraud while he campaigns to return to the White House.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that between 2011 and 2021, Trump benefited from lower interest rates by significantly exaggerating the value of assets such as his Manhattan penthouse and Mar-a-Lago estate on official financial documents.
Records showed that Trump’s business claimed his Trump Tower triplex was 30,000 square feet when its actual size is just 11,000 square feet, inflating the property’s worth to $327 million in 2015 after valuing it at $80 million only four years earlier.
The trial also revealed that Trump listed Mar-a-Lago’s value at $517 million on financial statements, despite his own tax adviser noting that its “market value” had been recorded at just $27 million in 2020.
Michael Corbiciero, Trump’s tax representative, testified that the lower figure was used because the estate was classified as a “social club,” which enabled Trump to obtain significant tax benefits.
Evidence presented showed that Mar-a-Lago’s deed restricts its use to a social club and bars Trump from selling it as a private residence.
Nonetheless, Trump informed banks and insurers that the Palm Beach property was worth $517 million and even stated during the trial that he believed its value could reach $1.5 billion — which would make it four times pricier than the country’s most expensive listed home.
“The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience,” Engoron wrote in his original ruling.
The decision from the appeals court came after indications last September that some members of the five-judge panel were skeptical about the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, which ultimately triggered the trial.
Judge Peter Moulton described the size of the penalty as “troubling” and questioned whether the statute James relied on — which does not require proof that anyone suffered actual harm — had “morphed into something it was not meant to do.”
The lawsuit deeply affected the soon-to-be 47th president, who left the campaign trail several times to personally attend the trial, repeatedly condemning the proceedings as a “political witch hunt” and asserting he had “done nothing wrong.”
Both Engoron and James are elected Democrats, and James had campaigned on a promise to pursue Trump, previously referring to him as a “con man” and a “carnival barker.”
Trump’s attorneys argued that there were no “victims” in the case, emphasizing that “sophisticated” financial institutions like Deutsche Bank performed their own due diligence before entering agreements and that all lenders were repaid in full.
However, James’ team contended that Trump’s manipulated financial statements distorted the broader marketplace — a point Engoron ultimately supported.
“The next group of lenders to receive bogus statements might not be so lucky,” Engoron cautioned in his ruling.
Trump has already posted a $175 million bond while pursuing his appeal and will now take his challenge to New York’s highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu issued a forceful rejection of accusations that Israel is committing genocide or deliberately starving civilians in Gaza during an interview with Sky News Australia. He sharply criticized the Albanese government and certain media outlets, calling their claims “medieval blood libels.”
“It’s the same lies,” he declared. “Israel is starving Palestinian children? What lies. We’ve brought in 2 million tons of food since the start of the war — that’s a ton per person.”
Netanyahu placed responsibility on Hamas for the humanitarian crisis, asserting that the group hijacks aid shipments and sells the supplies to Gaza residents at exorbitant rates. He defended the IDF’s conduct, stressing that the army goes to “unprecedented lengths” to limit civilian casualties, pointing to millions of evacuation alerts sent by text messages and phone calls.
“No army has done what Israel has done,” he said, drawing a comparison to the Allies during World War II. “We try to shepherd people to safe places. Hamas shoots them if they try to leave.”
The Prime Minister warned that if Western leaders fail to push back against anti-Israel narratives, they risk fueling extremism in their own countries.
“If you don’t take a stand, the crocodile will get you in the end,” he said.
Netanyahu also voiced frustration over Australia’s recent voting record at the United Nations, describing the government’s stance as “dismaying” and accusing Canberra of rewarding terrorism by supporting Palestinian statehood initiatives.
“We’re not going to commit suicide by putting another Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv,” he said. “We already had one in Gaza. They turned it into a network of terror tunnels.”
In contrast, he praised President Donald Trump for his unwavering support of Israel, crediting him with helping broker the Abraham Accords and strengthening regional alliances.
Despite the ongoing war, Netanyahu reiterated his broader vision of “peace through strength,” underscoring his goal of dismantling Hamas while ultimately improving life for civilians in Gaza.
“Our goal is not to occupy Gaza — it’s to free it,” he said. “Free Gazans from Hamas tyranny. Free Israel from Hamas terror. We can’t leave them there – that would be like leaving the SS in Germany.”
When asked about reports indicating that Hamas may be nearing a ceasefire deal, Netanyahu was unequivocal: any agreement must include the complete disarmament of the terror group and the release of all hostages — about 50 in total, with at least 20 believed to be alive.
“This war could end today if Hamas lays down its arms,” he said.
He further claimed there has been a shift within Gaza itself, saying that some residents have begun resisting Hamas and calling for their liberation.
Netanyahu closed the interview by appealing for a renewal of the close ties that once defined the Israel-Australia relationship, urging Canberra to rediscover its historic alignment with Israel.
“We had a great relationship. I think it’s gone astray because leaders failed to show strength and conviction,” he said. “But we will win this war, and once we do, I believe Australians will understand.”
{Matzav.com}
On the night of October 7, a soldier stationed at the Gaza Division’s intelligence headquarters detected troubling signs within the incoming data.
In a column published by Yediot Achronot, journalist Nadav Eyal reported that the soldier, referred to as R., became convinced that Hamas was preparing to launch a major assault. Determined to stay alert, R. remained at his post throughout the night, joined by another female soldier.
According to Eyal’s account, R. repeatedly attempted to persuade his superiors to take immediate precautions. However, the female officers responsible for responding were instructed to “go back to sleep.” The division’s chief intelligence officer, identified as A., also dismissed the concerns. Brigadier General Avi Rosenfeld, the division commander, was present on the base but chose not to come to the operations center despite the warnings.
Eyal further revealed that additional alerts picked up by Unit 8200 — the elite military intelligence unit — were likewise overlooked. A later probe into the intelligence process determined that had all of the warning signs been combined and analyzed together on a single operational map, the threat assessment could have been drastically different.
The report also noted that the Gaza Division possessed a designated early-warning system, but it failed to account for the possibility of a large-scale Hamas incursion. If the system had been engaged — even in its limited configuration — it would have automatically triggered a high-level alert across the entire IDF.
{Matzav.com}
