Prepared by and sent from Jewish Federations of North America’s Israel Office 

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  • Son of Israel’s US Ambassador critically wounded in terror attack in Israel
  • Netanyahu to address UN in NY today
  • Elections still dead-locked

West Bank Terror Attacks

  • On Sunday, a Palestinian gunman opened fire at Israelis visiting a natural spring near Neve Tzuf shortly before Yom Kippur, killing Netanel Shukrun, a dual French-Israeli citizen and father of six from Alei Zahav who had gone there with his eldest son. The attacker fled on foot and was wounded by an IDF tracker before reaching a hospital near Ramallah, where Duvdevan commandos arrested him later that day. The IDF subsequently closed surrounding roads and launched operations to locate anyone who may have assisted him.
  • Yesterday, Neria Leiter, the son of Israel’s Ambassador to the US, was critically wounded in a car-ramming attack. The 38-year-old reservist was serving alongside police at the Maccabim checkpoint on Route 443 (that joins Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) when a Palestinian driver accelerated toward a police vehicle and struck him. Forces at the scene shot and killed the attacker, identified as 29-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Suleiman from Beit Ur al-Tahta. Leiter was taken unconscious to Shaare Zedek Medical Center with a severe head injury and underwent several hours of emergency brain surgery. His condition subsequently stabilized, but remains very serious and life-threatening.
  • The attack brought another tragedy to a family that has already lost a son in the war. Neria’s older brother, Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter, a father of six who was completing his medical training, was killed alongside three other reservists by an explosion from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in northern Gaza in November 2023. Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said Neria continued serving after his brother’s death and has completed hundreds of days of reserve duty on several fronts since October 7. “I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen,” he wrote. “Neria needs a miracle.” The Ambassador immediately left the US to return to Israel, while Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the family at the hospital before departing for New York and asked Israelis to pray for “Neria Dov ben Chana.” Even as the Leiter family gathered around Neria’s hospital bed, they experienced a moment of new life amid the crisis. Ambassador Yechiel Leiter revealed that his daughter went into labor while visiting her brother and gave birth at Shaare Zedek Hospital while Neria remained in intensive care just a short distance away.

Conflict Zones

  • On Tuesday, President Donald Trump told the General Assembly that he faced a choice between reaching an agreement that would allow Iran to rebuild or “annihilat[ing] the Islamic Republic,” while predicting that Tehran would agree to a deal after the November 3 US midterm elections. Trump later said that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a “very good” three-hour meeting concerning Iran; he subsequently clarified that they met with Iranian mediators rather than Iranian officials directly. On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded from the same podium, declaring that Iran “did not bend the knee,” accusing the US and Israel of attacking Iranian civilians and infrastructure, but saying Tehran remained ready for “dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations, without accepting the language of force.” Pezeshkian also held up photographs of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian children killed during the war, while the US delegation walked out as he began speaking.
  • An Israeli strike on a vehicle in Gaza on Wednesday killed Muhammad Abu Alwan, identified by Israel as the head of Hamas’s financial department, along with another Palestinian; two additional Israeli strikes elsewhere in Gaza killed two more people that day. IDF engineers also located a 600-meter tunnel in central Gaza running from the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line into Hamas-held territory. Separately, President Trump’s Board of Peace unveiled a $2.45 billion initial Gaza recovery package at the UN, comprising 66 projects involving border crossings, electricity, water infrastructure, 25,000 portable solar-power kits, and the filling of tunnels beneath priority reconstruction sites. The plan estimates physical damage in Gaza at $35.2 billion and the cost of full recovery at approximately $71.4 billion over ten years, but implementation remains blocked by the unresolved disputes over Hamas’s disarmament and further Israeli withdrawals.
  • Speaking in New York on Tuesday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said nearly a year of negotiations had produced agreement on almost 90% of the issues under discussion, although Syria continues to demand that Israel first withdraw to the lines of the 1974 separation agreement. In his UN address the following day, Sharaa said peace remained possible but claimed that Israel had conducted more than 500 air and artillery strikes in Syria since the fall of Bashar Assad. Defense Minister Israel Katz responded that the Golan is an “integral and eternal part” of Israel. Fourteen Israeli activists from the far-right Pioneers of Bashan movement were meanwhile detained after crossing the border into Syria in an attempt to establish an Israeli settlement there.
  • Two Israeli soldiers were wounded in southern Lebanon, prompting new IDF strikes on Hezbollah targets. The soldiers were lightly wounded by an explosive device during operations on Tuesday, after which the IDF struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon; additional Israeli air and artillery strikes were reported around Nabatieh over the weekend and on Monday. Earlier in the week, Israeli forces briefly advanced toward a Lebanese Army observation position near Deir Mimas, producing a standoff that was resolved through the military coordination mechanism. In Beirut, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said the organization would continue its armed “resistance,” while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said a security agreement with Israel could eventually lead to a peace agreement.
  • Fighting with the Houthis intensified around Yemen and inside Saudi Arabia in recent days. The Houthis claimed missile and drone attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh and the Aramco oil facilities at Yanbu on Saturday, as flames and a large plume of smoke rose near fuel-storage facilities at King Khalid International Airport; Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a missile aimed at the capital and disrupted additional attacks on Taif, Yanbu, Bish, and Farasan. Up to 169 people were reported killed from both sides over three days of fighting and Saudi strikes, as the Houthis attempted to consolidate their recent seizure of much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the strategic approaches to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

UN General Assembly

  • Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has arrived in New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly and will deliver Israel‘s annual address later today. During his short visit (he will return to Israel for Sukkot, not even staying overnight in the US), Netanyahu was set to meet with the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Panama, and Ethiopia, the vice president of Colombia, and the prime ministers of Greece, Slovenia, and Papua New Guinea.
  • Ahead of Netanyahu’s address to the UN, Israel launched a major public diplomacy campaign across New York City aimed at international delegates and world leaders attending the gathering. The Prime Minister’s Office said it deployed 500 billboards and dozens of digital advertising trucks around UN headquarters carrying messages highlighting the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program and regional activities, while emphasizing the strategic partnership between Israel and the United States. The campaign featured slogans including “Freedom doesn’t defend itself,” “A nuclear Iran can’t become a reality,” and “Who do you stand with?” alongside American and Israeli flags.
  • Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was once again barred from attending the General Assembly in person. The Trump administration extended visa sanctions on senior Palestinian Authority and PLO officials, preventing Abbas from traveling to New York for the second consecutive year. Following a UN vote, Abbas was instead permitted to deliver his remarks by prerecorded video.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a sharp confrontation with Israel following his speech. Macron strongly criticized Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank and appeared to suggest that Hamas had never been a significant force in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s office issued an unusually harsh response, calling the remarks a “grotesque absurdity” and noting that Hamas has carried out attacks against Israelis in the territory for years, including killing Netanel Shukrun, a French-Israeli citizen, just days ago.
  • A diplomatic clash erupted at the UN after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of turning Gaza into “the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time.” Defense Minister Israel Katz responded by condemning what he called Erdoğan’s “antisemitic and inciting” remarks, accusing the Turkish leader of embracing and funding Hamas while attacking Israel for defending itself against terrorism.

Israeli Elections

  • With just over a month until elections in Israel, the race remains deadlocked. Polls released over the past week produced significantly different results, with some showing Likud as the largest party and others putting Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar in first place. Despite the variation, nearly all surveys point to the same conclusion: neither the Netanyahu bloc nor the anti-Netanyahu camp currently has a clear path to the 61 seats needed to form a government. Netanyahu’s political position has improved over the past two weeks. A Channel 13 poll released last week showed his bloc narrowly leading the opposition bloc 54-52, the first major survey of the campaign to put the coalition camp ahead.
  • The politically-appointed Central Elections Committee voted earlier this week to disqualify two Arab Israeli candidates from running – Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh and Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, saying that statements they made crossed legal boundaries regarding support for armed struggle against Israel. The controversy escalated further when the committee also voted to disqualify both Ra’am and the Joint List from participating in the election, setting up what is expected to be one of the most consequential legal battles of the campaign. Also today, the Committee voted against the disqualification of Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party. All of the decisions are expected to be appealed to the High Court, which will issue final rulings within days, and is seen by many as likely to overturn at least some of the disqualifications.

Other Developments

  • A major milestone was reached in the recovery of Israel’s Gaza-border communities this week, as the population of the Gaza Envelope (Tekuma) region surpassed its pre-October 7 level by approximately 10 percent. Around 66,000 people now live in the region, roughly 5,000 more than before the Hamas attack, while more than 90 percent of evacuated residents have already returned home. Reconstruction continues in communities including Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, and Holit as part of a multi-year recovery program valued at approximately $4.6 billion, with officials reporting that thousands of new residents have moved to the area alongside returning evacuees. The government’s long-term goal is to double the region’s population by 2033.
  • A new survey found that 74% of Jewish Israelis fast on Yom Kippur, including 63% who complete the full fast. A majority (57%) attend Yom Kippur synagogue services, while 18% of Jewish Israelis report that Yom Kippur is their only synagogue visit of the year. Even among secular Jews, 47% fast at least partially and 20% attend services. See the full survey here.
  • A dispute over military reserve service returned to the headlines after new data showed exceptionally high reserve-duty burdens on some units. Senior officials warned that many reservists have now accumulated hundreds of days of service since October 2023, while business groups and local authorities renewed calls for additional government assistance to affected families and employers. The issue has become increasingly prominent as Israel balances ongoing security operations with the economic and social toll of a prolonged mobilization.
  • Norway’s decision to move ahead with measures targeting settlement-related trade triggered a growing diplomatic dispute with Israel. Israeli officials have been discussing possible responses after Oslo defended the move and argued that pressure on settlement activity is necessary to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution. The issue has become another flashpoint in Israel‘s relations with several European countries. According to reports, American officials drafted a strongly worded statement criticizing British, French, and Canadian initiatives concerning settlement imports, but the document was ultimately not released after internal White House deliberations.
  • The family of missing girl Haymanot Kasau intensified its public campaign, holding a large rally in Jerusalem 941 days after her disappearance. Her parents publicly demanded that responsibility for the investigation be transferred to the Shin Bet, saying they had received few answers from law-enforcement authorities and questioning whether all investigative avenues had been exhausted.