Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained on Friday that his government has the authority to dismiss the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief, while insisting that the heated debate over the issue would not deteriorate into a civil war.

“There will be no war between brothers! The State of Israel is a state of law, and according to the law, the government of Israel decides who will be the head of the Shin Bet,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

His comment came on the backdrop of the temporary injunction issued by Israel’s Supreme Court, which prevents the director of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar from being removed, as well as remarks by former president of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak warning of a looming civil war.

Following the court’s freeze order, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said that until the issue is resolved, the government cannot appoint a new Shin Bet head or conduct interviews for alternative candidates, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported.

Meanwhile, the Business Forum, which represents some 200 of Israel’s largest companies, including banks, insurance and technology firms, threatened to go on strike if the government did not accept the court’s order.

“If the Israeli government does not respect the order and leads Israel into a constitutional crisis, we call on all citizens of Israel to stop respecting the government’s decisions with all that entails, and we will bring the Israeli economy to a halt,” the Business Forum said in a statement.

The Israel Bar Association followed suit and announced that it had begun coordinating a plan to shut down the court system with the help of the Histadrut labor union, law firms and public sector jurists.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich seemed to suggest that the government should not respect the court’s order. “Supreme Court judges will not run the war [in Gaza] or decide its commanders. Period,” Smotrich wrote on X.

Netanyahu on Thursday slammed Bar’s “soft approach,” adding that he was thus “not the right person to rehabilitate” the Shin Bet after the colossal intelligence failures leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi of the Likud Party slammed the court’s freezing order, vowing that “Ronen Bar will finish his term on April 10 or earlier, with the appointment of a permanent Shin Bet head. You have no legal authority to intervene in this. It is the government’s sole authority. Your order is invalid. The story is over. The people are the sovereign.”

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, on the other hand, pledged: “The Government of Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, will not violate the rulings of the court.”

On Thursday, the Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved Netanyahu’s proposal to fire Bar. “Bar will conclude his duties on April 10, 2025, or when a permanent director is appointed—whichever comes first,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The proposal cited Netanyahu’s “persistent personal and professional distrust” of Bar, deemed detrimental to both the government and the security service.

However, the Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, hours later issued the prevention order, which will reportedly remain in place until April 8, by which time the court can hear the petitions that have been filed against the government’s move.

A survey published in the British Telegraph reveals that 52% of Gaza residents would leave the Gaza Strip either temporarily or permanently if given the opportunity.

The Gallup survey, which polled 532 Gaza residents aged 18 and older between March 2-13, found a population divided about their future in Gaza. While 39% indicated they would remain in Gaza with no plans to leave, 38% said they would consider temporary relocation with the intention of returning later and 14% stated they would leave permanently if possible.

This polling comes in the wake of a proposal by President Donald Trump to relocate Gazans to various countries around the world. The survey was completed just before Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Demographic analysis reveals younger residents under the age of 34 and those living in the most heavily damaged areas of Gaza City and Khan Younis expressed the strongest interest in leaving.

Among potential destination countries, Germany—which currently hosts an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Palestinians—was preferred by 13% of respondents. Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates followed closely behind at 12, 10, and 10 percent respectively.

Israeli and Egyptian officials refute Lebanese media claims

In a separate development, both Israeli and Egyptian authorities have denied a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar claiming Egypt had agreed to accommodate half a million Palestinians from Gaza in northern Sinai.

Two diplomatic sources informed Israel Hayom that Israel has no knowledge of any Egyptian plans. A senior Israeli official added: "We are not aware of such intentions, but if the report proves accurate, we would welcome such a development."

The Egyptian Information Authority issued a categorical denial, stating that "these false claims directly contradict Egypt's firm and principled position rejecting any attempt to displace Palestinians, whether by force or voluntarily."

Egypt maintains that Gaza's reconstruction should proceed without requiring any Palestinians to leave the territory. In recent months, Egypt has conducted an intensive diplomatic and media campaign highlighting its absolute opposition to absorbing Gazans within its borders.

Israeli researchers and companies have secured grants totaling more than 1.1 billion euros from the European Union's Horizon Europe program, the Israeli Innovation Authority reported. The achievement was celebrated Wednesday at a ceremony held at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.

The event, organized by ISERD-the Israeli Horizon Directorate at the Innovation Authority and the European Union Delegation to Israel, honored 605 academic researchers and representatives from over 400 Israeli companies that received grants between 2021 and 2024. European Union Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev attended the ceremony and presented awards to the recipients.

In his speech, Tzantchev highlighted the strategic importance of scientific and technological cooperation between Israel and the European Union.

"Israel is one of the leading countries in the list of recipients of European Research Council grants and the European Union's Accelerator program, an achievement that testifies to the high level of Israeli research and innovation," he said. "The scientific and technological cooperation between the European Union and Israel continues to be one of the strongest and most fruitful areas in our relations."

The Israel Defense Forces attacked the Tadmur base at the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria early on Saturday morbning.

The military targeted "strategic capabilities that remained" following the overthrow of longtime dictator Bashar Assad by Al-Qaeda-linked forces on Dec. 8, the IDF said.

T-4 is Syria's largest airbase and has been linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. There have been several strikes on the base in recent years attributed to Israel.

"The IDF will continue to act in order to remove any threat posed to the citizens of the State of Israel," the army said.

On Tuesday, the IDF attacked artillery positions in the Khan Arnabah area in southern Syria, close to the border with Israel. “The IDF will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it,” said the army.

On Monday night, the IDF also targeted command centers containing weapons and military vehicles in southern Syria. The sites belonged to the “old Syrian regime” led by Assad and were being refurbished for use.

On March 13, the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike on the headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Damascus.

Three days earlier, Israeli fighter jets struck radars and other detection equipment in southern Syria. Additionally, the IAF targeted command positions and sites containing weapons belonging to the former Assad regime.

Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called for more “realistic expectations” regarding the new Syrian government, which he described as “a terrorist group from Idlib.”

Speaking at a press conference with E.U. officials in Brussels, Sa’ar said, “I hear talks of regime transition in Syria. This is ridiculous.”

The government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda terrorist known also as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, “is a jihadist Islamist terror group from Idlib, that took Damascus by force,” he said.

After the fall of Assad in December, Israel seized the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights set up under a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Syria’s new authorities and U.N. officials have called for Israel to withdraw.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Jerusalem would not allow al-Sharaa’s army or other insurgent groups to “enter the area south of Damascus.

“Take note: We will not allow HTS forces or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus,” said Netanyahu, referring to Syria’s new regime as well as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group headed by al-Sharaa.

The Israeli Air Force intercepted three rockets that terrorists in Lebanon fired at the Galilee town of Metula on Saturday morning.

Three additional rockets fell short and did not cross into Israeli territory.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and no changes to IDF Home Front Command directives for civilians.

The IDF responded with artillery fire toward the site of the launches and later struck dozens of Hezbollah terror assets in Southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese terrorist group issued a statement denying its involvement in the rocket fire.

Following the attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a situational assessment.

It was the first rocket fire from Lebanon since a Nov. 27 ceasefire ended more than a year of war with Hezbollah, which opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas the day after the Palestinian terrorist group's Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

“The rocket fire launched this morning toward the Galilee constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and is a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel. The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

The mayor of Metula, David Azoulai, said that of the eight percent of the town’s residents who have returned since the November ceasefire, some left after this morning’s rocket attack.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stated on Saturday that the “Government of Lebanon is the party responsible for everything taking place within its territory. Israel will not allow any harm to its citizens and its sovereignty—and will do everything in its power to ensure the safety of the citizens of Israel and the communities of the North.”

“We will not allow a reality of fire from Lebanon on Galilee communities. We have promised security and that is exactly what will happen,” Defense Minister Israel Katz followed in a statement.

“The fate of Metula is the same as Beirut,” he added. “The Lebanese government bears responsibility for fire from its territory.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces said on X that it carried out a “search and inspection operation, which resulted in the discovery of three primitive rocket launchers in the area north of the Litani River, between the towns of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun southeast of the city of Nabatieh.”

It went on to say that it dismantled the launchers and will continue to take the necessary measures to “control the situation in the south.”

The IDF has intermittently targeted Hezbollah terrorists and assets in Lebanon since the truce formally expired on Feb. 18.

On Thursday, the military struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in Southern Lebanon and underground infrastructure belonging to the Iranian proxy in the Land of the Cedars' Beqaa Valley.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel and prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its forces,” the military said at the time.

On Sunday, the IDF struck a command-and-control center in Southern Lebanon used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force. Earlier in the day, the IDF confirmed that a parked vehicle near the Avivim border moshav had been hit by gunfire likely from Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

Last week, Katz confirmed that Israeli troops will remain at five strategic outposts in Southern Lebanon “indefinitely." The five outposts are located at a hill near Labbouneh, opposite the Israeli border town of Shlomi; on the Jabal Blat peak, opposite Moshav Zar’it; on a hill opposite Moshav Avivim and Kibbutz Malkia; on a hill opposite Moshav Margaliot; and on a hill opposite the town of Metula.

On March 11, Israel and Lebanon initiated negotiations toward settling the border disputes between the countries. Representatives of the IDF, the United States, France and Lebanon agreed during a meeting in Naqoura in southwestern Lebanon to establish three joint working groups aimed at stabilizing the region.

The working groups will focus on three main issues: The five strategic points in Southern Lebanon that remain under Israeli control following the expiration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire; the U.N.-delineated Blue Line border and the 13 territorial disputes between the two countries; and the status of Lebanese detainees held by Israel.

The Israeli Air Force on Friday afternoon intercepted a missile fired by Houthi terrorists in Yemen, before it entered Israeli airspace. It was the fourth such attack this week, the military noted.

The projectile triggered sirens across central Israel, including in Jerusalem and several communities in Judea and Samaria.

On Thursday evening, the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched a ballistic missile at Israel, triggering air-raid sirens in the capital and throughout Judea and Samaria. Hours earlier, the IAF intercepted another Houthi missile that triggered alerts in Tel Aviv, forcing millions of civilians into bomb shelters in the middle of the night.

The Houthis previously attacked the Jewish state on Tuesday evening, marking the first time that Israel’s air defenses were activated against a threat from Yemen since mid-January, when a ceasefire with Hamas went into effect.

Since Hamas initiated the war on Oct. 7, 2023, by killing some 1,200 people in southern Israel, Yemen’s Houthis have fired more than 350 drones and missiles at the Jewish state in support of the Palestinian terrorist organization, in addition to carrying out numerous attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated” as American airstrikes pounded terrorist targets in Yemen.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported late Wednesday night that American forces “continue 24/7 operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.”

On March 12, the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on “any Israeli vessel” in the Red Sea area. On Tuesday, the Iran-backed terrorist organization upped its rhetoric following Israel’s renewed airstrikes on Hamas targets.

“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” stated the Houthis’ supreme political council. “The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps.”

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday night struck the launcher in northern Gaza from which Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at Ashkelon earlier in the day.

The Hamas deliberately placed the launcher near a humanitarian zone in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, according to the military.

Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, additional intelligence and precise munitions, said the IDF.

"This is further evidence of Hamas's systematic exploitation of civilians and civilian structures for terrorist activities throughout the Gaza Strip," added the army.

Air defenses intercepted the two projectiles that targeted the southern Israeli city.

Also on Friday, the IDF announced the targeted killing the previous day of Osama Tabash, chief of Hamas's Military Intelligence in southern Gaza and head of terrorist group's Surveillance and Targeting Unit.

Over the years, Tabash was involved in directing attacks, including a 2005 suicide bombing at the Gush Katif Junction in Gaza that killed Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) coordinator Oded Sharon.

Tabash was responsible for formulating Hamas's combat strategy on the ground and was involved in rebuilding its "military" capabilities during the current war. The Surveillance and Targeting Unit is responsible for collecting visual intelligence to generate targets for the Hamas terrorist organization in Israeli territory and the Gaza Strip. Additionally, he set infiltration objectives for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

"His elimination impairs Hamas's intelligence-gathering capabilities and its attempts to harm IDF troops operating in the area," said the military.

Columbia University will implement reforms, including a mask ban and increased oversight of its Middle Eastern studies department, to comply with the Trump administration’s demand to address Jew-hatred on campus or risk losing $400 million in federal funding.

Katrina Armstrong, Columbia’s interim president, stated that the university informed federal agencies of the university’s plan to tackle antisemitism on campus.  

“Our response to the government agencies outlines the substantive work we’ve been doing over the last academic year to advance our mission, ensure uninterrupted academic activities and make every student, faculty and staff member safe and welcome on our campus,” she stated. 

“We have much to be proud of as a community, and it has been a privilege to share our progress and plans,” she said.

Armstrong noted that the university expected students to “engage in robust debate and discussion about our way forward, and we welcome it as an opportunity to shape the future of Columbia.”

On March 13, the U.S. Department of Education, the General Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to Columbia highlighting the government’s preconditions for discussion about renewed federal funding for the private school.

Columbia announced on Friday that it will appoint a new senior vice provost to review curricular offerings and hiring practices in its Middle East programs, including its Center for Palestine Studies, Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, Middle East Institute, Tel Aviv and Amman hubs, Middle East policy major (in its School of International and Public Affairs) and its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies program.

It also stated that it will hire 36 “special officers” with the authority to remove students from campus or arrest people when necessary to bolster campus security.

Among the other changes are requiring those who attend protests to identify themselves. 

“All individuals who engage in protests or demonstrations, including those who wear face masks or face coverings, must, when asked, present their university identification to the satisfaction of a university delegate or public safety officer,” Columbia stated.  “Individuals who fail to comply with these policies will be subject to discipline, being escorted off campus and detention for trespass where appropriate.”

It also committed to have disciplinary cases heard by a panel that falls under the provost, who reports to the university president, and said that it will “review our admissions procedures to ensure they reflect best practices.”

“For example, we have identified a recent downturn in both Jewish and African American enrollment, and we will closely examine those issues,” Columbia said.

The university also said that it will “advance Columbia’s Tel Aviv center,” whose programming it said will launch in the second quarter of 2025.

“The way Columbia and Columbians have been portrayed is hard to reckon with. We have challenges, yes, but they do not define us,” Armstrong stated. “We are a community of scholars, who have deep respect for each other and our mission. We teach the brightest, most creative students in the world, and we care deeply for each and every one of them.”

“I have every faith in our ability to overcome the greatest of challenges. We stand resilient and brilliant,” she said.

“Promises made, promises kept,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, long accused of helping Iran to cover up its bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center, has been sanctioned by the U.S. State Department for corruption. 

Kirchner, who served as president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015 and later as vice president from 2019 to 2023, abused her position “by orchestrating and financially benefiting from multiple bribery schemes involving public works contracts, resulting in millions of dollars stolen from the Argentine government,” according to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 21. 

The sanctions, which forbid Kirchner and her family members from entering the United States, do not involve the allegations concerning the 1994 AMIA (Argentine Israeli Mutual Association) Jewish community center terror bombing, which killed 85 people and injured over 300 more. 

Kirchner is a political opponent of current Argentine President Javier Milei, a staunch ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last year, an Argentine court ruled based on confidential intelligence reports that Iran was responsible for planning the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.

In 2013, then-president Kirchner signed a memorandum with Iran under which local prosecutors could question the suspects outside Argentina. Critics claimed the memorandum ultimately served to absolve Iranian suspects of responsibility in exchange for strengthened economic ties between the two countries. 

Kirchner was later indicted for an attempted cover-up in service of Iran. The case was ruled null and void by a federal court, which found no culpability on Kirchner’s part. An appeals court overturned the ruling and ordered Kirchner to stand trial.

Argentina’s Supreme Court denied an appeal by Kirchner and ruled in December that she is to stand trial, though a date has not yet been set.

The AMIA bombing was the deadliest terror attack in the Western Hemisphere until Sept. 11, 2001. It was part of a series of terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish interests in South America.