Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar on Thursday called on the World Baseball Softball Confederation to act after Jerusalem's team was banned from the annual PONY U-19 Palomino tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Stuttgart Reds club reportedly vetoed the participation of Israeli athletes due to the "political situation" and fears that "troublemakers" would attack visiting Israelis.

"The decision seriously violates the fundamental values ​​of sports, which stand first and foremost on principles of equality, unity and a complete separation between sports and politics," Zohar wrote to the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

"I urge you to reconsider your decision, in accordance with the values ​​of fairness and sportsmanship so that the Israeli team can participate in the tournament as any other team is entitled to do," he continued.

"If the reason for your decision is security considerations, then it is the responsibility of local and international authorities to ensure the safety of all participants—and not to exclude an entire team because of its origin," Zohar wrote.

Earlier this week, the Israel Association of Baseball blasted the move by the Stuttgart club, saying that Israeli athletes were being banned from competing "based on hypothetical scenarios and perceived risks.

"The IAB categorically rejects the notion that Israeli teams cannot participate safely in international events. This exclusion is a troubling precedent that could have far-reaching implications for the inclusion of teams from Israel and other nations in future sporting events," it noted.

In November, a pogrom led by at least 100 Arab Dutchmen wounded 25 visiting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam as they were returning from a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Ajax team.

Police were deployed in large numbers near the stadium but failed to protect the Israelis in the city center, where they walked into an ambush that had been planned days in advance by numerous Jew-hating rioters.

While the United Arab Emirates regards U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza as "difficult," Abu Dhabi has yet to see "an alternative to what's being proposed," the Emirati envoy to the United States said Wednesday.

Speaking with Al Arabiya's Hadley Gamble at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba said Abu Dhabi was "going to try" to find common ground with Trump.

"We are agile, we make our voices heard and we are very outspoken and unapologetic about this, so just like any relationship, sometimes our friends listen to us, sometimes they don't, sometimes we agree on certain positions, sometimes we disagree. We've always strived to find common ground," said al-Otaiba.

"But at the end of the day, we're all in a solution-seeking business; we just don't know where it's going to land yet," he continued.

Asked whether the UAE was working on an alternative to Trump's plans to relocate the Gazan population, al-Otaiba said, "Not yet."

"I don't see an alternative to what's being proposed. I really don't," the Arab diplomat admitted, before adding: "So if someone has one, we're happy to discuss it, we're happy to explore it, but it hasn't surfaced yet."

Trump has suggested that the United States will "take over" the war-torn Gaza Strip, speaking during a press conference at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 4.

Initially, Trump said Palestinians could later opt to return to Gaza, but he reversed himself on Feb. 10, telling Fox News host Bret Baier that Palestinians who leave the Strip would not return under his plan "because they're gonna have much better housing" elsewhere.

Trump has suggested that Gazans would be moved to one large site or various locations. In an unverified report, Israel's Channel 12 News claimed that areas under consideration are Morocco, Somaliland and Puntland, a region in northeast Somalia that declared itself a country in 1998.

Netanyahu has voiced his support for Trump's proposal, and a survey found that a majority of Israeli Jews support it as well.

Previously, Netanyahu had said that he was working to establish an administration in the Strip by Palestinians "who are not committed to our destruction, possibly with the aid of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and other countries that I think want to see stability and peace."

The Oct. 7, 2023, attacks marked the end of the two-state solution, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana told visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Jerusalem on Thursday.

"Today, I welcomed @EP_President Roberta Metsola back to the Knesset to discuss the hostages, Iran & UNRWA's role in fueling terror," Ohana tweeted. "I told her Hamas also killed the so-called 'two-state solution' on October 7th—and thanked her for her solidarity ever since."

Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party and ruling coalition, blamed Gaza's education system for inciting violence and suggested that only the approach proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump offers a fresh perspective.

The American president's plan includes the resettlement of Gazans to other countries while the war-torn coastal enclave is rebuilt, deradicalized and turned into a developed hub at peace with Israel.

Metsola also met at the Knesset on Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

She described the meetings as "open discussions in Jerusalem," adding that the immediate priority for the European Parliament "is to ensure that all the hostages are released, that the ceasefire holds and humanitarian aid increases."

Hamas currently holds 76 hostages in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attacks in which over 250 were taken hostage and some 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel. Three captives are scheduled to be released on Saturday as part of the first stage of a ceasefire that took effect on Jan. 19, with the second stage being negotiated.

Israel has threatened to resume combat against the terrorist group if the hostages are not released by noon on Saturday. Trump also warned Hamas after the organization said earlier in the week that Saturday's release would be postponed, although reports indicated on Thursday that the Islamist group will move forward with freeing three men.

Australian lawmaker Andrew Wallace said on Wednesday that there has never been a more important time to support Israel and the Australian Jewish community.

Addressing the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus, which he chairs, at Parliament House in Canberra, Wallace said: “Australia is facing an antisemitism crisis, and it is incumbent upon all Australians—and especially those elected to lead the country—that we stand up, speak up and show up for Israel and the Jewish people.”

The remarks come after video footage emerged on Wednesday of two Australians nurses threatening to murder any Israelis under their care, and claiming to have already done so. Australia has seen a surge in antisemitic incidents over the last year, including the torching of two synagogues and vandalism of homes, vehicles and a childcare center.

"The world is watching—allies and competitors alike," the lawmaker continued. "We must have each other’s backs in the fight against antisemitism.”

Jewish community leaders in Australia have attributed the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents amid Israel's 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza to inaction or hostility on the part of the Labor-led government.

"The vast majority of Australians support Israel and are dismayed by the actions of the present Labor government in both their voting pattern in the United Nations, their public statements and their lack of action to quell the resurgence of antisemitism by criminal minorities in the country, " Danny Lamm, former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told JNS on Thursday.

Wallace, who is part of a network of more than four dozen faith-based Israel caucuses in parliaments around the globe, said that it is “for such a time as this” that such alliances are needed.

“Australia and Israel are two pioneering and freedom-loving nations sharing a rich Judeo-Christian and democratic tradition,” said the MP. “There has never been a more important time for political leaders to support Israel and the Jewish community in Australia,” he added.

After months of attacks directed at the Jewish community, Australia‘s parliament last week enacted stringent laws to address hate crimes, introducing mandatory minimum sentences for terrorism offenses and the display of hate symbols.

Justice Yitzhak Amit was set to be sworn in as president of Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday, in a ceremony expected to be boycotted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Amit, who is widely considered a left-wing judge, is expected to be sworn in at 5:30 p.m. in the presence of state President Isaac Herzog.

Netanyahu, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana have all announced they will not attend the swearing-in ceremony.

The decision, which received support from coalition lawmakers who sit on the Judicial Selection Committee, was taken following what Levin last month labeled an "illegitimate" appointment process, as well as allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest leveled against Amit.

On Jan. 13, it emerged that Amit failed to disclose that he was involved in legal proceedings involving Tel Aviv real estate under a different name, which right-wing lawmakers said amounted to fraud.

Maariv cited senior sources inside Netanyahu's Likud Party as saying on Thursday that the prime minister considers Amit's selection "null and void" and was considering not signing his appointment letter.

Article 12 of Basic Law: The President of the State says that the decree appointing the court president requires the signature of Netanyahu or "another minister assigned by the government," in addition to Herzog's.

It took more than a year for Amit to replace Esther Hayut, the previous Supreme Court chief, who retired in October 2023 at the mandatory retirement age for judges of 70. Justice Uzi Fogelman then served as the acting court president, until he too retired, in October 2024, at age 70. Since Jan. 26, Amit, 66, has served as acting court president.

Levin had resisted convening the Judicial Selection Committee due to his opposition to the seniority system, the custom whereby the most veteran justice, in this case Amit, is selected as president.

According to a survey the Jewish People Policy Institute published on Thursday, half of the Israeli public regards Amit as "problematic." At the same time, 20% think his appointment should have been canceled, even if the move would have led to a constitutional crisis in the Jewish state.

Two Arab Israelis have been arrested on suspicion of planning a series of terrorist attacks against security forces and civilians, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed in a statement on Thursday.

The suspects, aged 18 and 21, from the towns of Qalansawe and Zemer in central Israel, expressed support for the Hamas terror group following its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, according to the statement.

The two had planned several attacks, including "a shooting at a military facility and a combined ramming and shooting attack targeting IDF soldiers or civilians," it continued.

According to the investigation, one of the suspects purchased materials to make fire bombs and "conducted tests" to produce explosive charges with the intent to attack a bus transporting Israeli troops.

Following the arrests, a court extended the suspects' detention. Charges were set to be filed against them on Thursday.

In November, two minors from Israel's "triangle region" were indicted on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist acts against security forces.

The triangle region contains 11 Arab Israeli communities adjacent to the Green Line and the Samaria security barrier, including Qalansawe and Zemer, and is home to approximately 250,000 people.

According to the indictment, one of the minors was recruited to a terror cell in August 2023. He allegedly received training in explosives and subsequently acquired chemical materials to conduct experiments.

He then recruited three additional members, including the second minor in the indictment. The pair allegedly worked in collaboration with others, attempted to make bombs and demonstrated an intent to cause harm.

Since the start of the Iron Swords war 16 months ago, there has been growing radicalization among some segments of the country's Arab population. 

A poll conducted in December 2023 by the Israel Democracy Institute's Center for Democratic Values and Institutions discovered that one-third of Israel's Arabs disagree with the statement that the Oct. 7 attack "does not reflect Arab society, the Palestinian people and the Islamic nation."

According to a June poll, some 14.7% of Arab Israelis believe Hamas should govern Gaza after the war. That number represents some 308,700 Israeli citizens out of an Arab Israeli population of around 2.1 million.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to take over Gaza, resettle its 2 million residents and redevelop the territory have been excoriated in the United States and elsewhere as ruinously expensive and likely to see American troops mired in another conflict. Those criticisms have things entirely backward.

Under Trump’s plan, no troops would be needed. Israel’s military will be taking responsibility for Gaza’s long-term security.

Rather than being ruinously expensive, Gaza’s redevelopment stands to be massively profitable. Those who mock Trump’s assertion that Gaza has the potential to become a “Riviera of the Middle East” ignore the deep pockets and business acumen of those in Trump’s circle.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a Middle East real estate developer, lauded the development potential of Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline in a February 2024 interview with Harvard Middle East Initiative Faculty chairman Tarek Masoud. Kushner’s business associates include the Saudis, Emiratis and Qataris, who have invested a combined $3.5 billion in his Affinity Partners’ investment fund.  According to George Washington University economics professor Joseph Pelzman, author of a detailed plan for Gaza’s redevelopment, Kushner’s investors “are salivating to get in.”

Seconding Kushner’s assessment of Gaza’s development potential is Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, another real-estate developer, and Trump, himself, who considers Gaza prime real estate. The Trump Organization and its partner, Saudi-based Dar Al Arkan, have been developing hotels, luxury apartments and golf courses in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

The value of hotel developments along the Gaza Strip’s 25-mile coastline could amount to tens of billions of dollars, dwarfing the $60 million a year for the estimated 20 years the United Nations says would be required to clear the 50 million tons of rubble left behind by the war.

Once the United States takes the “long-term ownership position” that Trump proposes and offers concessions to bidders in the tourism industry, the Gazan properties would start spinning off massive amounts of lucre. As icing on the cake, the Gaza Riviera would benefit from the 5 million tourists per year who already come to Israel, one of the world’s largest vacation destinations, many of whom may well include Gaza in their itinerary.

Gaza’s inland development would also be profitable, albeit much less so. Development of the areas adjacent to the coast would be driven by the need for housing for the tourist industry’s workforce and facilities for its suppliers. With the rest of Gaza resembling a demolition zone bereft of infrastructure and replete with unexploded ordinance, and with the United Nations estimating that rebuilding homes there will take decades, few would rush to develop communities further inland.

An exception would be Jewish communities.

With the Trump administration viewing Gaza as an “international place where everyone can live,” Israel would be able to right a historic wrong when it forcibly uprooted Jewish communities in Gaza in 2005 in the vain hope that peace would come of unilaterally giving Gaza to the Palestinians. Those uprooted communities could now be re-established, along with needed roads and other infrastructure. No U.S. financial or military commitment would be required; the private sector or the Israeli government would provide the wherewithal. Over time, other communities, including Arab settlements that found financing and were committed to peaceful coexistence with Jews, would also emerge.

Gaza’s petroleum-rich offshore represents another multibillion-dollar bounty for U.S. taxpayers. By awarding mining concessions to America-friendly corporations, the United States would augment America’s energy resources and its treasury.

While the U.S. military wouldn’t be needed to secure Gaza, it would benefit by establishing bases there to complement its facilities in some 20 other Middle East locations, many of which are subject to attack from hostile neighbors. Gaza bases adjacent to Israel, which would share its extensive intelligence, would be subject to far fewer attacks.

Trump expects America to sell Gaza eventually. When that occurs, this Mediterranean Riviera would represent an unparalleled financial windfall for the U.S. Treasury. Whether a country or an Israeli or Arab consortium proves to be the highest bidder, the new owners would want to protect their investment by keeping it a safe venue for tourism. 

Critics of Trump’s plan, such as Houchang E. Chehabi, professor emeritus at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, condemn the “forced resettlement of 2 million Gazans [as] mind-bogglingly appalling.” They have it backward: It is the Arab countries and others who are forcing Gazans to stay in Gaza, by barring their entry elsewhere. By persuading other countries to accept Gazan immigrants, Trump would be setting Gazans free to leave the uninhabitable calamity that Hamas has brought down on them.

Trump’s plan provides hope for Gazans who seek a brighter future, for Israelis who would finally share a border with a friend and ally, and for Americans who will take pride in turning one of the world’s most vicious terrorist enclaves into a profitable and peaceful oasis.

The State Attorney’s Tel Aviv District Office filed a declaration of intent on Thursday to prosecute a 20-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem for allegedly transporting a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed a man in Tel Aviv on Jan. 18.

According to police, the man picked up the assailant, 19-year-old Salah Yahya from Tulkarem in Samaria, who was illegally residing in Israel, in Atarot near Jerusalem and drove him to central Tel Aviv.

Authorities say the driver knew Yahya was in Israel illegally and posed a threat to Israeli citizens. To avoid suspicion, the driver reportedly displayed a yellow ribbon on his vehicle symbolizing solidarity with Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The terrorist stabbed a man at the intersection of Levontin and Mikveh Yisrael streets in Tel Aviv before being shot dead at the scene.

The 27-year-old victim was taken to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) with a wound to the head area. His condition was variously described as moderate and serious

An indictment against the driver, including terrorism-related charges, is expected soon, along with a request to remand him in custody throughout the legal proceedings.

While sufficient quantities of food entered the Gaza Strip via Israel between January and July 2024, distribution failures resulted in it not always reaching those in need, according to an Israeli study published on Wednesday.

The study, titled, “Food supplied to Gaza during seven months of the Hamas-Israel war” and published in the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, found that 478,229 metric tons of food were supplied to Gaza over the seven-month period.

The per capita daily nutritional supply averaged 3,004 kcal (well above the 2,100 kcal/day international standard set by the Sphere Project, a group of aid workers and entities seeking to improve humanitarian aid quality).

The daily supply averaged 98 g of protein (13% of total energy), 61 g of fat (18% of total energy) and 23 mg of iron (below the recommended minimum).

With the exception of February, where a decrease in supply was noted, food deliveries increased steadily over the months studied.

"Even after adjusting for projected food losses, the energy, protein, and fat content of the food met or exceeded the Sphere humanitarian standards for food security and nutrition," according to the report.

However, distribution was found to have been hindered by logistical obstacles, interference by Hamas, which has diverted or sought to control aid shipments, as well as breakdowns in coordination among humanitarian agencies.

The research team urges health professionals, humanitarian agencies, and international partners to improve coordination, emphasizing that collaborative efforts are critical to improving the food supply for Gaza’s civilian population.