After the US midterms, Barry Segal explains why Israeli and Jewish leaders warn that America's relationship with Israel is about to change dramatically.

This week on VFI News, Barry Segal reports from Israel on the US midterm elections and what they mean for Israel, including JD Vance's comments, Michael Oren's warning and a new Muslim senator in Michigan; a protest against Jewish-owned businesses in Philadelphia, riots in Albania and foiled attacks in Canada; Gadi Eisenkot's first chance to form Israel's next government; the standoff with Iran and the IRGC's missile threats; South Africa's election; and Ambassador Mike Huckabee at the International Mayors Conference. Plus a double dose of good news to finish.

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The IDF and the Shin Bet carried out a precision strike shortly after midnight on Thursday, November 12, on the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The target was Muhammad Abu Ismail, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, who was hiding at the medical center together with other terrorists. The military announced the operation later that morning.

The IDF and the Shin Bet said the operatives were struck in order to “remove a threat,” as they were moving ahead with plans to attack Israeli civilians and soldiers. Hamas had established itself on the hospital grounds and converted the compound into a command base for military and terror operations against IDF troops and the State of Israel. The brigade commander and his men used the hospital as a headquarters, a weapons depot, and a center for interrogations and torture. Hospitals are protected under international law, but they can lose that protection when they are put to military use.

Abu Ismail’s fate was not yet known, and the military and the Shin Bet were reviewing the results of the overnight strike. The army took steps to limit harm to civilians. Hamas-run rescue and medical officials in the Strip claimed that six people were killed, a surgeon among them, and that at least 20 were wounded. (TOI/VFI News)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot concluded a two-hour security briefing on the evening of Thursday, November 12, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. The prime minister’s military secretary, Maj. Gen. Guy Markizano, also took part. In a joint statement, the two men said Eisenkot was briefed on the security and diplomatic challenges now facing the State of Israel, and that they agreed to go on exchanging updates as needed.

The meeting followed Eisenkot’s request for a security briefing after President Isaac Herzog tasked him with trying to form Israel’s next government. The post of opposition leader has not been filled since the new Knesset was sworn in. Eisenkot had also asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to step in, arguing that he should receive regular security briefings during the political transition.

In that appeal, Eisenkot cautioned that deploying Israel’s security forces when there is no urgent threat demanding immediate action could do grave damage to Israeli democracy and to public trust in the institutions of government. Netanyahu rejected the criticism as irresponsible. “Instead of sowing fear and division, one must act responsibly,” he said. Israel’s security cabinet is expected to convene on Sunday, November 15, more than six weeks after its last meeting. (YNN/VFI News)

Tensions surrounding Iran climbed on Wednesday, November 11, as Tehran announced new incidents involving oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and its senior officials hardened their stance on the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two oil tankers struck mines while sailing along what it called an unsafe route through the strait. Both vessels caught fire, and their crews abandoned ship, the Iranian statement said.

Iranian authorities released footage of a damaged tanker at sea, with flames and heavy smoke rising from the water. The Iranian military said it was monitoring the area east of the strait and insisted that any passage through the waterway must be coordinated with its forces and comply with Iranian maritime rules. Iran’s military chief, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, warned the United States and Israel that Iran’s earlier strikes were merely an opening and that any further misstep would be answered with more destructive attacks.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, ruled out transferring the enriched material abroad under any future agreement. “Not a single particle of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran,” he told a Lebanese television channel, adding that Tehran means to keep it for its own use, including in the nuclear-powered ships and submarines it plans to build. Rezaei visited Moscow in early November, met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, and said he made Iran’s position clear to the Russians. (YNN/VFI News)

Israel is continuing to prepare for a possible resumption of fighting with Iran, despite the mixed signals coming from US President Donald Trump. The defense establishment is building up its forces, including through the purchase of additional aircraft, and is working to keep its readiness high after studying the lessons of Operation Roaring Lion. Some 450 kilograms of highly enriched uranium remain in Iran, leaving the central nuclear threat unresolved.

Defense officials say Israel cannot assume that the next conflict will resemble the previous ones. Iran has studied Israeli and American tactics, identified operational patterns and changed its methods while the fighting was still under way. Israel assesses that Tehran is making a serious effort to learn its adversary, and officials stress that its ability to complicate Israeli operations in a future conflict should not be underestimated.

If another round does come, Israel’s aim would be a short and intense campaign that ends as quickly as possible, and not a drawn-out war that could pull the region into a wider conflict. Officials acknowledge that once a war begins, no one can predict how it will unfold or how it will end. The defense establishment is therefore examining how Iran might operate next time. In earlier rounds, Iran made little use of its air force, and Israeli strikes hit many of its aircraft while they were still parked on the ground. (YNN/VFI News)

Discover the profound insights and timeless teachings of Parashat Toledot, as we explore the scriptures of Genesis 25-28. Join us on a journey to uncover the rich stories and meaningful lessons hidden within this portion of the Torah. Gain a deeper understanding of the lives of Isaac, Rebecca, and their twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Dive into the family dynamics, blessings, and divine promises that make Parashat Toledot a significant and thought-provoking part of the Bible. Don’t miss this opportunity to enrich your knowledge and spiritual connection.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, November 12, that he was instructing Vice President JD Vance to give his full attention to fighting fraud at home instead of to negotiations on ending the war with Tehran. “We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, declaring that the time for an agreement had long since passed. He added that the United States has hundreds of billions of dollars of Iran’s money, and its strait as well.

In the same post, Trump argued that the federal budget could be balanced quickly by rooting out what he described as criminal activity on a massive scale, and he blamed the Democratic leadership for corruption. One day earlier, on Wednesday, November 11, American media had revealed that Vance was weighing a face-to-face meeting with a senior Iranian security official. Trump was said to have told aides and counterparts that he was open to Vance reopening talks with Tehran, and to have given him the authority to negotiate.

A direct meeting of that kind would have been an unusual step. Oil prices rose after Trump’s post, while Wall Street futures extended their losses. The announcement also followed sweeping Republican losses in the November midterm elections, which handed control of Congress to the Democrats. Public anger over the war with Iran, which has driven up fuel prices across the United States, is seen as a major reason voters turned away from the party. (TOI/VFI News)

Israel’s laser defense systems are expected to be woven more deeply into the country’s war planning by the end of 2026, sources said. Israel is understood to have made strong progress in building additional Iron Beam platforms since December 2025, when the system was first announced as deployed. That could give the laser a more active air-defense role in any future conflict with Iran or Hezbollah, working alongside the Iron Dome.

Many Israelis were puzzled that Iron Beam did not play a larger part in defending the country’s skies during the war with Iran in early 2026. On March 12, the IDF acknowledged that it was not using the system regularly in that war, even though versions of Iron Beam had downed around 40 Hezbollah drones in the fall of 2024. On May 1, the air force gave the reason: the military needs 14 batteries before the laser can make a significant difference.

Israel is now far better prepared for the threat of Hezbollah’s FPV drones than it was in early 2026, though a learning curve remains. When the system was deployed in 2025, Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram hailed “the completion of our high-power laser system development” as a historic milestone for Israel’s defense establishment and its defense industries. He described Iron Beam as the first high-power laser interception system in the world to reach full operational maturity. (JPost/VFI News)

The US Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging three Iran-backed operatives over their roles in nearly 20 attacks on Jewish communities in Europe. The eight-count superseding indictment names Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a dual Iranian-Iraqi national; Mohsen Mohajeri, an Iranian national; and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani, an Iraqi national. The three face terrorism-related charges for supporting Kataib Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, both of which the United States designates as foreign terrorist organizations.

The attacks and attempted attacks took place in Europe and the United States, and include a September 2026 plot against the Royal Air Force base at Fairford in the United Kingdom, where American forces were stationed. Al-Saadi, a Kataib Hezbollah commander, allegedly helped orchestrate attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites in Europe under the name Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI). Of the 18 attacks HAYI claimed in Europe in the spring of 2026, seven were in the UK, more than in any other European country. They included arson, explosives and the near-fatal stabbing of two Jewish men in London, one of them a dual US-British citizen.

Al-Hassani and Mohajeri were both in Iran during the Fairford plot and allegedly relied on contacts in the UK. Al-Saadi, who is jailed in the Southern District of New York awaiting trial on pending terrorism charges, allegedly tried to coordinate with them by passing coded messages through third parties. The indictment alleges that all three were personally involved in planning many of the European attacks, and that al-Saadi and Mohajeri helped create and publish online propaganda videos of them. (JPost/VFI News)

A network of ancient tunnels that Jewish rebels used to hide from the Roman army has opened to the public for the first time at Horbat Burgin, in the Judean foothills. The complex also includes a Byzantine-era church with colorful mosaics. About 200 meters of tunnels can now be visited underground, said Amir Ganor, the Israel Antiquities Authority researcher who led the excavations.

In the Second Temple period, the site held a large village, which some researchers believe may be Caphar Bish, a settlement mentioned by the first-century historian Flavius Josephus. In the Early Roman period, its residents carved extensive networks of rooms and tunnels into the bedrock as they readied themselves for conflict with Rome. Ganor explained that the stone of the Shephelah lowlands is so soft that every house had its own underground rooms and shelters. During the Bar Kochba revolt, the residents linked them all together with tunnels so they could hide and escape from the Roman army.

Horbat Burgin lies within Adullam–France Park, south of Beit Shemesh, and is one of the largest archaeological sites in the Judean foothills, with remains ranging from the second century BCE to the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century. Ganor, Alon Klein and Peter Gendelman began excavating there in 1995 because looters were constantly digging through the ruins and selling what they found on the black market. “Once we started to dig here, the looting stopped,” Ganor said, adding that the same approach is needed at every archaeological site that suffers from looting. KKL-JNF, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council excavated, conserved and developed the site as a public attraction. (TOI/VFI News)

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