Netanyahu appears in Israeli court after pardon request

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared in court for the first time since asking the country’s president for a pardon in his long-running corruption trial. Read more

Testimony project helps women in the IDF navigate healing

As attention shifts from the battlefield to the long road of recovery, Israelis are beginning to speak more openly about the trauma of the war triggered by the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023. For women, that process often unfolds differently. According to the American Psychological Association, women are twice as likely as men to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are also more likely to seek help.

During Operation Iron Swords, officially named the War of Redemption by the Israeli Cabinet, many women chose silence. With hostages held in Gaza and families mourning loved ones who fell in battle, they felt that their personal trauma was insignificant by comparison.

“Women experience war very differently from men,” said Ronit Shoval, CEO of the Eden Association, a nonprofit that supports girls and women across Israel. “War is not only about combat. We wanted to look at it from many perspectives.”

Shoval pointed to the moment Israeli families were forced into bomb shelters on Oct. 7 as one of the clearest illustrations of gendered responses to crisis. “Mothers immediately took responsibility for calming children and separating them from the terror outside,” she said. “Many men searched for weapons and took on the role of defenders.”

Women also process trauma differently, she said. While men often look for practical action, women tend to seek emotional expression. Within days of the Hamas massacre, Shoval and her colleagues began asking what could be done.

“One week after Oct. 7, we sat together and asked what our contribution could be,” she recalled. “A woman from the Nova festival wanted to tell her story again and again. I realized that documenting stories was essential to healing. Trauma needs a beginning, middle and end. But history also erases women’s voices. Wars record generals, not individuals. This project became both therapy and testimony.”

Out of that realization came “October 7th-Her Story: Voices from the Frontline,” a testimony initiative that documents the experiences of female reservists and combat soldiers who fought on the battlefield to defend Israel. To date, some 80 women have shared their stories.

Video testimonies

Adi Weiss, the manager of the project, said it initially began as a podcast before shifting to video testimonies.

“We saw how important it was for these women to speak, to process their trauma on their own terms,” she said. “Trauma victims feel the need to repeat their stories. But over time, details fade or become blocked. We wanted to preserve their voices.”

Weiss added that many women who survived attacks in shelters, at Nova and on kibbutzim spoke openly about their fear of sexual assault.

“They said they feared rape more than death,” she said. “And today we know this fear affected men as well.”

When word of the project spread, women began approaching the Eden Association, wanting to participate. For many, it was the first time they told their story to anyone, including family.

“Some canceled multiple times,” Weiss said. “They wanted to speak but were afraid. Our model focuses on control. Trauma steals control. We ask questions carefully and make sure the women remain in charge of their narrative.”

Telling their stories

The stories they shared are harrowing and powerful. Meital Feldman, an imaging specialist who served as a reservist at Camp Shura identifying casualties, described the emotional toll of her duties.

“I was dealing with death constantly,” she said. “I ran my hands over the body bags, whispering, ‘You are a hero of Israel.’ When I came home, I would scrub myself in the shower to bring back the feeling of life, because death clings to you.”

Maj. May Talker, the commander of a body recovery team at the Nova Festival site, recalled the moment that fractured her emotional defenses. “Next to one of the bodies was a phone. It rang with ‘mom’ on the screen. That was the first moment my focus broke. A mother was searching for her daughter, and I knew the truth.”

She said the war proved the quiet strength of women. “Women did powerful things, not only in combat but throughout everything that happened,” she said. “We should talk about it more.”

For female soldiers, the challenges are layered. They face combat like their male counterparts while also navigating issues of acceptance, identity and physical boundaries in overwhelmingly male units.

“They fight three battles,” Weiss said. “On the battlefield, in their personal lives and in defining who they are.”

Capt. Dr. Bar, a medical officer in the Armored Corps, described the additional pressure. “Because I am a woman, I have to prove myself more,” she said. “So I don’t complain, even when it is hard.”

Some women found expression through art rather than words. The project has already produced three exhibitions featuring artwork and photography. Thirteen women were photographed in environments where they felt most at ease, reclaiming control over how their stories are seen.

For Shoval, the project’s meaning is clear. “This is not only documentation,” she said. “This is survival.”

Netanyahu’s pardon request sparks fierce political reactions

Read more

Queensland Labor backs legal warnings for IDF volunteers

Grassroots members at the Queensland Labor conference this weekend have passed a motion calling on the Albanese Government to issue explicit legal notices to Australian citizens serving in the Israel Defence Forces.

Read more

Between two blades: Global squeeze on world Jewry

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that the global Jewish Diaspora is facing an unsettling squeeze, one that is closing in from both ideological extremes. Read more

Father of last slain Israeli hostage fears his son won’t return

The father of Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, one of two deceased hostages still held in Gaza, said on Thursday that Hamas claims not to know where his son’s body is located and expressed fear Israel may never recover him. Read more

Troubling Trends

“Put not your trust in princes.” Read more

Lapid seeks Knesset approval of Trump plan, putting Netanyahu coalition on spot

Opposition leader Yair Lapid announced on Tuesday that he will bring a motion to the Knesset next week calling for Israel to adopt U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, a move designed to support Washington while putting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition on the spot. Read more

Netanyahu on elimination of  acting Hezbollah Chief of Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the Israeli public on television Sunday night after the Israeli military eliminated

the acting Hezbollah Chief of Staff, in an airstrike in the Beirut area earlier in the day, declaring that Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rearm. Read more

Commemoration for forgotten Jews from Muslim countries

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) will host Victoria’s first community-wide commemoration of the Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran on Sunday, 30 November. Read more

Israel boosts air defences with US$8.7 billion U.S.-backed Iron Dome expansion

Israel signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with defence contractor Rafael Advanced Defence Systems to expand serial production of the Iron Dome missile defence system, the Defence Ministry announced on Thursday.
Read more

Protecting the body from age-related decline and disease

Researchers at Bar-Ilan University have discovered how the longevity-associated protein Sirt6 orchestrates a delicate molecular balancing act that protects the body from age-related decline and disease. Read more

60-year-old identified as victim of terror attack

A 60-year-old man killed in a Palestinian car-ramming and stabbing attack on Tuesday was identified as Aharon Cohen, a resident of Kiryat Arba. Read more

After UN vote, Netanyahu says Trump plan can ‘end Hamas rule’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his first public comments Tuesday on the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of a U.S.-sponsored resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, praising the initiative as a historic step toward regional stability. Read more

Released documents show NZ government advised full recognition of Palestine — advice declined

Newly released government papers show that New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) urged the Government to fully recognise a Palestinian state earlier this year. Read more

Berlin-Israel arms sales to continue if ceasefire holds

Germany suspended arms exports to Israel in August amid mounting pressure of the war, but will recommence if the ceasefire holds, it says. Read more

UN Security Council adopts US resolution on Gaza plan

The UN Security Council has approved a US plan for Gaza authorising an international security force to demilitarise the zone, but Hamas insists it won’t disarm. Read more

Bibi-sitting

What a wonderful difference to be in Israel after the release of the living hostages and with the ongoing repatriation of those deceased, nearing completion. Read more

Trump & Putin: locate state of Palestine east of Jordan River

President Trump’s decision to involve the United Nations Security Council in implementing Trump’s 20 point peace plan has struck a brick wall with Russia filing its own draft resolution to that proposed by Trump. Read more

No Palestinian state, Netanyahu says, as Gaza demilitarisation takes centre stage

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sharply rejected renewed international discussion of Palestinian statehood. Read more

Abbas no ‘prince of peace,’ Netanyahu tells Erin Molan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday for embracing Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas as a “prince of peace” following their meeting in Paris. Read more

Eighty-seven years later

This week, eighty-seven years ago, the night of shattered glass (Kristallnacht) sent an unmistakable message.

Read more

Israel identifies returned body as Meny Godard

Israeli medical examiners confirmed that the latest body returned by Hamas was Menahem “Meny” Godard, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Thursday morning. Read more

Israeli president rebuffs Trump’s call to pardon Netanyahu, citing legal procedures

Israeli President Isaac Herzog confirmed Wednesday that he received a signed letter from U.S. President Donald Trump urging him to grant clemency to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who remains on trial in a series of corruption cases. Read more

New gene therapy approach could reverse MND, say scientists

A team of international scientists has made a groundbreaking discovery that could pave the way for an effective treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease long considered incurable, Tel Aviv University announced. Read more

‘I risked my career’ to speak out for Israel, says Canadian model

When Canadian-Slovakian model Miriam Mattova began posting in support of Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, she lost many Instagram followers and one of her PR agencies dropped her, warning she was being “too political.” Read more

Israelis arrested for attacking Palestinians after security forces intervene

Earlier today, IDF forces rushed to the area of the villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf – located west of Shechem (Nablus) – following a report of dozens of masked Israeli civilians attacking Palestinians and setting property on fire. Read more

Never Again? How the West betrayed the Jews and itself

Book review by Dr Anne Sarzin Read more

Gal Gadot receives 2026 ‘Jewish Nobel’

Israeli actress Gal Gadot, best known for her portrayal of Wonder Woman, was named the winner of the 2026 Genesis Prize on Tuesday, often referred to as the “Jewish Nobel.” Read more

Cleese says Israeli performances postponed, not cancelled

The British comedian John Cleese, 86, said that three upcoming shows in Israel are postponed but not cancelled, as had been reported. Read more

Next Page »