Hourly Roundup 00:00 Israel · 16 May 2026
Stories in this hour
- Israel can survive criticism. But can we survive silencing our moral responsibility in the face of moral inconsistency?A dangerous instinct is on the rise in the Jewish world right now: the belief that we must choose between defending Israel and defending moral clarity. This belief claims that if one acknowledges the horrors…
- Your Investments: Financial freedom and Jerusalem unificationSeeing tens of thousands of our youth celebrating something of substance, in the era of social media and smartphones, is very moving.
- IDF strikes Hamas military leader, former hostage Liri Albag's captor, say senior defense sourcesInitial indications point towards a successful assasination, according to military reports.
- Pacific Palisades Jews, displaced by fire, reopen their synagogue as part of returning homeSixteen months after the fires that devastated the Pacific Palisades and uprooted hundreds of Jewish families, congregants of Kehillat Israel are returning to their synagogue. On Friday, hundreds of congregants are carrying their Torah scrolls…
- US considering asking Israel to redirect PA tax funds to Gaza plan - sourcesThe US is considering asking Israel to redirect some withheld Palestinian Authority tax funds toward President Donald Trump’s postwar Gaza plan, sources said.
- Thousands of People Pledge to Observe Trump’s National ShabbatUS President Donald Trump speaks during a Small Business Summit in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 4, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Nearly 8,000 people have pledged to observe…
- A Fine Hour for Smart Aggressive DiplomacyWars end with a diplomatic agreement, otherwise all the blood is shed in vain. Trump was unable to locate the point where he should have held fire and sat down to talk - and now…
- Your Taxes: How Israel’s new war compensation system worksThe new law is complex. In practice, an accountant typically enters data into the ITA system, and it crunches the numbers.
- Somaliland says it's ready to work with the world to bring security to the Red SeaArticles: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: #i24NEWS #MiddleEastNow The top news coming out of the Middle East, the burning issues and the strategic, groundbreaking cooperation, with special interviews and the views and voices of those at the…
- ‘We Are One Community’: New York University Condemns Swastika Flag Raised Near CampusSwastika flag raised over New York University this week. Photo: Screenshot New York University (NYU) on Thursday condemned the raising of a flag containing the swastika near its campus in the Greenwich Village section of…
- Ukraine’s sling against Russia: How 'geniuses in garages' transformed robotic warfareThe road to becoming a robotic superpower was paved with skepticism, but Ukraine did not set out to become a world leader in military robotics - it set out to survive.
- ‘The Wanderers’ tells the story of Poland’s Holocaust survivors who fled to the Soviet UnionDaniela Gerson chronicles her family’s not-so-unique journey in her new book, “The Wanderers," a blend of memoir, history, and journalism.
Torah perspective
The proclamation of a National Shabbat by a sitting American president is without precedent, yet it echoes something ancient. The Sabbath is called a covenant, a sign between God and Israel, but its invitation was always wider. The prophets envisioned a time when "all mankind" would come to bow before God on this day. Eight thousand pledges to observe it may seem small against a nation of millions, but every Shabbat begins with a single flame kindled against the dark. Shabbat is where we step away from the machinery of politics and production and remember we are souls before we are citizens. That reminder, spoken from any quarter, is a spark of the light yet to come.