While speaking to reporters after delivering a statement in Berlin today, President Isaac Herzog addressed ongoing developments in efforts to broaden peace in the Middle East.
“When we judge historical processes, we cannot just take a specific moment. We should take into account this week: we are looking at President Trump’s visit to the region, we are seeing the release of Edan Alexander, we know that there is an intense dialogue, and I really, truly, hope and pray every second that it will bear fruit. As I said, that’s the key to a major change,” President Herzog said.

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a sweeping executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. The order calls on the health department, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to broker new price tags for drugs over the next month. If deals are not reached, Kennedy will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties the price the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries. “We’re going to equalize,” Trump said during a Monday morning press conference. “We’re all going to pay the same.

MK Tally Gotliv of the Likud party asserted on Monday that the redacted identity in the classified document transferred by IDF NCO Avi Rosenfeld to Eli Feldstein, an aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu, was none other than the head of Egyptian intelligence.
Speaking during a meeting of the Knesset’s State Control Committee, Gotliv addressed State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman with an impassioned outburst: “There was clearly a military coup here. It’s all written in the indictment against the NCO and Feldstein. The indictment paper says that the NCO wanted to pass on additional information regarding the involvement of X.”

President Isaac Herzog watched the release of Israeli-US hostage Edan Alexander on his phone in the final minutes of his meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin this afternoon.

Six Bulgarians convicted of carrying out a sophisticated spying operation for Russia were sentenced by a London judge Monday to prison terms up to nearly 11 years. The group that used Hollywood code names discussed kidnapping or killing Kremlin opponents as they targeted reporters, diplomats and Ukrainian troops in the U.K., Germany Austria, Spain and Montenegro between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. No one was physically harmed but the group put lives in jeopardy, prosecutors said. “It is self-evident that a high price attaches to the safety and interests of this nation,” Justice Nicholas Hilliard, said. “The defendants put these things at risk by using this country as a base from which to plan the various operations.

A heartfelt moment occurred when Steve Witkoff passed the phone to Edan Alexander’s mother, enabling her to talk with her son for the first time since being kidnapped 583 days ago.

The decision by Hamas to hand over Israeli-American hostage Idan Alexander should not be seen as an act of mercy but rather as a calculated political step directed at the United States, according to Dr. Amnon Sofrin, a former head of the Mossad intelligence agency.
Speaking on Kan Moreshet, Dr. Sofrin asserted that the release was designed as a message to Washington, possibly crafted to influence President Donald Trump with an eye toward future negotiations. He emphasized that the timing was deliberate, pointing to Hamas’s desire to manipulate how it is perceived globally and to impact the tone of upcoming diplomatic interactions.

The burial of IDF soldier Tzvi Feldman, who fell in the First Lebanon War in 1982 and remained unaccounted for over four decades, took place on Monday at the military cemetery in Holon. Feldman’s body was recovered as a result of a secret Israeli operation conducted in Syria, a country ravaged by conflict.
The funeral procession began at the IDF Rabbinate facility in the Shura military base, with mourners following the solemn journey to Feldman’s final resting place.
At the graveside, Yitzhak Feldman paid tribute to his brother. “The Prime Minister always promised he would bring Tzvika back,” he said. “Yesterday, I told him, you fulfilled your oath.”

On Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the emotional return of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, who had been held in Gaza. In a heartfelt statement, Netanyahu said, “This is a very emotional moment – Edan Alexander has returned home. We embrace him and we embrace his family.” The Prime Minister attributed Alexander’s release to a combination of military and diplomatic efforts, specifically highlighting the role of U.S. President Donald Trump. “This was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the diplomatic pressure applied by President Trump. This is a winning combination,” Netanyahu stated. He revealed that he spoke with Trump earlier in the day, noting, “I spoke with President Trump today. He told me ‘I am committed to Israel.