Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-12-24 at 03:06 cover art

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-12-24 at 03:06

Israel Today: Ongoing War Report - Update from 2025-12-24 at 03:06

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 HEADLINESUS sanctions Breton over EU censorship planNetanyahu aide Qatar links face scrutinyIran rejects zero enrichment at UNThe time is now 10:01 PM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.Good evening. Here is the latest update on events shaping the Middle East and global diplomacy as of ten o’clock.In Washington, the United States State Department announced sanctions against Thierry Breton, the former European Union technology regulator who championed the bloc’s Digital Services Act, along with four other individuals. The department characterizes Breton as the architect of a framework that sought to compel American social media platforms to curb viewpoints the EU favors. The United States argues the sanctions are aimed at countering what it calls coercive censorship efforts tied to foreign actors, while the European Union defends the Digital Services Act as a tool to require platform transparency and responsible moderation. The move underscores a broader dispute over how democracies balance free expression with safeguards against harmful content, and it arrives amid ongoing debates about the reach of regulatory power across borders.In a separate development, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling related to domestic security and enforcement. The court kept in place a lower court order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago, as part of the administration’s efforts linked to federal law enforcement in several cities. The decision leaves open questions about how federal and state authorities may coordinate in time of unrest, and it was accompanied by the court’s note that the government had not yet justified authority to carry out such deployments in Illinois. The ruling was issued with a narrow scope, and the court did not resolve all questions surrounding National Guard deployments in other jurisdictions.Turning to Israel, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman, Eli Feldstein, is making fresh allegations connected to a wide-ranging inquiry known in public discourse as the Qatargate affair. Feldstein says he believed he was acting at the direction of others rather than of his own volition, and that he was used by people connected to Qatar. He claims that Netanyahu and senior aides knew about certain side arrangements and communications but that he did not realize the larger implications in real time. Feldstein also describes connections to individuals who are targets of criminal investigations in relation to alleged foreign influence operations. In parallel reporting, parts of a media exchange published by an international outlet indicate Feldstein was in contact with a Washington-based figure tied to Qatar, who publicly praised Feldstein’s messaging efforts. The matter sits against a backdrop of a broader inquiry into whether senior Israeli officials and their advisers benefited from outside influence in messaging during the hostilities and negotiations that followed.Within Israeli politics, former premier Naftali Bennett weighed in, urging investigators to pursue all angles of the matter and condemning what he called betrayal involving senior officials. Bennett’s statements have drawn responses from Likud, which denies any evidence of direct ties between Netanyahu’s office and Qatar, while insisting the government remains accountable to the public. The ongoing probe and the competing narratives emphasize domestic sensitivity to how information is managed and how decisions are communicated to the public during a time of war and crisis.In regional diplomacy, Turkey’s leadership has fired back at recent remarks by Netanyahu that some dubbed as aspirational or imperial in tone. A Turkish presidential spokesman rejected the accusation and criticized Israel’s conduct, arguing that Ankara has pursued stability and peace in the region under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The spokesman also suggested that Israeli policy has at times contributed to regional instability. The exchange comes amid concerns about Turkey’s role in post–Assad Syria and Turkish ambitions to participate in plans for an International Stabilization Force in Gaza. Israel has long watched Ankara’s influence with caution as both sides navigate the complexities of Syria’s shifting landscape and the broader conflict.On the nuclear diplomacy front, the United States and Iran faced off at the United Nations Security Council over the terms for reviving discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program. The United States reiterated its openness to direct negotiations, but with clear conditions, including the imperative that any agreement not allow enrichment inside Iran. The Iranian delegation, represented by its United Nations ambassador, argued that Washington’s insistence on a zero enrichment policy is incompatible with Iran’s rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and warned that Tehran would not yield under pressure. The ...
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