Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure will grant approximately 10 million Shekels ($3.15 million) to 21 groundbreaking studies in the fields of energy and earth and marine science.

These are researchers from 11 academic institutions across the country, including the Technion, Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University, Bar Ilan University, and more. The agreements with the academic institutions are currently being signed, and the studies are underway for a period of one to three years, with some of them potentially becoming technologies that will affect every home in Israel.

For example, innovative research by Bar Ilan University, supported by the ministry, seeks to break new ground in the field of plastic recycling using an electrochemical method for breaking down PET bottles to produce fuels and highly valuable chemical products.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel Railways is adding over 40,000 seats per day for riders throughout the country, lengthening trains and adding cars on central lines, integrating modern, high-capacity electric trains, and expanding operating hours at many stations – with an emphasis on the south and north. It is also launching a new timetable and extensive service upgrades throughout the country.

This comes after a record year in the volume of train travel in Israel, and towards continued growth expected in 2026 with an expansion of services, which includes extending trains, adding cars, integrating advanced electric trains and expanding operating hours in the periphery and the center.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Earlier today (Wednesday), Hamas terrorists fired into the area where IDF (Israel Defense Forces) units are operating in the northern Gaza Strip.

“This firing constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” said the IDF.

In response, the IDF attacked a senior Hamas Terrorist who was plotting terror against israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip.

No further details were as yet provided.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Investigators from the Narcotics Unit at Ben Gurion Airport Customs, the Ben Gurion Airport Special Investigation Unit 747, and the Crime Prevention Unit at the Airports Authority succeeded in thwarting an attempted smuggling of 26 cartons – 52 packs – of cigarettes by an airport employee.

On Tuesday, customs investigators observed an employee of a company that provides food services to airplanes removing a suspicious bag from a plane. The suspect was followed until he left the restricted area and, while he was putting the suspicious bag into his private vehicle, he was apprehended by police.

Authorities noted that this is a “serious incident” in which a person in a position of trust abuses the authorization given to him by virtue of his position.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Earlier today, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) struck in the Jwaya area in southern Lebanon, eliminating a terrorist from the Air Unit (127) of the Hezbollah terror organization.

The terrorist was engaged in attempts to rehabilitate Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the area, said the IDF. This is the second terrorist from the Hezbollah Air Unit eliminated in the last two days.

The terrorist’s activity constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — At the beginning of this week, the international seminar of the In the Path of Olives initiative, between Greece, Albania, and Israel, opened in the Galilee.

The seminar brings together kindergarten teachers and educators from Greece and Albania, who came to Israel for the purpose of joint professional development in the fields of environmental education, sustainability, and innovative pedagogy in early childhood.

The initiative, which began as a local educational program, has grown into a regional model that strengthens cooperation between the countries of the Mediterranean basin and encourages cross-cultural learning around the olive tree and its environmental and cultural connections.

Israel’s Ministry of Regional Cooperation said it will continue to promote educational initiatives that connect communities, foster regional partnerships, and promote quality and in-depth education for environmental protection.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, Wednesday, conducted a comprehensive tour of the Western Negev together with Defense Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and other senior officials. The Prime Minister’s Office said the tour was part of a “multidisciplinary national effort that includes strengthening and developing the region, completing strategic solutions in the region, and combating crime in Arab society.”

At the beginning of the tour, the members arrived at the settlement of Revivim, where they conducted an observation of the bedouin town Bir Bir Hadaj, and received a review on the handling and enforcement of the Israel Police against the phenomena of smuggling and illegal possession of weapons in the south, and were later exposed to the seizures of weapons and the thwarting of significant smuggling operations carried out by police forces in the area and at the borders.

The tour focused on a broad national plan promoted by the Prime Minister’s Office, which includes: strengthening the state’s grip on the territory, promoting plans to expand settlement and increase demographic growth, developing new employment areas, improving civil infrastructure, and meeting the security needs of residents. The plan is based on inter-ministerial staff work to strengthen the borders and build the multidimensional national plan for the Negev.

“The Negev is raging,” said Netanyahu. “We are curbing it, and an important operation by the Israel Police, in conjunction with other forces, has begun. To curb it, we need to understand that the criminal threat and the security threat are merging into one another.”

“Therefore, we will bring a national project to achieve all these goals, but first and foremost – to return governance to the Negev,” he declared.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The Jewish Agency for Israel has received a grant of $1.5 million from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust in support of the Security Fund for protecting Jewish communities around the world from acts of terror, which it called “one of the most far-reaching Jewish security initiatives in the world.”

The Security Fund was established in 2012, at the request of the Government of Israel, following the deadly terror attack at the Ozar Ha’Torah Jewish day school in Toulouse, France. Its mission is to ensure the safety of Jewish communities around the world —outside the United States — by providing financial assistance for securing and protecting Jewish communal institutions.

The new grant will be used to increase the physical security of 58 Jewish religious, educational, and communal institutions in Europe, North America, South America, and Australia that are vulnerable to potentially violent terrorist attacks.

This latest contribution brings the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s total support for the Jewish Agency’s relief and security efforts to more than $11 million.

Jerusalem, 7 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The Bank of Israel reported that Israel’s foreign exchange reserves at the end of December 2025 stood at $229.484 billion, a decline of $1.941 billion from their level at the end of the previous month. The level of the reserves relative to GDP was 39.4%.

The decline, said the Bank, was mainly explained by foreign exchange activity by the government totaling about $3.483 billion. This decline was partly offset by a revaluation of the reserves totaling approximately $1.509 billion.