Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security will fund up to 35% of agricultural insurance premiums for farmers in 2026, contributing around NIS 78 million ($24.7 million), the ministry said on Sunday. The initiative aims to protect crops and livestock from natural disasters, including extreme temperatures, heat waves, and pest outbreaks, which have become more frequent due to climate change.

Dr. Muamar Haj-Yahia, Director of Agricultural Insurance, said the program strengthens food security by reducing farmers’ financial risks and encouraging broader participation in insurance, ensuring the continued production of fresh, local agricultural produce for Israeli citizens.

The Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance have approved budget additions for the Metronit project in Tirat Carmel and Haifa, adding to a total investment of approximately NIS 700 million
 
Minister Regev: “We are providing residents of the North with fast and advanced public transportation that will significantly shorten travel times”

As part of the work plan to accelerate strategic projects, the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety and the Ministry of Finance have approved a significant budget addition of NIS 62 million for 2025 for the Metronit project in Tirat Carmel (DP4). In addition, a supplementary budget of approximately NIS 4 million has been approved, bringing the total budgetary authorization for the Metronit in Tirat Carmel to close to NIS 179 million.

The approval of the additional budgets is a vital step towards completing the future transportation network in the Haifa and Carmel area, a project with a total cost estimated at approximately NIS 700 million, carried out by Cross Israel Ltd.

The Metronit, whose new routes span approximately ten kilometers, is expected to create a fast transportation continuum connecting Tirat Carmel and western Haifa to commercial, employment, and leisure centers, including direct access to Sammy Ofer Stadium.

The works, which are already underway, include paving dedicated priority lanes, constructing 30 new and advanced stations equipped with real-time information displays, and implementing technological infrastructure for priority at intersections. Alongside these, the project upgrades the urban space through illuminated bicycle paths, new sidewalks, and extensive landscape development.

Minister of Transportation and Road Safety, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Miri Regev: “The Metronit project in the Haifa metropolitan area and its expansion to Tirat Carmel is an integral part of the ‘Connecting Israel’ vision. We are creating an innovative and accessible mass transit system that will allow every resident in the North to reach their destination quickly and comfortably, without dependence on private vehicles. This move, alongside the transportation justice revolution we are leading, will save precious time and lead to a significant improvement in the quality of life for the residents of the area.”

Director-General of the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, Moshe Ben Zaken: “The Ministry of Transportation is committed to strengthening transportation accessibility and reducing the cost of living for all citizens of Israel. The expanded Metronit will provide an efficient transportation solution that will ease traffic congestion and save the public precious time in traffic jams. We are closely monitoring the progress of the works on the ground and are working to complete the project as soon as possible for the benefit of public transportation passengers in the North.”

Director-General of Cross Israel, Dan Shenbach: “The budget addition for upgrading and expanding the Metronit lines is a significant step in advancing the transportation projects that Cross Israel leads in the Haifa metropolitan area. The project joins a series of strategic projects that the company is promoting in the north of the country, which together create a fast, safe, and efficient transportation continuum and strengthen the connectivity between employment, study, and leisure centers and between all existing and future transportation means in the area.”

The Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance have approved budget additions for the Metronit project in Tirat Carmel and Haifa, adding to a total investment of approximately NIS 700 million.
 
Minister Regev: “We are providing residents of the North with fast and advanced public transportation that will significantly shorten travel times.”

As part of the work plan to accelerate strategic projects, the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety and the Ministry of Finance have approved a significant budget addition of NIS 62 million for 2025 for the Metronit project in Tirat Carmel (DP4). In addition, a supplementary budget of approximately NIS 4 million has been approved, bringing the total budgetary authorization for the Metronit in Tirat Carmel to close to NIS 179 million.

The approval of the additional budgets is a vital step towards completing the future transportation network in the Haifa and Carmel area, a project with a total estimated cost of approximately NIS 700 million, carried out by Cross Israel Ltd.

The Metronit, whose new lines span approximately ten kilometers, is expected to create a fast transportation continuum connecting Tirat Carmel and Haifa West to commercial, employment, and leisure centers, including direct access to Sammy Ofer Stadium.

The works, which are already underway, include paving dedicated priority lanes, constructing 30 new and advanced stations equipped with real-time information displays, and implementing technological infrastructure for traffic light priority. Alongside these, the project upgrades the urban space through illuminated bicycle paths, new sidewalks, and extensive landscape development.

Minister of Transportation and Road Safety, Maj. Gen. (res.) Miri Regev: “The Metronit project in the Haifa metropolitan area and its expansion to Tirat Carmel is an integral part of the ‘Connecting Israel’ vision. We are creating an innovative and accessible mass transit system that will allow every resident in the North to reach their destination quickly and comfortably, without dependence on private vehicles. This move, alongside the transportation justice revolution we are leading, will save precious time and lead to a significant improvement in the quality of life for the residents of the area.”

Director-General of the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, Moshe Ben Zaken: “The Ministry of Transportation is committed to strengthening transportation accessibility and reducing the cost of living for all citizens of Israel. The expanded Metronit will provide an efficient transportation solution that will ease traffic congestion and save the public valuable time in traffic jams. We are closely monitoring the progress of the works on the ground and are working to complete the project as soon as possible for the benefit of public transportation passengers in the North.”

Director-General of Cross Israel, Dan Shenbach: “The budget addition for upgrading and expanding the Metronit lines is a significant step in advancing the transportation project array that Cross Israel is leading in the Haifa metropolitan area. The project joins a series of strategic projects that the company is promoting in the north of the country, which together create a fast, safe, and efficient transportation continuum and strengthen the connectivity between employment, study, and leisure centers, and between all existing and future transportation modes in the area.”

The Tax Authority filed three serious indictments against five defendants, residents of East Jerusalem, as well as against three companies owned by them, for committing offenses of distributing and offsetting fictitious invoices and deducting input tax without invoices, in a cumulative tax amount of over 100 million NIS. 

The fictitious invoices were distributed in the construction and manpower sectors in order to enable others to evade or avoid paying taxes. The offsetting companies included the fictitious invoices they received from the defendants in their books and unlawfully deducted input tax based on them, in amounts of tens of millions of NIS. 

The indictments were filed by Adv. Abd Al-Qader Lambasher from the National Legal Department, Criminal, Tel Aviv, following an investigation by the Customs and VAT Investigations Department in jerusalem.  

From the first indictment against defendants Raed Al-Nawaj’a and Muhammad Al-Nawaj’a, father and son, it appears that the father acted to distribute 722 fictitious invoices from five companies under his control in the amount of over 118 million NIS, and also offset 175 invoices in three companies in the amount of over 48 million NIS. His son, Muhammad Al-Nawaj’a, acted to distribute 263 fictitious invoices from two companies under his control in a total amount of over 32 million NIS, and also offset 103 fictitious invoices in a total amount of over 23 million NIS. 

Another indictment against defendant Ali Othman states that the defendant acted together with others to distribute 129 fictitious tax invoices from a company registered in his name totaling over 13 million NIS. This indictment states that another defendant, Alaa Dakkak, acted together with others to distribute 55 tax invoices from a company registered in his name totaling over 17 million NIS. The two defendants in this indictment acted together with the defendants in the aforementioned indictment. 

The third indictment, against Muhammad Farouk Hamidat, who acted together with the other defendants mentioned above, states that he acted to distribute 275 invoices from three companies, the first registered in his name and the other two registered in the names of others. In addition, the defendant offset 72 invoices in the company registered in his name in the amount of over 25 million NIS. The defendant also distributed another 184 fictitious invoices from companies registered in the names of defendants Ali Othman and Alaa El-Din Dakkak in the amount of over 78 million NIS. 
 

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli AI-driven drug discovery company CytoReason has expanded its collaboration with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for the third time, under a new multi-year agreement valued at up to $16 million. Announced from Tel Aviv, the deal marks CytoReason’s fifth commercial agreement of 2025 and further strengthens its growing footprint among global pharma leaders.

CytoReason’s technology uses advanced computational disease models to help R&D teams extract actionable insights from molecular and clinical data, accelerating decision-making across drug development programs. The company, backed by U.S.-based investors including NVIDIA, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Pfizer, works with roughly half of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel-based SeeTrue AI has become the first company to receive European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) certification for an automated prohibited items detection screening system. The tel aviv-based company said its AI software was approved for use with Analogic ConneCT and Rapiscan 920CT scanners under Europe’s Common Evaluation Program, following earlier certification in the Netherlands.

The approval allows airports to use automated, regulation-approved screening that detects threats in real-time while improving passenger flow and operational efficiency. SeeTrue said the milestone reinforces its role as a trusted provider of AI-driven security screening solutions for airports in Europe and beyond.

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli medical device company Butterfly Medical announced the successful completion of its pivotal international trial for the Butterfly Prostatic Retraction Device, a minimally invasive treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland.

The 244-patient study, conducted in Boston and Yokneam, Israel, confirmed the device’s safety and efficacy in restoring urinary flow without surgery. The CE Mark-approved implant is now positioned for a U.S. FDA pre-market approval application. Butterfly Medical’s device offers an alternative for men dissatisfied with medication but seeking to avoid invasive surgery, potentially reshaping global BPH care.

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli technology firm SuperCom has won a second electronic monitoring contract in Texas within weeks of entering the U.S. state. The Tel Aviv-based company said a juvenile probation agency selected SuperCom to replace its existing monitoring provider and deploy its GPS tracking solution and proprietary supervision platform. The agreement follows a recurring revenue model based on active daily units. The company is now active in 16 U.S. states, alongside continued international growth.

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — During an operational activity by an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) unit in the city of Shechem (Nablus), an Israeli soldier was moderately wounded as a result of gunfire directed at the unit.

The soldier was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, and his family was notified.

IDF forces began a pursuit of the terrorist who fired on the soldiers.