Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — The Ministry of Transportation is accelerating the construction of high-speed rail lines from Haifa to Shefayim (north of Tel Aviv) and from Ben Gurion Airport to Be’er Sheva.

The high-speed rails will allow travel at speeds of up to 250 km/h and travel within 30 minutes from Tel Aviv to Haifa, and from Tel Aviv to Beer Sheva.

The project will include new stations, upgrading infrastructure along the route, preparations for a future connection to the Ben Gurion Airport- Shefayim high-speed rail, and completing preparations for the start of work on the ground.

In addition, the government approved the promotion of the Be’er Sheva-Ben Gurion Airport tracks, which includes the construction of two new high-speed tracks and the upgrade of the Be’er Sheva station. The project will create a fast and accessible connection from the south to the center and Ben-Gor Airport, and will allow travel from Tel Aviv to Be’er Sheva within half an hour. Budgeting was approved to complete the promotion of availability for doubling the tracks, which will allow for a transition to an advanced performance phase.

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Environmental launched a national information campaign today, Wednesday, as part of the Quiet Cities program, which aims to reduce noise pollution from vehicles and improve the quality of life and health of residents.

The campaign was produced through the Government Advertising Bureau (GAB) and will be broadcast to the general public, to Haredi society, to Arab society, as well as in Russian and Amharic, on television, radio, digitally and on social media.

As part of the campaign, the Ministry of Environmental Protection seeks to raise public awareness of the issue of noise pollution and the personal responsibility of each of us. The main message of the campaign is to inform the public that noise pollution from vehicles will be enforced by technological means of cameras and noise detectors that will be placed in a variety of authorities. The goal is to reduce noise from vehicles and keep public spaces quiet and pleasant for everyone.

Polluting and noisy vehicles directly harm the quality of life and public health. Studies indicate that exposure to noise causes physical and mental damage, including hearing damage, increased morbidity, psychological effects, and decreased cognitive function and work productivity. Environmental noise is currently considered one of the main environmental risks to public health and is a source of concern among residents and policymakers.

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — On Christmas Eve 2025, there are approximately 184,200 Christians living in Israel , which is roughly (1.9%) of the Israeli population. This is according to the data on Israel’s Christian communities published by the Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of Christmas.

In 2024, the Christian population grew by 0.7%.

78.7% of Christians in Israel are Arab Christians, 6.8% of the total Arab population in Israel.

Most Arab Christians live in the Northern District and Haifa District (68.3% and 14.7%, respectively).

42.0% of non-Arab Christians live in the Tel Aviv District and the Central District, 33.9% in the Northern District and the Haifa District.

The localities with the largest Arab Christian population are: Nazareth (18.9 thousand), Haifa (18.8 thousand), Jerusalem (13,400) and Nof HaGalil (10,800).

In 2024, 2,134 babies were born to Christian women, of whom about 73% were to Arab Christian women (1,568 newborns).

The average household size in Christian-headed households was estimated at 2.89 persons, lower than Jewish-headed households (3.02) and Muslim-headed households (4.35).

The average number of children up to the age of 17 in Christian families with children up to that age was 1.97, of which 1.98 in Arab Christian families. These figures are low compared to Jewish families (2.45) and Muslim families (2.58).

Education and enlightenment

In the 2024/25 school year, 26,240 Christian students studied in elementary and secondary education , representing 1.3% of all students.

87.7% of Christian students in 12th grade in 2023/24 were eligible for a matriculation certificate .

52.6% of Arab Christians and 30.3% of non-Arab Christians continued their undergraduate studies within 8 years of graduating from high school , compared to only 34.4% of all high school graduates in Arab education and 47.3% of all high school graduates in Hebrew education.

In 2024/25, there were 6,700 Christian students registered in higher education studies, which is 2.2% of all students in higher education institutions in Israel. In addition to them, another 500 Christian students studied at the Open University.

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — As part of a nationwide investigation operation, a resident of Nazareth, a resident of Be’er Sheva, and a resident of Holon were investigated by the Israel Tax Authority on suspicion of concealing crypto income totaling tens of millions of Shekels.

Igor Shargorodsky, a resident of Holon, is suspected of operating in virtual currency trading arenas abroad in large volumes in the years 2020-2024 and did not report to the tax authorities. It is also suspected that he did not report income he had from companies abroad and overall evaded reporting income totaling tens of millions of Shekels.

Another suspect being investigated is Aviv Dahan Bilevsky, a resident of Beer Sheva, who was questioned by the Jerusalem and Southern Investigations Assessment Officer. The investigation material suggests that in 2022, Bilevsky began trading cryptocurrencies and NFTs using digital wallets he owned and even presented himself as an expert in the field on social media.

According to the suspicion, between 2022 and 2025, the suspect carried out trading activities worth approximately $7 million, and did not report them to the tax authorities.

Additionally, as part of an investigation by the Haifa and Northern Investigations Tax Assessor in cooperation with the Northern Police Chief, a Nazareth resident named Ibrahim Zoabi was arrested on suspicion of evading income and violating the Money Laundering Prohibition Law.

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing and National Insurance Institute have recently completed a joint and “first-of-its-kind” initiative that they say “places the fulfillment of rights with citizens who are entitled to them at the heart of government action.” Specifically, this initiative is about rental subsidies for the disabled.

As part of the collaboration, and after professional and in-depth staff work, recipients of benefits that qualify for rental assistance from the Ministry of Construction and Housing were identified. They then carried out a proactive initiative to identify potential beneficiaries for rental assistance, and subsequently contacted them directly.

So, starting this month, text messages will be sent to approximately 40,000 citizens who have been found to be potentially eligible for rent assistance, with the aim of encouraging them to exercise their rights and instructing them on how to act.

The text messages direct potential beneficiaries to submit an application online, or alternatively to one of the branches of the ministry’s registration companies that provide services regarding housing assistance. It should be noted that this is a process that will be incorporated into the ministry’s ongoing work, and text messages regarding the exercise of rights will also be sent in the future to those whom the system identifies as potentially eligible.

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) did not cease making payments to terrorists and their families. It simply changed how such payments are made – by calling the funds “pensions.” Israel’s Foreign Minister dubbed this ‘Pay-for-Slay.’”

These payments are made to the families of terrorists held in Israeli jails and to the terrorists themselves when released from prison. They are also paid out to the families of terrorists who were killed in the course of their activities.

“The Palestinian Authority didn’t end payments to terrorists,” said the Foreign Ministry. “It camouflaged them. Money to released terrorists is now funneled through so-called ‘pensions’ tied to the Palestinian Security Services.”

“This isn’t reform,” it added. “It’s deliberate deception, Pay-for-Slay by another name.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying that he “admits that ‘loyalty’ to the sacrifices of Palestinian ‘martyrs,’ prisoners and wounded (all terrorists) and their families is a ‘national Palestinian commitment.’”

Sa’ar further charged that Abbas did so while “continuing to lie about ending the PA’s distorted policy of paying salaries to these despicable terrorists and their families. Instead of ending all payments, he’s disguising many of them as payments to pensioners and salaries of the PA Security Services.”

The Foreign Minister demanded that the international hold the PA accountable for “Pay for Slay.”

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israeli Agency COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories: Judea and Samaria and towards the Gaza Strip) refuted claims made in an article published by AP on Tuesday. In the article, AP implied that Israel does not reveal the data on what forms of air, or how much, actually enter Gaza.

COGAT stated that, “contrary to claims in the AP article:

1. 4,200 aid trucks enter Gaza weekly. Only about 20% of these are delivered through UN agencies, which is the basis for the figures the UN publicly reports. In parallel, all aid entry data is regularly presented at the CMCC (The Civil Military Coordination Center established with the Gaza ceasefire)to international partners.

2. Humanitarian organizations are prioritized for aid entry, and food shipments are coordinated according to the priorities set by them. No food truck submitted by a registered humanitarian organization has been denied. Over the past ten weeks, the volume of food entering Gaza has amounted to roughly five times the estimated need, based on the WFP’s own methodology.”

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — The following are the end of day exchange rates as set by the Bank of Israel Wednesday, December 24, 2025:
(Units are given in the foreign currency and the rate is given in its value in Shekels)

Currency | Unit | Rate (NIS) | Daily Change (against the Shekel)
US Dollar | 1 | 3.1860 | ‎-0.157%
GB Pound | 1 | 4.3050 | ‎-0.158%
Japanese Yen | 100 | 2.0436 | ‎-0.147%
Euro | 1 | 3.7573 | -0.242%
AUS Dollar | 1 | 2.1386 | +0.094%
Can Dollar | 1 | 2.3309 | +0.073%
DAN Krone | 1 | 0.5030 | ‎-0.238%
NOR Krone | 1 | 0.3188 | +0.441%
SA Rand | 1 | 0.1915 | +0.209%
SWD Krona | 1 | 0.3479 | 0%
SWS Franc | 1 | 4.0497 | ‎-0.106%

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — TASE Top 10 Indices Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Index | Value | +/- Change in Value
TA-35 | 3,719.65 | +0.23%
TA-90 | 3,844.61 | +078%
TACombo – 90&Banks-5 | 3,992.57 | +0.12%
TA125 | 3,740.91 | +0.35%
Money Market | 465.15 | +0.03%
TA125-Value | 4,112.14 | +0.01%
TA Sector-Balance | 4,348.41 | +0.50%
All-Bond | 420.12 | +0.14%
Bond-CPI A | 421.69 | +0.27%
Tel-Bond 60 | 414.77 | +0.14%

Equity Turnover
(NIS Thousands) | | 3,630,111
Bonds Turnover
(NIS Thousands) | | 4,055,291

(NIS Thousands)

(NIS Thousands)