Jerusalem, 27 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Education Minister Yoav Kish announced today that Prof. Shulamit Michaeli is the recipient of the 2026 Israel Prize in the field of life sciences research.

The award committee noted in its reasoning that Prof. Michaeli is a world-class pioneer in RNA research in parasites and a pioneer in the study of RNA and the function of its various forms, focusing on disease-causing parasites that attack populations from large regions of the world. A local example of these diseases is the “Rose of Jericho” disease, which is common in Israel and is caused by a Leishmania parasite.

The committee also noted that Prof. Michaeli’s research has shed light and continues to advance our understanding of the processes of processing and editing of RNA types in parasites, and its function in controlling the life of each cell. These studies are pioneering and have opened up the understanding of the function of modifications on small, non-coding RNA molecules. Her activity continues today at an impressive pace, with her research being published in the world’s leading journals and leading to important improvements in the medical treatment of diseases caused by parasites.

Jerusalem, 27 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The public debt-to-GDP ratio in Israel for 2025 increased by 0.9% and amounted to 68.6%, compared to 67.7% in 2024. The government debt-to-GDP ratio increased by 1.0% and amounted to 67.3%, compared to 66.3% in 2024. This is according to a first estimate of the debt-to-GDP ratio for 2025 published by the Accountant General of the Ministry of Finance, Yahli Rotenberg.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is a key indicator of the financial strength of the State of Israel and is important in determining its credit rating. The final estimate of the debt-to-GDP ratio will be published in the annual report of the Debt Unit in the Accountant General’s Department.

In 2025, total gross debt raising was approximately 207 billion Shekels ($66 billion), and was carried out through the three debt raising channels: tradable domestic debt (85% of raising), non-tradable domestic debt (3% of raising), and external debt (12% of raising). The tradable domestic channel presented high and stable demand throughout the year, and the average coverage ratio was 4.5, compared to 4.2 last year.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is supporting “unique” academic courses in the Arava (the valley that runs south from the Dead Sea down to Eilat) to develop innovation and sustainability in energy.

Students from leading universities in Israel will participate in courses combining policy and technology in the fields of renewable energies, as part of strengthening the Arava as a national center for sustainable innovation.

The courses combine the fields of economics, philosophy, economics and public policy (EPP), engineering and public policy, and are designed to provide knowledge and practical tools for developing sustainable regions, promoting innovation in the energy sector, and creating growth engines in a sustainable economy, while closely connecting academic knowledge with fieldwork.

During the courses, participants will be exposed to leading companies operating in the renewable energy market, active projects and initiatives in development stages, as well as the activities of local and regional authorities working to promote socio-economic development based on sustainability. Special emphasis is given to the importance of collaboration between the public sector, academia and industry, as a basis for implementing national energy and climate policy.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The Shin Bet (Israel’s anti-terror General Security Service) Monday evening provided new details as to how Israeli security forces were able to locate and return to Israel the remains of Ran Gvili. He was the last Israeli to still be held in Gaza, 843 days after the October 7 terror massacre.

About a month ago, said the Shin Bet, as part of an operation to find hostage remains in southern Gaza City, an Islamic Jihad operative who was involved in terror activity against Israeli forces during the war was taken in for questioning. It was suspected that this terrorist knew details of the location of where the late Ran Gvili had been buried.

During his interrogation, the operative spoke about his involvement in moving the body between several sites and even pointed to additional people involved who were aware of its location. Among other things, his interrogation resulted in acquiring new intelligence information that strengthened the understanding of the body’s location in the Al-Batsh cemetery in Gaza City.

In recent days, an extensive operation began at this cemetery, during which the body of the late ran was identified and returned to Israel.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — It is estimated that 111,000 Holocaust survivors are currently living in Israel; over 12,000 survivors have passed away in the past year. This is according to Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Security.

Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Ministry published updated data on Holocaust survivors in Israel.

For example, approximately 41,800 Holocaust survivors receive services from either or both the Ministry of Welfare and local authorities. This is 37% of all survivors, but a decrease of 4% compared to 2024.

Also, about 73% of all survivors are eligible for a long-term care benefit, and among those registered with social services, the eligibility rate is even higher, at about 85%.

The average age of Holocaust survivors receiving services from the Ministry of Social Affairs is 87 years old, and 413 of them are over 100 years old.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — During what the Israel Prisons Service called a “large-scale operational activity” carried out at Rimonim-Ofek Prison, prison officers, in cooperation with officers from other security units, acted against “negative elements” in the facility.

During the searches, prohibited items were located and seized, including incendiary material, improvised means of attack, prohibited content, a game console and other means prohibited from possession. Disciplinary measures were taken against those involved.

“The Prison Service will continue to act decisively to strengthen prison governance and maintain the security of prison fighters and the facility,” it said.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — The funeral of Ran Gvili will be held on Wednesday in his Negev hometown of Meitar.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday and with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Sa’ar departed Sunday for a state visit to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, accompanied by a large Israeli business and economic delegation.

During a meeting with just Aliyev, the two discussed advancing bilateral relations between the countries. Among other things, they discussed deepening cooperation between the countries in the fields of energy, artificial intelligence, agriculture, water, defense, and tourism. Minister Sa’ar noted that the large business-economic delegation that joined his visit to the country will strengthen ties between the countries in these and other areas, said Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Aliyev’s office added that emphasis was placed on the successful development of relations between the two countries in various areas, including economic, trade, energy, tourism, and other fields. Cooperation in agriculture, water resources management, high technologies, and artificial intelligence was highlighted. The contribution of reciprocal visits and contacts at various levels to deepening cooperation was also noted.

Minister Bayramov said that in his meeting with Sa’ar there was an “in-depth exchange of views on regional and global developments, challenges to international security, and cooperation within multilateral institutions.”

“We reaffirmed our strong partnership, mutual trust, and commitment to further deepening strategic cooperation based on shared interests,” he said.

Jerusalem, 26 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu met with visiting Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Albania held a one-on-one meeting, followed by an extended meeting with their teams.

Netanyahu called Rama a “dear friend of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and a good personal friend as well.”

“You stood by Israel when we were attacked by these barbarians,” Netanyahu told Rama. “Your moral conscience has not wavered.”

Netanyahu went on to speak about the growing Israeli tourism to Albania and the increase in Israeli business investment in the country.

“Albania and Israel have excellent relations that stem from a deep friendship between Albania and the Jewish people, forged over centuries of history,” said Prime Minister Rama. “As Jews fled persecution time and again in the West, they came to our shores and settled there.”

“We stand with the kidnapped and their families against Hamas and the neo-Nazi slaughterers,” he added, “whose actions have brought great suffering not only to Israelis, but also for a long time to our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are being dehumanized by Hamas, which uses them as a tool of war, turning them into a defensive infrastructure made of human flesh, something unheard of in the history of barbarism – simple meat for the terrorist fire.”