JERUSALEM, Israel – Israelis experienced a relatively quiet end to the Rosh Hashanah holiday, but that calm was overshadowed by reports that Jared Kushner was criticizing Israel’s earlier strike on Hamas leaders in Doha, saying the Trump administration used the fallout from the attack to pressure Israel into a Gaza deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a message on X wishing President Donald Trump and the American people a “happy and healthy new year,” while highlighting what he called historic progress between the United States and Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
I want to wish President Donald J. Trump, his family, and the American people a Shana Tova—a happy and healthy New Year.
Over the past year, the United States and Israel have achieved historic progress together. Iran and its evil axis are…
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 11, 2026
“Over the past year, the United States and Israel have achieved historic progress together. Iran and its evil axis are weaker than ever, while the U.S.-Israel alliance is stronger than ever,” Netanyahu stated.
He also congratulated Trump for his pressure campaign against Iran.
“I congratulate President @realDonaldTrump on his blockade of Iran’s evil regime and on the economic pressure brought to bear against the world’s greatest source of instability,” he remarked.
Netanyahu added that Israel stands with the United States in confronting terrorism.
“The people of Israel stand with the people of the United States and with President Trump in confronting the forces of terror. In the year ahead, we will continue to make the world safer for all,” he said.
In an address commemorating the September 11 attacks, President Trump praised American military efforts in the Middle East.
He declared, “And we salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number-one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.”
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you receive the latest news from a Christian perspective.***
Meanwhile, Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, created a stir with remarks he made during a conversation with Victor Pinchuk at the “YES Annual Meeting 2026: The Victor Pinchuk Foundation and the Yalta European Strategy (YES),” about Israel’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, a year ago.
Kushner called the strike unsuccessful and said it contributed to Israel’s international isolation.
“You know Israel did the strike in Doha, which was a terrible thing and obviously it was unsuccessful as a military operation and that led to Israel being globally isolated attack,” Kushner criticized.
Kushner then said the Trump administration used the fallout from the strike to pressure Israel into a deal.
He recalled, “And we used that dynamic in order to push them into a deal that now today they’re quite happy with, where at the time they were a little uncomfortable with what we were pushing them to do.”
Kushner said the agreement ultimately benefited both Israel and the people of Gaza.
“But ultimately it turned out to be great for them and it turned out to be great for the people of Gaza because now we have a new government there that’s obviously looking to take over soon once we advance on the demilitarization,” he revealed.
Kushner’s comments prompted a response from Netanyahu’s Likud party, which, in a statement, rejected his assessment of the impact of the Doha strike.
“The Prime Minister’s decision to send the IDF into Gaza City and to strike the Hamas leadership in Qatar, together with the intense pressure exerted by President Trump, are what led Hamas to drop its demands and agree to release all the hostages remaining in Gaza,” the statement read.
On the ground in Gaza, Israel eliminated two Hamas weapons engineers over the weekend who were working to restore the terror group’s military capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire agreement, which calls for the disarming of Hamas.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a warning Sunday.
“Anyone who approaches the Ali Taher Ridge will be destroyed,” he warned.
The IDF recently disarmed and blew up Hezbollah’s Iranian-funded tunnel network beneath the ridge. The network was intended as a staging base for an October 7th – type Hezbollah invasion of the Galilee.
Ahead of the explosions, Netanyahu visited the border region, where weapons extracted from the tunnel network were displayed.
“What you’re seeing here are some of the weapons that we removed from Lebanon, enormous quantities of weapons, facilitated and financed by Iran over many years,” the prime minister stated.
Netanyahu pointed to some of the weapons recovered from the area, observing, “You can see an anti-aircraft cannon here, and there are rockets, there are landmines, there are computers, there are many other things.”
He added that the weapons have now been removed and are under Israeli control. saying, “Everything has been taken out and everything is in our hands.”
