The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the $895 billion “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025,” which includes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for U.S.-Israel defense initiatives. Key provisions in the bill allocate $500 million for U.S.-Israel missile-defense cooperation, $47.5 million for emerging technology collaboration, and $80 million for anti-tunneling measures.

Jewish-American singer, actress, and influencer Montana Tucker will take center stage at the Maccabiah 2025 games in Israel, where she is set to perform at the opening ceremony, emcee the Gala event, and promote the games through her extensive social media platforms. Tucker, whose social media following exceeds 14 million, is renowned not only for her talent but also for her activism against antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment.

Former Hamas hostage Judith Raanan met with President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, urging him to prioritize efforts to bring home the 100 remaining hostages still held in Gaza. Raanan, who was the first hostage released by Hamas in October 2023, shared details of her harrowing experience in captivity. She expressed confidence in Trump’s leadership and implored him to take decisive action to reunite families with their loved ones, both living and deceased.

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered the oldest known communal worship site in the Levant, dating back approximately 35,000 years. The discovery, made in the Manot Cave in the Western Galilee, offers a unique glimpse into the spiritual practices of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. The ritual site, enclosed by natural stalagmites, features a turtle shell-shaped rock engraved with intricate geometric patterns. Researchers from the University of Haifa, Ben-Gurion University, and Tel Aviv University announced their findings on Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal PNAS.