Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking at the Second Hanukkah Candle Lighting with IDF soldiers and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at the Western Wall, said: “If the Maccabees had failed, there would be no Huckabees, no Judeo-Christian civilization, and no United States.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on tariffs: “This is fundamentally a national security issue.” “If the Supreme Court rules the other way, it would be a loss for the American people. Just look at the decline in fentanyl deaths after President Trump was able to impose fentanyl-related tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada.”

Germany’s Quantum Systems and Ukraine’s Frontline Robotics have formed a joint venture to mass-produce combat-proven Ukrainian drones in Germany, with all production dedicated to Ukraine’s armed forces. The companies said the move represents Germany’s first foreign-based manufacturing capacity fully focused on supporting Ukraine.

Orthodox Jewish passengers were violently assaulted and threatened on a crowded New York City subway train after being deliberately targeted by a group of attackers, according to a firsthand account. The witness said the attackers began verbally harassing the victims at the station, then boarded the train with them and escalated the violence once onboard. The assailants allegedly choked and beat the victims and issued death threats as the train continued along its route. “It happened about an hour ago on the 3 line,” the witness said. “We transferred from the 4 to the 3 at Franklin Station. They were already there, started cursing, got on the train with us, and followed us toward Kingston. We got off one stop early.” The incident reportedly occurred in full view of a packed subway car, with Orthodox Jewish passengers singled out, physically attacked, and threatened, while other riders looked on.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced and released footage of multiple strikes conducted earlier today, December 15, by forces assigned to Joint Task Force–Southern Spear (JTF-SS) against three suspected narco-trafficking vessels operating in international waters in the Eastern Pacific. According to SOUTHCOM, the vessels were traveling along a known trafficking route and carrying illicit narcotics. Eight men were killed in the strikes — three aboard the first vessel, two on the second, and three on the third — all believed to be members of a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO).

According to an exclusive report by *The Washington Post*, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and other senior Pentagon officials are preparing to present a sweeping reorganization plan to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the coming days. The proposal would downgrade several U.S. Unified Combatant Commands and rebalance authority among the military’s top generals, advancing a consolidation effort long advocated by Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration. If approved, the plan would bring some of the most consequential changes to the military’s senior leadership structure in decades. It would reduce the prominence of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), U.S. European Command (EUCOM), and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) by placing them under a new umbrella organization called U.S. International Command (INTERCOM). The proposal also calls for reorganizing U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) into a single entity overseeing the Western Hemisphere, to be known as U.S. Americas Command (AMERICOM).

Barak Ravid reports that a U.S. official said Prime Minister Netanyahu has turned himself into a global pariah over the past two years, adding that he should reflect on why Egypt’s President Sisi refuses to meet with him and why, five years after the Abraham Accords, he has still not been invited to visit the UAE. The official added that while the Trump administration is putting in significant effort to repair the situation, it will not waste time trying to expand the Abraham Accords if Netanyahu is unwilling to take the steps necessary to de-escalate tensions.

Two soldiers killed in an ISIS-affiliated attack on Saturday in central Syria have been identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Both were serving with the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard, which is currently deployed to the Middle East.

Turkey’s Ministry of Defense announced that an unidentified drone approaching Turkish airspace over the Black Sea was shot down earlier tonight by a Turkish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon.

Newly released footage from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) shows a first-of-its-kind underwater drone strike on the Russian port of Novorossiysk in the Black Sea. The video captures “Sea Baby” unmanned surface vessels penetrating the harbor and at least one making direct impact on a Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, inflicting significant damage.