Morning editorial priority was dominated by the historic selection of Deni Avdija to the NBA All-Star Game, providing a brief domestic respite before headlines shifted to a major corruption scandal involving the arrest of a southern mayor for embezzling war donations. By midday, the focus pivoted to the official reopening of the Rafah crossing for two-way pedestrian traffic and a constitutional crisis at the Knesset's 77th anniversary, where the opposition boycotted the plenum after Speaker Ohana excluded the Supreme Court President. The afternoon and evening were defined by a diplomatic breakthrough: the announcement that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi in Istanbul this Friday. This development coincided with reports of the Iranian regime's internal panic, as officials warned Ayatollah Khamenei that a U.S. strike could trigger a total collapse of the government amid a vanishing 'wall of fear' among the Iranian public.
