НАновости‼️: !שנה טובה ומתוקה – Happy New 5787 Year!

Dear friends and readers,

On the evening of September 11, Rosh Hashanah 5787 — ראש השנה תשפ״ז begins. The Jewish New Year arrives at a time when both Israel and Ukraine are once again acutely aware of the value of simple words: home, family, security, life.

We wish that the year 5787 will be a year of return — to normal life, to our families, to home. A year with fewer funerals and sirens, fewer alarming messages in the night, less waiting for a call from the front.

May good be stronger than evil, peace stronger than war, and hope stronger than fear. May homes in Israel and Ukraine be filled with light, love, and blessings.

שנה טובה ומתוקה — A good and sweet year!

Israel: hostages have returned home, but the wound of war remains

A year ago, one of the main wishes for Rosh Hashanah was heard in almost every Israeli home: to bring back the hostages from Gaza.

Israel enters the year 5787 with a different reality. In January 2026, the last Israeli held in Gaza, Ran Gwili, was returned home. All living and deceased hostages were returned to Israel.

For the country, this marked the end of one of the most painful chapters of the tragedy that began on October 7, 2023. But the end of the hostage story does not mean its consequences have disappeared. The families of the deceased, those freed from captivity, the wounded, soldiers, and entire communities in the south and north will continue to live with what happened for a long time.

Therefore, the wish for this Rosh Hashanah is different: may Israel never have to bring its people back from such captivity again.

North, Iran, Houthis: the war has changed, the threats remain

Israel greets the year 5787 not in silence.

In the north, the confrontation with Hezbollah continues. On September 10, the IDF reported the destruction of a large underground complex of the organization in the Ali al-Taher area in southern Lebanon. The situation surrounding the disarmament of Hezbollah remains one of Israel’s main security issues.

Syria has changed after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and the entire regional security system has changed. But the northern border has not become a peaceful place because of this.

Iran remains. The forces supported by Tehran in the region remain. The Houthis in Yemen are once again expanding their presence along the Red Sea these days, posing a threat to one of the world’s most important maritime routes — through Bab-el-Mandeb.

In other words, the threat map has changed, but the sense of danger for Israel has not disappeared.

НАновости — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency

And that is why this New Year we especially wish IDF soldiers to return home alive. Reservists — to once again become fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, students, doctors, programmers, and teachers, not people constantly waiting for a new צו 8.

Israel enters 5787 also on the eve of elections

This Rosh Hashanah will mark not only the beginning of a new year for Israel but also a very political autumn.

Elections to the Knesset are scheduled for October 27, 2026. The lists have already been submitted, and the decisive part of the campaign is beginning. Israeli society will once again debate — about security, responsibility for October 7, the future of Gaza, relations with neighbors, the economy, religion, and the state.

One can vote for different parties, see the future of the country in completely different ways, and argue until hoarse. But it would be desirable that in 5787 one question ceases to be a subject of dispute: Israel must remain a home where people feel safe.

Ukraine: the fifth year of the great war

For Ukraine, the new Jewish year also arrives under the sound of air raid sirens.

The full-scale war started by Russia in February 2022 has been ongoing for five years. The front line stretches approximately 1200 kilometers, and missiles and drones still reach far beyond its borders.

The beginning of September once again showed how far peace is. On September 8, Russia launched a heavy missile-drone attack on Kyiv and other regions. On September 11, the day Rosh Hashanah began, the capital of Ukraine woke up again after a Russian attack.

For Ukrainians, the war has long been measured not only by kilometers of the front. It is measured by the absence of people at the family table.

Some are now in the trenches. Others are in hospitals. Some remain in Russian captivity. Some are considered missing. Millions of Ukrainians continue to live outside their cities and outside their country, trying to build a new life while not losing connection with the old one.

Prisoners: the return continues

This is where Ukraine’s story is especially close to the Israeli reader.

Israel lived with the names of hostages for almost two and a half years. Their photos were on the streets, bus stops, squares, and in the windows of homes. Ukraine has been living with the names of its prisoners and missing for much longer.

Exchanges continue. Just in the summer of 2026, 466 Ukrainian defenders and 12 civilians returned home. On August 19, Ukraine and Russia conducted another exchange — 103 servicemen from each side.

But behind these numbers are thousands of families who still have no answer to the question: when will he return? When will she return?

There are also civilian Ukrainians illegally held by Russia or missing in occupied territories. Therefore, one of our wishes for the year 5787 is also for them:

may they meet the next festive table at home.

Negotiations have resumed — peace is not yet here

In recent days, there has been another cautious hope.

American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner once again visited Moscow and Kyiv, trying to bring negotiations to end the war into practical terms. After the meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the ideas proposed by the American side, which could become the basis for further work.

But there is no breakthrough yet.

Moscow and Kyiv still fundamentally disagree on the issue of territories and the conditions for ending the war. Possible agreements on energy, grain trade, prisoner exchanges, and the future security system are being discussed.

Therefore, it would be wrong to greet the year 5787 with promises of imminent peace.

But we can wish for something else: that diplomacy finally begins to be measured not by the number of meetings but by the number of people who have stopped dying.

Israel and Ukraine: not the same wars, but feelings understood by each other

It is not necessary to claim that the wars of Israel and Ukraine are the same. They are different in history, opponents, geography, and circumstances.

But there are things that today an Israeli does not need to explain to a Ukrainian — and vice versa.

What a siren in the middle of the night is.

What it means to automatically look for the nearest shelter.

Why the message “I’m okay” is sometimes more important than a long conversation.

What parents of a person on the front feel.

What an empty place at the family table looks like.

How much a person can want not victory speeches, but just one ordinary morning when children go to school and no one checks the news immediately after waking up.

Perhaps this is where the connection between Israel and Ukraine exists today, which cannot be measured by official statements and diplomatic protocols.

Together towards the light

The editorial team of НАновости — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency thanks everyone who stays with us.

We continue to write about Haifa and Kyiv, Tel Aviv and Odessa, Jerusalem and Lviv. About people who help each other, fight, heal, save, return home, raise children, argue, make mistakes, and still continue to live.

Rosh Hashanah is not a promise that everything will suddenly be fine.

It is an opportunity to once again wish that the next year will be better than the previous one.

That there will be no new hostages in Israel.

That soldiers will return to their families.

That Ukraine will return its prisoners and its people.

That rockets and drones will stop determining the schedule of our lives.

That the word “home” will once again mean a place where it is safe.

שנה טובה ומתוקה! Happy New Year, friends!

May the year 5787 be a year of life, return, and peace.

May there be more reunions than farewells in Israel and Ukraine. More births, weddings, and family celebrations than reports of losses. More light in the windows — and less light from explosions in the night sky.

Peace to Israel. Peace to Ukraine. Health to our families. And may all those who are awaited at home return.

שנה טובה ומתוקה — A good and sweet 5787 year!