The Israeli right has rejoiced after US president-elect Donald Trump nominated ardent supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iran hawks to his incoming administration.

Nominees including Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defence secretary, and Mike Huckabee, the future US ambassador to Israel, were adored on the Israeli right for their unflinching support for Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon. Huckabee has also supported their desire to annex the occupied West Bank.

Steve Witkoff, an American-Jewish real estate tycoon set to be Trump’s Middle East envoy, is also a prominent pro-Israeli voice in the US.

Nadav Shtrauchler, a political strategist who has worked with Netanyahu, said: “The Israeli right is thinking of moving independence day to November 13. They could not have dreamt of appointments like these . . . it’s a major blessing.”

The appointments project “strength, determination, and this is a good thing for the US but also good for us”, Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, told Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday. “This doesn’t mean that everything we want they’ll say yes, but I think the attitude will be that of someone who understands the situation.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister of national security, posted “Mike Huckabee” on X alongside emojis of a heart and American and Israeli flags.

Others, such as incoming UN ambassador Elise Stefanik and mooted secretary of state Marco Rubio, are also known for their staunch support for Israel.

A video of Rubio telling pro-Palestinian activists in the halls of Congress that he rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, shortly after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered the war, went viral across Israeli social media this week.

“I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on,” the Florida senator said of Israel. “I think Hamas is 100 per cent to blame [for the civilian deaths in Gaza] . . . Make sure you post that please.”

Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, needed little introduction to the Israeli public, with her broadsides against US university presidents last year over allegedly unchecked campus antisemitism garnering mass attention.

Senior ministers in the Netanyahu government — the most far-right in Israel’s history, which includes many settlers — are making plans for the coming Trump administration.

On Tuesday, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said 2025 would be “the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”, using the Jewish biblical name favoured by Israeli nationalists for the West Bank, which Palestinians see as the heart of a future state.

Huckabee used the same terminology for the territory when asked on Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday whether the Trump administration would greenlight annexation.

Trump “already demonstrated in his first term, that there has never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel”, Huckabee said. “I fully expect that to continue.”

In his first term, Trump reversed years of US policy with pro-Israeli moves including recognising Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, which is disputed between Palestinians and Israelis.

Huckabee and Rubio are extremely well-known to the Netanyahu government, said a person familiar with Israeli thinking, with both having visited Israel’s prime minister on several occasions over the past year.

Hegseth’s nomination also received extensive attention, helped in part by a 2022 interview with the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 in which he admonished Joe Biden’s administration for actively undermining Netanyahu and his Likud Party.

“We have a deep state in America, there’s a deep state in Israel as well — [Netanyahu] had to fight through that,” Hegseth said at the time.

Since Trump’s election last week, Palestinian Authority officials such as President Mahmoud Abbas who were sidelined during the US president-elect’s first term have congratulated him but remained largely quiet on his administration picks.

One prominent Palestinian activist in East Jerusalem, Samer Sinijlawi, said he could easily see the incoming Trump appointments “being a catastrophe” for the Palestinian cause.

But he summed up the sense among many Palestinians that Biden had been disastrous during the past year of conflict. “I’ve never seen a president accept such humiliation” like Biden did from Netanyahu, he added.

“If Trump wants to do something then these aides will fall in line. He knows he’s the centre of the world,” Sinijlawi said.

Despite adulation for Netanyahu from the incoming Trump administration, some Israeli analysts and officials observed the president-elect is an unpredictable figure with his own priorities.

“There could still be challenges, and you may see a ‘bearhug’” from the Trump administration that could limit what Israel does, said Shtrauchler, the political strategist.

The person familiar with Israeli thinking said there is an understanding among Israeli officials that the US president-elect would like to “resolve the situations” in Lebanon and Gaza and does not want to see “all-out regional war between Iran and Israel”.

“It’s not like Bibi will have free rein,” the person added. “There was definite euphoria last week [when Trump won], and there is still great happiness now, but it’s a bit more realistic . . . Netanyahu and his people know they need to deliver.”

THOUSANDS of Brits are eligible for up to £75 in free supermarket vouchers, which will give them a boost as the cost of living increases.

From 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 the Government is providing support to a number of homes through the Household Support Fund which is worth £421million.

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Each council across England has been allocated a share of the pot and decides who to distribute the support to.

The funding will go to low-income households and will go towards food, energy bills, and other key bills, as well as other areas.

Part of the Household Support Fund is the issuing of vouchers for supermarkets to go towards essential food and household products.

“Funding is aimed at anyone who’s vulnerable or cannot pay for essentials,” the UK Government has said.

“You do not have to be getting benefits to get help from your local council.”

Applicants who prove that they are facing hardship will be awarded vouchers based on the size of their household.

Here are the varying amounts:

• Households with one or more adults will get £50 in supermarket vouchers.
• Households with one child will also get £50 worth of vouchers.
• Households with two or more children will get £75 of support.

Applications can be made through local councils and Citizens Advice.

People included in the target group for the funding include families with children, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, disabled people, larger families and single-person households.

However, there are other households that could also be eligible for the support as each council has its own criteria.

All applications will be processed on a case-by-case basis.

The documents included in the applications should include proof of ID, a recent pill or proof of address that you live in the council the funding comes from, evidence of benefits, and evidence of hardship.

Any voucher issued can only be used for essential items and food and cannot be sold for money.

Cash payments will not be issued in place of vouchers.

It should be noted that successful applicants will only get a one-off support offering per household.

The majority of vouchers will be e-vouchers sent to recipients via email which could take up to 72 hours.

Applicants who fail to provide an email address will receive their voucher in the post.

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Another form of support is being issued to those who have lost winter fuel payments.

Hundreds of households can apply for a £200 payment to help cover energy bills as part of the Household Support Fund.

It comes after the Government changed the eligibility criteria for the winter fuel payment meaning only those on certain benefits, including pension credit, will receive the up to £300 payment.

The best thing to do for either of these support packages is to contact your local authority to see if any help is on offer.

You can find what council area you fall under by using the Government’s council locator tool via Gov.uk.

The Sun recently shared a guide and interactive map to help those unsure figure out what they may be able to claim.

How has the Household Support Fund evolved?

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The Household Support Fund was first launched in October 2021 to help Brits pay their way through winter amid the cost of living crisis.

Councils up and down the country got a slice of the £421million funding available to dish out to Brits in need.

It was then extended in the 2022 Spring Budget and for a second time in October 2022 to help those on the lowest incomes with the rising cost of living.

The DWP then confirmed a third extension of the scheme through to March 31, 2024.

Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the HSF for the fourth time while delivering his Spring Budget on March 6, 2024.

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In September 2024, the Government announced a fifth extension.

PART of the job of being a travel writer is getting to stay in some extremely amazing hotels around the world.

Some of the best hotels I’ve stayed in were unforgettable – real bucket list stuff.

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There was the five-star overwater villa in the Maldives, where the entire room was glass-walled and sea-fronted, with new floral arrangements delivered every evening.

Or there were the stunning fairytale lodges in Kenya, where my pre-dinner entertainment was watching elephants come to the watering hole.

But if you ask me what my go-to hotel is? It’s the humble Premier Inn.

You probably think I’m mad for opting for a budget chain over bucket-list resorts, but let me explain.

Of course I love it when I walk into a sparkling hotel, where staff greet me by name with a glass of champers in hand.

But those kinds of places come at a price – with some resorts costing upwards of £1,000 a night.

As someone who has always been a backpacker and cheap traveller (my biggest bargain being an £8 hostel in the middle of a nightclub in Thailand) it’s hard to quantify that cost, no matter the glamour.

Yet the humble Premier Inn has never left me down, and all for the price of a meal out.

I’m apparently not the only one. A study conducted by the hotel chain in 2022 found that 83 per cent of guests would stay again after booking.

And that £39 base rate has looked after me in the form of clean, if not simple rooms.

If you don’t believe how much I loved a Premier Inn bed, then come to my house – I have the same pillows as the hotel.

They are also amazingly located in the middle of cities, next to airport terminals, or in ideal bases to explore the area.

And it always marks the start of something exciting.

The night before a long flight, not able to sleep with anticipation, or arriving just to drop my bag and get ready for a day exploring a new city.

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It’s ease of check-in and check-out beats a fancy resort, which always seem to take forever.

Not Premier Inn, where I dump my card in the morning and am out in seconds.

And I am the guest who gets Buffet Fear – that nervousness when there are just too many stations and options.

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with a classic English fry up, where you know what you’re getting every time.

Followed up by a croissant or three, of course, that you can sneak into your bag for laters…

I’m not saying I’m not a fan of a gorgeous hotel – I’m still dreaming of my beachside suite, after a trip to Turks & Caicos last year.

But the humble Premier Inn has a place in my heart. Purple pillows and all.

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Boohoo has urged investors to vote against Mike Ashley’s demand to be installed on the board of the UK fast-fashion retailer, saying the sportswear tycoon is “not suitable” for such a role.

The statement in a circular to investors published on Wednesday is the latest salvo from Boohoo after Ashley’s company Frasers, its largest shareholder, accused the struggling retailer of mismanaging the business and criticised a £222mn refinancing.

Investors will be able to vote on whether to appoint Ashley, as well as restructuring specialist Mike Lennon, to the board on December 20.

“Frasers and Mike Ashley have history of exerting pressure on competitors, and shareholders should be concerned about the possibility of Mike Ashley joining our board,” said Boohoo.

Boohoo shares have plunged more than 90 per cent since their peak in mid-2020 when the retailer was buoyed by a boom in online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, it has had to contend with more subdued demand and higher day-to-day costs from factors including merchandise returns, as well as increased competition from rivals such as Shein and Temu.

Wednesday’s comments come as Boohoo this month promoted an insider to group chief executive, in a snub to Frasers, which had been demanding that Ashley be installed chief executive and director at the retailer.

Boohoo said on Wednesday that shareholders should ask themselves why Frasers would want Lennon, a practising insolvency expert, “in situ at Boohoo”. The company added that Lennon acted on several administration processes for Frasers and therefore was not “a suitable candidate for appointment as a director”.

Boohoo claimed Ashley was “conflicted and not a suitable appointment to the board” as his 73 per cent stake in Frasers meant he had “significant influence over its day-to-day decision making” at the group, a competitor to the fast-fashion retailer.

Ashley and Frasers declined to comment.

Boohoo insisted it was “not deliberately seeking confrontation with Frasers” after the group, known as Sports Direct, previously accused it of “stonewalling” in light of their recent interactions.

Ashley has locked horns with Mahmud Kamani, executive chair and co-founder of Boohoo, in recent months over the retailer’s strategy.

This month, Frasers warned Boohoo not to sell assets without shareholder approval after the fashion group, which also owns the Karen Millen and Debenhams brands, said it would carry out a strategic review that could lead to it being broken up.

Separately, Boohoo said on Wednesday that it would seek to raise about £40mn in fresh funds from new and existing investors as it posted a 15 per cent fall in revenue to £620mn for the six months to August 31, while its adjusted loss before tax widened to £27.4mn from £9.1mn the previous year.

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Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world

European leaders treated the first Donald Trump presidency as an aberration: something to ride out while limiting the damage, rather than the spur it should have been to make the continent’s security and economy more resilient. Trump’s re-election proves his first term was no one-off. For four years — and, if Trumpism becomes embedded, perhaps for longer — Europe’s greatest political and economic ally is going to have a president driven by self-interest and little regard for traditional alliances.

That presents European leaders, in the EU and beyond, with multiple problems. As well as facing US tariffs themselves, they may be caught in a trade war between the US and China, Europe’s biggest export markets. If Trump forces Ukraine into a deal with Moscow, they may face an emboldened Vladimir Putin. They must begin, quickly, to take more responsibility for the continent’s defence. Europe’s economy must be made more dynamic and competitive, and less dependent on ties with Washington and Beijing. The goal has to be to insulate Europe as far as possible from Trump-inflicted damage.

That task will be complicated by political realities. The EU’s sputtering Franco-German “motor” has stalled altogether after hitting gridlock in Paris and coalition collapse in Berlin. The UK, one of Europe’s biggest militaries and foreign policy voices, is outside the EU. Nationalist populist leaders in several countries see Trump’s return more as opportunity than threat. Others that fear their security is at risk may try to cut deals with the president. The risk is that everyone goes their own way. But for all those committed to preserving a liberal democratic Europe and its institutions, the guiding principle must be that Europe is strongest when it pursues collective action — where necessary through coalitions of the willing.

The earliest challenge may be Ukraine. European partners should for now help to strengthen Kyiv’s hand ahead of any negotiations. They should summon all possible diplomatic leverage to push for terms that preserve Ukraine, beyond the line of Russian control, as a viable postwar state — above all western security guarantees. If there is no deal but Trump withdraws US support, they must be ready to fill the financing gap themselves.

European states have to prepare, too, for a smaller American role in Nato, or even an end to the 80-year US commitment to European security. That means investing much more, individually and jointly, in building up Europe’s capabilities ranging from conventional forces to intelligence-gathering, to replace the US contribution. Not all Nato members have even met it, but the target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence already looks wholly inadequate.

Any chance of financing such spending will require limiting harms from Trump tariffs while rebooting Europe’s economy. Here, too, collective action is key — and on trade Brussels at least has a two-step strategy: to offer Trump a quick deal, or targeted retaliation if he opts for punitive tariffs. A substantial offer to buy more US liquefied natural gas, for example, might yet help to placate Trump while enabling Europe finally to ban Russian LNG imports.

The EU has a ready-made plan, too, to boost growth and competitiveness, in Mario Draghi’s recent 400-page blueprint. Much of this rightly involves removing barriers to business between EU countries and between its capital markets, and leveraging the scale of its single market. But EU leaders will have to find the will to implement it, and ways to finance the additional €800bn a year investment Draghi advocates.

Such calls for action may be more a matter of hope than expectation. But Europe has shown itself able to rise to historic challenges in the past. It cannot afford to muddle through the second, far more urgent, Trump wake-up call as it did through the first.