Jooish News

WASHINGTON (VINnews) — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that while the conflict involving Iran carries near-term risks, it could ultimately improve prospects for lasting peace in the Middle East CNBC reported.

“I think the Iran war makes it a better chance in the long run — it’s probably riskier in the short run, because we don’t know the outcome of it,” Dimon said at a Washington conference, speaking with Palantir executive and former Rep. Mike Gallagher.

Dimon highlighted a convergence of interests among regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the U.S. and Israel, noting Gulf nations are showing greater willingness to pursue stability.

“The attitude is not what the attitude was 20 years ago,” he said. “They all want it.”

The conflict, which began last month after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, has roiled global markets and driven up oil prices. Stocks rose earlier this week after President Donald Trump suggested there had been talks about a “complete and total resolution,” though Iran denied discussions were occurring.

Dimon tied peace and stability in the region directly to economic investment, noting Gulf nations depend on foreign capital that would decline amid unrest.

“They can’t have neighbors lobbing ballistic missiles into their data centers,” he said.

Dimon also addressed U.S. preparedness, criticizing reliance on China for critical components and warning that tensions over Taiwan could escalate. He called for stronger domestic manufacturing and industrial policy.

Winning conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, he added, “would be very helpful” in addressing long-term challenges related to China.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has privately urged President Donald Trump to press ahead with military action against Iran, portraying the conflict as a strategic opening to alter the balance of power in the Middle East, according to a report published by The New York Times.

Citing sources familiar with high-level discussions, the report said the Saudi leader recently communicated to American officials that the campaign should continue until Iran’s hard-line regime is brought down. He reportedly maintained that Iran represents an enduring danger to Gulf nations that cannot be neutralized without removing its current leadership.

The report indicated that Saudi Arabia’s stance does not fully align with Israel’s outlook. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also sees Iran as a major threat, some observers believe Israel may consider a significantly weakened Iran—mired in internal turmoil—as an acceptable outcome. Saudi officials, however, are said to view such instability as a direct and ongoing security risk.

Saudi Arabia has publicly rejected claims that it is pushing for an extended conflict. In an official statement, the kingdom said it favors a diplomatic solution and is maintaining close coordination with Washington. It stressed that its immediate priority is protecting civilians and infrastructure from continued attacks.

At the same time, officials in both Washington and Riyadh are increasingly concerned that a drawn-out war could lead to further Iranian strikes on critical energy facilities and pull the United States into a prolonged military engagement. Iranian retaliation has already shaken oil markets and contributed to regional instability.

President Trump’s public messaging has varied, at times pointing to possible de-escalation while also leaving the door open for expanded military action. He recently said there had been “productive conversations” aimed at ending the conflict, although Iranian officials denied that any such talks were underway.

According to The New York Times report, the crown prince has also discussed the option of striking Iran’s energy infrastructure and has voiced support for broader military steps. These conversations reportedly included potential operations targeting major oil installations.

The stakes for Saudi Arabia are considerable, both economically and from a security standpoint. Iranian actions have affected key maritime corridors, including the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil shipments. Even alternative export paths have come under threat.

Officials and analysts cited in the report said Saudi leaders fear that ending the war without substantially weakening Iran would leave the region exposed to further attacks. At the same time, they recognize that a prolonged conflict could damage the kingdom’s economy and hinder its long-term development plans.

In a separate report last week, Reuters said Gulf Arab countries have cautioned against any outcome that would allow Iran to retain the ability to threaten energy infrastructure. Sources told Reuters that Iran’s recent actions have underscored its capacity to strike critical facilities and disrupt shipping lanes.

Reuters also reported that the United States has been urging regional allies to publicly back the joint US-Israeli campaign, as President Trump seeks wider support for the operation. Gulf officials expressed growing concern about Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and the potential consequences for oil exports and broader economic stability.

According to those sources, Gulf leaders are balancing the risks of escalation against the dangers of leaving Iran with significant military strength. While coordination among regional countries remains limited, there is increasing focus on strengthening defensive cooperation.

{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Air Force issued a joint statement Tuesday announcing the elimination of Muhammad Ali Kourani, a Quds Force terrorist operating in Lebanon who was planning terror attacks against Israel under Iran’s direction.

Acting on intelligence from the IAF, the Israeli navy conducted the strike in Beirut that killed Kourani. The military emphasized that Kourani belonged to the Quds Force and was taking direction from Iran. The Quds Force operates as an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite unit that conducts operations in foreign countries and provides support for Iran’s proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas.

According to the statement, Iranian intelligence continues to operate in Lebanon to provide guidance for terror attacks to local operatives.

“The IDF and ISA will continue to thwart Iranian terrorist activity in Lebanon and remove any threat posed to the civilians of the State of Israel,” the statement said.

According to the news outlet Aleph, Kourani survived a strike in Hamzieh three weeks ago, having left the targeted Comfort Hotel moments before the strike.

A large-scale rocket attack from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Tuesday evening, leaving one woman dead and several others wounded, as emergency and security teams responded across multiple impact sites.

A total of 38 rockets were fired toward northern communities, with several landing near the Machaneyim Junction area. A woman at the scene sustained critical injuries from the blasts and flying shrapnel, while two others were hurt lightly.

Emergency responders from Magen David Adom rushed to the location and began administering urgent medical care to the critically wounded woman. Despite their efforts, she was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Security personnel and rescue teams continued to comb through the affected areas, checking for additional victims and assessing potential damage caused by the heavy barrage.

In a separate earlier incident, a missile launched from Iran struck in the south, seriously injuring a doctor from the Bedouin community and causing lighter injuries to his wife and two young children.

The injured man, who works at Soroka Hospital, had just returned home after an extended shift and had gone to rest when the missile struck.

Magen David Adom teams treated the injured family members at the scene before transporting them to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva. Warning sirens sounded across the Negev region and areas surrounding Gaza during the attack.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF said Tuesday it carried out another round of strikes over the past day targeting gas stations in Lebanon linked to the Al-Amana fuel company. Hezbollah controls the company, which generates millions of dollars in revenue that funds the terrorist organization. These strikes represent the military’s effort to choke off the flow of funds to Hezbollah.

The IDF said it incapacitated refueling stations used by Hezbollah to refuel trucks used in the transport of weapons and fighters.

This video from X purports to show a strike on a gas station in Lebanon.

The military said that the gas stations, which pay for Hezbollah’s operations, provide more evidence of the terrorist group’s use of civilians and civilian infrastructure as cover for its terrorist activities. The strikes heavily damaged Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon, putting a significant dent in its ability to plan attacks and carry out operations as nimbly as before. In addition, the IDF said the strikes represent part of a broader push to disrupt Hezbollah’s assets linked to the Al-Qard al-Hasan association in Beirut, a financial institution that provides more civilian cover for Hezbollah’s financial activities.

Credit: IDF

“The IDF is operating decisively against the Hezbollah terrorist organization in response to its deliberate decision to attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian terror regime,” the military said in a statement. “The IDF acts to remove threats to the civilians of the State of Israel.”

State environmental officials will gather in Jackson to dedicate New Jersey’s first newly constructed wildfire observation tower in nearly eight decades and demonstrate controlled burning techniques aimed at reducing wildfire risk.

The 133-foot Veterans Fire Tower, which replaces the longtime fire lookout tower that was dismantled in Lakewood in 2024, is the first addition to the state’s fire tower system in 78 years, expanding a network that now includes 21 towers used to detect and track wildfires across New Jersey.

As earlier reported, the new tower is anticipated to provide a modern observation point for spotting wildfires and enhancing early detection capabilities across Ocean County woodlands and surrounding areas. Construction at the East Veterans location has been underway through 2025, with the new structure designed to continue the essential role once filled by the Lakewood station.

Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will lead the event at the state Forest Service Nursery, where officials say the new structure represents a significant investment in wildfire monitoring and response infrastructure.

The event will also feature a prescribed fire demonstration conducted by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, giving attendees a rare opportunity to observe controlled burning operations. Prescribed fires are a key tool in reducing forest fuel loads and lowering the risk of large, uncontrolled wildfires.

Peak wildfire season in New Jersey typically runs from mid-March through mid-May, making early spring a critical time for both prevention and public awareness efforts.

Following remarks by Potosnak, State Firewarden and Forest Fire Service Chief Bill Donnelly will discuss the strategic importance of the new tower, while Assistant Commissioner John Cecil will outline how prescribed burns help protect lives, property and natural resources.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will follow the presentations, after which officials will conduct the live prescribed burn demonstration.

A planned terror attack on a shul in the Netherlands was foiled by the police last week, b’chasdei Hashem. Explosives were found near the building.

On Friday morning, around 1:15 a.m., the police in the town of Heemstede in northern Netherlands, about a 20-minute drive from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, noticed two teenagers behaving suspiciously. The suspects, teens from Amsterdam, were questioned at the scene and then arrested.

Detectives had been monitoring the building, which houses a Chabad center, partly due to attempted attacks in recent weeks on a shul in Rotterdam and a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

Following reports about the attempted attack, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) issued a statement: “Dutch authorities have foiled a planned attack on a synagogue in Heemstede, where multiple explosive devices were discovered in close proximity to the site.”

“This attempted attack comes amid a wave of recent incidents targeting Jewish institutions in the Netherlands and across Europe, including attacks in Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Liège.

“The discovery of explosive materials near a place of worship is extremely alarming and highlights the serious and ongoing threat facing Jewish communities. Preventing this attack likely averted potentially devastating consequences.

“This incident underscores the urgent need for heightened vigilance, strong intelligence cooperation, and reinforced protection of Jewish sites. Authorities must ensure that those responsible are identified and that any wider networks behind these attempts are dismantled.

“Jewish communities must be able to live, gather, and pray in safety. Attempts to terrorize them will not succeed.”

The Iran-linked Islamic Ashab al-Yamin terror organization claimed responsibility for the attacks in the Netherlands as well as more recent attacks in London and Antwerp.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The Pentagon has directed elements of the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to the Middle East, including its command structure and an infantry brigade of several thousand troops, according to U.S. officials.

The 82nd Airborne specializes in rapid deployment, with forces trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to seize and secure key infrastructure such as airfields.

Kharg Island, Iran

Officials say the move represents a significant reinforcement of U.S. forces in the region, coming amid rising tensions with Iran and increasing indications that Washington is preparing contingency options, including the possibility of a ground operation.

The UK government announced it will replace Hatzalah ambulances destroyed in the antisemitic arson attack in Golders Green.

The Department of Health and Social Care said replacement vehicles will be provided, with temporary ambulances already being loaned by the London Ambulance Service starting immediately.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting strongly condemned the attack, calling it “shocking, cowardly, and despicable,” and said it targeted both the Jewish community and a life-saving emergency service.

He stressed that the government will cover the cost of replacing the destroyed ambulances and ensure Hatzola can continue responding to emergencies without disruption.

“The aim of these attackers is clear – they want Jewish people in this country to live smaller lives, to live less Jewish lives, to be less visible as Jewish people, and to fear going about Jewish life – whether that’s attending school or providing the services and support that makes the Jewish community one of the most resilient, strong, and proud communities in the country.

Hatzola’s volunteers represent the very best of public service, providing rapid, life-saving care to anyone in need, and it is appalling that such a service has been targeted in this way.

Of course, the best form of solidarity is practical solidarity, which is why today, our London Ambulance Service colleagues are providing support to the team in Golders Green to make sure that we don’t skip a beat when it comes to responding to emergency call-outs. We will also be providing four replacement ambulances, initially on loan until we can provide permanent replacements. The Jewish community should not bear the cost of this hatred.

This moment demands more than practical support. The Jewish community will not stand alone – the government and this entire country stand with them.”

The Iran-linked Ashab Al-Yamim terror group claimed responsibility on Monday for the arson attack on four Hatzolah ambulances in Golders Green, London.

The terror group released a video claiming responsibility for the attack, but unlike its previous videos, the footage did not show the suspects carrying out the act.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Andrew Kolvet, a host associated with The Charlie Kirk Show, said Monday that he provided private text messages from the late Charlie Kirk to then–National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, but denied any involvement in their eventual public release, which later fueled conspiracy theories.

Kolvet explained that he shared the messages with Kent shortly after Kirk’s death as part of efforts to gather information, but said he declined a subsequent request to make them public. The texts later surfaced through Candace Owens, a conspiracy theorist who has used them to advance claims about Kirk’s death.

Kent, who stepped down from his role in the Trump administration last week after issuing a letter critical of Israel and its “influence,” is reportedly under FBI investigation over allegations that he leaked classified material.

Addressing the controversy on his show, Kolvet first aired remarks from Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, who accused Kent of being the source of the leak:

WOLICKI: “The way that those screenshots got to Candace is via Joe Kent. Andrew Kolvet, Andrew was in the chat group as well. He was one of the nine people in the group and he admitted — at first, be perfectly honest, at first he was denying it, we didn’t know how Candace got them — but then he admitted on the air on his show that he had given these text messages, and he gave them to-, he said that on the show that he gave them to someone in the government.

“He told us that, that he gave them to someone in government. Joe Kent was someone that we knew that there was a relationship there between Charlie, and Andrew, and Joe. We knew that when Charlie would visit Washington, D.C., he would talk to Joe. We kind of verified that the messages had been given by Andrew to Joe Kent, and that Joe Kent had been the one to pass them on to Candace.”

Kolvet responded by confirming part of the account while pushing back on the conclusions being drawn.

“All right, so ‘verified’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I do want to confirm what I can confirm, and that is that, yes, in the immediate aftermath, I did provide the group chat to Joe Kent,” said Kolvet. “We don’t throw around accusations recklessly here, we don’t. There’s a lot people who do that online, we don’t do that. We think that’s keeping in the spirit of Charlie’s spirit, and the way we choose to do things is we try and be responsible. So, yes, in a spirit of looking at every lead, turning over every stone, we wanted everybody that needed to know, to know anything that we knew. Not just-, I mean, and by the way, we’ve been accused of not being interested in the truth-”

Kolvet’s co-host Blake Neff then clarified the broader context of the controversy for listeners:

“And just to remind people what this is referring to, this is after Charlie’s murder, there were text messages that, from a private group chat, that were made public and were used to, frankly, kick off the big conspiracy theory that we’ve run into over and over again, which is that Israel or the Jews had Charlie murdered. Which we do not believe,” interjected co-host Blake Neff to set the stage.

“Which we do not believe,” agreed Kolvet, before continuing with his account:

“But we have been accused of trying to-, or we’re not interested in the truth. The actual fact of the matter is that behind the scenes, we have given everything we know to give, every single piece of information. This was one of them. I was told I could trust Joe Kent, I provided the screengrabs to Joe Kent, and that I don’t know what happened to them at that point, okay? I just want to make that very clear.

“Eventually, Joe did message me and suggest that I make those screengrabs public. I declined because those were shared privately, I didn’t want to be reckless with them in the public, there could be innocent people on that group chat that would then be harmed. So I declined. But then, fast forward another week or two, and they were made public. So that’s what I know, is that Joe suggested that they be made public, I declined, then they were made public. Can I 100% categorically say that he leaked them? No. But those are the facts. Maybe somebody on his team, maybe they got passed around, maybe somebody else leaked them. But that’s-, those are the facts of the matter. And that’s what I know.”

The messages at the center of the controversy were shared by Owens, who has pointed to them as supposed evidence of a broader geopolitical plot behind Kirk’s killing, rather than the actions of Tyler Robinson, the defendant in the case, who claimed responsibility and said he targeted Kirk over his views on transgender issues.

Among the messages circulated publicly were statements attributed to Kirk, including: “Just lost another huge Jewish donor. $2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker. I’m thinking of inviting Candace,” and “Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes. I cannot and will not be bullied like this. Leaving me no choice but to leave the pro Israel cause.”

Owens has continued to promote the theory that Israel may have been involved in Kirk’s death, a claim that has been widely disputed by those close to him.

{Matzav.com}

There will bezh be a special pre pesach evening event tonight from Hashkafa in the Workplace

The event will be held at 8:30 PM at Beru, 2373 US-9, Toms River, NJ. Attendees can look forward to an engaging program featuring R’ Elya Brudny, Rosh HaYeshiva of Mir Yeshiva Brooklyn, and R’ Yosef Elefant, Maggid Shiur at Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim. The evening will include a Q&A session moderated by R’ Shragi Malinowitz, Rav of Khal Shaarei Tefillah in Hampshire Hills.

The schedule for the night is as follows:
• 8:30 PM – Doors open
• 8:45 PM – Address by R’ Elya Brudny
• 9:15 PM – Q&A Panel featuring R’ Elya Brudny and R’ Yosef Elefant, moderated by R’ Shragi Malinowitz
• 10:15 PM – Maariv

Light refreshments will be served throughout as well as a light hot fleishigs at the end, all attendees will receive an Artscroll Mesillas Yesharim (while supplies last), sponsored by Bernath & Rosenberg.

The event is supported by several sponsors, including LaundryTime, TYH, Bernath & Rosenberg, Queen Lighting, and Z&Co.

It’s over. The last pretense has been stripped away. Tucker Carlson — the man who spent decades insisting on patriotism and Western values — has finally said the quiet part so loud that even his own allies can’t cover for him anymore.

In a new episode of his show, Carlson looked into the camera and declared that “Sharia law has made Islamic societies more advanced than the West.” He said Western cities are in “moral and physical decay.” He gushed about the “stability,” “pride,” and “self-confidence” of theocratic Gulf states — countries that stone apostates, persecute Christians, and have spent centuries making Jewish existence a crime.

His defenders, pathetically, argue that he never explicitly called for Sharia law in America. Congratulations. The bar has now been set at “did not openly call for theocracy.” By that standard, Carlson squeaks by. By any other standard — the standard of a man who claims to love his country, who claims to be a Christian, who built his brand on defending the West — he is an abject, humiliating fraud.

For years, critics who pointed to the logical endpoint of Carlson’s worldview were dismissed as hysterical. He was just asking questions. He was just challenging consensus. He didn’t really mean it. Now he has looked into the camera and told you exactly what he thinks — that the civilization built on liberty, pluralism, and the traditions he pretends to revere, is rotting and inferior to systems of religious authoritarian control.

Tucker Carlson is not a conservative. He is not a patriot. He is a man who despises his own country, holds Jews in contempt, and has found a spiritual home among the enemies of everything America claims to stand for.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF said Tuesday that the Golani Brigade took down eight terrorists in a targeted ground operation in Lebanon last week.

The army said that the troops, operating under the command of the 36th Division, are continuing targeted missions to strengthen Israel’s forward defense position in southern Lebanon. Last week, they identified several locations where terrorists were operating.

These weapons were discovered in a tunnel shaft the terrorists used to get around. (Credit: IDF)

The troops engaged the terrorists in close combat, while the brigade’s fire control center directed ground and air support. A Radwan Force sniper was among those killed. The Radwan Force is an elite unit made of specialized, deeply experienced fighters that is highly trained in cross-border infiltrations and other special operations, including urban warfare, ambushes and raids.

During the ground operation, Golani troops discovered and dismantled the tunnel shaft from which the terrorists had emerged and which was found to contain dozens of weapons, including anti-tank rockets, Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and grenades.

By Y.M. Lowy

Residents in Boro Park got an unusual sight as a police chase moved through the neighborhood, something that doesn’t happen often in this area.

The incident began after a vehicle was reported stolen out of Queens, with the NYPD 106th Precinct alerting the 62nd Precinct that the car was heading into their area. From there, NYPD units began pursuing the vehicle, while police helicopters flew overhead following the chase.

The car sped along Ocean Parkway, continuing onto 18th Avenue, then turning toward McDonald Avenue before heading to 20th Avenue and 86th Street.

The pursuit came to an end when the driver crashed into a pole near the train station. The suspect then fled the scene on foot.

Police remained on scene following the crash and are continuing their investigation.

An Israeli man was detained at Egypt’s Taba International Airport after putting on a tallis and tefillin, preventing him from boarding his scheduled flight. He was ultimately released and allowed to depart only after intervention by Israeli officials.

The incident comes as growing numbers of Israelis have been using Taba Airport as an alternative travel hub due to ongoing restrictions at Ben Gurion Airport. The Egyptian facility, located about a 40-minute drive from the Taba border crossing, has become a key point of entry and exit. However, Egyptian authorities have shown heightened sensitivity toward visible Jewish religious practices.

Aviel, an Israeli passenger on the same flight, described the tense atmosphere in an interview with Ynet. “I arrived at the airport early. It’s a very small terminal with no internet and almost nothing there. We were flying to Athens on a plane carrying 180 Israelis. Sitting next to me in the terminal was a chareidi man studying Gemara and gently swaying. Suddenly, an Egyptian security officer rushed over and said that praying in the terminal was forbidden. He demanded his passport immediately.”

Aviel said he stepped in to assist, explaining to the officer that the man was studying rather than praying. The explanation appeared to satisfy the officer, who then left the man alone.

Later, while passengers were waiting to board, another Israeli traveler took out a tallis and tefillin. At that point, a military officer confronted him, stating that prayer was not allowed and demanding his passport. The young man was detained and removed from the area, missing his flight.

Following intervention by Israeli authorities, the traveler was eventually released and permitted to board a later flight.

Reflecting on the incident, Aviel said, “In Egypt, you have to be extremely careful. It was genuinely frightening. They are not willing to allow anyone to pray there. People were afraid to speak up or get involved.”

{Matzav.com}

A large and destructive cyberattack has struck Israel’s private sector, with roughly 50 Israeli companies having their digital systems effectively erased in what can be described as one of the most severe cyber incidents in recent years.

According to Israel’s National Cyber Director, Yossi Karadi, the attack was not a standard data breach or money-making attempt, but a “wiper” operation designed to destroy the digital infrastructure. In most cases, hackers accessed sensitive information, and then they systematically deleted servers, backups, and critical business data, which left many companies unable to operate.

The attackers gained entry through compromised credentials and unsecured access systems, allowing them to move laterally within the networks undetected. Once inside, they established control over systems before deleting commands that make recovery extremely difficult.

Affected businesses range from small to mid-sized companies that lack proper cyber defenses, making them more vulnerable to this type of sophisticated hacking attack. In several cases, the entire process was done within minutes.

Israeli authorities have been dealing with tens of thousands of cyber incidents annually, but note that this latest wave represents an alarming shift toward destructive attacks meant to cause long-term economic damage rather than espionage or short-term disruption.

Cybersecurity officials also remind us that there is effectively “no ceasefire in cyberspace,” with Iranian-linked hacker groups continuously trying to disrupt Israeli infrastructure, businesses, and government systems.

All Israeli companies are urged to immediately strengthen cybersecurity defenses, including multi-factor authentication, and secure backup systems. Additional attacks are likely, and organizations must prepare for increasingly aggressive and destructive tactics.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced Tuesday that Israeli forces intend to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, spelling out for the first time the country’s stated goal of seizing territory amounting to nearly a tenth of Lebanon as a permanent “defensive buffer.”

Speaking at a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would “control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani”, a river that meets the Mediterranean approximately 30 kilometers north of Israel’s border. He described the effort as establishing a “forward defensive line,” with buildings near the border being cleared and demolished to “push the threat away from communities.” He drew an explicit comparison to Israel’s approach in Gaza.

The announcement drew immediate pushback from Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed terrorist group called a potential Israeli occupation south of the Litani an “existential threat” to the Lebanese state, and senior lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah vowed resistance. “We have no choice but to confront this aggression and cling to the land,” he told Reuters.

A day earlier, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich went beyond Katz, calling outright for Israel to annex southern Lebanon up to the river. “The new Israeli border must be the Litani,” Smotrich said on Israeli radio Monday, adding that the military campaign “needs to end with a different reality entirely.”

Israel last occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 until its withdrawal in 2000.

Israel has destroyed five bridges over the Litani since March 13 and accelerated the demolition of homes in Lebanese villages near the border, which it characterizes as part of a campaign against Hezbollah infrastructure. Under international law, attacks on civilian infrastructure are generally prohibited.

Lebanon on Tuesday declared Iran’s ambassador persona non grata, giving him until Sunday to leave the country, a move Beirut said did not constitute a severing of diplomatic ties with Tehran. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar praised the decision.

Lebanon’s president said Tuesday the war could have been avoided had Israel withdrawn from occupied areas in the south and honored the 2024 ceasefire deal. U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Washington and Tehran may be nearing an agreement to end the broader conflict, though Iran has denied any negotiations with the U.S. are taking place. Whether a Lebanon ceasefire would be part of any such deal remains unclear.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Long security lines at airports caused significant delays not only for travelers but also for federal investigators responding to the deadly runway accident at LaGuardia Airport, slowing the early stages of the probe until intervention from transportation officials.

The incident occurred Sunday night when an Air Canada aircraft struck a Port Authority fire truck that was crossing the runway shortly after the plane landed. The fire truck had been dispatched in response to a report from a United flight about a possible odor inside the cabin. The collision killed both pilots aboard the Air Canada plane and left dozens injured, requiring hospitalization. In the aftermath, LaGuardia Airport was shut down and is expected to remain closed through at least Tuesday afternoon.

At a press briefing Monday, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy outlined the initial steps taken in the investigation and acknowledged the challenges her team faced in getting to the scene.

According to Homendy, investigators started arriving at approximately 3:10 a.m., though several members of the team were still traveling at the time of her remarks, meaning a full day of investigative work had not yet taken place. She noted that many questions remain unanswered and said she wanted to “set expectations,” particularly given the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

“We have DHS that is shut down, and we have long TSA lines,” she said. “Our air traffic control specialist, who was in line with TSA for three hours, until we called — in Houston — to beg, to see if we can get her through, so we can get her here. So it’s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they’re still arriving as we speak.”

Later Monday, CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean discussed the situation on AC360, telling Anderson Cooper that the crash reflects broader strain within the aviation system.

Muntean explained that while issues surrounding TSA funding and staffing were not directly responsible for the crash itself, they are contributing to wider disruptions across the aviation sector, including passengers missing flights and delays affecting investigative work.

“They can’t even get their people here,” said Cooper.

Muntean also reacted to Homendy’s account of the delays, highlighting that officials had to “beg” to get a crucial investigator, an air traffic control specialist, through security after she had already been waiting for hours.

He further referenced new reports indicating that pilots had previously raised concerns about congestion at LaGuardia, warning that the airport’s heavy traffic levels could pose serious risks. Some of those warnings compared conditions at LaGuardia to those preceding a deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January 2025 involving an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, which resulted in no survivors.

“There’s some really, really key telltales here,” Muntean concluded. “And I have to tell you, I’ve been covering near collisions for years here at CNN. And it was very interesting that we were reporting on collisions that did not happen. Now we’re reporting on collisions that are happening. It’s a very bad dream.”

{Matzav.com}

A village trustee election in Monticello, New York is facing questions after multiple voters reported never receiving absentee ballots they had requested — while absentee voting surged to levels that fully reversed the in-person results and handed victory to the incumbents.

The March 18 election, which drew candidates for two Village Trustee seats and a Village Justice seat, was administered by the village itself rather than the Sullivan County Board of Elections, which confirmed the race falls outside its jurisdiction.

In-person voting on Election Day favored the challenger. Aron Grunwald, running on the Monticello United line, received 129 in-person votes, compared to 107 for incumbent trustee Gordon Jenkins and 101 for incumbent trustee John Barbarite.

The absentee count told a different story. Jenkins and Barbarite each received 313 absentee ballots. Grunwald received 76. The incumbents won both seats.

Absentee ballot volume in this election was dramatically higher than in prior village races. Whether that surge reflects legitimate turnout, aggressive ballot collection, or something else is among the questions now being raised.

A number of voters say they formally requested absentee ballots and never received them — and received no notice of denial or explanation for the failure. The voters raising these concerns are Jewish residents of Monticello who were unlikely to support the incumbents.

Whether the non-delivery was widespread, how many voters were affected, and whether it was concentrated among any particular demographic are questions that have not yet been answered.

Because Monticello administers its own elections, responsibility for sending out absentee ballots and publishing legal notices falls to Village Clerk Janine Gandy-McKinney. Gandy-McKinney is, by multiple accounts, a close longtime associate of current Village Mayor Rochelle Massey and serves in her administration.

One of the winning candidates, Gordon Jenkins, is Massey’s husband. Jenkins currently holds the positions of deputy mayor and trustee. He previously served as village mayor before being removed from that position by order of the State Supreme Court.

Gandy-McKinney has not responded to requests for comment and clarification from YWN.

Legal notice of the election was reportedly sent to a press distribution list the evening before polls opened. New York law requires advance publication of election notices within specific timeframes. From the information provided to YWN, proper notice was not provided and published in this case.

Mayor Massey has faced criticism from Jewish community members in prior election cycles over campaign rhetoric they described as fearmongering about the Jewish community’s presence and growth in Monticello. That history has added urgency to the concerns being raised about this election’s administration.

The Sullivan County Board of Elections said the race is outside its jurisdiction. Sullivan County District Attorney Brian Conaty was contacted about the matter last week. He has not responded.

No state or federal authority has publicly announced any review of the election. The New York State Board of Elections and the state Attorney General’s office have not commented.

For now, the election results stand. The voters who say they never received their ballots have no formal process through which to challenge the outcome — at least not yet.

Whether the missing ballots were the result of administrative failure, something more deliberate, or a combination of factors remains unknown. What is clear is that an election administered by a partisan appointee, in which absentee ballots surged dramatically and determined a result that in-person voting had pointed the other way, has produced serious unanswered questions — and so far, no one with authority to investigate them has stepped forward to do so.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Following the devastating Iranian strike on Dimona and Arad Saturday, the small neighboring Bedouin community of Tel Sheva rushed to Facebook to offer the over 100 wounded messages of solidarity along with offers to help. Chief among these was Sager Abu Srehan, a father of six and vice principal at the Amal Reut School.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Srehan explained why he felt the need to help, first highlighting his pride in belonging to Israeli society. His six children now serve as doctors, physical therapists, nurses and chefs, and he is pursuing a master’s degree in Management and Conflict Resolution at Ben-Gurion University. He explained that the two societies, Arab and Jewish, are intertwined, and both face the same danger.

 “We live together with the Jewish society as brothers,” he explained. “I think the real reality is what matters. We live together with the Jewish society as brothers, on the same land and under the same sky. We study together, work together, and this country belongs to all of us. We are people who belong here and who love our country. The partnership between us as a society, with many examples of cooperation, is what creates the beautiful colors in the mosaic of Israeli society.”

Sager Abu Srehan. (Credit: Courtesy)

“The same missile does not distinguish between Bedouin and Jew, and therefore we must always stand together, make use of every moment, and continue educating for the love of the land,” he asserted. “We must always stand together, make use of every moment, and continue educating for the love of the land.”

Srehan added that the values of his community shape how he approaches situations like these.

“Helping in difficult times is not something special we do once; it is part of our DNA as a Bedouin society,” he said. “That is why, whenever there is a need, you will always find the Bedouin community among the first to come and help. We believe that in times like these we must stand together, support one another, and show that we are one society living in one country, sharing the same fate and the same future.”

“In my opinion, people are measured in situations like these, and I believe the Bedouin community has never hesitated to help and contribute,” he added. “We saw this clearly during the events of October, when the Bedouin community mobilized and gave a lot. Joint aid centers were established for both Bedouin and Jews.”

The father, principal, and student also discussed the difficulties the Bedouin community faces amid the war, living in unrecognized villages, which means these areas are unprotected without adequate shelters.

“A large part of our community lives in unrecognized villages, where there are no protected shelters, and this creates a very big challenge and puts people in a difficult situation,” he said.

“I truly hope the state will be able to provide proper protection solutions, because it is not easy, especially when people live in very limited conditions, sometimes even in tin structures or tents,” he explained. “I am not saying this in order to blame anyone, but rather with the hope that the state will find a professional and fair solution to this problem.”

Srehan concluded the interview by reaffirming his community’s offer to help. “Our homes are always open to all residents of Dimona and Arad,” he said. “I hope the war will end soon and that we can return to normal life.”

NEW YORK (VINnews) – Mitchell Silk, a chassidic Jew who rose to serve as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Markets, is featured in a new episode of the podcast “Behind the Bima,” offering a rare look at a career that bridged religious life and global finance.

In a conversation with Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, the senior rabbi of Boca Raton Synagogue and a widely followed lecturer and podcaster, Silk recounts his path from yeshiva study to the highest levels of government, where he played a key role in international economic policy and U.S.-China financial negotiations.

Silk, who grew up in Chicago and later built a career as a leading lawyer in China-related finance, is widely recognized as an expert in Chinese law and infrastructure investment. Fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin — skills he began developing while working in a Chinese restaurant as a teenager — he went on to study in Taiwan and China before entering private practice and eventually government service.

He became the first Hasidic Jew to hold a Senate-confirmed senior position in a U.S. administration, serving under President Donald Trump and helping shape major initiatives involving global energy, infrastructure finance and trade, including work tied to U.S.-China economic agreements.

In addition to his government and legal career, Silk is also the author of several books, including works on international finance and Chinese law, as well as a widely noted English translation of classic Chassidic teachings.

The podcast episode explores how Silk balanced his chassidic identity with a high-profile career in international finance, moving between Borough Park and boardrooms in Washington and Asia, while remaining grounded in his religious values.

The discussion is part of the podcast’s ongoing series highlighting personal stories at the intersection of faith, leadership and public life.

Today’s interview focuses on a problem that many people face when kashering for Pesach. New-age technology = new-age problems. How do you kasher glass stovetops? Can they be kashered at all? What about induction stovetops? Let’s hear what Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Administrative Rabbinical Coordinator at the cRc, has to say on this timely topic.

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Transcription

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Hello everyone and welcome back to Let’s Talk Kashrus presented by the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Today I am privileged to be joined by Rabbi DovidCohen, administrative rabbinical coordinator at the cRC, the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Rabbi Cohen, how are you? 

R’ Dovid Cohen: Amazing. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: It’s great to have you back. 

It’s been a little while since we did an episode together. Today we’d like to discuss a very fascinating but very practical topic that’s important to many people, especially as we approach Pesach and that is glass stovetops. So tell us the _halachic_status of glass stovetops as it relates to kashering them. Can that be kashered and if yes how? 

R’ Dovid Cohen: Right so that’s a really good question because we’re Ashkenazim and Ashkenazim don’t kasher glass. 

We know we don’t kasher glass. So your first look at it you say no this is impossible I can’t possibly kasher this material. So in order to answer that question we have to back up a drop. Okay why don’t we kasher glass? Sephardim consider glass doesn’t absorb at all. 

So it’s a chumra. The Rama says it’s a chumra that like some shitas that it’s a little bit like cheres. A little bit we treat it like a kli cheres something made of ceramic or porcelain that we can’t kasher that the Torah says you can’t kasher so glass is a little bit like that because it’s made in a similar way. Okay the way they manufacture it is similar. 

So since it’s a chumra the Rama says some place else whenever we’re kashering things as with libbun as a _chumra_we can do a lighter kind of libbun. We call it libbun kal. You get away with not as strong of a libbun as you would really require if it was cheres. If it was cheres you have to put it into its burning super hot you know a thousand degrees. 

But for this you can get away with a little since it’s only a chumra to treat it like that you get away with a lesser temperature. Okay now that lesser temperature is he describes it as kash nisraf the amount of heat that would cause a piece of straw to burn on the other side. It’s so hot but it’s not as hot as libbun. libbun I said thousand it’s probably 850 degrees but you don’t have to have that hot but you still have to have like about 450 500 degrees really hot that it could burn a piece of straw on the other side. So when we as Ashkenazim are used to saying we don’t kasher glass that means we don’t _kasher_glass with hag’ala with hot water. 

If we do libbun kal if we heat it up with enough temperature to make it kash nisraf to make it that hot that we can _kasher_like that. So that’s our goal. We want to kasher it by making it as hot as kash nisraf. We’re not we can’t do hag’ala you can’t pour boiling water on it like on I don’t know your stone counter but you can do it by making it kash nisraf. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Okay we know there’s a principle of k’bolo kach polto. So how does that apply to glass where we’re you know how does that determine what type of _kashering_you could do for a glass? 

R’ Dovid Cohen: Okay so k’bolo kach polto is used for two purposes. It’s to decide which type of kashering it needs does it need libbun or hag’ala like that type and within those what the level of it. Let’s say if I only poured something _chometz_onto my counter I can kasher it by pouring something onto it. 

So within the levels I can choose that. But what when I’m in the when I require libbun like on a glass I need libbun you don’t get to choose what temperature it is. You can’t say as I’ll do a little higher or lower based on how hot the food was when it goes in. That doesn’t work. 

In hag’ala it does. In hag’ala if it was only 160 degrees I could kasher with 160 degrees but in libbun kind of things and even libbun kal it doesn’t work like that. So whatever the temperature was that’s the temperature. Okay so what we’re our goal here is to get libbun kal we want to get it heated up. 

So you say I know how to get it heated up it’s easy it’s got electric coils underneath it so you turn it on it’s gonna get nice and hot. Okay so that brings us to another complication and that’s because there’s another din which is when we _kasher_something and we make it hot let’s say with in this case with heat with fire the fire has to be or the water has to be on the side where the food was not on the side where the fire was. So in this case where was the chometz or the treif that’s on my glass counter? That was on the top part of it. Well where’s the coil that I have? The coil that I have is underneath. 

The coil is underneath so usually let’s say when you think about kashering your counter by pouring boiling water onto it the chometz would have been on the counter and the water is going to be on the top of the counter so you’re doing it the right way. Here the fire is underneath and the food was on the top. Okay so that’s not the way to kasher. You can’t kasher by putting heat on the wrong side. 

So some people argue back and they say no but for libbun it’s different. Maybe with libbun it’s different and you don’t you could have the fire on the wrong side. Okay now there’s such a thing there’s a machlokes achronim about that but that machlokes is about libbun gamur when you make something burning hot like that’s even hotter and that’s because they say is because there it’s as if the thing is on fire itself the whole thing is on fire. But it doesn’t work for libbun kal. 

So some people say it’s okay it’s only glass anyhow it’s just a chumra so it’s okay even though the fire is a little on the wrong side some people get away with that. And some people say no, lema’aseh you have the fire on the wrong side. Okay, so if you think like that, what should you do? What am I going to do? I have this, this is my stovetop, what am I supposed to do? So for that there’s a solution and that is basically he says I’m not going to kasher my stovetop. Okay, well how am I going to cook? What I’m going to do is I’m going to make sure my pots never touch the stovetop. 

And that’s by using these disks. These disks are really made for a different kind of glass stovetop, I’ll talk about that for a second afterwards, for an induction stovetop. And these are for induction stovetops, can only use certain kind of pots on them, ferromagnetic pots. So if you don’t have that kind of pot in your house, you put this disk down and the disk takes the role of that. 

But for our purposes, you can buy these on Amazon, any place, Target sells them, everybody you can buy them. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: What’s this called? 

R’ Dovid Cohen: It’s called an induction disk. It’s just really for our purposes it’s just a metal disk and the point is when you put this down on the stovetop, the pots that you have are not going to touch the stovetop. So I didn’t kasher my stovetop, you’re right I didn’t kasher it. 

Okay. But I didn’t ever put the pot on, I never put the pot onto the stovetop. Right. Okay, so this works and you can put these down. 

Just a word of caution that if you think about what you’re doing is you’re leaving this on your stovetop, it’s going to be burning hot. Okay. So you should not take this off, of course not with your hands. Okay. 

Even some people have burnt their gloves trying to take them off because they get so hot. And someone else told me, someone told me also they took it and they put it onto their counter, their counter was Formica and they melted, no I’m sorry, their Pesach counters were covered with something plastic, they covered it, they put this down, it melted right through that. So anyhow, it comes with a little handle to lift it off so you don’t have to touch the heat yourself and put it down someplace that can handle the heat. Okay. 

Now and it brings me to mention, I’ll mention two other things. One is even the glass stovetops if you kasher it by heating up the turning on the burners, it only kashers right around those burners. The space in between doesn’t get kashered. And one last thing was I mentioned quickly about the induction stovetops. 

Induction stovetops, I don’t know if you’re familiar with it, it’s a more modern kind of stovetop and in it it’s glass on top, but there’s no coils underneath it. When you turn it on you don’t see, it doesn’t get hot at all. Okay. And it works through, it’s not important how it works, it’s something called induction. 

It makes your pot hot but it itself doesn’t ever get hot. So those stovetops have no way to kasher them. You can’t get them hot, it just doesn’t work, there’s no way to get them hot. So for those you have to use these disks. 

That’s the only way to do it. You will not have kashered it and you just put your pot on top of that. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Any final thoughts on this topic as regards to Pesach or kashering from kosher to treif? Any other thoughts? 

R’ Dovid Cohen: The induction, the only final thought is about the induction I’ll just throw in. 

Induction has its own issues with Shabbos and _bishul akum_issues. In other words, if you think about it, an induction stovetop, when you pick your pot up actually the coil stops producing electricity. So it has Shabbos questions, it has other complications. If a person has an induction stovetop… 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Meaning turning it on is not going to help for if a goy… 

R’ Dovid Cohen: Right, when you turn it on nothing happens, but if a goy comes and puts food on, that’s a _bishul akum_problem. It’s a Shabbos issue also every time you put the pots on and off. So a person with an induction stovetop really needs to ask shailos. 

We were just talking about the kashering part of it. They have to just think about it, it has other complications. But for a regular stovetop again, some people will do what we said, turn on the coils and that kashers the area right around them. Right. 

And other people are not comfortable with that and they just use these disks instead. Excellent. Thank you so much.

U.S. officials said Tuesday that Iran has deployed naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, placing global oil shipments at risk as tensions in the region continue to escalate. According to a CBS News report citing American officials, at least a dozen mines have been identified in the critical maritime corridor.

The explosives were identified as Iranian-made Maham 3 and Maham 7 limpet mines, typically attached to vessels or placed in shipping lanes. Officials said the mines were likely deployed using small boats capable of carrying multiple devices, positioning them directly along routes used by commercial tankers.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply, making any disruption a significant global economic threat. The presence of mines could allow Iran to restrict or control passage through the narrow waterway, raising the risk of confrontation with international shipping and naval forces operating in the area.

The development follows repeated Iranian threats in recent days to mine the Gulf and potentially shut down the Strait if attacked. U.S. forces have already targeted Iranian maritime assets linked to minelaying operations, as part of a broader effort to maintain open navigation through the region.

Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D-Lakewood) to make it easier for New Jersey residents to retrieve their towed vehicles or personal property has advanced, marking a step forward in reducing unnecessary burdens on drivers.

The bill, A-3986, requires towing companies to accept electronically transmitted authorization—such as an email or digital form—from a vehicle’s owner or operator allowing a third party to pick up the vehicle or its contents on their behalf.

Under current practice, many towing companies require the owner to appear in person, even in situations where it is impractical or unnecessary—such as when a vehicle has been declared a total loss by an insurance company or is being transferred directly to a repair facility.

“This is about removing a needless obstacle for people who are already dealing with the stress of a breakdown or accident,” said Assemblyman Schnall. “If your insurance company or repair shop is ready to handle your vehicle, you shouldn’t have to take time off work or travel just to stand at a counter and give permission you could easily provide electronically.”

The bill clearly defines a “third party” as an insurance company, a collision repair shop, or any individual designated by the vehicle owner. It also directs the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs to establish guidelines ensuring that all electronic authorizations are handled securely and legally.

Importantly, the measure strengthens consumer protections by tying compliance to the state’s Predatory Towing Prevention Act. Violations could result in significant penalties, including fines of up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 for repeat violations, along with additional legal consequences.

By modernizing the process, the legislation aims to save residents time, reduce frustration, and streamline coordination between drivers, insurers, and repair facilities.

“This is a common-sense fix that reflects how people live and do business today,” Schnall added. “Government should make things simpler, not harder.”

Israel’s top cyber official said Tuesday that Iran is stepping up its efforts to harm the country through cyber warfare, even as Israeli defenses continue to block major threats to critical systems and the broader economy.

Yossi Karadi, who leads Israel’s National Cyber Authority, said during a public appearance that the country’s cyber operations are not only protecting infrastructure but also helping secure the nation’s future. “I truly believe we are managing to change our children’s future. I see a better future and I think we deserve it.” He noted that Israeli cyber units have successfully prevented serious damage to essential infrastructure and have thwarted attempts aimed at disrupting economic stability.

He stressed that the digital battle is constant and far from over. “This is a war that is ongoing all the time. It is not over,” he emphasized.

During Operation Roaring Lion, Israel’s Cyber Directorate documented more than 50 cyberattacks targeting the country. According to Karadi, roughly 20 separate hostile groups were behind these operations, involving hundreds of individual hackers.

He disclosed that approximately 50 Israeli companies and organizations were entirely erased in recent cyberattacks carried out by adversaries. Those affected are now working to recover their systems using backup data.

Karadi explained that beyond immediate disruption, attackers are deeply focused on gathering intelligence. He said engineering firms and civilian infrastructure are among the primary targets. “The question is not whether they are collecting information,” he said, “but when that information will mature into an operational purpose and actual use.”

He added that cyber campaigns are also aimed at individuals connected to Israel’s security establishment, defense sector, and academic institutions. In a troubling development, attackers are not limiting their focus to the primary targets but are also going after their family members.

Since the war began, the National Cyber Directorate’s emergency center, accessible via 119, has handled 4,019 reports. About half of those cases involved social engineering attempts. “These are only the reported incidents,” Karadi clarified. “If you want to reach the real numbers, you would need multiples of these statistics. Not everyone reports.”

Among the incidents he cited was an Iranian cyber operation that hijacked digital display boards at Israel Railways stations, broadcasting alarming messages such as “The subway is not safe right now.”

Authorities have also uncovered about 50 attempts by Iran to gain control of surveillance cameras nationwide. Karadi said Iran is working in coordination with Hezbollah in a broader campaign targeting cameras at sensitive sites. “There are even some active incidents that we are dealing with right now,” he said. “To be honest, the enemy has had successes in taking over cameras, but not ones that have strategic impact. Everything happens because of low protection levels and weak passwords.”

Karadi concluded by warning that Iran is investing heavily in shaping a perception of cyber dominance.

“I don’t sleep at night,” he admitted. “We see them trying again and again to attack energy, water facilities, and the financial sector.”

He cautioned that even if fighting on the ground between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah subsides, cyberattacks will persist. “We have seen this before – on the day after the ceasefire of Operation ‘Rising Lion’ took effect, the number of cyberattacks on Israel doubled. We must be prepared for that this time as well.”

{Matzav.com}

Following a string of five alleged terrorist attacks across Europe, four of which targeted Jews, a car was torched in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam. Two minors were arrested Tuesday in connection with the incident. No injuries were reported.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) claimed responsibility for the previous attacks. A journalist for a local paper posted a video showing two possible perpetrators fleeing from a burning car after dousing it with liquid. The video included a statement proclaiming that Antwerp was targeted for its “large Zionist community … [as] revenge for the blood of Palestinians” and that “operations will continue and intensify until the liberation of our occupied lands on beloved Palestine.”

The journalist, Bruno Struys, also reported that a local security service called Shmira said the fire was discovered and extinguished last night by a volunteer patrol.

Referring to the decision to deploy soldiers to protect Antwerp’s Jewish community, which arrived on the streets this week, Belgium’s defense minister, Theo Francken, posted, “Our military personnel are arriving none too soon. Requisition was the right decision.”

The defense ministry had published a report earlier this month following the March 9 attack near a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, that pointed to HAYI’s dissemination of propaganda that “spread quickly on Telegram channels affiliated with Shi’ite militant networks and pro-Iranian circles, including channels linked to Hezollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”

Israel, along with other Western countries, has pointed the finger at Iran, accusing the terror-sponsoring regime of gathering intelligence on Jewish locations for the purposes of terror attacks. Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said that the Netherlands was investigating Iran’s role in the recruitment of four teenagers responsible for a blast outside a synagogue in Rotterdam.

Steve Bannon said that the recent deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to assist at airports could serve as a trial run for a broader role in the 2026 midterm elections.

Speaking on his “War Room” program with conservative attorney Mike Davis, Bannon raised the idea of using ICE’s current involvement in airport operations as preparation for election-related activities.

“We can use what’s happening with these ICE [officers] helping out at the airports, we can use this as a test run, as a test case to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm elections, sir?” Bannon asked.

Davis responded by expressing support for the presence of immigration officers at polling locations.

“Yeah, I think we should have ICE agents at the polling places, because if you’re an illegal alien you can’t vote, right? It’s against the law, it’s a federal crime for you to vote in federal elections.”

“And so, if you’re an American citizen, you should be happy that ICE is there, because you’re not going to have illegal aliens canceling out your vote,” he added.

“Exactly,” Bannon replied. “Pick ‘em out of line starting today, and maybe the lines will get shorter.”

The comments come as ICE and Homeland Security Investigations personnel began assisting Transportation Security Administration officers at airports across the country on Monday. The move follows staffing shortages tied to the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which has led to an increase in resignations among TSA personnel and longer security lines nationwide.

Tom Homan, who is overseeing the effort as the White House border czar, said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Cuomo Mornings” that ICE officers are not conducting security screenings themselves, but are instead helping with other responsibilities, such as managing entry and exit points at checkpoints.

President Trump told reporters Monday that the deployment was “my idea.” He also said in an interview with NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt on Sunday that ICE agents would assist TSA officers “for as long as it takes.”

Following his discussion with Davis, Bannon reiterated his support for expanding ICE’s role, suggesting their responsibilities could extend beyond airports.

“They’re trained to, wait for it, check IDs,” he said, referring to ICE officers. “That’s why it’s perfect training for the fall of 2026. This is why it’s such a brilliant [move], this is another 5D chess move from President Trump.

“Let’s get ICE into the airports to help out [with] the lines and they can’t work the [X-ray] machines. You know what they’ll do, they’ll just walk on down [and say], ‘Hey, we’re going to speed things through, can we check your IDs?’ That’s what’s going to happen in the fall of ‘26 because folks, we’re tired of having elections stolen. So, ICE is going to be there in the fall of ‘26, just like they’re in the airports today.”

{Matzav.com}

A theft from a residence on Ocean Avenue led to the arrest of a Lakewood man, police said today.

On March 19, at approximately 6:00 p.m., officers responded to a report of a theft that had occurred earlier in the day. According to police, the victim reported that an unknown individual entered her backyard while she was away and removed a bicycle and a leaf blower before leaving the area.

Following an investigation, officers identified Anthony Bivins, 47, of Lakewood, as the suspect. He was later located in the area of Pine Cone Liquors on Second Street and taken into custody without incident.

Bivins was charged with theft and defiant trespassing and was transported to the Ocean County Jail pending court proceedings.

BERLIN (AP) — Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea, racing against time in an effort to save its life.

Experts gathered Tuesday morning on the Timmendorfer Strand beach to find a way to get the 10-meter-long (30-feet-long) mammal off the ground after the high tide around midnight was not sufficient for the animal to swim free, German news agency dpa reported.

Earlier rescue efforts on Monday afternoon with police boats, inflatable boats and the help of firefighter drones guiding the rescue efforts were also unsuccessful.

The animal is still alive, breathing, making sounds and occasionally lifting its head, Carsten Mannheimer of the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd told dpa.

So far, all rescue efforts have proven difficult.

People from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research observe a whale washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

Rescuers initially managed to turn the whale so its head was pointing toward deeper water, hoping it could find its own way back there, but the animal then turned back to its previous position. Boats from the coast guard and the fire department passed by, creating large waves in the hope of freeing the animal — but also without success, German public broadcaster NDR reported.

The animal, which weighs several tons, cannot actively be pulled back into deeper water because it could be seriously injured in the process, experts said.

“If the whale can’t get off the beach, it’s a death sentence for the animal,” Sven Biertümpfel of Sea Shepherd told NDR, adding that the whale’s condition is deteriorating by the hour.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also seems to be the same whale that has been spotted several times in the port of Wismar in eastern Germany in recent weeks.

It was not immediately clear why the whale got stranded, but rescuers found parts of a fishing net wrapped around the body of the whale, which they managed to cut off.

In the meantime, police cordoned off the beach area with construction fences to keep a large crowd of onlookers at bay.

“It is very important that the animal does not become even more stressed,” police spokesperson Ulli Fritz Gerlach said.

A cost guard boat patrols near a whale which washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

Standing at a distance from the scene, strollers were out and about on the beach, moved by the struggle of the whale.

“Poor thing. I hope he can still be saved,” said Stefan Stauch, who had come with his wife from the nearby village of Scharbeutz. He said they had heard the whale’s sounds during the night.

“We had hoped that the rising tide during the night would free him, but that didn’t work out.”

The Supreme Court’s review of Mississippi’s mail-in ballot law is unfolding against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s push to curb mail-in voting during his second term, underscoring a wider national debate over how elections should be conducted.

Trump has taken steps to restrict the use of mail-in ballots, including signing an executive order aimed at eliminating them in federal elections. Several Republican-led states have already moved in that direction.

The dispute now before the justices, however, stems from a separate legal battle. The case centers on a challenge brought by the Republican National Committee against Mississippi’s voting law, which was adopted after the COVID-19 pandemic and permits ballots to be counted if they arrive up to five days after Election Day.

During oral arguments, Mississippi officials faced pointed questioning from conservative members of the court, who raised concerns about potential long-term consequences. The justices posed a series of hypotheticals about where such policies could lead, including scenarios involving early voting and ballots cast by American troops stationed overseas.

“If history teaches anything,” Justice Neil Gorsuch noted, “[it is that] as soon as anything is allowed, it will happen.”

Gorsuch continued to press attorneys on how far states could extend their deadlines for accepting ballots if the court were to uphold Mississippi’s law.

“If we were to rule against you, is there anything that would limit a state from allowing a receipt by election officials up until the day of the next Congress?” Gorsuch asked at one point during arguments.

Paul Clement, representing the Republican Party and Libertarian voters, argued that siding with Mississippi could create virtually unlimited flexibility for states in setting their own rules.

“Maybe the next state can figure out a way to have an election without anybody even receiving anything, I don’t know,” Clement said. “That seems to me to be a large reason why Election Day should mean ‘Election Day.’”

Justice Samuel Alito also appeared sympathetic to the argument that Election Day should be understood as a fixed point in time, rather than a window that stretches beyond a single day.

“We have lots of phrases that involve two words, the second of which is ‘day,’” Alito interjected, before listing “Labor Day, Memorial Day, George Washington’s birthday,” and Independence Day, he said, adding that “they are all particular ‘days.'”

“So if we start with that, if I have nothing more to look at than the phrase ‘Election Day,'” he said. “I think this is the day in which everything is going to take place, or almost everything.”

At its core, the case reflects an ongoing legal struggle over how much authority states should have in setting election procedures, particularly when federal contests are involved.

The issue arrives as the justices are also considering other major election-related disputes this term, including cases involving redistricting based on race and limits on coordinated spending between political parties and candidates.

Attorneys representing Mississippi argued that federal law requires only that ballots be cast by Election Day, not necessarily received by that date.

Lawyers for Mississippi told the court that an “‘election’ is the conclusive choice of an officer… So the federal Election-Day statutes require only that the voters cast their ballots by Election Day.”

“The election has then occurred, even if election officials do not receive all ballots by that day.”

Republican officials say the case is critical to maintaining trust in the electoral system and preventing prolonged vote-counting periods.

“Watson v. RNC is about a simple principle: ballots must be received by Election Day,” Ally Triolo, the communications director for the RNC’s Election Integrity efforts, said Monday. “This prevents elections from dragging on for days and weeks after voters have cast their ballots, causing confusion and undermining our elections.”

A decision from the Supreme Court on the issue of when mail-in ballots must be counted is expected by June.

YS GOLD

The sixth of Nissan of this year marks one century since the passing of Rav Hillel HaKohen Klein, a major figure in New York Jewry of the last century, and a major activist in the rescue and relief efforts for European Jewry. 

Rav Hillel hailed from Hungary, and his father, Rav Zeev Zvi, was a talmid of the Chasam Sofer. As a bachur, he too entered the illustrious Yeshiva in Pressburg where he learned under the Ksav Sofer. He later learned under other gaonim of his era, including Rav Azriel Hildesheimer of Berlin. He married a granddaughter of Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch of Frankfurt. 

After a number of years of serving as a rov in Russia, the anti-Semitism became too much for him (the 1880’s were a particularly difficult time for the Jews of Russia, and saw mass emigration to the United States). He accepted the invitation of New York’s Rav Hakollel to serve as the rov of Congregation Ohab Zedek on Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side, and he remained there until his passing. 

He went on to become one of New York’s most influential rabbonim, and served on the Bais Din of the Rav Hakollel alongside esteemed rabbonim from that era. Simultaneously, he served in the leadership of numerous charitable organization, including Kollel Shomrei Hachomos and Agudas Harabanim of the United States. 

In his will, it is written that the 43,000 sefarim that were in his home should, after his passing, be donated to the yeshiva of Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan. He had served as the president of the yeshiva for three years and helped establish and support it through his benefactors. Indeed, to this day there is still a room in the yeshiva known as the library of Harav Hillel HaKohen Klein.

Rav Klein was niftar on 6 Nissan of the year 1926, and was interred in Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, leaving behind an incredible legacy of Torah activism and leadership. 

A senior Iranian official signaled that Tehran is not backing down, declaring that the war will continue until its demands are met, underscoring the wide gap between Iran and the United States despite recent talk of progress.

Mohsen Rezaei, a top military adviser to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, issued the warning in response to statements by President Donald Trump, who has suggested there may be movement toward a potential agreement.

Rezaei reacted sharply to earlier U.S. threats targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure—threats that Trump has since pulled back—making clear that Iran is maintaining a hardline stance even as negotiations continue.

“The war will continue until we are compensated for all our losses, all economic sanctions are lifted, and we receive international legal guarantees that Washington will not interfere in our affairs,” Rezaei said, outlining Tehran’s position.

He also issued a direct warning, escalating the rhetoric as tensions remain high.

“This time it will not be an eye for an eye, but a head for an eye, and you will leave the Gulf,” he said.

Rezaei’s demands stand in stark contrast to the conditions set by the United States and Israel. In recent discussions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vice President J.D. Vance, Washington made clear it would insist on the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, a complete halt to its nuclear program, and the return of strict inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Rezaei, who rose to prominence following the killing of Iran’s previous supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is considered one of the most influential figures in the current Iranian leadership. His appointment as a military adviser to Mojtaba Khamenei highlights his growing role in shaping policy.

Security officials assess that the divide between the two sides remains extremely wide. While Trump has projected optimism in public statements, Iran’s insistence on compensation, sanctions relief, and binding guarantees appears far from acceptable to Washington and Jerusalem.

Israeli officials have expressed concern that any agreement reached could fall short of fully addressing the threat, raising fears of a “partial victory” that satisfies political goals without ensuring long-term security. Rezaei’s remarks reinforce concerns that Iran may be using the negotiations to buy time and strengthen its position rather than move toward dismantling its nuclear program.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A major Russian drone and missile attack on civilian areas of Ukraine killed four people and injured at least 27, officials said Tuesday, while Moscow’s army stepped up efforts to break through Ukrainian front-line defenses in what could be the start of an anticipated spring ground offensive.

Russia fired almost 400 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, in its biggest attack in weeks. The onslaught continued into Tuesday morning as dozens of drones targeted the capital Kyiv during daylight.

Russia also launched 23 cruise missiles and seven ballistic missiles at Ukraine during the night, hitting at least 10 locations across the country, according to the air force.

Ukrainian civilians have endured relentless barrages since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago. U.S-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv over the past year have brought no respite, with Russia rejecting Ukraine’s offer of a ceasefire, and in recent weeks the Iran war has diverted international attention from Ukraine’s plight.

On the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line snaking along eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, the short-handed defenders have been bracing for a new offensive by Russia’s bigger army as the weather improves.

The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russian troops in recent days have made simultaneous attempts to break through defensive lines in several strategic areas.

“Fierce fighting unfolded along the entire line of contact,” Syrskyi said Monday on the Telegram messaging app, with Russia launching 619 attacks in four days.

“The occupiers are attempting to bring up new units and are preparing to continue attacks,” Syrskyi said, adding that Ukraine had deployed reinforcements to counter the assaults.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Syrskyi’s report backed up its assessment that Russia’s spring-summer offensive is now underway.

Russia has escalated its strikes since March 17 and has moved heavy equipment and more troops to the front line, the ISW said late Monday.

Each year, as the weather improves, Russia has moved its grinding war of attrition up a gear. However, it has been unable to capture cities and has made only incremental gains across rural areas. Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Ukraine has developed advanced drone technology to make up for its shortage of infantry.

Amid the Middle East conflict, Kyiv is offering Ukraine’s battle-tested drone defenses to U.S. and Gulf partners, hoping to trade that know-how for scarce Patriot air defense missiles it needs to fend off Russia’s barrages.

Ukraine has also used its domestically produced long-range drones to hit areas of Russia that support Moscow’s war effort. Russian air defenses intercepted 55 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian regions, the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Tuesday.

Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz said that the confrontation with Iran represents the most serious international danger since World War II, cautioning that inaction could lead to catastrophic consequences.

Speaking on Newsmax, Dershowitz described the stakes in stark terms, drawing a direct historical comparison to the period leading up to the Second World War.

“This is the most important war since 1939, since Nazi Germany,” Dershowitz said. “If Iran is allowed to develop nuclear bombs, [it] will do what Hitler did, and there will be millions and millions of deaths.”

He also emphasized the expanding reach of Iran’s missile capabilities, warning that the threat extends beyond the Middle East.

“We now know that its rockets can reach Europe, and ultimately, the United States,” he said. “So this is the most important war we have fought since the Second World War, and every decent person ought to join it.”

Dershowitz further argued that the United States should respond with unity across political lines, expressing concern that partisan divisions are undermining a coordinated response.

“The Democrats ought to join it in the United States. But they’re not, because they’re putting partisanship before national security,” Dershowitz said.

Referencing historical events, Dershowitz suggested that different leadership in the 1930s might have changed the course of history, invoking President Donald Trump in that context.

“Had President Trump been in charge in 1935, 1936, I think the Holocaust would have been prevented,” he said. “We’re preventing another Holocaust, a nuclear holocaust that Iran would clearly inflict not only on Israel, but on Europe.”

He also dismissed claims that Israel has dictated U.S. military decisions in the region, and raised concerns about ideological trends within domestic politics, particularly within the Republican Party.

“The Republican Party has to disassociate itself from its fascist neo-Nazi wing, which is growing within the Republican Party, particularly among young people,” he said. “It’s a real threat to America, to democracy, to American Jews, to Israel, and to American values.”

{Matzav.com}

Republican candidate Rob Canfield announced today that he is suspending his 2026 primary campaign for New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District after falling short of the required petition signatures to appear on the ballot.

“While we built real momentum and sparked an important conversation in this district, we did not meet the signature threshold required to move forward,” said Canfield. “That’s on me, and I take full responsibility.”

Despite the setback, Canfield made clear this is not the end of his effort—only the beginning of a longer fight.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Canfield continued. “Today, I’m announcing that I will be back on the ballot in 2028 to challenge Chris Smith and give Republican voters a real choice.”

Throughout the campaign, Canfield focused on what he calls the issues that matter most to Shore families: guns, debt, prices, and kids.

He drew a clear contrast on Second Amendment rights, criticizing Rep. Smith’s record on gun control measures and pledging to defend constitutional carry and roll back policies that treat law-abiding citizens like suspects.

“Republicans in this district deserve a representative who is unapologetically pro-2A—not someone with a mixed record when it counts,” Canfield said.

Canfield also highlighted what he described as a “rigged college-debt racket,” calling for 0% interest on all federal student loans and accountability for colleges that continue to raise prices without delivering results.

“Our kids are being crushed by debt before they even get started,” he said. “We need to end the scam—not bail it out.”

On the economy, Canfield emphasized the pressure facing working families and small businesses across Monmouth and Ocean counties, pointing to rising property taxes, high credit-card interest rates, and the growing cost of everyday life.

“Families are doing everything right—and still falling behind,” Canfield said. “We need to cap abusive interest rates, crack down on junk fees, and make it possible to actually build a life here at the Jersey Shore again.”

Canfield, a small-business owner, real estate broker, and firearms instructor, said the campaign built a foundation that will carry forward into the next cycle.

“We proved there is real appetite for new leadership,” he said. “Over the next two years, we’re going to grow this movement, expand our grassroots network, and come back stronger, more organized, and ready to win.”

Canfield thanked his supporters, volunteers, and donors who backed the campaign.

“This is just the first round,” he said. “We’ll be back—and we’ll be ready.”

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Nearly 20 years ago, on the 8th of Nisan 5766, a ruling by the High Court of Justice cancelled the authority of rabbinic courts to conduct civil monetary disputes according to Jewish law. The justices prohibited rabbinical courts from adjudicating monetary matters even when both parties fully agreed to uphold Jewish law in their litigation. Last night, this legal situation was reversed.

Two days after that ruling 20 years ago, Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, introduced a bill to allow rabbinical courts to adjudicate civil monetary disputes according to Torah law when both parties consent, as had been the practice since the establishment of the state until the High Court ruling. Term after term, Gafni failed to advance the legislation, but last night his bill passed its second and third readings by a vote of 65 in favor and 41 against, and it is expected to become part of Israeli law.

The bill stipulates that a “religious court” refers to a rabbinical court or a Sharia (Muslim) court, and that arbitration proceedings may be conducted only in civil matters, explicitly excluding criminal cases, administrative matters, personal status issues, cases involving the state or a local authority, and other matters listed in the law. It also states that a religious court may act as an arbitrator in a civil case only when all parties have expressed consent by signing an arbitration form, and only when the court has jurisdiction over personal status matters for at least one of the parties, or when all parties are corporations (for example, to bring a case before a Muslim court, at least one party must be Muslim, and both parties must agree to its authority).

In the version approved for the second and third readings, detailed provisions were added regarding consent and procedure. It was determined that a request to the court must be submitted with a signed form, and that a request may be filed even without all parties’ signatures, in which case notification will be sent to the non-signing parties. It was also established that “until a signed arbitration form is received from all relevant parties, the court shall not summon the parties for a hearing,” and no decision on the substance of the dispute will be made. Additionally, at the beginning of the process, the court must verify that the consent was given freely and clarify that the process is arbitration, not a judicial proceeding.

Compared to the original draft, which was more general, the final version also expands provisions regarding substantive law and oversight. It states that the court may rule according to religious law, but “a party’s substantive rights” under specific laws, such as women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the rights of people with disabilities, must not be harmed. It also establishes that the Arbitration Law will apply with modifications, that an arbitration ruling may be annulled if it contradicts this law, and that an arbitration ruling will have the status of a court judgment. Additional provisions were included regarding reporting to the Knesset, ministerial powers, and regulations, which were not part of the original draft.

Earlier in the day, opposition leader and head of Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, said: “Mark this day. Today is the day the status quo died—dead, buried, eliminated, canceled. It no longer exists and binds no one. There is no longer a status quo in matters of religion and state. Today it ends.”

“This ends today because, during wartime, after the coalition promised to bring forward only war-related legislation, the charedi factions pressured them last night into passing legislation that gives rabbinical courts arbitration powers similar to a court. There is a name for when rabbis receive the powers of a court: it’s called a halachic state,” Lapid said.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett vowed to “remove the disgrace of the Rabbinic Courts Law” if he was reelected.

Gafni dismissed the criticisms, stating that “Precisely during a time of war, when we need salvation from the Holy One, blessed be He, when two people come and wish to settle monetary disputes according to Torah law, with the full consent of both sides, what is wrong with that? The status quo here has existed and continues to exist!”

The President of the Higher Rabbinical Court, the Rishon LeZion Rabbi David Yosef, congratulated all those involved in its success and especially thanked the chairman of the Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, for his significant efforts in refining the law and formulating its professional wording.

Rabbi Yosef, who worked with coalition faction leaders to ensure the law’s approval, noted that “he hopes the law will lead to the elevation of Torah and the fostering of unity, as the rabbinical courts will provide a comprehensive halachic response to the evolving economic and social needs of the State of Israel.”

Chairman of the Constitution Committee, MK Simcha Rothman, said: “It is a great privilege for the Knesset that we are passing this law today. This is a correction of an injustice of many years. It is a simple and trivial proposal that should have been agreed upon by everyone, because there is nothing more liberal than allowing two adults to say they want to resolve a dispute between them by mutual consent according to Torah law.”

President Donald Trump has cast another mail ballot in Florida as he continues to publicly bash the voting method as a source of fraud and push Congress to curtail the practice.

Palm Beach County voter records show the president voted by mail in a Tuesday special election for state legislative seats and that his ballot has been counted. Early in-person voting in the contest ran through Sunday, when Trump was still at his south Florida estate.

The White House did not immediately return an Associated Press request for comment. Aides have said Trump’s ire is directed at states using universal mail-in voting, not individual voters who may not be able to get to a polling place.

Nonetheless, Trump has in the last week called mail-in voting “cheating” and “corrupt as hell.” He is urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act, a sweeping bill that would bar universal mail ballots and limit the options to a select few voters — such as those with disabilities, military commitments or who are traveling on Election Day. The measure faces steep odds in the closely divided Senate even with the president’s pressure.

Trump has fixated on mail ballots since he began falsely claiming that his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud. Multiple U.S. courts and Trump’s own attorney general have found no evidence of fraud that affected the outcome, despite the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the share of the electorate that cast mail ballots that year.

“We’re the only country in the world that does it that way. Corrupt as hell,” Trump said last week at the White House when hosting Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

Dozens of countries, including European democracies that are traditional U.S. allies, use some form of mail-in voting.

Trump said last week that the SAVE Act was the “biggest thing” pending in Washington, even as Congress and administration grapple with the Iran war and a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

Last August, Trump used a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to blast mail voting.

“We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” Trump said. “And it’s time that the Republicans get tough and stop it because the Democrats want it. It’s the only way they can get elected.”

The president, who changed his official personal residence and voter registration from New York to Florida during his first term, does not have a standing vote-by-mail request for all elections, according to the county records. That means he has to request a mail ballot for any individual election.

The ballot today includes Florida state House District 87 and Senate District 14.

Trump offered an endorsement late Monday in the House contest via his Truth Social platform.

“There is a very important Special Election tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th, for Florida State House District 87 in beautiful Palm Beach County. … TO ALL GREAT PATRIOTS IN FLORIDA STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 87: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR JON MAPLES! Polls are open from 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.” Trump wrote, without mentioning that he had voted by mail or at all.

The Florida election comes one day after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a Mississippi case questioning whether states can count mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but not received until later. Trump has criticized those allowances in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he called the “most hostile” state, state media said Tuesday.

In a speech Monday to Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament, Kim accused the United States of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East, and said the North will play a more forceful role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American sentiment. But Kim didn’t call out U.S. President Donald Trump by name and said whether his adversaries “choose confrontation or peaceful coexistence is up to them, and we are prepared to respond to any choice.”

His comments largely aligned with his statements at last month’s ruling Workers’ Party Congress, where he vilified Seoul but left open the door for dialogue with the Trump administration, urging Washington to drop its demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

State media said the Supreme People’s Assembly, which concluded its two-day session Monday, passed a revised constitution but did not specify the changes. There had been expectations the revisions would codify South Korea as a permanent enemy and remove references to shared nationhood. That’s in line with Kim’s hard-line stance after he declared in 2024 that the North would abandon its long-term goal of a peaceful unification with the South.

Analysts say Kim’s vilification of South Korea reflects his view that Seoul, which helped arrange his first meetings with Trump in 2018 and 2019, is no longer a useful intermediary with Washington but an obstacle to his push for a more assertive regional role. He has also shown sensitivity to South Korean soft power, driving aggressive campaigns to block the influence of its culture and language among North Koreans as he seeks to tighten his family’s authoritarian grip.

In his speech, Kim expressed pride in the country’s rapid expansion of nuclear weapons and missiles in recent years, calling it the “right” choice to counter future threats and “hegemonic pursuits” by “gangsterlike” imperialists, a term the North often uses for the United States and its allies.

“The dignity of the nation, its national interest and its ultimate victory can only be guaranteed by the strongest of power,” Kim said. “The government of our republic will continue to consolidate our absolutely irreversible status as a nuclear power and will aggressively wage a struggle against hostile forces to crush their (anti-North Korean) provocations and schemes.”

Kim has suspended all meaningful dialogue with Washington and Seoul since the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over U.S.-led sanctions on the North.

Kim has recently been prioritizing Russia in his foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology. Facing the possibility of the war winding down, analysts say Kim may try to keep his options open by taking a more measured approach toward Washington to preserve future dialogue, with the long-term aim of securing U.S. sanctions relief and tacit recognition as a nuclear state.

However, some experts believe that the United States and Israel’s joint attacks on Iran and the killing of Tehran’s previous supreme leader may have raised Kim’s bar for reviving dialogue with Washington.

Separately, North Korean state media said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit the country at Kim’s invitation, but did not immediately say when the visit will take place.

Russia is playing an indirect but significant role in Iran’s military operations against the United States and Israel, according to U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey, who said Moscow stands to benefit from the escalation due to its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Healey described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “hidden hand” shaping aspects of Iran’s battlefield strategy, arguing that the connection reflects overlapping interests between Moscow and Tehran.

According to reporting by The Guardian, Iran has launched more than 2,000 Shahed drones across the Middle East since the U.S.-Israeli campaign began on February 28. These same drones have been widely used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Healey made the remarks after visiting British military headquarters in northwest London earlier this month, where senior officers briefed him on evolving tactics being used by Iranian drone operators and their regional allies. Officials indicated that these forces appear to be adopting methods previously employed by Russian units.

Lt. Gen. Nick Perry, the U.K.’s chief of joint operations, told Healey that the developments suggest Russia may have shared operational guidance with Iran and its affiliated groups on how to deploy the drones more effectively.

“I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics and potentially, potentially some of their capabilities as well,” Healey said.

He added that Russia’s interest in the conflict is also economic, pointing to the surge in global oil prices.

“the one world leader that is benefiting from sky-high oil prices at the moment is Putin, because it helps him with a fresh supply of funds for his brutal war in Ukraine.”

Earlier this month, the Trump administration temporarily eased sanctions on certain Russian oil shipments in an effort to stabilize energy markets disrupted by the conflict with Iran, despite concerns that such a move could indirectly support Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

At the same time, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said that Putin denied providing intelligence or assistance to Iran during a recent conversation with President Donald Trump.

Despite those denials, Putin has publicly expressed strong backing for Tehran, offering what officials described as “unwavering support” and congratulating Mojtaba Khamenei after he assumed leadership following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, at the outset of Operation Epic Fury.

Putin has also pledged that Russia will remain a dependable ally of Iran moving forward.

According to Bloomberg, the relationship between the two countries has included years of military cooperation, with Iran supplying assistance for Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for access to advanced military knowledge. That cooperation has reportedly intensified in recent months as Iran confronts the United States, Israel, and Gulf countries.

“The lessons learned have been happening throughout the course of the war in Ukraine, but the implications now are here,” Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a former senior U.S. intelligence official now at the Center for a New American Security, told Bloomberg. “We’re seeing it now happen in real time, in a real case.”

{Matzav.com}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A confidential conversation took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. intermediary Steve Witkoff, with Jared Kushner also participating. The discussion carried a message explicitly approved by the highest levels of Iran’s leadership, according to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth.

The talks reportedly took place on a direct communication line between Tehran and Washington. Israel was not officially notified of the channel’s existence.

Although the parties chose not to inform Jerusalem, Israeli officials learned of the talks through independent sources. When U.S. President Donald Trump later publicly acknowledged the existence of the backchannel, Iran swiftly denied it. However, both American and Israeli officials confirmed that contacts had occurred.

Sources familiar with the content of the discussions told Bergman that Araghchi stressed he was operating with full authorization from Tehran. He reportedly stated: “I am here after we received Mojtaba Khamenei’s consent and blessing to close the matter as soon as possible, provided our conditions are met.”

Draft proposals were exchanged between the two sides, largely reflecting positions Iran had presented in earlier rounds of talks. Among the points discussed was the potential transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile to Russia. However, Iran made clear it would not relinquish its ballistic missile program and would not accept a complete halt to uranium enrichment on Iranian soil.

Prime Minister Netanyahu commented that “Our friend, President Trump, believes there is a way to leverage our progress in the war to achieve our goals by a deal that will preserve Israel’s interests. In the meantime, we continue to strike at both Iran and Hezbollah, and will protect our interests in any event.”

TEL AVIV, Israel (VINnews) — An Iranian missile strike hit a residential area of Tel Aviv early Tuesday, damaging multiple buildings and lightly injuring several people, Israeli emergency officials said.

Medics treated four people at the scene for minor injuries, none of whom required hospitalization, according to emergency responders. Authorities said most residents had taken shelter before the impact.

Images from the scene showed significant structural damage, including shattered facades, debris-strewn streets and a large crater where the missile struck. Officials said nearby residential buildings sustained heavy damage.

The strike was part of a broader wave of missiles launched from Iran overnight targeting multiple areas across Israel, triggering air raid sirens and sending residents into shelters.

Israeli officials said the attack followed a series of overnight airstrikes by Israeli forces targeting military and security sites in Tehran.

Emergency crews continued to assess damage in Tel Aviv as authorities warned the situation remained fluid.

Israeli prosecutors have unsealed an indictment against two brothers from the Jerusalem area accused of knowingly maintaining contact with an Iranian handler over Telegram and taking more than NIS 100,000 in cryptocurrency in exchange for security-related material. The charges, now public after a court lifted a gag order, include contact with a foreign agent and passing information to the enemy.

According to the indictment, the main defendant allegedly suspected from the outset that he was dealing with an Iranian operative, but kept the channel open anyway. Prosecutors say he used ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, and Google Maps to manufacture dossiers, coordinates, forged documents, and even an AI-generated verification image to convince the handler he had access to an IDF Unit 8200 soldier. Investigators say the material included supposed details about a future Israeli-American strike on Iran and lists of strategic targets inside the Islamic Republic.

A view of an Iranian missile after it fell near Qamishli International Airport, near the Turkish border in the Qamishli district of Hasakah, Syria, on March 4, 2026, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

What makes the file especially striking is that prosecutors say much of the intelligence was fabricated, but the operation was still very real. The indictment alleges the defendant dug up personal details of an Iranian civilian on Telegram, built a false narrative tying him to Israeli operations, and sent forged material that contributed to that man being detained and later cleared. The brothers’ lawyer insists they were trying to deceive the Iranian regime rather than help it, calling the indictment outrageous and claiming they should be thanked, not prosecuted. Israeli authorities clearly do not see it that way.

Over the past two years, dozens of Israelis have been charged in Iran-linked espionage cases, with Telegram repeatedly emerging as the entry point. Security officials say the pattern is consistent: small paid tasks lead to more serious requests, then to intelligence-gathering, surveillance, and in some cases alleged attack plotting. The volume of cases has grown enough that Israel opened a dedicated wing at Damon prison for suspects in Iran spy cases.

Tehran does not need every recruit to deliver genuine secrets to score a win. It needs channels, access, and Israelis willing to answer a message, take money, and normalize contact with a hostile regime. Research on Iran’s playbook shows these operations increasingly mix digital recruitment, social engineering, and AI-generated deception because they are cheap, scalable, and hard to detect early. This indictment is another reminder that the battlefield is not only in the air or on the border. It is also sitting in Israelis’ phones.

TOPSHOT – Missiles fired from Iran are pictured in the night sky over Jerusalem on June 14, 2025. Israel and Iran exchanged fire on June 14, a day after Israel unleashed an unprecedented aerial bombing campaign that Iran said hit its nuclear facilities, “martyred” top commanders and killed dozens of civilians (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of US Marines are expected to deploy to the Middle East this week as tensions with Iran continue, with their arrival aligning with President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report published Monday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing two US officials, reported that the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship based in Japan, along with the amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans, are set to enter the US Central Command area on Friday, carrying approximately 2,200 Marines.

According to the officials, the forces will require several more days after entering the region before reaching the Strait of Hormuz.

The deployment comes after Trump issued a warning to Iran over the weekend, demanding that it reopen the strategic waterway within 48 hours or risk military action targeting its power infrastructure.

Although that deadline was initially set to expire Monday, Trump later announced that he would extend it in order to provide additional time for diplomatic engagement between Washington and Tehran.

Trump also said that the United States has begun outreach to “very solid” individuals within Iran as part of efforts to facilitate talks.

Reports that followed suggested that Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, might be acting as Tehran’s representative in those discussions. However, Ghalibaf publicly denied that any such negotiations were taking place.

“Our people demand the complete and humiliating punishment of the aggressors. All officials stand firmly behind their Leader and people until this goal is achieved,” Ghalibaf wrote on social media.

According to the speaker, “No negotiations with America have taken place. Fake news is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped.”

{Matzav.com}

Iran on Tuesday appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as the new secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council.

He will replace Iran’s Ali Larijani, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week.

Zolghadr is a retired Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who had been serving as the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council. He also served as the Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

He appears on the sanctions list under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 due to his involvement in the Iranian regime’s nuclear and missile programs.

Zolghadr served as commander of the “Ramadan Headquarters” within the IRGC’s Quds Force, the unit responsible for operations in Iraq. He was also involved in coordinating with the Basij militia.

Ynet reported that he is known for his opposition to Iranian reformists.

The Supreme National Security Council is responsible for coordinating Iran’s national defense and security policy, and the secretary plays a key role in advising the president and overseeing security, military, and intelligence bodies.

Before his elimination, Larijani served as Iran’s de facto leader.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has ordered the Iranian envoy in Beirut to leave the country by Sunday and has declared him a persona non grata

“I instructed today the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to summon the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon to inform him of the decision to withdraw the agrément for the designated Iranian Ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani, declare him persona non grata, and request that he leave Lebanese territory no later than 29 March 2026,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi stated.

According to the Associated Press, a Lebanese spokesperson said that the Iranian Embassy will still have a charge d’affaires to head its diplomatic mission.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The IDF announced Tuesday that more than 3,000 Iranian regime targets have been struck since the start of Operation Roaring Lion, as Israel continues its large-scale campaign across Iran.

The military said over 50 targets were hit overnight, including ballistic missile storage sites and launchers.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets also carried out strikes on Monday targeting key regime infrastructure, including IRGC intelligence command centers and a command center belonging to Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. Weapons depots and air defense systems were also struck to expand Israeli aerial superiority.

Additional strikes were carried out Tuesday afternoon on production sites in the Isfahan area.

Following an Iranian missile strike that caused damage in Tel Aviv, the IDF launched another wave of attacks Tuesday morning, targeting missile launchers and infrastructure in western Iran, with air defenses activated in Tehran.

Iranian media reported six people killed and nine wounded in a strike in Tabriz, while the IRGC-linked Fars News Agency claimed gas infrastructure was targeted, though officials said operations were not disrupted.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli officials say the chances of a diplomatic agreement between the United States and Iran are “very small,” amid widening gaps between the sides and continued U.S. military preparations in the region.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the divide is not only over American demands — including limits on Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz — but also over Tehran’s own conditions.

“At the moment, the Iranians are insisting on American compensation, as well as guarantees from the administration that there will be no further action against Iran as part of any agreement,” two sources involved in mediation efforts told the Post.

Despite public statements from President Donald Trump suggesting progress in negotiations, officials say developments on the ground tell a different story.

A source familiar with the details said the deployment of American forces in the Middle East is continuing as usual, including additional U.S. Marines positioned for a potential operation involving Iran’s Kharg oil island in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic move that could help secure freedom of navigation.

Trump has not yet made a final decision on whether to launch such an operation, with the outcome still tied in part to ongoing negotiations.

Meanwhile, an American source told the Post that “the strikes are continuing as planned.”

Israeli officials also emphasized that coordination with the U.S. military remains unchanged, along with operational planning.

“Everything is continuing as usual. There is no change in the American war plans — and we do not see any such change,” one Israeli source said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

WATCH:

BEIRUT (VINnews) – The Israeli Air Force leveled a multi-story building and struck other structures in Beirut overnight, targeting what the Israeli military said were Hezbollah command centers, including one used by the group’s elite Radwan Force and another belonging to its intelligence division.

The Israeli Defense Forces said the strikes in the Lebanese capital were intelligence-based and hit several Hezbollah headquarters. Among them was a command center for the Radwan Force, the terror group’s special operations unit, and another for its intelligence operations, the IDF said.

In a separate overnight strike in the southern Lebanon town of at-Tiri, the Israeli military targeted a Hezbollah command center embedded within a studio of the group’s Al-Nour radio station. The headquarters was struck while Hezbollah operatives were active at the site, according to the IDF.

The strikes come amid ongoing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, with the Israeli military saying it has conducted numerous operations against the Iran-backed group’s infrastructure in recent weeks. Hezbollah has not immediately commented on the latest attacks

LISTEN:

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed he spoke earlier today with President Donald Trump, saying there may be an opportunity to turn recent military gains into a deal without compromising Israel’s core security interests.

“President Trump believes there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have reached alongside the US military to realize the goals of the war through an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests,” Netanyahu said.

At the same time, Netanyahu made clear the fighting is far from over.

“We are continuing to strike in both Iran and Lebanon. We are smashing the missile program and the nuclear program, and we continue to deal severe blows to Hezbollah.”

He added that Israel recently eliminated two additional nuclear scientists and emphasized that operations remain ongoing.

“We will safeguard our vital interests under all circumstances.”

Iran launched a sixth barrage of missiles overnight, striking central Israel and causing injuries and widespread damage in Tel Aviv, according to emergency services.

Israel’s Magen David Adom reported that at least six people were wounded across four separate impact sites in the city. Dramatic footage from the scene shows heavy damage to a building, multiple vehicles destroyed, and thick smoke rising over parts of Tel Aviv.

Israeli officials say early assessments suggest that only one missile may have been launched toward Tel Aviv in the latest attack, but it may have carried an advanced payload. Authorities believe it could be a new variant of a medium range ballistic missile or a cluster style warhead, dispersing 3 to 4 large explosives weighing approximately 100 kilograms each across central Israel.

Investigations are ongoing as officials work to determine the exact nature of the weapon used and assess the full extent of the damage.

Jewish community members in Golders Green, London confronted an Al Jazeera reporter and cameraman, telling them to leave the area after they arrived to cover a suspected antisemitic arson attack.

The incident unfolded at the scene where four Hatzalah ambulances were set on fire overnight, in what authorities are investigating as a targeted attack. No injuries have been reported, but the destruction of emergency response vehicles has sparked outrage and fear within the local Jewish community.

According to those on scene, several residents later told police they felt unsafe with the crew present, expressing concern that footage of the area could potentially be seen by hostile actors or terrorists. An officer at the scene reportedly responded, “I understand.”

The confrontation reflects growing tensions, with some community members accusing the network of biased coverage and insensitivity following attacks targeting Jewish institutions.

Al Jazeera has faced heavy criticism from Israeli officials and was banned in Israel following October 7, citing allegations of spreading false or misleading information.

Police and fire services remain on scene as the investigation continues.

📰 Headline News

• President Trump pauses plans to strike Iranian energy infrastructure as negotiations resume, sending oil prices sharply lower.

🕍 Jewish News

• The UK Prime Minister condemned the burning of Hatzolah ambulances in Golders Green as a “horrific antisemitic attack.”
• Locals in Golders Green forced Al Jazeera crews out of the scene following the attack.
• Belgium is deploying soldiers to protect Jewish communities amid rising threats.
• Yad Vashem’s chairman met with the Pope, urging global action against antisemitism.
• A New York town erupted in outrage after antisemitic graffiti was discovered in a transit tunnel.

Israeli News

• A Hezbollah rocket struck Kiryat Shmona as northern tensions continue.
• The Israeli Air Force is reportedly using 50-year-old munitions dating back to the Yom Kippur War.
• Netanyahu is eyeing an October election as wartime polling gives him a boost.

🌍 International News

• A Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed in southern Colombia, leaving at least 90 confirmed dead.
• Iran is denying any active negotiations with the United States despite Trump’s claims.
• The USS Tripoli is set to arrive in the Middle East by Friday, carrying 2,200 Marines.

🏛 Political News

• JD Vance is expected to meet with an Iranian representative in Pakistan later this week.
• Trump will not attend the upcoming CPAC conference.
• Senator Markwayne Mullin has been appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi Noem.
• ICE agents have now been deployed to Atlanta’s airport to help during the current DHS shutdown.

National News

• New York’s Attorney General rejected the proposed merger between Maimonides Hospital and the city system.

💼 Business News

• Median rent has surged to $5,000 in Manhattan and $4,300 in Brooklyn, a record high during a difficult economic time.
• Listings for advanced “kamikaze” drones were discovered on Alibaba, being sold to regular civilians.

💻 Tech News

• Claude AI can now complete tasks directly on users’ desktops, a major step forward in AI tools.

President Donald Trump’s economic approval ratings have cratered to historic lows, with new data showing him further underwater on the issue than any other president of the past quarter-century — a finding that carries significant implications for Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten highlighted the figures on CNN Newsroom, drawing on a recent CBS News poll. “If I were in the White House, only one word to describe them: ‘Yikes,'” he said.

Just before Trump’s reelection, a plurality of Americans — 44 percent — said his policies were making them financially better off. That figure has since collapsed to 18 percent. Over the same period, the share of Americans saying Trump’s policies are making them worse off fiscally has surged from 38 percent to 53 percent.

The picture is bleaker still among independent voters, the bloc that typically decides national elections. Three in five independents — 60 percent — now say Trump is making them worse off financially, while just 13 percent say he is making them better off. That represents a 47-point swing from just before his reelection, when independents favored “better off” by two points.

Taken together, Trump’s net economic approval rating among independents stands at minus 48 points. Enten put that figure in historical context: it is twice as bad as Barack Obama’s net economic approval among independents at the equivalent point in his second term, when Obama was 25 points underwater, and worse by double digits than George W. Bush’s standing at the same stage of his presidency.

“He’s last in the pack when it comes to 21st-century presidents and how Americans are viewing him on the economy, at least among independents,” Enten said.

“If I were a Republican running for Congress, I would be shaking in place,” Enten said, “because there’s really nowhere to hide if you’re a Republican running for Congress and President Trump is in this bad a shape among independents and Americans overall when it comes to the economy.”

The poll results come as Trump’s approval ratings have been under pressure from multiple directions, including economic anxiety tied to the ongoing Iran conflict, rising gas prices linked to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, and broader concerns about the direction of the country. Midterm elections are set for later this year.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

CHICAGO (VINnews) – A Chicago man who traveled to Florida was arrested there and charged in federal court after allegedly posting online threats targeting a Jewish synagogue and Jewish individuals, authorities said.

Investigators said Timothy Holmes, 31, not only made threats online but also sought and shared what he claimed was the U.S. address of relatives of an Israeli official and indicated he planned to travel to Florida — a trip authorities said was confirmed by airline records.

Holmes, a DePaul University graduate, is accused of using a social media account to post threats earlier this month, including a statement that he intended to carry out a shooting at a synagogue, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois.

Prosecutors said the posts were made in response to online developments involving Ali Khamenei and included additional antisemitic language.

The FBI opened an investigation after receiving information about the threats. Holmes was arrested in Florida and appeared in federal court the same day. A judge ordered his release on $100,000 bond with conditions including electronic monitoring, travel restrictions, and bans on possessing weapons and accessing social media.

Authorities emphasized that the charge is an allegation, and Holmes is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
read full complaint here:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1432376/dl?inline

New data released Monday reveals that the overwhelming majority of Iran’s attacks over the past three weeks have targeted Arab Gulf states rather than Israel, highlighting a significant strategic shift in Tehran’s campaign.

According to the report, which analyzes the period between February 28 and March 23, 2026, approximately 87% of Iran’s missile and drone launches were aimed at members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), while only 13% were directed at Israel. The findings are based on official statements from the IDF, Gulf defense ministries, and additional open-source intelligence.

Out of a total of 6,330 launches during the reporting period, the United Arab Emirates emerged as the primary target, absorbing nearly half of all attacks. The data shows that 3,056 strikes—48.3% of the total—were directed at the UAE.

Kuwait ranked second, with 1,061 attacks accounting for 16.8% of the total. Israel, despite being a central focus of Iranian rhetoric, was targeted 822 times, representing just 13% of the overall volume of attacks.

Additional figures show that Saudi Arabia sustained 648 attacks (10.2%), Bahrain was hit 429 times (6.8%), Qatar faced 289 strikes (4.6%), and Oman recorded 25 attacks (0.4%).

The report suggests that Iran’s strategy has centered on imposing economic and strategic costs on Gulf states, particularly by targeting energy and security infrastructure. Recent reported strikes on facilities in Ras Laffan, Qatar, and gas fields in Abu Dhabi are cited as examples of this approach.

Israeli military officials emphasized that the stark disparity—87% directed at Arab states versus 13% at Israel—indicates that the current conflict is largely about regional dominance and control over global energy resources. According to this assessment, Israel has played a secondary role in Iran’s targeting priorities.

Despite criticism of Gulf air defense systems, the data indicates that Iran is focusing the bulk of its efforts on destabilizing neighboring Arab states economically and politically, while leveraging the conflict with Israel as a broader strategic cover for advancing its regional ambitions.

{Matzav.com}

A legal dispute over a luxury vehicle has highlighted the blurred boundaries between business assets and personal property, after an Israeli court ruled that a husband must return a car he had taken from his wife during a marital conflict.

The case involves a couple married since 1991 who built a large family over the years. During the marriage, the husband operated a successful business through which various assets were acquired for family use, including a vehicle worth hundreds of thousands of shekels that was used exclusively by the wife.

As tensions between the couple escalated, the husband arranged for the vehicle to be taken from the wife while it was undergoing routine maintenance. He argued that because she had been dismissed from her position in the company, she no longer had the right to use what he claimed was a company-owned asset.

However, the Haifa District Court rejected the husband’s arguments on appeal, upholding the earlier ruling and emphasizing that the distinction between the couple’s business dealings and their personal lives had been “blurred” throughout the years.

The court determined that the vehicle had effectively been given to the wife as a personal gift for her exclusive use, rather than as part of any formal employment arrangement.

Judges also found that, despite the issuance of salary slips, the wife did not actually perform work for the company, and that the payments she received were part of the couple’s internal financial arrangements rather than evidence of a genuine employer-employee relationship.

The ruling further stressed the need for judicial intervention to prevent unilateral actions during ongoing disputes, warning against what it described as “coercive conduct” intended to alter the status quo while legal rights are still being determined.

In its final decision, the court ruled that jurisdiction over the matter lies with the family court, as the dispute is fundamentally personal rather than a standard labor-related case.

The husband’s appeal was denied, and he was ordered to immediately return the vehicle to his wife. In addition, he was required to pay 7,500 shekels in legal costs.

Bottom line: Shalom bayis is a good idea!

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Park Police officer was seriously wounded Monday evening in a shooting in Washington, federal law enforcement officials said.

The unidentified officer was airlifted by U.S. Park Police helicopter to an area hospital, said Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for the the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department. He said the call came in about 7:30 p.m.

The officer was shot in the shoulder and is in serious but stable condition, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. Authorities have identified a suspect but the person is not in custody, the official said.

Praying for the Park Police officer shot in Washington, D.C. The FBI is actively supporting the investigation alongside our law enforcement partners and will bring those responsible to justice.

We will provide updates as we are able – please keep the officer and their family in…

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 24, 2026

The U.S. Park Police confirmed in an email that the officer was in “non-life-threatening condition.”

Park Police said the shooting took place in the District’s Southeast quadrant, close to the border with Maryland.

Federal officials said they were assisting in the investigation.

“I’ve spoken to Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Carroll and was briefed on the shooting,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a posting on X.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in his own X post that he was “Praying for the Park Police officer shot in Washington, D.C. The FBI is actively supporting the investigation alongside our law enforcement partners and will bring those responsible to justice.”

Belgium has deployed soldiers to major cities to reinforce security at Jewish sites following a series of antisemitic attacks.

Defense Minister Theo Francken announced that troops are being sent to Brussels and Antwerp, with plans to expand to Liege.

The deployment, coordinated with federal police, will focus on protecting synagogues, schools, and other Jewish institutions.

The move comes after an explosion at a synagogue in Liege, which authorities described as antisemitic, as well as related incidents in neighboring Netherlands, including arson at a synagogue in Rotterdam and an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

Officials say the increased security is necessary amid growing concerns over threats to Jewish communities, particularly in light of the ongoing war involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A major development in the world of chazzanus in Yerushalayim was made official today, as Yeshurun Synagogue revealed that the renowned Chazzan Yitzchak Meir Helfgott will assume the role of chief chazzan of the prominent shul, accompanied by choirs, Matzav.com has learned.

Helfgott will take over the position from Chazzan Nissim Saal, who has served as the shul’s chief chazzan for the past three years.

In a statement, the shul said: “The Yeshurun Central Synagogue is pleased to announce to the public the joining of the great chazzan, one of the leading cantors of our generation and a world-renowned figure and first-class master of prayer, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Helfgott, who will serve as the chief chazzan of the Yeshurun Central Synagogue accompanied by choirs. The Yeshurun Central Synagogue community believes that his voice and vast experience will contribute greatly to strengthening spiritual life and prayer, and to uplifting the hearts of the Jewish people.”

The kehillah also expressed appreciation to Saal for his years of service, noting his impact on the shul’s atmosphere and communal life.

“We wish to express deep gratitude and appreciation to Cantor Rabbi Nissim Saal for three beautiful and blessed years of service at the synagogue. During his tenure, he contributed greatly to the atmosphere of prayer, to uplifting the spirit, and to strengthening community life, with dedication, pleasantness, and professionalism. We thank him wholeheartedly for his important contribution, and wish him much continued success in his path, that he continue to bring joy to hearts and increase the honor of Heaven wherever he goes.”

{Matzav.com}

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A Brooklyn middle school used artwork by the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a social justice lesson while initially blocking a Holocaust survivor from addressing students, the New York Post reported.

The report said MS 447 in Boerum Hill included illustrations by Rama Duwaji in a seventh-grade course titled “Art for Social Change,” alongside works by artists and public figures such as Kendrick Lamar.

At the same time, the school had denied a request for Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann to speak to students, prompting criticism from parents and community members. He was later allowed to visit after a backlash, according to the report.

The curriculum asked students to analyze how artists’ backgrounds influence their work and to create their own art reflecting identity and social issues.

Some parents raised concerns about a perceived double standard. The school, the city Department of Education and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the report said.

A New York City man has been convicted of a hate crime for attacking a Jewish Israeli tourist in Manhattan shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack.

Yehia Amin was found guilty of third-degree assault as a hate crime for the October 18, 2023 incident near Times Square.

According to prosecutors, Amin targeted a group of Israelis wearing yarmulkes, shouted antisemitic threats including “Hamas should kill more of you” and “All Jews should die,” and then punched a 23-year-old victim in the back of the head before fleeing.

He was quickly apprehended after being chased by the victims and a police officer.

While in custody, Amin continued making antisemitic statements, prosecutors said.

He is expected to be sentenced at the end of May to 90 days in prison followed by five years of probation.

Authorities say the attack was part of a surge in antisemitic incidents following the October 7 massacre. Hate crime convictions remain relatively rare due to the high legal standard required to prove bias.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Photos and footage circulating online appear to show an Iranian government aircraft flying over Tehran, despite the closure of the country’s airspace, which is reportedly under Israeli control.

The three-second clip, widely shared on social media, has drawn significant attention, as it seemingly contradicts the current restrictions on flights in the region.

According to a report by Israeli journalist Itay Blumental of Kan News, the aircraft was likely carrying senior Iranian officials en route to Islamabad, Pakistan, as part of efforts to advance talks between the United States and Iran. “We understand that this is part of a process taking place behind the scenes,” he said.

Blumental added that the flight may have been coordinated and approved by international actors, suggesting possible American involvement in facilitating the movement. “It’s possible that American officials informed Israel, which allowed the flight to take off,” he noted.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump approved the U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran following a critical call with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who urged targeting Iran’s top leadership, according to multiple sources, Reuters reports.

Less than 48 hours before the strikes began, Netanyahu spoke with Trump after intelligence indicated that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials would be gathered at a compound in Tehran — presenting a rare opportunity for a “decapitation strike.”

Sources say Netanyahu argued there may never be a better moment to eliminate Khamenei, citing both strategic opportunity and past Iranian plots against Trump.

While Trump had already approved the concept of military action, he had not finalized the timing. The call, along with updated intelligence showing a narrowing window, is believed to have helped push the final decision to launch Operation Epic Fury on February 27.

The first strikes began the following morning, and Trump later announced that Khamenei had been killed.

Officials say the U.S. had been building up forces in the region for weeks, with timing previously delayed due to weather and operational considerations.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

(AP) – The U.S. Defense Department will remove media offices from the Pentagon after a federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on reporters’ access to the building, a department official announced Monday.

An area of the Pentagon known as “Correspondents’ Corridor” that reporters have used for decades to cover the U.S. military will close immediately, department spokesperson Sean Parnell said. Journalists will eventually be able to work from an “annex” outside the building, which he said “will be available when ready.” He offered no detail about how long that will take.

The new policy is the latest dispute over press access to President Donald Trump’s administration, which has limited legacy media while boosting conservative and pro-Trump outlets.

The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the agency’s new credentialing policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process. Dozens of reporters had walked out of the building rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., last week sided with the newspaper. He ordered the Pentagon to reinstate the press credentials of seven Times journalists and struck down some of the agency’s restrictions on news reporting.

Friedman said the “undisputed evidence” shows that the policy is designed to weed out “disfavored journalists” and replace them with those who are “on board and willing to serve” the government, a clear instance of illegal viewpoint discrimination.

Parnell said the Defense Department disagrees with the ruling and is pursuing an appeal. He said security concerns prompted restrictions on press access, a claim that journalists have rejected.

Under the latest Pentagon rules announced Monday, journalists will still have access to the Pentagon for press conferences and interviews arranged through the department’s public affairs team, but they will have to be escorted, Parnell wrote on social media.

The current Pentagon press corps is comprised mostly of conservative outlets that agreed to the policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including from The Associated Press, have continued reporting on the military.

The AP, meanwhile, is awaiting a decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals on its separate lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration. The AP contends that Trump’s White House team punished it by reducing its access to presidential events because the outlet hasn’t followed his lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Kyiv has conclusive evidence Russia is continuing to provide intelligence support to Iran, warning that such actions are helping to extend the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Zelenskyy made the remarks after a meeting with Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, stating that the information in Kyiv’s possession leaves no doubt about Moscow’s involvement.

“Russia is using its own signals intelligence and electronic intelligence capabilities, as well as part of the data obtained through cooperation with partners in the Middle East,” he said on X after meeting the head of military intelligence.

In a later video address to the nation, Zelenskyy said additional indications have emerged pointing to ongoing Russian assistance to Iran.

“This is clearly destructive activity and must be stopped, as it only leads to further destabilization. All responsible states have an interest in ensuring security and preventing bigger problem,” he said.

He also warned that the consequences of this cooperation are already being felt beyond the battlefield, particularly in global markets and energy supply.

“Markets are already reacting negatively and this is significantly complicating the fuel situation in many countries. By helping the Iranian regime survive and strike more accurately, Russia is effectively prolonging the war.”

Russia, for its part, has denied the allegations. The Kremlin last week rejected a Wall Street Journal report claiming that Moscow had been providing Iran with satellite imagery and enhanced drone technology, dismissing the report as “fake news.”

The organization, which is currently comprised of approximately 250 members, tells TLS they will be accepting additional members after Pesach.

Air travel through Ben Gurion Airport has been sharply reduced following new directives from the Transportation Ministry, with Israel’s major airlines moving into emergency operating mode and significantly cutting back flights and passenger capacity.

El Al announced that it is scaling its activity down to roughly 5% of normal operations. Under the new framework, the airline will operate up to 15 outbound flights per day, each limited to a maximum of 50 passengers. The reduced schedule will include only select routes to key destinations such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens. The airline noted that inbound flights to Israel will continue without passenger restrictions.

Due to the limited number of available seats, passengers will be assigned based on the original booking date of their tickets, with priority given to urgent humanitarian and medical cases.

Israir also outlined a revised plan, stating that it will cut its operations to approximately half of its usual capacity. Outbound flights will likewise be restricted to 50 passengers per aircraft. The airline will focus on maintaining routes to nearby destinations, including Athens, Larnaca, Rome, Tbilisi, and Addis Ababa, which will serve as connecting hubs for onward travel.

The company further announced that all flights purchased through April 8 will be canceled under the new plan. Affected passengers will be offered the choice between a full refund or a travel voucher valued at 130% of the original ticket price, valid for up to 24 months. Travelers who had booked flights from Ben Gurion Airport to the listed destinations will be reassigned to flights departing from those same cities, in accordance with the updated schedules.

Both airlines emphasized that these measures are being implemented out of necessity due to the current security situation and government-imposed restrictions. They stressed that operations are being conducted with a focus on passenger and crew safety, while making efforts to maintain essential air links between Israel and the rest of the world.

A newly released collection of oral history interviews reveals that President Barack Obama reprimanded his Director of National Intelligence and cut him out of future meetings — not for a security breach or policy failure, but for asking him to answer a straightforward question about Iran’s nuclear program.

Dennis Blair, who served as Obama’s DNI from the start of his presidency until his resignation in May 2010, recounted the episode in interviews conducted by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center and reported Monday by The New York Times.

During a White House meeting on Iran policy, Blair said he posed what he considered the unavoidable threshold question.
“When it came my turn to speak at this meeting, I said, ‘Mr. President, you really just have one decision to make… Are you going to tolerate Iran having a nuclear weapon or not?'” Blair recalled.

It was not a gotcha — it was a framework. Rejecting a nuclear Iran would require covert operations and military options. Accepting one would require a strategy of containment and deterrence. Either way, the administration needed an answer before it could build coherent policy. Obama refused to give one. Instead, he pulled Blair aside afterward and made clear the question itself was unwelcome.

“The president took me aside after that meeting and said, ‘Denny, don’t ever put me on the spot like that again,'” Blair recalled. “I said… ‘Yes, sir, Mr. President. I certainly won’t.'” The professional consequences followed swiftly. “I was kept out of meetings from that time forward.”

Blair said he had understood the meeting to be a genuine opportunity for senior officials to weigh in on Iran policy, and admitted he had made the “mistake” of believing the president was actually looking for “fresh insights.” He was wrong. Obama, it turned out, did not want his core assumptions challenged — he wanted the question left unanswered.

The episode casts a long shadow over the Iran nuclear deal Obama negotiated during his second term, which his administration celebrated as a landmark diplomatic achievement that constrained Iran’s nuclear ambitions without military conflict. If Blair’s account is accurate, the deal was constructed on a foundation Obama had never been willing to examine honestly: whether a nuclear Iran was, in fact, intolerable, and what the United States would actually do about it if the answer was yes.

Critics of the deal argued it delivered billions in sanctions relief to the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism while merely delaying, rather than eliminating, Iran’s nuclear path. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018.

The Miller Center interviews also shed light on a separate episode of Obama-era political calculation: the effort to keep Vice President Joe Biden out of the 2016 presidential race. Top Obama strategist David Plouffe recounted bluntly discouraging Biden — still grieving the 2015 death of his son Beau — from entering the contest.

“There’s no room. There’s just no room for you,” Plouffe told him, adding, “I’m concerned about you as a human being. I’m not sure you’re in a state to run.” Biden stood down. The race came down to Hillary Clinton, Obama’s preferred candidate, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Clinton won the nomination and lost the general election to Trump.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the next Secretary of Homeland Security on Monday, placing the Oklahoma Republican at the helm of the nation’s largest federal department as it navigates a government shutdown, a contentious immigration debate, and the fallout from a series of high-profile enforcement controversies.

Mullin was confirmed in a 54-45 vote, with two Democrats — Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico — crossing the aisle to support his nomination. He becomes the second Homeland Security secretary of President Trump’s second term, succeeding Kristi Noem, whom Trump fired earlier this year.

The confirmation puts Mullin, 48, in charge of a department of more than 250,000 employees — roughly 100,000 of whom are currently working without pay due to a partial government shutdown that has snarled funding negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House.

“I’m not scared of a challenge. I am scared of failure,” Mullin said during his confirmation hearing last week. “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.”

That may prove difficult. DHS has been at the center of some of the most contentious fights of Trump’s second term, overseeing a record expansion of immigration detention, a dramatic drop in border crossings, and a series of enforcement surges in major cities. The most recent surge, in Minneapolis, resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.

Noem, who was a visible and aggressive advocate for the administration’s immigration agenda, was ousted after drawing fire from both parties. Critics pointed to her description of a man shot by Border Patrol agents as a “domestic terrorist” and questions surrounding a $250 million ad campaign encouraging immigrants to self-deport, which DHS awarded without a competitive bidding process.

Mullin signaled a somewhat different approach. During his hearing, he pledged to use judicial warrants — rather than the administrative warrants DHS approves internally — when entering homes or businesses, except when agents are in active pursuit. He also committed to visiting a New Jersey community where the agency is seeking to convert warehouses into immigration detention facilities, a proposal that has generated significant local opposition. And he said he believed FEMA should be restructured rather than eliminated — a position that put him at odds with some in the administration while reassuring lawmakers whose states depend on federal disaster relief.

Some Democrats said they were cautiously hopeful that Mullin would bring a steadier hand to a department that has lurched from controversy to controversy. Heinrich, who voted for Mullin, called him a friend and praised his independence.

“I have also seen first-hand that Markwayne is not someone who can simply be bullied into changing his views,” Heinrich said, adding that he looked forward to having a secretary who doesn’t take direction from White House adviser Stephen Miller.

But skeptics warned that the change at the top would not translate into a meaningful shift in direction. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who voted against Mullin, said the department needed “a steady leader who won’t rush to judgment without having all the facts.” Peters also raised concerns about undisclosed foreign travel by Mullin — a line of questioning that Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky joined, with both ultimately voting no. The matter was expected to be taken up in a classified briefing.

The confirmation arrives at a particularly fraught moment for DHS funding negotiations. Talks between Senate Democrats and the White House had shown some signs of progress, with Democrats seeking limits on aggressive enforcement tactics in exchange for ending the shutdown. But those discussions hit a wall over the weekend after President Trump insisted that any deal include passage of the Save America Act, a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote — a demand Democrats have flatly rejected.

Whether Mullin can help break that impasse remains an open question. For now, he inherits a department under strain, a workforce going without paychecks, and a mandate from a president for whom immigration enforcement remains the defining priority of his second term.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A string of foiled terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in recent weeks has reignited fears of a deepening domestic extremism crisis in the United States, and security experts warn the threat is far from over.

The most dramatic incident came when an attacker drove a truck loaded with explosives through the gates of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, before being stopped and neutralized by security personnel. Just days earlier, two Pennsylvania men were arrested in New York after attempting to hurl improvised explosive devices — packed with nails and screws — at demonstrators near Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City’s mayor.

Devorah Halberstam, one of New York’s foremost voices on terrorism and hate crimes, says the incidents are not flukes, and should not be treated as such.

“I have never looked at any act of terrorism as an isolated incident,” said Mrs. Halberstam, who chairs the board of commissioners at the mayor’s office for combating antisemitism and also heads the NYPD’s civilian panel for reviewing hate crimes. “It is only a matter of time before things like this happen.”

Mrs. Halberstam knows the stakes personally. In 1994, her 16-year-old son Ari was shot and killed in an attack on the Brooklyn Bridge carried out by an Lebanese immigrant. This past week marked the 32nd yahrtzeit.

Speaking to Yisrael Hayom, she described the current moment in stark terms. “We are living in very serious times,” she said, noting that “the Jewish community is at great risk.” At the same time, she credited law enforcement with doing “an outstanding job protecting the community” in the recent cases, and pointed out that the public remains largely unaware of how many plots are quietly foiled before they reach the public.

“When the FBI or one of the investigative agencies stops a plot, they don’t always tell the public about it, and rightly so. But when an incident actually happens, as here, it can no longer be hidden.”

One of the most unsettling features of recent attacks, Mrs. Halberstam said, is that the perpetrators often have no prior criminal record and no known organizational ties. “Very often, these are people who are completely new to this field. They have no criminal record, no known connection to any organization, and then suddenly something inspires them, and they decide to act.”

She pointed to social media as a key accelerant. “If you follow Instagram and social media, you see so much hatred there that it gives you chills. Terrorism is just one of the ways people vent that hatred.”

Mrs. Halberstam also raised the specter of Iranian sleeper cells operating inside the United States, a concern that has grown more acute since the U.S. joined Israel’s military campaign against Iran in Operation Epic Fury. “This is not something new. There were cells like this even before 9/11,” she said. “The real threat today is from people who have lived here for years, sometimes even American citizens, but whose loyalty is not to this country.”

She described the challenge facing security agencies as “a needle in a haystack,” adding: “We need to be more thorough in our investigations and constantly ask ourselves whether we are doing enough. As far as I am concerned, the answer is that it is never enough.”

New York City, she said, will always be a prime target. “New York is the center of the world. People come to it from every country and for every possible reason. If someone wants to make an impact, they do it in New York.” She warned particularly of mass-casualty scenarios involving the subway system. “The subway is a closed system packed with a large number of people. If you have a bomb and you throw it in there, the impact can be enormous.”

The recent attack in New York drew a rebuke from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, though his condemnation came alongside criticism of the right-wing rally that had been targeted, which he described as “rooted in prejudice and racism.” The framing was widely perceived as drawing a moral equivalence between the attackers and their targets.

Mrs. Halberstam declined to engage directly with the political controversy. “The mayor’s response is his personal response,” she said, noting that the investigation is now in federal hands.

The incidents have added urgency to calls for better inter-agency cooperation. “You cannot hold information close to the chest, because sometimes one agency holds a small detail that connects to the bigger picture at another agency,” Halberstam said.

She argued that the principle applies equally to international intelligence-sharing. “There is one clear common denominator — no country wants terrorism on its soil, and so it is essential to share information between governments and security agencies.”

Recent months have also seen an attempted vehicle ramming at the global Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn — the community Halberstam herself belongs to — where a driver accelerated toward the compound’s gate before being stopped. “The moment the door opened, and they began using language against Jews again, it became a slippery slope,” she said. “Suddenly, it’s coming from all directions.”

She pushed back against any suggestion that Jewish institutions are over-hardened targets. “We don’t put up security because we want to. We do it because we are targeted again and again. The numbers on antisemitic attacks are not made up — they come straight from NYPD data.”

Asked which category of terror threat concerns her most, Halberstam did not hesitate. “The answer is always all of them: organized networks, individuals who have radicalized online, or anything else. Each one can cause destruction.”

“Anyone working in this field cannot afford a moment of calm. All we can do is hope and pray, trust the people who need to be out there watching and doing the job, and hope that God will be with us.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu backed a Mossad strategy aimed at triggering a popular revolt in Iran at the outset of the war, but has grown increasingly frustrated that the expected uprising has not taken place, Times of Israel reports.

The New York Times, citing current and former US and Israeli intelligence officials, reported that Netanyahu raised the proposal during discussions with President Donald Trump as part of efforts to gain support for military action against Iran.

However, officials in both Washington and Israel are now expressing doubt that regime change is imminent, with current conditions seen as unfavorable for a mass uprising. Concerns over the regime’s violent crackdown on earlier protests, along with fears stemming from the ongoing US-Israeli air campaign, have dampened public willingness to take to the streets.

According to the report, expanding on earlier coverage by Channel 12, Mossad Director David Barnea presented Netanyahu with a plan ahead of the war that envisioned eliminating key Iranian leadership figures and then using intelligence operations to “galvanize the Iranian opposition,” igniting mass unrest in Iran by fomenting riots and other acts of resistance via intelligence operations, potentially leading to the regime’s collapse. The proposal was also reportedly shared with US officials at the White House.

The strategy was intended to bring about a rapid end to the conflict through internal upheaval. Instead, Iran’s leadership has consolidated its position, a scenario that some US officials had anticipated. While internal rivalries among religious factions could lead to infighting, the report noted that such a scenario would be unlikely to produce a democratic outcome. Suggestions that Kurdish militias might intervene have also not materialized.

Israeli officials have not entirely abandoned hopes for regime change, but the absence of widespread unrest has reportedly left Netanyahu disappointed. “Behind the scenes,” it said, Netanyahu “has expressed frustration that Mossad’s promises to foment revolt in Iran have not materialized.”

During an early wartime security meeting, the prime minister “complained that the plan was not working,” and vented that Trump “could decide to halt the campaign at any moment.”

A Channel 12 report aired Monday appeared to push back on the timeline, indicating that Mossad assessments suggest the regime could still collapse and that the Iranian public might eventually rise up, but only toward the later stages of the war, with the process potentially taking months or longer.

The Times also noted that former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen had been skeptical about the prospects for regime change and had instead focused on weakening Iran through sanctions and targeted killings of nuclear scientists.

By contrast, Barnea has prioritized efforts aimed at toppling the regime over the past year, with expectations that a wave of protests would emerge following the opening phase of the military campaign.

American officials, along with some Israeli counterparts, have remained doubtful that the war alone would bring about the collapse of Iran’s government.

One factor cited in the report is the reluctance of ordinary Iranians to risk their lives by protesting. Nate Swanson, a former member of the Trump administration’s Iran negotiating team led by Steve Witkoff, said that fear plays a major role.

He told the Times he had never seen a “serious plan” to cause an Iranian revolt.

“A lot of protesters are not coming into the street because they’ll get shot,” Swanson told the Times. “They’re going to get slaughtered. That’s one thing. But the second thing is that there’s a good chunk of people who just want a better life, and they’re just sidelined right now. They don’t like the regime, but they don’t want to die opposing it. That 60 percent is going to stay home.”

He said, “You still have fervent anti-regime folks, but they’re not armed, and they’re not bringing the majority of the population into the streets.”

In recent days, both Netanyahu and Trump have tempered expectations regarding regime change. Netanyahu has acknowledged uncertainty over whether the Iranian public will rise up, though he reiterated that one of the war’s objectives is “creating the conditions for the Iranian people to grasp their freedom, to control their destiny.”

Israeli officials continue to express cautious optimism that such a shift could eventually occur.

“I think that we need boots on the ground but they’ve got to be Iranian boots, and I think they’re coming,” Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “What we have to focus on now is degrading to the point where they have no power left in this regime. Hopefully, that will trigger this combustion point where the people are able to take charge of their own lives.”

{Matzav.com}