MatzavIsrael’s Security Agency and the National Cyber Directorate revealed Wednesday that they have stopped hundreds of attempted cyberattacks over the last year that were orchestrated by Iranian intelligence operatives.
The agencies said the operations were directed at high-ranking government and defense officials, academics, journalists, and personnel within the defense sector. In a joint announcement, they reported a significant increase in hostile online activity that began around the time of Operation Rising Lion.
According to the statement, the objective behind the cyber efforts was to obtain both personal and professional information that could be used for terrorism, espionage, and influence campaigns. Investigators determined that the attackers mainly relied on “targeted phishing” methods, sending customized messages while posing as trusted or recognizable contacts.
Those targeted were prompted to click on links or download attachments, which allowed the attackers to capture login details and authentication codes for services including Google, Telegram, and WhatsApp. Gaining such information would grant access to private correspondence and stored data.
Over recent months, the ISA and the National Cyber Directorate said they worked to counter these efforts by delivering focused warnings, blocking harmful activity, and providing guidance to potential targets on reinforcing their account protections. They also launched public awareness initiatives aimed at communities considered vulnerable.
The agencies called on the public — especially individuals with access to sensitive material — to activate two-factor authentication, exercise caution when approached by unknown contacts, and refrain from sharing personal information or opening suspicious links. They further advised users to enroll in the enhanced security programs recently made available by Google and WhatsApp.
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz Neias
JooishA new version of Jooish News app was just released.
Jooish News now supports video playback. It is currently limited to a small subset of sites, but more will be added over the coming weeks.
Here are some new and recently added features.
Here is an example article with videos.
Be sure to download the latest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Wondering how you get new features without the app updating? Read more here
Are there any features or sites you'd like to see on Jooish News? Email us atcontact@jooish.app
Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday indicted a 50-year-old man from the West Bank town of Qalandia, accusing him of plotting a combined ramming and stabbing attack at a key checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
According to police and prosecutors, the suspect had spent months preparing to carry out an assault at the Hizma checkpoint, a major transit point between Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Investigators say he intended to ram his vehicle into security personnel and civilians before launching a knife attack.
The suspect was arrested nine days ago after being involved in a traffic accident near the entrance to Jerusalem. During the arrest, officers searched his vehicle and discovered several knives and military-style clothing allegedly linked to a terrorist organization.
Authorities say the crash — unrelated to his alleged plot — inadvertently exposed the plan and prevented the attack from being carried out.
Interrogators later determined that on the day of his arrest, the suspect had outfitted his car with fake license plates and stocked it with weapons in preparation for the assault.
The investigation has since expanded to include the suspect’s family. His adult son was also detained after officers searching their home allegedly found Hamas flags, headbands associated with terrorist groups, incitement materials and images of known terrorists.
Police say the son is being investigated on suspicion of possessing means to carry out an attack. His detention has been extended as authorities continue to review evidence.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
MatzavPresident Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu wrapped up a White House meeting that lasted close to three hours, with Iran and broader Middle East developments high on the agenda.
Following the talks, President Trump shared a statement on his Truth Social platform describing the meeting and the tone of discussions.
“I have just finished meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, of Israel, and various of his Representatives. It was a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues.”
Iran was a primary focus of the conversation, and the president addressed the subject directly in his post.
“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”
Trump also referenced a previous confrontation with Tehran, warning of potential consequences if diplomacy fails.
“last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer – That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible. Additionally, we discussed the tremendous progress being made in Gaza, and the Region in general. There is truly PEACE in the Middle East. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Before entering his meeting with President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu formally joined the Board of Peace in a signing ceremony held at the White House in the presence of Secretary of State Rubio.
{Matzav.com}
The Lakewood ScoopWe’ve built a solid foundation over three weeks—establishing good practices, avoiding mistakes, and using financial data strategically. Now let’s address what keeps many business owners up at night: taxes.
Tax season doesn’t have to be stressful. The businesses that dread April treat tax preparation as a last-minute sprint. If you’ve been following along, you’re already ahead. Now let’s turn that advantage into real savings and peace of mind.
Tax Preparation vs. Tax Strategy
Tax preparation reports what already happened. Tax strategy proactively structures your business to minimize tax liability throughout the year.
Should you purchase equipment in December or January? How should you structure contractor payments? Is it time for S-corp election? These decisions can save thousands, but only if you think about them proactively.
Maximizing Deductions Without Crossing Lines
I regularly find legitimate business expenses that haven’t been properly documented, representing thousands in lost savings.
The home office deduction is commonly skipped due to audit fears, yet if you have dedicated space used regularly and exclusively for business, you’re entitled. The simplified option—$5 per square foot up to 300 square feet—requires minimal documentation.
Vehicle expenses are another missed opportunity. Track every business mile with a simple app. The deduction adds up quickly.
Professional development is often overlooked. Books, courses, conferences, coaching, memberships—if they maintain or improve business skills, they’re deductible.
The key is documentation. Save receipts, maintain logs, keep records of business purposes. The deduction is straightforward; documentation protects you if questions arise.
Getting Audit-Ready
Being audit-ready isn’t about having less to deduct—it’s about proper documentation for what you do deduct.
Create a simple system now: photograph every receipt and store digitally with notes about business purpose. Every business meal includes who you met and what you discussed. Every trip has an itinerary and documentation of business activities.
A dedicated cloud folder organized by month and category works perfectly. The habit takes minutes but provides invaluable protection.
Quarterly Estimated Taxes: Stop Playing Catch-Up
Don’t guess at what you might owe—calculate based on actual performance. Look at year-to-date profit, estimate where you’ll finish, and calculate likely tax liability including self-employment tax.
Set aside money immediately. Open a separate savings account for tax payments and transfer funds with every client payment. When quarterly deadlines arrive, the money is waiting. No scrambling, no penalties.
Strategic Timing of Income and Expenses
Cash-basis businesses can control timing of when income and expenses hit the books. This becomes especially relevant at year-end.
If you’re having a profitable year and expect lower income next year, delay December invoicing until January. Conversely, if you expect higher income next year, push to collect outstanding receivables before December 31st.
On expenses, timing major purchases can significantly impact tax liability. Section 179 deduction and bonus depreciation allow businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment in the purchase year rather than depreciating over several years.
Critical caveat: never make decisions solely for tax reasons. Buy equipment because you need it. Tax benefits should factor into timing, not be the sole driver.
Retirement Contributions: The Overlooked Strategy
Retirement contributions reduce tax liability while building long-term wealth. SEP IRAs, Solo 401(k)s, and other options allow you to contribute substantial amounts that directly reduce your tax bill.
For 2026, a SEP IRA allows up to 25% of compensation, with higher limits through Solo 401(k) structures. The deadline for most contributions is your tax filing deadline including extensions, giving you flexibility.
Building a Relationship with a Tax Professional
Even with impeccable books, there’s immense value in working with a qualified tax professional who understands your business and industry.
Schedule a mid-year check-in to review year-to-date performance, discuss major changes, and make necessary adjustments to estimated payments or strategy. This single conversation can save thousands and prevent April surprises.
Your Tax Preparation Timeline
Your Action Plan This Week
First, review the deductions discussed. Are you capturing all legitimate expenses? Set up needed systems—mileage tracking, receipt organization, documentation processes.
Second, calculate your estimated tax obligation based on current performance. If you’re behind on setting money aside, start now.
Third, schedule that mid-year check-in with your tax advisor, or start asking for referrals if you don’t have one.
Finally, take a moment to appreciate your progress. If you’ve implemented even half of what we’ve discussed over these four weeks, your business is in a fundamentally stronger position.
The businesses that thrive aren’t always the ones with the most innovative products—they’re often simply the ones that understand their numbers and manage finances with intention. That can be you.
Here’s to a profitable 2026 and the most stress-free tax season you’ve ever experienced.
—
About the Author:
Joe Herskowitz, EA, is the President and CEO of Lionstone Bookkeeping+, where he helps small and medium-sized businesses take control of their finances with expert bookkeeping and financial insights. With years of experience in business finance, Joe is passionate about making numbers work for business owners—not against them.
Have a bookkeeping or business finance question?
Reach out to Joe at [email protected] or call/text 732-803-7793 (no WhatsApp).
Vos Iz NeiasNEW YORK (VINnews) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pressing to make all New York City buses free during the five weeks of the FIFA World Cup, hoping to showcase one of his key campaign promises, according to a report by The New York Times on Wednesday.
The pilot program would run from mid-June to mid-July, coinciding with an expected influx of more than 1.2 million visitors to the New York and New Jersey area. Mamdani says the temporary measure could help build support for a permanent free-bus system.
State officials and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees bus fares, have expressed hesitation. The MTA relies on fare revenue to cover much of its $21 billion annual budget and is focused on reducing fare evasion, the report said.
Mamdani’s “fast and free buses” promise was popular with voters and is central to his affordability agenda. He pointed to a 2023 pilot program offering a free bus route in each borough, which increased ridership and reduced assaults on bus drivers but did not improve service speed.
Supporters say fare evasion, which affected nearly half of weekday bus riders last quarter, shows the $3 fare is a burden. Critics caution the money could be better spent improving existing transit or expanding subway service.
The World Cup matches will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., but New York City expects to benefit from tourism and related events. Mamdani last month appointed former campaign manager Maya Handa as the city’s World Cup czar.
MatzavA small Bitcoin transaction tied to the ransom demand in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case may have shifted momentum in favor of investigators, according to a cryptocurrency forensics specialist who says digital currency is far more traceable than many criminals realize.
Bezalel Eithan Raviv, CEO and founder of Lionsgate Network, a crypto recovery firm specializing in blockchain forensics, told Page Six that a modest deposit made late Tuesday into the Bitcoin wallet listed in the ransom note could signal a strategic investigative move.
“If the reported $150 transaction to the alleged ransom Bitcoin wallet is accurate, it aligns with a known investigative tactic,” Raviv said. “A small ‘test’ transfer can sometimes be used to confirm that the wallet is active and to trigger blockchain monitoring tools.”
Raviv, an Israeli technology entrepreneur, emphasized that Bitcoin transactions are not invisible, despite popular belief.
“The moment funds move, they leave a permanent digital footprint,” Raviv said. “That activity can provide investigators with valuable intelligence, especially if the wallet interacts with exchanges or custodial services where identity verification is required.”
When tracking illicit cryptocurrency activity, Raviv explained that his company employs what it refers to as a “cow’s bell” method.
“Once a wallet is identified and tagged, every movement can trigger alerts, no matter how many times the funds split, consolidate, or hop across wallets. Every step leaves a signal,” he said.
According to Raviv, once money enters the account, the balance of control may change.
“If this wallet has now received funds, the dynamic shifts,” Raviv explained. “The person demanding ransom may believe they are in control, but once a transaction is made, they become the one being watched.
“The ransom actor is no longer just making demands. They are now the target of forensic tracking.”
Still, Raviv noted that law enforcement agencies follow established procedures in handling ransom situations.
“That said, ransom strategy decisions should always be directed by law enforcement and professional negotiators,” Raviv said. “The critical phase now is real-time monitoring, because movement is where mistakes happen.”
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen alive at her home near Tucson on Jan. 31. She was reported missing the following day after the Pima County Sheriff’s Department concluded that she had been forcibly removed from the residence.
Multiple media organizations later received what authorities believe to be a ransom message demanding $6 million in Bitcoin in exchange for her freedom. The note listed two deadlines — Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. EST and another this past Monday at the same hour.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings issued a public statement indicating they were prepared to meet the demand but required proof that their mother was alive before transferring any money.
As of Tuesday morning, Page Six confirmed that the Bitcoin wallet’s balance remained at zero. By Tuesday night, however, approximately $152 in Bitcoin had been deposited into the account.
It remains unclear whether the FBI or another entity initiated the transaction. Earlier in the week, Raviv told Page Six that sending a minimal amount of cryptocurrency can sometimes be part of a broader investigative approach.
“This is a very simple tactic among many that we utilize when we want to be able to intercept criminal network crypto assets,” Raviv said. “That’s from our perspective based on previous cases that have been incredibly successful.”
Raviv also suggested that the individual behind the ransom demand may have exposed himself the moment he shared the wallet address.
“He showed his Achilles to everyone who understands blockchain forensics,” Raviv said.
Authorities have yet to announce any arrests directly connected to the abduction, though they did release alarming surveillance footage showing an armed and masked individual outside Nancy’s home on the night she vanished.
In the hours following the footage’s release, a man identified as Carlos was taken into custody in connection with the probe but was later released.
On Wednesday, TMZ reported receiving a third Bitcoin-related demand — this time offering information about the alleged kidnapper in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, FBI Phoenix announced that agents are “conducting an extensive search along multiple roadways in the Catalina Foothills area related to the Nancy Guthrie investigation.”
{Matzav.com}
Vice President JD Vance moved on Wednesday to dial back speculation that Washington is seeking to topple Iran’s leadership. Speaking to reporters, Vance said the administration’s focus is not on regime change, but on preventing Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold.
“If the Iranian people want to overthrow the regime, that’s up to the Iranian people,” Vance said. “What we’re focused on right now is the fact that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
The remarks appeared designed to steady diplomatic waters at a sensitive moment, as the United States prepares for a second round of nuclear talks with Tehran in the coming days. They also stood in contrast to President Donald Trump’s earlier rhetoric during recent mass protests in Iran, when he publicly urged demonstrators to “take over” government institutions and promised that “help is on the way.”
At the height of the unrest, Trump had praised Iranian protesters and, according to reports, asked aides to explore military options that could weaken the regime and potentially hasten its collapse. Those statements fueled speculation that Washington was once again flirting with a policy of regime change.
That tone has since softened as negotiations gained momentum.
Now, administration officials are emphasizing diplomacy while keeping pressure firmly in place.
“The president has told his entire senior team that we should be trying to cut a deal that ensures the Iranians don’t have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said. “But if we can’t cut that deal, then there’s another option on the table. The president is going to continue to preserve his options.”
Trump himself has continued to mix overtures with threats. In recent days, he has said that Iran “wants to make a deal very badly,” while warning that failure to reach an agreement would trigger “something very tough.”
U.S. negotiators are pressing for a sweeping arrangement that would curb Iran’s uranium enrichment, dismantle elements of its missile program, and limit its regional influence through proxy forces. Tehran has so far resisted key demands, insisting on its right to nuclear technology for civilian purposes.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The Lakewood ScoopPCS/FDU hosted a graduation dinner honoring the newest master’s in accounting graduates — marking a major milestone in completing one of the nation’s top-ranked programs.
“It was a real nachas to see how many individuals are on track for wonderful parnassah opportunities,” shared Doniel Soloff, Director/PCS.
Program Highlights
* Ranked Among the Best Master’s in Accounting Programs — Eduniversal 2025
* 98% Employment Rate
Men: 732‑905‑9700 x665 | [email protected]
Women: 732‑367‑1500 | [email protected]
U.S. President Donald Trump said he concluded a “very good” meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but acknowledged that no final agreements were reached — particularly regarding Iran.
In a statement posted following the meeting, Trump wrote:
“I have just finished meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, of Israel, and various of his Representatives. It was a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues. There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”
Trump did not indicate whether Netanyahu supports continued negotiations with Tehran, but made clear that he believes pursuing a deal remains the preferred course — at least for now.
Referencing the previous confrontation with Iran, Trump added:
“Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer — That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
The president was alluding to the June 2025 U.S. military strikes on three of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities, an operation widely known as “Midnight Hammer,” which significantly escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran at the time.
In addition to Iran, Trump said the two leaders discussed developments in Gaza and the broader Middle East.
“Additionally, we discussed the tremendous progress being made in Gaza, and the Region in general. There is truly PEACE in the Middle East. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
U.S. President Donald Trump said he concluded a “very good” meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but acknowledged that no final agreements were reached — particularly regarding Iran.
In a statement posted following the meeting, Trump wrote:
“I have just finished meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, of Israel, and various of his Representatives. It was a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues. There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”
Trump did not indicate whether Netanyahu supports continued negotiations with Tehran, but made clear that he believes pursuing a deal remains the preferred course — at least for now.
Referencing the previous confrontation with Iran, Trump added:
“Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer — That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
The president was alluding to the June 2025 U.S. military strikes on three of Iran’s primary nuclear facilities, an operation widely known as “Midnight Hammer,” which significantly escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran at the time.
In addition to Iran, Trump said the two leaders discussed developments in Gaza and the broader Middle East.
“Additionally, we discussed the tremendous progress being made in Gaza, and the Region in general. There is truly PEACE in the Middle East. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Rabbi Dror Aryeh, a Rosh Mesivta in Sderot Yeshiva, said that talmidim at his yeshivah are considering filing a petition to the Supreme Court demanding equality between combat units, with Dati Leumi talmidim receiving strictly gender-segregated units like the Chareidi Chashmonaim Brigade.
The IDF also promised gender-segregated units to Dati Leumi talmidim, but the promise has not been fulfilled, and a “mixed-service agenda” seeped into the battlefield during the recent war in Gaza.
In an interview with Kan Moreshet, Rabbi Aryeh referred to the remarks he made at an emergency conference of Dati Leumi Rabbanim in the wake of the IDF’s intention to advance a pilot program to integrate women into the front-line combat units of the Armored Corps’s tank crews
In his remarks, he said that the implementation of the army’s gender separation regulations was violated during the war, creating situations in which male and female soldiers stayed in close quarters with no gender segregation, contrary to existing directives.
Rabbi Aryeh also addressed proposals for separate combat units, saying that talmidim at Sderot Yeshiva are considering filing a petition to the Supreme Court in the name of equality. “The demand is, ‘What is given to Chashmonaim should be given to us too,” he said.
He clarified that this is a cry stemming from a sense of responsibility and not an attempt to dismantle the army.
He emphasized that the lack of gender separation is not only a halachic issue but a professional one as well. “They take the victims of this agenda and insert them into the combat units, and it also harms the kedushah of the machaneh.” He added that the entry of women into combat units is effectively discriminating against soldiers who are makpid on halacha.
He concluded his remarks by stating that the main demand is a principled one, noting, “We are a Jewish army,” and emphasized the need for Siyata Dishmaya and preserving the kedushah of the machaneh as an inseparable part of the IDF’s ability to meet security challenges.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he insisted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their White House meeting Wednesday that negotiations with Iran continue as the United States pushes for a nuclear deal with Tehran.
“It was a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues.” Trump said in a social media post. “There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated.”
Matzav[Video below.] Sen. Bernie Sanders sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s glowing assessment of the U.S. economy during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC’s “All In,” accusing the president of being “completely crazy and delusional, or just a pathological liar” for portraying current conditions as historic.
The remarks came after Trump, speaking on the Fox Business Network, praised the nation’s economic performance in sweeping terms.
“This is the greatest period of anything that we’ve ever seen. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country in my first term. I think we’re blowing it away. Now I think we have the greatest economy, actually, ever in history,” Trump said.
Responding to that clip, Sanders told host Chris Hayes that broader concerns about the country’s direction extend beyond the economy alone.
“Well, look, Chris, I think the American people understand with what’s going on in Minneapolis, Trump’s attacks on the media, universities. He is going after political opponents and through criminal actions, that we are moving into an authoritarian society,” Sanders said.
The Vermont independent then questioned Trump’s characterization of economic conditions, arguing that many Americans are struggling financially despite the president’s claims.
“In terms of I got to tell you, though, I seen that tape you just scrolled. You wonder whether Trump is completely crazy and delusional, or just a pathological liar. But the idea that anybody would believe that this is a great economy when 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, when the cost of health care is going up, people can’t afford housing, people can’t afford their basic groceries, childcare system is dysfunctional, people can’t afford to go to college. And if this is the greatest economy in the history of the world, God help us.”
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz Neias
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed Israel’s accession to the Board of Peace during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Blair House on Wednesday, ahead of his discussions with President Donald Trump at the White House.
The signing formalized Israel’s membership in the U.S.-led international body, chaired by Trump, which was established to promote stability, oversee postwar governance in Gaza and advance broader peacekeeping efforts in conflict-affected regions. The Board of Peace, formalized in January 2026 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has drawn participation from more than two dozen countries, including allies such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Azerbaijan, though several European nations have declined invitations.
Netanyahu’s office announced the development, emphasizing the move as a step toward reinforcing the “unbreakable alliance” between Israel and the United States.
“We will continue strengthening the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States,” Netanyahu stated following the ceremony.
The meeting at Blair House preceded Netanyahu’s White House session with Trump, where the leaders were expected to address regional security issues, including ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and implementation of Gaza-related initiatives under Trump’s broader peace framework.
The Board of Peace operates under a charter that positions Trump as inaugural chairman and focuses on restoring governance, mobilizing resources and ensuring long-term stability in areas like Gaza, in line with related U.N. Security Council resolutions. Israel had previously expressed reservations about certain aspects of related oversight mechanisms but ultimately joined the body.
Netanyahu’s visit to Washington marks his latest high-level engagement with the Trump administration amid efforts to solidify bilateral cooperation on Middle East challenges.
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON (AP) — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, stemmed from the Pentagon’s plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details.
That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people.
Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test it, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace. It was not clear whether the laser was ultimately deployed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier that a response to an incursion by Mexican cartel drones had led to the airspace closure and that the threat had been neutralized. Drone incursions are not uncommon along the southern border.
Officials at the White House, FAA and Department of Transportation did not respond immediately Wednesday to request for comment about the dispute. The Pentagon said it had nothing to add to its statement that largely mirrored Duffy’s comment.
The FAA had originally announced a 10-day closure of the airspace, confusing travelers at the airport in the border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people. The order was lifted a few hours later. No Mexican airspace was closed.
Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.” Duffy said normal flights were resuming Wednesday morning. He did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, said neither her office, the city of El Paso nor airport operations received advance notice. She said she believed the shutdown was not based on Mexican cartel drones in U.S. airspace, saying that “is not what we in Congress have been told.”
Pentagon officials declined to comment on Escobar’s remarks and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office referred questions to the FAA.
“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly,” Escobar said during a news conference. The shutdown had been expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area around El Paso.
“The information coming from the federal government does not add up,” Escobar said.
Cross-border drone activity is not new
Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district covers an area that stretches for about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) along Texas’ border with Mexico, said cartel drone sightings are common.
“For any of us who live and work along the border, daily drone incursions by criminal organizations is every-day life for us. It’s a Wednesday for us,” Gonzales said.
Asked about the drone explanation provided by U.S. officials, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border.” She noted that if U.S. authorities have more information they should contact Mexico’s government.
Steven Willoughby, the deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, told lawmakers in July that cartels are using drones nearly every day to transport drugs across the border and surveil Border Patrol agents.
More than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, he testified, mostly at night. Homeland Security has said agents have seized thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs in recent years that cartels were trying to fly across the border using drones.
Mexican officials head to Washington
El Paso is hub of cross-border commerce alongside Ciudad Juárez. The Mexican city is home to about 1.5 million people, and some of its residents are accustomed to taking advantage of facilities including airports on both sides of the border. That easy access to the U.S. has also made Juarez, like other border cities, attractive to Mexico’s drug cartels seeking to safeguard their smuggling routes for drugs and migrants headed north and cash and guns moving to the south.
El Paso International Airport said in an Instagram post after the closure was announced that all flights to and from the airport would be grounded through Feb. 20, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights. Local newscasts showed stranded travelers with luggage lining up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks at the El Paso airport hours after flights were grounded.
The airport posted later Wednesday morning that its operations had resumed and encouraged travelers to contact their airlines for the most up-to-date flight information.
Mexican defense and navy secretaries will meet with Northern Command officials in Washington on Wednesday in a meeting attended by representatives of several other countries, Sheinbaum said during a news conference. Sheinbaum said the Mexican officials would “listen” in the meeting and that her government would look into “the exact causes” of the closure.
‘This was a major and unnecessary disruption’
El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson said at a news conference that he didn’t hear about the closure until after the alert was issued and he called the failure to communicate that to the city unacceptable.
“Decisions made without notice and coordination puts lives at risk and creates unnecessary danger and confusion,” Johnson said. “This was a major and unnecessary disruption, one that has not occurred since 9/11.”
The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta all operate flights there, among others.
A similar 10-day temporary flight restriction for special security reasons remained in place Wednesday morning around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of the El Paso airport. FAA officials did not immediately explain why that restriction remained in place.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, a Democrat, said in a statement: “Keeping our communities informed and safe is critical. I’m demanding answers from the FAA and the administration about why the airspace was closed in the first place without notifying appropriate officials, leaving travelers to deal with unnecessary chaos.”
Shutdown and restart creates confusion for travelers
The airspace closure upset travel plans on both sides of the border.
María Aracelia was pushing two roller suitcases across the pedestrian bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso Wednesday morning. She had a round-trip flight to Illinois scheduled for the afternoon.
After receiving a text at 4 a.m. telling her about the 10-day closure, she scrambled to try to find other options, even how to get to another airport. Then came a notification that the El Paso airport had reopened.
“This is stressful and there isn’t time to make so many changes, especially if you need to get back for work,” Aracelia said.
The Lakewood ScoopAssemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Union) announced that she will introduce legislation aimed at prohibiting the use of publicly owned or controlled property in New Jersey as staging grounds for federal civil immigration enforcement operations.
Under the proposed bill, parking lots, vacant lots, and garages owned or controlled by municipalities, counties, or the State would be barred from being used as staging areas, processing locations, or operational bases for federal immigration enforcement.
“Public property exists to serve our communities — not to be used in ways that spread fear,” Quijano said. She argued that when immigration enforcement operations are staged from local government property, it can erode trust between residents and public institutions, discouraging families from accessing schools, hospitals, and other essential services.
The legislation would direct the Director of the Division of Local Government Services to identify properties affected by the law and issue guidance, including standardized signage indicating that the property may not be used for immigration enforcement staging. Certain private property owners — including businesses, faith-based institutions, medical providers, and nonprofit organizations — would also be permitted to request similar signage.
According to Quijano, the bill would not interfere with the execution of judicial warrants in criminal matters or with other lawful activities permitted under state or federal law.
“This is about protecting community trust, maintaining local control, and ensuring our public spaces remain safe and accessible to all,” Quijano said.
The Assemblywoman plans to formally introduce the legislation tomorrow.
MatzavSignificant unanswered questions still surround the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to Sen. Dave McCormick, who says the public has not received a full accounting of what went wrong that day.
In an interview with New York Post columnist Miranda Devine on the Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, McCormick said he remains troubled by how a 20-year-old gunman was able to position himself and fire on Trump during the July 13, 2024 rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds. He told Devine he is “not satisfied” with the explanations that have been provided so far.
Reflecting on the proximity of the shooter to the stage — “less than 150 yards” — McCormick described the lapse as “hard to imagine,” calling it both “a breach in security” and “a breach in protocol.” He questioned how such a vulnerability could have existed at a presidential campaign event.
McCormick said he had been seated in the front row of the rally after Trump briefly weighed inviting him onto the stage. When gunfire erupted, he immediately recognized the sound from his military background, he told Devine.
He described watching Trump reach for his ear as Secret Service agents rushed to shield him. McCormick also recalled the widely circulated moment when Trump stood up, raised his fist, and shouted, “Fight, fight, fight,” before being escorted from the stage.
The attack left one rally attendee dead and two others injured. Corey Comperatore was killed while protecting his family, and two additional rallygoers were wounded. The suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed at the scene.
Although federal authorities have concluded that Crooks acted alone, the incident has continued to spark skepticism and concern among members of the public. McCormick argued that restoring trust will require complete transparency from Washington.
Drawing on his experience at Bridgewater Associates, McCormick said he believes in a culture of “radical truth, radical transparency,” adding that “the American people, they can take the truth,” even in highly charged political situations. He said information should be disclosed in all but the rare instances where doing so would truly jeopardize national security, according to the transcript.
The New York Post highlighted what it described as a noticeable difference between the gradual release of details in the Butler case and the rapid public discussion of possible ideological motives following the later assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk. The comparison, the paper noted, may resonate with Americans who perceive that institutions are quick to frame certain acts of violence through a political lens while moving more cautiously when facts do not align as neatly.
Subsequent reporting has focused on lingering questions about accountability. Families of victims connected to the Butler rally have publicly demanded clarity regarding security breakdowns and whether any officials will face consequences.
Media reports have also detailed disciplinary measures within the Secret Service after internal reviews reportedly uncovered serious failures in coordination and threat response related to the rally.
For McCormick, the core issue is public trust. He told Devine that when the government appears to “stonewall,” even if officials believe they have “legitimate answers,” it ultimately “breeds mistrust.”
{Matzav.com}
The Lakewood ScoopHow It Works • Why It Works • Expected Results
EMSculpt with RF is a non-invasive body-contouring treatment that combines High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology with Radiofrequency (RF) energy. This dual-action approach targets muscle strengthening, fat reduction, and skin tightening at the same time, without surgery, needles, or downtime.
HIFEM Technology:
– Produces supramaximal muscle contractions far stronger than voluntary exercise
– Each 30-minute session delivers the equivalent of over 20,000 crunches or squats
– Forces muscle fibers to adapt and grow thicker and stronger
Radiofrequency (RF):
– Heats fat cells to trigger natural fat cell death (apoptosis)
– Stimulates collagen and elastin production
– Improves skin firmness and elasticity
EMSculpt with RF works cumulatively. With each session, muscle density increases while fat volume decreases. As fat cells are eliminated and muscle becomes more compact and lifted, the treated area physically reduces in circumference, resulting in visible inch loss.
– Typical inch loss per treated area: 1–3 inches
– Up to 4 inches possible in ideal candidates
– Increased muscle tone and definition
– Tighter, firmer skin
– Results continue improving for 4–12 weeks after final session
– Individuals close to their goal weight
– Stubborn fat resistant to diet and exercise
– Post-pregnancy abdominal laxity
– Clients seeking non-surgical body contouring
– Non-invasive, no downtime
– Clinically proven fat reduction and muscle building
– 30-minute sessions
– Safe and effective for multiple body areas
Book now right here on WhatsApp or by calling 347-276-9651.
Vos Iz NeiasBy Rabbi Yair Hoffman
It is the crisis that keeps mechanchim and parents awake at night. Every year, precious neshamos slip away from Yiddishkeit, leaving behind heartbroken families and bewildered teachers who wonder what went wrong. We attend the conferences, we read the articles, we daven. But perhaps we have been overlooking a deceptively simple truth that one of the Gedolei HaDor articulated with breathtaking clarity. Look closely at the picture above. Now look again.
E_very Jewish child in the picture is made of solid gold — and the moment we treat itheir neshama as anything less, we begin to lose that child._
That teaching, and dozens of related ones, appear in a remarkable sefer called Tzaddik K’Tamar Yifrach, compiled by Rabbi Gedaliah ben Meir Yechiel HaLevi Honigsberg. The first chapter alone is a virtual roadmap for anyone who wants to understand how to educate Jewish children in a way that keeps them connected, inspired, and on the derech.
The Gemara in Bava Kamma (62a) discusses a case in which someone gave a woman a dinar, telling her it was silver, when in reality it was gold. If the woman damaged the coin through negligence, she must pay back the value of a gold dinar — even though she believed it was silver — because gold is worth far more. However, if she merely failed to guard it properly and the coin was then stolen, she is not obligated to pay for the gold, since she can argue: “I accepted responsibility for guarding silver, not gold.”
The Gri“z of Brisk, drew a powerful educational parallel from this Gemara. A person does not realize it, Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman explained in his name, but when he is with children, he thinks it is like guarding silver. In truth, however, it is not silver at all — it is gold. And automatically, he is obligated to guard it like gold.
“Every neshama of a Jewish child is gold!” Rav Shteinman declared. “And much more than gold … It is impossible to estimate. A person cannot behave as though he is guarding ordinary things, lesser things. There could be an excuse that he did not know the object was worth a hundred thousand shekel but thought it was only a thousand shekel. But in educating students, one must tell him that it is gold — the neshamos of all of Klal Yisrael!”
Rav Shteinman emphasized that every deviation from this standard — even one that seems only one percent off — is unacceptable, because the mechanech must know that he is dealing with gold. This single awareness, Rav Shteinman suggested, is the key to everything else. When a rebbi walks into a classroom knowing that he holds gold in his hands, he teaches differently, he speaks differently, and he disciplines differently.
Rav Shteinman once related that he heard from the Chazon Ish that the Chofetz Chaim would actually conceal the greatness of his love for his talmidim from the outside world, fearing that ba’alei batim who were hostile to him might take revenge on his students if they knew how deeply he cared. The Chazon Ish told Rav Shteinman this story specifically to convey how great the love between a rav and his talmidim must be — so great, in fact, that the Chofetz Chaim felt he needed to hide it in order to protect them. It was also, Rav Shteinman noted, a subtle criticism of anyone who fails to show enough love to his talmidim.
If children are gold, then how should one speak to them? Rav Shteinman’s answer was direct: “Every person should think this way when he is learning with students — that this is gold. And in any case, one should not rush to yell at the student; rather, everything should be done with calm spirit, in clear and pleasant language, and then the student will accept it and be able to grow. Otherwise, the student will not accept it.”
“We are working with neshamos,” Rav Shteinman continued. “This is not just any occupation. And sometimes, if something improper is done, the student goes out to tarbos ra’ah. Through the daily actions of the rebbi shaming the student, the student will go out to tarbos ra’ah. The neshama of a Yid is not a simple thing … And this is the essential point: to know at all times that one is learning with the neshamos of Klal Yisrael.”
Here we encounter the direct link between chinuch and keeping children on the derech. Rav Shteinman was not speaking in abstractions. He was saying that every time a rebbi shames a child, yells at a child, or treats a child as something less than gold, the rebbi is actively pushing that child toward leaving Yiddishkeit. The daily actions of a mechanech — not a single dramatic event, but the routine, day-in-day-out way he treats his students — can determine whether a child stays frum or goes off.
Rav Shteinman articulated a principle that caused “great amazement and wonder” at a major conference for mechanchim in America. The principle: “The correct perspective that a person involved in chinuch must have when doubts arise regarding a student is — what would he do if this were his own son? Would he also then think he should be expelled?”
At the conference, they had been debating when it is appropriate to expel a student and what the proper procedure is. Rav Shteinman told them simply: “One must conduct oneself with students the way one conducts oneself with one’s own son. Just as he would act in such a situation with his own son, so should he act with his talmid.”
Rav Shteinman noted that this idea is alluded to in the Gemara in Kesubos (23a), where the expression is used: “Had these been your daughters, what would you have done?” From this Gemara, Rav Shteinman derived that a mechanech who is considering expelling a student must ask himself: Would he have acted this way with his own son?
The implications are profound. How many talmidim have been expelled from yeshivos and gone off the derech? Would those same mechanchim have expelled their own sons? The question alone should give every mechanech pause.
Rav Shteinman taught a powerful lesson about never giving up on a student. He pointed out that among the eighty talmidim of Hillel HaZakein, the greatest was Yonasan ben Uziel and the smallest was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai (Sukkah 28a). And yet, through whom was the Torah transmitted to future generations? Specifically through Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai — the “smallest” of the talmidim.
Rav Shteinman added a remarkable insight: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai did not despair. He did not say to himself, “Since I am the smallest among the talmidim, I have no chance to become great.” Rather, he did his avodah without looking at his surroundings or comparing himself to others, and through this he rose to become the one who transmitted the Torah to the next generation.
The Yerushalmi in Nedarim (Chapter 5) adds a stunning detail. When Hillel fell ill and all his talmidim came to visit, there was no room for Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who remained alone in the courtyard. Hillel asked: “Where is the smallest among you, who is a father of wisdom and a father for generations?” They told him he was in the courtyard, and Hillel instructed them to let him in and to appoint him, declaring him the one who would lead the generation.
The lesson for mechanchim is unmistakable.
The quiet bachur sitting in the back of the classroom, the one who seems to be struggling, the one who appears to be “the smallest” — he may very well be the one who will transmit the Torah to the next generation. No mechanech has the right to write off any talmid.
To drive this point home further, Rav Shteinman brought the example of the Netziv of Volozhin, zt“l. Despite not having exceptional natural talents among his peers, the Netziv merited becoming one of the greatest transmitters of Torah in his era, serving as Rosh Yeshiva of the Volozhin Yeshiva for approximately 50 of its 90 years of existence — all thanks to his extraordinary hasmadah.
When asked how this was possible, given the Netziv’s own account that as a child he was unremarkable in learning and his parents considered making him a sandal-maker, Rav Shteinman answered: “On the contrary, that is exactly the point. The essence of ‘shteigen’ is not achieved through natural talent, but through the power of hasmadah.” Rav Shteinman explained that R’ Itzele Volozhiner was wise and far-sighted: he examined the young child and saw that he possessed a tremendous power of diligence, and therefore took him as a son-in-law at the age of twelve. The public did not recognize the Netziv’s greatness in his early years, and even the Rav’s family did not realize it. Only R’ Itzele understood that through the power of diligence alone, this young man would rise to become one of the Gedolei HaDor.
The message for mechanchim is clear: never evaluate a child solely by his apparent talent. The child with hasmadah, the child who works hard and does not give up, may surpass everyone around him. A mechanech who dismisses such a child because he doesn’t seem “bright enough” may be dismissing a future Gadol B’Yisrael.
Rav Shteinman illustrated the incalculable value of every individual with a dramatic story. He spoke at the organization Chaim Shel Torah, which arranges for avreichim to learn with bachurim, and urged them to see how important every single person is. “One cannot know what can come from a single individual,” he said.
He then told the story of an orphaned child whose only livelihood came from accompanying a blind man. They would go together collecting money and sustenance. Eventually the blind man died. The Maggid of Dubno took the orphan into his home and raised him. And from that orphan came forth the Gaon Rav Shlomo Kluger, zt“l — one of the most prolific poskim in Jewish history. Had the Maggid of Dubno not invested in that one child, Klal Yisrael would have lost one of its greatest luminaries.
In a brief but striking remark, the Chazon Ish told Rav Shteinman that a melamed who lives in poverty has more success in teaching. The reasoning traces back to the Mishnah in Avos: “Such is the way of Torah — upon the ground you shall sleep” — meaning to live in deprivation and hardship for the sake of Torah. They noted that the Ketzos HaChoshen, because he was poor, had great siyata d’Shmaya, and they pointed to the Vilna Gaon, who lived in poverty, and Hillel the Elder, who was famously poor. There is something about a mechanech who has sacrificed material comfort for Torah that resonates deeply with his talmidim.
The Gemara in Eruvin (54b) relates that Rebbi Preida would teach his student four hundred times. The common understanding is that the student was slow-witted. Rav Shteinman offered a different explanation. He noted that the student was actually being taught deep material — not elementary content that would require four hundred repetitions due to a lack of intelligence. Rather, Rebbi Preida was teaching profound concepts, and the student needed extensive review to master them.
Rav Shteinman drew a general principle from this: “In general, all children want to learn. If there is a child who does not learn, it is because the rebbi yells at him until the rebbi removes from him the desire for learning. And if the rebbi hits him, then the child does not want to come to the cheider at all.”
This is perhaps the most direct statement in the entire chapter about why children go off the derech. It is not because they lack the desire to learn. It is not because they are inherently rebellious. It is because a rebbi’s behavior — yelling, hitting, shaming — extinguishes the natural desire that every Jewish child has for Torah. The rebbi who yells is not merely failing to educate; he is actively destroying a child’s connection to Hashem.
Rav Shteinman also cited the Gemara in Bava Metzia that Rebbi Chiya himself would teach children, and noted that the Pri Megadim was a melamed of children in Galicia, in the town of Komarno, and his father-in-law was a melamed of small children — and great talmidim came forth from them. Teaching children is not beneath anyone.
When the topic of creating discipline came up, Rav Shteinman’s answer was characteristically concise and revolutionary: “Today — not with a stick, but rather by loving the children.”
This does not mean there is no discipline at all. Rav Shteinman offered several practical alternatives. Today, he noted, a melamed cannot hit a student — if he does, it will be reported to the authorities, the child will always be believed, and the teacher may be imprisoned. Instead, a student can be given a punishment of writing a page of Gemara three or four times. Alternatively, the Gaon Rav Shimon Grossbard, zt“l, the mashgiach of the Ponevezh yeshiva ketana, once gave a bachur a creative punishment: to learn a section of the Gra’s commentary on Even HaEzer. The bachur would then come to ask the pshat in the Gra’s words — and this, Rav Shteinman noted, is truly a good punishment, because the student ends up learning Torah as a result.
In Iyar 5775, a Rosh Yeshiva asked Rav Shteinman what to do about a bachur who had been found engaging in improper behavior. Should they expel him? Rav Shteinman’s answer was unequivocal: “If you throw him out, he will just wander around, and it will be even worse.”
This is consistent with Rav Shteinman’s overarching approach: the yeshiva is a place of safety and growth. Expelling a struggling bachur does not solve the problem; it abandons the child to an environment where he has even less chance of finding his way back. The mechanech’s job is not to curate a perfect student body, but to educate every child that Hashem sends his way.
On the topic of children who steal, someone in Rav Shteinman’s presence suggested publicly shaming the child. Rav Shteinman disagreed sharply, noting that we do not find a punishment of public shame for any aveirah, except for the Sotah. Shaming a child for stealing is not a Torah approach to chinuch.
Rav Shteinman then shared practical advice. A father came to him about a child who was stealing frequently. Rav Shteinman advised: every time the child steals, the father should take him by the hand and compel him to return the stolen item to its owner personally. They followed this advice, and after just three times, the child could no longer even bring himself to approach an object that did not belong to him.
“And one should know,” Rav Shteinman added, “that all of this is in this world, but in the World to Come, it is a terrible shame!”
Rav Shteinman also reassured parents and mechanchim: stealing among children is a common phenomenon, but it is not necessarily permanent. As a person matures, Rav Shteinman said, he generally works on himself, and the tendency to steal fades away. Even when they told Rav Shteinman about someone who stole in his youth and is now a rav, Rav Shteinman acknowledged it is possible he did genuine teshuvah — though he noted it is not simple, because such tendencies are deeply embedded in human nature.
A telling anecdote reveals Rav Shteinman’s priorities. During one of his travels, time constraints forced a choice: should he hold a conference for rabbanim, a conference for mechanchim, or a conference for children? Rav Shteinman decided that it was preferable to hold a conference for children, “so that something would remain with them.” The children came first — not the adults, not the professionals, but the neshamos themselves.
Rav Shteinman placed the current state of chinuch in stark historical perspective. “In earlier generations,” he observed, “virtually all of the Jewish people were yirei Shamayim. Unfortunately, in our times we have remained a small portion. The chareidi chinuch, even though baruch Hashem it is improving, nevertheless has an element that is not entirely good — and those may be very many. Then what remains for us are these individual neshamos, and they are neshamos of ‘kedushah,’ and one must truly treat them as one treats something that is holy.”
The fewer frum Jews there are proportionally, the more precious each neshama becomes. We cannot afford to lose even one. Every child who goes off the derech represents an incalculable loss — not just to his family, but to Klal Yisrael.
The teachings recorded in Tzaddik K’Tamar Yifrach form a coherent and comprehensive vision for chinuch that keeps children on the derech. The principles are clear: Recognize that every child’s neshama is gold. Love your talmidim with a love so deep that even outsiders can see it and envy it. Never yell — speak with calm spirit, in clear and pleasant language. Treat every talmid the way you would treat your own son. Never give up on the “smallest” student, because he may be the one who leads the generation. Value hasmadah over talent. Discipline with wisdom and love, not with humiliation. Do not expel a struggling student — he will only deteriorate further. And above all, remember at every moment that you are working with neshamos of kedushah, and act accordingly.
These are not innovative theories from a secular education journal. These are the words of a Gadol B’Yisrael zt”l, rooted in Chazal and in the mesorah. The solution to the “off the derech” crisis is not complicated. It is demanding, it requires constant self-awareness, and it calls for a level of love that most people reserve only for their own children. But it is not complicated. It has been articulated for us clearly. All that remains is for us to listen, internalize, and act.
The author can be reached at [email protected]
MatzavThe IDF and the Shin Bet announced that they eliminated Basam Hashem al-Fatah Himouni in a joint operation last week, removing a longtime Hamas operative who had been involved in attacks against Israel for more than 20 years.
Himouni, a native of Chevron, was considered a key player in Hamas’ terror infrastructure and maintained an active role in directing operations targeting Israel over the course of two decades.
He was responsible for dispatching the suicide bombers who carried out the coordinated double bombing of two buses in Be’er Sheva in August 2004. That attack claimed the lives of 16 people and wounded roughly 100 others. Israeli security forces apprehended him soon afterward, in October 2004, and he was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 2011, as part of the “Shalit Deal,” Himouni was freed from prison and expelled to Gaza. After his release, he resumed involvement in terrorist activity, enlisting operatives and overseeing attacks.
Security officials said that amid the ongoing war, Himouni played a role in manufacturing and deploying explosive devices intended to target IDF troops operating in Gaza.
“His elimination represents an important and meaningful closure,” a joint statement read. “The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to operate against any terrorist who attempts to advance and execute terror plans against IDF forces and the State of Israel’s citizens.”
{Matzav.com}
The Lakewood ScoopFraudsters continue to bombard the public with deceptive calls, texts, emails, social media messages, and even physical mail—all designed to steal money or personal information. The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) remain committed to fighting back through education, outreach, and national awareness efforts.
On March 5, 2026, SSA and OIG will lead the 7th Annual National Slam the Scam Day, a nationwide initiative dedicated to helping the public spot, avoid, and report government imposter scams to better protect themselves.
Government imposter fraud remains one of the most damaging and persistent forms of consumer deception. Each year, losses have exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars, with scammers continuing to impersonate SSA more than any other federal agency. According to the FTC, these schemes not only drain victims’ savings but also fuel broader criminal networks, including organized crime, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
Scammers frequently recruit unwitting individuals to help move stolen funds, pulling more victims into their operations. As tactics grow more sophisticated and complex, public awareness remains the strongest defense.
SSA and OIG work closely with federal partners, nonprofit organizations, and private-sector allies to aid individuals in identifying scams and safeguard their personal information. While scam methods evolve, the warning signs remain consistent.
To quickly spot a scam, remember the 4 Ps:
“National Slam the Scam Day continues to be one of our most effective tools in combating fraud,” said Michelle L. Anderson, Assistant Inspector General for Audit as First Assistant. “Losses remain far too high, and scammers are constantly adapting. We must keep educating and amplifying the warning to the public about evolving threats, not only Social Security-related scams, but all forms of government impersonation. The most effective action anyone can take is simple: disconnect immediately from suspicious contacts.”
“All scams—especially imitations of the Social Security Administration—put Americans at risk,’ said Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano. “National Slam the Scam Day is a vitally important effort in confronting the fraudsters who viciously target America’s seniors and most vulnerable. I encourage all Americans to remain vigilant, today and every day, as we work to spread awareness about the danger of scams.”
National Slam the Scam Day is held annually during the United States Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week (March 1–7, 2026). On March 5, 2026, partners nationwide will host social media events to share tips and empower the public to protect themselves.
Visit ssa.gov/scam for resources, alerts, and reporting tools.
Real Government Officials Will NEVER:
How to Report
Report Social Security-related scams at oig.ssa.gov.
Report other government imposter scams to the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/scams.
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-Attorney General Pam Bondi engaged in heated exchanges with Democratic lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing Wednesday focused on the Department of Justice’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein-related files and other matters.
The session, which featured testimony from Bondi on DOJ operations, grew contentious as committee Democrats pressed her on the release of Epstein documents, alleged cover-ups, and the department’s priorities. Tensions escalated during questioning involving Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the committee’s ranking member.
At one point, Bondi accused Democrats of engaging in theatrics amid interruptions and overlapping questions. According to accounts from the hearing and video clips shared online, Bondi remarked, “Here we go with the theatrics,” during exchanges with Nadler.
When Raskin interjected, stating, “I told you, Attorney General—” in reference to procedural matters or prior warnings, Bondi responded sharply: “You don’t tell me ANYTHING, you washed up—you’re not even a lawyer!”
Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, has practiced law and served as a litigator before entering Congress.
The back-and-forth occurred amid broader Democratic criticism of Bondi’s leadership, including accusations that the DOJ was not adequately pursuing Epstein co-conspirators or addressing victim concerns. Democrats also highlighted the presence of Epstein survivors in the hearing room, with some urging Bondi to address them directly.
Bondi defended the department’s actions, rejecting claims of cover-ups and emphasizing ongoing work. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, oversaw the proceedings, which included discussions on other issues such as immigration enforcement and past prosecutions.
The hearing underscored ongoing partisan divisions over the Justice Department’s direction under the current administration. No immediate policy changes were announced as a result of the session.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, was confirmed as U.S. attorney general in early 2025 following her nomination by President Trump.
MatzavEven after Shas and Degel HaTorah signaled a willingness to accept the full slate of demands presented by the Knesset’s legal advisers regarding the draft law, the legal counsel to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is now pushing for additional and more far-reaching sanctions on yeshiva students.
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee legal adviser Miri Frenkel-Shor is seeking to incorporate new, significant penalties into the current version of the conscription legislation, according to new information.
Senior officials within Degel HaTorah say that after the chareidi factions indicated they were prepared to meet all of the Knesset legal advisory team’s requirements — including raising enlistment targets and agreeing that sanctions would take effect immediately and only be lifted after a full year of compliance — they were taken aback to learn that further penalties were being demanded.
“She asked to add another basket of sanctions, ones that would apply to Torah students even in a situation where enlistment targets are met. She sent us back to the Edelstein document. We’re in trouble,” a senior Degel figure involved in drafting the legislation admitted.
The same official added that additional disputes remain unresolved, including the status of yeshiva students who have been classified as draft evaders. “In the end, the ones who will decide are the Gedolei Yisrael,” he said.
As previously reported, representatives from Shas and Degel HaTorah acknowledged that negotiations have reached an impasse, with no apparent path to bridging the gap between the legal advisory demands and the agreements the chareidi factions are prepared to accept.
Senior chareidi officials related that an understanding with the legal advisers now appears unlikely. In the immediate term, they said, Gedolei Yisrael will need to determine how the factions proceed regarding both the draft law and the state budget.
“We are in the worst position we’ve been in so far,” a senior chareidi figure involved in the draft law discussions said. “We will have to make decisions. In the immediate timeframe, we will present the matter to the Gedolei Yisrael to receive their ruling on how to continue the legislative process.”
According to party insiders, Degel HaTorah is weighing several possible courses of action. One option under consideration is agreeing to the primary demands of the Knesset’s legal advisory team, including immediate implementation of sanctions and higher enlistment targets, in line with the position of committee legal adviser Attorney Miri Frenkel-Shor.
Another scenario being discussed is advancing the draft legislation — known as the Bismuth Law — even without the support of the legal advisory establishment, fully aware that the High Court of Justice is likely to issue an interim injunction and could ultimately strike the law down.
A third possibility, described by senior officials as less realistic, would involve dissolving the Knesset and heading to immediate elections. “That’s the least realistic option, because you don’t dismantle a government in an election year and shoot ourselves in the other foot. We would be the first to be harmed if there is no budget,” one senior official said.
“There isn’t much time,” the officials added. “We will likely need to make decisions before the end of the week. Gedolei Yisrael will make the decision — not us.”
{Matzav.com}
Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara expressed support this week for the government’s plan that tightens control over Yehuda and Shomron and advances de facto sovereignty in the area, i24News reported.
At the security cabinet meeting on Sunday, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced a number of decisions regarding land registration and acquisition procedures that will strengthen Jewish settlements in Yehudah and Shomron, including the revocation of a Jordanian law banning the sale of land to Jews.
To their surprise, Baharav-Miara expressed her support for the measures.
“All of the measures align with international law according to how the Justice Ministry interprets it,” she said at the meeting. She added: “If foreign entities raise claims, we have responses ready.”
Among the decisions approved by the cabinet were the removal of confidentiality from land registry records in Judea and Samaria and publishing them (easing land purchases); repealing the Jordanian law that prohibits the sale of land in Yehudah and Shomron to Jews; and expanding supervision and enforcement activities to Areas A and B regarding water offenses, damage to archaeological sites, and environmental hazards.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Vos Iz NeiasNEW YORK — New Yorkers who trusted Extra Space Storage to safeguard their belongings may soon get some relief. On Tuesday, the city filed a landmark lawsuit against the national self-storage chain (NYSE:EXR), alleging widespread bait-and-switch pricing, vermin-infested units, hidden fees, and other predatory practices across its roughly 60 locations in the city. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) is seeking full restitution for affected customers and more than $5 million in civil penalties.
The lawsuit stems from more than 100 complaints reviewed by DCWP, which found that Extra Space frequently lured customers with low introductory rates only to sharply increase fees after move-in. Some tenants reported being denied access to their units due to changed locks, charged undisclosed “junk fees,” or threatened with the auction of their belongings. Many facilities were described as unsanitary, with mold, water damage, and vermin infestations, creating unsafe conditions for stored property.
“This lawsuit aims to shut down Extra Space’s deceptive scheme and send a clear message to the self-storage industry,” said DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine. Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su added that the administration is committed to rooting out corporate greed and protecting New Yorkers from exploitative practices.
Extra Space has received more complaints than any other self-storage provider in New York City. The lawsuit also comes as the city prepares to license all self-storage facilities under Local Law 171 of 2025, which takes effect in August 2026, requiring operators to comply with city standards for safety, transparency, and fair pricing.
Council officials praised the move. “Many New Yorkers rely on self-storage as a necessary solution to limited living space or sudden changes to their living situations,” said Council Speaker Julie Menin. “They deserve facilities that are transparent, reliable, and fully compliant with the law.”
MatzavA new twist has emerged in the ongoing and perplexing case involving the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, as TMZ reports it has received another letter demanding payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for information about her alleged abductor.
According to TMZ, the message calls for a transfer of one bitcoin — roughly $66,000 — in return for what it describes as the “name of the individual involved” in the kidnapping of the mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
The letter is said to be the third communication sent since Nancy was last seen on Jan. 31. During an appearance Wednesday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” TMZ founder Harvey Levin shared additional details about the contents of the note.
“They said they want one bitcoin sent to a bitcoin address that we have confirmed is active. It’s a real bitcoin address, and as they put it, time is more than relevant,” Levin said. “So we have no idea whether this is real or not. But they are making a demand.”
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasHOLLYWOOD, Fla. (VINnews) — The city’s historic preservation board voted 4-2 Tuesday to allow construction of a Jewish ritual bath, or mikvah, in the Hollywood Lakes neighborhood, prompting mixed reactions from residents.
The project involves demolishing an existing home at 1434 Monroe St. to build the mikvah. Opponents raised concerns about zoning, demolition, and potential enforcement issues, while supporters emphasized the project’s integration with the community.
The property was redesigned following an earlier review, including relocating parking to the rear and adjusting the building to better fit the neighborhood. The board approved the special exception with five conditions, including parking restrictions, limits on appointments, and specifying that the facility will be used exclusively by women.
The project will now proceed through the city’s permitting process before construction begins.
The Lakewood ScoopFor many families, Pesach comes with a familiar mix of anticipation and pressure. The cleaning. The shopping. The cooking. The hosting. Even those who love Yom Tov will admit — by the time the Seder comes around, you’re already exhausted.
That’s why more families are starting to ask a different question:
What if Pesach could actually feel like a reset?
This year, Ness Vacation Homes is offering something that truly changes the Pesach experience — luxury, kosher vacation homes in Eden Gardens that let you enjoy Yom Tov without giving anything up.
Visit NessVacationHomes.com to learn more / get started
or call 407-569-8118
Vos Iz NeiasAUSTIN, Texas (VINnews) — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that he removed Carrie Prejean Boller from President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission following a tense exchange during a hearing on antisemitism in America, accusing her of derailing the proceedings with remarks he characterized as anti-Israel and inappropriate for the forum.
The incident occurred Monday during a commission hearing examining rising antisemitic incidents and threats facing Jewish communities across the United States. According to Patrick, Boller shifted the discussion away from antisemitism and toward criticism of Israel, prompting objections and disrupting the focus of the session.
Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our…
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) February 11, 2026
Patrick, who chairs the commission, said no member has the right to “hijack” a hearing to advance a personal or political agenda, particularly during testimony centered on antisemitism. He said her comments were inconsistent with the commission’s purpose.
The Religious Liberty Commission has held five hearings to date, including sessions addressing religious discrimination in education, the military and public life. Two additional hearings are scheduled before the panel delivers its final report to the president this spring.
Patrick said the commission’s work is aimed at protecting First Amendment rights and confronting growing hostility toward people of faith, including Jewish Americans.
Boller has not publicly responded to the removal.
Vos Iz NeiasALBANY, N.Y. (VINnews) — Far-right activist Laura Loomer upended the New York Republican gubernatorial race this week, prompting turmoil in Bruce Blakeman’s campaign after she highlighted a lieutenant governor pick’s brief 2024 presidential run, The New York Times reported.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and presumptive GOP nominee, had tapped Sheriff Richard Giardino of Fulton County as his running mate. Loomer, citing Giardino’s New Hampshire primary bid, accused him of being hostile to former President Donald Trump. Her social media post quickly circulated among GOP circles, raising questions about the pick and fueling uncertainty in Blakeman’s team.
Giardino, who described his presidential run as largely symbolic to highlight law enforcement issues, said he never opposed Trump. But the public scrutiny and logistical challenges of balancing the lieutenant governor role with his sheriff duties led him to withdraw from consideration.
Loomer has emerged as one of the most influential conservative social media figures, and her interventions have made politicians wary of her critiques, The New York Times noted. Analysts say her ability to sway party insiders and shape public perception has grown, making her a formidable force in Republican politics.
The episode highlighted the GOP’s difficulties in assembling a statewide ticket in New York, where Republicans have not won a statewide race in two decades and Blakeman trails Gov. Kathy Hochul by 20 to 30 points in polls. By Monday afternoon, Blakeman’s campaign named Todd Hood, another upstate sheriff, as the new lieutenant governor nominee.
Matzav[Video below.] House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that the Department of Homeland Security could face a shutdown by the end of the week if significant changes are not made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, declaring that ICE must be “reined in” before Democrats will support further funding.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” the New York Democrat placed responsibility on Republicans to resolve the standoff, arguing that taxpayer money should not support what he described as abusive enforcement tactics.
“The ball is in the Republican’s court right now. We’ve made clear that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them. That shouldn’t be a controversial proposition. We know that Ice is completely and totally out of control. They’ve gone way too far, and they need to be reined in so that immigration enforcement in this country is fair, it’s just and it’s humane. And the only way to bring that about right now is for there to be dramatic changes in the way in which DHS conducts itself before any funding bill moves forward on Friday,” Jeffries said.
He continued by accusing the administration of failing to follow through on its pledge to focus enforcement efforts on violent offenders.
“They promised that immigration enforcement was going to target violent felons who are here illegally. That’s not what’s taking place. That targeting American citizens, law abiding immigrant families and American communities, which is why the American people are so horrified. And so, again, we need dramatic change on the one hand or listen, Republicans are going to make the decision to shut down FEMA, shut down the Coast Guard and shut down TSA. And that would be very unfortunate,” he said.
Host Katy Tur pressed Jeffries on whether any common ground had been reached.
“So there’s nothing there that you guys can agree on. As of now?” Tur asked.
Jeffries responded that discussions remain limited, pointing to one area where the White House has signaled possible flexibility, though he said it falls short of what Democrats are demanding.
“Well, the White House has indicated that there’s some openness, to mandating body cameras. That’s important. But that can’t be the only thing that is done moving forward. That’s not dramatic change. And the White House has not even gone as far as saying we agree mandatory body cameras, no exceptions. Their response, even in that area, has been ambiguous. ”
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasNEW YORK (VINnews) — This week, a man who grew up in Kuwait in an environment steeped in antisemitism recounted his journey to Judaism on Rabbi Efrem Goldberg’s weekly podcast, Behind the Bimah.
Mark Halawa, now a practicing Jew, described how small acts of kindness and human connection gradually unsettled his assumptions and led him to embrace the faith. “It wasn’t a story of protest or politics,” said Halawa. “It was about quiet moments and sincere questions.”
Rabbi Goldberg and Rabbi Philip Moskowitz hosted Halawa in episode #190, titled From Kuwait to Jerusalem: Mark Halawa’s Journey to Judaism. The episode explores Halawa’s upbringing in a Muslim Arab family, the challenges of confronting deeply ingrained prejudice, and the encounters that ultimately inspired his conversion.
MatzavAfter weeks of relentless cold and lingering snow, New York City is finally poised for a meaningful thaw, with meteorologists predicting that remaining snow and ice could disappear by late next week.
Temperatures began climbing Tuesday, signaling an end to the deep freeze that gripped the five boroughs for much of early February. Forecasters say readings will now stay consistently above freezing for the near future, accelerating the melting process across the city.
“The two most significant factors that lead to the fastest snowmelt include a warm wind over the snowpack and fog, with temperatures above freezing,” AccuWeather meteorologist Chad Merrill told The NY Post.
A stretch of milder, breezy conditions is expected to help erode the accumulated snow, including the towering piles left behind by plows.
“We will see a period of breezy wind with above freezing temperatures into Wednesday, so that will help with the melting,” he said. “The current snow depth in NYC is 5 inches, but of course there are snow-plowed piles that in some spots are quite tall.
“We will likely see all the snow and ice completely melt in the city late next week.”
According to AccuWeather, daytime highs are forecast to hover in the upper 30s and low 40s through the end of next week, offering steady relief from the frigid pattern that dominated the start of the month.
Forecasters indicate that temperatures could climb to 46 degrees on Shabbos and reach 45 next Thursday. Aside from the chance of a light wintry mix on Sunday and again next Wednesday, conditions are expected to remain largely calm.
Even overnight lows are projected to be relatively moderate, settling in the low to mid-30s most nights, with only a few dips into the 20s anticipated during the week.
While highs in the 30s might still feel brisk elsewhere, city residents who endured early February’s punishing stretch — including sub-zero wind chills over the weekend — are welcoming the change.
Meteorologists caution that one additional cooler spell is possible later this month, though it is not expected to rival the severity of the cold already experienced.
“Another period of colder than average temperatures return the final week of the month into early March, but even so, it will not be the same in magnitude to the cold weather we experienced,” Merril said.
The incoming milder air should finally eliminate the snow that has blanketed the city since Winter Storm Fern dropped more than a foot on Jan. 25, leaving streets and sidewalks buried for more than two weeks.
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasBROOKLYN, N.Y. (VINnews) — A New York City police officer from the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, has been indicted on charges including assault, menacing and official misconduct stemming from two separate on-duty incidents involving civilians, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Tuesday.
The officer, identified as 42-year-old Quran McPhatter, was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu on a 13-count indictment. The charges include two counts of third-degree assault, four counts of official misconduct, two counts of third-degree attempted assault, one count of third-degree attempted coercion, and four counts of third-degree menacing. McPhatter was released without bail and is scheduled to return to court on March 25, 2026.
According to the indictment, on Aug. 3, 2025, McPhatter allegedly confronted a civilian who had complained about the officer’s patrol car driving unsafely through Sunset Park. The civilian requested McPhatter’s badge number, and authorities said McPhatter opened the car door near the individual, sprayed pepper spray on the ground, pushed the civilian, and allegedly threatened him. That encounter, including McPhatter shoving the civilian at the precinct later that evening, was documented by the civilian and posted on Instagram in 2024.
In a separate incident on Oct. 24, 2025, McPhatter and his partner responded to reports of a trespassing 60-year-old. During the arrest, McPhatter allegedly berated the man, threw him against the patrol car, removed his glasses, and later slapped him in the face at the 72nd Precinct. The individual was treated and released from Lutheran Hospital.
District Attorney Gonzalez said the charges reflect a departure from the de-escalation training officers are required to follow. “Trust between law enforcement and the public is essential to sustaining the hard-won gains that have driven homicide and gun violence in Brooklyn to record lows,” Gonzalez said. “No one is above the law, and we will seek to hold him accountable through this prosecution.”
The case is being prosecuted by the Law Enforcement Accountability Bureau of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
The Lakewood ScoopA smoke condition at the office of the Brick Mayor is being investigated.
Firefighters were called to the office at the municipal complex shortly before 11:00 pm last night.
The dispatch center, which is also located in the same building, was relocated for the duration of the incident.
There was no immediate word on what caused the smoke condition, or if there was any damage to the building.
MatzavA heavy pall has descended upon Yeshivas Kol Torah L’Tze’irim in Yerushalayim and upon the broader Torah world with the petirah of Rav Aviezer Asher Zelig Shapira zt”l, longtime mashgiach of the yeshiva. Rav Shapira was niftar in the early morning hours at the age of 81.
In recent months, his health had fluctuated. The mashgiach was hospitalized for a period and experienced improvement and was able to return to the yeshiva. In recent days, however, his condition deteriorated once again, and before dawn he was niftar.
Rav Aviezer was born in Kfar Chassidim on 5 Adar 5704 to his father, Rav Shlomo Aharon Shapira zt”l, and his mother, Rachel a”h.
In his youth, he learned in Yeshivas Kol Torah and later continued his studies in Yeshivas Chevron, where he absorbed the teachings of his revered rabbeim and developed into a distinguished talmid chacham.
Upon reaching marriageable age, he wed the daughter of Rav Meir Ephraim Winkler zt”l, who served as rav of the Machzikei HaDas kehillah in Copenhagen and later as a R”M at Yeshivas Torah Ore in Yerushalayim. His father-in-law was a son of Rav Michael Shalom Winkler zt”l, rav of Machzikei HaDas in Copenhagen and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Europe.
In 5730, Rav Shapira was appointed rav of the Ohr HaChaim beis haknesses in the Geulah neighborhood of Yerushalayim. The shul had been established in 5690 by a cousin of his grandfather, Rav Avraham Yaakov Shapira zt”l. From that time, he also served as the Rebbe of the Drohobycz chassidus, continuing the legacy of its founder, Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira zt”l.
His grandfather, Rav Aviezri Zelig Shapira zt”l, was a son of the Gavadzitzer Rebbe, Rav Yitzchak Mordechai Shapira zt”l, and the son-in-law of his uncle, the founder of the Drohobycz dynasty, Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira. Rav Shapira was a descendant of the Kozhnitzer dynasty on his great-grandfather’s side and of the Ruzhiner dynasty through his grandmother.
In 5738, he was appointed mashgiach of Yeshivas Kol Torah L’Tze’irim. For decades thereafter, he became the central spiritual figure of what is widely regarded as the premier mesivta in Yerushalayim, guiding and nurturing thousands of talmidim.
Rav Aviezer was the living spirit of the yeshiva, deeply involved both in the acceptance of new talmidim and in shaping the ruchniyus of the beis medrash. The talmidim loved him dearly, and he returned that ahavah in kind, embodying “k’mayim panim el panim.”
Every night, he would make his way to the Kosel HaMa’aravi. Over the years, he was among those who established the custom of reciting Nishmas at the Kosel at chatzos, a practice that became widely known and regarded as a powerful segulah.
Rav Shapira also served as chairman of the executive committee of Chevra Kadisha Chassidim in Yerushalayim and was a member of the board of Kollel Chibas Yerushalayim.
He merited to see doros yesharim u’mevorachim, sons and daughters and many descendants following in the path of Torah and yiras Shamayim. One of his sons, Reb Menachem Shapira, serves as deputy mayor of Bnei Brak and was especially devoted to his father.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
Flights to and from El Paso International Airport resumed Wednesday after the Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all air traffic over what officials described as a serious security threat involving cartel-operated drones that breached U.S. airspace.
The FAA had issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) earlier in the day, halting all commercial, cargo, and general aviation traffic. The restriction, originally slated to remain in effect from February 10 at 11:30 p.m. MST through February 20 at 11:30 p.m. MST, was lifted after federal authorities determined the threat had been neutralized.
According to a Trump administration official who spoke to Fox News, the lockdown followed an incursion by “Mexican cartel drones” into U.S. airspace.
“Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones. The FAA and DOW have determined there is no threat to commercial travel,” the official said.
Earlier, the FAA cited “special security reasons” for the airspace closure but did not provide additional details.
The airport confirmed the shutdown in a public statement and advised travelers to check directly with their airlines for updated flight information.
The incident marks a rare instance in which federal authorities publicly acknowledged the potential use of force in response to drone activity near a major American airport. During the restriction period, the government warned that it “may use deadly force” against any aircraft found in violation of the restricted airspace.
Operations have since returned to normal, and officials say there is no ongoing threat to commercial travel in the region.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Flights to and from El Paso International Airport resumed Wednesday after the Federal Aviation Administration abruptly grounded all air traffic over what officials described as a serious security threat involving cartel-operated drones that breached U.S. airspace.
The FAA had issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) earlier in the day, halting all commercial, cargo, and general aviation traffic. The restriction, originally slated to remain in effect from February 10 at 11:30 p.m. MST through February 20 at 11:30 p.m. MST, was lifted after federal authorities determined the threat had been neutralized.
According to a Trump administration official who spoke to Fox News, the lockdown followed an incursion by “Mexican cartel drones” into U.S. airspace.
“Mexican cartel drones breached US airspace. The Department of War took action to disable the drones. The FAA and DOW have determined there is no threat to commercial travel,” the official said.
Earlier, the FAA cited “special security reasons” for the airspace closure but did not provide additional details.
The airport confirmed the shutdown in a public statement and advised travelers to check directly with their airlines for updated flight information.
The incident marks a rare instance in which federal authorities publicly acknowledged the potential use of force in response to drone activity near a major American airport. During the restriction period, the government warned that it “may use deadly force” against any aircraft found in violation of the restricted airspace.
Operations have since returned to normal, and officials say there is no ongoing threat to commercial travel in the region.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A 13-year-old boy stabbed and seriously wounded two students at a school in the UK, with witnesses reporting that he shouted “Allahu Akbar” just prior to carrying out the attack.
The assault took place shortly before 12:40 p.m. at Kingsbury High School in the Brent borough, just minutes before students were due to break for lunch. According to witness accounts cited by British media, a 13-year-old suspect suddenly produced a knife inside a classroom and attacked a fellow student, stabbing him in the neck and back. As panic spread and students screamed, the attacker allegedly turned on a second boy, aged 12, and stabbed him before fleeing.
Several students initially believed the victims were pretending to be hurt.
“The two boys were on the floor and the other kids thought they were just pretending,” the father of one student said. “But they didn’t get up. It was awful.”
Witnesses told the Daily Mail that the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack. Police have not confirmed that claim, but announced that their counterterrorism unit would take over the investigation.
After escaping the school grounds by jumping a fence, the suspect went into hiding. Officers launched a manhunt and arrested him about an hour later nearby. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder, and the weapon has been recovered.
Investigators are also examining how the suspect gained access to the school. Media reports indicate he was not a registered student, deepening concerns about campus security.
Following the attack, students were kept inside the building for several hours while police conducted interviews. Many later left in tears, escorted by parents.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was praying for the victims and thanked police for their swift response. Mayor Sadiq Khan called the stabbing “shocking” and said such violence has “no place in our city.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Vos Iz NeiasRAMALLAH, West Bank (VINnews) — The General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, backed by international labor organizations, has filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization seeking roughly $9 billion in compensation from Israel for Palestinian workers who lost their jobs following the outbreak of hostilities on Oct. 7, 2023, Arutz 7 reported, citing Arab media.
The complaint focuses on workers’ rights to wages and social protections under international conventions, citing an estimated 225,000 Palestinians who had been employed in Israel and have been unable to work since the conflict began. The union called the job losses a “substantial blow” to the Palestinian economy.
Shaher Saad, secretary‑general of the Palestinian workers’ union, told Al‑Araby Al‑Jadeed, that the Palestinian Authority is struggling to provide economic support or pay its own employees. He said wages earned by Palestinian workers in Israel previously totaled about 1.35 billion shekels ($360 million) per month — more than the combined government and private sector wages in the Palestinian territories.
The union said the $9 billion figure represents direct wage losses and unpaid social benefits accumulated over months of labor disruption, and asked the ILO to protect workers’ rights under binding international labor standards.
The ILO has documented rising unemployment in the Palestinian territories amid ongoing conflict, though it has not commented on the compensation claim. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Lakewood Scoopby Rabbi Eliezer Sandler
The concept of the Yissachar-Zevulun Torah Learning Pact goes back well over 3,500 years, to the time of Yaakov Avinu and his sons. It is named for the Torah pact between two of his sons – Yissachar the scholar and Zevulun the merchant. Not only was it an equal pact but, Chazal explained, the deed of Zevulun/the Sponsor is considered even greater than that of Yissachar, because without the support of Zevulun, Yissachar would not have had the wherewithal to study Torah undisturbed.”
It is well-known that when it comes to learning Torah, people who sponsor the learning, often do so, not just as a donation. By financially supporting specific Torah scholars, they enter into a binding, written, signed and sealed learning partnership pact whereby the Sponsor (the Zevulun) is deemed by Halacha as if he personally studied the Torah completed by the Scholar (the Yissachar). (See below.)
Thus, those who support the Talmidei Chachomim at Shas Yiden via a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact merit a portion in every daf of the entire Talmud Bavli and associated texts that they study, and complete the entire cycle in the space of ONE year. Some of the Sponsors opt to continue sponsoring repeat cycles of Shas which accrue to them.
Sar Hatorah, Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden, emphasized: The most mehudar Yissachar-Zevulun pact to support in our times is that offered by Shas Yiden – it comprises the entire Shas, Rashi and Tosfos – all in just one year!
Rav Chaim explained why this pact with Shas Yiden is the most mehudar. Chazal say that the highest level of learning is when one understands what he is learning b’iyun u’ve’amkus. However, even higher than that is when one remembers b’al peh all what he has learned. I have farhered the Shas Yiden avreichim geonim many times and can attest ZEI KENNEN SHAS (they know Shas)!
YES! YOU CAN MAKE
your OWN SIYUM on the ENTIRE
Shas, Rashi & Tosfos
IN JUST ONE YEAR!
The Yissachar-Zevulun Pact in Halacha
The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De’ah Chapter 246 regarding the efficacy of the Yissachar-Zevulun Sponsorship Pact for the Zevulun (the Sponsor) states clearly: It is deemed as if he (the one sponsoring the learning) himself learned all the Torah studied under the pact.
All the learning under the Shas Yiden Yissachar-Zevulun Pact is yours בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in both This World and the World to Come)! Concerning this, the Netziv of Volozhin comments that in Olam Habah, the Zevulun sponsor will sit together with the Gedolei Torah of the past and merit to participate in their discussions and pilpulim on all the Torah learned.
Achieve Almost 7 million Mitzvos in One Year
The Vilna Gaon in Shnos Eliyahu Pe’ah 41 states that one should hold precious every word of Torah that he learns because each word is considered a mitzvah of its own.
Thus, since in Talmud Bavli, Rashi and Tosfos there are 6,608,891 words, that translates into almost 7 million mitzvos accruing through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden.
Official Shtar from Shas Yiden
Each Yissachar-Zevulun pact is confirmed by an official contract (shtar) from Shas Yiden specifying the learning of the entire Shas, and is witnessed by talmidei chachomim.
All who wish to enter into a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact for the entire Shas during ONE year should contact Shas Yiden to make arrangements: 718-702-1528.
The opportunity to complete the entire Shas has been a cherished way to honor family members and others as a prized achievement. It has also proven to be a source of comfort for mourners to obtain such a zechus for their dear ones during the year of mourning – a siyum of the entire Shas can be completed on the yahrzeit!
Yissachar-Zevulun Pact –
Beyond the Grave
The legendary visionary and “Father of Yeshivos”, Reb Chaim of Volozhin, was the founder of the famous yeshiva in the town of Volozhin and the beloved talmid of the Vilna Gaon.
Reb Chaim had an ongoing Yissachar-Zevulun pact with a local shoemaker – a man who was not learned but who dearly valued Torah learning. They had a ‘deal’ whereby the shoemaker would pay the monthly financial support needed for Reb Chaim and his family. For this financial support, the shoemaker would have an equal share in all Reb Chaim’s daily Torah study – both in the mitzvah of Torah study בעוה”ז and that the knowledge of the Torah learned would continue to be his בעוה”ב (in the World to Come).
One day the shoemaker passed away suddenly. During the shiva period, Reb Chaim was facing a perplexing halachic question and researched high and low for a solution. That night the shoemaker appeared to him in a dream and gave him the full solution that he sought. Reb Chaim was amazed and commented, “Azoi gich, Azoi Gich – So quickly, so quickly has he acquired the zchus and knowledge of the Torah that I have studied!”
In the words of Gedolei Torah:
Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden:
“In just ONE year, through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden, you can be zoche to the entire Shas forever – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in olam hazeh and olam habah).
“Moreover, whoever supports Shas Yiden is zocheh to fulfill both Yissachar-Zevulun and support of aniyei (the poor of) Eretz Yisroel in the fullest sense of the word.
“Those who support Shas Yiden will be saved from chevlei (the travails of) Moshiach – spiritually and materially, and will be zoche to have ehrlicher bonim u’vanos yir’eishomayim ”
Maran Hagaon Harav Dov Lando, shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva, Slabodka:
“Who compares to the Shas Yiden? Incredible talmidei chachomim geonim who raised the bar in limud Hashas b’iyun u’v’amkus. Blessed are those who enter a Yissachar-Zevulun pact with them.”
Hamashpia Hagadol Reb Meilech Biederman, shlit”a:
“Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden – best possible deal, and in just 1 year! 100% partnership! 100% Shas x 5 times! 100% Shisha Sidrei Mishna – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב”
Sanzer Rebbe, shlit”a:
“A first in 2000 years of Jewish history! Until Shas Yiden, never a Torah institution where ALL the avreichim metzuyonim v’geonim know the entire Shas by heart”
Harav Yaakov Hillel, shlit”a:
“Therefore, the great mitzvah to support the efforts [of the Talmidei Chachomim] with generous donations in order that they should continue diligently with their studies to enhance the greatness of the Torah and its glory.
Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal and Maariv reporter Ben Caspit co-host a daily radio program on Radio 103FM.
Despite his secular appearance, Magal, who is Shomer Shabbos, has views that are more Chareidi than those of some Chareidim.
In their daily confrontation on Wednesday, the two debated whether Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is connected to his Jewish roots. Caspit, a fierce Netanyahu critic, challenged the idea.
Magal responded by saying, “Bibi has Charedi grandchildren. All of Netanyahu’s success and bracha is in the zechus of his Charedi grandchildren.”
He added: “His grandchildren sit all day and learn Torah. There’s a reason he’s the longest-serving prime minister—he’s made history.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The Lakewood ScoopDear Editor,
While this may be the very first time in my life that I reach out to an official platform to share a public opinion, perhaps it is fitting to make a Shehecheyanu for the occasion.
I feel compelled to bring to light another side of the discussion raised by the thoughtful and sincere letter recently written by a dedicated and deeply concerned critical care nurse practitioner. I appreciate—and truly understand—the emotional and professional weight behind the points she raised. They reflect genuine compassion, integrity, and firsthand experience at the bedside.
At the same time, it is essential—using the strongest and clearest language—to clarify several vital points that may help frame this conversation more accurately from a halachic standpoint, particularly as we navigate the complex intersection of medicine and end-of-life care in 2026.
What I am about to share is largely based on a powerful talk I once heard from one of the foremost poskim of our generation in the field of medical halacha, Rabbi Zischa Ausch. Rabbi Ausch is uniquely positioned in that his halachic authority is broadly accepted across the Orthodox spectrum—from the most stringent circles to the Modern Orthodox community. Across the aisle, he is respected not only for his encyclopedic knowledge, but for his clarity, wisdom, and unwavering fidelity to halacha.
In that talk, Rabbi Ausch highlighted several fundamental differences between the worldview of secular medicine and that of halachic Judaism. Secular medical training—whether for physicians, physician assistants, or nurse practitioners—is deeply rooted in values such as patient autonomy, quality of life assessments, and outcome-based decision-making. These principles, while ethically grounded and often compassionate, are not always congruent with the halachic framework.
Halacha approaches life not as a negotiable commodity but as a divine trust. The preservation of life (pikuach nefesh) is not merely a value—it is a mandate. Decisions at the end of life are therefore not guided primarily by subjective measures of suffering or perceived dignity, but by objective halachic criteria developed over centuries, informed by Torah sources, Chazal, and contemporary poskim who grapple daily with modern medical realities.
This does not mean that halacha is indifferent to suffering—quite the opposite. Halachic literature is rich with nuanced discussions about pain management, proportional treatment, and when certain interventions may or may not be obligatory. But these determinations are never made in isolation, nor are they left solely to personal judgment or emotional instinct. They require careful analysis, humility, and consultation with recognized halachic authorities who are fluent both in Torah and in medicine.
To compare the level of care in an average community hospital to that of one of the top five institutional hospitals in America is, quite simply, far removed from reality. These are not interchangeable systems, nor are their resources, experience, or institutional cultures comparable.
Would anyone seriously compare the care one receives from Hatzolah to that of a standard municipal or state ambulance service? Of course not. The devotion, level of expertise, speed, and sheer commitment demonstrated by these extraordinary volunteers is universally recognized—even by those outside the Jewish community. The difference is not merely technical; it is philosophical. It reflects a culture in which saving a life is not just a profession, but a sacred mission.
The same distinction applies within hospitals. Elite tertiary and quaternary care centers operate with a depth of specialization, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional memory that fundamentally alters clinical decision-making—especially in complex end-of-life situations. Outcomes, prognostication, and even ethical framing can look dramatically different when evaluated by teams that handle such cases daily, rather than sporadically.
This distinction matters enormously when discussing questions of futility, prognosis, or whether “nothing more can be done.” Too often, conclusions reached in resource-limited or experience-limited settings are presented as absolute, when in truth they may be context-dependent.
From a halachic perspective, this is not a technical footnote—it is central. Decisions of such gravity cannot be made based on partial data, constrained environments, or generalized assumptions. Halacha demands that when life is at stake, every reasonable avenue be explored, every relevant expert consulted, and every assumption carefully examined.
There is little dispute that much of today’s healthcare system is increasingly driven by financial metrics, institutional pressures, and outcome-based efficiency, often at the expense of the singular, unwavering focus on fighting for the patient as an individual. This reality, while uncomfortable, is widely acknowledged—even within the medical community itself.
In that context, one must ask a fundamental question: Would this nurse—or the broader medical establishment—expect a Rav to factor in the growing acceptance of physician-assisted suicide when rendering a halachic decision at the end of life? After all, within contemporary medical ethics, assisted suicide is increasingly framed as an act of compassion, a means of alleviating suffering.
The answer is, of course, no.
Such considerations are categorically irrelevant to halachic decision-making, because they violate one of the core and immutable principles of the Torah: that human life is sacred, inviolable, and never subject to intentional termination. No reframing of language, no shift in cultural norms, and no professional consensus can override this foundational truth.
This contrast makes something abundantly clear. Halacha and modern medicine—as it is trained, practiced, and ethically framed in 2026—do not always walk hand in hand. While medicine may redefine compassion, autonomy, and dignity in ways that evolve with societal values, halacha remains anchored in eternal principles that do not bend to trends or pressures.
Therefore, it is essential to distinguish between medical input, which is indispensable for understanding facts and possibilities, and halachic authority, which alone determines obligation, limitation, and permissibility. Confusing the two does a disservice not only to Torah, but to the very patients we seek to protect.
Of course, any Rav who is asked to rule on such weighty she’eilos must be medically knowledgeable and must engage seriously and responsibly with the treating physicians. Halacha does not operate in a vacuum. Dialogue with doctors is essential, and medical facts must be clearly understood.
However, the final determination—the pesak—rests unequivocally in the hands of the Rav.
The Torah itself is explicit: “ועשית ככל אשר יורוך”—you shall act in accordance with that which they instruct you. And Chazal teach us, “אפילו אומרים לך על ימין שהוא שמאל ועל שמאל שהוא ימין”—even if they tell you that right is left and left is right, we are commanded to listen. This is not blind obedience, but a divinely mandated framework for preserving clarity, continuity, and fidelity to Torah across generations.
From Moshe Rabbeinu onward, Klal Yisrael has lived by this principle: that the Torah guides every aspect of life, and especially matters of life and death. Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of pikuach nefesh, which stands at the very foundation of Jewish existence. Shabbos itself—one of the most sacred pillars of Torah observance—is set aside when a Jewish life is at stake. This alone testifies to how profoundly the Torah values the life of a Yid.
Chazal go even further, teaching that when a Jew passes away, it is as though a Sefer Torah has been burned. Such a statement is not poetic exaggeration; it is a halachic and spiritual declaration of the infinite worth of every Jewish life.
It is for this reason that we must be exceptionally vigilant and extraordinarily careful when approaching end-of-life decisions. These are not merely medical judgments, nor are they ethical abstractions. They are Torah decisions—ones that demand humility, precision, and submission to halachic authority.
My intent in writing is not to dismiss the concerns raised, nor to diminish the invaluable role of compassionate medical professionals. Rather, it is to emphasize that when discussing end-of-life care within the Jewish community, halacha must be presented accurately, responsibly, and without being filtered through assumptions borrowed from a secular ethical framework.
These conversations are difficult. They are painful. And they demand sensitivity. But they also demand precision.
Respectfully,
Chaim Meisels
TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to us via Whatsapp or via email [email protected]
MatzavIsraeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was provided with intelligence assessments as far back as 2018 outlining Hamas’s detailed plans for a large-scale invasion of southern Israel, according to a report published Tuesday based on classified documents and testimony from senior officials.
The Ynet news outlet reported that between 2018 and 2022, Hamas formulated an extensive operational strategy for a coordinated, multi-front assault targeting Israeli military installations and civilian communities near Gaza. The blueprint, later compiled into a file referred to as “Jericho’s Walls,” envisioned breaching the border fence at numerous locations and sending thousands of armed operatives into Israeli territory.
That strategy ultimately materialized on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a brutal cross-border attack that left approximately 1,200 people dead, resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages, and ignited a prolonged war in Gaza lasting two years.
According to Ynet, Netanyahu — who has held the premiership since 2009, aside from an 18-month interval in 2021-2022 — was shown intelligence connected to the “Jericho’s Walls” framework on multiple occasions over the years. This stands in contrast to his public statements after October 7 in which he denied having prior knowledge of such a plan.
The first documented instance cited in the report dates to April 2018. At that time, the Research Division of the Military Intelligence Directorate circulated a classified assessment to high-level officials. Recipients reportedly included the military secretaries to the prime minister and defense minister, the National Security Council, the chiefs of Shin Bet and Mossad, and the office of the IDF chief of staff.
One of the intelligence documents referenced by Ynet carried a subheading posing the question: “Is Hamas’s military wing building up its force for a broad attack deep into our territory?”
The 2018 assessment warned that Hamas was crafting “a plan for an initiated offensive maneuver with a broad order of [troops in] battle (six reserve battalions; approximately 3,000 fighters)” designed to overrun IDF positions while simultaneously striking civilian communities “in the border communities and deep inside Israel.”
The report underscored the gravity of the threat, stating that “the scope of the plan and its complexity are exceptional.” Although some intelligence analysts questioned whether Hamas possessed the immediate capacity to execute the entire operation, they cautioned that “the plan illustrates a new and broader threat scenario than before.”
The existence of the 2018 “Jericho’s Walls” document cited by Ynet was confirmed last year by the IDF in an internal Military Intelligence Directorate review examining the intelligence breakdown preceding October 7.
That internal review, which anticipated several elements later seen in the October 7 assault, cited the Hamas plan as declaring that “forces from five [elite] Nukhba companies should attack and destroy the posts belonging to the [IDF] Gaza Division… everything will be done above ground… with [rocket] fire… attack the kibbutzim in order to take hostages… focus on critical sites… livestream from the posts and kibbutzim.”
According to the military probe, what began as a conceptual idea within Hamas evolved over time into a formalized strategy and received official internal authorization in 2019.
Netanyahu has consistently rejected claims that he was warned of an impending large-scale Hamas attack in the years prior to October 7. In response to questions from State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman during a review of the failures surrounding the assault, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that “the prime minister never received and was never briefed on the ‘Jericho’s Walls’ document” before the war began, and that he was “never presented with any Hamas plan for a mass raid into Israeli territory.”
However, materials released by Netanyahu himself appear to complicate that position. In a 55-page document submitted to the State Comptroller last week and later made public, Netanyahu acknowledged that he had received the April 2018 intelligence assessment. In that submission, he quoted a restrained portion of the evaluation noting that Hamas had “a basic capability to carry out several simultaneous raids,” but that under existing conditions, “it is not likely at this time.”
The published version did not include the paragraph’s final sentence, which warned that the document reflected Hamas’s long-term intentions and its plans to significantly expand its military capabilities.
A former senior intelligence official cited by Ynet said Netanyahu’s duty “was to ensure there [was] no repetition of the Military Intelligence assessment on the eve of Yom Kippur 1973,” referencing the well-known intelligence misjudgments preceding the Egyptian-Syrian surprise attack that triggered the Yom Kippur War.
“Back then, intelligence said ‘low probability,’ and the political echelon simply accepted it as a binding assessment without asking questions or checking on its own,” the official added. “Any serious leader would say in this situation: You received the plan in 2018, and even if Hamas is currently far from operational capability, this must be taken into account.”
Ynet further reported that in 2018, Unit 8200 obtained an Arabic Hamas document laying out a sweeping assault plan. It called for “launching a comprehensive offensive operation against the Zionist entity with the aim of subduing the enemy,” including attacks on the Re’im base, numerous communities along the Gaza border, and more distant targets such as Ashdod, Ashkelon, and strategic infrastructure. The document specified that “the attack will be carried out by six battalions,” with the “main effort” occurring above ground.
The Shin Bet also reviewed the Hamas plan and drafted its own analysis, describing the document’s “unusual and troubling characteristics.” That assessment was distributed to several entities, including the National Security Council, which operates under the prime minister’s authority.
One source quoted by Ynet said the Shin Bet’s findings were transmitted directly to Netanyahu.
In May 2022, Military Intelligence obtained an additional version of the Hamas invasion blueprint, dated August 2021, which was incorporated into the “Jericho’s Walls” file. That iteration likewise described large numbers of Nukhba Force operatives breaching the Gaza Division’s defenses and advancing into cities in southern Israel.
The document was presented to senior IDF intelligence officials, who at the time judged the scenario to be implausible. During a November 2022 Southern Command meeting reviewing potential conflict scenarios in Gaza, the “Jericho’s Walls” plan appeared at the bottom of a list of assessments.
Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid were serving as prime ministers for most of 2022, including in May and November, while Netanyahu was then leader of the opposition.
In 2023, after Netanyahu returned to office, the Intelligence Directorate collected new intelligence regarding Hamas training exercises simulating a cross-border invasion in the months leading up to October 7. Some personnel within Unit 8200 concluded that Hamas’s invasion concept had evolved into an actionable and concrete plan.
According to the IDF’s internal investigations, these conclusions were conveyed through emails and meetings to intelligence officers at Southern Command and to regional 8200 officers stationed in southern Israel. However, the updated assessments did not reach senior decision-makers, including top intelligence leadership.
Although Netanyahu was not personally briefed on the 2022 and 2023 updates to the “Jericho’s Walls” file, a senior intelligence source told Ynet, “Even if the army commanders failed to [connect the dots] themselves, the obligation of the prime minister is to demand answers regarding Hamas’s intentions.” “Netanyahu did nothing,” the source said.
Despite documentary evidence indicating that Netanyahu was exposed to Hamas invasion planning as early as 2018, he has maintained that the “Jericho’s Walls” file refers only to the 2022 version presented during the year he was not in office. Critics argue that this interpretation is intended to distance him from responsibility for the failure to prevent the October 7 attack.
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasJERUSALEM (VINnews) The Israel Defense Forces said they have eliminated Ahmad Hasan, a Hamas operative responsible for multiple attacks on IDF soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip.
Hasan, identified as head of the sniper unit in Hamas’ Beit Hanoun Battalion, was reportedly involved in planning several deadly assaults against Israeli troops. The IDF said he played a key role in an attack on July 7, 2025, that killed five soldiers — Sergeant First Class (res.) Benyamin Asulin, Staff Sergeant Noam Aharon Musgadian, Staff Sergeant Meir Shimon Amar, Sergeant Moshe Nissim Frech, and Staff Sergeant Moshe Shmuel Noll — and left two others severely injured.
He was also implicated in a series of attacks earlier in 2025, including an April 19 assault that killed Warrant Officer G’haleb Sliman Nasasra and severely injured three others, as well as an April 24 attack that killed Master Sergeant (res.) Asaf Cafri and injured two soldiers.
The IDF said the operation was in response to a “blatant violation” of a ceasefire agreement on Monday. “The IDF will continue to operate against any attempt by terror organizations in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks against Israeli troops and the State of Israel,” the military said.
The northern Gaza Strip has been a flashpoint for repeated confrontations between Israeli forces and Hamas, with both sides blaming the other for escalating violence.
Vos Iz NeiasDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai International Airport maintained its crown as the world’s busiest airport last year as officials said Wednesday that a record 95.2 million passengers transited through its terminals, part of the emirate’s continued economic boom.
The airport took off in the post-pandemic years, spurred by worldwide interest in travel and by ever-increasing tourism, business and real estate opportunities in the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai on Monday reported a 5% increase in tourists last year, to 19.6 million, a third consecutive year of record-breaking figures.
The state-owned airport is home to the long-haul carrier Emirates, which powers the network of state-owned and state-linked businesses in the emirate known as “Dubai Inc.”
Dubai International showed in 2025 “that record traffic is no longer an exception, but part of its operating reality,” said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports.
Dubai airport saw 92.3 million passengers in 2024, compared with 86.9 million passengers in the previous year. In 2019, just before the pandemic fully disrupted air travel, traffic was 86.3 million passengers. It had 89.1 million passengers in 2018.
India remained the top destination for people flying out of Dubai International last year, with 11.9 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 7.5 million and the United Kingdom at 6.3 million. The facility served 108 airlines flying to 291 cities in 110 countries.
A real-estate boom and the city’s highest-ever tourism numbers have made Dubai a destination as well as a layover. However, the city is now grappling with increasing traffic and costs that are pressuring both its Emirati citizens and the foreign residents who power its economy.
Dubai plans to move its airport operations to Al Maktoum International Airport, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) away. Al Maktoum, which opened in 2010 with one terminal, served as a parking lot for Emirates’ double-decker Airbus A380s and other aircraft during the pandemic, but it has since returned to life with cargo, commercial and private flights. It also hosts the biennial Dubai Air Show and has a vast desert in which to expand.
Authorities plan to move operations in 2032 to the city-state’s second airport after a roughly $35 billion upgrade.
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON (AP) — A Mexican cartel drone incursion prompted an hourslong closure of airspace around El Paso International Airport in Texas that was lifted on Wednesday morning, the Trump administration said.
Just hours earlier, the Federal Aviation Administration had announced a 10-day closure grounding all flights to and from the airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the FAA and the Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.” He said normal flights were resuming Wednesday morning, but did not say how many drones were involved or what specifically was done to disable them.
The shutdown “for special security reasons” had been expected to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office referred questions to the FAA.
The FAA and DOW acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion.
The threat has been neutralized, and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.
The restrictions have been lifted and normal flights are resuming. https://t.co/xQA1cMy7l0
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 11, 2026
Steven Willoughby, the deputy director of the counter-drone program at the Department of Homeland Security, told lawmakers in July that nearly every day cartels are using drones to try to bring drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border and surveil Border Patrol agents.
More than 27,000 drones were detected within 500 meters (1,600 feet) of the southern border in the last six months of 2024, he testified, most flying late at night. Homeland Security has said agents have seized thousands of pounds of methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs in recent years that cartels were trying to fly across the border using drones.
Mexican officials head to Washington following shutdown
El Paso, a border city with a population of nearly 700,000 people and larger when you include the surrounding metro area, is hub of cross-border commerce alongside the neighboring city of Ciudad Juárez in Mexico. The brief closure did not include Mexican airspace.
Ciudad Juárez is home to about 1.5 million people, and some of its residents are accustomed to taking advantage of facilities including airports on both sides of the border. That easy access to the U.S. has also made Juarez, like other border cities, attractive to Mexico’s drug cartels that seek control in order to safeguard their smuggling routes for drugs and migrants headed north and cash and guns moving to the south.
The airport said in an Instagram post after the closure was announced that all flights to and from the airport would be grounded through late on Feb. 20, including commercial, cargo and general aviation flights. Local newscasts showed stranded travelers with luggage lining up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks at the El Paso airport hours after flights were grounded. The airport posted Wednesday morning that its operations had resumed and encouraged travelers to contact their airlines for the most up-to-date flight information.
Mexican defense and navy secretaries will meet with Northern Command officials in Washington on Wednesday in a meeting attended by several other countries, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said during a news conference. Sheinbaum said the Mexican officials would “listen” in the meeting.
Sheinbaum said her government was going to look into “the exact causes” of the closure. Asked about the explanation given by U.S. officials, she said she had “no information about the use of drones on the border.” She noted that if U.S. authorities have more information they should contact Mexico’s government.
‘The information … does not add up’
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat whose district includes El Paso, had urged the FAA to lift the restrictions in a statement Wednesday morning, saying neither her office, the city of El Paso nor airport operations received advance notice.
“I believe the FAA owes the community and the country an explanation as to why this happened so suddenly and abruptly and was lifted so suddenly and abruptly.” Escobar said during a news conference Wednesday morning.
“The information coming from the federal government does not add up,” Escobar said.
Escobar later said she believed the shutdown was not based on Mexican cartel drones in U.S. airspace, saying that “is not what we in Congress have been told.”
When asked about Escobar’s remarks, Pentagon officials said they didn’t have a comment.
The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Southwest, United, American and Delta all operate flights there, among others.
A similar 10-day temporary flight restriction for special security reasons remained in place Wednesday morning around Santa Teresa, New Mexico, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of the El Paso airport. FAA officials did not immediately explain why that restriction remained in place.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, a Democrat, said in a statement: “Keeping our communities informed and safe is critical. I’m demanding answers from the FAA and the administration about why the airspace was closed in the first place without notifying appropriate officials, leaving travelers to deal with unnecessary chaos.”
MatzavFederal authorities have made public the first images of the individual suspected in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, ten days after the 84-year-old grandmother disappeared from her Arizona residence. The delay in releasing the footage stemmed from two critical issues: the home’s security camera had been removed, and Guthrie did not have a subscription to the cloud back-up service that would have automatically preserved the video.
The newly released footage, recovered from a missing Nest camera, shows a masked figure tampering with the device outside Guthrie’s Tucson home. According to one legal expert, the video’s recovery highlights the technological reach of Google, Nest’s parent company.
Guthrie had not enrolled in a Google Home subscription plan, which for $10 per month — or $100 annually — stores motion-activated or “event” recordings for up to 30 days, even if the physical camera is taken. Without that service, retrieving the footage required significant additional effort.
“It gives us some insight to what Google is capable of,” former prosecutor and current criminal defense lawyer John W. Day told The NY Post.
“Even without paid subscription, there is a way to go to some data center and spend a lot of time and effort to try to find that particular camera, at that particular time without a subscription,” Day said. “You can only imagine how difficult that was if it took 10 days to get there.”
Day outlined three primary paths investigators may have used to obtain the footage. Federal authorities could have secured a search warrant compelling Google to provide the data. Alternatively, Guthrie’s family may have authorized the company to search for it. A third possibility is that Google voluntarily assisted in locating the recording.
“Everyone has the same incentive, which is to find this sweet woman before too long,” Day said. “Google had every reason to cooperate. The family has got to be grateful, law enforcement has to be grateful.”
“It’s a miraculous turn of events because this could be the thing that leads to a break in the case,” the attorney added.
Guthrie was last seen on the night of Jan. 31, when her son-in-law dropped her off at her home around 9:45 p.m. On Feb. 2, the case was officially classified as a criminal investigation after media outlets received what authorities described as a $6 ransom demand. The deadline referenced in the note passed without any publicly known developments regarding her condition.
The video of the masked individual interfering with the camera appeared to strengthen suspicions that the mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie was abducted.
“We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” Savannah wrote in a social media post Tuesday.
MatzavNew satellite imagery indicates that Iran has covered all tunnel entrances at its Isfahan nuclear facility with soil, a move that analysts say reflects deep concern in Tehran over the possibility of an American or Israeli military attack.
In a new report released this week, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security stated that images captured on Sunday show two of the tunnel openings fully buried. The third entrance, located on the northern side of the complex, appears to have been reinforced with what the group described as “additional passive defense measures.”
According to the institute, vehicles are no longer visible near the entrances, a change that suggests Iran may be bracing for potential airstrikes or even a ground operation by US or Israeli forces targeting the site.
“Backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside difficult,” the institute said, suggesting that Tehran may have relocated sensitive nuclear material into the tunnels for protection.
“Preparations like these were last observed in the days before Operation Midnight Hammer struck facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” the institute added, using a different spelling for the Isfahan site and referencing US strikes carried out against those facilities last June.
“It appears clear that the Iranians are seriously concerned about a US/Israeli aerial attack and/or raid against this particularly hardened nuclear facility,” the US-based institute said.
Before Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June, the Islamic Republic operated three primary nuclear facilities tied to its atomic program. The Isfahan site, located outside the city of the same name, was primarily known for producing uranium gas used in centrifuges for enrichment.
During the conflict last year, Israel struck Isfahan at the outset, and US forces later carried out additional attacks using bunker-buster munitions and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The White House’s National Security Strategy, published in November, said the US operation “significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear program,” though detailed assessments of the damage have not been made public.
Since those strikes, Iran has barred inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency from revisiting the targeted facilities.
Satellite photographs obtained last month showed new roofing structures at the Isfahan site. The Institute for Science and International Security assessed that the construction appeared aimed at enabling Iran to “recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed Iran to enter negotiations over its nuclear activities, warning that failure to do so could trigger American military action. His initial threats were also linked to Iran’s violent suppression of domestic protests, during which thousands were reportedly killed.
The United States has called on Iran to surrender its stockpile of uranium enriched to as much as 60 percent purity — a level that, according to last year’s estimate by the UN nuclear watchdog, totals more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) and is only a short technical step from the 90 percent enrichment considered weapons-grade.
Iran continues to deny that it is pursuing nuclear weapons. At the same time, it has enriched uranium beyond levels needed for civilian purposes, limited access for international inspectors, and expanded its ballistic missile program. Prior to the 12-day war in June, Israeli officials asserted that Iran had recently advanced toward weaponization.
During negotiations held in Oman last week, US and Iranian representatives agreed to focus discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program. However, Washington and Israel have also sought to broaden the agenda to include Iran’s ballistic missile development and its backing of regional proxy terror groups, a proposal Tehran has rejected.
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, weakest since the pandemic year of 2020, and less than half the previously reported 584,000.
The job market has been sluggish for months even though the economy is registering solid growth.
Weak hiring reflects the lingering impact of high interest rates, billionaire Elon Musk’s purge last year of the federal workforce and uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies, which have left businesses unsure about hiring.
Vos Iz NeiasJERUSALEM (VINnews)— Israel’s Ministry of Defense, through the Directorate of Defence Research & Development (“Homa”) in cooperation with the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, has successfully completed a series of tests of the advanced David’s Sling air defense system.
The series of tests, based on operational lessons learned from recent combat, included a range of challenging scenarios reflecting existing and emerging threats. Officials said the successful trials mark another technological and operational breakthrough in upgrading the system, which demonstrated strong performance during the war in June, with multiple successful interceptions that saved lives and prevented significant damage.
David’s Sling successfully completes a complex test series as part of its future threat readiness upgrade.
Led by the Israel Ministry of Defense’s IMDO, together with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Rafael, the campaign simulated advanced scenarios against rockets, ballistic… pic.twitter.com/Bk9voXGOig— Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (@RAFAELdefense) February 11, 2026
David’s Sling serves as a central layer in Israel’s multi-tiered air defense array, which also includes the Arrow systems, Iron Dome, and Iron Beam, the laser-based system recently delivered to the Israeli Air Force. The system’s development is led by the Ministry of Defense via the Homa Directorate, in partnership with Israel’s defense industries and the US Missile Defense Agency.
Rafael is the prime contractor for David’s Sling. Israel Aerospace Industries, through its Elta division, developed the MMR radar, while Elbit Systems developed the command-and-control system.
Moshe Patel, head of the Homa Directorate, said: “During the war, and particularly during Operation ‘Am KeLavi,’ Homa personnel carried out real-time adjustments and modifications that had a dramatic impact on the capabilities of the Israeli Air Force’s air defense systems, especially David’s Sling. As part of our planned development programs, we conducted an extensive series of tests examining future capabilities and responses to multiple and diverse threats. The series concluded with full success and enables a significant upgrade to Israel’s air defense array.”
Rafael CEO Yoav Turgeman said: “Against the backdrop of evolving threats, Rafael is proud to successfully conclude this advanced series of tests of David’s Sling, which incorporated new capabilities across a wide range of challenging scenarios. The system is continuously upgraded and adapted, and this latest campaign once again demonstrates that David’s Sling is among the best air defense systems in the world. I thank Rafael’s employees for their ongoing dedication to Israel’s security, as clearly reflected in this project, and our partners at the Homa Directorate, the MDA, and the Israeli Air Force for their role in this success.”
The Lakewood ScoopIn recent decades, an increasing number of Israeli yeshivos have shifted to teaching Torah in Ivrit. This trend has become highly visible in many prestigious institutions. When a prominent maggid shiur delivered his first shiur klali in the Mir in Ivrit, it made headlines, reflecting a broader movement within the Torah world. This led to other yeshivos following suit. At first glance, Ivrit appears to be the obvious choice for Israeli students: it is the language they speak, the language they hear at home and in society, and the language in which they think. Teaching in a language familiar to students seems like common sense, an approach that promises easier learning and faster absorption of Torah concepts.
Yet here lies a paradox: the very language Israeli students speak daily can, in fact, become a profound obstacle to Torah learning. Ivrit and Lashon HaKodesh share letters and roots, giving the illusion of similarity, but they are fundamentally different languages. These superficial similarities mask deep divergences in syntax, grammar, vocabulary, and cultural meaning. Unfortunately, these differences are rarely addressed explicitly in the classroom. Students are left to assume they understand what they are learning. When they struggle, they internalize a sense of inadequacy, often blaming themselves rather than recognizing the language barrier at the heart of their difficulty.I personally attest to this.
A student may ask: “If the Torah is written in my language, why can’t I understand it?” The answer is simple and rarely told: the Torah is not written in modern Hebrew. It is written in Lashon HaKodesh, the sacred language of Chumash, Tanach, Mishnah, and the words of Chazal.
Modern Hebrew, by contrast, is a human construct, created for everyday communication. When students mix the two often without realizing it, they stumble. Confusion sets in. Frustration grows. Behavioral challenges appear in the classroom. And tragically, in Israel today, the default “solution” is often medication which is a very big problem.
This is heartbreaking and entirely avoidable. With proper instruction in Lashon HaKodesh, students can access Torah with clarity, depth, and joy. The problem is not intelligence, diligence, or effort. It is the language framework through which they are trying to learn.
Imagine the transformation: students who were once lost in the words of Torah suddenly connecting, understanding, and thriving. This is not a theory. It is possible. And it begins with one change: teaching the Torah in the language it was meant to be learned.
The problem is not just Eretz Yisroel. It is an international crisis — even here in Lakewood. Let me share a few stories that personally happened to me here.
I was speaking to a Rosh HaYeshiva who was genuinely excited and proud to tell me that he had just brought in a new maggid shiur to his yeshiva, from Eretz Yisroel. He described him as a great talmid chacham, someone with real depth and breadth in Torah. I shared in his excitement and told him how wonderful that was.
Then I asked one simple question: does the rebbi know English?
The answer was immediate and matter-of-fact: no, he does not know English at all. He added quickly, almost defensively, that the rebbi knows Torah inside and out.
I responded honestly. That may be true but language still matters. Torah has to be transmitted, not just possessed.
The reply came exactly as expected: “Don’t worry. The boys will pick it up. After six months, they’ll understand.”
This is not education. This is not chinuch. It is the opposite. It assumes that months of confusion, frustration, and lost clarity are acceptable collateral. They are not.
I once dealt with a BMG kollel yungerman who had difficulty with basic translation in Chumash. I told him plainly that he needed to go to my course. He answered confidently, “No, no, I have no problem. My wife is Israeli and she helps me with translation.”
I told him that Ivrit itself is the problem. Modern Hebrew is not Lashon Hakodesh. Confusing the two leads to serious mistakes in understanding Torah.
Another time, I received a phone call from a rebbi in Lakewood asking for advice. He was dealing with bochurim aged eighteen to twenty who were completely clueless in translation. He told me, “I have an advantage, I know Ivrit, so I have no problems with translation.”
I replied to him and said, “You do have a problem. Can you translate one word for me והיה?”
He thought for a moment. And then he couldn’t translate it.
He was stunned. He said, “But you told me you have no problems with translation.”
He was completely dumbfounded.
Two Languages, Two Worlds
Lashon HaKodesh is not merely a historical artifact or a “religious language”; it is the language of Hashem, used at the time of creation to bring the world into existence. Every word, every root, carries meaning and spiritual power. Ivrit, however, is not a natural evolution of Lashon HaKodesh; it is a modern project, deliberately engineered by Eliezer Ben Yehudah to construct a renewed national culture. Ben Yehudah aimed to create a language that would unify the Jewish people in Israel, particularly in the wake of massive immigration waves from Europe. To achieve this, he borrowed European-style grammar familiar to Yiddish-speaking communities, introduced foreign loanwords, and reassigned new meanings to ancient words.
The result was a language that resembles Lashon HaKodesh the way instant soup resembles a traditional Shabbos broth: superficially similar, but fundamentally different beneath the surface. On the outside, it looks like the holy tongue; in reality, it has been reshaped, modified, and secularized.
Many Israelis refer to Ivrit as “yeshivishe lashon”, a term that seeks to bridge the gap between modern and sacred usage. Yet this expression is misleading. It blurs essential distinctions and obscures our mesorah, our timeless chain of Torah tradition. Only Lashon HaKodesh is the pure language promised to be restored after the war of Gog and Magog,
as Zephaniah 3:9 states: כִּי אָז אֶהְפֹּךְ אֶל־עַמִּים שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה לִקְרֹא כֻּלָּם בְּשֵׁם ה’ לְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד
“For then I will turn the peoples to a pure language, so that all of them will call upon the Name of Hashem, to serve Him with one shoulder (in unity).”
The holy tongue is destined to communicate spiritual clarity and divine intent; Ivrit is a tool of modern nationalism. Confusing the two languages weakens the bridge to Torah and compromises the depth of understanding that students can achieve.
To learn successfully, students must understand Lashon HaKodesh. Many modern Hebrew speakers assume they already do, but this assumption is false and can be damaging. Ben Yehudah’s revival of Hebrew made the language accessible for everyday life, but in doing so, he blurred distinctions essential for understanding Torah.
Simplified Roots and Words
Modern Hebrew often uses the same form for nouns and verbs. For example, רָשָׁע can appear as both a noun and a verb, while in Lashon HaKodesh:
“Ignoring the ethical and existential weight of the text erases nuance and diminishes its moral force.”
Words that once conveyed sacred or awe-inspiring concepts have changed.
נורא originally meant “awe-inspiring” or “majestic,” but today it often means “terrible” or “awful.” In the first Bracha of the Shmoneh Esrei, it describes Hashem’s majesty, חס ושלום-not something negative-but many Israelis today misunderstand it.
חָשְׁמָל in Yechezkel 1:4 refers to a mystical, divine force—spiritual, not physical. Today it means electricity,
אגדה once revealed rabbinic wisdom; today it is translated as “fairy tale.” עוף in halachah includes all fowl, but in modern Hebrew it usually means chicken.
The word מִשְׁכַּן comes from the root ש-כ-ן, meaning “to dwell.” In the Torah, it refers to the Mishkan, a holy tent where Hashem’s Presence rested. Today it is used for the Knesset (מִשְׁכַּן הַכְּנֶסֶת), and applying a sacred word to a secular or oppositional setting destroys its holiness and can confuse children.
To truly understand Torah, one must know Lashon HaKodesh and differentiate it from Modern Hebrew. Only then can students grasp the awe, holiness, and spiritual force embedded in these words.a phenomenon I have personally witnessed in my teaching.
Modern Hebrew relies on past, present, and future tenses. Lashon HaKodesh uses aspects with the Vav Hahipuch, allowing verbs to move between past and future. These distinctions are crucial for interpreting Chumash, Tanach, and halachic texts accurately.
Modern Hebrew typically follows subject-verb-object (SVO), like English:
Lashon HaKodesh usually follows verb-subject-object (VSO):
These differences affect both clarity and the moral weight of the text.
These structural gaps mean that an Israeli student reading Torah is like an English speaker reading Shakespeare: familiar letters, unfamiliar meaning, constant mental strain. Students can read the words, but deep comprehension is lacking. Confidence erodes, leading to…….“The problem must be me”
Some educators have attempted to bridge the gap by translating Torah into modern Hebrew, most famously Avraham Ahuvia’s Tanach RAM. Even secular educators protested: “This removes the heart of the Bible.” While translating Shakespeare into modern English may simplify comprehension, the stakes for Torah are infinitely higher. Torah is Divine; every letter carries meaning.
An Ivrit translation looks like Torah and feels authoritative, but it is filtered through modern assumptions. Students who rely solely on these translations risk replacing Hashem’s words with approximations. Such translations may temporarily ease comprehension, but over the long term, they threaten to sever students from the original text and from layers of meaning accessible only through Lashon HaKodesh.
Ivrit and Lashon HaKodesh may appear similar, but they are profoundly distinct. Confusing them makes learning difficult, motivation collapses, and Torah feels distant. Properly taught, Lashon HaKodesh restores understanding, reverence, and love for Torah. Students can read independently, gain clarity, and internalize spiritual truths.
Teaching Torah in the students’ mother tongue may seem convenient, but convenience without precision risks disconnection from Hashem’s words. The joy and confidence that come from mastery of Lashon HaKodesh are irreplaceable. When provided with the proper tools, students do more than learn they love to learn, establishing a foundation for lifelong Torah growth.
For the full, unabridged appendix on this topic, including detailed examples and sources, see Appendix 2 in I Can Learn by Rabbi Dovid Abenson, page 195.
Honoring the Second Yahrzeit of HaRav HaGaon Rav Mattisyahu zt”l — כ״א בטבת תשפ״ו
We recently marked the second yahrzeit of Rav Mattisyahu zt”l, a luminary whose life was devoted entirely to Klal Yisroel. Through Torah, mussar, and personal guidance, he shaped countless lives and left an enduring mark on our community.
Through my sefer, A Talmud’s Journey, I aim to preserve his wisdom and illuminate his methods—helping rebbeim guide talmidim not only in Torah mastery, but also in character, ethical discernment, and leadership. By studying and sharing his teachings, we ensure that Rav Mattisyahu zt”l’s light continues to shine for generations.
—————-
Learn more: A Talmud’s Journey — Legacy of Rav Mattisyahu zt”l
Tel/WhatsApp: 848-367-1740
Email: [email protected]
Explore Rabbi Dovid Abenson’s books for insights to enhance your Torah learning and personal growth.
For more information or to contact Rabbi Abenson for evaluations, training, speaking engagements, or seforim sponsorships, please reach out today.
Tel/WhatsApp: 848-367-1740
Email: [email protected]
MatzavIsraeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Tuesday evening local time for a high-stakes visit that will include a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, as tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program once again take center stage.
Shortly after landing, Netanyahu went to Blair House, where he met with Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The discussion focused on developments in the region, including the latest diplomatic efforts involving Tehran. Witkoff and Kushner briefed the prime minister on the initial round of negotiations they conducted with Iranian officials last Friday.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Washington time (6:00 p.m. Israel time). The upcoming session will mark their seventh meeting since Trump began his second term in office, and the sixth time they have convened at the White House. Their most recent encounter took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
As Netanyahu prepared for his talks, Trump spoke publicly about Iran in an interview with Fox Business Network, expressing confidence that Tehran is inclined to negotiate over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He cautioned that failing to do so would be a serious miscalculation.
“We have a massive flotilla right now going over to Iran. I think they want to make a deal. I think they would be foolish if they didn’t. We took out their nuclear power last time and we’ll have to see if we take out more this time,” said the President.
“They want to make a deal. They wouldn’t talk to anybody else, but they’re talking to me,” he continued. “Obama and Biden, what they did in terms of creating a monster with Iran was terrible.”
.@POTUS: We have a massive flotilla right now going over to Iran. I think they want to make a deal. I think they would be foolish if they didn't. We took out their nuclear power last time and we'll have to see if we take out more this time… pic.twitter.com/q1G8qMvmHm
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 10, 2026
In separate remarks to Channel 12 News earlier in the day, Trump made clear that military options remain on the table should negotiations collapse. Referring to actions taken roughly six months ago, he indicated he would not hesitate to respond again if diplomacy fails.
Trump reiterated that his preference is for a negotiated settlement but underscored that the United States is prepared to act if necessary. “The Iranians very much want to reach a deal. Either we make a deal, or we will have to do something very tough – like last time,” he said.
At the same time, Trump revealed that he is weighing the possibility of reinforcing American naval forces in the region. “We have an armada there, and maybe another one on the way,” the President added.
According to Trump, his meeting with Netanyahu will center largely on the Iranian issue. He also stated that the Israeli prime minister is not feeling pressured by the renewed talks but shares an interest in securing a strong agreement. “I don’t think Netanyahu is pressured by the talks with Iran. He also wants a deal. He wants a good deal.”
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasRIO RICO, Ariz. (VINnews) — An Arizona delivery driver who was detained for several hours in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has been released without charges after authorities searched his Rio Rico home.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the man was taken into custody following a traffic stop Tuesday evening in Rio Rico, a border community about 55 to 60 miles south of Tucson. Deputies and the FBI later searched a home believed to be near Interstate 19 and Camino Agosto. Two people familiar with the investigation told CBS News the home belongs to the man who was detained.
BREAKING: the man detained AND NOW RELEASED by authorities during the Nancy Guthrie investigation says he had no idea what was happening and that he just works as a delivery driver in Tucson. @abc15 pic.twitter.com/Wcui0Rjurh
— Lillian Donahue (@LillianDonahue) February 11, 2026
The man, who identified himself to reporters as Carlos Palazeulos, 36, said he works as a delivery driver in the Tucson area, including for a parcel service. He said he had never heard of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing Feb. 1.
“They held me against my will,” Palazeulos told reporters outside his home after his release early Wednesday. He said he was detained from about 4 p.m. until late at night and claimed he was not read his rights for roughly two hours. He also said his wrists were swollen from handcuffs.
Palazeulos said he was riding in a car with his wife when they noticed law enforcement vehicles behind them and decided to pull over. He said he got out of the vehicle and was taken into custody. Authorities have not said why he was stopped.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “I work in Tucson. I might have delivered a package to her house, but I never kidnapped anybody.”
He added that he does not watch the news and had not heard of either Nancy Guthrie or her daughter before his detention. “I hope they get the suspect, because I’m not it,” he said.
A woman who identified herself as Carlos’ mother-in-law told CNN she gave officers permission to search the home and said the family had “nothing to hide.” She later said authorities forced entry and detained her son-in-law while he was inside.
The person detained in the #NancyGuthrie case is innocent, his mother-in-law tells NewsNation's @BrianEntin. Josefina says her son-in law hasn't shown any violent behavior and doesn't have any criminal history. #JesseWeberLive
MORE: https://t.co/qrT2zBCOkN pic.twitter.com/0B0e2876fj
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) February 11, 2026
Angelica Carrillo, a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, confirmed that deputies and the FBI were searching a home in Rio Rico as part of the ongoing investigation. Officials have not confirmed whether Palazeulos is the same person seen in surveillance video released earlier showing a masked individual outside Nancy Guthrie’s Catalina Foothills home.
The search came hours after new activity was recorded in a cryptocurrency wallet tied to the alleged abductors. Transactions were made Tuesday afternoon to a bitcoin address referenced in a ransom note sent to local media outlets.
Authorities have not disclosed what led investigators to Palazeulos. No charges have been filed, and the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance remains ongoing.
MatzavA federal civil rights lawsuit is challenging a large-scale October raid at a popular horse racing venue in Canyon County, Idaho, alleging that children — including U.S. citizens — were zip-tied and traumatized during a sweeping law enforcement operation, CBS News reports.
The action, carried out at La Catedral Arena, resulted in the detention of 105 undocumented immigrants and has ignited a broader debate over immigration enforcement tactics used under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue initially praised the operation, describing it as a successful effort that led to the apprehension of more than 100 undocumented immigrants. He also rejected claims that officers restrained children with zip ties during the raid.
However, after being shown photographs obtained by CBS News, Donahue responded differently. The images appear to show zip ties and bruising on the wrists of 14-year-old SueHey Romero, a U.S. citizen who had been caring for her younger siblings, ages 6 and 8, when officers in tactical gear swept through the event and confined attendees to the racetrack.
“God bless her. I’m sorry she went through that,” Donahue said. The sheriff, who participated in the raid on horseback, defended the broader operation. “But law enforcement is not evil because we contained everybody and detained them until we sorted it out. That’s not evil.”
The use of armored vehicles and flashbang grenades at a family recreation event has raised concerns about aggressive enforcement strategies. On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court, accusing authorities of mistreating families — many of them American citizens of Hispanic heritage — who had gathered for a weekend outing.
The events in this farming community about an hour from Boise have received less national attention than similar immigration operations elsewhere, including in Minnesota. There, federal agents’ conduct involving children has drawn intense scrutiny. In one reported case, a family alleged that tear gas canisters were deployed beneath a vehicle carrying six children. Another widely circulated image showed 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a hat with bunny ears and holding a Spiderman backpack as he was taken into custody.
The ACLU argues that what happened in Idaho reflects a troubling trend in which children are exposed to forceful federal operations. According to the complaint, the physical injuries and emotional trauma inflicted during the raid could have long-term consequences.
“They have done long lasting damage to children,” said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, the ACLU’s deputy project director on policing. “At this moment, when the United States Congress is confronted with a question of how to reign in ICE…the answer is they need to reign in ICE to protect our children.”
Federal officials have denied that minors were zip-tied during the Idaho operation.
“ICE didn’t zip tie, restrain, or arrest any children,” Homeland Security spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin told CBS News in a statement.”
She added, “ICE does not zip tie or handcuff children. This is the kind of garbage rhetoric contributing to our officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats.”
Yet several detainees have provided accounts that contradict those denials. In an interview with CBS News, SueHey described officers who, she said, refused to identify their agencies and moved her along with hundreds of others onto the racetrack before binding her hands with plastic restraints.
“I’m just like there crying, like I’m struggling to breathe,” she said. “I can’t even get the words out.”
Her mother, Anabel Romero, said she too was restrained and unable to comfort her daughter.
“I can’t hold her because you guys won’t let me go,” Romero recalled telling the agents. “I’m like, she’s only 14.”
Those attending the races said the scene shifted abruptly when a helicopter flew low overhead, followed by five armored vehicles. Video obtained by CBS News captures the arrival of roughly 200 officers who then fanned out across the property. Some children reported that firearms were pointed in their direction, while others described rubber bullets flying past.
According to the lawsuit, officers shattered vehicle windows where children had sought shelter from the rain. One 8-year-old boy later told a local news outlet that he had to remove small shards of glass from his mouth.
The complaint also details the experience of Juana Rodriguez, who says she was restrained for hours while her 3-year-old son cried beside her. Authorities refused her requests to hold him, instructing the child instead to grasp his mother’s pocket, which had been turned inside out, according to the filing.
“As a parent, nothing is more heartbreaking than hearing your child cry out in fear and being told you cannot hold or comfort them,” Rodriguez said in a statement provided to CBS News by the ACLU. “I am a proud U.S. citizen, and I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The lawsuit contends that several minors were placed in hard plastic restraints and later displayed welts and bruises. Initially, the FBI’s Boise field office characterized reports of children being zip-tied as “completely false.” That statement was later modified to clarify that no “young” children were restrained. The Caldwell Police Department subsequently acknowledged that minors had been zip-tied.
Romero attended the event with her three children, all U.S. citizens. While her two younger children were not restrained, she said she witnessed aggressive tactics firsthand.
She described the gathering as a family-oriented event with raffles, toy vendors, and traditional Mexican food. The mood shifted when a black helicopter descended over the field, and chaos followed.
“All of a sudden I just see people running and screaming,” Romero said, recalling agents in full tactical gear pointing weapons. She hid briefly in a horse stall while her children remained in the family truck. When officers began searching the stalls, she asked them to identify themselves.
“All I’m asking is for clarification, who are you and why am I being detained,” she said. According to Romero, one of the armed men responded: “I’m gonna [expletive] blow your head off”
“They kicked me, they punched me, they stepped on me,”she said.
SueHey said she saw agents in military-style uniforms “running around, opening car doors, and yelling at people to get onto the track.” When officers opened her family’s truck, she feared for her siblings’ safety. She said the officers pulled her from the vehicle by force.
“I was brave and I opened the door because I wanted to protect my sister,” 6-year-old Alfredo told CBS News.
SueHey said she broke free momentarily to avoid being separated from her siblings. Eventually, the children were directed to the racetrack, where large numbers of attendees had been gathered.
Romero, with her hands bound behind her back, was brought to the same location and reunited with her children. She said officers then restrained SueHey despite her protests.
Romero said she pleaded with them to bind her daughter’s hands in front rather than behind her back, believing it would reduce the pain. She said the officers agreed.
Hours later, ICE agents concluded that the family members were U.S. citizens. Romero said she was questioned about her children’s differing last names.
“I didn’t know I needed to carry their birth certificates around,” she said.
Eventually, the restraints were removed and the family was released. Photographs appear to show deep bruising on SueHey’s wrists. Romero said the physical marks would fade, but the emotional impact would linger.
“My parents, they came over here [from Mexico] to give us a better life,” she told CBS News. “That day, I felt like our freedom was taken away from us.”
Authorities have said the objective of the operation was to dismantle what they suspected to be an illegal gambling ring at the racetrack. The FBI secured a federal warrant to arrest five individuals believed to be running the unlicensed enterprise.
However, numerous federal and local agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — arrived in force. Witnesses said officers began detaining hundreds of predominantly Latino attendees to verify their immigration status.
The ACLU alleges that law enforcement “conspired to abuse a criminal search warrant as cover to go fishing for immigration arrests at an event where they knew they would encounter a large number of Latino individuals.”
According to the complaint, attendees were questioned about their legal status and instructed to provide documentation. By the conclusion of the operation, 105 individuals were identified as undocumented and transported to detention facilities. Roughly 375 others, determined to be U.S. citizens or lawful residents, were released.
Local immigration attorney Nikki Ramirez-Smith, who responded to the scene, said she believes authorities miscalculated the nature of the event and noted that many of those detained had lived in the country for decades without criminal records.
“My opinion is they didn’t know that most of the people there were American citizens,” Ramirez said. “I think law enforcement misjudged it because the event is in Spanish.”
Sheriff Donahue denied that the gambling warrant was used as a pretext for an immigration sweep. He described the raid as a four-year FBI investigation into suspected cartel involvement and said ICE’s role was not the primary focus.
“We knew there was cartel involvement in this operation,” the sheriff said. “We knew that to be true. [It’s] why we went in.”
He maintained that immigration enforcement was “secondary or tertiary.”
Four months after the raid, the only criminal charges filed were against the five individuals accused of operating the unlicensed gambling enterprise.
The lawsuit states that the children affected continue to struggle emotionally. One 3-year-old plaintiff, identified as Y.R., is now fearful of police, according to his mother. A 15-year-old identified as Y.L. reportedly experiences recurring nightmares about being detained at gunpoint.
“The lasting fear and emotional distress is widespread,” the complaint says.
Donahue acknowledged that trust between law enforcement and the local Latino community has been damaged. Romero agreed, saying the operation fractured relationships that had taken years to build.
SueHey said the experience has changed how she views authorities and would make her hesitant to call for help.
“How are they gonna treat me even though I’m a U.S. citizen, even if I’m not doing anything wrong, even if I’m just reporting a crime?” she said. “How are they gonna treat me?”
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasJERUSALEM (VINnews) — BDE: The Torah world mourns the passing of the gaon and tzaddik, Rabbi Aviezer Asher Zelig Shapira, of blessed memory, the spiritual supervisor (mashgiach) of Yeshiva Ketana Kol Torah in Jerusalem. He was 81 at the time of his passing.
In recent months, his condition fluctuated. The mashgiach was hospitalized, later recovering with Heaven’s mercy and returning to the yeshiva. However, in recent days his condition deteriorated again, and in the early morning hours he passed away, to the deep sorrow of his family and thousands of students.
Rabbi Aviezer zt”l was born in Kfar Chassidim on 5 Adar 5704 (1944) to his father, Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Shapira zt”l, and his mother Rachel, of blessed memory. He was a direct descendant of Rabbi Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira, the Saraf of Moglenice, as well as of the Ruzhin chasidic dynasty through his great-grandmother.
In his youth, he studied at Yeshivat Kol Torah and later continued at the Hebron Yeshiva, where he absorbed the teachings of his rabbis.
Upon reaching marriageable age, he wed the daughter of Rabbi Meir Ephraim Winkler zt”l, who served as rabbi of the Machzikei HaDat community in Copenhagen and later as a lecturer at Yeshivat Torah Ohr in Jerusalem. He was the son of Rabbi Michael Shalom Winkler zt”l, rabbi of Machzikei HaDat in Copenhagen and a member of the Council of Torah Sages in Europe.
In 1970 (5730), Rabbi Shapira was appointed rabbi of the “Or HaChaim” synagogue in Jerusalem’s Geula neighborhood. The synagogue was established in 1930 by a relative of his family. He also continued the traditions of the Drohobych Hasidic lineage, to which he was connected through his distinguished ancestry.
In 1978 (5738), he was appointed mashgiach of Yeshiva Ketana Kol Torah in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem, where he became a central spiritual figure. Over decades, he guided and shaped thousands of students.
Rabbi Shapira was known as the driving spiritual force of the yeshiva, deeply involved both in student admissions and in maintaining the institution’s spiritual standards. Students held him in great affection, which he warmly reciprocated.
For many years, he maintained the practice of visiting the Western Wall plaza nightly. He was among the founders of the now widely observed custom of reciting “Nishmat Kol Chai” at the Wall at midnight, a practice that became well-known throughout the Jewish world.
Rabbi Shapira also served as chairman of the managing committee of the “Chassidim” Chevra Kadisha in Jerusalem and was active in several charitable organizations.
He is survived by a large and blessed family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Among his sons is Rabbi Menachem Shapira, Deputy Mayor of Bnei Brak, who was especially devoted to him.
May his soul be bound in the bond of life.
MatzavA message posted Tuesday on Vice President JD Vance’s X account recognizing the Armenian genocide was later removed, prompting clarification from the White House that there has been no shift in U.S. policy following his participation in a wreath-laying ceremony in Armenia.
The now-deleted post said that Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, took part in the ceremony to commemorate the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide. The wording stood in contrast to current Trump administration policy regarding the terminology used to describe the events.
For decades, Armenians have pressed governments around the world to formally recognize the mass killings carried out between 1915 and 1917 under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, maintaining that approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
Turkey, which succeeded the Ottoman Empire, has consistently denied that the killings, arrests and forced deportations of Armenians during that period constitute genocide.
Successive U.S. administrations have generally refrained from officially labeling the events as “genocide,” citing the potential diplomatic fallout with Turkey, a strategic ally in the region. In 2021, President Joe Biden formally referred to the Ottoman Empire’s actions against Armenians as “genocide,” drawing sharp condemnation from Ankara.
A spokesperson for Vance said the post published Tuesday was the work of staff members who were not traveling as part of the official delegation.
The White House later issued a statement underscoring that there has been no change in longstanding policy, pointing to an earlier Armenian Remembrance Day message. Vance’s X account subsequently shared a revised, more measured post that included an image of the handwritten note he left in the guest book at the ceremony: “In solemn remembrance of the lives lost, we honor the resilience and enduring spirit of the Armenian people.”
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasJERUSALEM (VINnews)- Israel’s military cannot reduce its ground forces and must significantly increase the number of combat soldiers to handle multi-front threats, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said, emphasizing the critical role of large-scale ground maneuvers in achieving decisive victory.
Zamir made the remarks during a ceremony marking the formation of the new 38th Division, composed of the Ground Forces’ training units that would activate as a unified combat formation in wartime.
“There is no substitute for a maneuvering division operating in enemy territory and bringing about decisive victory,” Zamir said, according to the IDF. A maneuvering division consists of ground units trained to penetrate deep into enemy areas, unlike regional divisions focused on border defense.
The comments reflect lessons drawn from the war that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and has involved operations across multiple arenas. Zamir stressed that the past two years have shown the reserve force as the military’s backbone, but the standing army must expand to give reservists relief and allow them to return to civilian life.
“To operate in a multi-front campaign, we will be required to significantly expand the ranks of the IDF’s male and female combat soldiers in order to create a strong army, sized appropriately to the threats and capable of achieving decisive outcomes,” he said.
The establishment of the 38th Division underscores a shift toward enhancing offensive ground capabilities, with the IDF reestablishing it as part of post-Oct. 7 reforms under Zamir’s leadership.
Zamir’s statements come as the IDF continues operations amid heightened regional tensions, including with Iran and its proxies.
Vos Iz NeiasNEW YORK (VINnews) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Trump in Washington today at 6PM Israel time, for the seventh time during his current presidency. The meeting occurs amid growing concern in Israel that the United States and Iran may sign a nuclear agreement that does not meet Israel’s demands for ending the threat from Tehran.
Netanyahu had considered visiting President Trump next week in light of the tensions with Iran and the challenges surrounding Trump’s Gaza peace plan. However, as US–Iran talks that began last week in Oman continue, concerns have intensified in Israel that Washington may compromise on issues it considers critical. Netanyahu therefore decided to travel to Washington this week.
On Tuesday, President Trump told Fox News: “Iran wants to reach a deal. It would be foolish of them not to. The Iranian regime deceived previous American administrations, but with us, they are talking.”
Israeli officials said Israel’s demands include the complete dismantling of Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities, restrictions on Iran’s missile program, and an end to Iranian support for regional militias such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Israel fears that a deal could lead to sanctions relief that would strengthen the regime in Tehran as it faces what Israeli sources describe as its strongest wave of public discontent in years.
A senior US administration official told The Wall Street Journal that the United States and Israel are closely coordinating on a range of issues.
According to the report, Israel was concerned last year that talks between the Trump administration and Iran were heading in a problematic direction. Netanyahu reportedly persuaded President Trump to allow Israel to carry out strikes on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities. Following the reported success of that campaign, Trump approved a US strike that severely damaged Iran’s main nuclear sites.
The Wall Street Journal also reports that Iran has been rebuilding its ballistic missile program since sustaining heavy damage during the June 2025 conflict. Israeli officials fear Iran could eventually produce tens of thousands of missiles — enough, they warn, to overwhelm Israel’s air defense systems.
US officials said Iran must halt missile-related enrichment activities and scale back its missile program. President Trump has stated that he seeks an agreement preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and has threatened to use force if his demands are not met.
Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday as the country’s theocracy remains under pressure, both from U.S. President Donald Trump who suggested sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and a public angrily denouncing Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
The commemoration represented a spit-screen view of life in Iran, with state television showing hundreds of thousands of people across the country attending pro-government rallies, which included the burning of American flags and cries of “Death to America!” The night before, as government-sponsored fireworks lit the dark sky, witnesses heard shouts from people’s homes in the Iranian capital, Tehran, of “Death to the dictator!”
Meanwhile, President Masoud Pezeshkian got on stage at Azadi Square in Tehran and insisted that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program as fledgling nuclear talks talks with America hang in the balance.
Whether the talks succeed remains an open question — and Mideast nations fear their collapse could plunge the region into another regional war. A top Iranian security official traveled Qatar on Wednesday after earlier visiting Oman, which has mediated this latest round of negotiations. Just before the official’s arrival, Qatar’s ruling emir received a phone call from Trump.
In his speech at the anniversary ceremony, Pezeshkian also insisted that his nation was “not seeking nuclear weapons. … and are ready for any kind of verification.” However, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
“The high wall of mistrust that the United States and Europe have created through their past statements and actions does not allow these talks to reach a conclusion,” Pezeshkian said.
Yet moments later, he added: “At the same time, we are engaging with full determination in dialogue aimed at peace and stability in the region alongside our neighboring countries.”
On Iranian state TV, authorities broadcast images of people taking to the streets across the country Wednesday to support the theocracy and its 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Others criticized Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, who had been calling for anti-government protests.
“I am here to say we don’t stop supporting our leader and our country as the Americans and Israelis are increasingly threatening” us, said Reza Jedi, a 43-year-old participant.
Iranian missiles were on display, as were fragments that authorities described as being from downed Israeli drones. Fake coffins draped in the American flag could also be seen, one bearing the picture of U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military’s Central Command.
Among Iran’s 85 million people, there is a hard-line element of support for Iran’s theocracy, including members of the country’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which crucially put down the protests last month in a bloody suppression that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained, according to activists.
Also, many Iranians often take part in pro-theocracy demonstrations as they are government employees or turn up to enjoy the carnival atmosphere of a government-sponsored holiday. Iran has 2.5 million government employees, with a fifth in Tehran alone.
While not directly addressing the bloodshed by authorities, Pezeshkian acknowledged the crackdown that began in earnest on Jan. 8 had “caused great sorrow.”
“We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” he said. “We are not seeking confrontation with the people.”
One man sadly watched the commemoration from a sidewalk in Tehran, not taking part.
“I regularly participated in the rally in past years,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “But how can I do that now as the streets’ asphalt were bloodied last month?”
As the commemoration took place, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani left Oman for Qatar, a Mideast nation that hosts a major U.S. military installation and one that Iran attacked in June after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
Qatar has also been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Its state-run Qatar News Agency reported that ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without elaborating.
Speaking to the Russian state channel RT, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran still does “not have full trust for the Americans.”
“Last time we negotiated, last June we were in the middle of negotiation then they decided to attack us and that was a very very bad experience for us,” Iran’s top diplomat said. “We need to make sure that that scenario is not repeated and this is mostly up to America.”
Despite that concern, Araghchi said it could be possible “to come to a better deal than Obama,” referencing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers Iran reached when former U.S. President Barack Obama was in office. Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.
The U.S. has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.
Already, U.S. forces have shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region, noting, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
It remains unclear what carrier could go. The USS George H.W. Bush has left Norfolk, Virginia, according to U.S. Navy Institute News. The USS Gerald R. Ford remains in the Caribbean after the U.S. military raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
(AP)
The Notnim Gav organization on Wednesday announced the arrests of four yeshivah bochurim in the past day.
One bochur was arrested at his home by the military police in Hod HaSharon.
Overnight, Israel Police officers arrested two yeshivah bochurim, one in Givat Ze’ev and one in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem, and handed them over to the military police.
In addition, a yeshiva bochur from a leading Sephardi yeshiva was arrested a week ago by the military police. The yeshiva administration was only informed of the arrest on Wednesday morning.
All the bochurim are receiving legal assistance from lawyers provided by the aid organizations.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
A person was detained for questioning Tuesday in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, hours after the FBI released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished from her Arizona home.
News outlets later interviewed a man who said he was questioned and released. Authorities have not confirmed that the person they picked up was released.
Officers detained the person during a traffic stop south of Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. It did not immediately provide details about the person or the location. The FBI referred questions to the sheriff’s office.
A Phoenix, Arizona, television station, KNXV-TV, interviewed a delivery man who said he had been detained by police on suspicions of kidnapping Guthrie. He said he and his wife pulled the car over when they noticed that police were following them. The man, who gave only his first name and said he lived in the town of Rio Rico, said he was innocent and that police released him after several hours. His account could not be independently verified. Local and federal authorities have not confirmed that the person who they had detained was released.
The department and the FBI were conducting a court-authorized search Tuesday night at a location in Rio Rico, about an hour’s drive south of Tucson, the department said in a statement. It was expected to take several hours.
Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1 and since then the case has gripped the nation. Until Tuesday, it seemed authorities were making little headway in determining what happened to the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie or finding who was responsible.
Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have released a series of video statements pleading for the return of their mother and indicating a willingness to pay a ransom. Authorities have described Nancy Guthrie as mentally sound but with limited mobility. She takes several medications and there was concern from the start that she could die without them, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said repeatedly.
The community of Rio Rico — population 20,000 — is roughly an hour’s drive from Guthrie’s home and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The videos released earlier Tuesday show a person wearing a ski mask and a backpack. At one point, they tilt their head down and away from a doorbell camera while approaching Guthrie’s front door. The footage also shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from the yard.
The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson. But the images did not show what happened to her or help determine whether she is still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the “armed individual” appeared to “have tampered with the camera.” It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.
The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images, Patel said.
“This will get the phone ringing for lots of potential leads,” said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit. “Even when you have a person who appears to be completely covered, they’re really not. You can see their girth, the shape of their face, potentially their eyes or mouth.”
Tuesday afternoon, authorities were back near Guthrie’s neighborhood, using vehicles to block her driveway. A few miles away, law enforcement was going door-to-door in the area where daughter Annie Guthrie lives, talking with neighbors as well as walking through a drainage area and examining the inside of a culvert with a flashlight.
Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.
Until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic, and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with whoever took Guthrie.
Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media Tuesday, saying the family believes their mother is still alive and offering phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.
Investigators had hoped cameras would turn up evidence right away about how Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in an secluded neighborhood.
But the doorbell camera was disconnected early on Feb. 1. While software recorded movement at the home minutes later, Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had initially said none of the footage could be recovered. Officials continued working to get the footage.
Heartbreaking messages by Savannah Guthrie and her family shifted from hopeful to bleak as they made pleas for whoever took Nancy Guthrie. In a video just ahead of a purported ransom deadline Monday, Savannah Guthrie appeared alone and spoke directly to the public.
“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said. “We need your help.”
Much of the nation is closely following the case involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the new surveillance footage and was in “pure disgust,” encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and any suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects, he said.
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to whoever took their mother, saying, “We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.”
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive.
“Please reach out to us,” they said.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again made a plea, saying, “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly.”
Then over the past weekend, the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s fate.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
(AP)
Vos Iz Neiasby Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Tiffany’s sells one five piece sterling silver set of Bamboo flatware for $1420. Imagine, for a moment, that you just needed to purchase the smaller fork and imagine further that they would break up the set. Try the following social experiment: Approach a yeshiva student or Bais Yaakov girl and ask them how he or she would name that smaller fork to the gentile saleswoman at Tiffany’s – without using the word, “smaller.”
A large percentage would respond, “the fish fork.” Some, however, would respond, “the salad fork.” The question can be characterized as a simple yardstick to determine how exposed our children are to the general culture around us.
For students reading this column who do not understand this last paragraph, Torah observant Jews only call it a fish fork because of the halachos found in Orech Chaim 173:2 and in Yore Deah 116:2.
The Gemorah in Psachim (76b) tells us that one must not eat fish together with meat because the odor is irritating and can cause disease. The Gemorah explains that the disease is “davar acher.” Rashi identifies it with a type of leprosy.
The Poskim state that this is true for both beef and fish (See Pischei Teshuvah 116:2).
The issue is not discussed in the Rambam, but is cited in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 116:2). The reason of tzaraas is cited in Shulchan Aruch.
CURRENT MEDICAL THOUGHT
Current medical thought is that eating fish and meat together does not constitute a medical danger. The Gemorah, however, clearly saw it as a danger.
DOES THE PROHIBITION STILL APPLY?
Fascinatingly enough, at times, the Shulchan Aruch will say when the teva has changed and that we no longer observe a particular halacha that is associated with a health concern. In Yoreh Deah 116 he writes that the prohibition of exposed liquids (where snakes may inject or spit poison) no longer applies where snakes do not access our homes. The Shulchan Aruch does not make an exception regarding meat and fish, but the Magain Avrohom (OC 173) actually does. The Yad Ephraim in YD (116), however, writes that the prohibition remains in effect even nowadays according to most Poskim.
The Ch’sam Sofer (YD # 101), who personally observes the halacha, offers two reasons why the Rambam did not list the halacha. Firstly, it could be that the Rambam held that the issue only referred to one specific type of fish. The other possibility he mentions is that perhaps the teva, nature, has changed and it is no longer medically accurate.
It is permitted, however, to cook fish in a meat pot (or vice versa) – even if it was used that day (Taz YD 95:3), as long as it is completely clean. If the food being cooked, however, has a davar charif – something sharp – then it should not be eaten (See Darchei Teshuvah 95:27).
If fish sauce fell into a meat dish, we do say that it is negated in a volume of sixty to one – even though there is a principle of Chamirah sakanasa m’isurah (See Nekudas HaKesef YD 116, Chochmas Adam 68:1). The Taz ( YD 116:2), however, disagrees with this view. Most Poskim follow the view that it is negated (batel).
WERE THERE OTHER CULTURES THAT UNDERSTOOD IT AS A DANGER?
The Ayurveda is a system of medicine that existed in ancient India. While nowadays much of it is considered as a type of pseudo-science, this was not always the case. In ancient India, the practitioners of Ayurveda were able to cure deviated septums with rhinoplasty, they were able to suture wounds without significant infection, surgically remove kidney stones and gallstones. In the two thousand years since, however, three things have happened:
1] western medicine has eclipsed Ayurvedan medicine, 2] Ayurvedan medical insight has devolved and declined and 3] the world of microbes have changed.
It is this author’s belief that Chazal were aware of much of Indian culture as well as much of ancient Ayurvedan thought. We find many incidents or stories in the Midrashim and in Gemorahs that also appear in ancient Indian sources including both the Jakata and the MahaBharata (see, for example, Esther Rabbah 3:2 and l’havdil Jakata 30; Taanis 20b and lhavdil Mahabharata 12: 4198).
In short, Chazal were familiar with many cultural references that were extant in India.
The medical knowledge extant and practiced by the Ayurvedan associated the mixing of different protein types together with grave danger – including fish and meat and different types of meats as well. And while nowadays, virtually all medical opinions discount any danger associated with such mixtures, it is possible that this was not always the case.
WHAT ABOUT FISH AND MILK?
It is perhaps not so well-known, but the Shulchan Aruch (Yore Deah 87) writes that one should avoid eating fish with milk because of the danger involved.
This is not on account of halacha, because the Mishna in Chullin (103b) clearly states that all meats are forbidden to be cooked with milk, aside from the meat of fish and kosher grasshoppers.”
But some of the commentators believe that this is a typographical error. The Shach writes that it is actually a typographical error. He cites as a proof to this position that in the reference that Rav Karo cites he refers to the prohibition of meat and fish. The Levush repeats the wording of Rav Karo, however. The Rama in his Darkei Moshe writes that he has not seen people being careful about this. The indication is that he is not understanding it as a typographical error.
The Chida backs up the Shach’s position that it is an error.
The Lubavitch community is also stringent and does not allow fish and cheese to be consumed together. Rav Ovadia Yoseph zt”l writes that the Sephardic custom is to prohibit eating fish with milk.
There is a remarkable historical note regarding the fish-and-milk question. As mentioned, the Shach argues that the Shulchan Aruch’s mention of fish and milk as dangerous is a typographical error. However, the Levush — Rav Mordechai Yafeh (1530–1612), this author’s ancestor and the greathalachic authority of Prague and Grodno — repeats the wording of Rav Karo without emendation, treating it as an intentional ruling. Whether Rav Yafeh had access to a more accurate manuscript, or whether he independently agreed with the medical concern, is a question that has intrigued Poskim for centuries. What is clear is that the Levush considered this a genuine halachic concern — not a printer’s error — and his view has lent support to those communities, particularly among Sephardim and Chassidim, who remain stringent on this matter to this day. One might also add that the Rabbeinu Bachya, writing in his commentary on Parshas Mishpatim (Shemos 23:19) some two centuries before the Beis Yosef, had already written that “the doctors feel that fish and cheese that are cooked together can cause bad health and tzaraas.” This demonstrates that the concern predates any possible typographical error in the Beis Yosef by a significant margin, lending further support to the Levush’s position
The author can be reached at [email protected]
Two 50-year-old female workers at the Ashdod oil refinery were pronounced dead on Wednesday morning as a result of oxygen deprivation.
The two women were wearing hazmat suits, and it is believed that their deaths may have been caused by a malfunction in the suits that exposed them to hazardous materials. The incident is still under investigation.
MDA emergency teams called to the site carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts on the women but were ultimately forced to pronounce their deaths.
Fire and rescue teams and police arrived at the scene and ruled out any suspicion of a hazardous materials leak outside the building and any danger to the public or to other employees at the plant.
Ariel Even-Danan, Ashdod district commander at the Fire and Rescue Service, said at the scene: “This is unequivocally not a hazardous materials incident. As I mentioned, there are two main possibilities—either a technical failure or a hazardous materials event.”
MDA paramedic Hila Bizawi and MDA medic Simcha Chasid recounted, “We received a report about two women who had lost consciousness at a factory near Ashdod. We arrived quickly and found two women in their 50s who were unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing. We carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions, ventilation, and medication, but in the end we had no choice but to pronounce their deaths at the scene.”
The Ashdod refinery, which covers about 1,000 dunams, employs 400 workers and produces 40% of the fuel and cooking gas consumed in Israel. According to a Ynet report, the last serious accident at the facility occurred in January 2013, when Mikhail Bliakhov, z’l, (35) and Moshe Tal, z’l, (38) were killed after inhaling hydrogen sulfide while repairing a pipe carrying hazardous material without protective equipment.
A preliminary examination found that they had also failed to close a valve on the pipe leading to the problematic area, and while repairing the pipe, hydrogen sulfide gas leaked and caused their immediate deaths.
Attorney Dafna Fischer, who represented the estate of Moshe Tal, said, “It is sad that tragic disasters involving loss of life, allegedly due to negligence and failures, are repeating themselves and occurring again at the same workplace. I hope that the investigation into today’s incident will not reveal the existence of an ongoing failure in the necessary and critically important process of implementing the lessons learned following Moshe’s death—who left behind an almanah and three young orphans—in order to prevent the recurrence of such tragic cases and the immense pain to additional families, as unfortunately happened again today.”
A statement from the Ashdod refinery said, “A short time ago, a safety incident occurred in the laboratory of the Ashdod refinery, for a reason that has not yet been clarified. As part of preparedness for emergency events, the refinery has a certified in-house first aid team that provided initial treatment to the victims until MDA teams arrived to continue treatment and evacuate the injured. A report about the incident was delivered to the police, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and other relevant authorities. The company will investigate the incident and will continue to update on any further developments.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
In response to the blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement on Monday evening, the IDF eliminated Hamas sniper Ahmad Hassan, who took part in numerous terror ambushes against IDF forces in the northern Gaza Strip and was responsible for the deaths of at least seven IDF soldiers during the war, including four Chareidi soldiers from Netzach Yehudah.
Among numerous attacks, Hassan directed a bombing attack on July 7, 2025, in which five IDF soldiers were killed—Sgt. First Class (res.) Binyamin Asulin H’yd, Staff Sgt. Noam Aharon Musgadian, H’yd, Staff Sgt. Meir Shimon Amar, H’yd, Staff Sgt. Moshe Nissim Frech, H’yd, and Staff Sgt. Moshe Shmuel Noll, H’yd. Two additional soldiers were seriously injured in the attack.
He was also involved in a terror ambush on April 19, 2025, which killed Warrant Officer G’haleb Sliman Alnasasra and wounded five soldiers, as well as a sniper attack on April 24, 2025, which killed Master Sgt. (res.) Asaf Cafri, H’yd, and seriously injured three soldiers.
The IDF said that Hassan served as the commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun sniper unit and has been acting in recent days to advance additional terror attacks against IDF forces.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
MatzavLISTEN:
https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Bitachon4Life-Shiur-1704-Semichah-Part-04-Support.mp3
For more info, email bitachon4life@gmail.com.
The legal advisor to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Miri Frenkel Shor, is now demanding even harsher sanctions against Lomdei Torah—even after the Chareidi MKs raised the possibility of accepting her previous demands.
Chareidi MKs have long accused Frenkel Shor of doing everything she can to thwart the advancement of a viable Chareidi draft law, refusing to compromise on any issues and actively raising more and more demands.
She previously demanded that Chareidi MKs agree to higher recruitment quotas along with sanctions on Bnei Torah even after a law is passed—that will be lifted only after a year if recruitment targets are met. The Chareidi MKs initially refused this demand, but according to a Kikar H’Shabbat report, they recently raised the possibility of accepting the demands out of a lack of options. But Frenkel Shor is now demanding even more sanctions against Lomdei Torah.
“She asked to add another series of sanctions that would apply to Lomdei Torah even if the recruitment targets are met,” a senior Degel official said. “She’s also insisting on imposing sanctions against Lomdei Torah that are now designated as deserters even after a law has been passed.”
“We’re in the worst situation so far. There isn’t much time—we’ll have to make decisions, probably before the end of the week. The Gedolei Yisrael will make the decisions, not us.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The legal advisor to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Miri Frenkel Shor, is now demanding even harsher sanctions against Lomdei Torah—even after the Chareidi MKs raised the possibility of accepting her previous demands.
Chareidi MKs have long accused Frenkel Shor of doing everything she can to thwart the advancement of a viable Chareidi draft law, refusing to compromise on any issues and actively raising more and more demands.
She previously demanded that Chareidi MKs agree to higher recruitment quotas along with sanctions on Bnei Torah even after a law is passed—that will be lifted only after a year if recruitment targets are met. The Chareidi MKs initially refused this demand, but according to a Kikar H’Shabbat report, they recently raised the possibility of accepting the demands out of a lack of options. But Frenkel Shor is now demanding even more sanctions against Lomdei Torah.
“She asked to add another series of sanctions that would apply to Lomdei Torah even if the recruitment targets are met,” a senior Degel official said. “She’s also insisting on imposing sanctions against Lomdei Torah that are now designated as deserters even after a law has been passed.”
“We’re in the worst situation so far. There isn’t much time—we’ll have to make decisions, probably before the end of the week. The Gedolei Yisrael will make the decisions, not us.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
A 13-year-old Jewish boy was brutally attacked on Monday evening in Paris’s 18th arrondissement while on his way to shul. Five thugs assaulted him, beat him, threatened him with a knife, and robbed him while shouting antisemitic slurs.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the incident took place at around 7:20 p.m. on Boulevard de la Chapelle. The boy told the police that the five assailants approached him as he was walking to shul, demanding that he empty his pockets and give them his jacket.
They then violently assaulted him—knocking him to the ground, punching him in the face, and holding a knife to his neck—all while shouting antisemitic remarks. They also stole his AirPods.
At the time of the incident, the boy was on a video call with another person, who later was able to identify one of the attackers. As a result, an 18-year-old suspect was arrested. The other four assailants have not yet been apprehended.
Police launched an investigation and are working to locate and arrest the remaining suspects, who will be charged with armed robbery and aggravated violence committed as a group motivated by ethnic hatred.
The incident comes amid a rash of antisemitic attacks in the French capital in recent days. Three Jewish men were targeted Friday evening on their way home from shul by an assailant with a knife in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, and last week a Chabad elementary school in Paris was vandalized.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Vos Iz NeiasWASHINGTON (AP) — A grand jury in Washington refused Tuesday to indict Democratic lawmakers in connection with a video in which they urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department opened an investigation into the video featuring Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and four other Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. service members to follow established military protocols and reject orders they believe to be unlawful. All the lawmakers previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies.
Grand jurors in Washington declined to sign off on charges in the latest of a series of rebukes of prosecutors by citizens in the nation’s capital, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. It wasn’t immediately clear whether prosecutors had sought indictments against all six lawmakers or what charge or charges prosecutors attempted to bring.
Grand jury rejections are extraordinarily unusual, but have happened repeatedly in recent months in Washington as citizens who have heard the government’s evidence have come away underwhelmed in a number of cases. Prosecutors could try again to secure an indictment.
Spokespeople for the U.S. attorney’s office and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The FBI in November began contacting the lawmakers to schedule interviews, outreach that came against the backdrop of broader Justice Department efforts to punish political opponents of the president. President Donald Trump and his aides labeled the lawmakers’ video as “seditious” — and Trump said on his social media account that the offense was “punishable by death.”
Besides Slotkin and Kelly, the other Democrats who appeared in the video include Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who represents Michigan, said late Tuesday that she hopes this ends the Justice Department’s probe.
“Tonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law,” Slotkin said in a statement. “But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country,” she said.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot who represents Arizona, called the attempt to bring charges an “outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies.”
“Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him,” Kelly said in a post on X. “The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down.”
In November, the Pentagon opened an investigation into Kelly, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly for participating in the video and is trying to retroactively demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain.
The senator is suing Hegseth to block those proceedings, calling them an unconstitutional act of retribution. During a hearing last week, the judge appeared to be skeptical of key arguments that a government attorney made in defense of Kelly’s Jan. 5 censure by Hegseth.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he has signed orders revoking the citizenship of two convicted terrorists and approving their deportation. The move represents the first implementation of legislation passed in February 2023, which allows Israel to revoke the citizenship of convicted terrorists who receive stipends from the Palestinian Authority and expel them from the country.
In a statement, Netanyahu said the two men “were rewarded for their criminal acts by the Palestinian Authority,” and praised Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Likud lawmaker Ofir Katz for advancing the legislation.
“Thanks to this law, they will be expelled from Israel — and many more like them are on the way,” Netanyahu said.
According to a statement from Katz cited by Ynet, the two individuals are Mahmoud Ahmad and Mohammed Ahmad Hussein al-Halsi.
Ahmad was sentenced to 23 years in prison for carrying out shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. He was released in 2024 and is expected to be deported immediately.
Al-Halsi was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years in prison for stabbing elderly women in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon HaNatziv. He will be deported upon his release, the report said.
The law was introduced to target terrorists who continue to receive financial payments from the Palestinian Authority while serving prison sentences. Israeli officials have previously said proceedings have been initiated against hundreds of citizens under the legislation.
Netanyahu said the decision sends a clear message that those who commit acts of terrorism will not only face prison sentences, but also lose their right to remain in the country.
Walla reported that the two men are expected to be deported to the Gaza Strip. The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately confirm the destination.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Vos Iz NeiasTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A person has been detained for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people said the person was detained in an area south of Tucson on Tuesday. They did not immediately provide additional details, and it wasn’t clear if the person being questioned is the person captured on surveillance video from outside Guthrie’s house released earlier Tuesday.
The people were not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The FBI released surveillance images of a masked person with a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished, offering the first major break in a case that has gripped the nation for more than a week.
The person wearing a backpack and a ski mask can be seen in one of the videos tilting their head down and away from a doorbell camera while nearing an archway at the home of the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.
The footage shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from Nancy Guthrie’s yard.
Vos Iz NeiasVANCOUVER, Canada (AP) — A shooting at a school in British Columbia left eight dead including the suspect, with two more people found dead at a home believed to be connected to the incident, Canadian authorities said Tuesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more than 25 people are injured, including two with life-threatening injuries, after the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
School shootings are rare in Canada.
The town of Tumbler Ridge, which has a population of about 2,400 people, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Vancouver, near the border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.
RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified the shooter but would not release a name, but that the suspect’s motive remained unclear.
“We are not in a place to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy,” Floyd said.
He added that police are still investigating how the victims are connected to the shooter.
“As part of the initial response to the active shooting, police entered the school to locate the threat. During the search, officers located multiple victims. An individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury,” RCMP said in a statement.
“Six additional individuals, not including the suspect, have been located deceased inside the school. Two victims have been airlifted to hospital with serious or life‑threatening injuries. A third victim died while being transported to hospital.”
The Peace River South School District said earlier Tuesday that there was a “lockdown and secure and hold” at both the secondary school and the Tumbler Ridge Elementary school.
Larry Neufeld, the member of the legislature for Peace River South, told reporters at the legislature that an “excess” of resources, including RCMP and ambulance support, have been sent to the community.
He said he didn’t want to release any more information over concerns that it might jeopardize the safety of the ongoing operation.
“Our hearts are in Tumbler Ridge tonight with the families of those who have lost loved ones. Government will ensure every possible support for community members in the coming days, as we all try to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy,” British Columbia Premier David Eby said in a statement.
MatzavPresident Donald Trump is weighing the possibility of dispatching an additional U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East as renewed negotiations with Iran get underway, underscoring that Washington is maintaining a credible military option alongside diplomacy.
Speaking with Axios in an interview on Tuesday, Trump said the potential move would be part of a wider pressure campaign against Tehran as talks resume following last year’s short but fierce conflict.
“Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” Trump told Axios.
Negotiators from the United States and Iran reconvened in Oman last Friday, marking their first direct discussions since the 12-day war in June. The talks are taking place even as the Trump administration continues to reinforce U.S. military assets across the region. Trump said he anticipates another round of discussions next week.
“We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going,” Trump said, noting that he is “thinking” about ordering a second carrier strike group to the area.
A U.S. official confirmed to Axios that internal conversations have already taken place regarding the possible deployment of another carrier.
At present, the United States has the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying strike group stationed in the region, outfitted with fighter aircraft, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and support vessels. During much of the Gaza war, the U.S. maintained two carrier strike groups operating in the Middle East simultaneously.
Even with the heightened military posture, Trump suggested that negotiations have a real chance of succeeding, saying Iran “wants to make a deal very badly” and is engaging more seriously because of sustained U.S. pressure.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it,” Trump said, referencing U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June. “They overplayed their hand.”
“This time the talks are very different,” he added.
Iranian officials have publicly stated that the discussions should be limited to the nuclear file and have insisted that Tehran will not relinquish its ability to enrich uranium. That position has raised doubts among U.S. and Israeli critics who question whether a far-reaching agreement can be achieved.
Trump said it should be obvious that any deal must confront Iran’s nuclear program, adding that he sees room for talks to also address Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
“We can make a great deal with Iran,” he said.
The renewed negotiations are unfolding as Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu prepares for a visit to Washington on Wednesday. Trump told Axios that Netanyahu “also wants a deal.”
“He wants a good deal,” Trump said.
Ahead of his trip, Netanyahu said he intends to convey Israel’s perspective on what he described as the “essential principles” guiding the negotiations.
At the same time, senior Iranian figure Ali Larijani has been holding meetings with regional intermediaries in Oman and Qatar. U.S. officials believe those discussions are designed to influence the shape and direction of the next phase of talks, according to Axios.
A shooting at a school in British Columbia left eight dead including the suspect, with two more people found dead at a home believed to be connected to the incident, Canadian authorities said Tuesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more than 25 people are injured, including two with life-threatening injuries, after the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
School shootings are rare in Canada.
The town of Tumbler Ridge, which has a population of about 2,400 people, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Vancouver, near the border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.
RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified the shooter but would not release a name, but that the suspect’s motive remained unclear.
“We are not in a place to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy,” Floyd said.
He added that police are still investigating how the victims are connected to the shooter.
“As part of the initial response to the active shooting, police entered the school to locate the threat. During the search, officers located multiple victims. An individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury,” RCMP said in a statement.
“Six additional individuals, not including the suspect, have been located deceased inside the school. Two victims have been airlifted to hospital with serious or life‑threatening injuries. A third victim died while being transported to hospital.”
The Peace River South School District said earlier Tuesday that there was a “lockdown and secure and hold” at both the secondary school and the Tumbler Ridge Elementary school.
Larry Neufeld, the member of the legislature for Peace River South, told reporters at the legislature that an “excess” of resources, including RCMP and ambulance support, have been sent to the community.
He said he didn’t want to release any more information over concerns that it might jeopardize the safety of the ongoing operation.
(AP)
A routine flight to Central America turned into a transpacific odyssey for one traveler after a startling boarding error sent him halfway across the world without anyone noticing.
Víctor Calderón thought he was headed from Los Angeles to Managua, Nicaragua, with a planned connection in Houston. Instead, after settling into his seat and watching the hours tick by, he realized something was wrong. His “short” domestic flight was stretching toward six hours. When he questioned a flight attendant, he was stunned by the answer: the plane was bound for Tokyo.
By then, there was no turning back. Calderón remained on board until landing at Haneda Airport, where he waited for United Airlines to arrange his return to Los Angeles. He eventually restarted his journey, arriving in Nicaragua nearly two days late.
United initially offered him $300 in travel credit for the ordeal. After he documented hotel stays, clothing purchases, and other expenses totaling more than $1,000, the airline increased the offer to $1,000 in credits.
Aviation experts say such mix-ups, while rare, can happen when boarding scans fail, errors are overridden, or agents are distracted.
Some have blamed Calderón for missing obvious clues while others argue the airline’s systems should never allow the wrong passenger onboard.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A person has been detained for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people said the person was detained in an area south of Tucson on Tuesday. They did not immediately provide additional details, and it wasn’t clear if the person being questioned is the person captured on surveillance video from outside Guthrie’s house released earlier Tuesday.
The people were not authorized to discuss details of an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The FBI released surveillance images of a masked person with a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished, offering the first major break in a case that has gripped the nation for more than a week.
The person wearing a backpack and a ski mask can be seen in one of the videos tilting their head down and away from a doorbell camera while nearing an archway at the home of the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.
The footage shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from Nancy Guthrie’s yard.
The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Nancy Guthrie’s home just outside Tucson, but the images did not show what happened to her or help determine whether the 84-year-old is still alive.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the “armed individual” appeared to “have tampered with the camera.” It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.
The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images, Patel said.
“This will get the phone ringing for lots of potential leads,” said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit. “Even when you have a person who appears to be completely covered, they’re really not. You can see their girth, the shape of their face, potentially their eyes or mouth.”
By Tuesday afternoon, authorities were back near Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood, using vehicles to block her driveway. A few miles away, law enforcement was going door-to-door in the area where daughter Annie Guthrie lives, talking with neighbors as well as walking through a drainage area and examining the inside of a culvert with a flashlight.
Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.
She has high blood pressure and issues with mobility and her heart, and she needs daily medication, officials have said.
Until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic, and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with whoever took Nancy Guthrie.
Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media Tuesday, saying the family believes Nancy Guthrie is still alive and offering phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.
Investigators had hoped cameras would turn up evidence right away about how Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in an secluded neighborhood.
But the doorbell camera was disconnected early on Feb. 1. While software recorded movement at the home minutes later, Nancy Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had initially said none of the footage could be recovered. Officials continued working to get the footage.
Heartbreaking messages by Savannah Guthrie and her family shifted from hopeful to bleak as they made pleas for whoever took Nancy Guthrie. In a video just ahead of a purported ransom deadline Monday, Savannah Guthrie appeared alone and spoke directly to the public.
“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said. “We need your help.”
Much of the nation is closely following the case involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the new surveillance footage and was in “pure disgust,” encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI.
The FBI this week began posting digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.
Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and any suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects, he said.
Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to whoever took their mother, saying, “We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.”
In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive. “Please reach out to us,” they said.
The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again made a plea, saying, “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly.”
Then over the past weekend, the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s fate.
“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
(AP)
Vos Iz Neias(AP) – More than two dozen privacy and advocacy organizations are calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to remove a network of covert license plate readers deployed across Southern California that the groups believe feed data into a controversial U.S. Border Patrol predictive domestic intelligence program that scans the country’s roadways for suspicious travel patterns.
“We ask that your administration investigate and release the relevant permits, revoke them, and initiate the removal of these devices,” read the letter sent Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Imperial Valley Equity and Justice and other nonprofits.
An Associated Press investigation published in November revealed that the U.S. Border Patrol, an agency under U.S. Customs and Border Protection, had hidden license plate readers in ordinary traffic safety equipment. The data collected by the Border Patrol plate readers was then fed into a predictive intelligence program monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
AP obtained land use permits from Arizona showing that the Border Patrol went to great lengths to conceal its surveillance equipment in that state, camouflaging it by placing it inside orange and yellow construction barrels dotting highways.
The letter said the groups’ researchers have identified a similar network of devices in California, finding about 40 license plate readers in San Diego and Imperial counties, both of which border Mexico. More than two dozen of the plate readers identified by the groups were hidden in construction barrels.
They could not determine of the ownership of every device, but the groups said in the letter that they obtained some permits from the California Department of Transportation, showing both the Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration had applied for permission to place readers along state highways. DEA shares its license plate reader data with Border Patrol, documents show.
The letter cited the AP’s reporting, which found that Border Patrol uses a network of cameras to scan and record vehicle license plate information. An algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Agents appeared to be looking for vehicles making short trips to the border region, claiming that such travel is indicative of potential drug or human smuggling.
Federal agents in turn sometimes refer drivers they deem suspicious to local law enforcement who make a traffic stop citing a reason like speeding or lane change violations. Drivers often have no idea they have been caught up in a predictive intelligence program being run by a federal agency.
The AP identified at least two cases in which California residents appeared to have been caught up in the Border Patrol’s surveillance of domestic travel patterns. In one 2024 incident described in court documents, a Border Patrol agent pulled over the driver of a Nissan Altima based in part on vehicle travel data showing that it took the driver six hours to travel the approximately 50 miles between the U.S.-Mexican border and Oceanside, California, where the agent had been on patrol.
“This type of delay in travel after crossing the International Border from Mexico is a common tactic used by persons involved in illicit smuggling,” the agent wrote in a court document.
In another case, Border Patrol agents said in a court document in 2023 they detained a woman at an internal checkpoint because she had traveled a circuitous route between Los Angeles and Phoenix. In both cases, law enforcement accused the drivers of smuggling immigrants in the country unlawfully and were seeking to seize their property or charge them with a crime.
The intelligence program, which has existed under administrations of both parties, has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers since the AP revealed its existence last year.
The California Department of Transportation and the office of Newsom, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Courts have generally upheld license plate reader collection on public roads but have curtailed warrantless government access to other kinds of persistent tracking data that might reveal sensitive details about people’s movements, such as GPS devices or cellphone location data. Some scholars and civil libertarians argues that large-scale collection systems like plate readers might be unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.
“Increasingly, courts have recognized that the use of surveillance technologies can violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Although this area of law is still developing, the use of LPRs and predictive algorithms to track and flag individuals’ movements represents the type of sweeping surveillance that should raise constitutional concerns,” the organizations wrote.
CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but previously said the agency uses plate readers to help identify threats and disrupt criminal networks and their use of the technology is “governed by a stringent, multi-layered policy framework, as well as federal law and constitutional protections, to ensure the technology is applied responsibly and for clearly defined security purposes.”
DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vos Iz NeiasOLNEY, MARYLAND (VINnews)-A Conservative Jewish synagogue in the Washington, D.C. suburbs was targeted in an overnight vandalism incident, with antisemitic graffiti spray-painted on its exterior signs and banners.
The incident occurred at Shaare Tefila Congregation in Olney, Montgomery County, where vandals defaced property sometime late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, February
. Authorities discovered the vandalism on Tuesday morning.
The graffiti included a swastika, the word “genocide”, and the acronym “AZAB” — understood to stand for “All Zionists Are Bastards.” These were spray-painted over prominent signs and banners outside the synagogue. One banner featured the message “We Support Israel,” while another displayed “Hate Has No Home Here” in multiple languages beneath a heart-shaped American flag.
The vandalism directly overlaid these messages of inclusivity and support, heightening its targeted nature.
Rabbi Jonah Layman of Shaare Tefila Congregation described the act as “very disturbing.” In statements reported by local media, he expressed the pain felt by the community while noting the resilience of congregants in the face of such hatred.
Montgomery County police launched an investigation into the incident, classifying it as a hate crime. No injuries were reported, and no suspects have been publicly identified at this time.
The defacement drew swift condemnation from local leaders. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), whose district includes Montgomery County, expressed horror at the swastika and antisemitic messages, offering sympathy, solidarity, and affection to the congregation. He emphasized that authorities would pursue those responsible for trespassing and defacing property.
Jewish community organizations and advocates highlighted the incident as part of a broader pattern of rising antisemitic acts, underscoring the need for vigilance and community support.
Shaare Tefila Congregation, a longstanding Conservative synagogue serving the Olney area, has been a fixture in the local Jewish community. The vandalism has prompted renewed calls for unity against hate.
Police continue to investigate, and anyone with information is encouraged to contact Montgomery County authorities.
This incident serves as a stark reminder that antisemitism persists in communities across the United States, even in areas known for diversity and tolerance. Community leaders urge residents to stand together in rejecting all forms of bigotry.
MatzavThe Biala Rebbe of the United States, who is currently in Eretz Yisroel to mark the yahrtzeit of his grandfather, the Chelkas Yehoshua of Biala zt”l, paid a special visit to the home of the Yenuka in Rishon LeZion.
During the visit, the Biala Rebbe presented the Yenuka with the sefer Noam Elimelech, which includes the awe-inspiring tefillah of the Rebbe Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk.
The Rebbe outlined the lineage of righteous figures in his dynasty, tracing it back to the Yehudi HaKadosh of Peshischa and earlier tzaddikim. In the course of the meeting, the Yenuka recounted the extraordinary episode involving the Yehudi HaKadosh, who was saved when a Russian soldier fired at him and, in a miraculous moment, he caught the lead bullet and stopped it.
The Biala Rebbe added that a similar miracle occurred with his illustrious grandfather, the Chelkas Yehoshua of Biala. After being taken to Siberia during the war and immersing himself in icy waters, a Russian soldier fired at him as well. In a strikingly similar event, he caught the bullet with his hand and was miraculously spared.
{Matzav.com}
Vos Iz NeiasWashington, D.C. (VINnews)- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a key meeting at Blair House, the official guest residence of the U.S. President, with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, senior advisor and son-in-law to President Trump.
The discussion focused on pressing regional issues in the Middle East, with particular emphasis on the evolving negotiations between the United States and Iran. Witkoff and Kushner provided Netanyahu with a detailed briefing on the first round of talks held with Iranian officials last Friday in Oman.
The Oman meeting, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi, involved indirect (and in some reports, direct) discussions between the U.S. delegation—led by Witkoff and Kushner, alongside CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper—and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Both sides described the initial exchanges as constructive, with Trump publicly calling them “very good” and signaling expectations for further rounds. The talks centered on Iran’s nuclear program, though the U.S. has pushed to include limitations on ballistic missiles and Tehran’s support for regional proxy groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas—issues Iran has insisted are non-negotiable.
Netanyahu’s session at Blair House comes as he prepares for a high-stakes meeting with President Trump at the White House, where the Israeli leader plans to present “principles” for any potential deal with Iran. Israeli officials have expressed concerns that negotiations could result in a narrow agreement limited to nuclear matters, potentially overlooking broader security threats posed by Iran’s missile capabilities and regional influence.
The prime minister’s visit to Washington was accelerated in response to the recent Oman talks, reflecting Israel’s ongoing efforts to shape U.S. policy toward Iran. Netanyahu has long advocated for stringent measures against Tehran, including support for last year’s joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites.
Following the Blair House meeting, Netanyahu is expected to emphasize the need for any agreement to address not only uranium enrichment but also missile programs and proxy support, aligning with his office’s stance that “any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis.”
As discussions progress, all eyes remain on the upcoming White House meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, which could significantly influence the trajectory of U.S.-Iran relations and Middle East stability.
MatzavIt is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Shlomo Ephraim HaKohen Fischer zt”l, one of the distinguished figures of Yerushalayim Shel Maalah and a familiar presence on Bar Giora Street, in Yerushalayim at the age of 86.
Rav Fischer was born in Yerushalayim on 18 Kislev 5700 to his father, Rav Menachem Fischer, a member of Yerushalayim Old Yishuv and a talmid of Maharitz Dushinsky, and to his mother, Mrs. Chana, daughter of Rav Avraham Frenkel.
In his youth, he studied at Yeshivas Dushinsky and was among the early talmidim of Maharam Dushinsky. As a child of ten, he merited seeing Maharitz Dushinsky frequently, accompanying his father on visits to him.
Upon reaching marriageable age, he married Mrs. Yocheved Fischer, daughter of Rav Baruch Pinchas Goldberg, author of the sefarim Bikur Cholim Kehilchasah and Pnei Baruch-Aveilus Kehilchasa. She was a devoted volunteer who dedicated more than 30 years to assisting patients at Hadassah Hospital. She passed away in Adar 5782.
Rav Shlomo Ephraim served as a gabbai tzedakah and as a melamed of tinokos shel beis rabban. He frequently went to spend time in the Dushinsky court, participating in gatherings and hillulos. As recently as Erev Sukkos, he addressed the crowd at the hillula of the Maharitz in the courtyard of the Dushinsky Chassidus.
He is survived by children and grandchildren. One of his sons is Rav Chaim Fischer, a maggid shiur in the Ungvarer kehillah in Modiin Illit. His brother, Rav Avraham HaKohen Fischer, a respected figure in Bnei Brak and among the founders of the first chareidi orchestra, passed away in 5778.
The levayah took place today at the Shamgar Funeral Home in Yerushalayim, with kevurah on Har HaMenuchos.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
An Israeli-Russian freelance journalist was abruptly removed from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official aircraft on Monday morning.
According to Channel 12, journalist Nick Kolyohin was escorted off the Wing of Zion plane by agents of the Shin Bet shortly after boarding. Kolyohin said he had previously received authorization from the Prime Minister’s Office to join the flight as part of the press delegation.
“If there are checks, do them in advance,” Kolyohin told Channel 12. “Why at the last minute, and why without an explanation?”
Kolyohin works as a contributor for the U.S.-based outlet Newsmax and China’s state-run Xinhua, associations that have drawn scrutiny in parts of the Israeli media. In recent years, some watchdog groups have questioned his ties to foreign-backed outlets, alleging that he promoted Russian interests — claims Kolyohin has strongly denied.
He said the accusations amount to defamation and confirmed that he is pursuing legal action over the matter.
In a brief statement, Shin Bet said its actions were guided by its responsibility to protect the prime minister and sensitive information.
“Decisions are made to reduce risk,” the agency said, adding that it could not comment on specific cases.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Vos Iz NeiasPORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (AP) — When thousands of New York City nurses walked off the job last month in the city’s largest strike of its kind in decades, 9-year-old Logan Coyle was a patient in the cancer unit at NewYork-Presbyterian’s children’s hospital in Manhattan.
Logan was recovering from his latest setback in a two-year battle with advanced liver cancer that has already included chemotherapy and a complex triple transplant of a liver, pancreas and small intestine.
But as the nurses formed their picket outside the hospital, he held up a handmade sign outside his window: “Proud of My Primaries.”
Morgan Bieler, one of Logan’s longtime, primary nurses, said the sight was a jolt of encouragement in those early, uncertain hours of the walkout, which, at the outset, involved roughly 15,000 nurses across some of the city’s most prestigious hospitals.
“In that moment, it kind of reinforced like, ‘This is why we’re doing this’,” she said recently. “If he can fight for as long as he has and as hard as he has, then we could fight this.”
But nearly a month on, more than 4,000 nurses in the NewYork-Presbyterian system are the last on the picket line in a bitter dispute over salaries, staffing, safety, health care and other contractual issues.
The hospitals have said the union’s demands were exorbitant. They say unionized nurses’ salaries already average $162,000 to $165,000 a year, not including benefits.
The nurses have countered that top hospital executives make millions of dollars a year.
Jeff Coyle, Logan’s father, says its “infuriating” that some of the city’s most vulnerable patients are caught in the middle.
“Every single day that this drags on is a severe impact to us,” he said. “We are the collateral damage of this strike.”
On Monday, the nurses’ union reached tentative deals with two other major systems, Mount Sinai and Montefiore. Those three-year proposals, if approved in membership votes this week, would see unionized nurses at those hospitals return to work by Saturday.
Negotiations at NewYork Presbyterian, though, have progressed slower. The hospital says it has agreed to a proposal from mediators that includes many things the union has sought, including pay raises, preserving nurses’ pensions, maintaining their health benefits and increasing staffing levels.
But the union says the strike remains in effect, and there were no plans for negotiations to resume as of Tuesday.
Logan and his family struggle
Coyle believes hospital administrators should have negotiated more aggressively rather than opting to hire thousands of temporary nurses to fill staffing gaps week after week.
“If we have to be there, each side to these contract negotiators should also be there, working as hard as they can to end this as quickly as they can,” Coyle said.
Spokespersons for NewYork-Presbyterian didn’t immediately comment Tuesday, but the hospital systems through the strike have said they have remained ready to negotiate when called on.
Logan returned home over the weekend after having a tumor removed near his spine. But he said he noticed the difference between his regular nurses and the temporary replacements almost immediately.
Routine things like blood draws and lab tests took longer than normal for the replacement nurses. Gone also were the steady rounds of familiar faces dropping by, oftentimes just for a chat or to read a book.
“I like they come in and color with you so I’m not spending my whole day on the screen in my iPad world,” he said Tuesday in the family’s home in Port Washington, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Manhattan in suburban Long Island.
“I wouldn’t want to be back there for another month without them,” Logan added. “I would feel more safer if they were all back.”
Logan’s mom, Rebecca, says she spent more sleepless nights at Logan’s bedside than previous hospital stays because staffing was so inconsistent, with temporary nurses cycling in and out every few days and bringing varying levels of experience.
“I was just constantly up, checking to make sure that something was running appropriately or waiting for a medicine to arrive or waiting fluids to arrive or a blood product,” she said. “I felt like I had to be so vigilant.”
Logan’s nurse worries too
Bieler says she worries daily about her long term patients still at the hospital.
She said bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy treatments have been delayed or canceled entirely for some because of the staffing challenges.
“We’re not the only pawns in this, is my point,” Bieler said. “They’re playing with children’s lives, and I can’t imagine how frustrating that is for our community.”
Spokespersons for NewYork-Presbyterian didn’t immediately comment Tuesday, but the hospital systems have insisted their operations are running smoothly, with organ transplants and other complex procedures largely uninterrupted.
As for Logan, Bieler says caring for the upbeat, endlessly positive boy changed her outlook on life.
“He’s always the best version of himself, and he faces everything with a smile,” she said. “I don’t think I would be the nurse, let alone the person I am today, without him and his family.”
MatzavInvestigators probing the disappearance of Moishi Kleinerman have taken an unusual step, turning to civilian technology based on artificial intelligence to explore new investigative avenues. Analysis of the data has led to the identification of an additional terrain route that, according to assessments, may be the last location where Kleinerman was present.
Moishi Kleinerman has been missing since March 2022, after he was last seen in the Mount Meron area, which he reached without a mobile phone. A new development has now emerged in the case, involving an unconventional move aimed at examining further possibilities.
Police in the Judea and Samaria District decided to utilize civilian AI-based technology capable of analyzing data patterns not detectable to the human eye. The data analysis pointed to a specific terrain route in the Mount Meron area that may be the final place Kleinerman was located, according to a report by i24NEWS.
Police stress that it is still not possible to determine with certainty that this was indeed the teenager’s last location, but preparations are underway to conduct searches in the area. At the same time, new testimonies have been collected. Next week, investigators are expected to deploy an investigative tool known as the “Crystal Ball,” typically used to solve murder cases, which will be employed for the first time in the search for a missing person. The commander of the Judea and Samaria District has updated the family on the latest developments.
{Matzav.com}
MatzavDemocratic leaders said a White House proposal responding to their demands on immigration enforcement falls far short, calling it “incomplete and insufficient” as they push for tighter limits on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and warn that funding for the Department of Homeland Security could lapse.
In a statement issued late Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said a counterproposal sent by the White House after the weekend “included neither details nor legislative text” and failed to address “the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct.”
The White House has not made its proposal public.
The standoff comes with the clock ticking toward a possible partial government shutdown set to begin Shabbos. Democrats are seeking a range of changes, including a requirement for judicial warrants, clearer identification for DHS officers, revised use-of-force standards, and an end to racial profiling. They argue the measures are needed following the fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.
Earlier Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota voiced optimism about the unusual talks between Democrats and the White House, saying there had been “forward progress.”
Thune said the exchange of proposals between the two sides was encouraging and that “hopefully they can find some common ground here.”
Reaching a deal on immigration enforcement remains difficult, however, as skepticism runs deep among rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties about the prospects for compromise.
Republicans have pushed back on many of the Democratic demands and some have offered counterconditions, including legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and penalties for cities they argue are not doing enough to combat illegal immigration.
At the same time, many Democrats angered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s aggressive tactics have said they will not support additional DHS funding unless enforcement efforts are significantly curtailed.
“Dramatic changes are needed at the Department of Homeland Security before a DHS funding bill moves forward,” Jeffries said earlier Monday. “Period. Full stop.”
Congress is now attempting to renegotiate DHS funding after Trump agreed to a Democratic request to pull it out of a broader spending package that became law last week. That legislation temporarily extended Homeland Security funding at current levels only through Feb. 13, creating a narrow window for negotiations over new limits on ICE and other federal agencies.
Democrats escalated their demands for changes to ICE and other federal law enforcement after ICE-watch activist Alex Pretti was fatally shot during a confrontation with U.S. Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Some Republicans also suggested at the time that new restrictions might be warranted. Renee Good was shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
Although Trump agreed to separate the DHS funding, he has not publicly addressed the Democrats’ specific requests.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said late last week that the Trump administration is open to discussing some of the items on the Democratic list, but said “others don’t seem like they are grounded in any common sense, and they are nonstarters for this administration.”
Schumer and Jeffries have called for immigration officers to remove masks, display identification, and better coordinate with local authorities. They are also pressing for tougher use-of-force rules, stronger legal protections at detention centers, and a ban on using body-worn cameras to track protesters.
Among their additional demands, Democrats want Congress to halt indiscriminate arrests, “improve warrant procedures and standards,” make clear that officers cannot enter private property without a judicial warrant, and require verification that a detainee is not a U.S. citizen before detention.
Republicans have said they support requiring DHS officers to wear body cameras — language that appeared in the original DHS funding bill — but have resisted many of the other proposals.
“Taking the masks off ICE officers and agents, the reason we can’t do that is that it would subject them to great harm, their families at great risk because people are doxing them and targeting them,” House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said Monday. “We’ve got to talk about things that are reasonable and achievable.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee said Sunday that Democrats are “trying to motivate a radical left base.”
“The left has gone completely overboard, and they’re threatening the safety and security of our agents so they cannot do their job,” Hagerty said.
Beyond ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Homeland Security funding bill also covers agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration. Thune warned last week that if DHS shuts down, “there’s a very good chance we could see more travel problems” similar to those during last year’s 43-day government shutdown.
Lawmakers in both parties have floated the idea of separating funding for ICE and Border Patrol and passing the remainder by Friday. Thune has shown little enthusiasm for that approach, instead favoring another short-term extension for all of DHS while talks continue.
“If there’s additional time that’s needed, then hopefully Democrats would be amenable to another extension,” Thune said.
Many Democrats are unlikely to support another temporary extension, though Republicans could still muster enough Democratic votes if lawmakers believe negotiations are making progress.
“The ball is in the Republicans’ court,” Jeffries said Monday.
{Matzav.com}
The The New York Times editorial board is urging policymakers and the public to “acknowledge reality” about marijuana legalization, arguing in a new opinion piece that widespread legalization has produced far more harm than many supporters anticipated.
In the editorial, the paper acknowledged that it had long backed legalization, including a major 2014 series that compared federal marijuana bans to alcohol prohibition. At the time, the board wrote that addiction and dependence were “relatively minor problems” and echoed claims that cannabis posed little risk and would not significantly increase usage.
More than a decade later, the Times said those predictions were wrong.
According to the editorial, legalization has led to sharply higher consumption, with an estimated 18 million Americans now using marijuana almost daily, up from about six million in 2012. The paper noted that daily marijuana use has now surpassed daily alcohol consumption. It linked the rise in use to growing rates of addiction, emergency room visits, severe vomiting disorders, paranoia, psychosis, and impaired driving.
Rather than calling for renewed criminalization, the Times advocated a policy of “grudging toleration,” combined with stronger regulation. It warned that large cannabis companies, which it labeled “Big Weed,” have financial incentives to downplay risks, particularly after marijuana was reclassified to a lower federal drug schedule.
The editorial concluded that lax regulation has produced worse outcomes than expected and called for a shift in policy.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Vos Iz Neias(AP) – Tuesday’s release of video surveillance footage showing an armed, masked person at Nancy Guthrie’s doorstep on the night she was abducted has raised a host of questions about why it took so long to publicly release, how it was retrieved and what it means for privacy.
The process involved days of searching, the FBI said, after law enforcement initially believed the footage was lost because the camera was disconnected and Guthrie didn’t have a subscription to the camera company.
The surprising emergence of the video footage has resurrected questions about digital content’s long afterlife, as billions of people increasingly entwine their lives with mishmash of internet-connected devices, making it possible to retrieve snapshots from their past like old photos stored in an attic.
Unclear reasons for delay
In the days after her apparent abduction, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos initially said that a camera attached to Nancy Guthrie’s door was disconnected just before 2 a.m. on the night she disappeared. Minutes later, the camera’s software detected movement, but no footage was preserved, he said.
At the time, Nanos said that there was no video available in part because Guthrie didn’t have an active subscription to the company. But unexpectedly, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday that investigators kept working for days to pull the videos from “residual data located in backend systems.”
It was not immediately clear why it took so long to retrieve the video. The delay could, in part, be a law enforcement strategy, according to Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York police sergeant who managed hundreds of homicide and missing person cases.
Giacalone said the FBI likely tried to quietly identify the person on Guthrie’s porch before releasing the images.
“You’re trying to keep these things close to the vest. I think they worked this angle for a couple days,” Giacalone said.
Always recording
Local and federal law enforcement didn’t respond to questions clarifying what they meant by “disconnected” or who was working on recovering the data.
The footage appears to have come from a Nest camera fastened on or near Guthrie’s door. Google, which has owned Nest since 2014, is among numerous companies that operates private surveillance cameras used in and around homes. Because common doorbell cameras aren’t equipped with the memory cards required for vast amounts of on-device storage, the video recorded on them is routinely transmitted to data centers scattered around the U.S. and other countries.
Google didn’t immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about how the footage of the masked person was captured while the camera was apparently disconnected. They also didn’t clarify how the footage was extracted from “backend servers” even though law enforcement said Guthrie didn’t have a subscription.
However, Google’s privacy policy — a document that users often blindly agree to after purchasing a device — makes it clear that videos can be captured when a device is offline.
“That means you may not see a visual indicator when your camera is sending the video footage to our servers,” the policy states.
Data on the cloud doesn’t disappear
The policy also makes clear that footage can stay on cloud servers for varying amounts of time, but also gives users the right to view and delete video at their discretion.
Unless a Nest user subscribes to a service that allows for quick access to review footage recorded on a device, Google routinely purges the footage rather than retain it indefinitely, said Stacey Higginbotham, a policy fellow at Consumer Reports who specializes in cybersecurity issues.
But if law enforcement agencies such as the FBI reached out to Nest for the footage before it was overwritten, the video could still be retrieved and watched, Higginbotham said. “It’s basically like when you send an email to the trash. It’s still accessible,” depending on a provider’s retention policies.
Tensions with privacy concerns
There are ostensibly legal guardrails that are supposed to dictate how companies like Google access and share footage collected on cameras in and around people’s homes.
Under many user agreements, camera companies need a warrant or consent from the camera owner to share footage with law enforcement, according to Michelle Dahl, the executive director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.
But there are plenty of legal loopholes that would allow a company like Google to share data directly with law enforcement without either of those things, Dahl said.
“Our hearts are on her family and what they are going through, and we are glad for any information that can lead to her being found,” she said. At the same time, Dahl added, “We should absolutely be alarmed over the privacy implications that are at stake with this video that was recovered by the Nest camera.”
Dahl said she doesn’t know about Nest cameras specifically. But she said that some user agreements specify that the data collected on cameras belong to the camera company, not the private camera owner. In those cases, a company like Google can share footage with law enforcement at its own discretion, without even notifying its users.
Dahl, who litigates about privacy and surveillance, said that practice is becoming more common, making it harder for consumers to balance the security a camera provides with constitutional protections against surveillance.
“I think the public has gotten too comfortable with surveillance cameras in not only public spaces, but also their private homes, without thinking about the consequences of where that data ends up,” Dahl said. “If a camera is absolutely necessary for your security, look into options where that data is not transmitted off to a cloud.”
Vos Iz NeiasU.S. Vice President JD Vance’s team posted and then deleted a message on social media about the Republican’s visit to a memorial paying tribute to early 20th century Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire.
The issue was the post using the term “Armenian genocide,” a designation the U.S. government historically has not used for what happened, with a notable exception by the Biden administration. The White House blamed a staff mistake.
Here are some questions and answers about what that means, what Vance himself did and didn’t say, and why it matters.
What did Vance go see in Armenia?
Vance visited a site called the Armenian Genocide Memorial, Armenia’s official national monument, remembering its citizens who died under the Ottoman Empire’s brutal control during World War I.
The initial post on Vance’s official X account stated that he was visiting the memorial “to honor the victims of the Armenian genocide.” It was replaced with a second post that showed what he wrote in the guest book as well as a clip of the vice president and Usha Vance laying flowers at the memorial.
Vance, the first U.S. vice president to visit Armenia, was in the country as part of the Trump administration’s follow-up to a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where Vance traveled later Tuesday.
Why does the word choice matter?
“Genocide” is a fraught and legally distinct term that national governments, international bodies and media organizations use carefully.
The United Nations in 1948 defined genocide “to mean certain acts, enumerated in Article II, committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” according to the U.S. State Department’s long-held understanding.
It is not questioned that many thousands of Armenian citizens, most of them Christians, died at the direction of the Committee of Union and Progress that led the Muslim government in Constantinople, now the Turkish capital of Istanbul.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that “at least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million” died.
But the U.S. government has historically not recognized what happened as a “genocide” out of fear of alienating Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces were a part of a “genocide.”
Turkey reacted with fury at the time. The foreign minister said his country “will not be given lessons on our history from anyone.”
People of Armenian descent recall the victims with memorials and an annual day of remembrance observed around the world, including in the U.S.
What did Vance himself say?
Vance was asked specifically on Tuesday about his visit to the memorial and whether he was “recognizing” genocide.
He avoided using the word and said he went to “pay my respects” at the invitation of his host, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and his government.
“They said this is a very important site for us, and obviously I’m the first (U.S.) vice president to ever visit Armenia,” Vance said. “They asked us to visit the site. Obviously, it’s a very terrible thing that happened a little over a hundred years ago and something that’s very, very important to them culturally.”
Vance added that it was “a sign of respect, both for the victims but also for the Armenian government that’s been a very important partner for us in the region.”
What did the White House say?
The White House blamed the original post on a staff member. It’s the second time in less than a week that the West Wing has blamed an unnamed aide for a controversy over a social media post. Last Friday, it was a racist video that Trump had shared on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as jungle primates.
The White House defended that post initially before deleting it after a cascade of criticism.
What happens next?
It’s not yet clear whether there will be any diplomatic consequences. Vance, for his part, seemed determined to keep the focus on the original mission of his trip.
“I think the president struck a great peace deal. I think the administration is really making it stick,” Vance said.
Still, there is the political question of whether Armenian Americans react, with the rhetorical boomerang offering one more reminder of how reluctant the U.S. has been to use the word “genocide” to describe what Armenians remember that way. ___ White House reporter Michelle Price contributed reporting from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Vos Iz NeiasBROOKLYN (VINnews) – Two weeks after a vehicle was deliberately rammed near the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the neighborhood Tuesday in a show of solidarity amid ongoing concerns about public safety and antisemitic violence.
Hochul was greeted by community leaders including Chanina Sperlin, Chabad spokesperson Yaacov Behrman, Devorah Halberstam, honorary NYPD commissioner of community safety, and Shmuly Rosenstein, acting chairman of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council.
Accompanied by senior staff, including the governor’s director of Jewish affairs, Hochul toured the WLCC broadcasting room at 770 and viewed archival footage of the Lubavitcher Rebbe meeting former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.
She also stopped at neighborhood businesses along Kingston Avenue before concluding her visit at the offices of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, where she met with staff from its weatherization and social services departments.
Honored to accompany @GovKathyHochul on her visit to Crown Heights, where she met with community members and visited the site of the ramming attack, and toured the historic Chabad Communications Room. @TheDebbieLouis @evawyner @JakeAAdler
Photo Credit: Shmouel B Dahan pic.twitter.com/qNtnZkSEN4
— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) February 10, 2026
MatzavMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that he believes the federal immigration enforcement surge in the state is nearing its conclusion and could wrap up within “days, not weeks and months,” citing recent discussions with senior officials in the Trump administration.
Speaking at a news conference, the Democratic governor said he held conversations with border czar Tom Homan on Monday and with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles early Tuesday. Homan assumed control of the federal operation in Minnesota in late January, following a second deadly shooting involving federal officers and growing political criticism over how the effort was being carried out.
“We’re very much in a trust but verify mode,” Walz said. He added that he expects additional clarification from the administration “in the next day or so” about the future of what he described as an “occupation” and a “retribution campaign” directed at Minnesota.
Walz said that while he is cautiously optimistic because “every indication I have is that this thing is winding up,” he acknowledged the situation remains fluid and could still change.
“It would be my hope that Mr. Homan goes out before Friday and announces that this thing is done, and they’re bringing her down and they’re bringing her down in days,” Walz said. “That would be my expectation.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the governor’s statements.
Walz said he has no reason to doubt Homan’s assertion last week that 700 federal officers would immediately withdraw from Minnesota, but noted that such a move would still leave roughly 2,300 federal personnel operating in the state.
At the time, Homan pointed to what he called an “increase in unprecedented collaboration” that reduced the need for a larger federal presence, including cooperation from jails holding inmates eligible for deportation.
The governor also said he expects the state to receive “cooperation on joint investigations” into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers, though he did not elaborate. State officials have said those cases have been a source of tension, arguing they have been excluded from the investigations and denied access to evidence.
Walz convened the news conference largely to highlight what he said has been the economic fallout from the enforcement surge. He spoke at The Market at Malcolm Yards, a local food hall where owner Patty Wall said the broader restaurant industry has become “collateral damage” as a result of the crackdown.
Matt Varilek, the state’s commissioner of employment and economic development, said Malcolm Yards would typically be packed but is now struggling because workers and customers are staying away out of fear tied to the enforcement activity.
“So it is great news, of course, that the posture seems to have changed at the federal level toward their activities here in Minnesota,” Varilek said.
“But, as the governor said, it’s a trust-but-verify situation. And frankly, the fear that has been sown, I haven’t really noticed any reduction in that.”
{Matzav.com}
Israeli officials are warning that Israel may insist on preserving the right to act militarily against Iran even if Washington reaches a diplomatic agreement with Tehran.
Speaking to CNN ahead of talks between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, Israeli officials said Netanyahu plans to press Trump for “freedom of action” against Iran, citing growing concerns over the country’s military capabilities.
According to the officials, Netanyahu will present new intelligence assessments focused on Iran’s efforts to rehabilitate and expand its ballistic missile program. Israeli security officials believe that without outside intervention, Iran could possess up to 2,000 missiles within weeks or months.
Netanyahu departed for Washington on Tuesday morning, marking his seventh visit to the United States since Trump’s return to office. Before leaving, he highlighted what he called the “unique closeness” between the two leaders and their governments.
“I think this reflects the exceptional relationship we have,” Netanyahu said, referring to his personal ties with Trump and the broader U.S.-Israel alliance.
He stressed that Iran would dominate the agenda, even as other regional issues remain on the table.
“We will discuss Gaza and the region,” Netanyahu said, “but first and foremost, the negotiations with Iran.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
U.S. forces at Al Udeid Air Base have moved Patriot missile systems onto mobile truck launchers as tensions with Iran have intensified, according to an analysis of satellite imagery.
The move, which places the missiles on heavy military trucks rather than fixed or semi-static platforms, allows the systems to be repositioned quickly for either offensive or defensive operations. Analysts say the shift reflects growing concern over regional instability and the risk of a potential confrontation with Iran.
Satellite photographs from early February, compared with images taken in January, show an increase in aircraft and military equipment across the region, said William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground.
At Al Udeid, located in Qatar and considered the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, Patriot missile systems were seen mounted on M983 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks at the start of February, Goodhind said.
“The decision to do so gives the Patriots much greater mobility, meaning they can be moved to an alternative site or repositioned with greater speed,” he said.
Defense analysts say keeping the missiles on mobile platforms allows U.S. forces to respond more rapidly to emerging threats or to disperse assets in the event of an Iranian attack, reducing their vulnerability.
The satellite analysis also indicates a broader military buildup since January, including additional aircraft and support equipment, suggesting heightened readiness across multiple U.S. installations in the region.
It remains unclear whether the Patriot systems are still mounted on the mobile launchers, as more recent imagery has not yet confirmed their current status.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The Yeshiva World
