Jooish News

In a sign of fraying tensions amid nearly a year of hostilities on Israel’s northern border, most northern regional council leaders did not attend a Monday security briefing Monday by the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command.

Out of 89 city, municipal and regional council leaders, only six attended the briefing: Metula Council head David Azulay, and the leaders of Kfar Vradim, Ma’alot, Yesod HaMa’ala, Metula, Katzrin and the Golan Heights. Of these, Azoulay was the sole representative from one of the many northern communities to have been evacuated due to Hezbollah’s ongoing attacks.

At the briefing, which took place in Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin’s office at Northern Command in Tzfas, Gordin updated the municipal leaders on Israel’s preemptive strike against Hezbollah the day before.

“The IDF is engaged in a campaign aimed at changing the security reality on the border, so that northern residents can return to their homes and maintain their routines, with security and a sense of security,” said Gordin, according to Ynet.

However, many of the council heads aren’t convinced.

“I received a warning a little before the [Israeli Air Force] strikes started, and I said to myself, it took 11 months but it’s finally happening—at the end of this event, the security situation will be far better than it is today,” Upper Galil Regional Council Head Giora Zaltz told JNS.

“We activated all the officials on the council, and we told them it would take a few days of fighting but the situation would change,” he continued. “In the end, it was a significant and important military operation, but even if the data provided about the elimination of 6,000 missiles is correct—this is less than 3% of what [Hezbollah] had at the beginning of the war,” he siad. “So it has no real meaning in terms of the long-term impact. We essentially woke up to the same place that we were the day before.”

Asher Regional Council Head Moshe Davidovich announced he would no longer take part in any such meetings with Gordin.

Such meetings, he said, “are essentially intended to praise and glorify the IDF’s activities in Lebanon, and I, as a citizen and as a municipal leader, when I saw what was happening, I decided that I don’t want to participate in this celebration.” Davidovich reportedly left a WhatsApp group for northern municipal leaders and senior IDF officials, saying, “I don’t have time for another @#!% group.”

Other leaders, however, were more reserved in their criticism. Shlomi Council Head Gabi Naaman, who did not attend the meeting, explained that he had apologized in advance that he would not be able to participate. Regarding Davidovich’s comments, Naaman said, “He doesn’t represent us.”

“When the general asks, we drop everything and go,” said Naaman, though he added that he, too, has criticisms of the way the government and military have conducted the war.

Many of the leaders feel overlooked, and have complained that the IDF steps in to respond when rockets are aimed at the center of the country, but has done little to nothing to prevent rockets from being fired daily at the north of Israel.

“My position is that there cannot be any difference between the Golan or Metula and Tel Aviv,” Golan Regional Council head Ori Kalner told JNS. “When Hezbollah is attacking Metula and the Golan, one should act as if a missile had fallen on Tel Aviv. There is no doubt that in recent months Israel has been saying we are ready to absorb some of the [attacks from Lebanon]. And I say—we are not ready to accept it. Israel must attack.”

Monday wasn’t the first time Gordin has clashed with municipal leaders. Ynet reported in June that in a similar meeting, Gordin clashed with Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern, who stormed out. Since then, Stern has not attended any meetings with the general, although the two have seemingly reconciled through the mediation of Interior Minister Moshe Arbel.

“The Northern Command sees great importance in the connection with the heads of the authorities and sees them as an integral part of managing the war,” according to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson following Monday’s meeting. “The Northern Command maintains constant contact and frequent situation assessments together with the local authorities to enable functional continuity according to the updated situation assessment,” the statement continued.

(JNS)

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BROWSE HERE TO EXPLORE.

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — The Treasury Department has issued regulations aimed at making it harder for criminals to launder money by paying cash for residential real estate.

Under rules finalized Wednesday, investment advisers and real estate professionals will be required to report cash sales of residential real estate sold to legal entities, trusts and shell companies. The requirements won’t apply to sales to individuals or purchases involving mortgages or other financing.

The new rules come as part of a Biden administration effort to combat money laundering and the movement of dirty money through the American financial system. All-cash purchases of residential real estate are considered a high risk for money laundering.

Money laundering in residential real estate can also drive up housing costs – and rising home prices are one of the big economic issues i n this year’s presidential campaign. A 2019 study on the impact of money laundering on home values in Canada, conducted by a group of Canadian academics, found that money laundering investment in real estate pushed up housing prices in the range of 3.7% to 7.5%.

Under the new rules, the professionals involved in the sale will be required to report the names of the sellers and individuals benefitting from the transaction. They will also have to include details of the property being sold and payments involved, among other information.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a news release that the new rules address some of the nation’s biggest regulatory deficiencies.

“These steps will make it harder for criminals to exploit our strong residential real estate and investment adviser sectors,” she said.

Ian Gary, executive director of the FACT Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes corporate transparency, called the rules “much-needed safeguards” in the fight against dirty money in the U.S.

“After years of advocacy by lawmakers, anti-money laundering experts and civil society, the era of unmitigated financial secrecy and impunity for financial criminals in the U.S. seems to finally be over,” Gary said.

The Biden administration has made increasing corporate transparency part of its overall agenda, including through creating a requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government as part of an effort to prevent the criminal abuse of anonymous shell companies.

However, an Alabama federal district judge ruled in March that the Treasury Department cannot require small business owners to report details on their owners and others who benefit from the business.

(VINnews) — Jewish activists are outraged, after the disgraced former president of University of Pennsylvania, has been hired by Harvard University. Liz Magill will join Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession this fall after resigning from UPenn following a congressional hearing in which she defended a culture of antisemitic harassment, and refused to punish or even identify blatant Jew hatred.

In response to the hiring, orthodox Jewish activist Shabbos Kestenbaum posted the following on X:

“BREAKING: Liz Magill, the former disgraced UPenn President, who couldn’t condemn the calls of genocide against Jews, has just been hired by Harvard. This is a slap in the face to Jewish students. She will join her friend Claudine Gay as two equally incompetent “scholars.””

BREAKING: Liz Magill, the former disgraced UPenn President, who couldn’t condemn the calls of genocide against Jews, has just been hired by Harvard. This is a slap in the face to Jewish students. She will join her friend Claudine Gay as two equally incompetent “scholars.” pic.twitter.com/lbGWkdBvyi

— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) August 28, 2024

By bringing in Magill, Harvard will now have a faculty member who oversaw a steep increase in harassment against Jewish students at UPenn. Magill joins disgraced former Harvard president Claudine Gay on the faculty, who resigned after her testimony in Congress.

Prior to October 7, the school hosted and sponsored a “Palestine Writes Literature Festival” that promoted conspiracy theories about Jews. Before the conference, a swastika was discovered spray-painted on a wall and a man vandalized the campus Hillel building while shouting profanities.

Shabbos Kestenbaum is a Harvard graduate who has filed a lawsuit against the university over its antisemitism. He spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Kestenbaum voted for Bernie Sanders last election, however he said that his views have changed, largely because of what his classmates were doing while Jews were being slaughtered.

LISTEN TO THE VIN PODCAST:

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday called for “the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required,” after the IDF overnight Tuesday launched a large-scale anti-terror operation in Yehuda and Shomron.

“This is a war in every respect and we must win it,” Katz tweeted.

“The IDF is working intensively starting tonight in the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps to thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures that have been established there,” he said.

Iran is working “to establish an eastern terrorist front” in Yehuda and Shomron, said Katz, following its proxy model in Lebanon with Hezbollah and the Gaza Strip with Hamas, by “financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan.”

He continued: “We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported at least 11 deaths so far in the IDF operation—six in Jenin and five in Tubas, a city northeast of Shechem.

The IDF operation was launched following an uptick in terrorist incidents in the region, including the murder of a Jewish guard 10 days ago.

Jewish residents of Yehuda and Shomron have been calling for the army to take action, warning that an Oct. 7-like attack into Israel’s central region is only a matter of time if the problem is allowed to fester.

Yisrael Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, commenting on the IDF operation, said on Wednesday: “If we don’t do to Nur Shams what we did to Nuseirat [in Gaza], then God forbid, they’ll do to Bat Hefer [a village in central Israel] what they did to Be’eri [a kibbutz on the Gaza border decimated on Oct. 7].

“The time has come for us to face reality: Next to the beds of our children in Yehuda and Shomron, in Bat Hefer and Kfar Saba, lives a population that wants to kill Jews.”

(JNS)

DNIPRO, Ukraine (JTA) – It is a sultry Sunday evening in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, and a dozen men are preparing for the evening prayer at the Golden Rose Synagogue of the Menorah Center.

In another space of what’s often deemed the largest Jewish communal structure in the world, a group of boys and girls in their early teens sing Eyal Golan’s “Am Israel Chai” at the top of their voices, filling the room with joyous excitement.

Sitting with other adults nearby, at a table piled high with kosher Israeli food, is Rabbi Mayer Stambler, whose daughter’s bat mitzvah is being celebrated.

The placid and festive scene takes place less than 125 miles away from the front line, not far away from the raging hostilities and amid a backdrop of constant air alerts and daily blackouts caused by repeated Russian attacks on the city’s power infrastructure. But that has been par for the course for the Jews of Dnipro, the historic center of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, since Ukraine’s war against Russia began two and a half years ago.

Unlike some areas of Ukraine that have remained insulated from Russian bombing, Dnipro has been relatively vulnerable throughout the war. Yet operations at the Menorah Center have continued unabated, allowing local Jews to live a full Jewish life in the city even during the hardest and most hopeless periods of the war and serving as a bulwark against alienation for thousands of Jews who have been displaced from towns and cities further east and south.

“We have a lot of challenges and the financial situation is getting more and more difficult, but thank God we still have everything we need here,” Stambler, a Brooklyn-born Chabad rabbi who is the head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Despite mass emigration and losing many of the sources of income that allowed it to be fully self-sufficient before the conflict, the Jewish community of Dnipro keeps running its own educational institutions, clinics, museum, conference hall, restaurant, shops, synagogue, mikvah and a school for ritual scribes.

Apart from spiritual solace and massive and sustained humanitarian campaigns, the community helps many of its members by offering them employment. One of its largest endeavors is Tiferet Matzot, the only Ukrainian factory that produces handmade matzah. It employs more than 70 people and exports unleavened bread to several countries.

Situated in an out-of-town industrial area that endured a Russian drone attack days before Passover last year, Tiferet Matzot keeps working despite the war and recently increased its its payroll, according to its director, Daniel Ovcharenko. The factory produces around 100 tons of matzah each year and caters to Ukrainian Jewish communities and around the world. The exports are now entirely made by road after Russia’s invasion severely hindered navigation through the Black Sea, Ovcharenko said.

Since March, Russia has launched eight major volleys of missiles and Iranian kamikaze drones targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Some of Ukraine’s largest power plants have been severely damaged or totally destroyed, including Dnipro’s thermal plant that is visible from the top of the seven towers that form the Menorah Center.

Ukraine has lost a substantial part of its generation capacity in these attacks. In order to make up for the resulting deficit, authorities have been imposing up to half-day long blackouts throughout the country. But the Jewish community’s buildings in Dnipro stay lit without interruption thanks to a vast network of fuel-run generators donated by the Jewish community of Boston and other partners.

“Every community building, from the kindergarten to the clinics, the Menorah Center and the old age home, are energy-independent,” said the director of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Alina Teplitskaya.

Teplitskaya also notes that this body run by Chabad — which has its headquarters in Dnipro and has affiliated communities in every region of Ukraine — has acquired Starlink satellite technology to make sure its educational institutions have access to the internet at all times.

Yet some low-tech needs are harder to meet. One of the most challenging tasks for the community is ensuring that ritual circumcision can be performed on newborn boys. Prior to the war, the mohel in charge of the whole of Ukraine used to live in Dnipro.

“He traveled everywhere, he made over 10,000 circumcisions since the 1990s,” says Stambler. But with the start of the hostilities, the mohel and his family moved to Vienna, from which he periodically goes back to Ukraine to perform his services.

A similar situation has occurred with ritual slaughter required to produce kosher meat. Up to three kosher slaughterers, known as schochets, were based in Dnipro in the pre-conflict era. One of them has taken refuge in Vienna, while another crossed the Atlantic Ocean to establish himself in Argentina.

Due to the threat of Russian missiles and drones, all commercial flights have been canceled in Ukraine. Every journey inside or out of the country must be made by train or by road, making each trip time-consuming and costly.

Another challenge for communal life is increasingly stringent rules meant to draft and train soldiers for Ukraine’s deplenished military. Jews across Ukraine have enlisted in the army to defend their country, and Jewish communities have been supporting them. But as the war grinds on, and Ukraine has begun waging a counteroffensive inside Russian territory, Ukraine is experiencing shortages of willing and able soldiers and now dispatches military patrols to ensure that all adult men are registered for service. Many men between 25 and 60 of all backgrounds have begun limiting non-essential outings to minimize the risk of bumping into the recruiters — including within Jewish communities. May worry they will be sent to the bloody front with inadequate training or will be rounded up despite legal exemptions.

“We are obviously part of Ukrainian society and are affected in no different way than other Ukrainians,” said a Jewish Dnipro resident who requested anonymity to discuss an issue seen as sensitive by many in Ukraine.

As they choose to stay at home most of the time, many Jews of military age who are not prepared to join the army attend synagogue and community activities less frequently, according to the resident.

The departure of some local mainstays and growing anxiety about participating in communal life for some brings painful echoes of another time in Ukrainian Jewish history when it was difficult to carry out essential ritual acts. Under communism, Jews in the Soviet Union were barred from practicing their religion — and the situation in Dnipro was even more intense than in other cities and towns where some Jewish influences made their way in.

That’s because Dnipro was home to several highly strategic industrial sites, including the factory where intercontinental ballistic missiles were produced. To keep away potential spies, Soviet authorities declared Dnipro a “closed city,” banning any foreigners from visiting it. This reduced to almost zero the chances that a Jew from Dnipro encountered a fellow American or Israeli Jew who could enlighten him or her about the religion they were barred from practicing.

“I grew up in ignorance,” Zelig Brez, the Dnipro Jewish community’s executive director, recently recalled over a meal at the kosher restaurant of the Menorah Center.

“The only Jewish thing we did was eating matzah for Passover because my grandparents brought it, but they couldn’t explain what matzah symbolizes, they didn’t know who Moses was, about the Exodus from Egypt, about slavery,” he recalled.

Brez said he became aware of his Jewish identity only through the “severe form of antisemitism” at school, where he was the only Jew in his class and a constant target of peers and teachers alike.

“I was once stabbed with a knife by a classmate, and sometimes teachers could downgrade and humiliate you,” he said. “I grew up with an inferiority complex, I knew I was Jewish from basically hatred.”

Brez remembers feeling a moment of pride as child when he saw how many scientists and artists featured in Soviet magazines had Jewish names and looked like his family and himself. But he did not connect with Judaism until 1991, when as a first-year university student in the newly independent Ukraine he was invited for Shabbat dinner by a young Chabad emissary who had just arrived in the city where the movement’s then-rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, lived as a child.

“I started crying,” says Brez, who would over time become observant, about his reaction upon seeing a kiddush for the first time. “I had the feeling that this was the heritage of my grandparents that the Soviet Union took away from me.”

That emissary was Shmuel Kaminetsky, now the chief rabbi of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk region. Like other Chabad rabbis, he has remained in Ukraine throughout the war, even in the scary early days when the overwhelming majority of expats and foreign diplomats exited.

In a region with a rich and recent history of political cataclysms, Jews can sometimes be seen as a barometer of danger, Brez said. He recalled an incident more than a decade ago, even before Russian-sponsored separatists started a war in the east of Ukraine, when the sight of a large group of bearded Jewish men wearing tzitzit boarding a train at the Dnipro railway station caused a “big panic” in town. “We had just rented a train for people to go to a family Jewish retreat in the Black Sea, but people thought that the Jews were leaving,” Brez said, laughing.

After the Russians invaded, non-Jewish neighbors and friends constantly asked Brez whether “the rabbi” was still “in town,” he recalled.

“Rabbi Kaminetsky did not leave the city for a single day,” said Brez. “The fact that he is here has provided tremendous determination and confidence and lowered the level of anxiety.”

By Idy Perl

A report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P.DiNapoli found that hate crimes in New York have seen a surge over the lastfive years, a fact that surprises no one.

In 2023 a total of 1,089 hate crimes were reported, a 65%increase from 2019, and the highest recorded number since data collectionbecame mandatory in New York in 2000. Of the 1,089 incidents, 543 weremotivated by religious bias. Additionally, 44% of all hate crimes and 88% ofreligious based hate crimes were against Jews, making up the largest percent inboth categories.   

“New York is a diverse hub of cultures, beliefs andidentities, whose strength has always been in the creation of community bondsthat unite us,” DiNapoli said. “Fighting hatred and bigotry demands that wecommunicate with, respect and accept our neighbors. It requires our spiritual,political, community and business leaders to take active roles in denouncinghate, investing in prevention and protection efforts, and increasing educationthat celebrates the value of New York’s diversity.”

(JNS) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held a conference call with the academic leaders of more than 200 colleges throughout the state on Monday about new measures to contain intimidation and crime at anti-Israel protests on university campuses. Public safety experts also participated.

Hochul named public safety her “top priority” and said with classes resuming this fall, “it is essential that all students feel safe and are free from harm.”

The governor stated that in the spring, she ”directed college campuses to review and update their emergency response plans, and as tensions may be high as we start the academic year, I will continue to ensure all campus leaders and public safety officials have the resources they need to keep students safe.”

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has reviewed campus emergency plans and provided training sessions for staff based on the guidance from the Campus Planning Toolkit issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

The New York State Police has also prepared for activists opposing the Jewish state with troop commanders visiting university administrators to advise on various issues, including the necessary forms to request assistance from local law enforcement.

John B. King Jr., chancellor of the State University of New York system, called safety “paramount.” These academic institutions, he said, “have been and remain fiercely committed to ensuring security, civil discourse and inclusivity on our campuses.”

Looking around at the vibrant community Lakewood has become, it’s remarkable to remember that it all began with Rav Aharon Kotler, zt”l, and a small group of his talmidim.

Every significant movement in Klal Yisroel started with an individual who had an idea and DID something to bring it to life. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of those who committed to building their community, Lakewood has grown into one of the world’s prominent Torah communities.

It’s inspiring to reflect on the potential that each yochid possesses. We all have the ability—and responsibility—to contribute meaningfully to Klal Yisroel. And while individual efforts are essential, they are often supported by an engaged tzibbur that helps turn those ideas into reality. When we come together as a tzibbur—yechidim joining to form the unique kehilla of Klal Yisroel—the possibilities are vast.

Since its inception, Agudah has been a committed advocate for our community, working in the halls of government, protecting our religious freedoms, representing our people in the courts, and providing a range of constituent services. 

Let’s continue this important work on behalf of Klal Yisroel.

With your participation, we will, b’ezras Hashem, exchange ideas, brainstorm solutions to the challenges facing our community, and launch initiatives that will enhance our families’ lives. 

Because that’s what we do. 

Doing for the Klal, day in and day out. This is who we are. This is what we do. 

Do your part—please support us at charidy.com/wedo. 

Rabbi Shlomo Schorr
Director of Legislative Affairs

Rabbi Shimon Yehudah Mandel
Director of New Jersey Development

Quote:
“Our success is a shared success… Working together allows us to achieve many more accomplishments, b’ezras Hashem.”

Dear Matzav Inbox,

As summer draws to a close and the new school year approaches, there is a familiar dread that creeps into the hearts of many parents—the overwhelming burden of purchasing school supplies. What should be a simple task has turned into a financial nightmare, one that seems to grow more burdensome every year.

I recently found myself in the middle of a crowded store, clutching a list that stretched longer than my arm, wondering why on earth my child needed five different colored binders, four sets of markers, three packs of highlighters, and a partridge in a pear tree! The list went on and on: specialty graph paper, obscure workbooks, glue sticks in bulk as if we were opening our own arts and crafts store, and myriad other items that left me shaking my head in disbelief.

And what’s more infuriating? Half of these supplies don’t even end up being used! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened my child’s backpack at the end of the year to find pristine, untouched notebooks, or that extra pack of markers that somehow managed to make it through the year without a single cap being removed. I’m left with piles of unused materials that I was pressured into buying because, heaven forbid, my child shows up without them on the first day of school.

Then, there are the books. Every year, we’re handed a list of textbooks to purchase, often brand new editions because the one we bought last year has magically become obsolete. Why? Did math change overnight? Did history rewrite itself? But we comply, forking over hundreds of dollars for books that are often only skimmed through, or worse, barely touched at all. I’ve seen my child struggle through massive textbooks only to find that the teacher relied mostly on photocopied handouts. Those glossy, expensive pages? They might as well be paperweights.

I remember one year, being asked to provide a specific brand of colored pencils because they were supposedly better for “learning outcomes.” I’m no educator, but I fail to see how the brand of colored pencils could possibly influence my child’s ability to succeed in school.

We are already stretched thin by tuition and the other expenses that come with raising children. The additional burden of overpriced, unnecessary school supplies is not just frustrating—it’s outrageous. Schools need to seriously reevaluate their supply lists and consider the financial strain they are putting on parents. We want to support our children’s chinuch, but there is a limit to how much we can be expected to spend on items that will gather dust in a drawer.

It’s time for a change. Let’s cut the unnecessary fluff, focus on what’s truly needed, and maybe, just maybe, let parents breathe a little easier at the start of the school year.

Sincerely,
A Parent in the School Supplies Aisle

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By Idy Perl

As more and more NYC drivers switch to electric vehicles, the city is proving their commitment to accommodate EVs by expanding access to public EV fast charging stations. 

NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced that new fast charging stations will be getting built in DOT parking fields in the Bronx and Brooklyn. 

The Brooklyn location will be at the Bensonhurst Municipal Field, 1763 86th Street. Construction is slated to start in September and is scheduled to be completed by January 2025.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) today announced that a campaign manager from Hunterdon County pleaded guilty to attempting to fraudulently get a candidate on the Democratic primary ballot in the New Jersey governor’s race in 2021.

James J. Devine, 62, of Lambertville, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to an offense concerning nomination certificates or petitions (3rd degree) during a hearing on August 26, 2024 before Judge Robert E. Lytle, presiding in New Jersey Superior Court in Mercer County.

Under the terms of a plea agreement with OPIA that is subject to court approval, the prosecution will recommend that the court require Devine to serve two years of probation. Sentencing is scheduled for October 18, 2024.

“For the public to have faith in our elections, it’s critical for law enforcement to ensure that efforts to tamper with them are investigated and prosecuted,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This defendant’s plea is a testament to my office’s commitment to fair elections and to holding bad actors accountable when they attempt to taint our democratic system.”

“The defendant in this case has now admitted to fraudulently trying to get a candidate on the primary ballot for governor,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “Anyone who might try to cheat our democratic system should know: we will hold you accountable.”

Following an OPIA investigation, a state grand jury in Trenton returned an indictment on March 12, 2024 charging Devine with various offenses in relation to an April 2021 attempt to get a candidate on the ballot in the Democratic primary for governor in the June 8, 2021 primary.

According to publicly filed documents and statements in open court, the investigation revealed that Devine submitted approximately 1,948 fraudulent nominating petitions to the New Jersey Department of State’s Division of Elections, in an attempt to enable his candidate to compete in the primary.

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee formally challenged Devine’s effort on April 9, 2021, laying out various issues with the petitions he had provided, with the committee alleging there were questions about those petitions’ authenticity.

Citing the irregularities, Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey N. Rabin sided with the committee and struck the candidate from the ballot on April 13, 2021.

Individuals whose names appeared on the petitions submitted by Devine provided information that they did not submit a petition, or authorize one, in support of the candidate’s nomination. The investigation revealed Devine had uploaded false voter information onto petition forms and submitted them to the Division of Elections on behalf of the campaign without those voters’ approval.

In pleading guilty, the defendant acknowledged that he knew the petitions were falsely made when he filed them.

The Israel Defense Forces recovered the body of a soldier in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday who was killed fighting Hamas operatives during the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, the military announced.

The soldier’s family has been notified and, at their request, his name is not yet being made public.

“The entire nation mourns the terrible loss … and I send our condolences from the bottom of our hearts to his family,” Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said on Wednesday night.

“I would like to thank the brave fighters and commanders of the IDF and Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] for their important action. The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all our abductees, both alive and dead,” he added.

A total of 107 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

“I commend the IDF and ISA forces who conducted a bold operation to retrieve the body of a fallen soldier from Gaza, and brought him home for burial in Israel,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday night. “This operation reflects our commitment to bringing all the hostages home.”

On Tuesday, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev Desert, was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza in a “complex operation.”

Alkadi, the father of 11 children, was released from Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon. He was held in captivity for 326 days after being abducted by Hamas from Mivtachim on Oct. 7.

Last week, the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7 from a tunnel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

In an operation involving the IDF and ISA, the bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

WASHINGTON (AP) — Super Micro Computer lost a quarter of its value in morning trading Wednesday after the server technology company said it was delaying the filing of its annual report.

The company said in a regulatory filing that “additional time is needed for management to complete its assessment of the design and operating effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting as of June 30, 2024,” which was the end of the company’s fiscal year.

Super Micro Computer’s announcement comes one day after short-selling firm Hindenburg Research said a three-month review turned up new evidence of accounting manipulation by the San Jose, California-based company. Hindenburg said it has taken a short position in the stock, meaning it’s betting the price will drop.

The company’s shares slid 25.2% in midday trading to $409.48. They hit an all-time high of $1,229 each on March 8 of this year.

Hindenburg accused Super Micro of rehiring top executives that were directly involved in an accounting scandal that resulted in the company being temporarily delisted by Nasdaq in 2018 for failing to file financial statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 charged Super Micro with improper accounting for “prematurely recognizing revenue and understating expenses” beginning at least as early as fiscal 2015 to 2017. The company paid a $17.5 million civil penalty.

Super Micro has been among the technology companies recently riding a wave of enthusiasm over products and services related to artificial intelligence.

Super Micro’s shares more than quadrupled in less than three months to start the year as it reported booming revenue. Earlier this month, Super Micro reported fourth-quarter revenue of $5.3 billion, a more than 143% increase over the $2.2 billion it reported in the same quarter of 2023.

Hindenburg said its investigation included interviews with former senior employees and industry experts and a review of records that “found glaring accounting red flags, evidence of undisclosed related party transactions, sanctions and export control failures, and customer issues.”

When asked for comment on the Hindenburg report, the company said in an email that it “does not comment on rumors and speculation.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden, repeatedly looked up information about explosives and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a “target of opportunity,” a senior FBI official said Wednesday.

Investigators who have conducted nearly 1,000 interviews do not have a motive for why 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump during a July 13 campaign rally but they believe that he conducted “extensive attack planning,” including looking up campaign events involving both the current president and former president, particularly in western Pennsylvania.

The FBI analysis of his online search history reveals a “sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters Wednesday.

Once a Trump rally was announced for July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, “He became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said. Crooks’ internet searches in the days leading up to the rally included queries about the grounds where the rally was held, “Where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show?” “Butler Farm Show podium and ”Butler Farm Show photos.”

The new details add to an emerging portrait of Crooks as a man who investigators say had taken an eerie interest in explosives, major events and prominent political figures, but whose internet searches across major parties have frustrated efforts to assign a simple motive.

“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.

The FBI has confirmed that Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet during the attack. Crooks, who was positioned on the roof of a nearby building, fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.

“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.

ISRAEL (VINnews) — Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, the Bedouin Israeli Muslim hostage rescued from a Hamas tunnel, thanked Benjamin Netanyahu for the “sacred” work the IDF had done. al-Qadi also said that “there are other people waiting”, apparently referring to other hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas.

The Government Press Office published a transcript of their conversation, while al-Qadi was in Soroka Hospital.

Prime Minister Netanyahu: “Farhan, hello to you my friend. Welcome back!”

Farhan al-Qadi: “Hello; welcome. Hello Bibi, Abu [father of] Yair!”

Netanyahu: “Farhan, I am so happy to speak with you.”

Qadi: “I am also happy. I have been waiting for this moment. I swear to you, Abu Yair.”

Netanyahu: “Tell me, have you already met with your family?”

Qadi: “Yes, two of my children are here.”

Netanyahu: “I want you to know that we are truly moved from the depth of our hearts, for both you and your family.”

Qadi: “I thank you for this work, that you have reached a situation in which I see my family and am here. You truly did sacred work. There are other people who are waiting.”

Netanyahu: “I want you to know that are not forgetting anyone, just like we did not forget you. We are committed to returning everyone, without exception.”

Qadi: “I thank you very much. I invite you, Abu Yair.”

Netanyahu: “Thank you. I would like you to embrace your family and I want you to know that the entire people of Israel embraces you, and the others. We will bring them.”

Qadi: “Thank you. May it be G-d’s will. Thank you very much.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett’s company has unloaded more of its Bank of America stake, selling nearly 25 million shares worth almost $1 billion over the past week.

Berkshire Hathaway has steadily sold off 116 million Bank of America shares since July. But it still controls nearly 12% of the stock in the bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

After the sale was disclosed, Berkshire’s Class A stock — already the most expensive stock on Wall Street — gained $7,184.62 Wednesday to sell for $698,534.62.

That elevated the conglomerate based in Omaha, Nebraska, into the club of companies valued by the stock market at over $1 trillion. But that’s still well shy of market behemoths Nvidia and Microsoft, now valued at over $3 trillion.

The Bank of American stake remains one of Berkshire’s biggest investments, behind only its large Apple stake and its longtime American Express investment.

Buffett raised eyebrows earlier this month when he revealed he had halved the Apple investment and in the process built up a record $277 billion cash pile as of June 30. Berkshire’s cash has only grown since then with the Bank of America stock sales and all the earnings from the assortment of dozens of companies it owns, including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, a collection of utilities and a bunch of retail and manufacturing businesses.

Buffett watchers say Berkshire’s recent stock sales are likely a sign that the revered investor thinks the stock market is overpriced and they suggest he may be trying to set himself up to take advantage of a downturn.

Buffett never discusses why he is buying and selling certain stocks while he is doing it, and he hasn’t offered any explanation for the Bank of America sales. He prefers to keep his moves close to his vest so other investors can’t copy him, but the Securities and Exchange Commission requires him to file updates on Berkshire’s Bank of America holdings because it owns more than 10% of the bank.

Buffett started selling off Berkshire’s Bank of America shares after it peaked with a new 52-week high of $44.44 back in July. The latest sales were all made at average prices just under $40 a share.

The stock was up slightly Wednesday at $39.80.

By Idy Perl

Thanks to an initiative spearheaded by Senator Simcha Felder, the MetroBus will be back in Brooklyn tomorrow!

The Metrobus will be parked on 13th Ave, between 51st and 52nd St, from 10AM-2PM. The bus staff can assist locals with any questions regarding MetroCard services, including: 

• Purchasing or adding funds to MetroCards
• One-stop application for a Senior MetroCard
• Exchange a damaged Senior MetroCard
• Transfer funds from a damaged MetroCard
• Report a MetroCard that was lost or stolen

No appointments are necessary; residents are welcome to walk up to the bus to receive assistance. 

For more information or to find out about upcoming events, please call Senator Felder's office at 718-253-2015.

President Joe Biden approved the plan for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza via a floating military pier despite warnings from within the U.S. government that rough waves could pose significant challenges and objections from officials who feared the operation would detract from a diplomatic push to compel Israel to open additional land routes into the war zone, according to an inspector general report published Tuesday.

The watchdog for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which oversees Washington’s humanitarian work abroad, cited various “external factors” that it said impaired the agency’s effort to distribute food and other supplies brought to Gaza over the pier. Among them, according to the report, were the security requirements imposed by the Pentagon to protect U.S. military personnel working aboard the structure just offshore.

“Multiple USAID staff expressed concerns” that the Biden administration’s focus on the pier undercut the agency’s advocacy for opening more land crossings – an approach, the report said, deemed “more efficient and proven.”

“Once the President issued the directive,” the report states, “the Agency’s focus was to use [the pier] as effectively as possible.”

The pier was attached to Gaza’s coastline in May amid rising concerns of famine that prompted the Pentagon to begin airdropping food into Gaza. But from the start, the mission was dogged by logistical and security setbacks, including rough seas that broke apart the structure, looting of aid trucks on land and a persistent logjam moving food from a staging area ashore. The operation was halted for good last month.

The report is likely to embolden Biden’s critics who have questioned why he put U.S. troops in harm’s way for a mission that could have been avoided if he had successfully persuaded Israeli officials to curtail their blockade on Gaza established in October after Hamas led the cross-border massacre that triggered the war.

A National Security Council spokesman, Sean Savett, said in a statement after the report’s publication that the pier was “part of a comprehensive U.S.-led response to the dire humanitarian situation in northern Gaza,” one that also included food deliveries made through border crossings and via airdrop.

“From the beginning, we said this would not be easy,” Savett said. “We were honest and transparent about the challenges. But the bottom line is that … the United States has left no stone unturned in our efforts to get more aid in, and the pier played a key role at a critical time in advancing that goal.”

Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the Pentagon is aware of the new report. The pier, she said, “achieved its goal of providing an additive means of delivering high volumes of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.” USAID, the Defense Department and Israeli officials collaborated closely on the mission, she said, including about where along the Gazan coastline to attach the pier.

A senior administration official said there was “consistent interagency coordination and communication about the pier” as plans took shape and that internal concerns were taken into account. Like some others interviewed for this story, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

A USAID official said planning for the operation was a multiagency effort that included extensive discussions with the United Nations and humanitarian partners about how to reach the areas of greatest need. USAID staff advocated early in the planning process for additional personnel dedicated solely to the pier, to allow the agency to juggle issues about the land crossing and pier simultaneously, the officials said.

Critics have cast the pier project as a national embarrassment. “The only miracle is that this doomed-from-the-start operation did not cost any American lives,” Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said earlier this summer as the mission faced one setback after another.

Within the U.S. government, discussions about employing the floating pier began before Biden announced during his State of the Union address in March that he was establishing a “maritime corridor” to assist starving Palestinians. While USAID officials initially observed that the pier system “was not an option USAID would typically recommend in humanitarian response operations,” they began looking for ways to use it “in a way that would maintain a separation between the military and humanitarian actors” inside Gaza, the report said.

Acting at Biden’s direction, USAID requested Defense Department support for a 90-day operation that cost roughly $230 million, the report said. The pier, ferried to the eastern Mediterranean Sea by U.S. Army vessels, was first attached to the Gaza coast May 16, but within days it broke apart in rough waves, causing about $22 million in damage and knocking it offline. U.S. troops repaired and reattached the pier days later but faced continued unpredictability about when weather would allow for aid deliveries.

“From the start, rough weather posed a major challenge,” the report said.

Defense Department guidelines for the sea-based pier make clear its usage is weather-dependent and that it cannot operate when waves are taller than two feet, but the Mediterranean often has “significant winds and waves” that exceed that, the report said. This factor surfaced during a planning meeting by a Defense Department official with expertise working on the system, the inspector general found.

“Ultimately,” the report said, “the pier operated for about 20 days and was decommissioned on July 17.”

The deployment also generated concerns that U.S. personnel, working from a fixed site in an active war zone, could be targeted by militants. Defense officials, consulting with USAID and Israeli counterparts, decided they could best protect the site if it was attached in central Gaza, but that conflicted with a “prerequisite” from the United Nations’ World Food Program to have it located in northern Gaza, where the need was greatest, the report said.

The World Food Program also sought independent security due to concerns about remaining neutral in the conflict, but no solution was ever found, the report said. Instead, Israeli forces protected the beachhead facility where food was brought ashore.

The watchdog found that despite USAID’s role as the U.S. government lead on humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the agency had “limited control” over the decision to use the pier, where it would be located and who would provide security. The agency, the report said, should look for lessons it can draw from the experience.

– – –

(c) Washington Post

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two men from Europe are charged in a plot to call in bogus reports of police emergencies to harass and threaten members of Congress, senior U.S. government officials and dozens of other people, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

Thomasz Szabo, 26, of Romania, and Nemanja Radovanovic, 21, of Serbia, targeted at least 100 people with “swatting” calls to instigate an aggressive response by police officers at the victims’ homes, the federal indictment alleges.

The calls also included threats to carry out mass shootings at New York City synagogues and to set off explosives at the U.S. Capitol and a university, the indictment said. A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., handed up the indictment last Thursday.

Online court records in Washington didn’t say if Szabo or Radovanovic have been arrested or if they are represented by attorneys. A court filing accompanying their indictment said investigators believed they were in separate foreign countries last week. A spokesperson for Graves’ office declined to elaborate.

Szabo and Radovanovic are both charged with conspiracy and more than two dozen counts of making threats. The plot spanned more than three years, from December 2020 through January 2024, according to prosecutors.

“Swatting is not a victimless prank — it endangers real people, wastes precious police resources, and inflicts significant emotional trauma,” Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement.

Szabo organized and moderated chat groups to coordinate swatting attacks against 40 private citizens and 61 officials, including cabinet-level members of the federal government’s executive branch, the head of a federal law enforcement agency, a federal judge, current and former governors and other state officials, the indictment said.

In December 2023 and January 2024, Radovanovic allegedly called government agencies to falsely report killings and imminent suicides or kidnappings at the homes of U.S. senators, House members and elected state officials, according to the indictment. One of the calls led to a car crash involving injuries, the indictment alleges.

GEORGIA (JNS) – A Republican state party official in Georgia appeared to agree with the host of a white nationalist TV show who said Jews run the government, responding, “They’re controlling everything.”

Kandiss Taylor, who chairs the Republican Party in her southeast Georgia congressional district, appeared on a mid-February episode of “The Stew Peters Show,” whose namesake host lives in Florida and has a history of promoting antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial. Peters and Taylor discussed the arrest of a man accused of vandalizing a rainbow crosswalk mural in south Florida honoring the LGBTQ+ community.

In the episode, which the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America reported Monday, Peters said, “No more funding our own demise — bioweapons and forever wars from the Jewish lobby that basically runs our entire government. And they run this as well, don’t they?”

Taylor responded, “Yeah they run this. 100%. They’re controlling everything.”

“Ok, @GaRepublicans, it’s time to show the Jewish community of Georgia that you reject antisemites. Let me know if I can be of assistance,” she wrote on X.

“We always knew she was extreme,” Panitch told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “I just didn’t realize her extremism went after Jews. I mean, I’m not surprised, but I was not aware of these specific comments.”

Panitch also told JTA that nobody from the Georgia Republican Party had reached out to her about Taylor’s comments.

“You can’t pretend to be a friend to the Jews, or to support us, and allow your officials to make these statements without any remarks,” she added.

This is not the first time this month that Taylor has been in the public eye for comments about religious discrimination. In an Aug. 17 episode of her podcast, “Jesus, Guns and Babies,” Taylor said that only Christians should be permitted to run for elected office.

“We shouldn’t be electing anyone in government — local, state or federal — that is not a Christian,” Taylor said. “That is how we take back this nation.”

In a now-deleted post from October 2023 screenshot by Media Matters, she responded to a post on X that said, “This has become very clear to anyone who can see: The Democrat Party has been overtaken by Marxist trash who hates Jews.” In her reply, Taylor wrote, “Hey, We have some Marxist trash using our R who pander to the Jews. Not much difference.”

In a statement posted to X, Taylor declared her opposition to antisemitism and support for Israel and Jews. She did not directly address the exchange with Peters.

“I have been made aware of the Media Matters hit piece on me,” Taylor wrote. “I want to state unequivocally that I support the State of Israel, that I support the Jewish people around the world, and that I categorically reject antisemitism in all forms. I have been proud to stand with the Georgia Republican Party on supporting Israel and rejecting antisemitism whenever and wherever it occurs.”

To Panitch, Taylor’s statement isn’t enough.

“This isn’t an apology,” Panitch said. “The fact that she’s in leadership at the Georgia GOP says that they do not take the antisemitism within their ranks seriously. They can use whatever platitudes they want, which I appreciate for them saying anything, but if they’re going to allow their members to say that Jews control the world, without any repercussions, then they’re just words.”

ISRAEL (VINnews) — In a partial victory for the Charedi community, the attorney general’s office will keep daycare subsidies for families of Charedi military-age yeshiva students intact until the end of November. However a senior Shas Minister is slamming the decision.

The new directive is a partial concession to a request by Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur of Shas, who requested that the critical subsidies continue until September 2025, or at least February.

As part of its Charedi draft ruling, the High Court ruled that it is illegal for the state to provide benefits to military-age men who study in yeshivas and did not report for service.

One of these benefits is daycare subsidies for children aged 0-3 for families in which both parents work or study. Until now, this included yeshiva study, however, according to the AG, that is no longer true, as per its interpretation of the court.

In a letter sent to AG Gali Baharav-Miara, Ben Tzur wrote that this is “a short-term delay, a false front via a temporary solution which only deepens the problem.”

He said that the changes “are in complete opposition to the purpose of daycare subsidies.”

“Your decision to delay the decree for a period of only three months does not stem from moral motives,” he noted. “My position is clear: Only a delay of at least a year will provide a response and a solution for thousands of young children, mothers, and caregivers whose futures, security, and welfare are now called into question.”

“…Implementation or an attempt to implement your decision under the timetable involved, besides for that it is absolutely unrealistic, will also lead to complete chaos…which will critically harm normal functioning of the Ministry’s systems, with all that comes with that.”

Ben-Tzur wants an entire year in part for the welfare of the children, some of whom, for example, may be moved to a cheaper daycare mid-year. Limon rejected this, saying that these were not grounds to enable the government to violate the law.

On August 18, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote that his policy was to continue the subsidy payments, and that it was his prerogative to do so despite the attorney general’s opinion that this was illegal.

**NYC (VINnews)-**CNBC, co-host Joe Kernen couldn’t help but roll his eyes and laugh when Bharat Ramamurti, an economic advisor to Kamala Harris, attempted to defend a proposed unrealized capital gains tax. The discussion quickly turned into a light-hearted exchange as the hosts questioned the feasibility and legality of such a tax.

Ramamurti, who serves as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, was put on the spot when he tried to equate the concept of an unrealized capital gains tax with property taxes. “Property taxes are essentially a tax on unrealized gains,” Ramamurti argued. However, the statement was met with skepticism and amusement from Kernen and his fellow hosts.

Kernen was quick to counter, asserting that an unrealized capital gains tax is “probably unconstitutional” and questioning its legitimacy. “It’s not income,” Kernen pointed out, echoing a common critique that taxing unrealized gains—profits on assets that have not yet been sold—does not align with traditional definitions of taxable income.

The conversation reached a pause when Ramamurti was left in silence, unable to immediately respond as the hosts playfully poked fun at the proposal. “And it’s never gonna happen,” Kernen added with a chuckle, signaling his doubt that such a tax would ever be implemented.

The debate highlights ongoing tensions between the Biden administration’s economic policy proposals and the challenges they face in gaining widespread acceptance. While the idea of taxing unrealized capital gains has been floated as a way to target wealth accumulation among the richest Americans, it remains controversial and faces significant legal and practical hurdles.

As the segment wrapped up, it was clear that the idea of an unrealized capital gains tax remains a hot topic, but one that faces a steep uphill battle, both in the court of public opinion and in the halls of Congress.

On Wednesday evening, it was cleared for publication that Master Sergeant (Res.) Yohay Chai Glam fell in battle in the Gaza strip.

Glam, who was 32 years old and lived in the city of Netanya, was a soldier in the 6310th Reconnaissance Battalion, “Yerushalayim” Brigade. He was killed by sniper fire in the Netzarim corridor in central Gaza.

Glam was the 704th IDF killed since October 7th, including the 340th since the start of ground operations inside Gaza on October 29th.

Tefillos: Recently, the IDF announced there are 25 wounded soldiers who are currently hospitalized in serious condition. An additional 167 soldiers are currently hospitalized in moderate condition, and 6 in light condition.

{Matzav.com Israel}

By Idy Perl

The new 7 story structure on 3920-15th is nearing completion and will be a mixed-use building that will have both residential and commercial units. 

The first two floors will house a commercial storefront and a healthcare facility. The other 5 floors will have residential apartments.

The building will also have 21 attended parking spots in the spacious parking lot. 

(AP) – Car buyers have more tools than ever to get the right vehicle at the right price. Still, mistakes can happen quite easily. Often, car buyers get blinded by emotion or rushed timing. Edmunds’ experts reveal the five biggest mistakes car shoppers often make and offer tips to avoid them.

Trading in a Vehicle with Negative Equity

Being upside down on a trade-in vehicle is occurring with increasing frequency. According to a recent Edmunds report, nearly one in four consumers who financed a new vehicle purchase with a trade-in during the second quarter of 2024 were underwater on their prior car loan.

“Upside down,” “underwater” and “negative equity” are interchangeable terms for a bad situation: All three mean that the car owner owes more on the loan than the vehicle is worth. Not only has the number of upside-down trade-ins grown since 2022, but so has the amount owed on those loans.

If, for example, you are $5,000 upside down on your current vehicle and decide to trade in this car and buy a new one, you will have to pay the price of the new car plus the $5,000 you owe on the current car. Your monthly payments will be much higher because you’re rolling over what you owe on your old car to the loan on your new one.

The best financial solution is to keep your current car longer and continue paying off its loan. Waiting might be challenging — you want that new car, we get it — but if you can at least ensure your trade-in value equals your loan amount, you won’t have to pay extra for the new vehicle purchase.

Rushing Into a Vehicle Purchase

There can be legitimate reasons to expedite a vehicle purchase. Perhaps your vehicle was totaled in an accident, or maybe it broke down and it’s not worth paying to fix. Either way, you’ll need a new car right away. But many shoppers don’t think about doing valuable research beforehand.

There will be new and unfamiliar automotive features and technologies worth knowing about, especially if it’s been a while since you bought a new car. If you take your time, you’ll also be able to get several quotes before you commit to a deal and have time for a vehicle inspection if it’s a used car.

Even if you need to replace your car quickly, it’s often better to find alternative transportation while you research a new vehicle purchase. Renting a car for a few days might cost a few hundred dollars, but that’s better than picking the wrong vehicle or getting suckered into a bad deal.

Going to Only One Dealership

This mistake is often made by shoppers rushing to find a new vehicle. Be sure you give yourself time to make wise choices when you need a car quickly. Most price research can be done online or on your phone without leaving home. Avoid walking into a dealership and making a purchase decision without looking elsewhere.

Dealers are in the habit of competing with one another, so be sure they’re doing so to your advantage. Be transparent about your shopping, and share quotes with dealers so they know you’re serious.

Getting Confused Over Dealership Pricing

Some shoppers will be overwhelmed by a salesperson throwing around lots of numbers including the asking price, trade-in value for your car, cash down and monthly payment. Though there are fewer dealers practicing confusion tactics than there used to be, it’s good to be prepared to combat them should they arise.

To start, do your research to determine the market value of the vehicle you want to buy before you begin to negotiate. This figure will serve as the backbone of your strategy and give you a reference point. From here, it’s best to keep it simple and focus on two numbers: the out-the-door price of the car — that’s the sales price plus fees like tax and license — and your trade-in value.

Also watch out for potential add-ons that the dealership might use to boost its profit. These include anti-theft devices, additional warranties, paint and fabric protection, floor mats, wheel locks and more. You can likely negotiate the price of the add-ons but it might distract you from your primary goal of getting the best deal on the vehicle itself. Purchasing a car without add-ons is the best way to avoid the situation.

Edmunds Says

Taking a little more time to consider all the options and think carefully about the terms of a car deal may save you thousands. It’s time — and money — well spent.

On Wednesday evening it was cleared for publication that in a joint IDF and ISA operation overnight, the body of an IDF soldier who fell on 10/7 was recovered.

The family of the fallen soldier has been notified, and at the request of the family, the name of the soldier will not be released.

The operation to recover the fallen soldier was led by the 162nd Division, and included IDF and ISA special forces, Nachal Brigade soldiers and soldiers from the 401st Brigade.

Efforts over several months by the IDF Hostage and Missing Persons Unit, together with the ISA and the Unit of International Crime Investigations of the Lahav 433 of the Israel Police, eventually led to this recovery mission.

Following the mission, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said, “The IDF and ISA are operating using all means to bring home all the hostages as quickly as possible.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated: “I commend the IDF and ISA forces who conducted a bold operation to retrieve the body of a fallen soldier from Gaza and brought him home for burial in Israel. The soldier fell in combat during the Hamas attack on October 7th.”

“This operation reflects our commitment to bringing all the hostages home.”

There are now 107 hostages alive and deceased, still held in Gaza.

The Hostages Families Forum stated: “The recovery of the fallen soldier’s remains provides his family with important closure. In the past couple of days, the number of hostages held in Gaza has decreased from 115 to 107.

“We must not be misled – the remaining hostages don’t have the luxury of waiting for rescue operations. The immediate return of these 107 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal.

“We urgently call on the international community to maintain pressure on Hamas to accept the proposed deal and release all hostages. Each day in captivity is one too many.”

{Matzav.com}

By Idy Perl

If you haven’t made it to Governor’s Island yet this summer, fear not because you still have some time. 

Thanks to a $250,000 state grant the Governor’s Island ferry will continue running until October. Earlier this year, the ferry, which is operated by the Trust for Governor’s Island, announced that due to financial restraints they would only be able to offer ferry service from Memorial Day until the end of June. 

Now with state funding secured, the ferry is able to continue bringing visitors to the 43 acres of beautiful outdoor space.

NEW YORK (AP) — As Vice President Kamala Harris begins her fall campaign for the White House, she can look to history and hope for better luck than others in her position who have tried the same.

Since 1836, only one sitting vice president, George H.W. Bush in 1988, has been elected to the White House. Among those who tried and failed were Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and Al Gore in 2000. All three lost in narrow elections shaped by issues ranging from war and scandal to crime and the subtleties of televised debates. But two other factors proved crucial for each vice president: whether the incumbent president was well-liked and whether the president and vice president enjoyed a productive relationship.

“You really do want those elements to come together,” says Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. “If the person the vice president is working for is popular, that means people like what he’s doing and you can gain from that. And you need to have the two principals working together.”

In 1988, Bush easily defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor whom Republicans labeled as ineffectual and out of touch. Bush was otherwise helped by a solid economy, the easing of Cold War tensions and some rare luck for a vice president. President Ronald Reagan’s approval ratings rose through much of the year after falling sharply in the wake of the 1986-87 Iran-Contra scandal, and Reagan and Bush worked well together during the campaign. Reagan openly backed his vice president, who had run against him in the 1980 primaries. He praised Bush at the Republican convention as an engaged and invaluable partner, appeared with him at a California rally and spoke at gatherings in Michigan, New Jersey and Missouri.

“Reagan was not a man to hold grudges,” said historian-journalist Jonathan Darman. “And Bush did a good job of navigating the complexity of their relationship while he was vice president.”

Past vice presidents who ran
When Gore ran in 2000, his advantages were similar to those enjoyed by George H.W. Bush. The economy was strong, the country was at peace and the president, Bill Clinton, had high approval ratings despite his recent impeachment over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Gore had worked closely with Clinton over the previous eight years, but the scandal led to enduring tensions between them. He minimized the president’s presence during the campaign and pronounced himself “my own man” during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Commentators would cite his distance from Clinton as a setback in a historically close race, decided by a margin of fewer than 1,000 votes in Florida.

“Instead of finding a way to embrace the accomplishments of the Clinton administration, Gore ran away from Clinton as fast as his legs could carry him,” Slate’s Jacob Weisberg wrote soon after the election.

Like Gore, Nixon could not — or would not — capitalize on the incumbent Dwight Eisenhower’s popularity. In 1960, Eisenhower was still so admired as he neared the end of his second term that Nixon’s opponent, Democrat John F. Kennedy, feared the president’s active support would prove critical. But Eisenhower and Nixon had a complicated relationship dating back to when Eisenhower ran eight years earlier. He had chosen Nixon as his running mate, but nearly dropped him because of the so-called Checkers scandal, in which Nixon was accused of misusing funds donated by political backers.

Nixon was more than 20 years younger than Eisenhower, the victorious World War II commander who often looked upon his vice president as a junior officer, according to Nixon biographer John A. Farrell. At the end of a summer press conference in 1960, Eisenhower was asked if he could cite Nixon’s influence on any important decision. He answered, “If you give me a week, I might think of one.” Meanwhile, Nixon was reluctant to have Eisenhower campaign, out of a desire to forge his own path, and, allegedly, out of concern for the 70-year-old president.

“Nixon very much wanted to be his own man,” says Farrell, whose prize-winning “Richard Nixon” was published in 2017. “He always said he was worried about Eisenhower’s health, but there are also anecdotes that Eisenhower was chafing at the bit. Both could be true.”

Nixon’s luck changed when he ran eight years later against Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president. No vice president was more entrapped by his predecessor than Hubert Humphrey, whose candidacy was only possible because Johnson decided not to seek reelection.

Humphrey faced challenges within the party from the anti-war candidates Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy (who was assassinated in June 1968 after winning the California primary) and was tied to Johnson’s divisive, hawkish stance.

Humphrey privately advocated a less hardline approach to the war, but Johnson intimidated him into silence and he trailed Nixon badly in many polls. Only in the fall did Humphrey diverge and call for a bombing halt with North Vietnam. The vice president rallied, but ended up losing the popular vote by less than a percentage point while falling short more decisively in the Electoral College.

“Johnson did catastrophic damage to Humphrey, in my opinion,” says Boston Globe columnist Michael Cohen, author of a book on the 1968 election, “American Carnage.”

How does Harris fare?
Like Johnson, President Joe Biden declared he wouldn’t seek a new term less than a year before Election Day, though he waited much longer in the cycle than Johnson did. Unlike Humphrey, Harris quickly consolidated Democratic support and accepted her party’s nomination at an uplifting convention that concluded without significant damage from protests, unlike the violence-marred 1968 event in the same city, Chicago.

In an AP-NORC survey conducted in July, after Biden dropped out of the race, about 4 in 10 Americans approved of his performance as president, roughly where his approval numbers have stood since the summer of 2021 and comparable to those of the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. Eisenhower, Reagan and Clinton frequently held higher approval ratings than Biden, although all served in less polarized eras.

Harris wants to succeed a president who himself served as vice president and ran for president, four years later. President Barack Obama discouraged Biden from seeking election in 2016 and waited to endorse Biden in 2020 until the crowded Democratic primary field was clear.

“Obama became an enthusiastic backer, which helped unify the party at a time when Biden’s record on race in the 1990s, including his support for the crime bill, was fueling doubts among young progressive voters,” Biden biographer Evan Osnos says. “Obama’s endorsement of Biden was about more than his candidacy; it was about his character, and that proved to be important.”

As president, Biden has worked to include Harris on his major policy calls and conversations with foreign leaders. He’s pledged to be Harris’ top campaign volunteer and to do whatever she asks of him for her election, though aides are still determining where the still-unpopular president would best be utilized. On Labor Day, Biden and Harris will appear together in Pittsburgh for a campaign event in a key swing state, Pennsylvania.

NEW YORK  (JTA) – As he settled into his office at the Israeli consulate in Midtown East three months ago, Ofir Akunis had his staff mount a large photo of the 9/11 attack, and placed it alongside a framed Israeli flag that was found in the ruins of the World Trade Center.

Both the flag and the photo of the Twin Towers being destroyed are meant as a reminder, he said, that the same forces that invaded Israel on Oct. 7 have attacked New York City before — and could strike again. 

“They don’t understand. It’s a short memory,” Akunis said of New Yorkers during an interview earlier this month at his office. “It’s very natural, but you can’t forget the history.”

He added, “I’m worried for America. I’m asking my American friends, ‘Wake up.’ Say to these people, ‘Enough.’”

Since arriving, Akunis has advocated against the protesters — a movement he calls “pro-terror” and sees as a danger to Americans. He believes some of the protesters are part of a radical Islamist movement and called for the city city to crack down on the demonstrations. 

“They don’t want to live in peace with us — they want to live instead of us,” he said of radical Islamists. “They are saying it to people in London, in Manchester. They’re saying it to the Belgians in Brussels. They’re saying it here, to you. They’re saying, ‘Death to America.’”

The Israeli consul in New York represents Israel in New York state, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware. Akunis’ predecessor, Asaf Zamir, was appointed by the previous Israeli government and resigned last year to protest the Netanyahu coalition’s effort to overhaul the judiciary.

Akunis, as a Likud lawmaker, faced protests over the judicial overhaul when he visited the United States last year, when he was a minister in Netanyahu’s government. Protesters followed him on the street, and he canceled a speech in Los Angeles, anticipating interruptions.

Now, by contrast, he has been squarely focused on the local fallout from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. His first meeting after becoming consul general was with students from Columbia and New York Universities to tell them that “we are here for them, anything that they need,” he said. In a public statement earlier this month, he attacked Columbia anti-Israel protesters for saying they sought the “eradication of Western civilization.”

Referring to that statement, he tweeted in English and Hebrew, “My American friends: The truth always comes out. The boycott movement at Columbia University finally revealed what they really want.”

He highlighted a protest that took place at the New York Public Library in November 2023, and compared a photo of the rally to an image of Nazis blocking the entrance to a library in Germany in 1933. “It is unacceptable that Jewish students and Israeli students will actually be afraid to walk nearby and actually to live under threat,” he said.

In particular, Akunis is calling for local officials to more stringently enforce laws barring disruptive protests and to pass anti-masking legislation that would allow law enforcement to better identify protesters, whom he accused of exploiting democratic freedoms to undermine democracy. He praised an anti-masking bill introduced by Israeli-American legislator Mazi Pilip in Long Island’s Nassau County that passed earlier this month.

His previous warnings that New York faced a “radical Muslim occupation,” made earlier this summer, drew condemnation from the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR.

“This false ‘wake up’ call is in reality a call to hatred and violence targeting New York Muslims and Arabs, and those perceived to be Muslim and Arab-American,” the group’s executive director, Afaf Nasher, said in a statement. “These false and hate-filled remarks should be repudiated by all political and religious leaders.”

Akunis drew a distinction between radical Islamists and moderate Muslims, praising Israel’s previous peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Akunis served as the Israeli government’s regional cooperation minister at a time when Israel signed normalization agreements with Muslim states including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. 

He keeps a framed photo of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, the Likud founder who signed the deal with Egypt, on a shelf in his office.

“They’re all Muslims,” he said of the countries with which Israel has signed agreements. “We don’t have any problems. I want to live in peace with them, with all of them.”

Akunis has also reached out to victims of antisemitism in the city, speaking with an Israeli man who was stabbed in Brooklyn earlier this month. He has also fulfilled the job’s traditional roles: speaking with local media, communicating through social media, and advocating for Israel in meetings with members of Congress, Jewish communities, and other groups, such as evangelical Christians. In one message to New Yorkers, the consulate this month rented a billboard in Times Square calling Iran and Hezbollah “partners in terror.”

He has met with an array of Jewish and political leaders, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and New York Reps. Ritchie Torres and Grace Meng. He offered special praise to New York Mayor Eric Adams, who he called “a brave leader” who is “standing for Israel.”

His office has faced protests from local Israeli critics of Netanyahu’s government, who charge that it is not working hard enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. Many of them were also active in the groups that protested Akunis and other Israeli officials over the judicial overhaul when they visited New York last year. 

He defended the overhaul as the policy of a democratically elected government, and spoke out against foreign criticism of the government’s decisions.

“Every Israeli government reflects the will of the people. I served in the opposition. Nothing happened to me. I never said that Israel is in danger, I never said that democracy is in danger,” he said. “Israeli democracy, like American democracy, reflects the will of the people.”

He visits local synagogues most Saturdays, including two visits to Temple Emanu-El, the Reform congregation on the Upper East Side, and he has an affinity for the Greek Jewish community due to his familial roots in Greece, attending the Greek Jewish festival in May in Manhattan. 

He declined to name his favorite Israeli restaurant in New York “to not insult the others” but said he visited many kosher restaurants in the city and expressed his love for American diners.

“I prefer the original American diners, the small ones and the old ones,” he said. “You can feel like [you’re] in a time tunnel, like in real America.”

Behind his desk are U.S. and American flags, next to a framed photo of Israeli hostage Ariel Bibas, a copy of the Torah and a miniature model of Beresheet, the Israeli spacecraft that crashed into the moon in 2019 while Akunis served as Israeli minister of science, innovation and technology.

He added that he feels New York’s Jewish diverse communities have come together since Oct. 7, creating a point of “light in all these truly dark days.” He also says gaps between American Jews and Israelis in the city have dissipated due to the war and antisemitism in the United States.

Protests on the city’s college campuses, which many Jewish students said created a hostile atmosphere, were a catalyst for bringing New York’s Jews together, he said. Earlier this month, Akunis met with Jewish campus groups to prepare for the upcoming school year, telling them the consulate was available to them at any time to protect their right to study safely. 

Akunis expressed appreciation and affection for New York and the United States, calling the establishment of America and Israel “two miracles.” His appreciation for the United States motivated his concern over the threat of radical Islam, he said. He called the situation an “emergency.”

“I’m warning you, from the bottom of my heart, as a big admirer of the United States, you must stop it as a society, not only the Jewish communities,” he said.

The gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump accessed his rooftop vantage point by first climbing onto an air conditioning unit, sources told NBC News.

Matthew Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter, climbed onto the roof of a building at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in July before taking eight shots at the Republican nominee. Crooks managed to graze Trump’s ear while injuring three attendees and killing one man.

However, it remains unclear how Crooks was able to get on the rooftop without alerting security.

According to the sources, Crooks was caught on security footage from a nearby ice cream shop climbing onto the building’s air conditioning unit.

It is unclear if the security footage will ever be released to the public. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after testifying before congress about the security failings, and multiple secret service agents were reportedly put on leave on Friday. Read more at NBC News.

DETROIT (AP) — Three times in the past four months, William Stein, a technology analyst at Truist Securities, has taken Elon Musk up on his invitation to try the latest versions of Tesla’s vaunted “Full Self-Driving” system.

A Tesla equipped with the technology, the company says, can travel from point to point with little human intervention. Yet each time Stein drove one of the cars, he said, the vehicle made unsafe or illegal maneuvers. His most recent test-drive earlier this month, Stein said, left his 16-year-old son, who accompanied him, “terrified.”

Stein’s experiences, along with a Seattle-area Tesla crash involving Full Self-Driving that killed a motorcyclist in April, have drawn the attention of federal regulators. They have already been investigating Tesla’s automated driving systems for more than two years because of dozens of crashes that raised safety concerns.

The problems have led people who monitor autonomous vehicles to become more skeptical that Tesla’s automated system will ever be able to operate safely on a widespread scale. Stein says he doubts Tesla is even close to deploying a fleet of autonomous robotaxis by next year as Musk has predicted it will.

The latest incidents come at a pivotal time for Tesla. Musk has told investors it’s possible that Full Self-Driving will be able to operate more safely than human drivers by the end of this year, if not next year.

And in less than two months, the company is scheduled to unveil a vehicle built expressly to be a robotaxi. For Tesla to put robotaxis on the road, Musk has said the company will show regulators that the system can drive more safely than humans. Under federal rules, the Teslas would have to meet national standards for vehicle safety.

Musk has released data showing miles driven per crash, but only for Tesla’s less-sophisticated Autopilot system. Safety experts say the data is invalid because it counts only serious crashes with air bag deployment and doesn’t show how often human drivers had to take over to avoid a collision.

Full Self-Driving is being used on public roads by roughly 500,000 Tesla owners — slightly more than one in five Teslas in use today. Most of them paid $8,000 or more for the optional system.

The company has cautioned that cars equipped with the system cannot actually drive themselves and that motorists must be ready at all times to intervene if necessary. Tesla also says it tracks each driver’s behavior and will suspend their ability to use Full Self-Driving if they don’t properly monitor the system. Recently, the company began calling the system “Full Self-Driving” (Supervised).

Musk, who has acknowledged that his past predictions for the use of autonomous driving proved too optimistic, in 2019 promised a fleet of autonomous vehicles by the end of 2020. Five years later, many who follow the technology say they doubt it can work across the U.S. as promised.

“It’s not even close, and it’s not going to be next year,” said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety.

The car that Stein drove was a Tesla Model 3, which he picked up at a Tesla showroom in Westchester County, north of New York City. The car, Tesla’s lowest-price vehicle, was equipped with the latest Full Self-Driving software. Musk says the software now uses artificial intelligence to help control steering and pedals.

During his ride, Stein said, the Tesla felt smooth and more human-like than past versions did. But in a trip of less than 10 miles, he said the car made a left turn from a through lane while running a red light.

“That was stunning,” Stein said.

He said he didn’t take control of the car because there was little traffic and, at the time, the maneuver didn’t seem dangerous. Later, though, the car drove down the middle of a parkway, straddling two lanes that carry traffic in the same direction. This time, Stein said, he intervened.

The latest version of Full Self-Driving, Stein wrote to investors, does not “solve autonomy” as Musk has predicted. Nor does it “appear to approach robotaxi capabilities.” During two earlier test drives he took, in April and July, Stein said Tesla vehicles also surprised him with unsafe moves.

Tesla has not responded to messages seeking a comment.

Stein said that while he thinks Tesla will eventually make money off its driving technology, he doesn’t foresee a robotaxi with no driver and a passenger in the back seat in the near future. He predicted it will be significantly delayed or limited in where it can travel.

There’s often a significant gap, Stein pointed out, between what Musk says and what is likely to happen.

To be sure, many Tesla fans have posted videos on social media showing their cars driving themselves without humans taking control. Videos, of course, don’t show how the system performs over time. Others have posted videos showing dangerous behavior.

Alain Kornhauser, who heads autonomous vehicle studies at Princeton University, said he drove a Tesla borrowed from a friend for two weeks and found that it consistently spotted pedestrians and detected other drivers.

Yet while it performs well most of the time, Kornhauser said he had to take control when the Tesla has made moves that scared him. He warns that Full Self-Driving isn’t ready to be left without human supervision in all locations.

“This thing,” he said, “is not at a point where it can go anywhere.”

Kornhauser said he does think the system could work autonomously in smaller areas of a city where detailed maps help guide the vehicles. He wonders why Musk doesn’t start by offering rides on a smaller scale.

“People could really use the mobility that this could provide,” he said.

For years, experts have warned that Tesla’s system of cameras and computers isn’t always able to spot objects and determine what they are. Cameras can’t always see in bad weather and darkness. Most other autonomous robotaxi companies, such as Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise, combine cameras with radar and laser sensors.

“If you can’t see the world correctly, you can’t plan and move and actuate to the world correctly,” said Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering and computing at George Mason University. “Cars can’t do it with vision only,” she said.

Even those with laser and radar, Cummings said, can’t always drive reliably yet, raising safety questions about Waymo and Cruise. (Representatives for Waymo and Cruise declined to comment.)

Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies autonomous vehicle safety, said it will be many years before autonomous vehicles that operate solely on artificial intelligence will be able to handle all real-world situations.

“Machine learning has no common sense and learns narrowly from a huge number of examples,” Koopman said. “If the computer driver gets into a situation it has not been taught about, it is prone to crashing.”

Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a Tesla using Full Self-Driving hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver, who has not yet been charged, told authorities that he was using Full Self-Driving while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities reported.

The agency said it’s evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials. It also says it’s aware of Stein’s experience with Full Self-Driving.

NHTSA also noted that it’s investigating whether a Tesla recall earlier this year, which was intended to bolster its automated vehicle driver monitoring system, actually succeeded. It also pushed Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in 2023 because, in “certain rare circumstances,” the agency said, it can disobey some traffic laws, raising the risk of a crash. (The agency declined to say if it has finished evaluating whether the recall accomplished its mission.)

As Tesla electric vehicle sales have faltered for the past several months despite price cuts, Musk has told investors that they should view the company more as a robotics and artificial intelligence business than a car company. Yet Tesla has been working on Full Self-Driving since at least 2015.

“I recommend anyone who doesn’t believe that Tesla will solve vehicle autonomy should not hold Tesla stock,” he said during an earnings conference call last month.

Stein told investors, though, they should determine for themselves whether Full Self-Driving, Tesla’s artificial intelligence project “with the most history, that’s generating current revenue, and is being used in the real world already, actually works.”

By Idy Perl

A recent report by MTA officials found that nearly 50% of bus passengers don't pay the fare, which costs the MTA roughly $300 million a year. After the report was released, the MTA announced that they would be strategically deploying officers to crack down on passengers who are avoiding the fare, and that crackdown effort is now being put in play.

NYPD and MTA enforcement officers will be deployed today on bus routes that are known to have fare evaders. Passengers found riding without payment will be escorted off the bus and will receive a fine of up to $100. 

The crack down effort will continue until fare evasion rates are drastically lowered.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin and the Division of Consumer Affairs (“Division”) announced that 19 retailers in the state were recently issued Notices of Violation (“NOVs”) and assessed civil penalties of $4,500 each for allegedly violating the state’s consumer protection laws by offering and selling flavored vapor products that are banned for sale in New Jersey.

The enforcement actions are the result of a Division investigation into unlawful sales of flavored electronic smoking devices and products, including mint, candy, fruit, and chocolate flavors.

Research has shown that these products are extremely appealing to teens and children and the nationwide rise in their use is undermining hard-fought declines in adolescent smoking.

To combat this problem, in January 2020, Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation prohibiting the sale and distribution of all vapor products with a flavor, taste, or aroma other than tobacco, making New Jersey the first state in the nation to impose a permanent ban on these products.

“The ban on flavor vaping devices is in place to protect New Jersey consumers—especially our youth—from the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes, nicotine, and tobacco,” said Cari Fais, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By identifying and taking enforcement action against merchants who illegally sell these products, we are protecting public health and fulfilling our responsibility to safeguard consumers from unlawful business practices.”

The Division launched its investigation into the unlawful offer and sale of flavored vapor products in June 2024. Through undercover buys and in-store inspections, investigators identified smoke shops, convenience stores, and gift and novelty retailers in five counties offering and selling the banned products, many in locations close to schools and parks or on or near shore town boardwalks.

The NOVs issued allege that the retailers engaged in the selling and/or offering for sale of prohibited vapor products that have a characterizing flavor and therefore engaged in an unlawful practice under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Each NOV includes a demand for civil penalties in the amount of $4,500.

According to a new bombshell report in the Jewish Chronicle, the IDF believes Hamas is losing control over other terror organizations in the Gaza Strip, and some have been planning a coup against Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar for months.

According to the report, terror groups such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Mujahideen Brigades, the al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades no longer listen to instructions from Sinwar, and are ‘cut off’ from Hamas. It is unclear exactly how many hostages these groups are holding, or if any are alive.

The report also states that Hamas is only holding 22 living hostages, and is keeping them handcuffed, around Sinwar at all times, to use as his human shields.

Reportedly, multiple IDF operations to eliminate Sinwar were not carried out due to fear of harming these hostages.

Among the complaints the smaller terror groups have with Sinwar is their desire to have their own terrorists released from Israeli prison in a hostage release / ceasefire deal. Additionally, the terror groups do not support any compromise with Israel, and are demanding Israel release all prisoners. According to the report, these groups have been planning a coup against Sinwar for months.

(JNS)

A shocking survey by Alums for Campus Fairness has found that 44% of college students and recent graduates rarely or never feel safe identifying as Jewish on campus, amidst a terrifying surge in antisemitism. The survey of 1,171 students revealed that 81% avoid certain places, events, and situations due to antisemitism, while 60% have witnessed faculty members making offensive antisemitic remarks.

“The results expose dangerous trend lines for Jewish and pro-Israel students on college campuses,” said Avi Gordon, executive director of the group. “Antisemitism is getting worse. Students are hiding their Jewish identity… We are increasingly seeing a lack of safety in both digital and physical spaces.”

The survey revealed disturbing accounts of antisemitism, including physical assaults, harassment, and professors making antisemitic statements. One student reported being targeted by social media trolls who tried to remove them from a progressive committee due to their Jewish identity. Another student claimed a professor called an Israeli student a “terrorist” after Hamas’ attacks on Israel sparked Israel’s ongoing military offensive.

The survey also showed a significant increase in threatening and antisemitic messages, with 81% of respondents reporting receiving such messages, up 10 percentage points from a 2021 survey. More than 50% of respondents said they or someone they knew were physically threatened for being Jewish, up from 44% in 2021.

However, the survey found a silver lining: students who were members of Jewish organizations reported feeling safer on campus. “Students and recent graduates who attended organized Jewish community events were significantly less likely to report feeling unsafe on campus,” Gordon said. “This reaffirms that there is safety in community. It should inspire us to redouble our efforts to support Jewish life on campus.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Qaid Farhan Alkadi, who was rescued from Gaza by Israeli forces on Tuesday after 326 days in Hamas captivity, was released from Beersheva’s Soroka Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, relatives of the 52-year-old Muslim Israeli and father of 11 from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev Desert have begun to share details regarding the brutal conditions he experienced since his abduction on Oct. 7.

“He spoke about the darkness, not being able to see. But, thank God, he’s back with us, alive—it made us all rejoice,” Alkadi’s cousin Fayez al-Sana told the New York Times after visiting him in the hospital.

Ata Abu Medigm, the former mayor of Rahat, told Ynet that Alkadi was held in near total darkness for months: “He told about a very brutal captivity, he hardly saw the sun for eight months. He would check if his eyes were functioning. He said that one of the abductees was with him for two months and died next to him.”

Dr. Mazen Abu Siam, a longtime friend and veterinarian, in a conversation with the Times called Hamas “devils” and said that Alkadi’s family had been in terrible anxiety for 10 months.

He had more harsh words for Hamas, listing the cases in which civilians were murdered on Oct. 7, including over 300 people at the Nova music festival: “They attacked everyone, even people dancing under the trees,” he said.

“I got permission to visit [Alkadi] inside [the hospital], I went in for two or three minutes. He’s fine, he’s healthy, he looks fine. A little pale. Thin compared to Oct. 7,” he said, according to Ynet. “Hope he will be released to the family tomorrow. He mentioned that he was in the tunnel for a long time, cut off from the outside world, was not connected to the Israeli media and did not know what was happening around him. I hope that all the families who have abductees in Gaza will feel what we felt on this day.”

Alkadi’s brother Juma’a told CNN that “he was dead and is now brought back to life,” and that “it was all tears. Tears of joy. What matters is that we saw him.”

Juma’a said that Alkadi was shot in the leg during the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, and the wound was poorly treated during captivity. Alkadi had been operated on without anesthesia, “As one does with animals.”

Ynet quoted his relatives as saying after visiting him in the hospital that Alkadi had “lost a lot of weight,” having eaten “mainly bread” in captivity, and “not every day.”

However, they continued, “he is on his feet and talking about the matter. He was constantly thinking about the family and never stopped believing that he got out of there. We don’t know how he survived, but he survived and he’s alive, and that’s the most important thing.”

Alkadi is the first Israeli Arab and eighth Israeli overall to be rescued alive from Gaza by Israeli forces. He is also the first captive to be reclaimed from the terror group’s vast tunnel network beneath Gaza.

Israeli officials told CNN and the Times that special forces, acting on intelligence, were combing tunnels when they found Alkadi, who was alone in a room roughly 25 yards underground, without Hamas guards. The team, led by Shayetet 13, the Israeli equivalent to the U.S. Navy SEALs, initially thought he was a Hamas operative. He appeared weak and malnourished and was incapable of climbing out of the tunnel on his own, according to the report.

According to Channel 12, the team, which included members of Yahalom, a special unit of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, entered the tunnel after determining that Alkadi was alone. They called to him and he answered: “It’s me, Farhan, don’t shoot.”

The operation was complicated because he was in a complex consisting of several tunnels, in a side room, and forces feared that it could be a Hamas trap.

“The assessment in Israel is that, at least in some cases, Hamas lost contact with the abductees and … is now trying to understand what happened to them,” Channel 12 reported.

Alkadi’s rescue leaves the number of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza at 108, including 104 of the 251 hostages taken on Oct. 7—34 of whom are deceased, according to the military.

At least 17 Bedouins died in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Hatam Kadi, another brother, told Ynet that the message Alkadi wants to convey is that “we must remember that there are other people inside,” and that being a native Arabic speaker did not help him at all: “He was treated as an Israeli.”

(JNS)

New video footage taken from before, during, and after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots sheds new light on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s actions during the crisis that dominated the end of her career as Speaker. The footage, which has so far been obtained by Politico and CNN, shows the then sitting House Speaker evacuating the Capitol on Jan. 6 to Fort McNair in D.C. The footage was shot by Alexandra Pelosi, the former House Speaker’s daughter, and a documentary filmmaker who was by her mother’s side before and after Jan. 6. The House Select Committee previously obtained some of her footage in their initial investigation.

This footage was obtained by the Republican-led House Committee on Administration, which is investigating the investigation. Pelosi reportedly resisted evacuating, telling security guards “I do not support this” and focusing on finishing the Electoral College proceedings.

In one moment, Pelosi told her chief of staff, Terri McCullough, “I feel responsible” for the delayed response from the National Guard, according to CNN.

“We did not have any accountability for what was going on there and we should have. This is ridiculous,” the former speaker reportedly said.

Even more footage was taken from Jan. 7, when Pelosi turned her attention to Donald Trump. Pelosi reportedly asked her staff for a list of Trump’s Cabinet members to call out by name in an upcoming speech, where she also planned to call the then-president “a domestic enemy in the White House.” Pelosi ended up nixing both the call-outs and the phrase “domestic enemy.” Read more at Politico.

By Idy Perl

Surprise, surprise, the prices for heating and gas are going up right as the summer draws to a close. 

National Grid got the go-ahead to hike gas and heating prices in order to pay for additional customer service and assistance programs, support low-income customers, and update their infrastructure. 

Customers in Brooklyn, parts of Queens and Staten Island will see a 19.4% price hike starting this September, which will on average be an additional $30.18. The prices will further increase another 5.1% in April 2025, and another 11.1% in April 2026. 

National Grid might soon find itself with many more “low-income” customers if they keep raising their prices…

TORONTO (JNS) – Antisemitism has swept over parts of Canada in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught on Israel, prompting Jews to consider immigrating to the Jewish state, Israeli Consul-General Paul Hirschson told JNS during an interview in his Montreal office on Monday. 

“Since Oct. 7, we have seen where our friends, colleagues and neighborhoods stand, in terms of their opinions, beliefs and behavior. Some of them stood where we thought they would. Many didn’t and we can’t unsee it,” said Hirschson.

In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre, the number of hate crimes and incidents skyrocketed in Canada. Montreal police recorded 63 hate crimes against the Jewish community and 41 hate incidents from Oct. 7 to Nov. 14, including the firebombing of a Jewish community center and synagogue in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and a shooting attack on the Yeshiva Gedola elementary school. 

The scene of an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in Montreal, Canada, Nov. 7, 2023. Source: Screenshot.

More recently, police in May responded to a shooting at a Jewish school in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. In June, a Jewish-owned restaurant in Montreal’s Mile End neighborhood was struck by projectiles, believed to have been fired from an airsoft gun. Just last month, Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi shared a photo on social media showing a Jewish tombstone at the Kehal Israel cemetery in Montreal that had been desecrated with a swastika formed out of the small stones placed on graves.

With most attacks taking place overnight and very few cases of people being physically attacked, Hirschson said he believes the motive is a desire to terrorize, more than hurt people.

Unfortunately, it has worked. 

Israeli envoy Paul Hirschson. Credit: Consulate General of Israel in Montreal.

“Members of the community are not happy. They feel threatened and insecure. The number of Jews who are considering moving to Israel is on the rise,” he said. 

“Personally, I wish for all Jews to move to Israel, but I don’t want them to do so because of rising antisemitism in Canada,” he said. “I want them to move because Israel is the greatest place.”

Last week, Hirschson noted that an email was sent out threatening to blow up more than 100 Jewish sites across Canada.

“You simply can’t turn around and say this is just a threat, we’ll ignore it. You still close all the locations and let the police check, even if you don’t believe it,” he said.

“If antisemitism is on the rise, one must condemn it. We cannot say antisemitism and Islamophobia are bad. This is not an intellectual exercise. It’s a reality, people are hurting,” said Hirschson. 

“The Arab community here is five times as big, increasingly influential and wealthy. They are having a wonderful time. They have experienced Islamophobia, but that has nothing to do with current events,” he continued.

“The moment you link the two as morally equivalent, you’ve taken it off the streets and turned it into some belief system, some ideology, and it becomes meaningless,” he added. 

Red Cross official Haythem “Ethan” Abid holds a PLO flag at an Oct. 22 “Free Palestine” rally co-sponsored by “Montreal4Palestine,” which celebrated the Oct. 7 massacre. Source: Facebook.

While Canada has traditionally been and remains a friend of Israel, Hirschson said Jerusalem is a little disappointed with the Canadian government’s approach since Oct. 7, which hasn’t been as steadfast as that of other longtime allies. 

Canada is one of the only members of the G7 forum whose prime minister or president has not visited Israel since the Hamas attacks, and was the first of Israel’s friends, together with Australia and New Zealand, to support a ceasefire at the United Nations.

In March, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following Ottawa’s decision to halt arms sales to the Jewish state. 

“Real friendship is measured in difficult times. On Oct. 7, Israel was attacked by a terror organization that brutalized, raped, kidnapped and murdered. We were dragged into war,” said Hirschson. 

“You can talk about how Israel has functioned or not functioned, but you’d really think that at that point, your friends would stand with you. That’s when the real test is,” he added. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Even as the Israel Defense Forces launched a preemptive strike on Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon on Sunday, after detecting preparations by the Iranian proxy to launch an “extensive” attack, Ottawa released a statement in support of Israel which circled back to Gaza. 

“It’s true, there is a war in Gaza, but the threat came from Hezbollah,” said Hirschson. “They are simply not able to mention Israel without also referring to the Palestinians. There is this so-called ‘moral equivalence’ all the time.” 

Much of Canada’s foreign policy in 2023 and 2024 has been based on the impact of local communities, including two million Muslims who vote in higher percentages than the Canadian average. 

“Montreal city is almost 10% Arab. I think that the municipality and also the government in Canada definitely look internally before making policy decisions,” said Hirschson. 

“Israel for the Jews is the most significant manifestation of indigenous restitution in history. After 2,000 years of diaspora, we went home and we stopped being the victim. However, in the Montreal academic sphere and other places, it’s very black or white. If we are no longer the victims, then according to that problematic worldview, we are perpetrators and the Palestinians are the victims,” he noted. 

However, according to Hirschson, in the war for the future of Western civilization, Israel and Canada are on the same side. “We’re liberal, free, democratic countries. We have differences of opinion and different histories, but Israel is a country that embraces and respects the individual and differences. We are not perfect and Canada isn’t perfect,” he said.

“If we don’t succeed in this conflict, Canada, the United States and Europe will suffer. Maybe not as much as us, because it’s our children who are being slaughtered, but they will suffer as well,” he concluded.

A Kentucky man who became the first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection was sentenced on Tuesday to 53 months behind bars. Michael Sparks, 46, was convicted by a jury in March of six criminal charges, including a felony count of interfering with police during a civil disorder.

Video footage from the day showed him jumping through a broken window and later joining a group of other rioters to chase a police officer up a flight of stairs. “This is our America!” he yelled at one point.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said that Sparks’ entrance had had an “emboldening, encouraging effect” on other rioters, according to the Associated Press. “To say it wasn’t a material, key point in the mob’s taking of the Capitol, I think, is just ignoring the obvious.”

When he addressed the court at his sentencing hearing, Sparks said that he still believes the 2020 presidential election was “completely taken,” and that “to this day [America is] in tyranny.” Read more.

SOUTH AFRICA (Etgar Lefkovits / JNS) — The head of the Catholic Church and the leader of the Church of England are effectively rejecting the Bible by supporting policies that negate the connection of the Jewish people to the Holy Land, the chief rabbi of South Africa said on Sunday.

The blunt theological critique comes after the archbishop of Canterbury endorsed a ruling by the International Court of Justice last month that Israel’s presence in the “occupied Palestinian territories” is unlawful, and as the pontiff has sought to thread the needle and maintain strict neutrality during Israel’s war against Islamist terrorists in Gaza.

At a time when Europe’s future hangs in the balance, its two most senior Christian leaders – the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the head of the Church of England, Archbishop Justin Welby – have abandoned their most sacred duty to protect and defend the values of… pic.twitter.com/ptnsUIP1oS

— Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein (@ChiefRabbiSA) August 25, 2024

“At a time when Europe’s future hangs in the balance, its two most senior Christian leaders—the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the head of the Church of England, Archbishop Justin Welby—have abandoned their most sacred duty to protect and defend the values of the Bible,” South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein wrote in a post on X.

The world is locked in a civilizational battle of values, threatened by terrorism and jihad, the rabbi said.

“Now is the time for religious leaders to come to the defense of society, to speak up for Western values and freedom,” Goldstein said. “Instead, Pope Francis and the Anglican archbishop are silent: indifferent to the murder of Christians in Africa, and to the threat of terrorism throughout Europe, and outright hostile to Israel’s attempts to battle these jihadi forces led by Iran.”

Does the archbishop read the Bible?

The Jewish leader said that the head of the Church of England’s remarks put him in “direct opposition” to the Bible.

“Does the archbishop believe the accounts of the Bible are mere myths?” Goldstein ponders in a 15-minute video address attached to the X post. “How can anyone who believes in the Bible say that Israel is an illegal occupier of the Temple Mount?”

After the U.N. court ruling, Welby said that ending “Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is a legal and moral necessity.”

Goldstein continued, “If the archbishop reads his Bible, he should know that Jerusalem existed before London and was the capital of Israel before anyone heard of Britain.”

Imploring his fellow religious leaders to “go back to the Bible,” the South African rabbi said that denying Israel’s biblical claims to the Land of Israel was a threat to both the United Kingdom and Europe at a time of rising Islamic extremism.

“Jihadist ideology that seeks to destroy Israel is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe and its value system,” Goldstein said. “If Israel is abandoned to jihadi forces, Europe is next.”

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism for choosing to bring her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, to her first interview since President Biden announced he would not seek re-election. Some critics view this decision as a sign of “weakness” and a lack of confidence.

Harris, 59, is set to appear alongside Walz in a “joint interview” scheduled to air on CNN Thursday night. The choice has drawn swift backlash, with some accusing Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, of relying on Walz to help defend her record and policies after avoiding such exchanges for weeks.

Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, told CNN on Tuesday that bringing a running mate to the interview was a “weak” move, reflecting poorly on her political abilities. He added that it might raise concerns among voters about her potential as a president.

Others echoed these sentiments, pointing to Harris’ past verbal missteps as a possible reason Democrats might not trust her to handle the interview solo. Some critics on social media suggested that the presence of Walz indicated a lack of confidence in her ability to navigate the conversation alone.

Harris, who has long been in the public eye, has previously faced ridicule for struggling to respond to criticism, including her role as Biden’s “border czar.” A particularly awkward moment came during a 2021 interview with Lester Holt, where she awkwardly defended not visiting the US-Mexico border despite rising illegal immigration.

The upcoming interview will be her first since Biden endorsed her as his successor after withdrawing from the 2024 race on July 21. The interview will be conducted by CNN’s Dana Bash and is set to air at 9 p.m. ET from Savannah, Georgia.

LONDON (JNS) – British police have still not identified a man who was pictured in May wearing a Manchester United soccer jersey with ‘Hamas 7’ printed on the back.

The Telegraph reported in May that authorities were searching for the man, who was photographed by a Jewish passerby near the Oxford Circus tube station in central London.

“Police received a call from a member of the public reporting that a man was walking in Oxford Street, W1 wearing a football shirt with an offensive message on it,” said a Metropolitan Police spokesperson at the time. “Enquiries are underway to try and identify the man.”

The “Hamas 7” tag is a reference to the Palestinian terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction to Gaza of more than 250 people, 108 of whom remain in captivity.

“Threatening or carrying out acts of violence against any minority is despicable. And it’s absolutely right that anyone engaged in that sort of behavior should feel the full force of the law,” said Stephen Silverman, director of Investigations and Enforcement at the non-profit Campaign Against Antisemitism.

“The problem is for the last 10 months, and especially in London, we have been watching a double standard being applied, whereby one form of extremism is clamped down on with an iron fist while another is treated with an unacceptable level of leniency.

“The result is that through any lack of real deterrence through policing, a climate has been allowed to develop that is permissive with regard to expressions of hatred directed not just at Jewish people, but at Britain as well and at the liberal-democratic value we all rely on to keep us safe,” added Silverman.

Expressing support for a proscribed organization is a criminal offense in Britain under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.

The United Kingdom banned Hamas’s military wing in 2001 and extended the designation to its political wing in 2021.

According to a poll in April, only a quarter of British Muslims believe that Hamas committed murder and rape during its Oct. 7 invasion of Israel. Thirty-nine percent of British Muslims said Hamas did not commit atrocities on Oct. 7, while 37% said they didn’t know.

Younger, well-educated Muslims were most likely to say Hamas did not commit atrocities (47% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 40% among the university-educated).

Nearly half of British Muslims polled (46%) sympathized with Hamas.

NEW YORK – A man on the Upper East Side was subjected to an antisemitic attack when a stranger approached him, snarled, “Hitler was right,” and then spat in his face, according to police. The incident occurred around 4:10 p.m. on July 27, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and East 68th Street.

The attacker, who targeted a 65-year-old man, initially threatened him by asking, “Should I slap you or punch you?” before making the antisemitic remark and spitting in his face. After the assault, the suspect fled toward Madison Avenue.

The NYPD released a video on Tuesday showing the suspect, who remains at large. He is described as having a medium complexion and was last seen wearing black pants, a black hat, and a multicolored shirt.

The victim was not physically injured, but the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.

Anyone with information on the latest crime is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Israel confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that it had killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist in an airstrike near the Syria-Lebanon border several hours earlier.

The Israel Defense Forces described Faris Qasim as a “significant terrorist in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization’s Operations Division,” who was responsible for developing the terror group’s operational plans in Syria and Lebanon.

“He had a central role in the recruitment of Palestinian terrorists into the Hezbollah terrorist organization responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks from Lebanon against the State of Israel,” the IDF said.

“In recent years, the Hezbollah terrorist organization, with Iranian direction and funding, has been systematically recruiting Palestinian operatives to advance and direct terrorist activity against the State of Israel from Lebanese territory,” the statement continued.

Additional Islamic Jihad terrorists traveling from Syria to Lebanon to carry out terrorist activities for Hezbollah were killed in the strike, according to the IDF.

Earlier reports said that four terror operatives were killed in a drone strike on a vehicle at the Syria-Lebanon border.

Israel, which did not initially comment on the incident, has for years allegedly targeted Tehran’s terror proxies in Syria and combated Iranian entrenchment there, including weapons shipments and military infrastructure.

Islamic Jihad has dispatched its Syrian-based terrorists to Lebanon to join Hezbollah in its fight against Israel, which the Iranian terror proxy has been waging since Oct. 8, a day after the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people in the northwestern Negev.

Wednesday’s drone strike came hours after an Israeli airstrike hit a pickup truck in northeastern Lebanon near the Syrian border. A security source told Reuters that the vehicle was carrying military equipment which was likely a damaged rocket launcher on its way to be repaired.

AFP reported, citing a Lebanese security source, that the attack targeted two Hezbollah trucks around 6.2 miles from Baalbek, Lebanon and that one person was wounded in the strike.

An IDF soldier was lightly wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on the Galilee Panhandle on Tuesday evening, according to the army.

The explosives-laden drone crossed into Israeli territory, setting off sirens and impacting near Beit Hillel, wounding the soldier.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack.

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike on a building in Southern Lebanon’s Odaisseh after spotting Hezbollah operatives there.

(JNS)

Surveillance video captured an accident in Toms River last night which left multiple people injured.

The accident happened at the intersection of Hickory Boulevard and Vermont Boulevard at approximately 11:00 PM.

Several people were hospitalized, the injuries are not said to be life-threatening.

**Netanya, Israel (VINnews)—BDE:**An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reserve soldier was killed earlier today during ongoing operations in the central Gaza Strip, the military announced.

The fallen soldier has been identified as Master Sgt. (res.) Yohay Hay Glam, a 32-year-old from Netanya. He served in the Jerusalem Brigade’s 6310th Battalion. His death marks a significant loss as Israel continues its ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Master Sgt. Glam’s death comes amid intensified military efforts in Gaza, as the IDF seeks to dismantle Hamas’ infrastructure following the terrorist group’s attacks on Israeli territory.

Further details on the circumstances surrounding Glam’s death have not been released, as the military operation in Gaza remains active and highly fluid.

His death brings Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip to 342.

The Hebrew University announced on Tuesday that professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who denied the Oct. 7 atrocities committed by Hamas, will not return to her teaching position at the school and will instead retire on Oct. 1.

The university suspended Shalhoub-Kevorkian, holder of the Lawrence D. Biele Chair in Law at the main Mount Scopus campus, on March 12 after she accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

The Haifa-born Arab-Israeli has also called the “Zionist entity,” i.e. Israel, “criminal” and a “killing machine” and said Israel lied about rapes and Jewish babies being killed on Oct. 7.

Although the university in the letter announcing her suspension stated that it “rejects all of her distorted statements with disgust,” it nevertheless reinstated her on March 27.

The decision to allow her to resume teaching was taken following a meeting with the rector of the university, professor Tamir Sheafer.

Shalhoub-Kevorkian claimed in the meeting that “as a critical feminist researcher she believes all victims and does not doubt their words, and that she does not deny the fact that on Oct. 7 there were cases of rape in the south [of Israel].”

However, continued protests over Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s reinstatement led the university to plead with her to step down, which she eventually did.

Btsalmo, a pro-Zionist student group, filed a complaint with the university’s disciplinary committee, describing the remarks as particularly outrageous given many students, or their families, were personally affected by Oct. 7.

Although the school rejected the complaint, Btsalmo CEO Shai Glick praised the school for urging Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s departure.

“We congratulate the university for asking her not to continue teaching there. At the same time, we, together with other students, will resubmit the complaint and make sure that it goes up to the disciplinary committee and that all compensatory funds will be taken from her,” he said.

“Whoever harms IDF soldiers and incites against them, whoever harms university students, should not teach in the Israeli academy,” he said. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

By Y. S. Gold

We regret to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Shifra Maggid, a longtime Boro Park resident originally from Eretz Yisroel. She was in her nineties. 

The niferes was the daughter of Reb Shlomo Blotnick, z"l, an ardent Gerer chossid, and the wife of, ybl"ch, Reb Yosef Maggid, a devoted mechanech for decades--both in Eretz Yisroel, as well as in the Gerer talmud Torah Yagdil Torah in Boro Park. 

The nifteres is being flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah on Har Mamenuchos. 

Yehi zichra baruch.

The gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden, repeatedly looked up information about explosives and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a “target of opportunity,” a senior FBI official said Wednesday.

Investigators who have conducted nearly 1,000 interviews do not have a motive for why 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at Trump during a July 13 campaign rally but they believe that he conducted “extensive attack planning,” including looking up campaign events involving both the current president and former president, particularly in western Pennsylvania.

The FBI analysis of his online search history reveals a “sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters Wednesday.

Once a Trump rally was announced for July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, “He became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said. Crooks’ internet searches in the days leading up to the rally included queries about the grounds where the rally was held, “Where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show?” “Butler Farm Show podium and ”Butler Farm Show photos.”

The new details add to an emerging portrait of Crooks as a man who investigators say had taken an eerie interest in explosives, major events and prominent political figures, but whose internet searches across major parties have frustrated efforts to assign a simple motive.

“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.

The FBI has confirmed that Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet during the attack. Crooks, who was positioned on the roof of a nearby building, fired eight shots before being killed by a Secret Service counter sniper.

“We have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time,” Rojek said.

(AP)

The U.S. federal government will allocate nearly $150 million more this year to secure religious organizations, a significant boost aimed at addressing a sharp rise in antisemitism following the October 7 Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that it would provide $454.5 million this fiscal year through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which supports security enhancements at houses of worship and religious institutions. This marks the largest sum ever allocated to the program, a notable increase from last year’s $305 million.

“The funds announced today will provide communities across the country with vital resources necessary to strengthen their security and guard against terrorism and other threats,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Jewish. “The impact of these grants will be measured in lives saved and tragedies averted.”

Jewish organizations, which have historically championed the program since its inception in 2005 with just $25 million, continue to be major recipients of the funding. This year, the program’s expansion comes amid a spike in antisemitic incidents across the country.

“The increased funding is not just financial support; it’s a vital response to the virus of antisemitism spreading across our country,” said Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy at the Orthodox Union. “OU Advocacy spearheaded the creation of the NSGP, and we will continue fighting every day to make sure Jewish synagogues and schools can protect themselves.”

Initially, the program was set to receive only $274.5 million as part of a bipartisan budget deal, but Jewish groups lobbied for more support. Their efforts led to an additional $180 million being included in legislation providing aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.

“We were very concerned that the original level appropriated for this lifesaving program would fall short amid the unprecedented spike in antisemitism, which is why we worked closely with appropriators and congressional leadership to include additional funds in the security supplemental,” Karen Paikin Barall, vice president of government relations for Jewish Federations of North America told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Those additional $180 million in nonprofit security funds will make an enormous impact on our community’s security.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF announced today that the body of an Israeli soldier who was killed and abducted by Hamas on October 7, has been recovered from the southern Gaza Strip. The soldier’s name has not been released at the request of the family.

The recovery operation brings the total number of hostages still held by Hamas to 103, including the bodies of 33 confirmed dead. Since the massacre and abductions on October 7, Hamas has released 105 civilians.  Additionally, four hostages were released prior to a weeklong truce in late November, and eight hostages have been rescued alive by Israeli troops. The military has also recovered the bodies of 31 hostages, including three who were mistakenly killed during an escape attempt.

Hamas also continues to hold two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released the following statement:

“This evening our forces returned home the remains of a fallen IDF soldier whose name has not been released for publication. The fighter fell in a heroic battle on October 7 while defending the communities of the Western Negev.

The heart of the entire nation grieves over the terrible loss. My wife Sara and I convey our heartfelt condolences to his family.

I would like to thank the brave fighters and commanders of the ISA and the IDF for their important action.

The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return our hostages home, the living and the deceased.”

“I commend the IDF and ISA forces who conducted a bold operation to retrieve the body of a fallen soldier from Gaza, and brought him home for burial in Israel. The soldier fell in combat during the Hamas attack on October 7th,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

“This operation reflects our commitment to bringing all the hostages home,” Gallant added.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign now claims she “does not support” Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates after years of supporting such mandates as a Senator and in her role in President Joe Biden’s administration, Breitbart reports.

According to The Spectator‘s Amber Duke, Harris’s campaign sent an email to supporters on Tuesday claiming “Vice President Harris does not support an electric vehicle mandate.”

The statement comes after years of Harris campaigning, championing, and supporting EV mandates that require automakers to produce and sell a certain percentage of EVs to American consumers.

Last month, for instance, Breitbart News detailed Harris’s Green New Deal proposal from 2020 when she sought to abolish sales of gas-powered cars by 2035 and ensure that Americans can only purchase EVs when looking for a new car.

“[W]e will ensure that 50 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2030, and 100 percent are zero-emission by 2035,” Harris’s agenda read at the time. Similarly, Harris said she wanted to require “that all new buses be zero-emission by 2030.”

As vice president, Harris has backed Biden’s EV mandate, which will require that a majority of new cars produced and sold in the United States market are EVs or hybrids by 2032.

The U.S. Oil & Gas Association slammed Harris in a post to X:

Last month, a Harvard-Harris poll revealed that 72 percent of registered voters said they oppose the Biden-Harris EV mandate — including 57 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of swing voters, and 83 percent of Republicans.

Both EV mandates run the risk of wiping out millions of American auto jobs, including the jobs of UAW members. EVs, as experts note, require far less manpower to produce than traditional gas-powered cars.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), have said they will end Biden and Harris’s EV mandate.

“[We will] end the Electric Vehicle mandate on day one — thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car.” Breitbart

{Matzav.com}

The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept on hold the latest multibillion-dollar student debt relief plan from the Biden administration, while multiple lawsuits make their way through lower courts.

The justices rejected an administration request to put most of it back into effect. It was blocked by 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In an unsigned order, the court said it expects the appeals court to issue a fuller decision on the plan “with appropriate dispatch.”

The Education Department is seeking to provide a faster path to loan cancellation, and reduce monthly income-based repayments from 10% to 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income. The plan also wouldn’t require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person.

Last year, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority rejected an earlier plan that would have wiped away more than $400 billion in student loan debt.

Cost estimates of the new SAVE plan vary. The Republican-led states challenging the plan peg the cost at $475 billion over 10 years. The administration cites a Congressional Budget Office estimate of $276 billion.

(AP)

By BoroPark24 Staff

The Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso paid a heartfelt visit to thousands of Brooklynites spending the summer months in the Catskills, accompanied by his senior advisor, Jacob Eisdorfer.

His first stop was Camp HASC, where he was welcomed with open arms by the special children and their dedicated staff, all eagerly anticipating this significant visit. The children expressed their deep appreciation for his continued support and unwavering commitment to their needs.

The Borough President then continued his tour, visiting the Vien boys' camp, the Bobov Gila girls' camp, the Satmar Kutchers boys' camp, and the Satmar Machne Divrei Yoel Buchirim camp. His visit also included a stop at the bustling Ichud colony, where he was greeted by thousands of students and numerous Mispalilem, all eager to show their respect and admiration for the President. 

During his visit to Machne Divrei Yoel, the Brooklyn Borough President had the honor of meeting with the Satmar Rebbe, where they discussed the needs of the community, and the Borough President was warmly thanked for his unwavering support and dedication. It is to note that the majority of these kids are from Boro Park and Williamsburg.

Capping off his visit, the Borough President stopped by the Hatzalah Catskills Headquarters, where he expressed his deep appreciation for the tireless work and dedication of the Hatzalah volunteers, who ensure the safety and well-being of the Catskills community. 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nvidia has led the artificial intelligence boom to become one of the stock market’s biggest companies, as tech giants continue to spend heavily on the company’s chips and data centers needed to train and operate their AI systems.

The company is now worth over $3 trillion, with its dominance as a chipmaker cementing Nvidia’s place as the poster child of the AI industry ahead of the release of its latest financial results after the close of trading Wednesday.

Wall Street expects the company to report second-quarter adjusted earnings of 65 cents per share up from 27 cents a year ago. Revenue is expected to have surged to $28.74 billion, more than double what it earned in the comparable quarter one year ago. By comparison, S&P 500 companies overall are expected to deliver just 5% growth in revenue for the quarter, according to FactSet.

The problem, critics say, is such stellar growth has set off too much euphoria among investors. Through the year’s first six months, Nvidia’s stock soared nearly 150%. At that point, the stock was trading at a little more than 100 times the company’s earnings over the prior 12 months. That’s much more expensive than it’s been historically and than the S&P 500 in general. That’s why analysts warn of a selloff if Wall Street sees any indication that AI demand is waning.

Demand for generative AI products that can compose documents, make images and serve as personal assistants has fueled sales of Nvidia’s specialized chips over the last year. In the past three quarters, Nvidia’s revenue has more than tripled on an annual basis, with the vast majority of growth coming from the data center business.

The Santa Clara, California-based company carved out an early lead in AI applications race, in part because of founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s successful bet on the chip technology used to fuel the industry. The company is no stranger to big bets. Nvidia’s invention of the graphics processor unit, or GPU, in 1999 helped spark the growth of the PC gaming market and redefined computer graphics.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump fiercely criticized the new indictment filed against him by special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, labeling it as a “direct assault on democracy.”

The latest indictment streamlines the charges against Trump following a Supreme Court decision that grants presidents broad immunity for their official actions. Despite this, the indictment maintains the four charges related to Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump contends that the entire case should be dismissed in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Trump expressed his outrage over the indictment in several posts on Truth Social, describing it as an attempt to revive a “dead” Witch Hunt and to “save face.”

“[T]he illegally appointed ‘Special Counsel’ Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY,” Trump stated. “This is merely an attempt to INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTION, and distract the American People from the catastrophes Kamala Harris has inflicted on our Nation.”

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on July 1 that Trump, along with other presidents, enjoys certain immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while in office.

“For them to do this immediately after our Supreme Court Victory on Immunity and more, is shocking,” Trump added. “I’ve also been informed by my attorneys, that you’re not even allowed to bring cases literally right before an Election — A direct assault on Democracy! This is an unprecedented abuse of the Criminal Justice System.”

Trump and his Republican allies have accused the Biden administration of using legal tactics to undermine the former president, who they view as the primary political threat to Democrats. On Tuesday, Trump directed his criticism at President Joe Biden’s potential successor and the new Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This travesty is now on Comrade Kamala Harris, who is actively pushing it, rather than immediately calling for its dismissal, as should be done,” Trump posted. “… As Jack Smith knows, the whole case should be thrown out and dismissed on Presidential Immunity grounds, as already ruled unequivocally by the U.S. Supreme Court. Smith rewrote the exact same case in an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court Decision.

“The people of our Country will see what is happening with all of these corrupt lawsuits against me, and will REJECT them by giving me an overwhelming Victory on November 5th for President of the United States.”

{Matzav.com}

Chaveirim of Central Jersey has added its third mobile generator to their fleet to service the community.

The first two mobile generators had been dedicated in memory of Misaskim founder Yanky Meyer ZT”L.

Chaveirim thanked Aryeh Skorski of Targeted Diagnostics for sponsoring the new generator, and their dedicated members who volunteered their time building and equipping the new generator.

Mobile generators have become essential tools for Chaveirim, providing crucial power for critical medical equipment, traffic lights, and more during power outages and other emergencies.

The U.S. government has issued a strong warning to its citizens against traveling to Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah due to the ongoing war with Russia. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine specifically advised against visiting Uman, where thousands of Jews travel annually to spend Rosh Hashana at the tziyon of Rebbe Nachman.

“The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens do not travel to Uman, Ukraine, for the annual pilgrimage during Rosh Hashanah,” the embassy said in a statement. This guidance aligns with the current travel advisory, which discourages all travel to Ukraine amid the conflict.

The embassy highlighted security concerns, noting that Uman has been targeted by Russian missile strikes since the war began. “Russian airstrikes have hit civilian buildings and critical infrastructure, including houses of worship, often with little or no warning,” the statement read. Local authorities have also warned of insufficient air raid shelters for the anticipated influx of Jews.

The embassy further reminded dual U.S.-Ukrainian citizens that Ukraine has removed the “residence abroad” exception, preventing Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country, even if they hold U.S. passports. The U.S. government emphasized the “extremely high risk” that travelers with dual citizenship may not be permitted to depart Ukraine.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

ISRAEL (VINnews)-BDE:The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that Staff Sgt. Amit Friedman, a 19-year-old soldier from the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, was killed during combat operations in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday. Amit Friedman, a resident of Or Yehuda, was serving on the frontlines.

Amit Friedman’s father, Assaf Friedman, holds the position of director of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The family is now facing the profound grief of losing a son who followed in his father’s footsteps of serving his country. The IDF and the nation mourn the loss of this young soldier, whose dedication and service to Israel will be remembered.

By BoroPark24 Staff

The 60th St and 14th Ave intersection is a famously busy intersection in Brooklyn where multiple streets meet up. 

For pedestrians, crossing the intersection can be a harrowing ordeal, but not for too much longer. Construction is currently underway at the center of the intersection to create sidewalks so pedestrians crossing the road have a safe spot to wait until they can get over to the other side. 

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — New details have emerged from the dramatic rescue of Farhan El-Qadi from the Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

The rescue operation was based on advance intelligence which indicated that El-Qadi was stuck in the tunnels but without his captors. Special force members of Shayetet 13 and Yahalam descended into the tunnels and called out to him. He answered them, stating that “It’s me, Farhan, don’t shoot”, according to a Channel 12 report.

At this stage it was complicated to reach Farhan, as he was inside a complex of tunnels in a side room. The IDF forces worked carefully, wary of terrorist traps, before they reached the room and found him alone in the tunnel.

The first person to speak with Farhan was Col. Ahsan Daqsa, an Arabic-speaking officer, who asked him lots of details that the forces wanted to know. Farhan was then flown to Soroka hospital.

Israeli security officials estimate that Hamas has lost touch with some of the hostages and are trying to determine what happened to them. The IDF believes that it will not be possible to return all of the hostages in military operations.

Farhan (52), who lost some 20 kg of body weight in captivity, said that he had not ceased believing that he would get out alive. He claimed that his captors had fled when the IDF called out to him. “I thought the tunnel was booby-trapped so I walked very slowly,” he added.” He added that he was cut off from radio and television and had little idea what was happening outside during the last 10 months.”

JERUSALEM (JNS) – The Israel Defense Forces launched a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas of northern Samaria overnight Tuesday, involving hundreds of troops and air support.

Nine Palestinians were killed, according to the IDF—three armed terrorists who posed a threat to security forces in Jenin in an aerial strike, two armed terrorists in clashes with Judea and Samaria Border Guard forces and another four in a drone strike in the Far’a camp in Tubas.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that at least 11 Palestinians had been killed.

Members of Israeli forces patrol a street during a military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Israeli forces have also arrested several Palestinians during the operation, which is expected to last for several days. Weapons, ammunition and military equipment were also confiscated.

Israeli forces also “exposed and dismantled explosives that were planted under the roads” and which were intended to be used in attacks against IDF troops.

According to Palestinian reports, Israeli forces were surrounding the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, and forces were deployed at the entrances of other hospitals as well. The IDF denied Palestinian claims that troops had entered the facilities, stressing that the hospitals’ function had not been disrupted and it was still possible to enter and leave them.

Two brigade combat teams are taking part in the operation, with most of the forces being concentrated near Tulkarem, according to Ynet. In addition to the IDF, the Israel Security Agency and Israel Border Police are participating in the operation.

Five terrorists struck in Nur Shams ‘operations room’

The Israeli military revealed on Wednesday morning that five terrorists were killed on Monday in a joint IDF and Israel Security Agency operation near Nur Shams in northern Samaria.

One of the fatalities, Jibril Ghassan Ismail Jibril, was released from prison as part of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal reached in November. He was involved in terror activity in the areas of Tulkarem and Qalqilya, according to the military.

Mohanad Qarawi and Muhammad Yussef were involved in terrorist activity in Nur Shams, while Adnan Jaber was in involved in terrorist activity and manufactured explosives intended to harm security forces.

The structure targeted in the operation “was used by the terrorists to conduct terrorist activity and harm IDF soldiers operating in the area,” said the IDF, which published a video of the strike.

Trump National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt unloaded on Kamala Harris and her campaign on Tuesday after news broke that the failed “Border Czar” would support funding for the southern border wall.

“As a senator, Kamala tried to block President Trump’s construction of the border wall. As Border Czar, Kamala Harris halted construction of the border wall. Kamala’s ACTIONS speak much louder than the WORDS of the anonymous staff she is cowering behind.”

The border wall spending is just the latest in a long line of flip-flops from Kamala Harris, who has also called for a fracking ban and an end to employer-based private health insurance.

Axios was first to break the story about Harris’ wall flip-flop this week.

From Axios:

Why it matters: It’s the latest example of Harris flip-flopping on her past liberal positions such as supporting Medicare for All and banning fracking — proposals that aides say she now is against.

Harris is embracing a more hawkish immigration policy as Donald Trump’s campaign spends tens of millions of dollars attacking her about the border.

But she still has significant differences with Trump on immigration, opposing his approach to family separation and his plans for mass deportations.

This comes following their initial letter signed by over 100 Rabbonim.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — An iconic picture of a Jewish doctor caring for the Bedouin rescued from the Gaza tunnels, Farhan Al-Qadi, has garnered praise for Israel from many moderate Arab countries.

The well-known commentator Amjad Taha from the United Arab Emirates in a bold text wrote that : “First in the Middle East, this is a moment for all to celebrate. Congratulations to Israel and to humanity. Second, this picture powerfully illustrates the reality: the so-called “apartheid” Jewish state, where a Jewish doctor is treating a Muslim Arab who was held hostage by Hamas-ISIS Islamist terrorists in Gaza. Israel, this “apartheid” state, dispatched 18 Jewish soldiers to rescue the Muslim Arab Bedouin and reunite him with his children.

“If you live in New York, Paris, or London, you might be confused because your media won’t show you this reality of the Middle East. Instead, go protest against McDonald’s burgers and Starbucks chai lattes.”

Egyptian-born London blogger Nervana Mahmoud wrote that “this video will shock many Arabs”, sharing the happy brother of Mahmoud responding in Hebrew to his release.

This video will shock many Arabs.

One of the family of rescued Israeli hostage, Farhan Alkadi, a clearly devout Muslim, speaking in Hebrew, and clearly happy.

Yes, Hamas kidnapped Muslims, and kept them in captivity for months, in the hope of trading them with its thugs… https://t.co/2I8X5GJx5c

— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) August 27, 2024

Mahmoud added derisively that “Al-Jazeera is almost wailing after the rescue of Israeli Bedouin Muslim Farhan Kadi.” and mocked Hamas for claiming that it had  released Farhan after learning he was Muslim. “Yes, it took you ten months to learn the Arab you were holding hostage was indeed a Muslim. Must be the language barrier…” she responded.

The U.S. State Department stated that it “strongly opposes” Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s call for construction of a shul on the Har Habayis in Yerushalayim.

The proposed Jewish house of worship “on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount” would “demonstrate blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, said.

“The ongoing reckless statements and actions of this minister only sow chaos and exacerbate tensions at a moment when Israel must stand united against threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah,” Miller added. “They directly undermine Israel’s security.”

Ben-Gvir said in an interview with Israel’s Army Radio on Monday that Jewish prayer is allowed on the Har Habayis. That prompted a denial from the Prime Minister’s Office, which stated that policy on the Har Habayis is determined by the government and the prime minister.

“There is no change to the status quo,” Netanyahu’s office stated.

Under the “status quo” promulgated after Israel recaptured the Old City of Yerushalayim in 1967, Jews are permitted to visit the Har Habayis but not to pray there.

During the interview, Ben-Gvir was asked repeatedly if he would build a shul on the Har Habayis. He replied, “yes.”

Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were among the Muslim countries that officially condemned Ben-Gvir’s comments.

Miller reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to the Har Habayis status quo on Tuesday and called on Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to uphold the policy.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office has made clear that the actions and statements of Minister Ben-Gvir are inconsistent with the government of Israel’s policy, and a number of responsible voices in the Israeli government have condemned them,” Miller said. “It is critical that the government of Israel continue to ensure its policy is adhered to.” JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian has resigned from the Hebrew University, after she caused an uproar when she denied the October 7 rapes and murders in the Gaza surrounding communities and towns.

Arutz Sheva reported that the professor, an Arab Israeli who grew up in Haifa, had previously been suspended from the university after she published a petition accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Among other things she said that “Now is the time to abolish Zionism, that is the direction I’m going in today. It can’t go on anymore, it can’t, it’s criminal,” and cast doubt that the acts of rape actually occurred on October 7, saying: “They will use any lie. They started with babies, they continued with rape, and they will continue with a million other lies. We stopped believing them, I hope the world stops believing them.”

Despite making these statements and being suspended, Shalhoub-Kevorkian returned to teaching at the university, which accepted her claim that she believed all the victims and did not doubt their words.

The right-wing human rights group Btsalmo filed a complaint with the university’s disciplinary committee, stating that her accusations are offensive to the Hebrew University students and noted that many of the students or their family members were personally affected by the October 7th attacks, making her claims even more outrageous.

In response, the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, Professor David Glicksberg, rejected the complaint of Btsalmo’s CEO, Shai Glick but emphasized that “Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s words were harsh and repulsive, and he rejects them entirely.”

At the same time, Professor Glicksberg noted on Wednesday morning that Shalhoub-Kevorkian has retired from the university and will no longer be teaching there from the next academic year.

Over the last year, the Hebrew University publicly and privately appealed to the professor and requested that she resign. It seems that she consented to the request, due to the immense pressure.

Glick said that: “We welcome the resignation of the inciting professor. As we promised, every instigator of hatred, regardless of his or her position and status, will eventually leave academia. We congratulate the Hebrew University for not asking her to continue teaching there. Even so, together with other students, we will refile the complaint make sure that she goes before a disciplinary committee and that all her compensation money will be revoked.”

he Israel Defense Forces launched a large-scale counterterrorism operation in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas of northern Shomron, involving hundreds of troops and air support.

At least 11 Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry—including two in clashes with IDF troops in Jenin, three in a drone strike in a nearby village and another four in a drone strike in the Far’a camp in Tubas.

Israel’s Channel 12 identified two of the fatalities as Kassam Jabarin, 25, and Atsam Belot, 39.

Several Palestinian suspects have been arrested so far in the operation, which is expected to last for several days.

According to Palestinian reports, Israeli forces were surrounding the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin, and forces were deployed at the entrances of other hospitals as well.

Two brigade combat teams are taking part in the operation, with most of the forces being concentrated near Tulkarem, according to Ynet.

Five terrorists struck in Nur Shams ‘operations room’

The Israeli military revealed on Wednesday morning that five terrorists were killed on Monday in a joint IDF and Israel Security Agency operation near Nur Shams in northern Samaria.

One of the fatalities, Jibril Ghassan Ismail Jibril, was released from prison as part of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal reached in November. He was involved in terror activity in the areas of Tulkarem and Qalqilya, according to the military.

Mohanad Qarawi and Muhammad Yussef were involved in terrorist activity in Nur Shams, while Adnan Jaber was in involved in terrorist activity and manufactured explosives intended to harm security forces.

The structure targeted in the operation “was used by the terrorists to conduct terrorist activity and harm IDF soldiers operating in the area,” said the IDF, which published a video of the strike.

JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

Israel’s Attorney General’s Office has officially classified the murder of Israel Prison Service dog handler , 40-year-old Yochai Avni hy”d, as an act of terrorism. The ruling comes after Hamas member Ibrahim Mansur was accused of breaking into Avni’s home in Givon Hachadasha, northwest of Jerusalem, stabbing him 66 times, and setting the house on fire.

The indictment, filed Tuesday morning at the Ofer Military Court, charges Mansur with murder motivated by a nationalist agenda. “The accused did all this due to the fact that the deceased was Jewish, with the intention of causing his death and fleeing the scene,” the Attorney General’s Office stated in its formal indictment.

Avni’s sister, Nitzan, expressed the family’s devastation during the court hearing, saying, “We were informed that the killer stabbed the suspect 66 times in all parts of his body. Meaning he not only murdered him but also abused him. He then burned everything.”

The military court judge reinforced the severity of the charges, confirming that Mansur, a resident of Biddu near Givon Hahadasha, intentionally targeted the settlement because it was inhabited by Jews. “The indictment charges the defendant with the crime of causing death intentionally,” the judge said, approving the military prosecution’s request to detain Mansur until the end of legal proceedings.

Mansur was arrested two days after the brutal July 8 murder, but initial investigations did not immediately conclude terror as the primary motive. However, the latest developments, including the Attorney General’s ruling, have now made it clear that the murder was a terrorist attack with nationalist motivations.

In court, Mansur appeared unfazed, smiling and making victory gestures. His demeanor sparked outrage, but the Avni family, represented by attorney Ran Cohen Rockberger, expressed relief that the case was now recognized as a terror attack.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

IDF Staff Sgt. Amit Friedman, 19, was killed battling Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Wednesday morning.

Friedman, who served with the Nachal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, was from Or Yehuda in central Israel.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the IDF ground incursion in Gaza on Oct. 27 now stands at 339, and at 703 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, according to official military data.

Additionally, Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, a member of the Border Police’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was fatally wounded during a hostage-rescue mission in Gaza in June, and civilian defense contractor Liron Yitzchak was mortally wounded in May. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

The IDF has announced the death of Master Sgt. (res.) Yohay Hay Glam, a 32-year-old reserve soldier from Netanya, who was killed during fighting in the central Gaza Strip earlier today. Glam hy”d was part of the Jerusalem Brigade’s 6310th Battalion.

His death brings the total number of IDF fatalities in the Gaza conflict to 342 and 704 since October 7.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Vaad Harabonim of Hatzolah of Central Jersey has issued a public warning to the communities of Lakewood, Jackson, Toms River, Howell, Manchester, and Brick regarding a rival organization, Hatzulas Nefashos, promoting unsanctioned emergency services. This group, previously condemned by rabbinical authorities across these towns for offering unnecessary and unapproved services, has ramped up its marketing efforts.

Hatzulas Nefashos has been aggressively advertising its hotline number, using attention-grabbing tactics aimed specifically at children. The group has distributed stickers, magnets, and other paraphernalia that are finding their way into homes, raising the possibility of confusion in emergency situations.

The Vaad Harabonim expressed serious concerns about the way this organization is branding itself, noting that its visual marketing closely mimics that of Hatzolah of Central Jersey. Such similarities could lead to dangerous confusion in moments of crisis, potentially delaying the appropriate medical response and putting lives at risk.

The statement emphasizes that the resources, experience, and medical oversight of the rival organization are unknown, and the Vaad strongly cautions against calling this alternative hotline in emergencies. They reiterated that Hatzolah of Central Jersey has no affiliation with this group and stressed that dialing their number will not connect callers to Hatzolah responders.

In light of this, the Vaad Harabonim urged community members to remove any magnets or materials related to the rival organization from their homes. They reminded residents that in an emergency, only Hatzolah’s official 24/7 hotline numbers—732-370-3600 or 732-888-3000—will guarantee fast, professional medical care, including advanced life support services.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — BDE: The body of 19-year-old Shaked Dahan, which was abducted by terrorists from his tank on October 7th near Nir Oz, has been located and recovered in Gaza.

Shaked, together with the other members of the tank, bravely fought off the Hamas attackers despite being severely outnumbered. A terrorist placed an explosive device on the tank and others fired anti-tank missiles, killing Shaked and his friends. He was declared dead 53 days later by the IDF after intensive intelligence work, and his family sat shiva for him.

Recently the Shin Bet received information about the whereabouts of his body and with the help of other intelligence work and the 162nd division’s 401 battalion, the body was rescued Monday night and brought to Israel for burial.

Two members of the tank have now been returned, while two other bodies are still being held in captivity. In all, 107 hostages (alive and dead) remain in enemy hands.

May his blood be avenged.

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Instead of planning Ruti’s first summer vacation, *we are battling a vicious cancer that has attacked her small body.* Each passing day brings new pain and greater fear. The doctors say that only urgent treatment in Boston can save her life, but the costs are beyond our means.

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The U.S. State Department on Tuesday blasted Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s suggestion to build a shul on Har Habayis, warning that such a move could dangerously disrupt the fragile status quo.

The proposed shul “on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount” would show “blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. He added that Ben-Gvir’s “reckless statements and actions” were exacerbating tensions during a time when Israel needs unity against external threats from Iran and its proxy groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah. “They directly undermine Israel’s security,” Miller warned.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office has made clear that the actions and statements of Minister Ben-Gvir are inconsistent with the government of Israel’s policy,” Miller said, calling on the Israeli government to adhere to the longstanding arrangement.

The condemnation from the US came after Ben-Gvir said in a Monday interview with Israel’s Army Radio that Jewish prayer is allowed on Har Habayis and affirmed his intention to build a shul there. His remarks prompted a swift rebuttal from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which emphasized that policy regarding Har Habayis is determined by the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There is no change to the status quo,” the Prime Minister’s Office reiterated.

Under the status quo established after Israel recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, Jews are permitted to visit Har Habayis but are not allowed to daven there.

Ben-Gvir’s comments also drew condemnation from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim-majority nations.

Tuesday’s edition of the Hebrew-language Yated newspaper also called out Ben-Gvir, stating clearly on its front page that it is assur gamur for Jews to go onto Har Habayis, and that Ben-Gvir is putting all Israelis at risk with his inflammatory and anti-halacha statements and demands.

Gedolei HaPoskim throughout the ages including Gedolei Hador Shlita today have ruled it is absolutely forbidden to visit Har Habayis, even if one does so in line with Halacha including tevila. This is also the ruling of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This is an Issur Kares.

Fifteen years ago on Sukkos, then President Shimon Peres paid a visit to the Sukka of the late Posek Hador, Maran HaGaon Rav Elyashiv ZATZAL, where Rav Elyashiv called on the President to prevent Jews from visiting Har Habayis, stating it is an act that that is viewed as extremely provocative by the goyim. Maran stated everything possible must be done to avoid a religious war, and the provocateurs are playing with fire.

Maran is quoted as explaining to the president that Halacha forbids going onto Har Habayis but today, it is more than this, it is an act that may lead to a religious war and bloodshed.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

An Israeli drone strike on a car in Syria near the border with Lebanon killed four terrorists on Wednesday morning.

The car was traveling on the Beirut-Damascus highway when it was hit by the drone, setting the car on fire and killings its occupants.

In an rare acknowledgment, the IDF has confirmed that it conducted the drone attack, resulting in the death of a high-ranking Palestinian Islamic Jihad figure.

The IDF reports that the airstrike targeted the Syrian side of the Beirut-Damascus highway, close to the Lebanon-Syria border, and killed Fares Qasem.

According to the military, Qasem was a key member of Islamic Jihad’s operations unit.

PIJ terrorists from Syria have traveled in recent months to southern Lebanon, to fight against Israel with Hezbollah. Both terror groups are supported by Iran and transport terrorists, weapons and funds through the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

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(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Fox News political analyst Karl Rove expressed on Tuesday threw a chilling dose of reality at the optimism surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, suggesting her polling numbers are weaker than those of Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 at similar points in their respective campaigns.

During a segment on Special Report with Bret Baier, Rove responded to a Democratic strategist’s critique that Harris’s current strategy of staying silent on policy and avoiding the media is “borne of conceit and foolhardiness.”

“What do you make of that?” Baier asked Rove.

Rove noted that Harris needs to be clearer on policy positions. “Let’s not be critical of her by saying she has to have a Democrat Congress and a Democrat Senate in order to get these things done,” he said, comparing her situation to former President Donald Trump, who also required control of Congress to advance his agenda. “People want to know where you’re coming from, and they want to know enough about the specifics to get their hands around it,” Rove added.

Rove also emphasized Harris’s polling struggles compared to previous Democratic candidates. “On this day in 2020, Joe Biden was up 7.1% above Donald Trump in the RealClearPolitics average. And at this point in 2016, Hillary Clinton was up 6.3%. Today, Harris is up over Trump by 1.5% in the RealClearPolitics average and 3.5% in the 538.com average,” Rove pointed out. He stressed that while Harris is ahead, her lead is significantly smaller than Biden and Clinton’s at similar points in their campaigns.

Rove further noted the importance of battleground states, where polling data is still sparse. “We have a few polls in several states, but we certainly don’t have 6 or 7 or 8 polls that would give us an average and therefore give us a better idea of where they actually are,” he explained, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding Harris’s standing in key swing states.

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(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Police in the suburbs of New York City made the first arrest under a new local law banning face masks, officials announced Tuesday.

Nassau County Police say officers on Sunday night responded to reports of a suspicious person on a street near the Levittown and Hicksville town line, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Manhattan.

They found Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo wearing black clothing and a black ski mask that covered his face, except for his eyes.

The department said the 18-year-old resident displayed other suspicious behavior, including attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband and refusing to comply with the officers’ commands.

Officers say the bulge turned out to be a 14-inch knife. Ramirez Castillo was placed under arrest without further incident, police said.

He was arraigned Monday in Family Court in Westbury on misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of a weapon and obstructing governmental administration, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office.

Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a police department spokesperson, said Ramirez Castillo will also be facing a misdemeanor violation of the face mask law in the coming days.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who signed the mask ban into law earlier this month, said Sunday’s arrest showed the rule is working.

“Our police officers were able to use the mask ban legislation as well as other factors to stop and interrogate an individual who was carrying a weapon with the intent to engage in a robbery,” he said in an emailed statement. “Passing this law gave police another tool to stop this dangerous criminal.”

Keith Ross, a criminal justice professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said police didn’t necessarily need the new law to stop and question Ramirez Castillo, but it helped bolster their justification.

“The law gives police, at the very least, reasonable suspicion to conduct a stop,” the retired New York City police officer explained by phone. “Under reasonable suspicion, police can forcibly stop a person in New York state if they are suspected of committing a felony or a penal law misdemeanor, which is where this new law falls.”

But Scott Banks, attorney-in chief at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which is representing Ramirez Castillo, challenged that notion.

“There is no basis to believe that wearing a face mask was intended to conceal identity or criminal behavior, and if that was the basis of the stop I believe there is a basis to conclude the stop was unlawful,” he wrote in an email.

Skrynecki declined to comment, adding that police and county officials will discuss the incident at a news conference Wednesday.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized the new law, repeated its warning that the mask ban is “ripe for selective enforcement by a police department with a history of aggression and discrimination.”

Disability Rights of New York, a group that advocates for people with disabilities, filed a legal challenge last week arguing that the mask law is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities.

The federal class action lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop enforcement of the ban.

The Mask Transparency Act was approved by the county’s Republican-controlled legislature in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The law makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone in Nassau to wear a face covering to hide their identity in public. It exempts people who wear masks “for health, safety, religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”

(AP)

An Israeli drone strike on a car in Syria near the border with Lebanon killed four terrorists on Wednesday morning.

The car was traveling on the Beirut-Damascus highway when it was hit by the drone, setting the car on fire and killings its occupants.

Reuters reported that the strike killed one Hezbollah member and three Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists.

PIJ terrorists from Syria have traveled in recent months to southern Lebanon, to fight against Israel with Hezbollah. Both terror groups are supported by Iran and transport terrorists, weapons and funds through the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

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(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

In a revealing conversation on MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki on Monday, former CNN host Don Lemon shared insights from his interviews with Black voters, many of whom said they plan to vote for former President Donald Trump, citing their belief that Trump is “on black people’s side.”

Lemon, reflecting on his interviews across key swing states ahead of the Democratic National Convention, described the experience as “eye-opening.” Despite favorable economic metrics for the Biden-Harris administration, many voters still recall the 2021 stimulus checks bearing Trump’s signature. “I don’t know if it was surprising, but it was certainly eye-opening to hear so many people, even people of color and women, saying they are going to support Donald Trump,” Lemon said, expressing skepticism about the accuracy of current polls.

Lemon recounted how many black voters mistakenly credited Trump with the stimulus checks, forgetting that the payments came from a Democratic Congress. “They did not somehow remember that the current president also gave them a stimulus check, except his name wasn’t on it,” Lemon explained. “So, when they got the check, and his name was on it, they automatically thought it came directly from Donald Trump, which I think is good marketing.”

When Psaki turned the conversation to Vice President Kamala Harris, Lemon noted that many voters, particularly in swing states like Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, were unfamiliar with her. “Many people did not know who she was… I think she has to reintroduce herself to the public,” he said.

Lemon also addressed his past public criticisms of Trump, saying, “Of course, I think he is racist. Look at his rhetoric and his track record, and anyone can see that.” However, he acknowledged that for many voters, their priority was not Trump’s character but rather their personal economic situation. “Maybe the economy is better, but prices are higher, and people have less money to put towards high prices and to feed their families,” Lemon said.

Lemon concluded by noting that many voters he encountered were “low partisan information voters,” who were not following every political development but were acutely aware of their financial situations. “They vote on that and not necessarily what they see on television,” he said.

https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/27114126/LwGpASb3-34584671.mp4

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

By Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber

There were mixed emotions in the Rec Hall as Camp Romimu showed the end of summer banquet video to their hundreds of happy campers. The summer has been a smashing success both in ruchniyus and gashmius and that feeling was in the room.

As I walked out of the Rec Hall, I saw that there was a camper from my division trailing me. It seemed as if he wanted my attention so I stopped as Ari turned to me. “Rebbe, I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done. I had an incredible summer”. I have received many thanks from boys but there was something about his that was so genuine. Although I had not done anything out of the ordinary for him over the summer, he made the effort to properly convey his thanks. It was clear that he had gone out of his comfort zone to give the thanks and it was very touching.

On the following morning, the last morning of camp, I saw Ari and wished him a good morning. “Ari,” I asked, “did your parents tell you to thank the Head Staff”. He answered “No, but I always see my parents thanking people so I felt it was right to do it as well”.

When my first child was a toddler, I asked my Rosh Hayeshiva, Harav Aharon Feldman shlita, what I could do for chinuch for my children at this age. He answered “Children see what you are doing, and if you make berachos out loud, there will come a day that they too will model your actions”.

Lessons are ‘caught’, not ‘taught’.

Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber is a Middle School Rebbi in Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury, the Director of the Mishmar Evening Program in Waterbury and Division Head in Camp Romimu. He is a frequent contributor to various publications on areas related to education as well as speaks publicly on various topics. Rabbi Heber can be reached via email at [email protected].

The IDF launched an extensive counterterrorism operation in the Shomron overnight Tuesday but targeted operations in “refugee camps” in terror hubs have been taking place on a smaller scale since October 7.

The IDF confirmed on Wednesday that a drone strike Monday killed five terrorists in a terror command center in the Nur a-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, including Jibril Jibril, a 20-year-old Hamas terrorist from Qalqilya who was released in the November 2023 hostage deal and who has since been involved in several shooting attacks against Israeli targets.

He is the third terrorist released in the deal who immediately returned to terror activities and was killed by Israeli security forces this month.

Earlier this month, Wael Misha, an 18-year-old terrorist released in the deal, was killed in an airstrike in Shechem during a counterterrorism operation.

Two days earlier, Tariq Daoud, an 18-year-old Hamas terrorist released in the deal, was killed by IDF forces after he shot and seriously wounded an Israeli in his 60s.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The IDF overnight Tuesday began an extensive counterterrorism operation in Jenin, Tulkarm, and other terror hubs in the northern Shomron. The operation is expected to last several days.

The operation, dubbed Operation Summer Camps (מחנות קיץ), was launched in the wake of the attempted suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv last week and previous attempts by terrorists from the Shomron to carry out mass-casualty attacks in Israel. IDF intelligence officials believe that terrorists from a terror network in the Tulkarm area were responsible for planning and directing the attempted bombing in Tel Aviv.

Hundreds of IDF soldiers entered terror hubs in “refugee camps” in Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur a-Shams, Tubas, Qalqilya, and the Far’a camp in the Jordan Valley – first entering with bulldozers, destroying infrastructure and uncovering hidden explosives intended to harm Israeli forces. Heavy gun battles took place in every area the soldiers entered. Forces on the ground were assisted by the Air Force, including combat helicopters and drones. IDF soldiers blocked all entrances to the cities and also surrounded the main hospitals in Jenin and Tulkarm, screening those entering in order to prevent terrorists from hiding there as they did in previous operations.

https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28043821/2808240719_hisol_mehablim_720p.mp4

Nine terrorists were killed, four in Jenin and five in Tubas.

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz stated on Wednesday morning: “The IDF has been working intensively since last night in the Jenin and Tulkarm ‘refugee camps’ to thwart Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructure that has been established there. Iran is working to establish an eastern terror front against Israel in the Shomron, per the Gaza and Lebanon model, by financing and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan. We must deal with the threat just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents and whatever steps are required. This is  a war in the full sense of the word and we must win it.”

Gun battles between terrorists and IDF forces in Jenin:

https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28043402/280824_jenin_720p.mp4

https://yeshivaworlds3.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/28032529/Probably-one-of-the-biggest-operations-in-Jenin-si.mp4

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

(VINnews) — The U.S. State Dept is asking all American citizens not to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah, due to safety and visa concerns. The statement released says that “Uman has been the site of multiple Russian missile attacks”, including on houses of worship.

It also said that for dual citizens, “there is an extremely high risk U.S. citizens will not be allowed to depart, even with a U.S. passport.”

READ THE FULL STATEMENT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE OF THE US EMBASSY IN UKRAINE:

The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens do not travel to Uman, Ukraine, for the annual pilgrimage to the grave of Rebbe Nachman during Rosh Hashanah. This recommendation is consistent with our current Travel Advisory recommending against all travel to Ukraine.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Uman has been the site of multiple Russian missile attacks. Russian airstrikes have hit civilian buildings and critical infrastructure, including houses of worship, often with little or no warning. Local authorities have advised that Uman does not have enough air raid shelters to accommodate all anticipated travelers to the pilgrimage. Ukraine remains under martial law, with curfew and movement restrictions that would also affect pilgrims to Uman.

As a reminder to U.S.-Ukrainian dual nationals, or those who may have a claim to Ukrainian citizenship, Ukraine has eliminated a “residence abroad” exception that previously allowed certain Ukrainian males aged 18 to 60 to depart the country. After this change, U.S.-Ukrainian dual citizens, including those who live in the United States, may no longer be able to depart the country. We strongly recommend against all travel to Ukraine by U.S. citizens, including males aged 18 to 60 who also have Ukrainian citizenship or a claim to Ukrainian citizenship and who do not wish to stay in Ukraine indefinitely. There is an extremely high risk U.S. citizens will not be allowed to depart, even with a U.S. passport. Travelers who are unsure whether they have a claim to Ukrainian citizenship should consult Ukrainian authorities for further guidance. For more information on traveling with dual nationality, please visit our Travelers with Dual Nationality page.

We remind all U.S. citizens of the State Department’s Level 4: Do Not Travel warning for Ukraine. For further information, see State Department websites for what you should know as a dual citizen traveler, and what we can and cannot do during a crisis.

Vice President Kamala Harris failed to get an immediate bounce of support from the Democratic National Convention, the first poll conducted in its aftermath suggests, The Daily Beast reports.

The Morning Consult tracking survey asked the same group of 7,818 registered voters about their support for Harris and for former President Donald Trump both before and after her speech last Thursday. It found identical levels of support in each survey, putting her at 48 points and Trump at 44. Harris’ campaign had suggested that they expected some immediate bounce in support in the wake of the Chicago convention, which beat the Republican convention in television ratings.

Trump had appeared to get as much as a six-point bounce after his convention in a Forbes/Harris X poll and slightly less in others. But because President Joe Biden announced on the Sunday after Trump’s Thursday night speech that he was stepping aside, poll watchers said it was harder to tell the precise impact of Trump’s speech.

{Matzav.com}

**USA (VINnews)-**In recent days, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sounded the alarm on what he perceives as an orchestrated attack on democracy, led by elements of the left. His concerns have sparked a flurry of controversial actions and revelations that paint a stark picture of the current political landscape.

Democrats Maneuver to Keep RFK Jr. on the Ballot
In a twist of political strategy, Democrats in Michigan and Wisconsin are reportedly pushing to keep RFK Jr. on the ballot. According to Kennedy, this move is not out of respect for democracy but a calculated effort to siphon votes away from Donald Trump. By ensuring Kennedy’s presence in these crucial swing states, Democrats appear to be employing a divisive strategy aimed at fracturing the Republican vote, potentially undermining Trump’s bid for re-election.
**
RFK Jr. Faces Financial Pressure**
Adding to the pressure, Kennedy has revealed that he is being forced to spend $10 million to defend his right to remain on ballots across the country. This costly legal battle is allegedly fueled by Democratic efforts to keep him off ballots, directly contradicting their actions in Michigan and Wisconsin.

**
Zuckerberg Confirms Censorship Pressure**
In a separate yet related development, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META, has confirmed that the Biden Administration pressured the social media giant to censor Americans. This revelation includes allegations that the FBI specifically pushed META to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story, a controversy that has been a focal point of debate over media bias and censorship.
**
Media Attacks on RFK Jr. Intensify**
As if the political and legal challenges weren’t enough, RFK Jr. has also found himself in the crosshairs of the media. Multiple outlets have launched what Kennedy describes as slander campaigns against him, aimed at minimizing the impact of his potential endorsement. These attacks, he claims, are part of a broader effort to discredit him and diminish his influence in the 2024 race.

Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, acknowledged that the Biden administration influenced Facebook to suppress content related to COVID-19. He also admitted it was wrong to censor The NY Post’s reporting on Hunter Biden’s notorious laptop, the Post reports.

In a revealing letter sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Zuckerberg revealed that “senior Biden administration officials, including the White House, repeatedly pressured” Meta to “censor” material connected to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.

According to Zuckerberg, the Biden administration’s requests included removing “humor and satire,” and he expressed regret for complying with some of those demands.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” he stated. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

Zuckerberg, now 40, assured that in the future, Meta would respond differently if faced with similar government pressures.

“Like I said to our teams at the time, I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction — and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” he wrote.

He also acknowledged that it was a mistake to restrict The Post’s exclusive story on Hunter Biden’s laptop just before the 2020 election.

Zuckerberg explained to the House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating Facebook’s content moderation practices, that prior to limiting the spread of the explosive October 2020 report, the FBI had “warned” Meta about “a potential Russian disinformation operation” concerning the Biden family and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, where Hunter Biden served as a board member.

“That fall, when we saw a New York Post story reporting on corruption allegations involving then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s family, we sent that story to fact-checkers for review and temporarily demoted it while waiting for a reply,” Zuckerberg explained.

“It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” he admitted.

Zuckerberg reassured Jordan that Meta has implemented policies to prevent similar censorship of news stories in the future.

“We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again — for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the US while waiting for fact-checkers,” Zuckerberg asserted.

The letter to Jordan represents a much more explicit acknowledgment of mistakes in handling The Post’s laptop story than Zuckerberg’s 2022 appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, where he said it “sucks” that the story was suppressed, despite it not being Russian disinformation.

“It turned out after the fact, the fact-checkers looked into it, no one was able to say it was false … I think it sucks, though, in the same way that probably having to go through a criminal trial but being proven innocent in the end sucks,” Zuckerberg told Rogan.

“I think the process was pretty reasonable,” he added, still justifying the censorship decision. “A lot of people were still able to share it. We got a lot of complaints that that was the case.”

The Post’s exposé on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop uncovered the existence of thousands of emails between the president’s son and his business partners, revealing how he leveraged his political connections in his international business ventures.

Zuckerberg also mentioned that he has no intention of spending another $400 million or more to support local elections this cycle, after his “Zuckerbucks” initiative was heavily criticized by Republicans as an attempt to influence the 2020 election.

“They were designed to be nonpartisan — spread across urban, rural, and suburban communities,” he said about his intentions. “Still, despite the analyses I’ve seen showing otherwise, I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other.”

“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another — or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”

{Matzav.com}

An Army private who crossed into North Korea without permission last year will plead guilty to desertion and other charges, according to his attorney.

Travis King will plead guilty to five of the 14 offenses he was charged with – including three counts of disobeying an officer and assault on a noncommissioned officer – at a hearing in Fort Bliss, Tex., on Sept. 20, King’s attorney, Franklin D. Rosenblatt, said in a statement late Monday.

“He will plead not guilty to the remaining offenses, which the Army will withdraw and dismiss,” the statement said. King will also “explain what he did, answer a military judge’s questions about why he is pleading guilty, and be sentenced,” Rosenblatt said. He declined to describe what potential sentence King could face, saying the judge will make that determination after discussing the charges at next month’s hearing.

A spokeswoman for the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, Michelle McCaskill, confirmed that an agreement had been negotiated, but declined to provide further details because, she said, the judge has not yet accepted King’s guilty plea.

“If Pvt. King’s guilty plea is accepted, the judge will sentence King pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement,” McCaskill said in a statement. “If the judge does not accept the guilty plea, the judge can rule that the case be litigated in a contested court-martial.”

A conviction for desertion can result in prison time. King remains in pretrial confinement, McCaskill said.

King was 23 years old when he crossed the military demarcation line from South Korea to North Korea in July 2023, becoming the first American to be held in the country in almost five years.

Pyongyang expelled him three months later, after North Korean state media claimed he confessed to illegally entering the country. He was in U.S. custody within hours, a U.S. official said at the time, contending that King was “was very happy to be on his way home.”

King, who joined the Army in 2021, was due to return to the United States after completing an almost two-month hard-labor sentence in South Korea for assault and other offenses, U.S. authorities previously said. Instead, he skipped his scheduled flight and joined a tour of the Joint Security Area separating North and South Korea, and crossed into the North on July 18.

The Army charged him in October with desertion and other offenses, including attempting to solicit photographs of a minor over Snapchat. The charging documents accused King of leaving his barracks without permission in fall 2022 and consuming alcohol against regulations. The documents also alleged that he kicked a staff sergeant in the head during an incident in October 2022.

The Associated Press reported that some other offenses, including possession of images of a child, will be withdrawn and dismissed under the terms of the plea deal.

During his detention in North Korea, the country’s state media claimed, King told investigators he was disillusioned with inequality in the United States and decided to enter the North because of an “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination.” The U.S. Defense Department said it could not verify North Korea’s report on King.

“Travis is grateful to his friends and family who have supported him, and to all outside of his circle who did not pre-judge his case based on the initial allegations,” King’s lawyer said in the statement.

– – –

(c) Washington Post

The Iranian backed terror group Kata’ib Hezbollah, based out of Iraq, has been attempting to target Jewish centers in the central Asian nations of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to Iran International, a London outlet against the regime.

Kata’ib Hezbollah, part if Iran’s ‘axis of resistance,’, receives weapons and training from Iran. The terror group has expanded to operating in Syria, and now reportedly, in central Asia.

Sources told the paper that a Tajuk operative named Mohammad Ali Burkhanov (also known as Sayyid Hamid al-Tajiki) worked with the terror group to attack Jewish centers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Reported incidents include how Burkhanov led a team, backed by Iran’s Quds force, which attempted to burn the Jewish Agency offices and the Or Avner Jewish Center in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

This news comes as some speculate Hamas and Iran seek to attack Jews outside of Israel in response to the assignation of Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

{Matzav.com}

Special counsel Jack Smith has filed a new indictment against former President Donald Trump in an effort to strengthen one of the two criminal cases currently facing the Republican candidate. This move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity.

Trump, 78, still faces the same four charges initially brought against him last August, relating to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. However, Smith’s legal team has adjusted some of their arguments to align with the Supreme Court’s ruling that grants the 45th president “absolute” immunity from prosecution for certain official actions.

“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings,” Smith stated in a filing notice.

A key change in the indictment is the omission of details regarding Trump’s interactions with former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark and the accusations that Trump tried to manipulate the Justice Department to maintain his hold on power.

Two sources informed The Post that Clark is not cooperating with Smith’s investigation, despite speculation on social media following the announcement of the new indictment.

Clark, who faces charges alongside Trump in a separate election interference case in Georgia, allegedly pressured his superiors to sign a letter urging Republican legislators in key states to reconsider the election results before Biden’s inauguration, according to testimony before Congress.

In response to the updated indictment, Trump criticized Smith, reiterating his claim that the special counsel’s appointment was improper.

“In an effort to resurrect a ‘dead’ Witch Hunt in Washington, D.C., in an act of desperation, and in order to save face, the illegally appointed ‘Special Counsel’ Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“This is merely an attempt to INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTION, and distract the American People from the catastrophes Kamala Harris has inflicted on our Nation, like the Border Invasion, Migrant Crime, Rampant Inflation, the threat of World War III, and more.”

Trump faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, as well as conspiracy against rights.

The Supreme Court’s decision on July 1 implies that any trial of Trump is unlikely to commence before the November 5 election. The justices have left it to the lower courts to define what constitutes an “official act” by a sitting president, potentially leading to lengthy appeals.

In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized a “presumption of immunity” for presidents, which places the burden on Smith to demonstrate Trump’s criminal responsibility.

The revised 36-page indictment contains streamlined language about Trump’s awareness of “the falsity of his election fraud claims.”

“The defendant had no official responsibilities related to the certification proceeding, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being named the winner of the election,” prosecutors noted in a newly added line.

They also highlighted that while Trump “sometimes used his Twitter account to communicate with the public” about official matters, “he also regularly used it for personal purposes.”

As an example, prosecutors argued that Trump used his social media account “to spread knowingly false claims of election fraud, exhort his supporters to travel to Washington, D.C. on January 6, pressure the Vice President [Mike Pence] to misuse his ceremonial role in the certification proceeding, and leverage the events at the Capitol on January 6 to unlawfully retain power.”

The government further emphasized that Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, which preceded the storming of the Capitol by his supporters, took place “at a privately-funded, privately organized political rally.”

Smith’s legal team had previously argued against Trump’s claim to immunity before the Supreme Court, after two lower courts had ruled in favor of the special counsel.

Trump’s various criminal cases have seen delays in recent weeks.

Sentencing has yet to occur in the 34-count Manhattan hush-money case, in which Trump was convicted this past May. The 10-count case in Georgia is bogged down in pre-trial motions, and a 40-count indictment filed by Smith over Trump’s alleged illegal retention of national security documents was dismissed last month by a federal judge in South Florida, prompting Smith to appeal.

Trump, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, has pleaded not guilty to all pending criminal charges.

{Matzav.com}

ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — Two nearly 2,000-year-old tombs with magnificent wall paintings will be open to the public for the first time in southern Israel after a painstaking conservation process, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.

British archaeologists first discovered the sand-filled tombs in the 1930s, awed by the colorful paintings on the wall depicting vibrant grape vines twining their way around birds, animals, and mythological characters.

But for nearly a century, the site was dormant and closed to the public to protect the paintings. As new apartment buildings sprouted around the area, the city decided to turn the site into an educational park and renovate the tombs to allow public visits.

“This tomb has wonderful paintings that were preserved remarkably well, and that’s surprising considering that the time that has passed and the location next to the sea, the humidity, the sand, the winds, everything affects the plaster and the paintings,” said Anat Rasiuk, an archaeologist with the Antiquities Authority.

The tombs, located a few hundred meters from the beach, were likely the burial place for aristocratic Romans some 1,700 years ago, when Ashkelon was a Roman city, according to archaeologists.

The vibrant paintings, which stretch across the vaulted ceiling and include intricate designs across the walls, show nymphs with lotus plant wreaths, birds, deer, children picking bunches of grapes, a figure playing Pan’s flute, and figures from Greek mythology such as Demeter, the goddess of the earth and grain, and the head of Medusa, with her hair made of snakes, that were also adopted by Roman mythology.

During the conservation process, experts removed some of the plaster paintings from the wall for off-site restoration. Others were cleaned or enhanced with pigments that mimic the ancient paint.

Another similar 2nd-century tomb, also featuring colorful wall paintings, was relocated to the new park from another location in Ashkelon to preserve it. The second tomb was discovered in the 1990s. Both will be open to the public inside the new park during the upcoming Sukkot holiday in October.

The park includes several archaeological discoveries from across the city, including ancient sarcophaguses, wine presses and olive presses, surrounded by soaring new apartment buildings.

Ashkelon, which is located around 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the Gaza Strip, has a rich history of archaeology. In addition to the Romans, the city was also home to Philistines during the early Iron Age, around 3,000 years ago. Ancient cemeteries uncovered in Ashkelon have provided important DNA clues that showed Philistines may have migrated to the region from Europe more than 4,000 years ago, a historical conundrum that has vexed archaeologists for decades.

The Israeli city experienced heavy rockets in the early days of the war in Gaza. In May, some of the vessels involved in building the U.S.-built pier in Gaza, which ultimately failed, beached on the Ashkelon coast during bad weather.

The site of the Palestinian village of Al-Jura, where the parents of Hamas top leader Ismail Haniyeh lived before they fled to the Gaza Strip during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, seen on the outskirts of Ashkelon, southern Israel, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A worker touches up an ancient wall of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the entrance of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A worker points to an ancient wall of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A view of the archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb with wall paintings depicting Greek mythological figures is at least 1,700 years old said the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A worker touches up an ancient wall drawing of Greek goddess Demeter at an archeological tomb site in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday Aug. 27, 2024. The tomb where the painting was found is at least 1,700 years old, says the Israeli Antiquities Authority, whose workers are restoring the site. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)