Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons on Saturday publicly challenged Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal to follow through on her warning that she would arrest federal immigration agents who enter her city and “commit a crime.”
Lyons made the remarks during an appearance on The Big Weekend Show on Fox News, after the network aired a clip of Bilal’s comments from a press conference earlier in the week.
Bilal’s statements came Thursday, one day after a fatal encounter involving an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Authorities said 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed after blocking traffic and appearing to strike an ICE officer with her SUV. She was shot multiple times.
At the Philadelphia press conference, Bilal referred to ICE as “fake, made-up law enforcement,” warned “you don’t want this smoke,” and said her department would act against any ICE agents who “commit a crime” in her jurisdiction.
Responding on Fox News, Lyons slammed the rhetoric, saying it endangered officers on both sides.
“Any time you pit law enforcement officers against law enforcement officers, it makes nobody safe,” Lyons said. He added that increasingly aggressive language from critics of ICE was making it harder for agents to safely carry out their duties.
Lyons then directly addressed Bilal, saying, “I’m not one for big banter or bluster, but my message to the sheriff is: try it. Try [and] arrest my folks and see what happens.”
Later in the interview, Lyons said he did not want to preempt any announcements from Donald Trump, but indicated that ICE would deploy additional agents to assist with operations in Minneapolis.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Violent confrontations erupted Sunday evening in Bnei Brak after extremist Chareidi protesters attempted to break into a conference held for parents of soldiers serving in the IDF’s Hasmonean Brigade, the military’s new Chareidi combat unit.
The event, which took place on Yosef Chaim Street and was attended by approximately 60 fathers of brigade soldiers, was targeted by dozens of extremists affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction. According to reports, “emergency calls” were circulated on extremist hotlines shortly before the clashes, urging followers to rush to the area to protest the gathering.
Former adviser to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, is preparing the groundwork for a potential run for president in 2028, according to a report published Saturday by Axios.
Axios, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, reported that Bannon has begun taking early steps consistent with a presidential campaign, including setting up a political action committee and speaking with allies about potential staffing. The outlet also noted that Bannon appeared last year at events hosted by the Colorado and Georgia Republican parties, which it described as an effort to build relationships with state-level organizers who play influential roles in the primary process.
An investigation by Haaretz has found that one of its former political analysts received payments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be traced back to the Qatari government, marking the second time in recent months that a writer for the newspaper has been linked to the so-called “Qatargate” scandal.
According to a new report, Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul in New York City and longtime Haaretz columnist, received payments between January 2024 and March 2025 from businessman Gil Birger, who has been questioned by police over his alleged role in the affair.
Yair Netanyahu, son of the Prime Minister, has been elected to serve as a member of the Likud Party’s central committee via internal party agreements.
The position, which wields power over key party decisions, is highly sought after within the Likud. It is an unpaid role.
Channel 12 quoted a Likud source who said the move is another signal from Yair Netanyahu that he is interested in a public life.
The Likud Central Committee is the party’s representative body, leading the Likud and deciding on all matters related to the party. Nearly 4,000 members serve on the committee.
The appointment follows a failed bid months ago for the younger Netanyahu to be appointed as a member of the executive board of the World Zionist Organization.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly distanced himself from past statements made by one of his top housing officials that described home ownership as a “weapon of white supremacy,” as scrutiny mounts over the official’s rhetoric and record.
Mamdani addressed the controversy during an interview with PIX11 anchor Henry Rosoff, after Rosoff pressed him on comments made years earlier by Cea Weaver, Mamdani’s pick to lead the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.
Weaver has faced criticism over resurfaced posts from a now-deleted X account. In a 2017 post, she wrote that “home ownership” is a “weapon of white supremacy.” In another post the following year, she declared, “There is no such thing as a ‘good’ gentrifier, only people who are actively working on projects to dismantle white supremacy and capitalism and people who aren’t.”
Menachem Cohen—a Chabad chasid and bereaved brother—was arrested on Friday after setting up a tefillin stand in memory of his brother, St. Sgt. Shneur Zalman Cohen, H’yd, who fell in the war in Gaza.
Cohen, together with several friends, set up a tefillin stand in Haifa, displaying a sign with his brother’s photo l’illui nishmaso.
At a certain point, a municipal inspection vehicle arrived, followed by another five police cars. Cohen was arrested, and the tefillin stand and sign were confiscated.
Chabad shliach in Haifa Rabbi Yehuda Ginsburg stated, “For over 50 years, Chabad has operated tefillin stands across Haifa. It has always taken place in a positive atmosphere. Unfortunately, there are those who try to inflame tensions. We expect the Haifa Municipality to apologize and work in coordination with this important activity. We are confident that this was a one-time error by the municipality.”
The head of the FBI’s New York field office has been named co-deputy director of the bureau, replacing Dan Bongino following his recent departure, an FBI spokesperson said Friday.
Christopher Raia, who helped lead the response to the deadly truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year, was picked to run the New York office in April after having served as a top counterterrorism official at FBI headquarters. A former Coast Guard officer, Raia joined the FBI in 2003 and during the course of his two-decade career has investigated violent crime, drugs and gangs as well as overseen counterterrorism and national security investigations.
A second asifa addressing the growing impact of artificial intelligence was held Thursday night in Lakewood, drawing senior rabbinic leadership and continuing a discussion that began earlier this week.
The gathering focused on concerns surrounding AI-driven calling, texting, and content generation, and followed an initial asifah that drew dozens of leading rabbanim and roshei yeshiva, where the gedolim called for a yom taanis u’tefillah over the threats posed by AI. A date has not been set for when that will take place.
Thursday night’s meeting featured remarks from Rav Elyah Ber Wachtfogel, Rav Malkiel Kotler and Rav Yisroel Newman, who addressed both the technological and hashkafic implications of artificial intelligence.
President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela’s leader.
Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country’s oil products.
Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is facing its most existential threat in decades as a two-week-old uprising has paralyzed the country, with experts warning that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may have less than two weeks left in power.
Activists confirmed Sunday that the death toll from the state’s crackdown has reached at least 538, though the true number is feared to be much higher due to a nationwide internet blackout. Despite the communication cut, footage of fiery clashes continues to leak out, showing protesters confronting security forces in every province, including Khamenei’s own hometown of Mashhad.
A person was taken into custody late Saturday after a fire ripped through a Reform synagogue in Mississippi, heavily damaging the historic house of worship in what authorities say was an act of arson. No one was injured, reports say.
The blaze erupted at the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday. Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged, synagogue leaders said.
Charles Felton, the chief fire investigator at the Jackson Fire Department, confirmed the arrest late Saturday to Mississippi Today, but did not provide the suspect’s name or charges. No injuries were reported. Felton said the department determined the fire was arson.
A Shomrim member was assaulted and injured late Friday night while walking home with his wife and children in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
The incident occurred at approximately 11:20 p.m. on Willoughby Avenue near Nostrand Avenue. According to police and YWN sources, a woman allegedly punched the man in the face, causing injuries to his eye and surrounding area, while shouting antisemitic slurs.
The suspect verbally harassed the victim for several blocks prior to the assault, allegedly yelling antisemitic remarks and threatening the family, including saying that she would “choke all your kids.”
Officers from the New York City Police Department responded to the scene along with Shomrim volunteers and took a 35-year-old woman into custody. The suspect was charged with assault and aggravated harassment, according to police.
Hessy Levinsons Taft, a Jewish woman whose infant photograph was held up by Nazi propagandists as the ideal “Aryan baby,” has died at her home in San Francisco. She was 91.
The episode that followed Taft throughout her life began in 1934, when she was six months old. Her parents, Latvian Jewish opera singers living in Berlin, had her portrait taken by photographer Hans Ballin. Unbeknownst to them, Ballin submitted the image to a Nazi-sponsored contest seeking the perfect Aryan child.
The photograph was selected by Joseph Goebbels, head of Nazi propaganda, and featured on the cover of Sonne ins Haus, a pro-Nazi publication. The image spread widely across Germany, appearing in magazines, advertisements, postcards, and private homes as a visual embodiment of Nazi racial ideals.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is closely monitoring ongoing unrest in Iran, expressing support for Iranian citizens protesting against their government and condemning violence against civilians.
Speaking at the opening of a weekly government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said protests demanding freedom have spread across Iran and praised what he described as the “immense bravery” of the country’s citizens. He said the people of Israel, along with the international community, are watching developments closely.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is closely monitoring ongoing unrest in Iran, expressing support for Iranian citizens protesting against their government and condemning violence against civilians.
Speaking at the opening of a weekly government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said protests demanding freedom have spread across Iran and praised what he described as the “immense bravery” of the country’s citizens. He said the people of Israel, along with the international community, are watching developments closely.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, was detained on Sunday morning for questioning under caution by the police’s Lahav 33 unit on suspicion of obstructing the investigation into the case of the leaked classified documents to the German Bild newspaper.
The police also conducted a search of his home.
Braverman is regarded as a key figure within the Prime Minister’s Office, overseeing sensitive matters and coordination among various agencies, and was recently appointed as Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.
His summons for questioning follows claims made by former Netanyahu spokesperson, Eli Feldstein, the main suspect in the Bild case, in an interview with Kan News. Feldstein himself was also summoned for questioning, and it is possible that police will carry out a confrontation between the two.
Iran on Sunday warned US President Donald Trump that the regime would retaliate for any US attack on the country by striking Israel and US military bases in the region.
The warning, issued in a speech by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, comes after Trump promised to intervene if protesters are killed by regime forces.
“If the United States does attack our country because of the civil protests, Iran will attack Israel and US military bases in the region in return,” Qalibaf said.
The New York Times reported that Trump was briefed in recent days on several options for an attack in Iran, and he is seriously considering them in response to the Iranian regime’s conduct and suppression of protests by killing protesters.
Sources told Iran International on Motzei Shabbos that Iranian security forces are using live fire against protesters nationwide, with initial estimates suggesting mass casualties as a widespread crackdown escalates amid a near-complete internet blackout.
Videos smuggled from Kahrizak, south of Tehran, show multiple bodies in body bags, with eyewitnesses reporting dozens more visible at the scene and additional corpses reportedly stored in a nearby industrial warehouse.
Earlier footage from Fardis in Karaj and Alghadir Hospital in eastern Tehran revealed similar scenes of bodies strewn on the ground, pointing to what appears to be a coordinated mass killing across multiple sites rather than isolated city incidents.
A Venezuelan security guard has described what he believes was the use of an unidentified weapon during a U.S. military raid earlier this month that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to an account shared publicly by the White House press secretary.
The account, posted Saturday on social media and attributed to a guard who said he was present during the January 3 operation, claims that U.S. forces employed advanced technology that disabled radar systems and incapacitated personnel without the use of conventional weapons. The White House has not confirmed the details of the account or commented on whether the description reflects verified information.
A high-profile New Jersey bill that would have formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism is not expected to pass before the current legislative session expires, dealing a blow to Jewish advocacy groups and exposing sharp political fractures inside the state’s Democratic leadership.
Four sources familiar with the situation told Jewish Insider that the legislation—long championed by Jewish state leaders—has effectively stalled, despite broad bipartisan sponsorship and months of committee debate. The New Jersey Legislature’s session ends Monday, with Mikie Sherrill set to be sworn in the following week.
In suburban Philadelphia, Main Line Hatzolah’s inaugural event began at 7:30pm with a 30-minute “social hour” where people from the community had an opportunity to enjoy heavy hour devours meet Hatzolah members and other local first responders, including the chiefs of Police, Fire, and local EMS.
At around 8pm people gathered to hear divrei bracha and Torah from Rabbi Avraham Shmidman, rav of the Lower Merion Synagogue and host of the event as well as from Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, rav of Young Israel of the Main Line and posek for Main Line Hatzolah.
A 6-year-old Jewish boy is in critical condition after being struck by a Hatzolah ambulance Shabbos morning in Boro Park.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. on 52nd Street between 15th and 16th avenues. The circumstances leading up to the collision remain under investigation.
Sources have confirmed to YWN that at the time of this tragic incident, the ambulance was returning from an emergency call and was not driving with lights or sirens.
Hatzolah paramedics transported the child to Maimonides Medical Center. After bringing the child to the hospital, the ambulance returned to the scene as part of the ongoing investigation.
A 6-year-old Jewish boy is in critical condition after being struck by a Hatzolah ambulance Shabbos morning in Boro Park.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. on 52nd Street between 15th and 16th avenues. The circumstances leading up to the collision remain under investigation.
Sources have confirmed to YWN that at the time of this tragic incident, the ambulance was returning from an emergency call and was not driving with lights or sirens.
Hatzolah paramedics transported the child to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, officials said. After bringing the child to the hospital, the ambulance returned to the scene as part of the ongoing investigation.
A draft policy document issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) classifies male circumcision as a potential form of child abuse—placing a core Jewish mitzvah alongside practices such as exorcisms and forced marriage.
The guidance appears in a draft CPS framework addressing so-called “honour-based abuse and harmful practices.” While the document acknowledges that male circumcision is not explicitly illegal in England and Wales, it asserts that the procedure “may be a form of child abuse or an offence against the person” if deemed painful or harmful.
“This is not a technical clarification. It is a moral judgment,” said Jonathan Arkush, former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and co-chair of Milah UK. Arkush called the draft wording “deeply misleading,” warning that it reframes a foundational mitzvah as an inherently abusive act.
Authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with a rock-throwing incident on the New Jersey Turnpike that left a third-grade Jewish girl seriously injured earlier this week.
State police said Hernando Garciamorales, 40, of Palisades Park, was arrested following an investigation into an incident on the northbound lanes of the Turnpike, just before Exit 70 A/B in Bergen County. Garciamorales was located at a self-made campsite in Old Croaker County Park, authorities said.
The arrest was carried out by the New Jersey State Police Target Hardening Unit UAS Response Squad, with assistance from the Troop “D” Criminal Investigation Office, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, the Bogota Police Department, and the Teaneck Police Department.
The Trump administration has engaged in early internal discussions about potential military action against Iran, including the option of large-scale airstrikes on Iranian military targets, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials told The Wall Street Journal that the planning is preliminary and routine, and no final decisions have been made on a course of action.
Administration sources said there has been no movement of U.S. military equipment or personnel in preparation for an attack, and officials have not reached a consensus on whether to pursue a specific plan. Senior U.S. leaders have discussed which sites might be targeted if the president directs action, with a massive aerial strike campaign on multiple military facilities among the options under consideration.
As protests in Iran enter their thirteenth day, mounting reports point to escalating brutality by regime forces in efforts to crush the demonstrations.
Many young people who take to the streets are paying a heavy price, and according to various reports, the number of dead and wounded continues to rise at an alarming rate.
An extensive report in the British newspaper The Guardian depicts a grim reality, with hundreds reported dead and hospitals overflowing with demonstrators wounded by live fire. The report cites a video verified by an Iranian human rights organization showing family members inspecting piles of bodies at Ghadir Hospital in Tehran. The organization said the bodies were those of protesters killed by security forces.
YWN regrets to inform you of the petirah of Rabbi Dr. Yosef Shimon (Joel) Rosenshein Z”L, a well-known psychologist, longtime askan, and widely respected figure in Klal Yisroel.
Rabbi Dr. Rosenshein, a Brooklyn resident, devoted his life to communal service and was involved in countless efforts on behalf of the tzibbur. He was a founding member of PTACH and played major roles in RCCS, Torah Umesorah, the United Task Force, and many other organizations. His lifelong dedication for the past seven decades, quiet leadership, and tireless advocacy impacted thousands across the Jewish community.
He was approximately 90 years old and remained actively involved in communal work until this past Tuesday, when he tragically suffered a massive stroke.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he has canceled a previously expected second wave of U.S. military attacks on Venezuela, attributing the decision to cooperation from the South American nation’s government and progress on related issues including political prisoner releases and collaboration on energy infrastructure.
In remarks and social media posts, Trump described the development as a sign of constructive engagement between the United States and Venezuela, particularly in efforts to rebuild the latter’s oil and gas sector. He said major U.S. oil companies are expected to invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela’s energy industry as part of those recovery efforts.
An Israeli who was critically wounded in the Bondi Beach Chanukah attack in Australia was flown back to Israel on Friday in a long-range medical evacuation coordinated by Hatzolah Air.
The patient, described as a hero who was shot multiple times during the attack, had been receiving treatment in Australia before being cleared for transport. Hatzolah Air deployed its Gulfstream G550 aircraft, which was specially configured for critical care transport and staffed with six pilots, two specialized physicians, a nurse, and a paramedic, the organization told YWN.
The aircraft provided full intensive care unit–level treatment throughout the flight.
An Israeli who was critically wounded in the Bondi Beach Chanukah attack in Australia was flown back to Israel on Friday in a long-range medical evacuation coordinated by Hatzolah Air.
The patient, described as a hero who was shot multiple times during the attack, had been receiving treatment in Australia before being cleared for transport. Hatzolah Air deployed its Gulfstream G550 aircraft, which was specially configured for critical care transport and staffed with six pilots, two specialized physicians, a nurse, and a paramedic, the organization told YWN.
The aircraft provided full intensive care unit–level treatment throughout the flight.
Flu activity in New York City is beginning to show signs of declining, but transmission remains at very high levels, city health officials said Thursday, cautioning residents that the season is far from over.
Speaking at a press conference, New York City Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said recent data indicate a modest downturn in cases but warned against complacency.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Morse said. “This is not the time for New Yorkers to relax their efforts to protect themselves.”
According to the New York City Department of Health, more than 128,000 New Yorkers have tested positive for influenza so far this season—exceeding case totals reported at the same point in each of the past two flu seasons.
A road rage-related crash in Manhattan’s West Village late Thursday ended with a driver fatally shot by police, marking the second fatal police-involved shooting in New York City within five hours, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 10:55 p.m. near Bedford Street and Sixth Avenue. Police said a 37-year-old man driving a BMW had been involved in a collision and was stopped in traffic when officers approached the vehicle after occupants of the other car flagged them down.
According to NYPD officials, the driver exited the BMW and pointed what appeared to be a firearm at the responding officers.
“At that moment, a 37-year-old male exited the BMW, drew what appeared to be a firearm and pointed it at the officers,” said NYPD Assistant Chief James McCarthy. “Upon observing the firearm, the officers discharged their weapons.”
Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack, officials said Friday, killing at least four people. For only the second time, it used a new ballistic missile that it says flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable by air defenses.
The intense barrage and the launching of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile came days after Ukraine and its allies reported major progress toward agreeing on how to defend the country from further Moscow aggression if a peace deal is struck to end Russia’s almost 4-year-old invasion.
Months of U.S.-led peace efforts have failed to stop the fighting, however. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has made significant progress on the terms of a possible peace settlement in negotiations with Washington envoys. But Moscow has given no public signal it is willing to budge from its demands.
Iran’s supreme leader signaled Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters, directly challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later repeatedly referred to demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown like those that have followed other nationwide protests in recent years.
An 11-month-old infant with no underlying medical conditions died Thursday evening in Jerusalem from complications related to measles, according to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
The hospital said the infant, who had not yet been vaccinated, was transferred Wednesday from another medical center in critical condition. She was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine as doctors attempted to stabilize her condition. Despite intensive treatment, her condition deteriorated and she was pronounced dead on Thursday.
The case comes amid a rise in measles-related fatalities in Israel, with officials noting that most recent deaths have involved previously healthy, unvaccinated infants.
Iran’s government cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls Thursday night as a nighttime demonstration called by the country’s exiled crown prince drew a mass of protesters to shout from their windows and storm the streets.
The protest represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.
In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as 17 renegade GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in support.
The tally, 230-196, signified growing political concern over Americans’ health care costs. Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called “discharge petition” to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a bipartisan compromise.
Together, the rare political coalitions are rushing to resolve the standoff over the enhanced tax credits that were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis but expired late last year after no agreement was reached during the government shutdown.
The Emes L’Yaakov organization sent an urgent warning letter on Wednesday to the head of the IDF Manpower Directorate, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar-Kalifa, demanding an immediate freeze on all recruitment, induction, arrest, and imprisonment procedures for physically and mentally ill Chareidi draft candidates (pre-enlistees).
The letter states that the IDF is conducting a systematic, discriminatory, and unlawful policy, including inducting ill draft candidates without a qualified medical examination; ignoring civilian medical and psychiatric opinions; denying referral to a mental health officer; and arresting and imprisoning draft candidates in poor medical condition—in violation of regulations and contrary to how other populations are treated.
Federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, a day after an officer shot and killed a driver in Minnesota, authorities said.
The Department of Homeland Security described the vehicle’s passenger as “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who had been involved in a recent shooting in Portland. When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants Thursday afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a written statement.
“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” the statement said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”
This morning, I walked into shul and counted a minyan of 20 people. What I also counted—painfully—were five people using their cell phones during davening. Let that sink in. Twenty-five percent of the shul was on their phones while standing before the Ribbono Shel Olam.
This is not a minor issue or a personal chumra. This is a crisis of kavod ha’tefillah.
Every community needs to wake up and start a real, visible campaign against cell phones in shul. Every shul should post clear signs asking people to leave their phones in their cars or turn them off completely before davening. Some shuls already do this. More must follow. Much more.
There is no greater deterrent to proper davening than a cell phone in your pocket. Even if you never take it out, its presence alone fractures concentration. You wonder: Did I get a text? An email? A missed call? Your mind is no longer in Shemoneh Esrei—it’s hovering somewhere between Olam HaZeh and a notification buzz.
During a discussion on Thursday on the draft law in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Rabbi Chaim Wolfson, the Rosh Yeshivah of the Yerucham Yeshiva, brought up the story of his talmid, Cpt. Eitan Fisch, H’yd, a combat soldier and armored corps officer from the yishuv of Peduel, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip.
Rabbi Wolfson said that Eitan enrolled in the armored officers’ course out of a sense of mission but encountered difficulties related to mixed-gender service alongside female soldiers, contrary to prior agreements that had been conveyed to him and the yeshiva.
“They told him he wouldn’t encounter women anywhere. I called my brother, who was then the commander of the armored officers’ course, and he said, ‘That’s a lie—he’ll encounter them all the time,’” Rabbi Wolfson recounted.
A 15-year-old from northern Israel has been indicted for planning an ISIS–inspired terrorist attack, Israeli police announced Thursday, in a case that security officials say underscores the growing reach of global jihadist ideology into Israel itself.
According to police, the minor pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) and was arrested several weeks ago following a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and the Israel Police Northern District.
During the arrest, investigators discovered detailed instructions in the suspect’s possession for assembling an explosive belt—material typically associated with suicide bombings. Authorities said the documents went beyond ideological material and reflected concrete operational intent.
The teachers at a Beis Yaakov school in Ramot approached the administration, asking what to be mechazeik in following the horrifying death of Ramot resident Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, who was killed at a Chareidi protest against the draft, and other recent tragedies in the neighborhood, Kikar H’Shabbos reported.
The question was passed to the director of Chinuch Atzami, Rav Eliezer Sorotzkin, who posed the shaila to HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau.
The Rosh Yeshivah’s response was published in a letter sent to the principal of the school. The Rosh Yeshivah said that the staff and students should be encouraged to conduct themselves with “vitur (concession) and forgiveness toward one another” and also to be mechazeik in Shemiras Shabbos and be makpid to leave before Chatzos when traveling a long distance on Erev Shabbos during the winter months.
Peleg Yerushalmi issued a furious condemnation on Thursday following the decision of a Jerusalem District Court judge to release the driver who killed Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, to house arrest.
The statement not only expressed outrage at the decision but also stated that the judge is completely unfamiliar with the technical details of the incident.
“Deep shock at Judge Tamar Bar-Asher’s scandalous decision to release the bus driver who killed Yosef Eisenthal, z’l,” the statement began.
Israel’s Defense Ministry and the IDF announced Thursday that they have completed the distribution of thousands of advanced Arad assault rifles to rapid response teams across the country, marking a key milestone in the government’s postwar community defense strategy.
According to the ministry, the weapons were distributed as part of a joint initiative led by the Defense Ministry and the IDF’s Ground Forces Command to strengthen local security capabilities nationwide following the war. The rifles were supplied by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) under a procurement deal valued at approximately $31 million.
The agreement includes long-term maintenance and logistical support for the next decade, as well as servicing for Meprolight M5 optical sights designed to be mounted on the rifles, the ministry said.
Protests in Iran sparked by economic woes have spread nationwide across the Islamic Republic, activists said Thursday, as stores across the country shut their doors and authorities appeared to be selectively slowing internet access.
Wednesday saw the most-intense day of demonstrations, reaching rural towns and major cities in every province though still localized enough for daily life to continue in Tehran, Iran’s capital, and elsewhere. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 39 people while more than 2,260 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran’s civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So far, authorities haven’t shut down the internet or fully flooded the streets with security forces like they did to put down the 2022 Mahsa Amini demonstrations. But Cloudflare, a widely used internet infrastructure company, detected sharply dropped internet traffic in Iran it attributed to government action that “selectively blocks internet access amid protests.”
A third-grade girl was seriously injured on Wednesday after a rock was thrown at a school bus traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike in Bergen County.
The incident occurred as two school buses were returning from a class trip to Liberty Science Center. While traveling on the Turnpike between Challenger Road and Degraw Avenue, a baseball-sized rock was thrown at one of the buses bound for Paramus, striking a young girl in the head.
The child sustained a skull injury and was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center by Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Emergency responders from Bergen County Hatzolah also responded to the scene.
The U.S. Department of Education’s newly launched foreign-funding disclosure portal is placing a spotlight on the role of Qatar in American higher education, revealing that the Gulf state is by far the largest foreign source of funding for U.S. colleges and universities.
According to data published on the portal, Qatar has provided approximately $6.6 billion in gifts and contracts to American higher education institutions—far more than any other foreign country. Germany followed with $4.4 billion, England with $4.3 billion, China with $4.1 billion, Canada with $4 billion, and Saudi Arabia with $3.9 billion.
The New York City Council on Wednesday unanimously elected Councilwoman Julie Menin as its next speaker, making her the first Jewish speaker in the council’s history.
Menin, a Democrat who represents parts of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, secured all 51 votes with no opposition. She succeeds outgoing leadership at a time of heightened political and cultural tensions in the city, including sharp debates over antisemitism, public safety, and the city’s relationship with Israel.
In remarks following the vote, Menin reflected on her upbringing as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, crediting that experience with shaping her political values and commitment to public service.
An unusual incident occurred on Wednesday when a bochur from Ponevezh Yeshivah was detained by police forces and transferred to military police.
Initial reports claimed that he was arrested on the way to Meron following a dispute with his driver, but the Ezram U’Meginam spokesperson clarified that the arrest actually took place inside a recruitment office in Be’er Sheva.
An Ezram U’Meginam spokesperson stated, “The bochur was arrested yesterday at the Be’er Sheva recruitment office after he tried to obtain an exemption despite the clear instructions of all the Gedolei Yisrael not to approach the recruitment offices, not even for the purposes of obtaining an exemption.”
New York City parents may soon have access to free child care for their 2-year-olds, under a plan set to be unveiled Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The two Democrats are expected to detail the program at a news conference Thursday morning, along with a pledge from Hochul to pursue a wider, statewide free child care initiative.
“There’s one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high,” Hochul said in a statement. “As New York’s first mom Governor, fighting for New York’s families has always been at the core of my agenda.”
For Mamdani, the announcement is the first step in fulfilling one of his trademark campaign promises, marking a major boon for the mayor just days after he took office with the promise of implementing a transformative agenda focused on making the city a more affordable place to live.
Acting contrary to the position of the police, the Jerusalem District Court on Thursday accepted the appeal of Fakhri Khatib, the Arab bus driver who plowed into a group of Chareidi teens, killing Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, and released him to house arrest.
The appeal was filed by Khatib’s defense attorney following the court’s order on Wednesday extending his detention by nine days.
However, the court ruled that the release would not be carried out immediately, following a police request for a stay of execution that would allow them to possibly appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum ordering the withdrawal of U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, including 31 UN organizations.
Many of the organizations are designated to “woke” or “diversity-related” issues, such as the UN Forum on People of African Descent and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations
“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Undercover officers from the Yaffo police district overnight Wednesday arrested an illegal infiltrator from Chevron who posed as a Walt delivery courier and tore down and stole dozens of mezuzahs from many buildings in the Yaffo and Bat Yam area.
Over the past month, the police emergency center received numerous reports of the theft of mezuzahs.
Following the reports, the Yaffo police officer opened a covert investigation, using advanced technological and intelligence means.
As the investigation progressed and evidence was gathered, operational activity combined with intelligence efforts led to the identification of the suspect who posed as a Wolt courier to carry out his nefarious acts.
Shas MK Yoni Mashriki sent a letter to Defense Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday decrying the conditions that some Chareidi detainees are being held in at Prison 10, with their most basic nutritional needs and religious rights neglected.
MK Mashriki visited the prison on Tuesday and met with three yeshiva bochurim who raised serious complaints about their lack of access to food that meets their kashrus standards, saying they weren’t provided with Mehadrin food for three days in a row despite their repeated requests.
MK Mashriki emphasized in his appeal that the situation is unacceptable and constitutes a violation of the detainees’ rights. He noted that the right to food is a fundamental right anchored in the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which guarantees the protection of every person’s life and dignity. Mashriki also cited the Supreme Court’s ruling that the state is obligated to hold detainees in appropriate conditions, including providing food in quantities and composition appropriate for maintaining their health and dignity.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday announced that his government will establish a royal commission into the Bondi Beach massacre that will also examine antisemitism in the country.
Albanese, who initially expressed strong opposition to the establishment of a royal commission, caved into heavy pressure and scathing criticism of his lack of response to surging antisemitism in the country from the Jewish community, senior public officials, and much of the public.
Earlier this week, over 60 prominent sports figures in the country, including Olympic competitors, called on Albanese to establish a royal inquiry, writing that the situation constituted “a national crisis requiring a national response.”
A healthy two-month-old infant has died of influenza, the Israel Ministry of Health reported Wednesday, marking the sixth pediatric death linked to the flu this year.
The infant, a resident of northern Israel, was too young to receive a flu vaccination.
“Even though at this age a child cannot be vaccinated, vaccination of the people in the child’s environment and who come in contact with him provides a certain measure of protection,” the health ministry said in a statement, urging the broader public to be immunized.
Health officials noted that while the flu vaccine does not prevent infection in all cases, it significantly reduces the severity of illness for most people. The vaccine is available free of charge at health clinics nationwide.
An anti-Zionist activist group that has previously drawn condemnation for protests outside shuls abruptly canceled a planned demonstration Wednesday evening targeting an Israel-related immigration event in New York City.
The group, Pal-Awda, announced earlier this week that it intended to protest a Nefesh B’Nefesh event scheduled for Wednesday night, but did not disclose the location. Less than an hour before the demonstration was set to begin, Pal-Awda said the protest had been canceled. The Nefesh B’Nefesh event itself proceeded as planned.
Heightened political tension followed the conclusion Wednesday night of a meeting of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel (Admorim) in Yerushalayim, as no official decision was released regarding support for the proposed military draft law.
The gathering, held at the Belz Chassidus’ Beis Malka halls on Brandeis Street, lasted approximately an hour and a half and ended without a formal resolution after the departure of the Gerrer and Belzer Rebbes. In an unusual move, Chareidi Knesset members were not permitted to enter the session.
Arriving shortly after 9:00 p.m., leading Chassidic Rebbes participated in the meeting, including the Admorim of Gur, Belz, Vizhnitz, Sanz, Boyan, Seret-Vizhnitz, and Modzitz.
A prominent researcher long embraced by Jewish organizations and bipartisan policymakers for exposing online antisemitism now finds himself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, in a case critics say exposes deep contradictions in Washington’s stated commitment to fighting hate.
Imran Ahmed, the British-born founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), said he was stunned when the State Department announced in late December that it was revoking visas for digital anti-hate activists over what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as “egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.” Though Ahmed was not named in the formal announcement, a senior State Department official later singled him out on social media as a “key collaborator” in alleged government overreach.
Former Jerusalem mayor and ba’al chessed Rabbi Uri Lupolianski z”l was niftar at the age of 74 on Wednesday night. He had been hospitalized approximately two weeks earlier at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for severe breathing issues related to pneumonia.
In his youth, he studied at Yeshivas Torah Ohr in Yerushalyim under the Rosh Yeshiva, Hagaon HaRav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ZT”L, and later at Yeshivas HaNegev in Netivos.
He was a close confidant of Maran HaGaon Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv ZT”L. The historic and widely noted meeting between Maran Rav Shach ZT”L and Maran Rav Elyashiv ZT”L took place at the offices of Yad Sarah.
A new investigative documentary has uncovered a disturbing and unprecedented case: a young Jewish woman from Israel who ultimately found herself in Syria at the heart of the ISIS terror organization.
The revelation comes from the premiere episode of “Ashraf Marwan – Alias”, which aired Tuesday night on Channel 14 and was produced with the support of the Shomron Film Fund. While the series focuses on the controversial Dar al-Salam Islamic center in Kafr Qara, it also exposes a harrowing personal story that raises urgent questions about radicalization, oversight, and ideological influence inside Israel.
According to the investigation, the woman—whose identity is being withheld for privacy reasons—was born Jewish and lived in one of Israel’s major cities. In 2013, she converted to Islam in the office of Akrima Sabri, a cleric long accused of extremist incitement, on Har Habayis. Video footage revealed in the series shows that the conversion was conducted by Sheikh Rassan Atamna, founder of the Dar al-Salam center in Kafr Qara, who has since died.
Overpowering Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but that had expired last month.
The tally of 221-205 was a key test before passage of the bill, which is expected Thursday. And it came about because four GOP centrist lawmakers joined with Democrats in signing a so-called discharge petition to force the vote. After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, they said doing nothing was not an option as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.
An 11-month-old baby girl from a community near Jerusalem is in critical condition after contracting measles, amid concern about declining vaccination rates and the return of a disease once considered largely under control.
The infant is being treated in the pediatric intensive care unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, where hospital officials said she was placed on life support after her condition deteriorated. According to the hospital, the child had been treated at home for several days before being rushed to the emergency room late Tuesday night.
“This is a severe and completely preventable illness,” said Dr. Uri Pollak, head of Hadassah’s pediatric cardiac critical care unit. “I once again urge all parents to vaccinate their children against measles and to follow the Health Ministry’s guidelines to prevent severe and life-threatening disease.”
Senator Lindsey Graham warned on Tuesday that if Donald Trump’s administration determines that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continues lethal repression of demonstrators, the president could order a direct strike against him.
Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and close ally of Trump, made the remarks on Fox News, urging Tehran’s clerical leadership to “take Trump seriously” as nationwide unrest enters its eleventh day. “If you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is going to kill you,” Graham said, directly addressing Iran’s leadership in the interview.
Graham also invoked the U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, describing it as an example of American resolve and suggesting Tehran should view that action as a cautionary precedent.
Newly released state data has revealed that Israel is currently holding 1,287 Gazan detainees in prisons and detention centers under the controversial Law for Incarcerating Illegal Combatants, months after active hostilities formally ceased.
The figures were submitted this week to Israel’s High Court of Justice in response to a petition filed by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, which is challenging the continued use of the 2002 law. According to the data, at least 41 Gazans have been detained under the statute since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on October 10, 2025, raising questions about the scope and duration of post-war detentions.
Of those currently incarcerated, 1,239 detainees are being held in facilities operated by the Israel Prison Service, while 48 are held in military detention centers under the authority of the Israel Defense Forces.
HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Yedidya Zafrani, Av Beis Din of Kesser Torah, a Rosh Kollel in Yeshivas Tiferes Shraga, and the Rosh Yeshivah of a yeshivah ketanah in Har Nof, spoke words of chizzuk to Bnei Torah in an interview with Kol Chai host Betzalel Kahn on Tuesday
“We’re beginning to read [in the Parsha] about the descent to Mitzrayim, about Galus and Geulah,” the Rosh Yeshivah began. “The entire purpose of going down to Mitzrayim was—’When you take the people out of Mitzrayim, you will serve Hashem on this mountain.’ We went down into the iron furnace not for the spoils of silver and gold, but in order to receive the Torah.”
Iran’s army chief threatened preemptive military action Wednesday over the “rhetoric” targeting the Islamic Republic, likely referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”
The comments by Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami come as Iran tries to respond to what it sees as a dual threat posed by Israel and the United States, as well as the protests sparked by its economic woes that have grown into a direct challenge to its theocracy.
Seeking to halt the anger, Iran’s government began Wednesday paying the equivalent of $7 a month to subsidize rising costs for dinner table essentials like rice, meat and pastas. Shopkeepers warn prices for items as basic as cooking oil likely will triple under pressure from the collapse of Iran’s rial currency and the end of a preferential subsidized dollar-rial exchange rate for importers and manufacturers — likely fueling further popular anger.
Otzma Yehudit MK Amichai Eliyahu published a post on Facebook in response to former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who claimed in a speech at an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on Motzei Shabbos that “Israel is no longer a liberal democracy.”
Eliyahu wrote, “The truth is, Mr. Barak, you are absolutely right. Israel indeed stopped being a liberal democracy—but not yesterday, and not because of the current government. Israel ceased to be a liberal democracy 30 years ago, on the day you, Mr. Barak, created what you grandly called ‘the constitutional revolution.’ That was the day you decided—without a mandate from the people, without Knesset approval, and without any democratic process—that you and your judicial elite would become the true sovereigns of the state.”
An urgent and extraordinary gathering of Gedolei Yisroel was convened on Sunday at the initiative of the Rosh Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, to confront what was described as a growing and existential spiritual danger posed by the unchecked use of open artificial intelligence technologies.
The meeting took place at the Ateres Chana/Bais Faiga Hall in Lakewood and brought together senior roshei yeshiva, Admorim, dayanim, and rabbonim representing Litvish, Chassidish, and Sephardic kehillos. Over the course of several hours, the Gedolim engaged in in-depth discussion regarding the spiritual, emotional, and communal risks associated with AI, with particular concern focused on AI chat services that are accessible even through standard home and cell phones.
A federal officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist when she allegedly tried to run over law enforcement officers during an immigration crackdown in the city, authorities said Wednesday.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot the woman in her vehicle in a residential neighborhood in Minneapolis, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration. It’s at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024.
An anti-Zionist activist group that drew widespread condemnation after staging a hostile protest outside a Manhattan shul in November is planning two new demonstrations this week, setting up an early test for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his fledgling administration.
The group, Pal-Awda, announced that it will protest two Israel-related events in the coming days: a Nefesh B’Nefesh gathering scheduled for Wednesday and an Israel real-estate event on Thursday. The organization said it will reveal the locations only on the day of the protests.
Pal-Awda previously organized a protest in November outside Park East Synagogue, where Nefesh B’Nefesh was hosting an event. During that rally, demonstrators shouted threats and antisemitic slurs at attendees, prompting outrage from Jewish leaders and elected officials.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman’s report published on Tuesday exposed alarming government failures during emergencies, as evident in the war following the October 7 massacre.
Audits across dozens of local authorities and ministries revealed systemic breakdowns at every level. Critical systems—from health and security to education and mental health—failed to function properly and left citizens without proper support.
Public shelters
Nearly one-third of Israel’s population still lacks adequate protection from missile attacks. According to the report, as of early 2025, approximately 3.2 million people—33.6% of Israel’s residents—do not have access to standard protective shelters. This includes 42,575 residents living in high-risk areas, in communities 7 to 20 kilometers (4 to 12 miles) from the Gaza border. In addition, about 11.7% of public shelters across the country are deemed unfit for use.
U.S. forces have seized two sanctioned oil tankers with ties to both Russia and Venezuela in the North Atlantic, officials and news outlets reported Wednesday morning.
One vessel, now sailing under the Russian flag as the Marinera and formerly known as Bella-1, was intercepted after eluding a U.S. blockade of sanctioned oil shipments near Venezuela for more than two weeks. United States Coast Guard and military personnel boarded the tanker in international waters, according to an anonymous U.S. official. The operation came after the ship refused a U.S. Coast Guard boarding attempt in Caribbean waters in December and subsequently changed course and identity to avoid capture.
The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, has reportedly resumed coordinated searches alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross for the body of Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili HY”D in eastern Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, according to Palestinian media reports.
Footage circulating from the area shows armed Hamas operatives operating in the vicinity, with Red Cross vehicles and heavy machinery, including bulldozers, visible at the scene as the search effort continues.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Notably absent from the operation are members of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). PIJ terrorists were responsible for capturing Gvili’s body after he was killed while heroically defending Kibbutz Alumim during the Hamas-led massacre and invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023 — the attack that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday that it is withholding funding for programs that support needy families with children in five Democratic-led states over concerns about fraud.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program, will require the states to provide extra documentation to access the funds.
“Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement.
The administration has not laid out details about the fraud allegations.
Former Jerusalem mayor and ba’al chessed Rabbi Uri Lupolianski is currently in critical condition after being hospitalized about two weeks ago at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
His family and Yad Sarah released a statement saying, “Rav Uri Lupolianski is in critical condition and needs our tefillos. The name for tefillah is Uri ben Malka—and that all chasadim should be in his zechus.”
Rabbi Lupolianski, 74, known for dedicating his life to easing the suffering of the ill and those with disabilities, was hospitalized after suffering from severe pneumonia that caused severe breathing difficulties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement Wednesday morning following the tragic petirah of a yeshiva bochur who was R”L killed during disturbances in Jerusalem, an incident that has sent shockwaves through the Torah world.
“I feel deep pain over the death of the dear Yeshiva student, Yosef Eisenthal, of blessed memory, who was struck and killed yesterday during a protest in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said.
The Prime Minister stated that authorities will conduct a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. “The circumstances of this tragic disaster will be fully investigated in order to learn all necessary insights and lessons,” he said.
New details emerged on Wednesday about the ramming incident that occurred last night during a Chareidi demonstration in Jerusalem, in which Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, 14, was killed.
Footage shows dozens of Chareidi youth surrounding the bus and preventing the driver from moving, including banging on his windshield. The bus driver called the police to report the attack.
But then, the driver accelerated at full force, plowing into the bochurim, dragging two of them under his wheel, and then turning into another street, running over Eisenthal, z’l, and then continuing driving for several meters.
Dubi Cohen said, “There were masses of bochurim in front of him. He simply flung large numbers of them away. I saw two bochurim being dragged under the wheels.”
New details emerged on Wednesday about the ramming incident that occurred last night during a Chareidi demonstration in Jerusalem, in which Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, 14, was killed.
Footage shows dozens of Chareidi youth surrounding the bus and preventing the driver from moving, including banging on his windshield. The bus driver called the police to report the attack.
But then, the driver accelerated at full force, plowing into the bochurim, dragging two of them under his wheel, and then turning into another street, running over Eisenthal, z’l, and then continuing driving for several meters.
Dubi Cohen said, “There were masses of bochurim in front of him. He simply flung large numbers of them away. I saw two bochurim being dragged under the wheels.”
The killing of a Chareidi boy, Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, who was run over by an Arab bus driver during a protest against the Chareidi draft law on Tuesday evening, was met with shock and consternation.
Shas chairman, MK Aryeh Deri, spoke on Tuesday evening with the Police Commissioner, Chief Superintendent Danny Levy, and demanded “to act with full determination to get to the truth and to bring the driver who ran him over to justice.”
Commissioner Levy said during the conversation that “the driver was immediately arrested and transferred for questioning; the police are treating the incident with the full severity of the law.”
The levaya of Chaim Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, 14, who was murdered on Tuesday evening after being run over by an Arab bus driver at a rally against the draft law in Jerusalem, began on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Beis Medrash of the Ohel Torah yeshivah in the Ramot Daled neighborhood of Jerusalem, where the niftar learned.
The kevurah will take place at Har Hamenuchos.
The levaya of Chaim Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, 14, who was murdered on Tuesday evening after being run over by an Arab bus driver at a rally against the draft law in Jerusalem, began on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Beis Medrash of the Ohel Torah yeshivah in the Ramot Daled neighborhood of Jerusalem, where the niftar learned.
The kevurah will take place at Har Hamenuchos.
In recent weeks, Major (res.) Dovi Yudkin has been exposing the abuse of Chareidim in military prison, the lack of even the most basic accommodations for Chareidi soldiers, and the astonishing reality that the IDF has no need for Chareidi soldiers, as evident by the fact that hundreds of thousands of reservists have not been called up since October 7.
Speaking in an interview with Kol Chai, Yudkin, a combat officer who has served for hundreds of days since the war began after October 7, said, “The Chareidi conscription story is inciteful political nonsense.”
Thousands of Iranians poured back into the streets Tuesday as the country’s largest protest movement in years surged into its 10th day, with a government announcement of a token monthly cash payment instead intensifying public fury rather than easing it.
Demonstrations erupted across Iran after officials revealed that roughly 80 million eligible citizens would receive 10 million Iranian rials per month—worth about $7.70 at real exchange rates—in what authorities called an emergency stimulus to blunt the impact of inflation and a collapsing currency. The announcement was widely mocked by protesters struggling to afford food, rent, and basic necessities.
Moshe Radman, one of the leaders of the pre-October 7 protests against the Netanyahu government, announced on Tuesday that he is joining The Democrats party, headed by Yair Golan.
Before the October 7 massacre, Radman vowed to destroy Israel’s economy in order to bring down the government and also encouraged IDF refusal.
Other leaders of the leftist protests are also joining the party, including Ami Dror, who was investigated by police on suspicion of incitement after calling to “erase Netanyahu’s memory” and who claimed that Israel is intentionally starving Gaza.
A pro-Hamas arson attack targeted the home of Andreas Büttner, the commissioner for combating antisemitism in the German state of Brandenburg.
German authorities confirmed that assailants set fire to a shed on Büttner’s property Sunday in the town of Templin, roughly 43 miles north of Berlin. The attackers also spray-painted an inverted red triangle—a symbol widely associated with Hamas—near the residence.
Büttner’s family was inside the home at the time of the attack, which marked the second incident targeting him in the past 16 months. His vehicle was previously vandalized with swastikas.
The inverted red triangle has emerged as a calling card of support for Hamas, particularly since the group’s October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel. In Gaza, the symbol has been used to mark Israeli military targets. In Europe and the United States, it has increasingly appeared at anti-Israel demonstrations and on social media, alarming Jewish communities and security officials.
A Likud lawmaker openly urged American conservatives to turn on two of the most influential figures in the U.S. right-wing media ecosystem, warning that their rhetoric represents not just antisemitism, but a direct threat to Western civilization itself.
In a speech at the Knesset, Dan Illouz, a Canadian-born member of Israel’s ruling Likud party, called on American conservatives to reject Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, accusing both of poisoning the conservative movement with ideas he says are indistinguishable from the radical left.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday on his social media site that “Interim Authorities” in Venezuela would be selling 30 million to 50 million barrels of “High Quality” oil to the U.S. at its market price.
“I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
Trump said the money would be controlled by him as president but it would be used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.
Separately, the White House is organizing an Oval Office meeting Friday with oil company executives regarding Venezuela, with representatives of Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips expected to attend, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the plans.
Public support in Israel for a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7 attack has declined noticeably over the past year, while backing for a politically appointed investigative body has grown, according to new polling released by the Israel Democracy Institute.
The institute’s monthly Israeli Voice Index for December 2025 found that 55% of Israelis still support the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, Israel’s highest and most independent investigative authority. However, that figure represents a drop of 9.5 percentage points since January 2025 and a decline of 12 points compared to July 2024.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, on Tuesday, meeting with senior leaders of the self-declared state following Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland as an independent and sovereign country.
Sa’ar met with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, as well as Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Adam, Presidential Affairs Minister Hader Hussein Abdi, and Chief of Staff Nimsan Yusuf Osman, according to a statement from Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
During joint remarks in Hargeisa, Sa’ar defended Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, drawing a pointed contrast between Somaliland and other disputed entities.
A deadly tragedy unfolded Tuesday afternoon in Yerushalayim, when a bus plowed into a group of Chareidi protesters during a large anti-draft demonstration, killing at least one person and injuring several others.
The incident occurred at the intersection of Yirmiyahu and Shamgar streets, where members of the Eida HaChareidis had gathered for a hafganah protesting military conscription.
Emergency medical personnel rushed to the scene and began treating victims immediately. While several demonstrators suffered light to moderate injuries, one 14-year-old bochur, Yosef Eisenthal z”l, became trapped under the bus and was tragically niftar at the scene.
President Donald Trump told Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough that the key difference between the United States’ intervention in Venezuela and America’s disastrous war in Iraq is simple: this time, the United States plans to keep the oil.
Scarborough revealed the exchange on Tuesday while opening MSNBC’s Morning Joe, describing multiple recent conversations with Donald Trump following the surprise U.S. military operation that led to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. action, carried out by Delta Force early Saturday, capped months of American strikes on vessels the administration said were involved in drug trafficking. Maduro was taken into U.S. custody in an operation Trump officials have described as swift and decisive.
A deadly tragedy unfolded Tuesday afternoon in Yerushalayim, when a bus plowed into a group of Chareidi protesters during a large anti-draft demonstration, killing at least one person and injuring several others.
The incident occurred at the intersection of Yirmiyahu and Shamgar streets, where members of the Eida HaChareidis had gathered for a hafganah protesting military conscription.
Emergency medical personnel rushed to the scene and began treating victims immediately. While several demonstrators suffered light to moderate injuries, one 14-year-old bochur, Yosef Eisenthal z”l, became trapped under the bus and was tragically niftar at the scene.
Republican Doug LaMalfa, a seven-term U.S. representative from California and a reliable vote on President Donald Trump’s agenda, has died, reducing the GOP’s narrow control of the House. He was 65.
A former state lawmaker and rice farmer, LaMalfa had more than a dozen years in Congress, where he regularly helped GOP leaders open the House floor and frequently gave speeches. His death, confirmed by Majority Whip Tom Emmer and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, trims the Republicans’ margin of control of the House to 218 seats to Democrats’ 213.
Trump expressed “tremendous sorrow” over LaMalfa’s death on Tuesday as he addressed a meeting of House Republicans, lamenting the loss of a lawmaker he championed as an ally for his agenda.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, who heroically disarmed a terrorist during the Bondi Massacre, and Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, of Chabad of Bondi, prayed for humanity at the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place, in Queens, New York, this morning.
Ahmed al-Ahmed was one of the many heroes during the horrific attack on December 14th. The 43-year-old Syrian- born Muslim was standing near the northern edge of Archer Park, where he came for coffee. When the shooting began, he charged the terrorist from behind. He wrestled the rifle away despite being shot five times.
The trip is an opportunity to share appreciation for Ahmed, whose heroic conduct was a direct expression of his belief that G-d placed him at the scene for a reason, and gave him the strength to save innocent lives.
One of the Islamic Republic’s most powerful economic and political symbols erupted into open confrontation on Tuesday, as protesters clashed with security forces inside the Tehran Grand Bazaar, prompting authorities to fire tear gas and shutter large swaths of the centuries-old marketplace.
Witnesses said demonstrators staged a sit-in inside the bazaar — long regarded as the regime’s economic backbone and a historic engine of revolution — before riot police moved in to forcibly disperse the crowd. By afternoon, the normally bustling market was largely closed, an unmistakable sign of escalating unrest as Iran’s currency plunged to a record low.
HaGaon HaRav Ben Zion Mutzafi visited the residence of HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch ahead of the protest against the Chareidi draft law to request his bracha and described the fears of Sephardi families regarding the draft decree.
HaRav Mutzafi said, “They want the Rav to give a bracha that everyone should come to the rally.” HaRav Shternbuch replied, “Halevai that everyone comes to the rally and that the Shem Shamayim be sanctified. Compromises don’t succeed. When they see that it didn’t work for them, they continue trying—they don’t rest.”
The Yeshiva World
The Yeshiva World
Your browser does not support the video tag.
What began as a protest quickly escalated into violent physical confrontations. Around 100 demonstrators attempted to forcibly enter the hall, shouting insults and disrupting the conference. Large police forces were dispatched to the scene and worked to evacuate the protesters and restore order.
During the clashes, several soldiers were lightly injured. One soldier was evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment. In addition, protesters attacked the vehicle of one of the event’s organizers. Police were forced to physically intervene in order to extract him safely from the crowd.
In a separate incident amid the chaos, the brigade’s commander, Col. Avinoam Emunah, was escorted out of the area by police to ensure his safety.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The IDF later issued a statement confirming the incident, saying: “During a conference honoring the parents of recruits to the Hasmonean Brigade that took place tonight in the city of Bnei Brak, several protesters broke into the conference hall with the intention of disrupting the event. Some of the protesters acted violently toward the brigade’s soldiers and commanders. Israel Police forces were called to the scene shortly thereafter to restore order. The event ended. The IDF strongly condemns any act of violence against its commanders and soldiers. Medical examinations were conducted for several members of the brigade at the location.”
Political leaders also weighed in on the incident. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman responded sharply, stating:
“Anyone who attacks an IDF soldier for ideological reasons deserves lengthy imprisonment and, in certain cases, even the demolition of his home. That is what the law has determined. I call on the authorities to enforce the law. Israel is a state of law, for Heaven’s sake.”
Police ultimately dispersed the crowd and restored calm to the area. Investigations into the violence are ongoing.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Despite those activities, Axios reported that Bannon has told associates that his primary goal is not necessarily to win the presidency, but to influence the direction of the Republican Party. According to the report, Bannon aims to pressure GOP candidates to adopt an “America First” agenda that emphasizes non-interventionist foreign policy, economic populism, and opposition to major technology companies.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz told Axios that a Bannon-led campaign would combine “the foreign policy of Rand Paul with the tax policy of Elizabeth Warren.”
Sources close to Bannon told Axios they envision a nontraditional campaign model, potentially operating out of Bannon’s Capitol Hill podcast studio and avoiding traditional rallies in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
Bannon, however, publicly dismissed the report. In comments to Axios, he denied planning a presidential run, saying his focus remains on supporting Trump for another term in office, despite the Constitution’s two-term limit.
“We don’t have a country if we don’t get every ounce of fight and energy from President Trump,” Bannon said, arguing that the 22nd Amendment could be interpreted in a way that allows Trump to seek a third term.
Bannon also said he is working with former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz on a forthcoming book titled Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?, scheduled for release in March.
Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, was the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. One source quoted by Axios said that if Trump ultimately does not run again, Bannon would “reluctantly say he must carry the mantle,” suggesting his own candidacy could follow.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Investigators suspect Birger acted as a conduit for funds originating with Qatar lobbyist Jay Footlik, who is accused of passing Qatari money to aides of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in exchange for promoting pro-Qatar messaging to Israeli journalists. The alleged influence campaign took place while Qatar was serving as a mediator in hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas following the October 7, 2023, attacks.
Haaretz reported that Pinkas received similar payments to those allegedly funneled to Netanyahu aides, but ended his dealings with Footlik after media reports exposed the latter’s financial ties to the prime minister’s associates.
During the period in which he was receiving payments, Pinkas published several columns that echoed themes identified by Israeli public broadcaster Kan as central to the alleged Qatari influence effort. These included claims that Egypt bore responsibility for enabling Hamas prior to October 7, and that Qatar was indispensable as a mediator in hostage-ceasefire talks.
Pinkas denied that he was paid to write pro-Qatari commentary, saying all opinions expressed in his columns were his own. He told Haaretz that he provided professional services to a company owned by Footlik, including policy papers and analysis unrelated to Qatar, and that his financial reporting complied with the law. He also said he had never visited Qatar or met with Qatari officials.
Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn said that after initial denials, Pinkas later acknowledged receiving monthly payments via a company owned by Birger. Following a meeting with senior editors in April 2025, Pinkas informed the paper that he would leave his position. Haaretz added disclosure notices to columns written during the relevant period but did not issue a public announcement regarding his departure.
The revelation follows an earlier Qatargate-related controversy at Haaretz. In October, prominent journalist Chaim Levinson was dismissed after it emerged he had received at least NIS 200,000 ($61,000) from consultant Yisrael “Srulik” Einhorn, another Netanyahu aide suspected of illicit ties to Qatar.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The appointment was shelved after Yesh Atid withdrew from the agreements at the last minute.
Likud Minister Miki Zohar responded at the time: “Hypocrisy, malice, and pure populism by the opposition. How are they not ashamed to appoint dozens of associates and family members to national institutions, yet try to block someone simply because his last name is Netanyahu? This is what a despicable campaign of persecution against Yair Netanyahu looks like—someone who merely wanted to engage in public diplomacy abroad on behalf of the Jewish people. Shame on you.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The remarks have drawn renewed attention after New York Post reported this week that Weaver broke down in teats when questioned about a $1.6 million home owned by her mother in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a separate interview with Spectrum News, Weaver said she regretted “some” of her past statements after former Mayor Eric Adams accused her of being “out of her mind.”
“I don’t think I’m out of my mind,” Weaver said. “Some of those things are certainly not how I would say things today, and are regretful.”
Pressed by Rosoff on whether he agreed with Weaver’s framing of landlords or homeowners as linked to white supremacy, Mamdani rejected the substance of the comments while making clear he would keep her in the role.
“Obviously, that’s not an opinion that I share,” Mamdani said. “And I made the decision to have her as our executive director of the mayor’s office to protect tenants, not because of her comments, but because of her work.”
The mayor went on to praise Weaver’s record, saying she has delivered “significant victories for tenants” both in New York City and statewide, and described her as a key figure in building coalitions between upstate and downstate housing advocates.
“We’ve seen her already hard at work in this past week,” Mamdani added.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The police claimed, “Contrary to claims made in publications that may mislead the public, this involved the detention of an individual after a confrontation with municipal inspectors at the scene. To set the record straight, the police have no interest in harming tefillin stands, and the detention was unrelated to the tefillin stand he set up. The young man was released after several minutes following police clarification, and the matter will be examined with the municipality.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
As a career FBI agent, Raia is a more conventional selection for the FBI’s No. 2 job than was Bongino, a popular conservative podcaster who had previously served as a Secret Service agent but had never worked for the FBI until being selected by the Trump administration last year.
Raia is expected to serve as co-deputy director alongside Andrew Bailey, the former Missouri attorney general who was named to the job last August. He is scheduled to start next week.
He became the head of the New York field office after his predecessor, James Dennehy, who was reported to have resisted Justice Department efforts to scrutinize agents who participated in politically sensitive investigations, was forced to retire.
Bongino announced last month that he was departing the bureau following a brief and tumultuous tenure. He officially ended his tenure last week.
No immediate successor was named for Raia in New York.
(AP)
During his remarks, Rav Yisroel Newman warned that artificial intelligence poses dangers he described as more severe than those associated with the general internet. Rav Malkiel addressed the use of AI in Torah learning, stating that Torah learned through AI-generated means would not warrant a bracha, characterizing such a bracha as a berachah levatalah.
The asifah was attended by a wide range of senior roshei yeshiva and rabbinic leaders, including Rav Mendel Slomowitz, Rav Michel Handelsman, Rav Aryeh Sherwinter, Rav Menachem Mintz, Rav Velvel Mintz, and Rav Dovid Mermelstein.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Hours later, Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded on X by saying “those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.”
The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro’s capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
“Those who hysterically accuse our nation today do so out of rage at this people’s sovereign decision to choose their political model,” Díaz-Canel said in his post. He added that “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should be ashamed to keep quiet” and he railed against the “draconian measures” imposed by the U.S. on Cuba.
The island’s communist government has said U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of an American embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
(AP)
Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer on the Iran desk, told The New York Post that the window for the regime to regain control is closing rapidly. “I suspect the Supreme Leader’s got about a week, two weeks max,” Gerecht said. He noted that as crowds swell into the hundreds of thousands, the regime’s enforcers, including the Basij paramilitary units, may reach a breaking point and crack under the pressure.
Dissident Ali Reza Nourizadeh concurred, describing the leadership in Tehran as paralyzed. “They’re almost collapsed. They cannot make a decision,” he said.
The current unrest follows the dramatic U.S. military raid on January 3, 2026, that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. That operation has reportedly sent shockwaves through the Iranian leadership. Experts say regime insiders are terrified that President Trump will repeat the “Venezuelan model” in Iran, potentially targeting Khamenei’s compound or hiding places.
“They are really frightened that Trump will do something,” Nourizadeh said. President Trump intensified those fears this weekend, posting on Truth Social: “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”
The White House is reportedly weighing several military options, including: Direct strikes on military targets in response to the shooting of protesters; Cyberattacks to disable the regime’s command and control; and Targeted strikes on high-level officials to encourage military defections.
The regime’s vulnerability is compounded by the “12-Day War” in June. During that conflict, U.S. and Israeli strikes “completely and totally obliterated” much of Iran’s air defense and nuclear infrastructure. The humiliation of that defeat has reportedly eroded Khamenei’s authority among younger hardliners and the social base.
While there have been no confirmed signs of high-level military defections yet, rumors are circulating that some regime insiders are attempting to contact Washington to negotiate a post-Khamenei future. Amid the chaos, Reza Pahlavi—the son of the former Shah—has offered himself as a transitional figure for a return to democracy.
“Nostalgia is on overdrive right now,” Gerecht noted, as many protesters have been heard chanting “Pahlavi will return” in the streets of Tehran.The Trump administration has warned Iranian leadership: “You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too.”
Whether the regime will heed the warning or double down on its “bloody crackdown” remains the pivotal question for the week ahead.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The synagogue, the largest in Mississippi, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute for Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.
“As Jackson’s only synagogue, Beth Israel is a beloved institution, and it is the fellowship of our neighbors and extended community that will see us through,” the institute said in a statement.
The synagogue’s president, Zach Shemper, said the congregation was still assessing the damage and had received outreach from other houses of worship, according to Mississippi Today.
One Torah that survived the Holocaust was not damaged in the fire, the outlet reported.
Both the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation, according to Mississippi Today.
(AP)
The case is being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.
Hatzolah responded to the scene and provided medical treatment to the victim for his injuries. The man did not require transport to a hospital.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The irony was profound: the baby being celebrated as a model of Aryan purity was Jewish.
According to Taft’s obituary, Ballin later told her parents that he knew the child was Jewish and submitted the photograph deliberately, as a quiet act of defiance meant to expose the absurdity of Nazi racial theories. The revelation terrified the Levinsons, who feared execution if their daughter’s identity were discovered. They kept her largely indoors and guarded the secret closely.
Taft first made the story public in 1987, in Gertrude Schneider’s book Muted Voices: Jewish Survivors of Latvia Remember. Over time, she came to view the episode with a sense of grim satisfaction. “It was a kind of good revenge,” she later said.
In a 2014 interview with Reuters, Taft said she thanked Ballin for his courage. “It was an irony that needed to be exposed,” she said. Speaking to Tablet in 2022, she added, “I can laugh about it now, but if the Nazis had known who I really was, I wouldn’t be alive.”
Although the family lived in Berlin when the photo was taken, Nazi racial laws initially did not apply to them because they were Latvian citizens. As the regime tightened its grip, however, the Levinsons fled Germany in 1937, moving through Latvia, France, and Cuba before settling in New York City in 1949.
Taft went on to earn degrees in chemistry from Barnard College and Columbia University. She spent more than three decades at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, where she oversaw Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry exams. At age 66, she became an adjunct professor at St. John’s University, teaching chemistry and researching water sustainability.
She married Earl Taft in 1959; he died in 2021. Hessy Levinsons Taft is survived by her sister, Noemi Pollack, two children, Nina and Alex Taft, and four grandchildren.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“Israel supports their struggle for freedom and firmly condemns the mass killings of innocent civilians,” Netanyahu said, according to an official translation of his remarks from Hebrew.
Netanyahu also voiced hope for a future political change in Iran, saying he hopes the “Persian nation” will be liberated from what he described as tyranny. He added that, in such a scenario, Israel and Iran could restore cooperative relations.
“When that day comes,” Netanyahu said, “Israel and Iran will once again be faithful partners in building a future of prosperity and peace for both nations.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“Israel supports their struggle for freedom and firmly condemns the mass killings of innocent civilians,” Netanyahu said, according to an official translation of his remarks from Hebrew.
Netanyahu also voiced hope for a future political change in Iran, saying he hopes the “Persian nation” will be liberated from what he described as tyranny. He added that, in such a scenario, Israel and Iran could restore cooperative relations.
“When that day comes,” Netanyahu said, “Israel and Iran will once again be faithful partners in building a future of prosperity and peace for both nations.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The move follows reports that police have found corroboration for Feldstein’s account of an unusual meeting he described during the interview. He claimed he and Braverman met late at night during the war in a parking garage at the Kirya in Tel Aviv in a meeting conducted with precautionary measures, including leaving their phones behind and choosing an area without security cameras. He claimed that during the meeting, which he described as “extremely pressured,” Braverman allegedly proposed thwarting a security investigation—the case that would later become known as the “classified documents case.”
According to Feldstein, Braverman told him about an investigation being carried out by the Defense Ministry’s information security department, adding that he can “shut down” the investigation.
Feldstein said that he described this meeting during his Shin Bet interrogation but at the time did not mention Braverman by name, saying only that it involved “a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office.”
This investigation is the latest in a series of probes in recent years involving members of the Prime Minister’s Office. Right-wing politicians say that the recurring focus on Netanyahu’s inner circle amounts to a campaign of ongoing pressure on his office, even when the suspicions do not directly involve the prime minister.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
According to the most conservative estimates in Iran, at least 2,000 protesters have been killed in the protests in the last two days.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The internet shutdown that started January 8 has severely hampered comprehensive reporting, yet the steady flow of consistent accounts to Iran International indicates broad use of lethal force to suppress the protests.
Even conservative figures from the news site indicate that at least 2,000 people may have been killed in the last 48 hours, with sources describing especially severe violence in Karaj’s Fardis district and Tehran areas, with similar accounts emerging from many other regions, including the western provinces of Ilam and Kermanshah.
Despite the blackout, videos and messages—often via Starlink from urban elites—continue reaching Iran International.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, who is considered close to US President Donald Trump, promised help to the protesters, writing on social media: “TO THE IRANIAN PEOPLE: your long nightmare is soon coming to a close. Your bravery and determination to end your oppression has been noticed by @POTUS and all who love freedom.”
“When President Trump says Make Iran Great Again, it means the protestors in Iran must prevail over the ayatollah. That is the clearest signal yet that he, President Trump, understands Iran will never be great with the ayatollah and his henchmen in charge.”
“To all who are sacrificing in Iran, G-d bless. Help is on the way.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of U.S. intervention in Iran during a phone call on Motzei Shabbos, an Israeli source told Reuters.
Three Israeli sources told the outlet that Israel has raised its alert level in preparation for a regional escalation.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
According to the guard, Venezuelan security forces were on duty when their radar and communications systems abruptly shut down. He said drones then appeared overhead, followed by helicopters that deployed a relatively small number of U.S. troops. The guard claimed the troops were highly coordinated and technologically advanced.
The witness further alleged that at one point a device was deployed that produced an intense sound or energy effect, leaving him and others unable to stand and experiencing symptoms such as nosebleeds and disorientation. He said several people collapsed and were temporarily incapacitated.
It remains unclear what caused those symptoms, and no independent verification of the weapon described has been provided.
An unnamed former U.S. intelligence official told the New York Post that directed-energy weapons—systems that use focused energy such as microwaves or other frequencies—have existed for decades and could theoretically produce some of the effects described, though the source emphasized uncertainty about whether such a weapon was used in this case.
Venezuela’s Interior Ministry has said approximately 100 members of the country’s security forces were killed during the January 3 operation, which involved airstrikes and ground forces at multiple locations. Officials have not specified the causes of death or whether any fatalities were linked to the alleged use of a nontraditional weapon.
Images and videos circulated following the raid showed explosions and fires in and around Caracas. The United States has acknowledged carrying out the operation to detain Maduro but has released limited details about the tactics or technology used.
The White House did not respond to questions about whether the social media post sharing the guard’s account signaled official confirmation of its accuracy. U.S. officials have previously said the operation was carefully planned and resulted in no reported American casualties.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
According to two sources with direct knowledge of the bill’s trajectory, outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy opposed the measure and was a central obstacle to its advancement. Those sources said Murphy did not want to be forced into a politically fraught decision on whether to sign the bill, which has become contentious within progressive Democratic circles.
Assemblyman Gary Schaer, the Democratic lead sponsor, confirmed Thursday that the legislation would not be posted for a vote. Schaer told Politico he had been informed by Assembly leadership that the bill would not appear on the docket for the chamber’s final session.
The measure would have required law enforcement agencies and public institutions to take into account the IHRA definition when determining whether conduct violated state or federal anti-bias laws or whether a criminal act was motivated by antisemitism. It also called for the definition to be used in training public officials and responding to antisemitic incidents. The bill included language explicitly protecting free speech and limited its application to criminal and civil-rights enforcement.
Despite those safeguards, the legislation became a flashpoint in Democratic politics last year. Progressive critics attacked it as an attempt to chill criticism of Israel—an argument supporters say misrepresents both the text and intent of the bill.
While the proposal cleared committee in the Assembly, it never received a full floor vote in either chamber. One source familiar with the legislative strategy said the bill had the votes to pass, but Democratic leaders repeatedly declined to move it forward, fearing that support could expose vulnerable incumbents to progressive primary challenges.
“Concerns about primaries are already widespread,” the source said. “Leadership didn’t want to hand challengers another weapon.”
Another source described finger-pointing among Democratic power brokers, with Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin privately blaming one another for the bill’s collapse. Neither Scutari nor Coughlin responded to requests for comment from Jewish Insider.
The Murphy administration declined to comment on pending legislation but said the governor “unequivocally condemns all forms of violence and discrimination based on religious belief,” pointing to past initiatives he has supported to combat antisemitism.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The evening continued with opening remarks from Sid Laytin acknowledging the VIPs in attendance, including the aforementioned chiefs, a ward commissioner, the va’ad harabbanim, and the board of directors. He further recognized the many people who worked hard and sacrificed to make the dream of a local Hatzolah a reality with an acute emphasis on three individuals. Namely Tzvi Rudin, a 15yr EMT who now serves as Operations Captain and leads the team of 15 Responders; Avraham Vegh, a volunteer with the local fire station and technologist who leads Main Line Hatzolah’s technology, security and infrastructure. And Moshe Starkman, Main Line Hatzolah’s Executive Director and workhorse.
Sid then told of the history of Hatzolah in the United States and the story that inspired it. He then told of a similar story impacting Lower Merion and the genesis of Main Line Hatzolah.
Finally, Moshe Starkman spoke about the program itself to ensure everyone understands when to call Hatzolah and when to not call Hatzolah. Who we are, what we do, how we do it and most importantly, why we do it. “Hatzolah is fueled by ahavas Yisroel. It is the ‘secret sauce’ that makes Hatzolah work and has evolved the brand into the single largest volunteer EMS organization in the world.”, he said.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The 6-year-old boy remains in critical condition and is currently in an induced coma. The tzibur is asked to daven for Yitzchok ben Shifra Mirel.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Officers from the New York City Police Department, including highway patrol personnel, responded and secured the area while investigators worked to determine the sequence of events.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“To suggest that circumcision itself is a harmful practice is pejorative and profoundly incorrect,” he said.
The CPS document was drafted amid renewed scrutiny following a small number of tragic cases in which infants died after improperly performed circumcisions. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, seven deaths since 2001 have listed circumcision as a contributing factor. Most involved severe bleeding after procedures carried out outside regulated settings.
Jewish leaders do not dispute that negligence or malpractice must be addressed. What they fiercely reject is the implication that the religious act itself is suspect.
“In the Jewish community, circumcision is performed under stringent standards by trained and experienced practitioners,” Arkush said, adding that complications are “vanishingly rare.” He emphasized that no Jewish man he has encountered considers himself harmed by the ritual.
Muslim organizations echoed the concern. The Muslim Council of Britain warned that while safeguards and accreditation are necessary, “male circumcision is a lawful practice with recognized religious and cultural foundations and should not be characterized in itself as child abuse.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Investigators said the probe also linked Garciamorales to multiple rock-throwing incidents in Bogota Borough.
The Turnpike incident occurred as two school buses were returning from a class trip to the Liberty Science Center. While traveling between Challenger Road and Degraw Avenue, a baseball-sized rock was thrown at a Paramus-bound bus, striking a third-grade girl in the head.
The child suffered a skull injury and was transported to Hackensack University Medical Center by the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Responders from Bergen County Hatzolah also assisted at the scene.
Her name for Tehillim גילה ברכה בת מיכל אילנה.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, community and municipal leaders held a coordinated call to address the incident and support the affected families, while working closely with law enforcement and government officials. A joint investigation was initially conducted by the Teaneck Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, with authorities at the time asking the public for information.
Garciamorales has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief, resisting arrest by flight, and hindering. He was lodged in the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing.
Officials said no additional information is available at this time.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
President Donald Trump has raised his rhetoric toward Tehran amid the continuing crackdown on nationwide protests, signaling public support for demonstrators and warning Iran against further violence. In a recent post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before” and that the United States “stands ready to help.”
The discussions come against the backdrop of escalating unrest in Iran, where protests that began in late December have spread across dozens of cities. Rights groups and medical sources report hundreds of fatalities and thousands of arrests as security forces have used lethal force against demonstrators. Reporting on the situation varies, with some organizations confirming at least 65 deaths and others, including a Tehran hospital doctor, noting upward of 200 confirmed fatalities.
Iranian authorities have imposed nationwide internet shutdowns and have labeled protesters — and those who aid them — as “enemies of God,” a designation punishable by death under Iranian law.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has condemned foreign interference and accused the United States of fomenting unrest, while members of the U.S. Senate and State Department officials have publicly supported the Iranian protesters. Tehran has also warned that it could respond militarily to perceived threats.
A U.S. military strike on Iran would mark a significant escalation in tensions. The United States previously conducted airstrikes on Iranian soil in June 2025, targeting facilities including the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant during a broader regional conflict.
White House officials stress that the current talks do not indicate that an attack is imminent and describe the planning as part of normal contingency exercises. Still, the discussions reflect growing concern within the administration about Iran’s internal stability and the potential international ramifications of its government’s response to civil unrest.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
A protester in Tehran told The Guardian—via messages sent through satellite internet—that snipers had been deployed in central parts of the city and that many people were shot in the streets. According to his account, the presence of bodies has become routine, reinforcing a feeling of a merciless struggle by the regime.
At the same time, the Fars news agency, which is affiliated with security elements, aired videos that appeared to show forced confessions by detained demonstrators. Human rights activists warn that such confessions are frequently used to justify executions and constitute severe violations of human rights.
The HRANA organization has reported at least 65 deaths since the protests began, including 50 demonstrators. However, medical testimonies indicate the toll may be far higher. A doctor in Tehran told Time magazine that at least 217 people had been killed in just six hospitals in the capital, most by live ammunition. He said many of the victims were young, and that some were shot outside police stations after security forces opened machine-gun fire on crowds.
Hospitals across the country are operating under emergency conditions. Doctors and medics who contacted the BBC via satellite connection reported extreme overcrowding, the suspension of non-urgent surgeries, and a severe shortage of surgeons. A medic at a hospital in Shiraz said many of the wounded are arriving with gunshot injuries to the head and eyes, and that medical staff are struggling to cope with the scale and intensity of the violence.
The Telegraph reported that the Islamic regime has moved into an unprecedented state of readiness, even higher than during the war with Israel in June. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, fearing that Israel could exploit the internal turmoil to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, has ordered maximum preparedness in the underground “missile cities” scattered across the country.
Rather than relying on the regular army or the police—institutions that have seen defections in the past—Khamenei has placed his trust squarely in the Revolutionary Guards. A senior Iranian source said the Supreme Leader views their loyalty as unwavering. “He will not leave Tehran even if American B-52 bombers fly overhead,” the source said, amid threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene militarily if the killing of protesters continues.
The Revolutionary Guards stated on Saturday morning that guarding the achievements of the 1979 revolution and state security constitute a “red line” and that “missile cities” located underground have been activated to counter external threats.
Despite the harsh crackdown, human rights groups report early signs of dissent among security personnel. According to these accounts, some police officers and security forces have refused orders to use live fire against demonstrators. In response, the Revolutionary Guards have launched what has been described as a “manhunt” for those who refused, with several already arrested and taken in for questioning.
An Israeli minister told Channel 12 News on Motzei Shabbos that for the first time since the protests erupted two weeks ago, security officials are seeing indications that the unrest could threaten the regime’s survival.
He said, “This is still not a critical mass, and the regime is not on the verge of collapse—but the protest graph shows a clear and sustained upward trend, at a pace we haven’t seen in previous weeks.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump issued a similar threat on Firday night to those he made earlier this week, saying the US will intervene if Iran starts “killing people,” while noting he has no intention of sending in ground forces. “Iran is in big trouble. Protesters seem to be taking over cities, something no one thought possible a few weeks ago.”
On Saturday morning, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi published a message calling for a general strike in the country and preparation for city occupations in Iran.
In a video message posted online, Pahlavi said, “I call on workers and employees in key sectors of the economy, especially in transportation, oil, gas, and energy, to begin a nationwide strike process. I also ask all of you to take to the streets today and tomorrow from 6:00 p.m. with flags, photos, and national symbols, and to occupy public spaces. Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets but to prepare for occupying and defending city centers.”
Pahlavi even called to prepare for prolonged street presence and to stockpile supplies.
Pahlavi added, “To the youth of Iran and to all security and armed forces who have joined us, I say: Slow down and further paralyze the suppression machine so that on the promised day we can shut it down completely. I am also preparing to return to my homeland and be with you, the great nation of Iran, when our national revolution triumphs. I believe that day is very close.”
(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)
Tragically, just hours before his collapse, Rabbi Dr. Rosenshein participated in a conference call with his fellow executive committee of the United Task Force — his second such meeting that week alone. Those on the call described him as sharp, energetic, and deeply engaged, passionately discussing upcoming agenda items and expressing his unwavering concern and responsibility for the children of Klal Yisroel.
Levayah and shiva details will be published by YWN when they become available.
Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“Because of this cooperation, I have canceled the previously expected second wave of attacks, which looks like it will not be needed,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He added that U.S. naval vessels would remain in place in the region for “safety and security purposes.”
Trump’s announcement comes amid a week of intense political turbulence in Venezuela following a dramatic U.S. military operation earlier this month that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was flown to the United States to face federal charges.
The president said the decision to pause further military action was influenced by Venezuela’s moves to release a significant number of political prisoners, which he termed a gesture of “seeking peace.” He also reiterated his administration’s focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation around Venezuela’s oil production.
Trump said he planned to meet with oil industry executives at the White House on Friday to discuss long-term investments and the rebuilding of Venezuela’s energy infrastructure. He described the country’s oil resources as plentiful and of “unbelievable quality,” asserting that private companies would take a leading role in reconstruction.
Despite canceling the second wave of attacks, Trump emphasized that U.S. ships would remain positioned near Venezuela “for safety and security purposes,” signaling continued military involvement in the region.
The developments follow a broader shift in U.S. policy toward Venezuela, which also included plans to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil that were previously blocked under sanctions. The move underscored the administration’s dual focus on strategic energy interests and geopolitical engagement with Caracas.
Venezuelan authorities have said they are working with Washington under the interim leadership of Delcy Rodríguez, although questions remain about the internal political dynamics and the legitimacy of transitions in the country’s government.
The announcement drew mixed reactions in Washington, including legislative scrutiny over presidential war powers and debate over the long-term implications of U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s domestic affairs.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The mission involved an extended, multi-continent route. The aircraft first traveled approximately 40 hours from New York to Honolulu and onward to Australia. After the patient was stabilized and loaded in Sydney, the return flight proceeded from Australia to Bangkok and then to Israel.
The transport followed the December 14 attack at a Chanukah event near Bondi Beach in Sydney, which left 15 dead and dozens wounded and drew international attention and condemnation.
Hatzolah Air said the operation demonstrated its ability to carry out complex, long-distance medical evacuations under critical conditions. The organization specializes in emergency air transport for severely ill or injured patients worldwide and operates in coordination with local medical teams and governments.
Israeli officials said the patient was transferred upon arrival to a hospital in Israel for continued treatment and recovery.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The mission involved an extended, multi-continent route. The aircraft first traveled approximately 40 hours from New York to Honolulu and onward to Australia. After the patient was stabilized and loaded in Sydney, the return flight proceeded from Australia to Bangkok and then to Israel.
The transport followed the December 14 attack at a Chanukah event near Bondi Beach in Sydney, which left 15 dead and dozens wounded and drew international attention and condemnation.
Hatzolah Air said the operation demonstrated its ability to carry out complex, long-distance medical evacuations under critical conditions. The organization specializes in emergency air transport for severely ill or injured patients worldwide and operates in coordination with local medical teams and governments.
Israeli officials said the patient was transferred upon arrival to a hospital in Israel for continued treatment and recovery.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Officials said the virus continues to circulate widely across the city.
Health authorities emphasized that vaccination remains the most effective protection against severe illness. At the same time, city officials criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for recently revising its childhood vaccine schedule under the Trump administration, which reduced the number of vaccines recommended for children, including those protecting against influenza.
“In response to the CDC revised childhood vaccine schedule, we coordinated with New York State officials to send clear guidance to health care providers yesterday through the statewide health advisory network,” said Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Toni Eyssallenne.
Officials said one of the most concerning trends this season is a 6% decline in childhood flu vaccinations compared with the previous respiratory virus season.
Some residents reported that vaccination may have helped lessen the severity of illness.
Last month, New York City recorded its highest number of flu cases reported in a single week, according to health officials. They cautioned that it is still too early to determine whether the city has reached the peak of the season, noting that flu activity typically continues into May.
City health leaders urged residents—particularly parents, older adults, and those with underlying health conditions—to remain vigilant and consider vaccination as flu activity persists.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The man was struck by gunfire and transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
McCarthy said the man continued to hold the weapon despite repeated commands from officers to drop it, even after he was shot. Body-worn camera footage shows officers continuing to instruct him to put the weapon down so they could render medical aid, McCarthy said. The man did not respond verbally.
Police recovered an imitation Sig Sauer handgun at the scene and said investigators will determine whether it was operable. The two officers involved were taken to local hospitals for evaluation.
A witness told police he saw the BMW traveling the wrong way on Sixth Avenue with its bumper dragging, pursued by a minivan. The BMW then stopped at a stop sign and reversed into the minivan, after which the occupants exited and flagged down officers.
The shooting came roughly five hours after another fatal police encounter earlier Thursday evening at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
In that incident, police responded around 5:30 p.m. to multiple calls reporting a violent man armed with a knife on the hospital’s eighth floor. Authorities said the suspect, a man in his 60s, barricaded himself inside a room with an elderly patient and a hospital security guard.
Assistant Chief Charlie Minch said officers observed blood on the walls and floor and repeatedly ordered the suspect to drop the weapon. The suspect appeared in the doorway holding a bloody knife, refused commands for more than three minutes, and attempted to force the door shut while the two individuals remained trapped inside.
Police said officers deployed multiple tasers, which were ineffective. When the suspect advanced toward officers again while holding the weapon, officers fired their weapons, fatally striking him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The patient, a man in his 70s, and the security guard were not injured. Police recovered the knife inside the hospital room. Authorities said the suspect had been admitted to the hospital at some point on Wednesday, but it remains unclear how he obtained the weapon or whether he had any relationship to the people he held inside the room.
Both incidents are under investigation, as is standard in police-involved shootings, officials said.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The attack also coincides with a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington after Russia condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker in the North Atlantic. It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled he is on board with a hard-hitting sanctions package meant to economically cripple Moscow.
Ukrainian officials said four people were killed and at least 25 wounded in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during the overnight attack as apartment buildings were struck.
Those killed included an emergency medical aid worker, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Four doctors and one police officer sustained injuries while responding to the ongoing attacks, authorities said.
About half of snowy Kyiv’s apartment buildings — nearly 6,000 — were left without heating amid daytime temperatures of around minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit), Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The water supply was also disrupted.
Municipal services restored power and heating to public facilities, including hospitals and maternity wards, using mobile boiler units, he said
The attack damaged the Qatari Embassy in Kyiv, according to Zelenskyy. He noted that Qatar has played a key role in mediating the exchange of prisoners of war.
He called for a “clear response” from the international community, particularly from the United States, which he said Russia takes seriously.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack was a retaliation to what Moscow said was a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence last month. Both Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump have rejected the Russian claim of the attack on Putin’s residence.
Putin has previously said that the Oreshnik streaks to its target at Mach 10, “like a meteorite,” and has claimed it is immune to any missile defense system. Several of them used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack, according to Putin, who has warned the West that Russia could use the Oreshnik next against allies of Kyiv that allow it to strike inside Russia with their longer-range missiles.
Ukrainian intelligence says the missile has six warheads, each carrying six submunitions.
Russia didn’t say where Oreshnik hit, but Russian media and military bloggers said it targeted a huge underground natural gas storage facility in Ukraine’s western Lviv region. Western military aid flows to Ukraine from a big supply hub in Poland just across the border from Lviv.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it identified debris from a Russian Oreshnik missile in the Lviv area. It was fired from Russia’s Kapustin Yar testing range and targeted civilian infrastructure, investigators said.
Russia first used the Oreshnik missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. Analysts say it affords Russia a new element of psychological warfare, unnerving Ukrainians and intimidating Western countries that supply weaponry to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine would be initiating international action in response to the use of the missile, including an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council and a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council.
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community. We demand strong responses to Russia’s reckless actions,” he said in a post on X.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking at the Vatican on Friday, urged the international community to keep pushing for peace and end the suffering in Ukraine.
“Faced with this tragic situation, the Holy See strongly reiterates the pressing need for an immediate ceasefire, and for dialogue motivated by a sincere search for ways leading to peace,” the pontiff told ambassadors to the Vatican from around the world.
Germany rebuked Russia for what it said was an escalation in the war just as Ukraine and Western countries were trying to find compromises to end it.
“These are symbolic threats intended to instil fear, but they are not effective,” German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said in Berlin, referring to the Oreshnik’s use. “Russia’s behavior in this regard is too transparent.”
In Kyiv, several districts were hit in the attack, according to Tkachenko, the city’s military administration chief. In the Desnyanskyi district a drone crashed onto the roof of a multistory building. At another address in the same district the first two floors of a residential building were damaged.
In Dnipro district, parts of a drone damaged a multistory building and a fire broke out.
Dmytro Karpenko’s windows were shattered in the attack on Kyiv. When he saw that his neighbor’s house was on fire, he rushed out to help him.
“What Russia is doing, of course, shows that they do not want peace. But people really want peace, people are suffering, people are dying,” the 45-year old said.
(AP)
Protesters are “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States,” Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei separately vowed that punishment for protesters “will be decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency.”
There was no immediate response from Washington, though Trump has repeated his pledge to strike Iran if protesters are killed, a threat that’s taken on greater significance after the U.S. military raid that seized Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls, short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas into Friday morning. Iranian state media alleged “terrorist agents” of the U.S. and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were “casualties,” without elaborating.
The full scope of the demonstrations couldn’t be immediately determined due to the communications blackout, though it represented yet another escalation in protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy and that has morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in several years. The protests have intensified steadily since beginning Dec. 28.
The protests also represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly has called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. Friday.
Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Iran’s ailing economy.
So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
“What turned the tide of the protests was former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi’s calls for Iranians to take to the streets at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday,” said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Per social media posts, it became clear that Iranians had delivered and were taking the call seriously to protest in order to oust the Islamic Republic.”
“This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests. Unfortunately, it also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters.”
When the clock struck 8 p.m. Thursday, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Others praised the shah, shouting: “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!” Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.
“Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication,” Pahlavi said. “It has shut down the internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.”
He went on to call for European leaders to join U.S. President Donald Trump in promising to “hold the regime to account.”
“I call on them to use all technical, financial, and diplomatic resources available to restore communication to the Iranian people so that their voice and their will can be heard and seen,” he added. “Do not let the voices of my courageous compatriots be silenced.”
Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The internet cut also appears to have taken Iran’s state-run and semiofficial news agencies offline as well. The state TV acknowledgment at 8 a.m. Friday represented the first official word about the demonstrations.
State TV claimed the protests saw violence that caused casualties but did not elaborate. It also said the protests saw “people’s private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire.” State TV later reported that violence overnight killed six people in Hamedan, some 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of Tehran.
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.
It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.”
In an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired Thursday, Trump reiterated his pledge.
Iran has “been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump said.
Trump demurred when asked if he’d meet with Pahlavi.
“I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president,” Trump said. “I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges.”
Speaking in an interview with Sean Hannity aired Thursday night on Fox News, Trump went as far as to suggest 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be looking to leave Iran.
“He’s looking to go someplace,” Trump said. “It’s getting very bad.”
(AP)
The Israel Health Ministry reiterated its vaccination guidance: children should receive two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine—one at 12 months of age and a second in first grade, typically around age six.
In areas experiencing outbreaks, the second dose has been advanced to 18 months. For infants aged 6 to 11 months who are traveling to or residing in outbreak areas, the ministry recommends an additional, non-routine booster dose, followed by the standard doses at the appropriate ages.
Measles is a highly contagious viral illness spread through airborne droplets produced by coughing or sneezing. Health officials say more than 90% of unvaccinated individuals exposed to the virus are likely to become infected. Symptoms usually appear about two weeks after exposure and include high fever, runny nose, dry cough, red eyes, and a rash that typically begins on the face and spreads downward.
While most patients recover within several days, measles can lead to serious complications, particularly in infants, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. Complications may include pneumonia, encephalitis, and, in rare cases, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a progressive and fatal brain disorder that can develop years after the initial infection.
Under Israel’s routine immunization schedule, infants under one year of age are not typically vaccinated against measles. However, early vaccination between six and 12 months may be considered after confirmed exposure or prior to international travel.
Health officials stress that early doses do not replace the routine vaccinations, which must still be administered later.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The demonstrations that have popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran continued Thursday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran’s civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage, both attributing it to Iranian government interference. Attempts to dial landlines and mobile phones from Dubai to Iran could not be connected. Such outages have in the past been followed by intense government crackdowns.
Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless. It remains unclear how Pahlavi’s call will affect the demonstrations moving forward.
“The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran,” wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran.
“There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labor leader Lech Wałęsa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted and exiled all of the country’s potential transformational leaders.”
Pahlavi had called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local (1630 GMT) on Thursday and Friday. When the clock struck, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Others praised the shah, shouting: “This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return!” Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out.
“Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication,” Pahlavi said. “It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.”
He went on to call for European leaders to join U.S. President Donald Trump in promising to “hold the regime to account.”
“I call on them to use all technical, financial, and diplomatic resources available to restore communication to the Iranian people so that their voice and their will can be heard and seen,” he added. “Do not let the voices of my courageous compatriots be silenced.”
Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part.
Iranian officials have not acknowledged the scale of the overall protests, which raged across many locations Thursday even before the 8 p.m. demonstration. However, there has been reporting regarding security officials being hurt or killed.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency report a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
A deputy governor in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran. Late Thursday, the Revolutionary Guard said two members of its forces were killed in Kermanshah.
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.
It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.”
Speaking to talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Trump reiterated his pledge.
Iran has “been told very strongly, even more strongly than I’m speaking to you right now, that if they do that, they’re going to have to pay hell,” Trump said.
Trump demurred when asked if he’d meet with Pahlavi.
“I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president,” Trump said. “I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges.”
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December.
“Since Dec. 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019,” her son Ali Rahmani said. “Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs’ regime.”
(AP)
“The affordability crisis is not a ‘hoax,’ it is very real — despite what Donald Trump has had to say,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, invoking the president’s remarks.
“Democrats made clear before the government was shut down that we were in this affordability fight until we win this affordability fight,” he said. “Today we have an opportunity to take a meaningful step forward.”
Ahead of voting, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill, which would provide a three-year extension of the subsidy, would increase the nation’s deficit by about $80.6 billion over the decade. At the same time, it would increase the number of people with health insurance by 100,000 this year, 3 million in 2027, 4 million in 2028 and 1.1 million in 2029, the CBO said.
Johnson, R-La., worked for months to prevent this situation. His office argued Thursday that the federal health care funding from the COVID-19 era is rife with fraud and urged a no vote.
On the floor, Republicans also argued that the lawmakers should be focused on lowering health insurance costs for the broader population, not just those enrolled in ACA plans.
“Only 7% of the population relies on Obamacare marketplace plans. This chamber should be about helping 100% of Americans,” said Rep. Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
While the momentum from the vote shows the growing support for the tax breaks that have helped some 22 million Americans have access to health insurance, the Senate would be under no requirement to take up the House bill and has already rejected it once before.
Instead, a small group of senators from both parties has been working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that for any plan to find support in his chamber, it will need to have income limits to ensure that the financial aid is focused on those who most need the help. He and other Republicans also want to ensure that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a leader in the group of about a dozen senators, said they hope to deliver a framework next week. He and others met with House colleagues on options.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who is part of the negotiations, said there is agreement on addressing fraud in health care.
“We recognize that we have millions of people in this country who are going to lose — are losing, have lost — their health insurance because they can’t afford the premiums,” Shaheen said. “And so we’re trying to see if we can’t get to some agreement that’s going to help, and the sooner we can do that, the better.”
Trump has pushed Republicans to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own. Democrats largely reject this idea as insufficient for covering the high costs of health care.
The action by Republicans to force a vote has been an affront to Johnson and his leadership team, who essentially lost control of what comes to the House floor as the Republican lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.
After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on another health care bill that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes.
But after days of discussions, Johnson and the GOP leadership sided with the more conservative wing, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up ACA, which they consider a failed government program. He offered a modest proposal of health care reforms that was approved, but has stalled.
It was then that rank-and-file lawmakers took matters into their own hands, as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York, signed the Democrats’ petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.
Jeffries said in a celebratory press conference afterward that Thune should bring the Democratic bill to the Senate floor for an immediate vote.
What started as a long shot effort by Democrats to offer a discharge petition has become a political vindication of the Democrats’ government shutdown strategy as they fought to preserve the health care funds.
Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Trump, during a lengthy speech this week to House GOP lawmakers, encouraged his party to take control of the health care debate — an issue that has stymied Republicans since he tried, and failed, to repeal Obamacare during his first term.
(AP)
The organization notes a dramatic escalation in light of a serious incident that occurred this week at the Tel Hashomer induction center, where a Chareidi draft candidate with a psychiatric history experienced acute distress to the point of a life-threatening situation—an incident that, according to the organization, is a direct result of the conduct described in the letter.
The letter detailed previous incidents regarding two Chareidim with complex mental health backgrounds. The army determined that they were fit for service, leaving them vulnerable to conditions that ultimately became life-threatening for them.
It was further noted that a petition was filed to the Supreme Court on the issue in December, but to date no response has been given by the state, while recruitment procedures continue and at times endanger lives.
The organization clarified that if a full response is not received within 48 hours, additional and immediate legal steps will be taken, including a demand to impose personal responsibility on officeholders.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
There was no immediate independent corroboration of those events or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants. During prior shootings involving agents involved in President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement in U.S. cities, including Wednesday’s shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, video evidence cast doubt on the administration’s initial descriptions of what prompted the shootings.
According to the the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting near a hospital at about 2:18 p.m.
A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers then responded there and found the two people with apparent gunshot wounds. Officers determined they were injured in the shooting with federal agents, police said.
Their conditions were not immediately known. Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a Portland city council meeting that Thursday’s shooting took place in the eastern part of the city and that two Portlanders were wounded.
“As far as we know both of these individuals are still alive and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon,” she said.
The shooting escalates tensions in an city that has long had a contentious relationship with President Donald Trump, including Trump’s recent, failed effort to deploy National Guard troops in the city.
Portland police secured both the scene of the shooting and the area where the wounded people were found pending investigation.
“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” said Chief Bob Day. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and the city council called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to end all operations in Oregon’s largest city until a full investigation is completed.
“We stand united as elected officials in saying that we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” a joint statement said. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”
The city officials said “federal militarization undermines effective, community‑based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region. We’ll use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
They urged residents to show up with “calm and purpose during this difficult time.”
“We respond with clarity, unity, and a commitment to justice,” the statement said. “We must stand together to protect Portland.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, urged any protesters to remain peaceful.
“Trump wants to generate riots,” he said in a post on the X social media platform. “Don’t take the bait.”
(AP)
And when the phone rings during Shemoneh Esrei? The person panics, fumbles, and turns it off. But the damage is already done.
We’ve all seen it: someone picks up the phone, whispers “nu, nu, nu,” signaling that he can’t talk. But that gesture speaks volumes. It disturbs others. It shatters the atmosphere. And sometimes, people actually answer calls during davening, missing amens, missing Kaddish, rushing through tefillah just to see who’s calling.
The ripple effect isn’t minor. When a phone goes off, the entire shul loses concentration. Until that phone is wrestled out of a pocket and silenced, dozens of people’s tefillos are disrupted—because of one device.
And reading messages during davening? Ask yourself plainly: what kind of honor does that show to tefillah? What message does that send about what we value?
Shul is one of the last places that should be phone-free. If we can’t disconnect from our devices for the few minutes we stand before Hashem, then something is deeply broken.
The solution is simple—and overdue: phones out of shul. Leave them in the car. Turn them off. Make it the norm again that when we daven, we are present—fully, without a screen between us and Hashem.
Signed,
E.D.
The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.
Eitan was forced to transfer to another unit to continue the course without compromising his identity and religious commitment. “He paid a very heavy personal price—and this is an example of a soldier facing a system that expects him to give up his identity,” Rabbi Wolfson said.
“There was a prior agreement, but on the ground Eitan discovered a different reality. The system must ensure protection for Chareidi soldiers and not demand that they face such dilemmas alone,” Rabbi Wolfson asserted.
Minister Orit Struck responded to Rabbi Wolfson’s comments, saying, “We heard the shocking words of Rabbi Chaim Wolfson. Even today, before the new legislation (for a Chareidi draft law), there is no legal or regulatory protection for a religious soldier’s right to observe his halachic obligations. And even in the draft bill currently being advanced, there is a clear preference for female soldiers’ rights over the rights of Chareidi soldiers—and the rights of non-Chareidi religious soldiers receive no mention whatsoever.”
“It’s unfathomable that the law establishes a lack of equality whereby the rights of the religious, halacha-observant soldiers are inferior to women’s rights in the army. Rights must be equalized—both regarding Chareidim and religious [non-Chareidi] soldiers.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Interrogations revealed that the teen had established contact with ISIS operatives abroad and had begun taking steps to carry out an attack inside Israel. Police said the suspect openly praised previous terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and expressed a desire for its destruction.
Security officials described the case as particularly alarming due to the suspect’s age and the advanced stage of preparation. The indictment was filed after investigators concluded that the plot had moved from radicalization to actionable planning.
The case is not an isolated incident. In November, Israeli security forces arrested an 18-year-old resident of the Negev accused of planning a suicide bombing targeting soldiers at a bus station in Beersheva. That suspect, authorities said at the time, was also inspired by ISIS ideology, had taken steps to manufacture explosive devices, and was found in possession of bomb-making instructions.
Israeli security officials have repeatedly warned that ISIS-inspired radicalization—often fueled by online propaganda and foreign contacts—poses a persistent threat, particularly among vulnerable youth. While ISIS no longer controls large swaths of territory in the Middle East, intelligence officials say its ideology continues to motivate lone actors and small cells seeking to carry out attacks.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
In the letter, HaRav Landau stated that there is “great benefit in this chizzuk.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
“The judge’s discretion is fundamentally flawed and distorted. This is a case in which a 14-year-old boy met his death…this is complete contempt for human life and the abandonment of the blood of the entire Chareidi sector.”
Emphasizing that the judge was not well-versed with the case she ruled on, the statement provided an example: “By way of illustration, in her decision, the judge arbitrarily and in total detachment from reality ruled that the driver dragged Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, only a few dozen meters. This is an absolute lie!”
“The facts: the incident began at the corner of Yirmiyahu Street and Tuval Street, where the driver drove wildly into the crowd, striking Eisenthal, z’l, and several other youths, one of whom clung to the bus.
“At the Yirmiyahu–Sarei Yisrael junction, he sped left onto Shamgar Street (where the youth who hung was flung aside and b’chasdei Hashem, emerged unharmed), while dragging Eisenthal, z’l, who was trapped under the bus, all along Shamgar Street up to the Belz–Ohel Yehoshua traffic circle.
“There he continued speeding and turned right onto Ohel Yehoshua Street until he was aggressively stopped by the police near the intersection of Minchas Yitzchak and Kedushas Aharon Streets.
“One and a half kilometers of dragging, crushing, torment, the killing of a 14-year-old boy, injuries, and the endangerment of the lives of dozens of people along the entire trail of blood—and this crazed driver is released.”
Photo: Peleg Yerushalmi
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The Arad rifle, developed by IWI in 2019, is a modern assault rifle that has primarily been manufactured for export markets. Within the IDF, most combat units continue to rely on the Israeli-made Tavor rifle or the U.S.-manufactured M16. The Arad’s deployment to civilian rapid response units reflects a targeted effort to equip non-regular forces tasked with immediate local defense.
The arming of these rapid response teams is part of a broader security doctrine adopted in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led invasion and massacre. During the attack, volunteer-based civilian defense squads—often composed of local residents—were among the first to engage the infiltrators, in some cases holding off attackers until IDF forces arrived. Israeli officials have since cited their actions as a critical factor in limiting casualties in several communities.
Defense officials say the completion of the rifle distribution is intended to ensure that rapid response teams are better equipped to confront future threats, particularly in border-adjacent and vulnerable areas, while reinforcing the role of civilian defense units as an integral layer of Israel’s national security framework.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Meanwhile, the protests themselves have remained broadly leaderless, though a call for protests by Iran’s exiled crown prince will test whether or not demonstrators are being swayed by messages from abroad.
“The lack of a viable alternative has undermined past protests in Iran,” wrote Nate Swanson of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, who studies Iran.
“There may be a thousand Iranian dissident activists who, given a chance, could emerge as respected statesmen, as labor leader Lech Wałęsa did in Poland at the end of the Cold War. But so far, the Iranian security apparatus has arrested, persecuted and exiled all of the country’s potential transformational leaders.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.
On Wednesday, at least 37 protests took place across the country, activists said. They included Shiraz, where online videos purported to show an anti-riot truck using a water cannon to target demonstrators. The state-run IRNA news agency, which has largely been silent about the demonstrations, reported on a mass demonstration in Bojnourd, as well as demonstrations in Kerman and Kermanshah.
Iranian officials have offered no acknowledgment of the scale of the protests. However, there has been reporting regarding security officials being hurt or killed.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency report a police colonel suffered fatal stab wounds in a town outside of Tehran, while the semiofficial Fars news agency said gunmen killed two security force members and wounded 30 others in a shooting in the city of Lordegan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
A deputy governor in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province told Iranian state television that an attack at a police station killed five people Wednesday night in Chenaran, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) northeast of Tehran.
Demonstrations continued Thursday, with merchants closing their shops in Iran’s Kurdistan province and soon after in other cities.
It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. U.S. President Donald Trump’s warned last week that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” America “will come to their rescue.”
Trump’s comments drew a new rebuke from Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
“Recalling the long history of criminal interventions by successive U.S. administrations in Iran’s internal affairs, the Foreign Ministry considers claims of concern for the great Iranian nation to be hypocritical, aimed at deceiving public opinion and covering up the numerous crimes committed against Iranians,” it said.
But those comments haven’t stopped the U.S. State Department on the social platform X from highlighting online footage purporting to show demonstrators putting up stickers naming roads after Trump or throwing away government-subsidized rice.
“When prices are set so high that neither consumers can afford to buy nor farmers can afford to sell, everyone loses,” the State Department said in one message. “It makes no difference if this rice is thrown away.”
The demonstrations so far broadly appear to be leaderless, like other rounds of protests in Iran in recent years. However, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, has urged the public in Iran to shout from their windows and roofs on Thursday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. (1630 GMT).
“Wherever you are, whether in the streets or even from your own homes, I call on you to begin chanting exactly at this time,” Pahlavi said in an online video that’s also been promoted by Iranian satellite news channels abroad. “Based on your response, I will announce the next calls to action.”
Whether people take part will be a sign of possible support for Pahlavi, whose support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian officials appeared to be taking the planned protests seriously. The hard-line Kayhan newspaper published a video online claiming security forces would use drones to identify those taking part.
Meanwhile, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains imprisoned by authorities after her arrest in December.
“Since Dec. 28, 2025, the people of Iran have taken to the streets, just as they did in 2009, 2019,” her son Ali Rahmani said. “Each time, the same demands came up: an end to the Islamic Republic, an end to this patriarchal, dictatorial and religious regime, the end of the clerics, the end of the mullahs’ regime.”
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after a 12-day war with Israel in June, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran’s theocracy.
Prior to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the rial was broadly stable, trading at around 70 to $1. At the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, $1 traded for 32,000 rials. Shops in markets across the country have shut down as part of the protests.
(AP)
The girl is scheduled to undergo surgery for her wounds. Her name for Tehillim גילה ברכה בת מיכל אילנה.
In the aftermath of the incident, BCJAC participated in a coordinated call with Rabbi Daniel Fridman of the RCBC, TeachNJ, Teaneck Mayor Mayor Schwartz, Deputy Mayor Orgen, Deputy Mayor Eli Katz, YN Head of School Rabbi Chaim Hagler, and Sol Itzkowitz Coordinator of Chaveirim of Bergen county, as community and municipal leaders work closely with law enforcement and government officials in response to the incident. Teaneck Police Chaplain Abe Friedman is also involved, assisting and liaising with authorities and the community.
A joint investigation is now underway by the Teaneck Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. Authorities have not yet announced any arrests or suspects and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The portal was created to enforce Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which requires federally funded universities to disclose, twice annually, foreign gifts and contracts totaling at least $250,000 in a calendar year. The reporting tool was rolled out as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to increase transparency around foreign influence on U.S. campuses.
Among the institutions receiving Qatari funding, Cornell University topped the list with roughly $2.3 billion, followed by Carnegie Mellon University at $1 billion, Texas A&M University at $992.8 million, and Georgetown University at $971.1 million.
Kenneth Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and a former assistant U.S. secretary of education for civil rights, said the scale of Qatari funding raises unavoidable questions about influence.
“It is hard to imagine that this amount of money doesn’t imply some amount of influence,” Marcus told JNS. “And it’s fair to ask what kind of influence Qatar is obtaining in exchange for its money.”
Overall, the portal shows that foreign governments and entities have provided $62.4 billion in contracts and gifts to 527 U.S. colleges and universities, underscoring the scope of foreign involvement in American higher education.
Announcing the portal’s anticipated launch in December, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the initiative was long overdue.
“After years of neglect by the Biden administration, the new portal will assist our institutions of higher education in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities,” McMahon said, adding that it would help protect national security by improving compliance.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“The East Side of Manhattan was a community that welcomed my family with open arms, a community that gave them a better life after the horrors that they had been through,” Menin said. “With the beauty of life, it brings things full circle. I now have the great honor and distinction of representing that neighborhood.”
Menin, a moderate Democrat, has been an outspoken supporter of Israel and has participated in the city’s annual Israel Day Parade. She has also worked on initiatives related to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism.
Her election places her in a leadership role alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has drawn controversy for his views on Israel, including past statements suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be arrested if he were to visit New York City.
In interviews ahead of the speaker vote, Menin said she planned to seek areas of cooperation with the mayor while also expressing concern about his decision to repeal several executive orders related to combating antisemitism.
“I was extremely concerned about the repeal of the executive orders and other matters, and I expressed my concerns to the mayor directly,” Menin told the New York Post following a phone call with Mamdani. She said the mayor indicated that he had since issued a new executive order maintaining the Office to Combat Antisemitism and directing the police commissioner to review protests near houses of worship.
“What I’m focused on with the council is what the council can do to ensure that we are protecting New Yorkers,” she said.
During her acceptance speech, Menin also addressed broader concerns about religious hatred, drawing a parallel between Islamophobia following the September 11 attacks and what she described as rising hatred and violence across the country today.
“We live in a day when the first Muslim mayor of New York City and now the first Jewish speaker of the council are serving at the same time,” Menin said. “What will write this interfaith leadership into the history books is if it can act as an opportunity for all of us to come together, to calm tensions, to bridge divides, and to recognize we are one city, no matter the religion we practice or the language we speak.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
“This victory represents much more than a triumph of city and state government working in partnership — it is proof that when New Yorkers come together, we can transform the way government serves working families,” he said in a statement.
In a statement provided by the governor’s office ahead of the announcement, Hochul said she is committing to fully funding the first two years of the city’s free child care program for 2-year-olds, describing it as an expansion of the city’s existing universal pre-K program.
The first year will focus on “high-need areas” selected by the city, then expand across the city by its fourth year, according to the statement.
(AP)
Khatib was brought to the hearing dressed in a security-prisoner uniform, and when his defense attorney, Jad Kadmani, asked Israel Prison Service personnel why he was dressed this way—despite the police themselves stating that a terror attack had been ruled out—one of the prison officers replied that “this was the only uniform we had.”
District Court Judge Tamar Bar-Asher said she is not taking a position regarding the driver’s offense but based her decision on the fact that she believes that his offense “does not indicate a level of dangerousness that justifies continued detention” and there are no concerns of the suspect obstructing the investigation.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The police ambushed the suspect in an abandoned building in Yaffo. After arresting him and an accomplice, they seized findings that linked him to the offenses attributed to him.
The suspects, illegal residents from Chevron in their 20s, were transferred to the investigations unit of the Yaffo police for questioning.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Mashriki asked Katz to intervene immediately, including conducting a thorough investigation into the claims raised during the visit; ensuring full compliance with procedures at the detention facility regarding the provision of strictly Mehadrin food and adherence to hilchos kashrus; and receiving a detailed report on the findings of the inquiry and the corrective measures that will be taken as a result.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Albanese said that he asked former High Court judge Virginia Bell to lead the inquiry, a decision that is opposed by the Jewish community due to her political left-wing views. Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg slammed Albanese’s pick, saying it was “unthinkable” to appoint a commissioner who is not trusted by the Jewish community.
“This was an antisemitic terrorist attack, aimed at Jewish Australians, inspired by ISIS, the deadliest that has ever occurred on Australian soil,” Albanese said during the press conference.
Referring to the pressure he faced, Albanese added, “I have listened,” he said. “In a democracy that’s a good thing.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The death comes amid a season of elevated influenza activity. In response, the Health Ministry said it has begun recommending that the public consider wearing face masks in enclosed spaces and at large gatherings. Medical staff and visitors to nursing homes and geriatric institutions have also been advised to wear masks as a precaution.
Officials did not provide additional details about the infant’s medical history or circumstances surrounding the illness, citing patient privacy.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
It was not immediately clear whether the planned protest would have taken place at a shul or whether Pal-Awda was able to determine the event’s location. In a statement, the group claimed that the planned protest had disrupted the event’s outreach, saying that “extreme vetting of attendees has hampered their outreach and vastly limited their ability to recruit settlers.”
The cancelation has many wondering if Mayor mamdani had a hand in the cancelation, as this protest would potentially cause issues for him.
The announcement followed a November demonstration led by Pal-Awda outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, where Nefesh B’Nefesh was hosting an event. During that protest, attendees reported harassment and threats directed at those entering the shul, prompting widespread backlash from Jewish leaders and elected officials.
The episode has taken on added significance amid rising concerns about antisemitism in New York City. According to data released Tuesday by the New York City Police Department, Jewish New Yorkers were targeted in 330 reported hate crimes last year—more than all other groups combined. While antisemitic incidents declined slightly from a record high in 2024, they still accounted for 57% of all hate crimes reported to police.
“These numbers remain far too high and antisemitism continues to be the most persistent hate threat that we face,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a joint press conference with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Hochul said she plans to announce a proposal during her Jan. 13 State of the State address to establish “safety zones” around houses of worship, allowing people to attend religious services “without threats of violence or protest.” Jewish leaders and lawmakers have pushed for similar measures since the November demonstration outside Park East Synagogue.
Pal-Awda has separately announced plans for a protest Thursday against an Israel real estate event in Queens, though the group has again declined to disclose the location.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The Slonimer Rebbe did not attend in person and instead sent a letter that was read aloud during the session. The Biala Rebbe was absent due to his stay in the United States.
At the instruction of the Belzer Rebbe, Rav Pinchas Friedman arrived and appeared before the Moetzes to clearly present the position of his Rebbe regarding the issue at hand.
In his letter, the Slonimer Rebbe stated unequivocally:
> “We oppose any law that imposes punishments and sanctions on those who learn Torah. We will not abandon the halls of the yeshivos under any circumstances.”
Observers noted that the atmosphere surrounding the meeting recalled earlier eras, when the decisions of the Chassidic Moetzes were seen as decisive moments that could determine whether an Israeli government would survive or fall.
Behind the scenes, it emerged that just one day prior to the Moetzes’ convening, messages were conveyed from Degel HaTorah to Agudas Yisrael urging them to avoid issuing a decision opposing the draft law at this stage.
On Tuesday, HaRav Aharon Hirsch, son of HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, held a conversation with Agudas Yisrael Moetzes Secretary Yaakov Woltzer. The message was clear: do not make a decision against the draft law at this time.
Following that discussion, Woltzer met with the Gerrer Rebbe and relayed Degel HaTorah’s position. The Gerrer Rebbe did not dismiss the idea and even proposed a far-reaching alternative: cancel Wednesday’s Moetzes meeting and instead convene a joint Moetzes of Chassidic and Litvish leadership in the coming days to determine a unified stance on the law.
However, the proposal stalled when Rav Hirsch’s son declined to commit to such a joint gathering and reiterated the original request to refrain from making a decision against the law for now.
Ultimately, the Moetzes meeting proceeded as scheduled, but it remains unclear whether a definitive ruling opposing the draft law will be issued, or whether Degel HaTorah’s pressure will succeed in delaying or softening any such decision. Political alertness within the coalition remains high.
Present at the gathering were Knesset members Yitzchak Goldknopf, Meir Porush, and Yisrael Eichler, as well as Bnei Brak Mayor Chanoch Zeibert. MK Yaakov Tessler did not attend, as he is currently abroad for a family simcha.
PHOTOS FOR YWN VIA SHUKI LERER
The move was striking not only because Ahmed has worked closely with Jewish institutions—including the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federations of North America—but because he is no longer on a visa at all. Ahmed received an EB-1 “extraordinary ability” visa in January 2021 and is now a U.S. green-card holder.
“I was confused—and alarmed,” Ahmed told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, speaking from Washington. “There was no formal notice. Just a tweet.”
Ahmed’s research has been cited across the political spectrum. He has appeared alongside Republican leaders, including at a conference attended by Benjamin Netanyahu and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and has advocated with conservatives to repeal Section 230, the law shielding social media companies from liability. JFNA has credited Ahmed’s work as foundational to its policy proposals on online antisemitism.
Yet amid an aggressive immigration crackdown that has swept up tens of thousands of migrants—including some green-card holders—Ahmed sought and received a court order barring his detention without due process. A federal judge this week extended the protection through March.
Civil liberties advocates say the case raises red flags. “Absolutely fascist—and dangerous,” wrote Amy Spitalnick, head of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, calling the targeting of Ahmed part of a broader effort to silence critics of powerful interests.
Ahmed believes those interests are Silicon Valley’s tech giants. His organization has published a series of reports detailing how social media algorithms amplify and monetize antisemitic content. In 2023, Elon Musk sued CCDH after a report criticized X, then Twitter, for promoting hate; the case was dismissed. Musk later reacted to news of the visa action with fire emojis.
State Department officials declined to answer questions about Ahmed’s legal status, issuing only a broad statement asserting that the United States has no obligation to allow foreign nationals to reside in the country.
The episode has unsettled Jewish communal partners. While JFNA praised Ahmed’s contributions, one leader said the group would reassess the relationship if new information emerged. The ADL declined to comment.
The irony, Ahmed and his supporters argue, is that the action clashes with the administration’s own anti-antisemitism agenda. Even the newly appointed U.S. antisemitism envoy, Yehuda Kaploun, has called for tougher oversight of tech platforms.
“This is about silencing the messenger when they can’t defeat the message,” Ahmed said. “My work asks how ancient lies about Jews are spreading faster than ever—and who profits from that.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
In 1976, Rabbi Lupolianski founded the Yad Sarah organization to help the elderly and disabled. The organization is named for his Polish grandmother, who was murdered in the Holocaust. It lends out medical equipment and supplies a variety of services to the sick, elderly and lonely. Yad Sarah has a network of 6,000 volunteers working out of 96 branches, and serves all sectors of the population
He later made history as the first Chareidi representative elected to serve as mayor of Jerusalem, where he worked tirelessly for the city’s development and the welfare of all its residents.
The levayah will take place tomorrow, Thursday, the 19th of Teves, at 11:00 a.m., departing from his home in the Sanhedria Murchevet neighborhood of Yerushalyim and proceeding to Har HaMenuchos.
Yehi Zichro Baruch.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Following her conversion, the woman married Salah al-Din Mahamid, a young Arab teacher from Kafr Qara. In 2014, shortly after the wedding and while his wife was pregnant, Mahamid was arrested on suspicion of involvement with ISIS. His lawyer argued at the time that Mahamid was a normative individual from a respectable family who had just begun teaching at a high school in Jisr az-Zarqa. He was released after several days in custody.
The story did not end there.
Sometime after his release, Mahamid and his Jewish wife left Israel, traveling through Turkey and crossing into Syria. According to the investigation, Mahamid joined ISIS forces and sent back photos and videos showing himself armed and in uniform. Among the most disturbing materials were images of his very Jewish infant son wrapped in an ISIS flag and surrounded by weapons and ammunition.
“During the investigation, we located the woman’s conversion certificate, which was issued by the inciting mufti Akrima Sabri,” said Elhanan Groner, a reporter for The Jewish Voice, on whose investigation the series is based. “According to rumors in Wadi Ara, Mahamid was killed. Our attempts to determine the fate of the woman and the child were unsuccessful. This is one of the most shocking cases we’ve seen, showing how far a young Jewish woman can spiral—partly through the conversion process linked to the Dar al-Salam center.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who crossed party lines to back the Democratic proposal, portrayed it as a vehicle senators could use to reach a compromise.
“No matter the issue, if the House puts forward relatively strong, bipartisan support, it makes it easier for the senators to get there,” Lawler said.
In the end, nine Republicans joined Democrats to advance the measure.
If ultimately successful in the House this week, the voting would show there is bipartisan support for a proposed three-year extension of the tax credits that are available for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The action of forcing a vote has been an affront to Johnson and GOP leaders, who essentially lost control of their House majority as the renegade lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.
But the Senate is under no requirement to take up the bill.
Instead, a small group of members from both parties is working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. One proposal would be to shorten the extension of the subsidy to two years and make changes to the program.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said any plan passing muster in the Senate will need to have income limits to ensure that it’s focused on those who most need the help and that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
That way, he said, “insurance companies can’t game the system and auto-enroll people.” Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
It’s unclear whether the negotiations will yield a bill that the Senate will take up. Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led his party’s effort to push the health care issue forward, particularly challenged Republicans in competitive congressional districts to join if they really wanted to prevent steep premium increases for their constituents. Before Wednesday’s vote, he called on colleagues to “address the health care crisis in this country and make sure that tens of millions of people have the ability to go see a doctor when they need one.”
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Lawler signed the Democrats’ petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.
Johnson, R-La., had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party’s conference, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up a failed program.
Lawmakers turn to discharge petitions to show support for an action and potentially force a vote on the House floor, but they are rarely successful. This session of Congress has proven an exception.
A vote requiring the Department of Justice to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, for instance, occurred after Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced a petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The signature effort was backed by all House Democrats and four Republicans.
(AP)
The case comes amid heightened concern among public health officials over measles outbreaks in pockets of Israel, particularly in communities with low vaccination coverage. Measles is one of the most contagious viral diseases known and can lead to pneumonia, brain inflammation, and death, especially in infants who are too young to be fully vaccinated.
The Israel Ministry of Health has repeatedly warned that lapses in routine childhood immunizations are fueling the resurgence of preventable diseases and placing vulnerable children at grave risk.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The threat comes as widespread protests continue to sweep the Islamic Republic, driven by economic hardship, high inflation and public anger over political repression. Rights groups report that at least 34 protesters have been killed and thousands arrested as demonstrators have taken to the streets in multiple cities.
Trump has in recent days threatened unspecified U.S. action if Iranian security forces kill demonstrators. Tehran has denounced such statements as interference in internal affairs. Iranian officials have previously indicated that threats of foreign intervention are seen as attempts to stoke unrest and weaken the government.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Detainees held under the Illegal Combatants Law are arrested inside Gaza during military operations but are not charged with any criminal offense. Human rights groups say many are detained for months without access to legal counsel or contact with their families. The law, originally enacted as a temporary emergency measure, has been repeatedly extended and is currently set to remain in force through the end of March.
In a statement responding to the disclosure, PCATI accused Israel of perpetuating wartime practices despite the ceasefire. “The war has ended on paper only,” the group said. “In practice, Israel continues to imprison detainees under a temporary order that was supposed to expire, and to hold them in inhumane conditions that amount to torture and cruel treatment.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
He added that the question of how Avraham Avinu remained silent regarding the decree of Galus, while he stood and argued for Sodom and Amorah, is answered by the words of the Zohar: “The Dor Hambul was supposed to be the generation that received the Torah, but ‘all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.’ Therefore we went down to Egypt to rectify this, and the ‘great wealth’ is the redemption of speech—Pesach, peh‑sach (the mouth that speaks). When there is speech, there is Torah.”
Rav Zafrani stressed that the very essence of the existence of Am Yisrael emerges here. “Our nation is a nation only through its Torah. The Torah is not just ‘bread for ’life’—the Torah is life itself. And when you stop life, there’s a danger of death. That’s the meaning of Rebi Akiva’s words in the mashal of the fox and the fish.”
Addressing Bnei Torah directly, he said, “Dear bochurim, precious avreichim, you are not just partners in the burden—you’re the ones who uphold the entire burden. ‘And you shall meditate on it day and night’—this is what sustains Am Yisrael, both in times of war and in times of decrees.”
“They want to secularize us. Pharaoh decreed openly—an enemy from outside. But Lavan the Arami spoke nicely, with a smile, and sought ‘to uproot everything’—that’s much more dangerous. This is the Galus of Greece—a Galus among Jews.”
At the same time, the Rav clarified that there are differing approaches among Gedolei Yisrael: “There are Gedolim who say not to conduct a dialogue, and there are Gedolim who say yes, to conduct a dialogue. This is not a dispute; it is a difference of perspectives. Like Rebbi Yossi ben Kisma versus Rebbi Chananya ben Teradyon—a natural view versus a supernatural view. Who am I to decide? Gedolei Yisrael will decide.”
The Rav emphasized that the current reality is not random: “The hearts of kings and ministers are in Hashem’s hand. A decree—by nature—is destined to be annulled. The Borei Olam is orchestrating events in order to demand more mesirus nefesh from us, more toil in Torah, and more effort.”
“We’re not surrendering, not raising our hands. Everything that happens is from Hashem Yisbarach. And with His help, through the steadfastness of Bnei Torah, Malchus Shamayim will be revealed and the yeshuah will come to Israel speedily—Amen.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
“More than a week of protests in Iran reflects not only worsening economic conditions, but longstanding anger at government repression and regime policies that have led to Iran’s global isolation,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said.
Hatami spoke to military academy students. He took over as commander in chief of Iran’s army, known by the Farsi word “Artesh,” after Israel killed a number of the country’s top military commanders in June’s 12-day war. He is the first regular military officer in decades to hold a position long controlled by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
“The Islamic Republic considers the intensification of such rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation without a response,” Hatami said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
He added, “I can say with confidence that today the readiness of Iran’s armed forces is far greater than before the war. If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response, and we will cut off the hand of any aggressor.”
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been responding to Trump’s comments, which took on more significance after the U.S. military raid that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran, over the weekend. But there’s been no immediate public sign of Iran preparing for an attack in the region.
Iranian state television reported on the start of a new subsidy of the equivalent of $7, put into the bank accounts of heads of households across the country. More than 71 million people will receive the benefit, which is 10 million Iranian rials, it reported. The rial now trades at over 1.4 million to $1 and continues to depreciate.
The subsidy is more than double than the 4.5 million rial people previously received. But already, Iranian media report sharp rises in the cost of basic goods, including cooking oil, poultry and cheese, placing additional strain on households already burdened by international sanctions targeting the country and inflation.
Iran’s vice president in charge of executive affairs, Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, told reporters on Wednesday that the country was in a “full-fledged economic war.” He called for “economic surgery” to eliminate rentier policies and corruption within the country.
Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the June war with Israel, its rial currency sharply fell in December. Protests began soon after on Dec. 28. They reached their 11th day on Wednesday and didn’t appear to be stopping.
Social media videos purported to show new cities like Bojnourd, Kerman, Rasht, Shiraz and Tabriz, as well some smaller towns, joining the demonstrations on Wednesday.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency offered the latest death toll of 36 for the demonstrations. It said 30 protesters, four children and two members of Iran’s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 310 locations in 28 of Iran’s 31 provinces. More than 2,100 people have been arrested, it said.
The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.
(AP)
“And since then, you have ruled. Since then, you have tried to determine who will head the Shin Bet, freezing the dismissal of the failed Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, even though this is the exclusive authority of the elected government. Since then, you have dictated to the IDF what to do with terrorists’ bodies and prohibited the army from holding them for negotiations over our hostages. Since then, you have decided how many square meters the murderers of Am Yisrael will receive in their prison cells—a minimum of 4.5 square meters for each terrorist, more than the average combat soldier receives during active service.
“Of course, along the way you also made sure to ensure ‘basic and proper food’ and ‘humane conditions’ for the murderers of October 7—those Nukhba terrorists who slaughtered, raped, burned, and abducted our sons and daughters. All this during wartime, while our hostages are being raped and starved in Gaza and returned as walking skeletons. Everything was permissible in your eyes as part of your personal war against the policies of National Security Minister Ben Gvir.
“With astonishing chutzpah, you even nullified Basic Laws and struck down 24 laws that the Knesset democratically enacted. You determined what is legal and what is illegal, what is ‘reasonable’ and what is ‘unreasonable,’ using that marvelous invention of yours—the ‘reasonableness doctrine’—an ambiguous term lacking any clear legal definition, whose sole purpose is to allow you and your colleagues to overturn any decision you dislike.
“With brazen arrogance, you ordered the Speaker of the Knesset in 2020, MK Edelstein, when to convene the plenum, and you also determined who is fit to serve as a minister and who is not. Not because you are above the law, but because you are the law—the ultimate arbiters, the supreme rulers.
“But the most outrageous point of all is the expansion of the right to petition the court. Until the 1980s, in order to petition the Supreme Court, one had to prove personal, direct, real and concrete harm. In simple terms: if something didn’t affect you personally, you had no business in court. Then you arrived, Mr. Barak. In ruling after ruling, you decided that this requirement lacked philosophical foundation, was not anchored in the separation of powers, and harmed the rule of law—in your words. Thus, you turned the Supreme Court into the private court of left‑wing NGOs and assorted professional petitioners.
“Suddenly anyone could petition about anything. As a result, the Association for Civil Rights petitions against every government decision it dislikes. Yesh Din petitions against every necessary security action. Adalah petitions on behalf of an invented people. B’Tselem petitions against the demolition of terrorists’ homes. The Center for the Defense of the Individual petitions against prison conditions, and the Committee Against Torture petitions against interrogation methods for terrorists. And you, Mr. Barak, opened the gates wide for them.
The ‘perimeter petition’ to the Supreme Court—in which left‑wing organizations such as Adalah, Yesh Din, and the Association for Civil Rights petitioned against the IDF’s open fire regulations in the perimeter zone along the Gaza border—led to the creation of a military protocol that tied our soldiers’ hands and enabled Hamas terrorists to approach the fence almost unhindered and prepare the infrastructure to blow up the security barrier on the day of the massacre.
“Thanks to your nefarious decision to expand the right to petition the court, there is no escaping the conclusion that you’re fully complicit in the failures that enabled the massacre. You are the one who turned the Supreme Court into the court of appeals for the enemy.
“Because of you—and because of your actions—the State of Israel is no longer a true democracy, for you did everything in your power to trample that democracy in which the people choose and the elected officials govern. You turned the separation of powers into a fusion of powers. You turned yourselves into legislators, enforcers, judges, and executioners—without checks, without balances, and without any accountability.
“So yes, Mr. Barak—absolutely—you’re completely right. This is not a liberal democracy—it’s an elitocracy, a dictatorship of robes. And you are its spiritual father and the chief architect of this democratic destruction.
“‘Amar Rebbi Yochanan: What is the meaning of ‘And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged?’ It was a generation that judged its judges (for the judges themselves were corrupt). He says to him: ‘Remove the splinter from between your teeth.’ He replies, ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes!'”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Participants warned that these platforms can lead to dependency and addiction, foster artificial and emotionally deceptive “relationships,” and undermine authentic human connection. The Gedolim further emphasized that such technologies create serious openings for grave Torah transgressions and pose a major threat to the most vulnerable segments of Klal Yisroel—especially children, bochurim, and Bais Yaakov girls—who may lack the maturity or safeguards to navigate these dangers.
Following extensive deliberation, the gathering reached a series of concrete resolutions. It was agreed to designate a communal yom tefillah and taanis. Those able to do so while maintaining their daily responsibilities are encouraged to observe a full fast day, while others are to observe a half-day fast. Krias HaTorah of Vayechal will be read at Mincha. On this designated day, roshei yeshivos, roshei kehillos, chadarim, and Bais Yaakov mosdos are instructed to directly address the dangers of open AI and to actively establish firm boundaries to eliminate its use—particularly through calling or texting AI services. This will include the introduction and promotion of phones and phone lines that block access to AI platforms.
The Gedolim expressed the hope that, with siyata d’Shmaya, these coordinated steps will establish a clear and unified communal standard that such use of open AI is unacceptable within the homes, yeshivos, and schools of our kehillos.
Among those in attendance were Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg; Rav Elya Kanarek, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr Hameir of Peekskill; Rav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, Rosh Yeshiva of Telz Yeshiva and the Mesivta of Lakewood; Rav Shlomo Feivel Schustal, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Tiferes Yerachmiel; Rav Yaakov Horowitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Bais Meir; and Rav Yosef Mermelstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Novominsk.
Also present were the roshei yeshiva of Bais Medrash Govoah in Lakewood—Rav Malkiel Kotler, Rav Yeruchem Olshin, Rav Dovid Schustal, and Rav Yisroel Neuman—as well as Rav Avrohom Bromberg, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Shaar HaTalmud; Rav Yisroel Ehrlich, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mishkan HaTorah; Rav Shmuel Abba Olshin, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah of Hillside; Rav Simcha Bunim Paler, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mekor Chaim; Rav Dovid Breslauer, Rosh Kollel of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg; Rav Eliyahu Yagid, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Keren HaTorah; Rav Yitzchok Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas; Rav Uri Meir Kanarek, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Noam HaTalmud; Rav Yaakov Dovid Wasserman, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah of Monmouth County; Rav Moshe Pruzansky, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chemdas HaTorah; and Rav Moshe Mayerfeld of Monsey.
Chassidic leadership in attendance included the Skulener Rebbe, the Novominsker Rebbe, and the Rachmistrivker Rebbe, alongside prominent rabbonim and dayanim such as Rav Mechel Steinmetz, senior posek and dayan of Boro Park; Rav Unger, son of the Bobover Rebbe (Bobov-45); Rav Shlaff of Bobov; Rav Stroile, dayan of Vien; and Rav Unger, dayan of Skver, among other distinguished rabbonim.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with 2,000 agents and officers expected to participate in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
A large throng of protesters gathered at the scene after the shooting, where they vented their anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.
In a scene that hearkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” they loudly chanted from behind the police tape.
After the shooting, Mayor Jacob Frey said immigration agents were “causing chaos in our city.”
“We are demanding ICE leave the city and state immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities,” Frey said on social media.
The area where the shooting occurred is a modest neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets in the area and a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
“We’ve been trying to live life as fully as possible in light of the fear and anxiety that we feel,” said the Rev. Hierald Osorto, pastor at St. Paul’s-San Pablo Lutheran Church, which has a predominantly Latino congregation in the area.
The Immigration Defense Network, a coalition of groups serving immigrants in Minnesota, held a training session Tuesday night for about 100 people who are willing to hit the streets to monitor the federal enforcement.
“I feel like I’m an ordinary person, and I have the ability do something so I need to do it,” Mary Moran told KMSP-TV.
(AP)
The announcement places Mamdani in a political bind. A permissive response by city authorities—particularly if protests again take place outside synagogues—would likely inflame mainstream Jewish organizations, many of which already have strained relations with the mayor. A more forceful law-enforcement response, however, risks backlash from Mamdani’s far-left supporters, some of whom have defended aggressive anti-Israel demonstrations as protected speech.
Adding to the tension, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said earlier Tuesday that the state will move to establish “safety zones” around houses of worship to prevent harassment and intimidation. That policy, however, will not be in effect in time for this week’s protests.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Public shelters in Ashkelon, Givatayim, Holon, Gilboa, and elsewhere were found to be unusable. Inspectors found shelters that had been severely neglected—with no lighting, rusted doors, blocked escape routes, leaks, and other issues.
The report also criticized delays in a government program to help residents of Ashkelon build reinforced safe rooms. Although the cabinet approved the initiative in early 2022, the Housing Ministry did not publish procedures for accessing grants and loans until June 2023.
As a result, budgets totaling 106 million shekels for 2022 and 2023 went largely unused. Between July 2023 and September 2024, only one eligible applicant received assistance—a grant of 158,000 shekels—out of 50 million shekels allocated for that year.
“When the government, the Home Front Command, and local authorities fail to prepare in routine times, Israeli citizens pay the price when a crisis erupts,” Englman wrote.
Schools
The report also identified major shortcomings in adequate protection for Israeli schoolchildren. Education Ministry data show that as of March 2024, roughly 25% of students in 94% of Israeli schools—more than 466,000 children—studied in classrooms without standard protective spaces. At the time of the audit in August 2024, the ministry lacked shelter data for about 51% of kindergarten classrooms, and 46% of daycare centers had no standard protection during the 2023–24 school year.
Hospitals
The report devoted a major section to the protection of hospitals, warning that gaps pose a serious threat to the health system’s ability to function during prolonged conflict. Englman cited findings from inspections conducted shortly after the Oct. 7 attack, which revealed urgent shelter inadequacies, particularly in life-saving treatment areas.
Over half of hospital beds in high-risk areas near Israel’s borders lack adequate protection for critical facilities, including 67% of imaging machines, 48% of general inpatient beds, 25% of intensive care beds, 22% of operating rooms, 18% of dialysis stations, and 17% of neonatal cribs.
Nationwide, 71% of hospital beds remain unprotected, along with 56% of operating rooms. The most alarming gaps were found in major medical centers far from the border: 64% of ICU beds lack protection, roughly 56% of catheterization rooms are unprotected, and 69% of imaging machines are not protected.
Long-term care, psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals were found to be especially vulnerable. In Israel’s south, fewer than one-third of beds are protected, and in the Tel Aviv area, only about 7% are.
Lack of accountability
The report concludes that no senior officials have been held personally accountable, and no significant corrective measures have been taken. Even issues repeatedly flagged in earlier reports were left unaddressed, with no systemic reforms implemented.
The Health Ministry estimates that closing shelter gaps in hospitals would cost approximately 4.8 billion shekels, but most long-term projects remain unfunded. Englman called for a national, multi-year plan coordinated with the Finance Ministry to prioritize and fund hospital protection.
In its written response, the Health Ministry said strengthening protection has long been a priority but acknowledged severe resource constraints. It added that since the war began, it has accelerated efforts, adding more than 3,600 protected hospital beds at a cost exceeding 670 million shekels, including during the recent war with Iran. Additional funding for hospital protection projects, including at Soroka Medical Center, is expected to be included in the 2026 state budget.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The Marinera is part of what analysts refer to as a “shadow fleet” of vessels used to transport oil for countries under sanctions, including Venezuela and Iran, despite mounting enforcement actions by the United States and allied partners. The ship has been under U.S. sanctions since 2024 for alleged involvement in carrying cargo linked to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
Ship-tracking data showed the tanker approaching the waters near Iceland before its seizure. Russia reportedly deployed a submarine and other naval vessels to escort the tanker across the Atlantic. Moscow’s foreign ministry had earlier urged Washington to halt its pursuit, asserting that the vessel was operating under international maritime law.
Later Wednesday morning, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced the separate seizure of another oil tanker, the M/T Sophia, in the Caribbean.
“In a pre-dawn action this morning, the Department of War, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended a stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker without incident,” SOUTHCOM said.
It added that the interdicted vessel was conducting “illicit activities” in the Caribbean and is being escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard to the United States for “final disposition.”
“Through Operation Southern Spear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere. We will defend our Homeland and restore security and strength across the Americas,” said SOUTHCOM.
The interceptions follow a period of intensified U.S. pressure on Venezuela’s oil sector, including the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last week during a U.S. raid in Caracas. Venezuelan officials have condemned the tanker pursuit, framing it as an attempt to seize the country’s oil resources, while U.S. authorities maintain that enforcement of sanctions and maritime law is the primary objective.
The situation could further strain U.S.–Russia relations as Washington continues to clamp down on sanctioned oil flows at sea.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Arabic media outlets have previously cited PIJ sources claiming that Gvili’s body was transferred to Hamas custody during the course of the war and has since been held in eastern Gaza City.
Israeli officials have made clear that Israel will not agree to advance to the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire arrangement until Gvili’s body is returned, underscoring the national and moral imperative to bring the last remaining hostage home for proper burial.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
HHS said in a statement evening that it “identified concerns that these benefits intended for American citizens and lawful residents may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law.”
Five states — California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York — are targeted, and the HHS said they had been notified.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said earlier in the day that New York is prepared to take the administration to court, as Democratic-led states have done scores of times now.
“We’ll fight this with every fiber of our being, because our kids should not be political pawns in a fight that Donald Trump seems to have with blue state governors,” she said.
The plan to withhold the funds was first reported by the New York Post.
The targeted programs provide lifelines to some of the neediest Americans:
— The Child Care and Development Fund subsidizes day care for low-income households, enabling parents to work or go to school.
— Temporary Assistance for Needy Families provides cash assistance and job training so parents in poverty can afford diapers and clothes and earn paychecks.
— The Social Services Block Grant, a much smaller fund, supports several different social service programs.
“These resources support families in need and help them access food and much more. If true, it would be awful to see the federal government targeting the most needy families and children this way,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ office said in a statement.
Trump himself has not spoken on the specifics, but he proclaimed on social media Tuesday: “The Fraud Investigation of California has begun.”
Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, said via email that “Donald Trump is a deranged, habitual liar whose relationship with reality ended years ago.” She also defended California’s record on stamping out fraud in government programs.
New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump’s move to halt funding aims to score political points, not to stop fraud.
“It’s our job to serve the people most in need and most at risk — no matter what state they live in or what political party their family or elected representatives belong to,” she said in a statement. “To use the power of the government to harm the neediest Americans is immoral and indefensible.”
For months the has claimed that federally funded programs are being defrauded and used that assertion as a rationale to hold up money.
Federal child care funding has been on hold in Minnesota since late last month amid investigations into a series of alleged fraud schemes at day care centers run by people with family roots in Somalia.
In the fallout, HHS officials said no state will receive child care funds without providing more verification. Several states have told The Associated Press that they have not received any guidance on that decision.
The administration also raised fraud claims involving SNAP, the country’s main food aid program, saying it would halt administrative money to states — most Democratic-run ones — unless they provide requested details on recipients. That process could take months.
The administration has said the information provided by most GOP-controlled states shows fraud may be worse than previously believed, though it has not provided the data or detailed reports.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Fox News on Tuesday that his agency also plans to audit Minnesota’s Medicaid bills in search of potential fraud. He did not provide any evidence of fraud that had been found.
(AP)
Rabbi Lupolianski founded and headed the famed Yad Sarah organization. He launched the chessed project in a small apartment, and over the years it grew into a vast network serving millions of people and earning international recognition. He later made history as the first Chareidi representative elected to serve as mayor of Jerusalem, a role in which he worked tirelessly for the city’s development and the welfare of all its residents.
Now, as he himself needs Rachamei Shamayim, his family is calling on the public to daven fervently for a refuah sheleimah for Uri ben Malka b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Netanyahu also expressed condolences to the grieving family, who are now sitting in deep mourning over the sudden loss of their son. “I send my deepest condolences to the Eisenthal family,” he said.
Addressing the charged atmosphere surrounding recent events, Netanyahu called for restraint, stressing the need to prevent further loss of life. “At the same time, I call for restraint to prevent the mood from becoming further inflamed, so that, Heaven forbid, we do not have additional tragedies,” he said. “The value of the sanctity of life is engraved in our heritage, and we must safeguard it above all else.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Witness Yaakov Zimberg told Channel 12 News, “The bus arrived, and bochurim blocked it. He called the police for help. They touched his windshield wipers, blocked him, and hit the windshield. Suddenly, he hit the gas full throttle.”
Another eyewitness told Ynet, “They stopped the driver and spat at him. He then plowed into the Chareidim and ran them over. I was thrown aside. He turned into another street, ran over three more people there, and now there’s a kid who was crushed by the bus.”
Moshe, who was at the scene, told Ynet, “The driver was going 70–80 km per hour He reached the intersection, turned, saw a child approaching, and didn’t stop—we all saw what happened next.”
The police announced on Wednesday morning that the driver, Fakhri Khatib, will be charged with the offenses of murder under aggravated circumstances and reckless driving.
However, the police later decided to change the charges to negligent homicide, causing severe injury to a minor, and reckless driving. At a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday afternoon, a police representative said, “We removed the murder charge after review.”
Khatib, a 49-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, was brought before the court, and police initially requested to extend his detention by 15 days.
During the hearing, the driver’s defense attorney said that he “was attacked, spat upon, and felt in danger.” He added that the driver did not see the boy at the front of the bus: “He acted to save his life without intending to harm people.” He also claimed that it was a political investigation and asked why no Chareidi protesters had been arrested. Judge Sharon Lary-Babli responded sharply, referring to police video footage.
“He doesn’t see them?” she said. “He doesn’t see 20 children are standing in front of him?” Babli raised her voice at the lawyer: “How is the driver the victim when there is a dead child? At least say that he’s also the victim.”
The judge ruled that he will remain in custody for nine days. She said, “Another video shows the bus charging toward the protesters. The defense claims the driver feared for his life, called the police and could not reverse because protesters were behind him. I believe the driver felt danger, and the phone call supports that claim. I also believe that being spat at and attacked is a stressful situation.”
“However,” she added, “I do not believe that driving rapidly into a crowd was the correct option. The victim is the deceased, not the driver. I do not accept the claim that this is a political case.”
A police representative told the court that senior Israel Prison Service and police officials were present at the hearing due to the severity of the case. She said the high level of danger posed by the suspect stemmed from “the audacity of driving at speed into a crowd of teenagers.”
The incident was initially designated as a hit-and-run during a disturbance of public order, but in the wake of developments in the investigation, the charge was changed to murder—a decision that was reversed hours later.
An initial police investigation indicated that after the ramming, the bus driver continued driving for about 500 meters with the youth trapped beneath the bus. The driver was arrested for questioning and claimed he was trying to “escape” after protesters blocked his path. The head of the “Extra” Bus company was summoned for a hearing at the Ministry of Transportation.
The company stated, “We are shocked by the incident and wish to share in the grief of the family and the community. The incident is under police investigation, and the company is fully cooperating and will provide any information required.”
Jerusalem District Commander, Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, addressed the incident on Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Last night a serious ramming incident occurred during a public order disturbance that developed at one of the city’s junctions.
“At the outset of my remarks, Israel Police shares in the heavy grief of the deceased’s family, and I send them my condolences.”
“The serious incident occurred at a central intersection, which was not part of the protest area, as we designated it as a critical route that remained open to vehicle traffic to enable routine life in the area.
“The bus driver suspected of involvement in the incident was immediately arrested and transferred for questioning. During his investigation, he claimed he felt distress and tried to leave the area. I want to emphasize here that this claim does not detract from the severity of the incident, and the investigation continues with full severity while examining all investigative directions and collecting findings and evidence.”
“Israel Police respects the Chareidi public, and my door as district commander is always open to any dialogue. The protest rally that took place with police approval on Bar Ilan Street took place in an orderly manner.”
“As Israel Police and Jerusalem District Police, we will continue to act and enable freedom of protest while maintaining public order and the safety of all citizens.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Witness Yaakov Zimberg told Channel 12 News, “The bus arrived, and bochurim blocked it. He called the police for help. They touched his windshield wipers, blocked him, and hit the windshield. Suddenly, he hit the gas full throttle.”
Another eyewitness told Ynet, “They stopped the driver and spat at him. He then plowed into the Chareidim and ran them over. I was thrown aside. He turned into another street, ran over three more people there, and now there’s a kid who was crushed by the bus.”
Moshe, who was at the scene, told Ynet, “The driver was going 70–80 km per hour He reached the intersection, turned, saw a child approaching, and didn’t stop—we all saw what happened next.”
The police announced on Wednesday morning that the driver, Fakhri Khatib, will be charged with the offenses of murder under aggravated circumstances and reckless driving.
However, the police later decided to change the charges to negligent homicide, causing severe injury to a minor, and reckless driving. At a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday afternoon, a police representative said, “We removed the murder charge after review.”
Khatib, a 49-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, was brought before the court, and police initially requested to extend his detention by 15 days.
During the hearing, the driver’s defense attorney said that he “was attacked, spat upon, and felt in danger.” He added that the driver did not see the boy at the front of the bus: “He acted to save his life without intending to harm people.” He also claimed that it was a political investigation and asked why no Chareidi protesters had been arrested. Judge Sharon Lary-Babli responded sharply, referring to police video footage.
“He doesn’t see them?” she said. “He doesn’t see 20 children are standing in front of him?” Babli raised her voice at the lawyer: “How is the driver the victim when there is a dead child? At least say that he’s also the victim.”
The judge ruled that he will remain in custody for nine days. She said, “Another video shows the bus charging toward the protesters. The defense claims the driver feared for his life, called the police and could not reverse because protesters were behind him. I believe the driver felt danger, and the phone call supports that claim. I also believe that being spat at and attacked is a stressful situation.”
“However,” she added, “I do not believe that driving rapidly into a crowd was the correct option. The victim is the deceased, not the driver. I do not accept the claim that this is a political case.”
A police representative told the court that senior Israel Prison Service and police officials were present at the hearing due to the severity of the case. She said the high level of danger posed by the suspect stemmed from “the audacity of driving at speed into a crowd of teenagers.”
The incident was initially designated as a hit-and-run during a disturbance of public order, but in the wake of developments in the investigation, the charge was changed to murder—a decision that was reversed hours later.
An initial police investigation indicated that after the ramming, the bus driver continued driving for about 500 meters with the youth trapped beneath the bus. The driver was arrested for questioning and claimed he was trying to “escape” after protesters blocked his path. The head of the “Extra” Bus company was summoned for a hearing at the Ministry of Transportation.
The company stated, “We are shocked by the incident and wish to share in the grief of the family and the community. The incident is under police investigation, and the company is fully cooperating and will provide any information required.”
Jerusalem District Commander, Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, addressed the incident on Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Last night a serious ramming incident occurred during a public order disturbance that developed at one of the city’s junctions.
“At the outset of my remarks, Israel Police shares in the heavy grief of the deceased’s family, and I send them my condolences.”
“The serious incident occurred at a central intersection, which was not part of the protest area, as we designated it as a critical route that remained open to vehicle traffic to enable routine life in the area.
“The bus driver suspected of involvement in the incident was immediately arrested and transferred for questioning. During his investigation, he claimed he felt distress and tried to leave the area. I want to emphasize here that this claim does not detract from the severity of the incident, and the investigation continues with full severity while examining all investigative directions and collecting findings and evidence.”
“Israel Police respects the Chareidi public, and my door as district commander is always open to any dialogue. The protest rally that took place with police approval on Bar Ilan Street took place in an orderly manner.”
“As Israel Police and Jerusalem District Police, we will continue to act and enable freedom of protest while maintaining public order and the safety of all citizens.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The chairman of Degel HaTorah, MK Moshe Gafni, said on Tuesday in response to the incident. “The incident of the running over and killing of the boy at the demonstration in Jerusalem is shocking to the depths of the soul. We demand that the driver be brought to justice and punished with the full severity of the law. One cannot move on from such a horrifying act of killing.”
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said, “Those who demanded the conscription of Chareidim in one fell swoop received the image they wanted this evening. This is a time for cheshbon hanefesh and repentance. An attempt to ignite a civil war endangers the future of the state. It is tearing the nation apart from within and bringing about severe hatred toward the Chareidi public that will take many years to repair.”
UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler contacted the chairman of the Knesset’s National Security Committee and demanded that an urgent meeting be held to probe the circumstances of the case.
In his letter, Eichler wrote that “the shocking case of a boy being run over by a rampaging bus driver during the Chareidi demonstration in Jerusalem cannot be swept under the rug under any circumstances. I request that you schedule an urgent discussion in the National Security Committee to examine how this happened and how the bus was not stopped before it plowed into the crowd.”
“I request that all relevant authorities from the police, the Ministry of Transportation, and the transportation company be summoned for this purpose. In addition, I request to determine whether the police response against road blockers was similar to road-blocking incidents during the Kaplan protests in Tel Aviv.”
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said, “I am deeply shaken by the terrible disaster that occurred this evening in Jerusalem, in which a 13-year-old boy lost his life in such a tragic manner during a demonstration. There is no ideological dispute—no matter how difficult—that justifies violence or harm to human life. This is a dangerous escalation and a severe deterioration that we must not pass over in silence. I send my heartfelt condolences to the family.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said, “My heart bleeds following the killing of the boy Yosef Eisenthal, z’l, this evening, as a result of being run over by a bus driver in Jerusalem. I share in the deep sorrow of his family at this difficult time.”
“This is a serious incident that must be investigated thoroughly and comprehensively. The police informed me that all investigative directions regarding the incident are being examined and that it is being treated with the utmost severity.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Yosef, z’l, was the son of Rav Shmuel Eisenthal, a maggid shiur at the “Ohel Torah–Ponevezh” Yeshiva in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem (where Yosef learned).
He was the grandson of HaRav Uriel Eisenthal, the Rav of the Ramot Gimmel neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The niftar’s Bar Mitzvah invitation.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Yosef, z’l, was the son of Rav Shmuel Eisenthal, a maggid shiur at the “Ohel Torah–Ponevezh” Yeshiva in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem (where Yosef learned).
He was the grandson of HaRav Uriel Eisenthal, the Rav of the Ramot Gimmel neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The niftar’s Bar Mitzvah invitation.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
“I’ve received testimony about clear cases of harassment and abuse of Chareidi deserters,” Yudkin said. He recounted one particularly troubling incident involving a young father from Bnei Brak who voluntarily turned himself in to enlist—only to be thrown into prison under severe psychological pressure, without proper medical attention or legal representation.
But Yudkin’s criticism goes far beyond prison conditions. He attacked the very premise that the IDF needs Chareidi recruits, saying that the IDF leadership is waging an inciteful and divisive political campaign.
“The whole Chareidi draft story is nonsense—purely political and inciteful. The army is not short on manpower—it’s lying.” He cited data showing that thousands of Chareidim who arrived for second‑stage induction were immediately sent home with exemptions and that tens of thousands of reservists from disbanded units have not been called up even once since October 7.
It should be noted that this data has been confirmed by other sources.
Yudkin also highlighted the total lack of even minimal accommodations for integrating Chareidim into the IDF. While the military has detailed directives for integrating women, he noted, there is not a single order safeguarding the needs of Chareidi soldiers regarding kashrus or gender separation.
“It’s absurd that the commanders of a married Chareidi soldier in prison are female soldiers. There isn’t even a gender‑appropriate facility,” he said.
Yudkin slammed the fact that the system is dragging Israel back to the divisive discourse of October 6 instead of fostering unity. “We must stop IDF senior officials who have blood on their hands—they’re continuing to incite us from within.”
Yudkin also mentioned an interesting proposal: using the “conscientious objector” pathway, similar to the method employed by radical left‑wing groups. He mentioned New Profile, an organization that helps thousands of leftists secure IDF exemptions on ideological grounds.
“If the Chareidim declare themselves conscientious objectors, it will expose the political nature of the entire issue,” he asserted.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Monajerani announced the plan on state television, saying the payments would be delivered by direct deposit as credits usable for essential household goods to help “reduce the economic pressure on the people.” But on the streets, the announcement was seen as a provocation.
Clashes between protesters and security forces continued nationwide, with smoke filling major thoroughfares in Tehran and other cities as police deployed tear gas to disperse crowds. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 36 people have been killed since the unrest began—34 protesters and two members of the security forces—while more than 1,200 people have been detained and at least 60 injured.
The protests, which began Dec. 28, have been fueled by a rapidly deteriorating economy. Iran’s currency, the rial, fell to a record low of roughly 1.46 million to the dollar on Tuesday, compared with about 430,000 to the dollar in 2002. Inflation has surged to at least 42.2% year over year, while prices for food and other essentials have skyrocketed beyond the reach of much of the population.
The government’s new subsidy plan would redirect an estimated $10 billion previously spent on import subsidies in an effort to stabilize food prices, according to reporting by The New York Times. Economists, however, say the measure barely scratches the surface.
“It’s a small amount for the middle class and will not meaningfully improve their standard of living,” said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the U.K.-based Bourse & Bazaar Foundation. “It may help the poorest households slightly, but what the government can afford is nowhere near enough to alleviate the pressures most Iranians are facing.”
The unrest has drawn heavy participation from traders, shopkeepers, and university students, particularly in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where businesses have shuttered amid rolling strikes. Protesters have increasingly chanted slogans calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, escalating the political stakes of what began as an economic uprising.
Security forces have responded aggressively, at times firing tear gas and plastic bullets into crowds. The scale and intensity of the protests mark the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic since the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022, which sparked months of nationwide demonstrations after she died in police custody.
International pressure on Iran has mounted as well. New United Nations sanctions imposed in September have further strained the economy, compounding the effects of long-standing U.S. restrictions and limiting access to foreign currency and trade.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in last Friday with a stern warning, saying the United States was “locked and loaded” to support Iranian protesters if the government continues to use lethal force.
“If Iran violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Trump said, without elaborating on what such support would entail.
Despite the mounting death toll and mass arrests, there were no signs Tuesday that the protests were slowing. For many demonstrators, the government’s $7-a-month promise has become a symbol of how far removed Iran’s leadership is from the daily reality facing its people—and why they are refusing to leave the streets.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor condemned the attack, warning that it reflects a broader ideological threat. “The radical part of the ‘Palestine solidarity’ movement is not only antisemitic, but terrorist,” Prosor wrote, adding that the hatred directed at Israel “goes hand in hand with hatred of our democracy.”
Büttner said the vandalism was not political expression but an explicit act of intimidation. “The red Hamas triangle is an internationally known sign of jihadist violence and antisemitic incitement,” he said. “This is not a protest, it is a threat.”
In a public statement, Büttner called the attack a “massive escalation” and said it would not weaken his resolve. “Such acts do not lead to me becoming quieter,” he wrote. “They strengthen me in what I do.”
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke also denounced the attack, stating that violence “against people or things is and remains absolutely unacceptable,” and confirmed that a police investigation is underway.
Jewish leaders warned that the incident reflects a broader climate of intimidation aimed at silencing those who confront antisemitism. Jochen Feilcke, chairman of the German-Israeli Society Berlin and Brandenburg, described the attack as “Hamas’s terrorism applied on a small scale,” arguing that it was intended to frighten anyone pushing back against rising antisemitism.
Speaking to Tagesspiegel, Feilcke criticized segments of the political left for tolerating or amplifying rhetoric that can spill into violence.
The symbolism itself carries a dark historical resonance. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, the red triangle was originally used by the Nazis to label political prisoners in concentration camps. While survivors later reclaimed it as a symbol of resistance, Holocaust scholars note that its recent adoption by Hamas and extremist activists represents a stark and troubling inversion—one that fuses modern jihadist violence with imagery rooted in Europe’s genocidal past.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
In remarks that were unusually blunt for a sitting Israeli lawmaker speaking about U.S. media figures, Illouz described them as “a new enemy rising from within” the West.
“They sell poison as patriotism,” he said. “If the West allows these voices to rewrite history and erase the line between good and evil, it is committing civilizational suicide.”
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The comments land squarely in the middle of an intensifying ideological rift inside the American right, particularly within the MAGA movement, where Carlson and Owens have emerged as leading voices pushing a more isolationist, conspiratorial and openly antisemitic worldview.
Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in 2023 following the network’s massive defamation settlement, has increasingly turned his fire inward on fellow conservatives. In recent months, he has accused conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew, of being more loyal to Israel than to the United States and of promoting “usury,” a classic antisemitic trope.
Owens, who first rose to prominence after being promoted by Shapiro on the Daily Wire, has gone even further. She has derided Shapiro as a “Talmudic Jew,” encouraged her audience to purchase a long-discredited 19th-century antisemitic pamphlet, and promoted conspiracy theories claiming Jews orchestrated the transatlantic slave trade and believe they have “a right to own us.”
Illouz said he is unconcerned about accusations that he is meddling in American domestic politics.
“Defending the alliance between America and Israel is not interfering,” he said. “I am in touch with many pro-Israel conservatives who know that Candace and Tucker are a threat to America as much as to Israel.”
Shapiro himself publicly confronted the issue in December during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, where he warned that tolerating antisemitism on the right would destroy conservatism from within.
“If conservatives do not stand up and draw lines,” Shapiro said at the time, “conservatism and the dream of America itself will cease to exist.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
At least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed in the dead-of-night U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face drug charges, officials said Tuesday.
Venezuelan officials announced the death count as the country’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, pushed back on President Donald Trump, who earlier this week warned she’d face an outcome worse than Maduro’s if she does not “do what’s right” and overhaul Venezuela into a country that aligns with U.S. interests. Trump has said his administration will now “run” Venezuela policy and is pressing the country’s leaders to open its vast oil reserves to American energy companies.
“Personally, to those who threaten me,” Rodriguez said in an address before government agricultural and industrial sector officials. “My destiny is not determined by them, but by God.”
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab said overall “dozens” of officers and civilians were killed in the weekend strike in Caracas and that prosecutors would investigate the deaths in what he described as a “war crime.” He didn’t specify if the estimate was specifically referring to Venezuelans.
In addition to the Venezuelan security officials, Cuba’s government had previously confirmed that 32 Cuban military and police officers working in Venezuela were killed in the raid. The Cuban government says the personnel killed belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the country’s two main security agencies.
Seven U.S. service members were also injured in the raid, according to the Pentagon. Five have already returned to duty, while two are still recovering from their injuries. The injuries included gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A video tribute to the slain Venezuelan security officials posted to the military’s Instagram features faces of the fallen over black-and-white videos of soldiers, American aircraft flying over Caracas and armored vehicles destroyed by the blasts. Meanwhile, the streets of Caracas, deserted for days following Maduro’s capture, briefly filled with masses of people waving Venezuelan flags and bouncing to patriotic music at a state-organized display of support for the government.
“Their spilled blood does not cry out for vengeance, but for justice and strength,” the military wrote in an Instagram post. “It reaffirms our unwavering oath not to rest until we rescue our legitimate President, completely dismantle the terrorist groups operating from abroad, and ensure that events such as these never again sully our sovereign soil.”
Trump on Tuesday pushed back against Democratic criticism of this weekend’s military operation, noting that his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden had also called for the arrest of the Venezuelan leader on drug trafficking charges.
Trump in remarks before a House Republican retreat in Washington grumbled that Democrats were not giving him credit for a successful military operation, even though there was bipartisan agreement that Maduro was not the rightful president of Venezuela.
In 2020, Maduro was indicted in the United States, accused in a decades-long narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking conspiracy. White House officials have noted that Biden’s administration in his final days in office last year raised the award for information leading to Maduro’s arrest after he assumed a third term in office despite evidence suggesting that he lost Venezuela’s most recent election. The Trump administration doubled the award to $50 million in August.
“You know, at some point, they should say, ‘You know, you did a great job. Thank you. Congratulations.’ Wouldn’t it be good?” Trump said. “I would say that if they did a good job, their philosophies are so different. But if they did a good job, I’d be happy for the country. They’ve been after this guy for years and years and years.”
Trump’s latest comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials briefed leaders in Congress late Monday on the Venezuela operation amid mounting concerns that the Republican administration is embarking on a new era of U.S. expansionism without consultation with lawmakers or a clear vision for running the South American country.
Democratic leaders said the session lacked clarity about the Trump administration’s plans for Venezuela. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., an Iraq War veteran, said there is no dispute with Trump that Maduro was a “brutal dictator.”
“But the problem we have is the fact that yet again we have now entered into a war where there is no known off-ramp,” Duckworth said.
Americans are split about the capture of Maduro — with many still forming opinions — according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and SSRS using text messages over the weekend. About 4 in 10 approved of the U.S. military being sent to capture Maduro, while roughly the same share were opposed. About 2 in 10 were unsure.
Nearly half of Americans, 45%, were opposed to the U.S. taking control of Venezuela and choosing a new government for the country. About 9 in 10 Americans said the Venezuelan people should be the ones to decide the future leadership of their country.
Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in a U.S. courtroom on Monday. U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife early Saturday in a raid on a compound where they were surrounded by Cuban guards.
In the days since Maduro’s ouster, Trump and top administration officials have raised anxiety around the globe that the operation could mark the beginning of a more expansionist U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere. The president in recent days has renewed his calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland for the sake of U.S. security interests and threatened military action on Colombia for facilitating the global sale of cocaine, while his top diplomat declared the communist government in Cuba is “in a lot of trouble.”
Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Rosa Villavicencio said Tuesday she’ll meet with the U.S. Embassy’s charge d’affaires in Bogota to present him with a formal complaint over the recent threats issued by the United States.
On Sunday, Trump said he wasn’t ruling out an attack on Colombia and described its president, who’s been an outspoken critic of the U.S. pressure campaign on Venezuela, as a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
Villavicencio said she’s hoping to strengthen relations with the United States and improve cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking.
“It is necessary for the Trump administration to know in more detail about all that we are doing in the fight against drug trafficking,” she said.
Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom on Tuesday joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in defending Greenland’s sovereignty. The island is a self-governing territory of the kingdom of Denmark and thus part of the NATO military alliance.
“Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
(AP)
According to the institute, the shift is largely driven by changing attitudes among Jewish Israelis on the political right. Support for a state commission among right-wing Jewish respondents fell by more than 20 percentage points, from 57% in January 2025 to 36% in the most recent survey.
By contrast, support for a state commission remains overwhelming on the left, at 100%, and strong among centrists, at 84%, the poll found.
As backing for a state commission notably declined, support for alternative forms of investigation increased. The survey found that 22% of Israelis now favor an investigative panel appointed by the government, an increase of 5.5 percentage points since January 2025 and 8.5 points since July 2024. An additional 8% said they support a review conducted by the state comptroller, the defense establishment, and relevant government agencies.
Among supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, opinion is divided. According to the poll, 36.5% of Likud voters support a state commission of inquiry, while 36% favor a government-appointed investigative body.
Netanyahu has consistently opposed the formation of a state commission, arguing that because such commissions are appointed by the judiciary — whose authority his government has sought to limit — they would be inherently biased against the coalition.
Last month, Netanyahu’s coalition advanced legislation aimed at establishing an alternative investigative framework. The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset. The proposal would require a supermajority of 80 out of 120 lawmakers to appoint a six-member investigative committee and its chair. If agreement is not reached within two weeks, the coalition and opposition would each select three members, with four additional supervisory members representing bereaved families.
Under the proposal, if either side refuses to participate or cannot agree on candidates, the Knesset speaker would make the appointments. Opposition parties have said they would boycott such a commission, a move that critics argue would effectively leave control of the body in the hands of the governing coalition.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“Unlike ‘Palestine,’ Somaliland is not a virtual state,” Sa’ar said. “It’s a functioning state. Somaliland is a fully functioning country based on the principles of international law.”
He said Somaliland has demonstrated political stability and democratic governance for decades, noting that it has held regular elections and experienced peaceful transfers of power since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991.
“Somaliland is, and has been, a stable democracy for nearly 35 years,” Sa’ar said. “It has democratic elections, most recently in November 2024, and peaceful transitions of power. It’s pro-Western and friendly to Israel.”
Sa’ar said Israel was “truly honored” to be the first country to formally recognize Somaliland’s independence, a move that breaks with the longstanding international consensus that treats the territory as part of Somalia.
“This is the moral thing to do and this is what we did,” Sa’ar said. “We hear the attacks, the criticism, the condemnations. Nobody will determine for Israel whom we recognize and whom we maintain diplomatic relations with.”
The foreign minister added that Israel hopes other countries will follow its lead, amid speculation that additional states may be considering recognition of Somaliland in the near future.
Somaliland has operated as a de facto independent state since the early 1990s, with its own government, military, currency, and electoral system, but has lacked formal international recognition. Israel’s decision marks the first such recognition by a United Nations member state and could have broader diplomatic implications in the Horn of Africa.
Neither the Israeli Foreign Ministry nor Somaliland officials commented on whether the visit would lead to the establishment of full diplomatic missions or formal bilateral agreements, though Sa’ar described the recognition as a step toward deepening ties between the two sides.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The bus driver was detained by police at the scene. It is believed that the bus driver was trying to escape protestors who were harassing him when the tragedy occurred, and had not intended to hurt anyone.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Scarborough said he called the president on Monday hoping to gain insight into what the administration planned to do next in Venezuela. Instead, much of their roughly 20-minute conversation focused on Trump recounting the military operation itself.
“He talked an awful lot about the courage shown by those who raided Maduro’s fortress,” Scarborough said, adding that Trump praised the speed with which U.S. forces overwhelmed Cuban troops guarding the Venezuelan leader. According to Scarborough, the president framed the operation as a broader signal of American strength to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and Iran.
Trump has publicly said that the United States intends to play a central role in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, with U.S. energy companies moving in to restore production and get “the oil flowing the way it should be.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, Trump said the country’s vast energy resources would be critical to Venezuela’s recovery.
“But when I pressed comparisons with America’s failed occupation of Iraq, the president’s response was very different,” Scarborough said.
Scarborough recounted asking Trump whether his statements about “running everything” in Venezuela raised concerns given the outcome in Iraq.
“The president’s response,” Scarborough said, “was: ‘Joe, the difference between Iraq and this is that Bush didn’t keep the oil. We’re going to keep the oil.’”
Scarborough said Trump emphasized that his comments were no longer off the record, explicitly tying his current policy to remarks he made nearly a decade ago.
“In 2016, I said we should have kept the oil. It caused a lot of controversy,” Scarborough quoted Trump as saying. “Well, we should have kept the oil, and we’re going to rebuild their broken down oil facilities, and this time we’re going to keep the oil.”
“Saying the United States is entering a new era of geopolitical engagement seems to be an understatement,” Scarborough concluded.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The bus driver was detained by police at the scene. It is believed that the bus driver was trying to escape protestors who were harassing him when the tragedy occurred, and had not intended to hurt anyone.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
“I was really saddened by his passing,” Trump said.
The president said he considered not giving the speech to honor LaMalfa but decided to go ahead with it “because he would have wanted it that way.”
Trump said the late congressman “wasn’t a 3 o’clock in the morning person” like other lawmakers he would call in the wee hours to lobby for their votes.
“He voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump said. “With Doug, I never had to call.”
Meanwhile, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York called for a moment of silence in honor of LaMalfa at the start of a panel at the Capitol commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
Details surrounding LaMalfa’s death were unclear.
David Reade, a former chief of staff of LaMalfa’s from the state legislature, became emotional remembering LaMalfa, who he said was committed to his district and proud of his family and Christian faith.
“One of my great memories of Doug is that, you know, he would show up at the smallest events that were important in people’s lives in this district,” Reade said in a phone interview. “Whether it was a birthday, it was, you, know, a family gathering, it was the smallest organization in his district, and he would drive literally hundreds and hundreds of miles to be there.”
LaMalfa represented Northern California’s 1st District, along the Oregon border, including Redding and reaching just north of Sacramento. He had planned to run for reelection despite his district being dramatically redrawn under a ballot measure passed by California voters in November. The measure, backed by Democrats, was designed to make it harder for LaMalfa and four other Republicans to win reelection.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, must call a special election to replace LaMalfa, his office said. The election could happen as late as June, when California will hold its primary for the 2026 midterm.
Hudson, the NRCC chairman, called LaMalfa “a principled conservative and a tireless advocate for the people of Northern California.”
“He was never afraid to fight for rural communities, farmers, and working families,” Hudson said. “Doug brought grit, authenticity, and conviction to everything he did in public service.”
First elected to Congress in 2012, he was a regular presence on the House floor, helping GOP leadership open the chamber and offer his view local and national affairs.
C-SPAN in a recent compilation said he gave at least one set of remarks for the record on 81 days in 2025. Only two other lawmakers spoke on the House floor more frequently.
(AP)
“G-d gave me courage,” stated ahmed, who was shot as a result of his actions, as he recovered.
Among those murdered at the Hanukkah event at Bondi was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, son-in-law of Chabad of Bondi’s founder, Rabbi Ulman.
Most of the victims were members of Rabbi Ulman’s congregation. He presided over the funerals, including that of his son-in-law, who served alongside him. Rabbi Ulman has emerged as the voice of the victims and Sydney’s Jewish community.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
The clash marks a dangerous new phase in weeks of nationwide demonstrations fueled by economic collapse, inflation, and deepening public anger. Activists outside Iran say at least 35 people have been killed in protest-related violence so far, with more than 1,200 detained as security forces struggle to contain unrest spreading across major cities.
Economic pressures are intensifying by the day. Iran’s Central Bank of Iran has sharply reduced the subsidized dollar exchange rates offered to importers and producers — a move expected to trigger immediate price hikes on basic goods. Merchants warn that consumers, already battered by years of international sanctions, are nearing a breaking point as savings evaporate and purchasing power collapses.
In a rare public admission of weakness, President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged that the crisis is slipping beyond the state’s control. Speaking in a televised address, Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into one protest incident but conceded that the government is overwhelmed.
“We should not expect the government to handle all of this alone,” Pezeshkian said. “The government simply does not have that capacity.”
The statement — unusually blunt by Iranian leadership standards — underscores the severity of the moment. The Grand Bazaar has historically functioned as a bellwether for regime stability; when merchants close their shops, it has often preceded major political upheaval, including the 1979 revolution.
For now, Tehran is attempting to project authority through force, but Tuesday’s scenes suggest the unrest is hardening rather than fading. With the rial in free fall, prices poised to spike, and the president openly warning of institutional limits, Iran’s leadership faces a convergence of economic and political pressures that security crackdowns alone may no longer be able to contain.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Rav Mutzafi added, “There are Sephardi families who are somewhat weak, and they have sons who are truly gold and precious gems, and they want to draft their children.”
Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch responded, “We need a lot of rachamim. They don’t rest. If it doesn’t work for them in one way, they look for another way.”
HaRav Shternbuch ended by saying, “Their downfall will be very great indeed.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
The Yeshiva World
The Yeshiva World
