A US federal judge has approved the release on bail of an Iranian-born engineer just days before his trial in a case tied to a 2024 drone strike on a US military base in Jordan attributed to Iran-backed militants.

US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston had previously refused to release Mahdi Sadeghi, a dual US-Iranian citizen, from custody, citing concerns that he might flee before trial. He is accused of conspiracy to unlawfully obtain technology used in a navigation system for Iranian military drones.

Prosecutors allege the technology was integrated into a drone that hit the US base known as Tower 22 near the Syrian border in January 2024, killing three Army Reserve soldiers and injuring 47 others.

However, on Thursday, Talwani said circumstances had shifted since Sadeghi’s arrest in December 2024, pointing to the ongoing war involving Iran that began in February after joint US-Israeli strikes.

She said the conflict had made it less likely that Sadeghi or his family would return to Iran and reduced the incentive for him to flee.

“It is just a different political world,” she said.

The judge also noted that Sadeghi’s wife had expressed a desire to remain in the United States, where the family lives in Natick, Massachusetts, adding that leaving would risk separating him from them if he chose to avoid trial.

She ordered his release on Friday under a $500,000 secured bond, along with strict home confinement and GPS ankle monitoring. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sadeghi has pleaded not guilty to charges that he participated in a scheme to violate US export controls and sanctions laws by acquiring technology for Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini’s company, which allegedly worked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and developed navigation systems used in Shahed drones.

He is scheduled to stand trial alone on June 22 after Italian authorities last year released co-defendant Abedini, who had been detained pending extradition to the United States following Iran’s detention and subsequent release of an Italian journalist.

A leading election forecaster has moved three key US Senate contests in Democrats’ direction, though Republicans remain favored to keep control of the chamber, according to a new update released Thursday.

The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics revised its ratings for Alaska, North Carolina, and Ohio, moving Alaska from “leans Republican” to “toss-up,” North Carolina from “toss-up” to “leans Democrat,” and Ohio from “leans Republican” to “toss-up.”

All three seats are currently held by Republicans.

The adjustments give Democrats a somewhat clearer—but still difficult—route to a potential Senate majority in November’s elections.

In Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who is seeking a third term, faces a crowded field in the Aug. 18 nonpartisan primary.

Sullivan is expected to face former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola as his main challenger in the general election.

While Alaska backed President Trump over Kamala Harris by 13 points in 2024, analysts noted that Peltola previously outperformed Democrats in her district, narrowly losing to Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) by 2.5 points.

In Ohio, Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) is projected to face former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in November.

The Center for Politics pointed to a recent Fox News poll showing Brown leading Husted 53% to 45% in the race for the final two years of Vice President JD Vance’s term.

It also highlighted Brown’s relatively strong showing in 2024 compared to national Democratic results, despite his earlier Senate loss to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).

In North Carolina, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is expected to face former Gov. Roy Cooper in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis.

The analysis cited Cooper’s fundraising advantage, statewide profile, and Whatley’s close alignment with President Trump—whose approval ratings in the state are reportedly weak—as factors giving Democrats a slight edge.

A recent Carolina Journal poll showed Cooper ahead by 11 points.

The Center for Politics said the overall outlook is driven more by broad national political conditions than by individual campaign dynamics, including polling trends and presidential approval ratings.

Despite Democratic gains in several races, analysts cautioned that Democrats would likely need to win every competitive “toss-up” state to secure a majority, while Republicans could retain control by winning just one.

Humanities faculty at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley say they are significantly reducing assigned reading, breaking up books into excerpts, and reworking course structures as students increasingly struggle with reading-intensive classes.

The concerns raised by instructors at the selective California university reflect a wider debate across the University of California system over whether incoming students are adequately prepared for college-level academic work.

Several professors speaking to student newspaper The Daily Californian said reading expectations have steadily declined over the past 20 years, forcing them to scale back assignments to preserve meaningful classroom engagement.

Carlos Noreña, a history professor focused on ancient history, said the volume of reading he can assign has dropped sharply since he joined the Berkeley faculty in 2005.

“We are now reaching a crisis point where if the number (of pages) goes down further, it’s unclear to me whether my discipline of history can really be taught,” Noreña said.

According to Noreña, upper-division students previously handled about 100 pages of weekly reading, with expectations that most of it would be completed. In an upcoming course, that figure will drop to roughly 35 pages per week.

Other faculty members described making similar adjustments across departments.

“Part of this is to spare students the cost of purchasing books, but part of it is also acquiescing to my sense of — and complaints about — the amount of reading assigned, though those complaints, curiously, haven’t gone away as I’ve shrunk the number of pages assigned,” Brilliant said.

Mark Brilliant, who teaches California and Western American history, said a course that once required seven full books now relies entirely on selected excerpts.

Not all faculty agree that students are reading less than in previous generations. English professor Grace Lavery said she has maintained — and in some cases increased — her reading requirements.

“The reason is that the Dickens novels I teach are long and difficult,” Lavery said. “I imagine that if I had been teaching these novels in the same way back in the 1950s, I would have had exactly the same problems.”

Some instructors also voiced concern that students are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools to summarize readings rather than engaging with the texts directly.

“I found that very upsetting, because I’ve read the AI summary of my own book, and it’s all wrong,” history professor Trevor Jackson said. “Even a good summary is still not grappling with the text.”

The discussion comes as broader concerns about academic preparedness persist across the UC system, with faculty warning that some students arrive without foundational skills needed for rigorous coursework.

On Thursday, the University of California said it will review whether to reinstate SAT and ACT requirements, six years after dropping them from admissions, according to reports.

The review follows pressure from more than 1,400 faculty members who argue that incoming students are often underprepared for university-level study.

In a recent open letter, professors said the gap is so significant that some instructors are re-teaching basic mathematics while also trying to cover college material.

A 2025 report from the University of California, San Diego also found a rise in students whose math skills tested below high school level.

UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu said the system recognizes that “academic preparedness for college is a growing challenge” and will spend the coming year evaluating possible changes to admissions standards and high school requirements.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran are on the verge of signing a memorandum of understanding that would extend the current ceasefire between the two countries and set up follow-on negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, with a signing ceremony possibly as soon as this weekend in Europe.

“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, subject to finalization of documents,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “It should get done in the next few days.”

The president said he believes that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, has personally given his approval to the arrangement. Asked whether he was confident the deal would be concluded, given that he has made similar pronouncements in recent weeks only for talks to drag on further, Trump said he was “pretty confident” this time, noting that the U.S. had hit Iran hard in recent strikes.

Trump said he himself would not attend the signing, but that Vice President JD Vance, senior envoy Steve Witkoff, and adviser Jared Kushner would represent the United States. He indicated that Saturday or Monday were possible dates for the ceremony.

According to reporting by Al Arabiya, the proposed memorandum of understanding would include a ceasefire of 60 or more days, a commitment to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days, phased sanctions relief tied to resumed Iranian oil exports, continued nuclear negotiations during the ceasefire period, and a halt to hostilities across all fronts.

Trump acknowledged that the MOU only “conceptually” addresses the question of Iran’s nuclear material, and does not require Iran to immediately surrender its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. He said that the enrichment facilities are “buried under a mountain” following U.S. strikes last year, and that “nobody has gotten close” to the stockpiles. The MOU would include an Iranian commitment not to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Trump also said that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen as a condition of the deal, and claimed that the U.S. had already quietly succeeded in moving oil through the channel in recent months, though it had remained substantially obstructed for the rest of the world.

The U.S. would lift its blockade of Iranian ports upon signing of the deal, Trump added. He described it as “a very strong MOU” that would be “a great deal for Iran because they’ll be able to build up their country” — a reference to the sanctions relief Tehran would receive if it complies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei pushed back on the characterization that a deal was imminent. Tehran has not made a final decision and will not compromise on its “red lines” in negotiations, he said, according to Iran’s state IRNA news agency.

Baghaei said reports about a time and place for signing the agreement were “speculative,” and that nothing had been finalized. He acknowledged that “a large part of the negotiating text has been finalized” but said the United States had repeatedly changed its positions during the course of negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Trump by phone on Thursday regarding the emerging arrangement. The Prime Minister’s Office said the two discussed “the emerging memorandum of understanding with Iran regarding entry into negotiations.”

In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that “although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding,” Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Trump’s commitment that any final agreement would include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, limitations on missile production, and a halt to Iran’s support for terrorist proxies in the region.

The statement notably goes further than what Trump has publicly demanded of late. In recent weeks, the president has focused primarily on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and has not insisted publicly on conditions related to ballistic missiles or Iran’s support for terrorist organizations — issues that Tehran has said are off the table.
Adding to the sense of friction between Jerusalem and Washington, the Axios news site reported Thursday, citing a source with knowledge of the matter, that Netanyahu was not given advance notice before Trump called off further strikes against Iran and announced that a deal was near — a development that caught the prime minister off guard.

Diplomatic activity intensified on Thursday even as hostilities continued in the region. Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, held a phone call with Trump to review the results of U.S.-Iran consultations, with the Qatari Emiri Diwan saying that progress had been made toward a negotiating framework.

In a separate development, Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said that an Iranian attack earlier on Thursday targeted Kuwait International Airport’s radar systems, causing injuries and significant damage to radar facilities and air traffic management equipment. Kuwait formally notified the International Civil Aviation Organization of the incident.

Earlier this week, ballistic missile impacts in the southern Israeli cities of Arad and Dimona left nearly 200 people wounded, underscoring the fragility of the current ceasefire even as diplomats push toward a formal agreement.
Trump on Thursday also addressed the state funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died during the conflict. Tehran’s mayor said the ceremony would be delayed by several weeks.

A suspect arrested over an alleged anti-Israel terror campaign in Michigan previously worked for US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, according to a report by The Detroit News.

Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn, Michigan, is among eight anti-Zionist activists charged with “terrorizing” University of Michigan officials, Jewish institutions, and police because of their perceived support for Israel.

Authorities allege the suspects monitored and threatened targets, carried out vandalism against homes and businesses, and discussed harming or torturing their opponents and their families.

The Detroit News reported that El-Sayed’s campaign says that Odeh was a paid staffer over a period of three months, not only two weeks as they initially claimed.

El-Sayed, a far-left candidate running for the US Senate in Michigan, has been a vocal critic of Israel.

According to the report, Odeh worked on El-Sayed’s campaign from February through April.

The allegations come as investigators continue examining the group’s activities and whether additional charges may follow.

A heavy metal storefront security gate detached without warning from a building on 13th Avenue in Boro Park on Thursday, sending the large structure crashing to the sidewalk but, b’chasdei Hashem, narrowly missing a woman who had been walking past at that moment.

Video footage shows that had the woman been even a step closer, the outcome could have been far more serious, chas veshalom.

The gate,  a typical accordion-style metal security screen common to storefronts along the busy commercial thoroughfare, fell to the sidewalk with significant force. The woman was shaken but uninjured.

“People need to check their gates, as they age they could become damaged,” Yossie Jacobson, who works at an eyeglass store not far from the scene told Belaaz. “It’s a good idea to periodically have a professional check, both for the safety of passerby and to prevent break-ins.”

The incident drew a crowd of onlookers on the bustling street. Emergency services responded to the scene.

The cause of the detachment — whether due to aging hardware, improper installation, or other factors — was not immediately known.

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he has canceled scheduled U.S. strikes on Iran, citing significant progress in negotiations.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level… I have… cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump stated in his Truth post. The President also noted that the agreement was approved by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and others.

Trump added: “The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly.”

After his announcement on Truth Social, Trump told the New York Post that an agreement with Tehran has been “pretty much all wrapped up.

The decision follows an exclusive New York Post report on Thursday morning that Iran submitted a finalized memorandum of understanding to Qatari mediators on Wednesday night.

Trump has repeatedly stated over the past two months, at least 38 times, that a deal was imminent.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump announced Thursday the nomination of Jay Clayton, former SEC chairman and current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to be the next Director of National Intelligence.

“I am pleased to announce the Nomination of very Highly Respected Jay Clayton… to be the next Director of National Intelligence and, importantly, to serve in my Cabinet,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

In his statement, President Trump highlighted Clayton’s leadership at Sullivan & Cromwell and urged swift Senate confirmation. The move follows Bill Pulte’s appointment as acting DNI and comes amid pressure for a permanent, experienced pick to lead the intelligence community.

The Trump administration has cut off federal funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority amid a widening fraud investigation into one of the country’s largest homelessness agencies.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is immediately suspending LAHSA’s participation in federal programs while HUD’s inspector general investigates possible misconduct involving the agency and its leadership. LAHSA has received nearly $1 billion in federal funding since 2021.

HUD accused the agency of “obvious fraud,” “wanton mismanagement,” conflicts of interest, poor oversight and repeated failures to protect taxpayer dollars. The move comes after years of audits and criticism over Los Angeles homelessness spending, even as tens of thousands of people remain homeless across the county.

The agency cited several findings, including $2.1 million in federal funds that were directed to a nonprofit employing the husband of former LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum. HUD also pointed to a federal judge’s finding that LAHSA committed “obvious fraud” by allegedly seeking funding for an 88-bed shelter while knowing it was operating at about half capacity.

HUD also said LAHSA could not confirm basic records for nearly 2,300 housing sites it was supposed to oversee. A November 2024 audit found the agency left $513 million in homelessness funds unspent, despite the scale of the crisis in Los Angeles.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said. The action was also praised by officials tied to the White House fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance.

Los Angeles city and county officials had already begun moving away from LAHSA before the federal action. Mayor Karen Bass has pointed to recent declines in homelessness as evidence of progress, but also warned that any transition away from LAHSA must avoid disrupting services for unhoused residents.

An Ontario Chabad location was vandalized for the second time in less than two weeks, with antisemitic graffiti discovered on Monday, according to Chabad of Guelph and the Guelph Police Service.

The vandals wrote the message “Zionist dogs…stop killing children…the goyim know” on the window of the temporary Chabad center.

The location currently hosts Shabbos morning services and several weekday classes while a permanent Chabad center is under construction. The site was previously targeted on May 30 in another vandalism incident.

During the earlier attack, graffiti reading “Death to genocidal Israhell,” was found written across the window.

Guelph Police said Wednesday that they were investigating both incidents, though officials had not yet confirmed whether they were connected.

Rabbi Raphi Steiner said he was shocked after discovering the first attack and was especially disturbed that his son was exposed to the hateful message.

“It was heartbreaking to watch my 12-year-old son sit in shul constantly glancing up at the very visible graffiti, wondering why someone would do that to his shul,” Rabbi Steiner told the Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

The rabbi warned that antisemitism has increased in the area in recent months, with Jews becoming the most targeted group for hate crimes in Canada since the October 7 Massacre, despite making up only around 1% of the population.

The IDF is preparing for a possible offensive against Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon city of Nabatieh, a major stronghold of the terror group, an Israeli military official said Thursday.

The IDF’s 36th Division has advanced deeper into southern Lebanon in recent days and is currently operating near Arnoun, a village located a few kilometers from Nabatieh, according to the military.

The division carried out covert operations near the Litani River before the advance, including constructing a new bridge across the waterway in an area Hezbollah was not monitoring, the official said. After the bridge was completed, armored forces crossed and moved north quickly without being detected.

The official said the division’s next steps would depend on decisions by Israeli leadership. The forces could continue advancing toward Nabatieh or move westward to keep targeting Hezbollah positions along the Litani River.

The purpose of either operation would be to further damage Hezbollah’s capabilities, the official said.

The developments come as fighting continues across multiple fronts, with regional tensions rising amid the war with Iran.

A Times of Israel reporter described the toll of the conflict in Israel, writing about visiting communities impacted by missile strikes, including Arad and Dimona, where nearly 200 people were injured.

The reporter met Shilgit, who runs an after-school program for underprivileged youth, outside her damaged center. She said it was a miracle no children were harmed and described how the community had united following the attack.

The reporter said documenting stories of resilience remains a priority, but added that continued coverage depends on public support.

The UK Green Party’s Health Policy Working Group is considering whether to back a policy that would restrict circumcision for non-medical reasons; effectively banning Bris Milah in the country, according to a Thursday report in the UK’s Jewish News.

The party’s Working Group has opened a consultation asking members whether parents should only be permitted to approve “an irreversible surgical procedure on a child if that procedure is medically necessary.” Members were also asked to comment on whether “non-therapeutic male circumcision should only be performed on children who are old enough to make an informed choice.”

The issue comes after Iceland became the first European country in 2018 to prohibit non-medical circumcision. The decision drew strong criticism from Jewish and Muslim leaders.

Similar proposals have also been promoted by far-right European parties, including Germany’s AfD and Sweden’s Swedish Democrats, who have been accused of using the issue to target Jewish and Muslim communities.

The HPWG’s consultation officer contacted Green Party members with a survey on the subject, writing that “helping us to respond to this survey will be a huge help in ensuring the Green Party has an updated Health Policy from this Autumn.” The party is scheduled to hold its Autumn conference in September, where a “Zionism is Racism” motion is also expected to be discussed.

If the Green Party adopts such a policy, it could significantly damage its support among Muslim voters, where the party has gained ground in recent years through its strong opposition to Israel.

In January, Jewish organislzations raised concerns after reports that draft guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service suggested that improperly performed circumcision could potentially be considered “child abuse.”

The CPS responded by saying: “We absolutely recognise that for many, male circumcision is a safe and celebrated tradition.

“However, while circumcision is legal, we have recently prosecuted cases where significant harm and distress have been caused to victims where this procedure has been carried out improperly and in unsafe circumstances.”

More hesder yeshiva heads have joined a growing protest against the IDF’s planned pilot program for female soldiers in the maneuvering Armored Tank Corps, after rabbis said they would not send Talmidim to serve in tanks with women.

Hesder yeshivas combine several years of learning in Yeshiva in addition to IDF service, many of whom serve in combat units. Today, 11 additional hesder yeshiva heads and two unnamed rabbis have now joined a letter saying their talmidim will not to enlist in the Armored Corps if the pilot advances.

The original letter was sent Monday by several hesder Roshei Yeshiva, following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling requiring the IDF to open a pilot program for women in the maneuvering Armored Corps. The rabbis argued that such service would violate halacha and harm both the army’s religious character and its combat effectiveness.

“The IDF is the army of Bnei Yisrael, and the Kedusha of the camp is the foundation of the IDF’s spirit and of success in defeating the enemy. Placing female soldiers in tanks together with male soldiers causes spiritual and practical harm to combat capability,” the letter said.

The rebbeim said the decision came after serious consideration and declared that they would no longer send their students to serve in the Armored Corps beginning with the next draft cycle. The move is significant because hesder yeshivas are a major religious-Zionist pipeline into IDF combat service.

The IDF responded by saying the court did not order a broad integration of women into the corps, but only a pilot. The army also said men and women would not serve together in the same company or platoon, and that the matter has not yet reached the chief of staff for final discussion and approval.

Agudath Israel of America is urging New Jersey residents to contact their state Assembly members and demand a “no” vote on A2218/S2260, a sweeping bill aimed at furthering demands of groups opposed to the Torah’s definition of gender and other family issues passed out of committee Monday that religious-liberty advocates say poses an existential threat to the ability of frum Jews to live, speak and raise children in accordance with their beliefs.

The bill, which the Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced on June 8 by a 9-to-4 vote, is framed by its sponsors as a “shield law,” but a close reading of its text reveals language so broad and ill-defined that it could expose rabbis, teachers, school principals, and even parents to civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution for expressing Torah views on gender.

“No one should face the threat of a lawsuit for offering religious counsel, parental guidance, or expressing deeply held convictions,” Agudath Israel stated in its action alert, calling the bill “a dangerous bill that could expose Rabbanim, educators, counselors, schools, and even parents to costly lawsuits and potential criminal penalties.”

The vote is expected to come before the full Assembly this Thursday, and Agudah is urging New Jersey residents to act immediately.

Under Section 6 of the legislation, any person can bring a civil action in Superior Court against an “actor” who “causes a reasonable person to suffer damage to the person’s business or personal reputation, financial harm, or pain and suffering, mental anguish, or emotional harm” based on the person seeking, receiving, or providing “reproductive health care services.”

The bill’s definition of “reproductive health care services” explicitly includes “all supplies, care, and services… to support a person’s alignment with their gender identity or expression.”

Critically, the bill mandates in Section 12 that its provisions “shall be liberally construed to effect the purpose thereof.” That clause – standard in progressive legislation but alarming in this context – means courts are directed to interpret ambiguous language in the broadest possible manner favoring plaintiffs (advocates of the aforementioned proponents of anti-Torah ideas).

The civil liability exposure is not the only danger. Section 5 creates a new criminal offense – “interference with reproductive health care services” – and includes within its scope any person who, “by force or threat of force,” intimidates, threatens, or coerces any person “in order to intimidate a person or entity, or a class of persons or entities, from becoming or remaining a patient, provider, volunteer, or assistant of reproductive health care services.”

Legal observers and community advocates have flagged a troubling gap between the bill’s stated intent and the reach of its language. The term “intimidate” is defined in the bill as placing a person “in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm.” But the civil-suit provision does not require bodily harm – it requires only that someone “cause a reasonable person to suffer… pain and suffering, mental anguish, or emotional harm.”

A pointed analysis circulating in community channels asks: who is to say a left-leaning judge would not “interpret the term ‘threat of force’ broadly enough to criminalize a parent or grandparent threatening to expel his adult child from the home over seeking to violate Torah law as an ‘attempt to intimidate’?” The analysis further raises the specter of a principal or rebbe who issues an expulsion warning to a student being charged under the criminal statute, “given an explicit – or perhaps even implied threat – of expulsion from the school, or even just expulsion from the class.”

With the “liberally construed” mandate of Section 12 in place, this is not a far-fetched hypothetical. It is a realistic litigation risk.

Damages available to plaintiffs include not merely compensatory awards but punitive damages and attorney’s fees – a combination that functions as a potent deterrent against any speech or action that a litigant chooses to characterize as “interference.”

The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 9-to-4 to advance the bill, with two members not voting. Among those who did not cast a vote was Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-36th District), the first Orthodox Jew ever elected to the New Jersey State Legislature and a representative whose district includes the city of Passaic, home to one of the largest and most vibrant frum communities in the state, as well as portions of southern Bergen County with significant Orthodox populations.

Schaer, who has served in the Assembly since 2006 and has been a longtime advocate for yeshivah funding and religious liberty causes, did not record a vote on the measure. His constituents in Passaic and surroundings – whose rabbis, schools, and parents could be directly affected by the bill’s provisions – have a particular stake in where he stands when the matter comes to the floor.

Agudath Israel’s action alert calls the bill’s undefined terms “vague and undefined” and warns that “such sweeping language invites litigation and creates a chilling effect on religious liberty, free speech, parental rights, and the ability of community leaders and educators to provide guidance consistent with their sincerely held beliefs, or to even simply talk about the subject.”

The organization’s suggested message to Assembly members reads: “I am your constituent and urge you to vote NO on A2218/S2260. This bill’s vague and overly broad language could expose religious leaders, educators, counselors, and parents to lawsuits based on subjective claims of emotional or reputational harm. The legislation threatens religious liberty, free speech, and parental rights. Please oppose A2218/S2260.”

New Jersey residents are urged to contact their Assembly members today. To find your representative, visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website at www.njleg.state.nj.us.

The family of Kamran (Yehudah) Hekmati, a 61-year-old Jewish Iranian-American from Great Neck, Long Island, who has been imprisoned in Iran for over a year, has issued an urgent plea to President Donald Trump, demanding his release be a non-negotiable condition of any potential peace agreement with Tehran, according to a Wednesday report in the NY Post.

The desperate appeal comes at a time of extreme volatility in the region. Tensions flared dramatically on Monday evening after an Iranian drone downed a U.S. Army Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, prompting a renewed U.S. bombing campaign against objectives within the Islamic Republic.

For the Hekmati family, the intensifying military hostilities add a terrifying layer of urgency to an already dire situation. In a letter sent Tuesday night to President Trump, the State Department, and the National Security Council, the family highlighted not only the political peril facing Hekmati but also a catastrophic medical crisis.
“Kamran is not only an American citizen; he is a devoted father, husband, brother, and cousin. Today, he is also a cancer patient,” wrote Shohreh Nowfar, Hekmati’s cousin and family spokesperson, in the letter. “He is battling bladder cancer without access to the medical care he urgently needs. Every day matters.”

Hekmati was detained by Iranian authorities in May 2025 while visiting family. The regime blocked him from leaving, claiming he had “illegally” visited Israel 13 years prior to attend his son’s bar mitzvah. He is currently being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, a facility infamous for its harsh conditions and mistreatment of political dissidents and foreign nationals. In March, the U.S. State Department officially designated Hekmati as “wrongfully detained,” effectively classifying him as a political hostage.

The family’s plea follows comments made by President Trump during a weekend interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, where he asserted his desire to bring all American hostages home but noted the difficulties in maintaining a definitive list. “If you give me their names, I’ll do my best to get them home,” the President said.

An administration official responded to the family’s letter on Wednesday, stating, “President Trump has made it clear that he wants all Americans wrongfully and unjustly detained overseas to be brought home. The administration is closely tracking U.S. citizens currently detained in Iran and working diligently to secure their release.”

While President Trump has repeatedly pressed Tehran to negotiate an end to the current conflict—specifically demanding that Iran abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions—advocates for the hostages insist that human lives must not be sidelined in broader geopolitical talks.

Kieran Ramsey of Global Reach, an advocacy group representing the Hekmati family, emphasized that the safety of American citizens must take precedence, especially as airstrikes continue. “Unfortunately, we’re now seeing military hostilities increase again, but we want to see the sequencing on this flip. We want these Americans home,” Ramsey told the Post. “If there’s any deal to be made, it’s got to include the release of these Americans. Their status needs to be at the top of the pile.”

The terrifying reality inside Evin Prison was recently underscored by a smuggled voice recording from another wrongfully detained American, 49-year-old journalist Reza Valizadeh. In the recording, obtained by CBS News, Valizadeh described facing severe “physical pressure and mental torture,” adding that the detained Americans are “suffering from various diseases and are deprived of real medical services.”

Valizadeh’s message also expressed frustration with past missed opportunities, noting that the U.S. government failed to negotiate a prisoner swap in May when 20 Iranian sailors were released by the U.S. following the seizure of their commercial vessels.

As the Great Neck community and the broader Jewish community daven for Hekmati’s safety amidst the ongoing bombardment of Tehran, his family remains focused on the President’s track record of hostage diplomacy.

“You have already demonstrated strong leadership in bringing more than 100 Americans home since January 2025,” the Hekmati family wrote in their concluding remarks to the President. “We urge you to act now to secure Kamran’s release. His family in Great Neck, New York, is waiting for him. He deserves the chance to come home, receive treatment, and be reunited with those who love him.”

A State Department spokesperson reiterated the government’s official stance, saying, “The Iranian regime has a long and shameful history of unjustly detaining U.S. nationals and other foreign citizens. The Iranian regime should immediately release all Americans detained in Iran.”

A stretch of potentially hazardous weather is expected to impact the New York metropolitan area beginning Thursday and continuing into Friday, bringing extreme heat, powerful thunderstorms and even the possibility of tornadoes.

“There is a chance that some of the thunderstorms, should they occur, could be on the stronger to severe side of things. Right now, damaging wind gusts of 58 to 70 miles per hour are possible,” Bryan Ramsey from the National Weather Service told the Gothamist. “In some of the storms, that could lead to damaged trees, downed power lines, scattered power outages.”

The severe weather outlook comes after a relatively mild Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to remain near 80 degrees with only a slight chance of scattered light rain, according to Ramsey.

Conditions are forecast to change dramatically on Thursday as temperatures climb above 90 degrees, with humidity making it feel even hotter than the actual air temperature.

“ We have a warm front coming through. That’s going to really increase the humidity outside, which is going to make it feel hotter,” Ramsey said. “ Anyone commuting in from New Jersey could even see heat index values approaching or exceeding 100 degrees.”

Meteorologists say the combination of intense heat and moisture will create favorable conditions for thunderstorms to develop and strengthen. However, forecasters are still uncertain about how the atmosphere will evolve. Potential impacts include localized flooding on roads, damaging winds capable of affecting power infrastructure, and even the chance for large hail or isolated tornadoes on Friday.

“Maybe we could see one, two tornadoes possible in some of these thunderstorms,” Ramsey said. “Whether that occurs in the city, it’s going to be really hard to say. But we are messaging that it’s a possibility.”

In response to the expected conditions, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for New York City covering Thursday and Friday. Cooling centers will be available throughout the five boroughs, and city programs can assist eligible residents with obtaining air conditioners or fans.

The weather pattern is expected to improve by Saturday, with drier air and calmer skies moving into the region.

“Even though we stay hot, it does lower humidity, so we don’t have to worry about any dangerous heat indices this weekend,” Ramsey said.

A new ADL/JLens report warns that BDS-aligned divestment from companies doing business in Israel could cost New York City pension funds more than $37 billion over the next decade.

The report, titled The Impact of Israel Divestment on the New York City Pension Funds, examined two hypothetical large-cap U.S. equity portfolios over a 10-year period from July 2015 to June 2025. One was broadly diversified, while the other excluded 47 major American companies targeted by the BDS movement for doing business in Israel, including Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft.

According to the report, the BDS-excluded portfolio underperformed by about two percentage points annually. Applied to New York City’s pension system, which manages more than $300 billion, ADL and JLens estimated $37.55 billion in potential forgone value from 2025 to 2035.

The largest projected loss was for the Teachers’ Retirement System, at $15.09 billion. The New York City Employees’ Retirement System could lose $10.91 billion, followed by the Police Pension Fund at $7.13 billion, the Fire Pension Fund at $3.02 billion and the Board of Education Retirement System at $1.41 billion.

“This analysis highlights the potentially serious financial consequences of applying BDS-aligned divestment strategies to the city’s pension funds,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. Ari Hoffnung, JLens managing director and former NYC deputy comptroller, said the movement has shifted “from college campuses to city halls,” but “the investment math doesn’t change with the venue.”

The report comes amid growing debate over New York pension policy under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has opposed city pension investments tied to Israel. ADL noted that its estimate is based on past market performance and assumes a similar gap over the next decade.

A group of 22 Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, condemned what they called Iran’s “malicious actions” targeting Jews, dissidents and journalists across several Western nations.

In a joint statement, the countries accused Iran of using criminal networks to carry out operations and specifically pointed to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

The countries included Albania, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

Theg pointed to “the relationship between Iranian security services and international criminal groups.”

“We stand united in our determination to protect our countries and our peoples against these threats. Iran must stop these actions immediately,” the statement said.

The countries warned of ties between Iranian security services and international criminal groups, calling the alleged cooperation “deplorable.”

“Their use of these groups is deplorable. Likewise, we condemn the recent campaign of attacks across Europe against Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and American interests, claimed by Harakat Ashab al Yamin al Islamiya (HAYI) and supported by its intermediaries,” they said.

The signatories added that “attempts to assassinate, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack individuals” in their countries violate national sovereignty and international norms.

“These actions must cease immediately,” they said.

The statement referenced an attack on a synagogue in London’s Golders Green neighborhood in April that was claimed by HAYI, an organization accused by German authorities of having links to an Iraqi Shiite network and operating across Europe.

ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones invoked her Fifth Amendment rights Wednesday rather than answer questions before Congress about allegations that the Democratic fundraising platform illegally processed foreign donations to federal campaigns.

“On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution,” Wallace-Jones said after being asked the opening question at the House hearing.

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said investigators had “significant concern that ActBlue may have allowed foreign donations on their platform, lied to Congress and withheld responsive documents from a congressional subpoena.”

“All three of those actions are illegal,” Steil declared.

The committee subpoenaed Wallace-Jones after ActBlue’s legal team indicated she would not answer questions voluntarily. Republican lawmakers investigating the platform have also accused her of misleading Congress about the effectiveness of ActBlue’s fraud prevention measures.

Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), the committee’s top Democrat, criticized the hearing as politically motivated and accused Republicans of failing to investigate similar concerns involving their party’s fundraising platform, WinRed.

In a video statement posted Wednesday, Wallace-Jones accused “President Trump and his allies” of “abusing their power to target ActBlue.”

“Invoking the Fifth Amendment is not an admission — or even an insinuation — of guilt,” she said.

“Last year, President Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, not based on facts, but dislike. Republican committee chairs wrote to Trump’s attorney general pledging to work collaboratively together,” Wallace-Jones added.

“These attacks did not start with ActBlue. And sadly, we know they are not stopping here. They are part of a much bigger trend of retaliation and retribution. It was universities. It was law firms. Then civil rights organizations.”

“We will not be intimidated.”

ActBlue, founded in 2004, has helped Democratic candidates and causes raise more than $19 billion. Nearly $2 billion of that funding went to Democrats during the 2024 election cycle, when internal records later obtained by The NY Post reported the platform had made its fraud standards “more lenient.”

Graham Platner, an anti-Israel progressive Democrat, won Maine’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday and will face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, after a campaign marked by accusations of antisemitism and controversy over a Nazi-linked tattoo.

The result gives Democrats a nominee in one of the key Senate races of the midterm elections. Platner’s victory had been expected after Maine Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign in late April, saying she could no longer afford to continue. Mills remained on the ballot, but major outlets called the race for Platner shortly after polls closed.

“I’m humbled and proud to officially be your Democratic nominee for the US Senate to take on Susan Collins and the billionaire class she represents,” Platner wrote after his victory. “Together, we will win this seat back for working Mainers. Thank you, Maine.”

Top Democrats moved to back him despite the controversies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand said after the primary that Maine voters would elect Platner and that Democrats would win a Senate majority.

Platner has supported ending U.S. military aid to Israel and faced accusations of antisemitism over comments about AIPAC-linked donations to Collins. He also drew criticism over a chest tattoo showing a Totenkopf-style skull, a symbol widely associated with the Nazi SS. Platner said he did not know it was a Nazi symbol when he got it, later covered it, and denied being antisemitic. “I am not a secret Nazi,” he said.

Platner also faced allegations of misconduct toward women and criticism over past online comments. Republican Jewish leaders quickly pressed Democrats to distance themselves from him. “Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America, and every Senate Democrat propping up Platner’s campaign, should be ashamed,” the Republican Jewish Coalition said, adding that Schumer “must withdraw his support immediately.”

With the Capitol dome gleaming in the distance, leaders and supporters of Agudath Israel of America, elected officials and distinguished guests gathered Tuesday evening on the rooftop of the historic Hall of the States building to mark the retirement of its longtime Washington director, Rabbi Abba Cohen, and inaugurate the organization’s new home in the nation’s capital.

The occasion drew a remarkable cross-section of power: Republican and Democratic lawmakers, senior Trump administration officials, and a who’s who of the Orthodox Jewish communal world — all united in tribute to a man who has spent nearly four decades navigating the corridors of Congress with quiet tenacity. Gourmet steaks and elaborate desserts accompanied the warm atmosphere, but the real menu of the evening was 38 years of accomplishments.

Agudath Israel Board Chairman Shlomo Werdiger set the tone early, sketching the arc of Rabbi Cohen’s tenure since the organization opened its first full-time Orthodox Jewish advocacy office in Washington in 1988. “Thirty-eight years ago, you were entrusted to safeguard the name of our organization on Capitol Hill,” Werdiger told Rabbi Cohen, “and now you’ve returned it to us in the purest form as you received it.”

The catalogue of legislative wins Werdiger cited was extensive: early child-care voucher legislation, a foundational role in passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, creation of the Nonprofit Security Grant program — which has channeled over $2 billion to Jewish and other faith communities — and the ongoing fight for equitable services for nonpublic schools.

The breadth of that work was illustrated by one anecdote shared at the event: around 2004, Rabbi Cohen was simultaneously juggling calls with American elected officials and Egyptian government officials, working to lift an embargo on lulavim so that a supply could reach Jewish communities in time for Sukkos. It was the kind of urgent, behind-the-scenes scramble that rarely makes headlines — and that defined his career.

Harav Yissocher Frand, Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Yisroel, who has known Rabbi Cohen for 50 years — since a hashgacha protis encounter at a Washington bus station on July 4, 1976, during the Bicentennial celebration — delivered a tribute that drew on the image of the spies Yehoshua sent to scout Eretz Yisroel, who, according to one explanation in Rashi, were instructed to disguise themselves as merchants of earthenware utensils. Those vessels had no worth in themselves; their value was purely functional. Rav Frand held up that metaphor as the defining portrait of Rabbi Cohen’s service. “It was never about him, it was never about his reputation, it was never about advancement,” Rav Frand said, contrasting Rabbi Cohen to typical politicians on Capitol Hill. “It’s all about the mission. And if I may say, that is a rare commodity in this city.”

Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudah’s New Jersey director and COO, said the most valuable thing passing with Rabbi Cohen’s retirement wasn’t any legislative achievement. “It’s the advice, it’s the guidance, it’s the counsel that all of us relied upon,” he said.

Schnall later announced with great fanfare that Rabbi A.D. Motzen, National Director of Government Affairs, would serve as the incoming director of the Washington office.

Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel, Executive Vice President of Agudah, presented Rabbi Cohen with a large commemorative letter of appreciation signed by the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah.

Martin Marks, the White House’s Jewish engagement special assistant to the president, described how he and his colleagues routinely turned to Agudah whenever a policy question arose, saying the quiet advocacy made a world of difference. He also noted that White House Faith Office Director Jenny Korn, who worked with Rabbi Cohen during the first Trump administration, had told him just that morning how much she valued that relationship.

The legislative voices in the room were no less forceful. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) ticked through his recent record — passage of private school scholarship tax deductions, expanded nonprofit security grant funding, and bipartisan legislation with Rep. Josh Gottheimer to enshrine the IHRA definition of antisemitism in federal civil rights enforcement. “You cannot tackle this if you are unwilling to call it out wherever it rears its ugly head,” Lawler said, naming figures from across the political spectrum.

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, described a sweeping federal push against antisemitism that has included roughly $500 million in settlements with leading universities, landmark lawsuits against UCLA and Harvard, criminal and civil enforcement under the FACE Act targeting attacks on synagogues, and a series of RLUIPA cases challenging zoning discrimination against Jewish communities in the Northeast.

“Columbia is the signature one that I’m proud of — $200 million penalty, largely for their antisemitic conduct in the wake of October 7,” Dhillon said, while holding what Rabbi AD Motzen described as a “fireside chat without a fire” with the incoming head of the Washington office. She added that she is the friendliest administration in certainly her lifetime and urged community members to come forward with complaints, disclosing that charges in a new hate crime case are expected within weeks.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) opened with a wry observation: “My job, I often think, as a non-Jew, is to make Jews feel guilty for not knowing the Torah as well as I do.” The senator, who has studied Torah weekly for over 30 years, invoked the parsha of the meraglim — with Calev and Yehoshua as models of courage against seemingly impossible odds — and drew a direct line to Rabbi Cohen’s career. “Thank you for being in the tradition of courageous Jewish Americans,” Booker said. “For being in the tradition of Joshua and Caleb.”

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) disclosed that just the night before, while walking alone near Pennsylvania Avenue, he had been targeted in an antisemitic attack. Fine recounted that a man on a bicycle rode past, recognized him, and hurled a vicious antisemitic epithet. Fine called out after him rather than keep walking. The man turned his bicycle around and rode it directly at Fine — making the first physical move. Fine said the confrontation ended with his attacker on the sidewalk.

Fine also recounted his decision to begin wearing a kippah on the House floor — a first in the chamber’s 249-year history. The decision came at the urging of his 18-year-old son, who told him: “Dad, I want you to wear a yarmulke, because I have friends that go to college who don’t feel safe wearing theirs.” The gesture was cemented when an Orthodox family in the visitors’ gallery spotted him presiding, their young children pointing in recognition. “They saw someone that looked like them,” Fine said.

His bill, the PEACE Act, which would hold European nations accountable for the surge in antisemitism on their soil, passed the House floor this week.

The evening closed as it opened — with the Capitol as backdrop and a sense that the work is far from done. “The challenges are only getting stronger,” Werdiger said. “But our presence to meet those challenges will be even greater.”

For Agudath Israel, the new Hall of the States office is more than a real estate upgrade. It is, as Werdiger put it, a statement of permanence — a declaration that Orthodox Jewry’s voice in the capital is here to stay.

The United States carried out at least three waves of airstrikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday night, in what President Donald Trump described as a retaliatory operation following the downing of an American military helicopter.

Explosions were reported near the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian state media outlets Mehr and Fars news agencies posting reports of blasts on Qeshm Island and in the port city of Bandar Abbas on Iran’s southern coast.

US CENTCOM later released a statement saying that the strikes were completed, but cautioned “US forces remain vigilant and postured to defend against unjustified Iranian aggression.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed he was present in the White House Situation Room alongside the President and senior officials in the hours before the operation was launched. He described the strikes as “proportional and limited,” saying they targeted radar, missile, and command-and-control sites.

A U.S. official told journalist Barak Ravid that the operation comprised three separate strike waves. Reports also indicated that strikes were conducted against a base of the Iranian Army Land Force in Zahedan, in eastern Iran, as part of the third wave.

Iranian air defenses reportedly shot down two American drones during the operation — one over the city of Jam in the Bushehr region and another over southern Iran, according to unverified reports circulating on Telegram.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to the strikes with a combative statement posted on X. “Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the US opted to test our determination,” he wrote. “Our powerful armed forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”

“Leave our region if you want to be safe,” Araghchi continued. “History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders.”

The situation remains fluid. Further details are expected to emerge in the coming hours.

President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday that the United States “must” respond after Iran shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, the latest and most direct military confrontation between the two countries as already-fragile ceasefire arrangements show increasing signs of strain.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Trump did not specify what form the U.S. response would take or when it would occur.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the helicopter went down at 7:33 p.m. ET Monday. The two crew members were rescued approximately two hours later by a Navy unmanned surface drone — the first such rescue operation ever conducted by the U.S. military — and then airlifted by helicopter to safety.

Two U.S. officials told CBS News that initial reports indicate an Iranian drone brought down the Apache. A separate source identified the drone as a Shahed-type drone. One official cautioned that it remains unclear whether the helicopter was deliberately targeted.

Iran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the incident. The semi-official Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday that no claim of responsibility had been made, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had not issued a statement as of midday Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s threat in a post on X, striking a cautious but pointed tone.
“Iran prefers the language of diplomacy,” Araghchi wrote. “However, as our Brave Warriors have shown to the world, we know how to speak other languages too.”

Araghchi suggested the helicopter incident may not have been intentional and called on “foreign forces” to leave the strait. He argued the Strait of Hormuz is “NOT international waters but shared between Iran and Oman,” and said that forces operating near Iranian territory face risks from “human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire.”

His statement came amid ongoing, delicate negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a potential agreement to end the broader conflict.

The helicopter incident came the day after Israel and Iran exchanged direct strikes for the first time since the April 8 ceasefire took effect — a fragile truce that has been showing cracks in recent days. Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military and fuel targets drew a ballistic missile counterattack from Tehran, though both sides subsequently stepped back from further escalation.

Israel has continued its separate offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, launching fresh strikes on the southern city of Tyre on Tuesday and issuing an evacuation order for the city’s Christian quarter. Iran has warned that continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon would be met with a severe response.

Hezbollah has continued firing rockets into northern Israel.

Trump, who has urged both Israel and Iran to show restraint, has also been navigating growing tensions with Jerusalem. Reports emerged this week that Trump warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that further unilateral strikes on Iran could leave Israel isolated.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States acknowledged that the two allies have “some differences” to work through.

A new United Nations report has documented serious abuses carried out by Hamas terrorists and affiliated forces in Gaza, including executions, torture, beatings and other acts the UN says amount to war crimes.

The report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights details hundreds of cases of extrajudicial punishment, saying Hamas forces carried out public acts of violence to intimidate residents and maintain control.

“These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel, looting humanitarian aid, theft, drug-related offenses or affiliations with internal rivals,” the report states.

The findings come after years in which international criticism and UN attention frequently centered on Israel, while allegations of Hamas abuses inside Gaza received far less focus.

The report says Hamas-affiliated forces were involved in nearly one-quarter of 249 documented cases between August 2024 and January 2026, including 108 deaths. The UN said the punishments were often carried out without courts or legal proceedings.

Those targeted included opponents of Hamas, suspected collaborators, and rival armed groups that emerged as the terror group’s control weakened during the war.

The report cites public executions recorded on video, including one incident where three blindfolded men were shot outside Shifa Hospital and another where eight men were dragged into a Gaza City square and killed.

The UN commission said the actions “amount to the war crime of murder and to a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the right to life, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial.”

President Donald Trump publicly urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate after Iran fired missiles at Israel, but behind the scenes Secretary of State Marco Rubio helped Israel secure approval for a limited response, according to a report by Danny Zaken in Israel Hayom. The report describes intense discussions between Washington and Jerusalem that ended with Trump authorizing a coordinated Israeli strike despite his public calls for restraint.

The dispute centered on whether Iran should pay a price for firing directly at Israel. Trump initially signaled opposition, declaring, “I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.” Netanyahu reportedly argued that failing to respond would reward Iran and strengthen Tehran’s position in negotiations with the U.S.

According to the report, Israel also warned that Iran was using its remaining missile force to gain diplomatic leverage. Rubio reportedly backed that position, recalling his previous statement that “Only stupid countries don’t shoot back when you’re shot at.” The discussions ultimately led to U.S. approval for a strike whose targets and limits were coordinated with Washington. Channel 13 reported that Netanyahu had considered a broader attack on Iranian energy infrastructure, but Trump rejected that option and told him, “Strike, and close the event.”

Military coordination continued throughout the crisis. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly told commanders, “We are ready to respond and are waiting only for the green light.” Zamir also held several conversations with CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper before the operation. Israel Hayom reported that the strikes were coordinated with CENTCOM, although U.S. forces did not participate directly.

The report also tied the confrontation to Lebanon. Netanyahu reportedly warned Trump that Iran was trying to derail U.S.-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon by forcing Israel to halt operations against Hezbollah. Iranian statements likewise linked the missile attack to Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s Dahiyeh district. After the exchange, both sides signaled they would stop if the other side did the same, though Netanyahu warned, “If Iran makes the mistake of resuming attacks on us, we will respond with overwhelming force.”

A Connecticut man has been arrested after allegedly targeting visibly Jewish individuals with antisemitic remarks, knocking a yarmulke off one victim’s head and confronting others on a New Haven street.

The New Haven Police Department said Paul Smith, 36, of East Haven, was accused of approaching three Jewish people on Crown Street on June 2, shouting slurs and making hostile remarks. Witnesses said he allegedly yelled, “get out of my city,” “baby killers” and “go back where you belong,” and asked whether they supported “genocide.”

According to police, the suspect also allegedly confronted another person who attempted to intervene, shoving them and throwing a rolled-up newspaper. Officers said Smith then pointed at a victim’s yarmulke and slapped it off his head, causing it to fall to the ground.

Police reviewed video footage and said it supported the victims’ accounts. Smith was arrested Monday and charged with intimidation due to bias in the second degree and disorderly conduct.

“This behavior will never be tolerated in New Haven,” stated David Zannelli, chief of the New Haven Police Department.

IDF Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir visited the commander training exercises in northern Israel

IDF Chief of Staff LTG Eyal Zamir stated during the visit to northern training exercises on Tuesday: “Iran’s attempt to dictate new rules will fail. The strike we carried out in Iran was preparation for a much more significant and powerful blow. We are prepared to deliver another severe strike.”

Zamir emphasized that the IDF remains on high alert and will continue deepening damage to Hezbollah while defending northern communities. “We will act with determination wherever we identify a threat to Israeli civilians,” he said.

IDF forces are currently operating in southern Lebanon, dismantling terrorist infrastructure including a major underground facility in the Beaufort area. The exercises focus on preparing the next generation of battalion and company commanders, the IDF said.

The Knesset Finance Committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would restore daycare subsidies for children of Charedi yeshiva students affected by draft-related restrictions, sending the proposal to its first Knesset reading.

In August 2024, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara instructed the Labor Ministry to stop daycare subsidies for children of Charedi yeshiva students who did not comply with draft orders, arguing that after the High Court ruled Charedi community members must be drafted, the state could no longer fund benefits for those who did not enlist.

The legislation, sponsored by the Charedi United Torah Judaism party, would prevent the government from factoring a yeshiva student’s draft status into daycare eligibility or admission priorities. Instead, eligibility would be based only on the child’s mother’s employment or educational status.

The committee also amended the proposal to provide reservists with priority in daycare admissions and subsidy calculations, following requests from committee chairman Hanoch Milwidsky and other lawmakers.

The bill’s sponsor, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni, welcomed the committee’s decision, saying, “We are ensuring that women will be able to go out to work and earn a respectable livelihood.”

Justice Ministry representatives opposed the bill, telling lawmakers that even if it passes, families where the father is considered a draft refuser would still not qualify for daycare benefits under the government’s own rules.

The bill passed a preliminary vote last month after reports that Gafni threatened to support a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas attack unless the legislation moved forward. The coalition opposes such a commission and is instead seeking a different investigative framework.

The daycare subsidy bill is expected to reach the Knesset plenum Wednesday for its first reading.

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An armed terrorist infiltrator from Lebanon opened fire on IDF troops near Ramim Ridge on Tuesday afternoon. The terrorist was shot dead.

Baruch Hashem, no Israeli soldiers were injured. A preliminary investigation found the attacker did not cross Israel’s border fence. He fired from inside an Israeli military zone on the western side of the barrier.

The event triggered a lockdown in nearby communities as forces launched a search operation to rule out additional infiltrators.

Residents of Misgav Am, Margaliot, and Manara were ordered to remain indoors, and a nearby highway was closed.

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Iranian officials claimed victory less than a day after the latest exchange with Israel, while warning that any further Israeli or American action could trigger another regional response. Iranian leaders and regime-linked media presented the fighting as proof that Iran had changed the regional equation, tying Israel, the U.S., Lebanon, Hezbollah, Yemen and the Red Sea into one broader front.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and a senior figure in Tehran’s negotiating team, said Iran would continue to combine military pressure with diplomacy. “We are not going to either just fight or just negotiate; rather, we are going to fight at our own time and negotiate at our own time,” Qalibaf said.

He also claimed Iran had disrupted what he called an empty ceasefire framework that was being violated on the ground. “We upended the equation of a ceasefire on paper and its repeated violation on the ground,” he said. “So long as you lack a genuine willingness to build trust, Iran’s response will remain the same.”

Other senior Iranian officials joined the threats. Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned that Iran would respond to any “aggression” in the area of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. Mohammad Bagher Zolqadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned Israel and the U.S. that “If the Zionist-American evil coalition makes another mistake, the region will become hell for them.”

The threats were also linked to Iran’s regional proxy network. Esmail Qaani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force, said “From the Strait of Hormuz to Bab al-Mandab, and from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, a new security belt of resistance will be established.” The Houthis also renewed threats against Israeli-linked navigation in the Red Sea after missile launches from Yemen toward Israel.

Inside Iran, Hamshahri published a list of “five achievements” it attributed to Iran after the latest round, including what it called the unification of regional fronts after the Beirut strike. The paper said the exchange showed that “Dahieh and Lebanon are not out of the picture,” while also arguing that Hezbollah remains central to Iran’s deterrence equation.

Police investigating a mass shooting at an Ohio music festival detained an 18-year-old suspect for questioning, according to his father who spoke with media on Monday.

The teenager was taken into custody in connection with Saturday’s shooting at Old West End Fest in Toledo, where 12 people were wounded, according to local reports.

Authorities were seen carrying out a search warrant Monday afternoon at a home on Marmion near Nebraska in Toledo as part of the investigation.

Forensic teams set up a blue tent outside the property, where the teen’s father confirmed that his son lived.

Police have not announced any official charges and have not released details about the search warrant.

Investigators previously said the shooting began after a confrontation involving two separate shooters.

President Donald Trump revealed Monday that he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could find itself fighting Iran without American support if it chose to escalate the conflict further, while claiming that Washington received only last-minute notification of Israel’s overnight strikes against Iran and that he had succeeded in limiting their scope.

Speaking in a phone conversation with Channel 12’s Barak Ravid, Trump said that during a phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday night he had urged the prime minister not to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks. According to the Hebrew-language network, the conversation ended without a definitive conclusion. Several of Trump’s aides who were present on the call told Channel 12 they came away with the impression that Trump had succeeded in buying a few more days without Israeli retaliation, in order to allow ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear talks to proceed.

Following that call, however, Netanyahu convened consultations with senior security officials, after which he informed Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he had decided to proceed with strikes inside Iran.

Trump told Channel 12 that Israel informed Washington of the impending strikes very late — only as the missiles were already airborne — and maintained that he had managed to scale back the scope of the attack. Five regional countries involved in mediation efforts between Washington and Tehran, he added, had urged him to press Netanyahu to halt the strikes and advance a diplomatic agreement.

A separate Channel 12 report offered a detailed account of the back-and-forth communications between Jerusalem and Washington throughout the day’s escalation. Following Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Sunday afternoon, Washington conveyed its displeasure to Israeli officials. Israel responded that the strike had been measured and unavoidable given ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire on northern Israel.

After Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel in support of Hezbollah Sunday night, Netanyahu held what was described as a tense phone call with Trump. During the exchange, Trump urged Netanyahu not to respond to the Iranian attacks and said the U.S. would not provide a “green light” for Israeli action, while acknowledging that Netanyahu had his “own calculations.” Netanyahu reportedly replied: “The Iranians violated our sovereignty. We have to draw a red line.”

Channel 12 reported a notable discrepancy in how Israeli officials characterized the outcome of that conversation: some said Trump left the call believing Israel would not strike, while others said Trump understood from Netanyahu’s remarks that Israel intended to proceed regardless.

Israel did carry out strikes against Iran overnight and again Monday morning. Iran fired two additional rounds of missiles in response before approaching the Trump administration with an offer to halt further attacks — on the condition that Israel do the same. Trump said Monday morning that after Iranian officials reached out to Washington with that message, he called Netanyahu again and persuaded him to agree to stand down.

During a second Trump-Netanyahu conversation Monday, Netanyahu justified the decision to strike, telling the president that Israel had assessed the strikes “would not lead to a [full-blown] war,” according to the report. Channel 12 noted an apparent tension in that argument, given that Israel had simultaneously been preparing a far larger follow-on operation.

As Iran’s ceasefire overture was being relayed to Washington, a major Israeli military operation was simultaneously being finalized at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv. Around 4:30 p.m. Monday, Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation — only to be called by Trump minutes later and instructed to halt any further strikes so that Washington could pursue a diplomatic deal with Tehran.

Israeli officials gave conflicting accounts of that final conversation: some described it as a discussion characterized by mutual understanding, while others portrayed it as an effective directive from the president. In either case, Netanyahu agreed to halt the operation — a decision that, according to Channel 12, created “considerable confusion” within the military high command, as aircraft had already been prepared for takeoff.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.

Trump reiterated Monday that he believes a nuclear agreement with Iran remains achievable, that Tehran is willing to sign one, and that such a deal would be beneficial. He had told Fox News last week that he believed he had been within days of finalizing an agreement with Iran before the current round of fighting broke out.

Antisemitic hate crimes in London surged 72% in May compared to the previous month, according to new figures released by the Metropolitan Police. Officers recorded 255 antisemitic hate crimes during the month, up from 148 in April. The total also represents a 172% increase compared to May 2025, when 91 incidents were recorded.

The highest number of incidents was recorded in Barnet, home to the large Jewish communities of Golders Green, Hendon, and Finchley. Antisemitic hate crimes were reported in 28 of London’s 32 boroughs during May. Barnet recorded 76 incidents, followed by Hackney with 40 and Westminster with 29, highlighting how widely antisemitic incidents were spread across the capital.

Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jewish communities, said the figures reflect what many Jews in London are experiencing on a daily basis. “This sharp rise in antisemitic hate crimes reflects the daily experiences of the Jewish community in London and corresponds to similar data recorded by CST over the same period,” a CST spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.

CST said the increase appears to have followed a series of attacks targeting Jewish individuals and institutions, including arson attacks on Jewish community sites and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green at the end of April. “Most disturbing of all is that this increase appears to have been triggered by the series of arson attacks on the Jewish community and the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green at the end of April,” the spokesperson said.

The organization warned that similar patterns were seen after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and after the terror attack on the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester. “This means that, as we saw after the October 7 attack in Israel and after the terror attack on the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, attacks on Jews lead to more antisemitism, not less,” the spokesperson said. CST welcomed increased police resources in Jewish neighborhoods, while the Metropolitan Police recently launched a dedicated 100-officer Community Protection Team to help protect vulnerable communities across London.

A senior Israeli official said Monday that Israel has paused its retaliatory strikes against Iran following a request from US President Donald Trump, Arutz 7 and the Times of Israel report.

The official added that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon will continue in the coming days “at full force.” He also said Israel will continue striking the Dahieh district if attacks against Israeli civilians and communities persist.

According to the official, Israeli leadership believes the current round of fighting with Iran has come to an end.

Earlier Monday, Trump called on Israel and Iran to stop their exchanges of fire after Iran was accused of violating the ceasefire late Sunday night.

“Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting,’” Trump wrote on social media.

On Sunday night, Trump urged Israel not to respond militarily to Iranian missile fire directed at northern Israel.

Speaking to Barak Ravid of Channel 12 News, Trump said, “I am going to call Netanyahu right now and tell him not to strike back.”

He added, “The Iranian strikes didn’t hurt anybody. Hopefully, Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it’s just gonna keep going like the last 47 years, or the last 3000 years.”

Trump also said the US was “very close to a final deal with Iran” and warned that he did not want the current escalation to derail negotiations.

“I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Command, which coordinates between Iran’s military and the Revolutionary Guards, announced Monday that its operation against Israel had ended. However, the group also threatened a severe response to any future Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

The Iranian statement claimed that the attacks were carried out in response to Israeli operations in southern Lebanon and the Dahieh area of Beirut.

“Following the acts of aggression and evil by the cruel Zionist regime in southern Lebanon and in the Dahieh area, which were carried out with the support of criminal America, Iran’s armed forces delivered a painful response to this regime, as part of support for the oppressed Lebanese people,” the statement said.

The command claimed Iran’s actions were “a response from which the fake Zionist regime and its supporters must learn a lesson,” while announcing that “the operation by the armed forces is hereby declared concluded.”

“It should be emphasized that in the event of continued acts of aggression and evil, including in southern Lebanon, far harsher and more crushing measures than before are on the way,” the Khatam al-Anbiya Command warned.

A growing number of Jewish Democrats are warning that hostility over Israel’s war in Gaza is increasingly spilling into hostility toward Jewish Americans, creating a political problem for the party ahead of 2028, Axios reported.

The concern comes as several prominent Jewish Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, are viewed as possible presidential contenders. Jewish voters remain a heavily Democratic bloc, but party officials warn that even small shifts could matter in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.

Several recent incidents have fueled the alarm. Axios cited Graham Platner, the likely Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, who faced scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo he said he did not understand at the time. It also pointed to Philadelphia Democratic congressional nominee Chris Rabb, whose campaign account reposted a claim that the Bondi Beach massacre of Jews was a false-flag attack by “Zionists,” and Texas Democrat Maureen Galindo, who called for a “prison for American Zionists.”

Howard Wolfson, a longtime Democratic strategist, told Axios that some Jewish Democrats in key states may struggle to support a nominee who is “decidedly hostile to Israel.” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Jewish Democrat from Florida, said the party is not taking the issue seriously enough. “Jews are starting to feel scared again,” he said.

The warning comes as Democratic support for Israel has fallen sharply. Gallup reported in February that 48% of Democrats view the Palestinian Territories favorably, compared with 34% who view Israel favorably. Still, some Democrats argue the issue is broader than one party. Emanuel told Axios, “I think the Democratic Party has an Israel issue, but I think the Republicans have a Jewish issue.”

The IDF said the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes against military targets in western and central Iran, shortly after Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward northern Israel.

Explosions were reported in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan, according to local media reports.

Additional reports said explosions were also heard in Baghdad and Beirut as the strikes were underway.

Initial assessments of the targets hit in Iran indicated that the strikes included Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, described as a dual-use IRGC air hub; a drone assembly warehouse in Najafabad, impacting Iran’s UAV production capabilities; and a ballistic missile site in Tabriz, where missiles used in the attack on northern Israel were reportedly based.

Reports also suggested that an IRGC compound in Eslamabad-e-Gharb may have been targeted, potentially as part of efforts against senior Iranian military figures.

The strikes came after US President Donald Trump said earlier that he planned to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from responding to Iran’s ballistic missile attack.

The proposed $2.245 billion acquisition of Maimonides Medical Center by NYC Health + Hospitals has hit another wall, and the Orthodox Jewish community groups that have been fighting the deal from the start say the delay is welcome news – even as they warn the underlying threat has not gone away.

State health officials rejected Maimonides’ latest filing this week for failing to include a required Health Equity Impact Assessment, preventing the transaction from appearing on the June 10 agenda of the key state review committee. The next committee meeting is not scheduled until late August, pushing the already long-delayed deal further into uncertainty.

The transaction was originally set to close April 1. The setback follows an Albany Supreme Court ruling last month that overturned an earlier state approval of the deal, finding that the Department of Health had improperly allowed it to advance without full review by the Public Health and Health Planning Council. The hospital also faces separate legal challenges from board trustees over the transfer of nonprofit assets.

For the frum community, the delays have provided breathing room in what advocates describe as an urgent fight for the neighborhood’s healthcare future. Since the takeover was announced, a coalition of community leaders has waged a vigorous campaign against it – including members of the Maimonides Board of Trustees, Hatzalah leadership, and patient advocacy organizations such as Refuah Helpline.

Several have filed as plaintiffs in litigation challenging the deal.

Their core argument is that Maimonides, despite its financial struggles, has been transformed over the past decade into a genuinely community-responsive institution – and that a takeover by a large city-run system would undo that progress in ways that cannot be reversed.

Hatzalah leadership has been particularly outspoken, warning that if Maimonides deteriorates to the level of other city hospitals, the organization would have no choice but to bypass it entirely, even for emergencies – forcing patients to travel farther for care and costing precious time. The concern is not hypothetical: Hatzalah already avoids Woodhull Hospital in Williamsburg, a city facility located just blocks from a large frum population.

Patient referral advocates have raised equally stark concerns about what a city takeover would mean in practice. Over decades of working with patients across the system, they have documented a consistent pattern at city hospitals: nurses stretched too thin, workups left incomplete at discharge, records not properly filed, imaging impossible to obtain in time for treatment. Patients who arrive at Maimonides after being treated at a city facility – brought by EMS rather than Hatzalah following a trauma – regularly arrive with wounds inadequately treated and care left unfinished. Advocates warn the same would happen to Maimonides patients if the merger goes through.

The Jewish community’s particular needs – Shabbos and Yom Tov access for families, halachic sensitivity in examinations and end-of-life care, gender-appropriate treatment, and the ability of families to remain at a patient’s bedside around the clock – are seen as especially vulnerable under city management.

Advocates point to the takeover of Henry Carter LTCH roughly a decade ago as a cautionary tale: city officials made identical promises of cultural continuity at that time, and today the facility is effectively unused by the Orthodox community.
Supporters of the acquisition argue that joining NYC Health + Hospitals would stabilize Maimonides financially and preserve its safety-net role for a patient population that is heavily reliant on Medicare and Medicaid. The hospital serves not only the Orthodox Jewish community but a wide range of Brooklyn residents, and operates key pediatric, NICU, and trauma services.

But opponents say financial stabilization cannot come at the cost of the institutional trust that has taken years to build. Maimonides now delivers thousands of babies from the community annually – something that was unthinkable a generation ago, when families routinely traveled to other hospitals. That trust, advocates warn, could evaporate quickly and would not easily return. With the deal now stalled at least through the summer, the community’s fight to find an alternative path forward continues.

Antisemitism watchdog group CyberWell has raised concerns over a new social media trend that uses fitness-related humor to promote negative stereotypes about Jews, according to a report released last week.

The organization said the trend portrays Jews as “greedy, dishonest, aggressive, and ‘money-obsessed’” while presenting the content as jokes shared by fitness influencers.

According to CyberWell’s report, participants in the trend place rope attachments around their heads to imitate the sidelocks worn by some Jewish men. The posts are often paired with antisemitic captions, including the phrase “Promised 3,000 Years Ago.”

The report said the trend promotes the false antisemitic claim that Jews take ownership of things that belong to others, with gym equipment serving as the focus in these posts.

CyberWell also highlighted the reactions in comment sections, saying users frequently amplify the antisemitic messages through Holocaust mockery, coded language, and other forms of hatred. The organization warned that these online spaces can create “echo chambers” where anti-Jewish prejudice becomes normalized.

“This new trend in open gym antisemitism is a direct result of social media platforms’ failure to apply their content moderation policies to AI-generated content packaged as jokes,” CyberWell Founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor said in a statement.

“The gym has become another public setting where Jews may feel less safe and less welcome due to an online climate that rewards open hostility toward Jews. Platforms must address antisemitism that is disguised as humor and coded cultural references that turn longstanding prejudice into widely shared content.”

CyberWell said social media companies previously struggled to remove antisemitic material when it was presented as humor, allowing hateful messages to gain “a layer of plausible deniability.” The group said this helped such trends expand and evolve into new versions.

The report noted that platforms have since improved enforcement efforts, with a greater share of flagged antisemitic content being removed compared to earlier periods.

CyberWell argued that the spread of antisemitic online trends into real-world environments, including gyms, demonstrates the speed at which digital hate can influence public spaces.

“The normalization phase, when harmful content is dismissed as comedy, is when early intervention matters most,” said Cohen Montemayor.

Founded in Israel in 2022, CyberWell uses technology to monitor online antisemitism and publishes reports documenting trends and responses.

Iran launched at least 10 ballistic missiles toward northern Israel, with Israeli officials warning that any renewed Iranian attack on Israeli territory would be treated as a resumption of hostilities. It is not known yet if there were impacts, damage or casualties.

In anticipation of the strikes, seen as retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon – themselves a response to ceasefire breaches – Israel canceled school on Sunday.

A senior Israeli official told Channel 13 that “Firing towards Israeli territory from Iran means a declaration of resumption of war.”

A senior Israeli diplomatic source also told News 14 that “If Iran attacks us, the response will reopen the war.”

The missile launches came as tensions between Israel and Iran remain high, with Israeli officials indicating that any attack would trigger a significant military response.

Shortly after the missiles were fired, President Trump told Fox News “What I would suggest to Iran: You’ve shot your missiles, that’s enough. Get back to the table and make a deal,” adding that the escalation has delayed what he said was an imminent passage of a deal between Iran and the US.

Netanyahu is reportedly under have pressure by many cabinet ministers to strike Iran, contrary to the instructions of President Trump.

President Trump told Axios reporter Barak Ravid: “I’m calling Netanyahu right now and telling him not to attack Iran in response.”

“The Iranian missile fire didn’t hit anyone. I hope Israel doesn’t respond. If Bibi attacks them back, this will just continue like it has for the last 47 years, or the last 3,000 years.” Trump added: “I’m going to call Bibi now and tell him not to respond. Each side has already done its part. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Home Front Command gave permission for residents to leave their protected rooms, stating that the Iranian missile attack has ended.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin released a somewhat ambiguous statement, without mentioning a retaliation: “The IDF is strongly prepared for both defense and offense. The Iranian terrorist regime made a serious mistake by once again choosing terrorism. The Chief of Staff is currently conducting a situational assessment. We struck in the Dahieh area following Hezbollah’s relentless fire toward communities in northern Israel. The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon as well. We will not allow continued attacks on the territory of the State of Israel. We are prepared for the possibility of additional fire directed at the State of Israel.”

Later, an IDF Spokesperson appeared to indicate that strikes were possible: The Chief of Staff is currently in a situation assessment with the General Staff Forum: “The IDF will strike the enemy with force as soon as the green light is given.”

A prominent civil rights attorney and antisemitism law expert is calling on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a federal court ruling that dismissed civil rights claims brought by two janitors who were assaulted, barricaded, and called “Jew-lovers” by rioters who seized Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall during the April 2024 campus unrest.

Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder – CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Director of the Antisemitism Law Clinic at Touro Law, and a former Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council – published a sharp legal critique of the ruling in the National Review on Sunday, arguing that U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon made several fundamental errors in dismissing the Section 1985(3) claims of Mariano Torres and Lester Wilson in Torres v. Carlson.

Torres and Wilson, both janitors at Columbia, say they were surrounded by masked rioters during the Hamilton Hall takeover, punched, physically prevented from leaving the building, and called “Jew-lovers” and told they were “working for the Jews.” The two men lost their jobs as a result and remain on workers’ compensation.

Judge McMahon dismissed their civil rights claims, holding that the rioters did not conspire for the purpose of depriving anyone of their civil rights – characterizing the antisemitism as a mere “backdrop” and the violence against Torres and Wilson as a “side effect” of a political protest rather than its objective.

Goldfeder argued that the court misapplied its own legal standard. The ruling relied on Bray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic, in which the Supreme Court held that anti-abortion protesters who targeted abortion clinics were not conspiring against women as a class. But Goldfeder said that logic does not apply here. Torres and Wilson were not called “Jew-lovers” by a single protester who went off-script, he wrote – they were called that by the mob attacking them, as an explanation for why they were being attacked.

“That is not a side effect,” Goldfeder wrote. “That is literally the frame through which the conspirators themselves understood the situation. The antisemitic vocabulary was the operational logic of the assault.”

Goldfeder also challenged the court’s reasoning that because the rioters planned to use force against anyone who got in their way – not only Jews or their sympathizers – the conspiracy lacked the class-based animus required under the law. He pointed to the Ku Klux Klan as a historical parallel: the Klan also killed white civil rights workers alongside Black Americans, yet no court ever held that this mixed targeting removed the discriminatory character of the enterprise.

“A mixed-target conspiracy does not become non-discriminatory simply because the conspirators are willing to harm anyone who obstructs the mission,” Goldfeder wrote. “If racial or antisemitic animus helps define that mission, identify the enemy, or justify the violence, then the statute is implicated.”

Goldfeder further argued that the court erred in holding that Torres and Wilson could not qualify as a cognizable class of “people who are or are perceived to be Jews or supporters of Jews.” Federal civil rights law across multiple statutes – including Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act – protects people targeted based on perceived membership in a protected class, he noted. Whatever Torres and Wilson actually believe about Jews or Zionism, their attackers decided what category they belonged to, and Section 1985(3) should not be the lone exception to that principle.

Speaking to Belaaz, Goldfeder said the case must now go to the appellate court. “Next stop should be the Second Circuit,” he said. “This was not just a protest where things got out of hand. These janitors say they were trapped, attacked, called ‘Jew-lovers,’ and told they were ‘working for the Jews.’ At some point, courts have to stop treating antisemitism as scenery and recognize it as part of the conduct. Tort law can deal with the physical injuries, lost jobs, and workers’ comp issues, but civil-rights law is supposed to deal with the very important issue of why they were targeted.”

Goldfeder acknowledged in his analysis that the state tort system can compensate Torres and Wilson for their physical injuries and lost wages – but argued that is not sufficient. “The state tort system can compensate Torres and Wilson for their injuries,” he wrote. “It cannot name what was done to them. That is what the civil rights laws are for, and the Second Circuit should have the chance to say so on appeal.”

Israel’s Health Ministry has begun preparing hospitals and medical teams for the possibility that a suspected Ebola patient arrives in the country, as a growing outbreak spreads in Central Africa.

The ministry said the risk of an Ebola outbreak in Israel remains low, but hospitals are being readied for emergency response. Preparations include protective equipment, isolation procedures, sample collection, lab transfer protocols, and reporting rules for public health authorities.

Specialized protective gear has already been distributed to hospitals. The ministry is also working to establish dedicated facilities for suspected cases of dangerous infectious diseases, though it has not disclosed their locations or timetable.

The ministry is urging Israelis to avoid non-essential travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, especially areas with active transmission. Travelers returning from those countries are being told to monitor their health for 21 days and immediately report fever, weakness, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained bleeding.

The outbreak was declared in Congo on May 15 and has since spread to Uganda, with related cases also linked to the UAE and Germany. Israel’s guidance is stricter than the World Health Organization’s current position, which does not call for broad travel or trade restrictions

Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Zilberstein, renowned posek and Rav of the Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital community in Bnei Brak, delivered a sharp condemnation of Israel’s health funds at his weekly shiur for doctors and rabbanim, ruling that their massive advertising expenditures are halachically unjustified – and that patients denied coverage for necessary medications may be permitted to work around the funds’ strict eligibility criteria, according to a Sunday report by Bechadrei Charedim.

The shiur, which Harav Zilberstein has delivered at the shul adjacent to Mayanei Hayeshua for nearly fifty years, drew dozens of physicians from across Eretz Yisrael.

The shaila that prompted the discussion came from a patient who requires an expensive medical treatment but does not meet the health fund’s narrow eligibility criteria for subsidization – despite a clear medical need – and who asked under what circumstances he might be permitted to act in a way that would allow him to receive coverage.

After ruling on that specific case, Harav Zilberstein used the occasion to raise a broader grievance on behalf of the public.

“In my opinion the doctor is correct,” he said. “A health fund is the money of partners – but that is only true if those partners were consulted about all the expenditures. Because the health funds pour out money… they pour it out. You ask why I wrote ‘pour’? Because an institution that spends money on large advertisements in newspapers – that is called wasting money. Have you seen these advertisements? Full pages – what is this? A full page costs a fortune. So I wrote ‘pour’ – they pour the money out, without justification, on things the public would clearly never agree to: massive advertising, public relations that have nothing to do with medicine.”

He also criticized excessive and unnecessary testing approved for pregnant women, which he said adds significant costs without proportionate medical benefit.

“But when it comes to elderly people who need life-saving medications,” Harav Zilberstein continued, “that is where they become inexplicably stingy. What do they say? You don’t have this number, you don’t have that number – you’re missing a few points. That is miserliness. They have rigid rules. Is someone with a protein level of 195 not in danger? Why must it be exactly 200 to receive a subsidy? And it can change within a month – it changes all the time. So I say it is right not to listen to them.”

Addressing the halachic question directly, Harav Zilberstein said that because the health funds spend public money on expenditures the public would not sanction if asked, their claim to that money as sacrosanct communal funds is weakened. “In my opinion the public would prefer that the money of the health funds go first to life-saving medications,” he said. “And as long as they do not ask the public what to do with the money, one cannot say this constitutes theft of public funds” – meaning, in his ruling, that circumventing their criteria in such cases is permitted.

When a participant asked what purpose the advertising serves – whether it is to raise the fund’s profile or attract more members – Harav Zilberstein replied: “To bring in more money, and also to bring in clients. But it is not justified. On that basis you cannot collect money from a public of poor people who need that money to live. It is not justified. The things we do today are not justified. This is not according to the Torah.”

Harav Zilberstein’s remarks sparked significant discussion in Israeli medical circles in the days following the shiur, with doctors and patients alike expressing strong identification with his critique. Many expressed hope that the ruling would influence decision-makers at the health funds to reconsider their spending priorities.

Israel and Honduras have signed a new agreement aimed at expanding technological cooperation between the two countries, marking another step in the growing relationship between Jerusalem and Tegucigalpa.

The agreement, signed last week, promotes Israeli technology initiatives and broadens cooperation in areas including agriculture, water management, health education and security.

Israel’s Ambassador to Honduras, Nadav Goren, described the government agreement as “another milestone” in the relationship between the two nations.

Honduran Foreign Minister Mireya Agüero said the Memorandum of Understanding reinforced more than 70 years of diplomatic ties and friendship between Israel and Honduras.

Israel has long provided Honduras with defense equipment, cybersecurity expertise and support in fields such as agriculture, water innovation, healthcare and technology.

Honduras recognized Israel shortly after the Jewish state was established in 1948 and has maintained support for Israel at the United Nations over the decades. In 2021, Honduras relocated its embassy to Jerusalem, following the United States and Guatemala.

Earlier this year, Honduran President Nasry Asfura visited Jerusalem and said he hoped for a “new era” in relations with Israel, following tensions during the previous left-wing administration over the war in Gaza.

President Donald Trump abruptly ended a live interview with NBC’s Meet the Press anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday, calling her dishonest and walking off the set after a contentious exchange over a range of contested claims – adding the confrontation to a lengthy history of mid-interview exits stretching back decades.

The interview, conducted in Wisconsin, began as a wide-ranging sit-down but came to a head in its final six minutes when Welker repeatedly challenged the president’s statements on Trump’s stalled anti-weaponization fund, the January 6 Capitol riot, and claims of election fraud in California.

Welker opened the final segment by pressing Trump on whether he was abandoning the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund – a proposal that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had indicated the administration was walking back. Trump offered a lengthy defense of the fund’s purpose, describing supporters as victims of what he characterized as politically motivated prosecutions under the previous administration.

“People have been hurt so badly by radical left lunatics that worked for the Biden administration,” Trump said. “They’ve lost their jobs, their families, their wives. They’ve lost everything over a fake weaponization of government.”

Welker pressed the president on whether the fund would cover individuals convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6 riot, noting that 170 people had pleaded guilty to that charge. Trump disputed the characterization, claiming FBI agents had directed rioters into the Capitol building – an assertion Welker challenged as unsupported by evidence.

The exchange grew increasingly heated as Trump moved to claims of ongoing election fraud in California, calling state officials “crooked” and pointing to a delayed vote count as evidence. When Welker asked for specific evidence, Trump replied, “All I have to do is look.”
“That’s not evidence,” Welker replied.

As the back-and-forth intensified, Trump turned his criticism directly on Welker and NBC. “Your elections in this country are like a third world country,” he said. “You’re crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.”

“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” Trump then said, rising from his seat. “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”

Welker urged him to stay, noting she had traveled to Wisconsin specifically for the sit-down. “I’ve sat in the rain with you for an hour,” Trump replied as he departed. “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.”

Sunday’s walkout was not the first time Trump has cut short a media interview. In October 2020, he abruptly ended a sit-down with CBS’s Lesley Stahl for 60 Minutes, complaining the questions were unfair, and later released his own unedited recording of the session. That same year, he terminated a CNN interview on the coronavirus pandemic, unhooking his microphone and tossing it on a table.

The pattern predates his political career. In 1990, Trump walked out of a CNN interview with reporter Charles Feldman when questions turned to doubts about the financial stability of his Atlantic City casinos. During the 2016 presidential campaign, he ended an interview with an Ohio television reporter after she raised accusations of racism against him.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is tightening its grip on Hamas terrorists in Gaza and expanding its control over the Strip, while continuing heavy operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We are gripping Hamas from every direction,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “At the moment we hold more than 60 percent of the Gaza Strip. Soon we will reach 70 percent.” He said Israel is preventing Hamas from rearming, blocking renewed attacks, and eliminating the group’s senior commanders.

Netanyahu also said IDF forces are continuing a broad campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. “In Lebanon, our forces eliminated 350 terrorists in the past week alone,” he said. Netanyahu also mentioned the Israeli forces that captured the Beaufort Ridge and uncovered a major underground infrastructure site there.

He said Israel is continuing to dismantle Hezbollah’s terror villages along the border. “We are striking them very hard, and we know Hezbollah is on the run,” Netanyahu said. “We will not allow fire on our territory or our communities, and we will act accordingly.”

Shortly after the remarks, the IDF struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district following several drones and missiles launched from Lebanon toward Israel. The Prime Minister’s Office and Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Hezbollah command centers and were carried out under orders from Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz after reported impacts in northern Israel and the killing of a soldier over the weekend.

A Boro Park yungerman experienced a remarkable instance of hashgachah pratis following a helicopter crash in Europe that claimed the life of the pilot shortly after the avreich had disembarked.

According to the account, shared by Bechadrei Charedim, the yungerman had traveled to Poland, where he boarded a helicopter from Radoshitz to Kretshnif in Hungary, apparently to visit kivrei tzadikim. After the pilot set him down at his destination, the helicopter departed, making its way back from Hungary toward Poland.

Shortly thereafter, the aircraft crashed, and the pilot was killed.

The yungerman, who had been aboard the helicopter just minutes before the fatal crash, emerged unharmed. The margin between the yungerman’s safe arrival and the tragedy that followed was a matter of minutes.

One person was killed and five others were wounded in a terrorist shooting attack in central Israel on Sunday, police and Magen David Adom reported.

According to the IDF and police, one of the attackers was neutralized at the scene. “The soldiers, together with additional medical personnel, began extensive searches for additional terrorists and are providing medical treatment to the injured,” the IDF said.

The attack took place across multiple locations in the Kochav Ya’ir area, not far from the security barrier with Yehudah and Shomron. MDA said it was treating victims at three separate sites. A man in his 50s was seriously wounded and a man in his 30s was moderately hurt at a gas station near Kochav Ya’ir. A 31-year-old man was moderately injured near the entrance to the town of Tzur Yitzhak. Two additional victims were treated near the town of Tzur Natan, one of whom was unconscious.

MDA subsequently declared the death of one of the victims.

B’chasdei Hashem, a 14-year-old boy from Teverya was found after going missing for two days, Israeli police said Motzoei Shabbos.

Police sent out alerts on Shabbos about the boy, identified only by his first name, Yehuda Zecharia. Within hours of the appeal going out, police updated that he had been located and that all was well.

Zecharia had last been seen in Teverya on Thursday in the evening hours. Police released a description noting that he is approximately 1.60 meters tall, of slim-to-medium build, with short hair, and was last seen wearing a white shirt and black pants. The public was asked to contact police emergency line 100 or the Teverya police station directly with any information on his whereabouts.

A majority of Israelis want a new prime minister after the next elections, and most believe it is U.S. President Donald Trump, not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who effectively determines Israel’s security policy, according to a survey published by Channel 12 and conducted by the Madgam Institute.

Some 58% of respondents said they want someone other than Netanyahu to lead the country in the next term, while 32% said they want Netanyahu to continue as prime minister. On the question of who sets Israel’s security agenda, 67% named Trump, compared to only 22% who credited Netanyahu. Even among coalition voters, 47% said Trump determines security policy versus 43% who attributed it to Netanyahu.

The survey also found that 53% of respondents expressed concern for the future of Israeli democracy, amid recent reports of pressure on Likud MKs to be filmed while casting their votes in the State Comptroller election, and disturbances by extremists at the home of Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg. Some 38% said they were not concerned.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz both received poor marks for their handling of the war against Hezbollah, with 56% and 60% rating their performance negatively, respectively. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir fared considerably better, with 59% rating his performance positively.

On the question of trustworthiness, former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot led with 38%, followed by Netanyahu at 27% and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at 12%.

An object was hurled through the window of a Toronto shul over Shabbos, Toronto police reported, the second violent attack against a Canadian Jewish institute in less than 24 hours.

The window of Mishkan Avraham was shattered, though baruch Hashem no injuries were reported. An investigation has been opened, but no suspects have been identified.

The attack came just one day after Molotov cocktails were thrown at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in the Montreal area in an apparent arson attempt. The Westmount Public Safety Department quickly arrested a suspect, identified by local media as Steven Luu, a resident of the St. Leonard borough. He reportedly faces six charges, including arson, arson by negligence, and possession of an explosive device. The temple sustained no significant damage.

The Consulate General of Israel in Toronto strongly condemned both incidents. “Within 24 hours, Jewish houses of worship in two Canadian cities were targeted in violent antisemitic incidents,” the consulate said in a statement. “These attacks come only days after Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly acknowledged that Canada is facing a severe antisemitism crisis and that Jewish Canadians are being disproportionately targeted. These recent attacks demonstrate precisely why expressions of concern must now be accompanied by decisive action.”

The consulate noted that the attacks reflect a broader pattern. “Jewish schools, community institutions, and places of worship continue to require extraordinary security measures simply to function,” the statement read. “A synagogue should never become a crime scene. A community should never have to wonder which Jewish institution will be attacked next. The time for symbolic gestures has passed. Canada must demonstrate, through concrete action, that antisemitic violence will be confronted with the full force of the law.”

The attacks came days after Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged in a speech at a Toronto shul that “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians.” Carney announced the formation of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion to address rising antisemitism in the country.

More than 50,000 people are expected to participate in Sunday’s 57th annual Walk With Israel in Toronto. Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo announced heightened security for the event, including officers on foot, bicycle, and horseback. Barredo confirmed that counter-demonstrations would be permitted but warned that hate speech or hateful signage would be investigated.

The IDF killed three members of the Lebanese Army, including a brigadier general, in a strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon on Saturday, raising concerns that a recently negotiated ceasefire could be put at risk.

The strike hit a military vehicle traveling in the Nabatieh area, killing a brigadier general, a captain and a soldier, according to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which condemned the attack.

Lebanese officials accused Israel of undermining attempts “to reach a solution that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories.”

“The continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its people and its army only strengthen our resolve, faith and determination,” the Lebanese army said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel.

The IDF confirmed that it carried out the strike, saying the vehicle had been “moving suspiciously” in a combat zone where Israeli forces were facing threats from Hezbollah terrorists operating from Lebanon.

“The IDF had received concrete indications that Hezbollah would direct fire toward IDF soldiers from the same area,” it said in a statement on X.

“In light of the threat posed to the soldiers, the vehicle was struck.”

The strike came after an IDF soldier was killed by Hezbollah terrorists in a separate incident in southern Lebanon over the weekend.

“The IDF operates against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, not against the Lebanese Army,” the Israeli military said, adding that the incident would be reviewed.

Israel has been conducting operations against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in southern Lebanon since March, after opening another front in its war against Iran.

Israel has stressed that it is not fighting the Lebanese government and said it is “not against the Lebanese Army,” which under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached Wednesday was expected to take control of areas in southern Lebanon that had been heavily influenced by Hezbollah.

The deadly incident involving Lebanese forces could further complicate already stalled US-led diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the wider conflict.

The US military said Saturday night it intercepted and destroyed two Iranian attack drones that were posing a threat to shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the latest confrontation between the two sides as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise.

“Earlier today, US forces in the Middle East shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command says on its X account.

“American forces remain postured and ready to continue defending against Iranian aggression.”

The announcement followed a statement from CENTCOM late Friday that its forces had downed four Iranian attack drones headed toward the strait and carried out strikes against Iranian coastal surveillance radar installations.

The escalating exchanges, which also included a barrage of Iranian missiles fired Saturday toward US allies Bahrain and Kuwait, took place even as Washington and Tehran have continued weeks of indirect negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

The IDF eliminated Muhanad Othman Yassin Farwana, a Hamas terrorist cell commander, in a precise overnight airstrike in southern Gaza on Saturday.

“Throughout the war and in recent days, Farwana was involved in advancing numerous terrorist attack plans against IDF troops and the State of Israel, and posed an immediate threat,” the military said in a statement.

The strike used precise munitions and aerial surveillance to minimize civilian harm. IDF troops under Southern Command remain deployed in the area per the ceasefire agreement and will continue neutralizing threats, the IDF assured.

NASA mission control ordered the four astronauts of the Crew-12 mission aboard the International Space Station to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft and don their spacesuits Friday as a precautionary measure, amid a worsening air leak in the Russian-operated Zvezda service module.

The crew — comprising two American astronauts, a French astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut — was placed on standby for potential emergency evacuation while Roscosmos worked to address the structural breach.

Shortly thereafter, NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens announced that Roscosmos had paused its repair efforts and that mission control had instructed the crew to stand down from safe haven procedures and return to planned operations. NASA said it looks forward to working with Roscosmos on a collaborative approach to resolving the leaks.

Three Jewish Israeli women were rescued by Palestinian Authority security forces from Bayt Jala overnight, while another Israeli man was escorted out of Qalqilya, according to the Civil Administration.

The Civil Administration said it received reports of the women wandering in Qalqilya “while endangering their well-being.” Officers from the Etzion District Coordination and Liaison office worked to protect them and coordinate their transfer.

A preliminary investigation found that the women were traveling toward Kever Rachel but made a wrong turn.

In a separate incident, a Jewish Israeli man was detained by a Qalqilya resident after allegedly attempting to pay at a store using counterfeit money. The Civil Administration said its Ephraim District Coordination and Liaison office acted to protect him and transfer him to security forces.

The four Israelis will be questioned by police, as Israelis are prohibited from entering Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Yehudah and Shomron.

Gedolei Yisrael joined Thursday night in directing that the name Chizkiyahu be added for the mekubal and tzadik of Tiveria Harav Dov Kook shlita, amid concern over his deteriorating condition, according to a report in Bechadrei Chareidim.

The directive was issued by famed Mashgiach Harav Dov Segal shlita and Harav Yitzchak Zilberstein shlita, Rav of Ramat Elchanan and one of the preeminent poskim of the generation.

Adding the name of Chizkiyahu Hamelech, whose life was extended by Hashem following his heartfelt tefillah — is traditionally associated with recovery from illness.

Klal Yisroel is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of Chizkiyahu Dov ben Shoshanna

A Maryland man who operated a private jet charter company has been found guilty of defrauding customers out of $15 million, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Patrick Britton-Harr, 43, was convicted of falsely promising clients that their payments would be used to secure aircraft in exchange for discounted private jet flight hours.

Prosecutors said Britton-Harr misled customers through his company by offering reduced-cost access to private aviation while allegedly misusing the funds provided by clients.

The conviction follows an investigation into the company’s operations and its handling of customer payments.

The IDF announced Thursday evening that Captain Eitan Shmuel Lemberg Hy’d, 21, from Mishmar HaShiv’a, was killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

Lemberg, an officer in the Armored Corps serving with the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, fell after an anti-tank missile struck an IDF tank during an operational mission.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the incident took place around 4:00 p.m. during activity north of the Litani River. A terrorist launched an anti-tank missile at a tank belonging to forces from the Golani Brigade combat team operating in the area.

Lemberg was killed as a result of the missile strike on the armored vehicle. The IDF notified his family through military representatives.

Following the attack, IDF forces carried out a large-scale response operation in the area.

The military targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure near the location where the missile was fired, using airstrikes and artillery fire.

A joint intelligence warning issued Thursday by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand alleges that Chinese intelligence services are using professional networking and job platforms to identify and recruit potential assets with access to sensitive information.

According to the bulletin, Chinese operatives are posing as recruiters, consultants, think tanks and human resources firms, often through fake but legitimate-looking companies. The agencies said the operatives use online job advertisements and networking platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed and Upwork to make initial contact with potential targets.

The warning states that military personnel, government employees, security clearance holders, academics, journalists and think tank staff are among those most at risk. Intelligence officials cautioned that even information that is not formally classified can be valuable when combined with other sources to build a broader intelligence picture.

“China’s military intelligence services are using an increasingly wide array of professional networking sites and online job platforms to target Five Eyes government and military personnel,” the bulletin said. Officials added that some recruits are reportedly paid to produce reports or provide information, sometimes through online payment services or cryptocurrency.

A LinkedIn spokesperson said that creating fake accounts or misrepresenting identity violates the platform’s policies and that the company continues efforts to detect state-sponsored abuse. China rejected the allegations, with the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom calling the claims “malicious slander” and accusing the Western intelligence alliance of conducting espionage activities around the world.

Rear Adm. Tal Politis has been appointed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir as Israel’s next defense attaché to the United States, filling a position that remained vacant for about six months, the Times of Israel reported Thursday.

Politis, who most recently served as chief of staff of the IDF Navy, will be promoted to the rank of vice admiral upon taking up the post. The rank is the naval equivalent of major general.

The position became vacant in December after Maj. Gen. Hidai Zilberman, the previous defense attaché to the U.S., ended his term without an immediate replacement.

The delay reportedly followed disagreements between Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Zamir over the appointment. Katz had pushed for his military secretary, Brig. Gen. Guy Markizeno, to take the role, but Zamir reportedly did not consider him the right fit.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Markizeno would instead become his next military secretary. The appointment includes Markizeno’s promotion to the rank of major general, a move Katz had sought for months.

Zamir also appointed Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, commander of the Gaza Division, to lead the IDF Operations Division, another senior role that had been vacant.

The appointment comes after the previous head of the Operations Division, Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, suddenly retired from the IDF this week after being suspected of “moral offenses.”

The IDF said Zamir spoke with Politis and Hiram and “congratulated them” on their appointments. The military statement did not mention Markizeno’s appointment.

The appointments of Politis and Hiram were approved by Katz, the IDF said.

Travelodge has launched an investigation after two Jewish guests staying at one of its London hotels discovered a “Free Palestine” message displayed on their room televisions upon arrival.

The incident took place at the hotel’s Manor House branch in north London on Wednesday afternoon, where the guests said the message appeared on TVs in both of their rooms.

The welcome message system is believed to be controlled by hotel staff and can be personalised by employees.

One of the guests said they arrived at around 4:30 p.m. and felt an employee at the front desk was unwilling to engage with them.

He said he was “met with a negative attitude at the front desk as an employee did not wish to serve him or look his way”.

After receiving their room keys, the guests went to their separate rooms. When one guest switched on the television, he saw the message displayed on the screen.

He then contacted his friend to check whether it was an issue affecting only his room and discovered the same message appeared there as well.

Travelodge said it was “urgently investigating” the incident and had reported it to police, adding: “Travelodge takes allegations of antisemitism extremely seriously.”

The hotel is reportedly a location frequently used by members of the north London Jewish community and their visiting family members.

Jewish volunteer patrol group Shomrim shared footage of the message and said: “This behaviour bears all the hallmarks of targeted antisemitism.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism called for the staff member responsible to be dismissed.

They said: “Are Jews no longer allowed to book a hotel room without being accosted by pro-Palestine fanaticism? Greeting Jews with a ‘Free Palestine’ message is not moral activism; it’s targeted discrimination from those obsessed with the world’s only Jewish state.

“When this is what happens to identifiably Jewish people in Britain, is it any wonder that 59 percent of British Jews try not to show visible signs of their Jewishness due to concerns relating to antisemitism, according to our polling?

“Travelodge must investigate this at once and ensure that whoever was responsible is fired.”

Travelodge CEO Jo Boydell said the company was treating the matter with “the utmost seriousness.”

“We are taking the report of an antisemitic message that appeared on the TV screen in a room in one of our hotels yesterday afternoon with the utmost seriousness.

“We were made aware of this late yesterday and launched an immediate investigation to understand how something like this could have happened. We are urgently investigating to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and have reported this matter to the Police.

“There is no place in society for antisemitism and we will not tolerate this in our hotels or in our wider business.

“In the meantime, we have now spoken with the customer in question and apologised unreservedly, and further apologise for any distress or concern caused to the wider Jewish Community.”

The incident comes as Britain’s Jewish community has faced a precipitous rise in antisemitism.

London areas with significant Jewish populations have experienced several alleged arson incidents, including attacks targeting shuls.

In March, four ambulances belonging to Hatzolah were set on fire in Golders Green.

The following month, two Jewish men were stabbed in a terror attack in Golders Green. The alleged attacker is also accused of attempting to murder a non-Jewish friend earlier that day.

Human remains were found Wednesday in the Dor Tzair neighborhood of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, nearly three years after the October 7 massacre. The remains were transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.

Hebrew media reported that the remains were found by relatives of Capt. Nirel Zini, a Givati officer and Kfar Aza resident who was murdered by Hamas terrorists during the attack. His family has continued searching the area around his home since the massacre, after part of his body was never recovered.

His father, Amir Zini, told Kan: “Nirel’s brother found remains near the house. We very much hope these are Nirel’s remains.” Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the remains, and forensic officials are expected to determine whether they are connected to Zini or to another victim.

Zini was murdered on October 7 alongside his girlfriend, Niv Raviv, as Hamas Nukhba terrorists overran Kfar Aza, killing and abducting residents, looting homes and setting houses on fire. The continued family search has reflected the unresolved pain left by the massacre, as some relatives still seek answers nearly three years later.

Kfar Aza was among the hardest-hit communities on October 7. Sixty-four civilians and soldiers were killed in the kibbutz, and 19 people were abducted to Gaza. Fighting continued in the area for days as terrorists remained inside the community and in surrounding fields.

A teenager was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting Wednesday evening following a graduation ceremony at Fairfield High School in California.

Police responded around 7:15 p.m. to the school parking lot, where the shooting occurred. Authorities said the victims included an 11-year-old and two adults, ages 20 and 25.

“There was one additional victim, an 18-year-old, who did succumb to their injuries sustained during this incident,” Fairfield Police Officer Michelle Belyea said.

Belyea said the investigation is ongoing but added there was “no ongoing threat to the community at this time.” Police have not released information about a suspect.

Witnesses described chaos as gunfire erupted while people were taking photos. One nearby resident told CNN, “I looked over the fence and people were just screaming and running through the parking lot. It was horrific.”

The school district said it was supporting those affected and would provide more information as it becomes available.

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City jumped by more than 70% in May, even as murders, shootings and major crime fell to historic lows, according to new NYPD data released Wednesday.

The department recorded 68 confirmed hate crimes last month, up from 39 in May 2025. Of those incidents, 41 targeted Jews, compared with 24 during the same month last year, a roughly 71% increase. Antisemitic incidents accounted for about 60% of all confirmed hate crimes in the city.

The spike came as broader crime continued to fall. Overall major crime dropped nearly 11% in May compared with last year, while the city recorded the fewest murders, shootings and shooting victims for the first five months of any year on record. “Across our city, the NYPD is delivering on its mission to keep New Yorkers safe,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Jewish leaders said the numbers reflected a climate many in the community already feel. “There isn’t any shock in the Jewish community that antisemitic hate crimes have risen against our community by 70%,” Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, told the New York Post. Spern also criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani, accusing him of contributing to the problem, while Mamdani has rejected claims that he is indifferent to antisemitism and has proposed $26 million in annual anti-hate funding.

The figures come days after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation allowing police to create 50-foot security zones outside houses of worship during demonstrations. The measure follows repeated concerns over synagogue harassment and comes amid recent incidents including swastika graffiti, attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers and the arrest of an NYU student accused of displaying a Nazi-themed flag during graduation week.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that the implementation of a newly announced ceasefire agreement with Israel could begin within a day once all sides provide their final approval.

Speaking to reporters, Aoun said Lebanon is waiting for responses from the involved parties along with guarantees that the agreement’s conditions will be respected.

“We are waiting for the replies of all concerned parties and guarantees of commitment,” Aoun said, adding that “the implementation of the ceasefire could begin within 24 hours of final approval.”

Aoun described the latest round of direct negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in Washington as “very difficult.” He said talks only resumed after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped in following a pause in discussions ordered by Lebanese delegation leader Simon Karam.

The Lebanese leader said he had been communicating with both foreign and Lebanese officials since 2:00 a.m. in an attempt to move the ceasefire process forward.

Discussing the agreement reached in Washington, Aoun called it “the last opportunity,” warning that otherwise “each side will have to bear its responsibilities.”

He said he trusts American involvement in the process and that Lebanon is depending on President Donald Trump and his administration to help guarantee that the agreement is carried out. Aoun said the current arrangement differs from the November 27, 2024 agreement because it is designed to be a lasting one.

Regarding the pilot area proposed in the US-Lebanese-Israeli framework, Aoun said Lebanon suggested that the opening phase include Western and Eastern Zawtar as well as Beaufort Castle.

He added that Lebanon remains reliant on the American mediator, saying the mediator has maintained a firm position throughout the negotiations.

The United States, Israel, and Lebanon issued a joint statement Tuesday announcing a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, contingent on a full cessation of Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector. The announcement followed a two-day high-level trilateral meeting convened by the State Department on June 2 and 3.

The meeting, the fourth in the current round of U.S.-led negotiations, produced agreements on both security and political tracks. Under the framework outlined in the joint statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will assume exclusive control of pilot zones in southern Lebanon, displacing all non-state actors from those areas. The two sides agreed to reconvene the week of June 22 with the goal of reaching a comprehensive agreement.

The statement represented a significant step in the ongoing effort to formalize the cessation of hostilities that has held, fitfully, since last year’s military campaign. It builds on security discussions held at the Pentagon on May 29.

The ceasefire framework includes several interlocking conditions. Israel reaffirmed that its security requirements center on the disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantlement of its infrastructure throughout Lebanon, while Lebanon insisted on mutual respect for internationally recognized borders and the full exercise of state sovereignty. The joint statement emphasized that any agreement must be reached directly between the two governments under American auspices, and not through any separate track.

The statement also addressed the broader regional context, with all parties condemning Iran’s attacks on countries in the region and its ongoing activities that undermine stability throughout the Middle East, including support for proxies and other acts of aggression. The document cited Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s June 2 statement that Hezbollah “is not just an enemy of Israel and an enemy of America, but that it is an enemy of Lebanon.”

Washington reiterated its commitment to supporting both governments in exercising their sovereignty, and pledged continued material and advisory assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces to strengthen their capacity to assert effective control throughout Lebanese territory. The United States also committed to facilitating ongoing communication between the parties in the weeks leading up to the next formal round of talks.

All three parties affirmed that the future relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be determined by the two sovereign governments themselves, and rejected any attempt by any state or non-state actor to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.

Path to a Comprehensive Agreement
Both Israel and Lebanon expressed their lack of hostile intent toward one another and committed to continuing direct negotiations aimed at building confidence, resolving all outstanding disputes, and working toward a comprehensive bilateral agreement. The security framework being developed focuses on sustainably ensuring the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of both countries, with provisions for the dismantlement of non-state armed groups and the prevention of their re-emergence.

The next trilateral meeting is scheduled for the week of June 22, when both the political and security tracks are expected to resume.

A woman allegedly unleashed a barrage of antisemitic remarks before attacking a Jewish passenger on a crowded New York City subway Sunday, ripping out a chunk of the rider’s hair and shouting, “Jews are eating kids,” police said.

Authorities identified the suspect as Bronx resident Diana Smith, who allegedly made hateful comments about Jews aboard a C train traveling through lower Manhattan around 2:15 p.m. before confronting and assaulting a 23-year-old Jewish woman from the Upper West Side.

“I was a ragdoll and I couldn’t defend myself – there should have been a human barricade around me,” the Orthodox Jewish victim, who asked that her identity remain private, told The Post.

“No one stepped up until it was too late.”

The victim, a nurse originally from Montreal, said she entered the subway at Jay Street and was only traveling one stop when Smith boarded the train and began speaking to a couple about “the dangers of Jews stealing wealth.”

The woman then approached another couple and allegedly made another disturbing statement, saying, “You could always see the reflection of a Jew,” according to the victim.

“And then she turned towards me, like very targeted, stared me down, and smiled with this very eerie smile that I’ll never forget,” the Jewish woman said.

“I decided in that moment I really did not want to show fear in the face of that, so I stared at her right back down, and I said, ‘So you see my reflection?’ and she said, ‘Yeah, and I smell it on you too.’”

The victim recorded part of the confrontation on her phone, capturing Smith’s alleged antisemitic comments.

“Jews are eating kids,” Smith shouted.

The situation then turned violent, with Smith allegedly putting her hand on the victim’s throat.

Several passengers tried to intervene, while Smith allegedly yelled, “It’s OK for Jews to eat kids, but I can’t choke her down.”

Moments later, the victim’s phone was knocked away and Smith allegedly grabbed her by the throat, kicking and pushing her onto the subway floor, according to the woman.

The attack allegedly caused a clump of the victim’s hair to be ripped out.

When the train arrived at Canal Street, the Jewish passenger ran out to alert police while another rider pressed the emergency button, leading to Smith’s arrest.

“When I had to identify her, a ton of people were like, ‘Oh, we saw what happened, are you OK?’ And, that was extremely triggering for me, because, of course, I’m not OK. I kept just thinking, I’m not in Nazi Germany,” said the woman, who is 5-foot-3.

“How is this happening, and how is it that you saw what happened, and just were a bystander?”

The victim said she also sustained a concussion during the alleged assault.

Smith is facing charges including hate crime assault, hate crime criminal obstruction of breathing and aggravated harassment, according to court records.

“She’s pure evil, but she was lucid enough to know I was Jewish,” the victim said.

The attack occurred as the Israel Day Parade was taking place along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani notably absent.

“I don’t think New York is protecting Jews. I don’t think Mamdani not going to the Israel Day Parade is helping,” the victim said.

The mayor has said he skipped the parade because he disagrees with the Israeli government, while also saying he intends to protect Jewish New Yorkers and support Jewish culture in other ways.

New York City has experienced an increase in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

As arrests of yeshivah bochurim over draft refusal continue across Eretz Yisrael, a prominent  posek has issued a p’sak addressing how a bochur should conduct himself at the moment he is taken into custody.

The psak was issued by Harav Moshe Brandsdorfer, who serves as Av Beis Din and head of Heichal Hora’ah in Yerushalayim. The she’eilah brought before him concerned whether a bochur being arrested could or should recite a special brachah “al Kiddush Hashem” at the moment of his apprehension.

After reviewing the relevant halachic sources, Harav Brandsdorfer ruled that the bochur should recite aloud: “Baruch Atah Hashem HaMekadeish Shemo B’Rabbim” — but without Shem U’Malchus, in keeping with the halachic principle of safek brachos l’hakeil, which calls to avoid making bonafide brachos in cases of doubt regarding whether a brachah is warranted.

The Rav further ruled that bystanders present at the scene of the arrest should respond: “Ashreicha shenifsasta al divrei Torah” — “You are fortunate to have been seized for words of Torah.” The formulation is drawn from the language of Chazal regarding Rebbe Akiva, who was arrested and ultimately executed by the Romans for the ‘crime’ of teaching Torah publicly.

The ruling implicitly draws a parallel between the current wave of arrests of bnei Torah in Eretz Yisrael and the historical mesiras nefesh of Rebbe Akiva and others who gave their lives rather than abandon Torah study.

Two New Jersey men accused of pledging allegiance to ISIS and planning to pursue violent activities are set to plead guilty after reaching agreements with prosecutors, with one defense team arguing that social media played a role in the radicalization.

TomasKaan Jimenez-Guzel and Milo Sedarat, both from Montclair, reached deals in their federal cases. Jimenez-Guzel is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on July 9, according to court records.

Sedarat, meanwhile, has not yet been assigned a plea date and is asking to be released from jail to home confinement at his parents’ residence, according to court filings.

Sedarat’s attorneys argued that his exposure to online content following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and subsequent war contributed to his radicalization.

After the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel, “Milo spiraled” and “his social media algorithms pumped [him] videos of gory war crimes,” his lawyers claimed in the papers.

The lawyers said the material he encountered later escalated into extremist content.

The content he was being fed soon escalated to “antisemitic content and ISIS propaganda videos,” the docs claimed.

Sedarat, the 19-year-old son of Iranian-American poet Roger Sedarat, admitted to making extreme statements online and imagining what it would mean to carry out an attack, according to his attorneys’ filing.

“Milo “said abhorrent things to the people he connected with online and fantasized about what it would mean to take action,” his lawyers admitted in the filing.

His attorneys said that despite the online activity, he never carried out violence or intended to target any specific person or group.

They said he never communicated directly with members of a terrorist organization and did not purchase travel to the Middle East.

“The worst he did was provide money to one friend to purchase a ticket to fly to Turkey,” his lawyers claimed.

His lawyers said most of his conduct remained online and that he now recognizes the severity of what he said.

“The remainder of Milo’s actions stayed online — he talked big, reprehensible talk online that he now understands was completely unacceptable,” the papers said.

Sedarat has remained in federal custody under restrictive conditions since his November arrest, his attorneys said, and is seeking release to his family’s supervision with GPS monitoring and restrictions on internet access.

As part of the proposed conditions, he would be barred from social media use.

Sedarat is expected to plead guilty to one count of concealing material support for a designated foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors are expected to dismiss two counts involving alleged threats under the plea agreement, according to his attorneys.

The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison, though he is expected to receive a lower sentence due to the plea deal.

Sedarat and Jimenez-Guzel were arrested in November after authorities accused them of planning online to travel to the Middle East and form a group of aspiring jihadists.

The American F-15 pilot rescued from Iran after being shot down in April had already survived another aircraft shootdown just one month earlier, CBS News reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the incidents.

According to the report, the pilot was among the crew members of one of three F-15E Strike Eagles brought down in a March 2 friendly-fire incident involving Kuwaiti air defenses. The incident took place during Iranian attacks on Kuwait, where U.S. forces are stationed. All six crew members aboard the three aircraft ejected and survived.

The same pilot was later flying the F-15E shot down over Iran on April 3, CBS reported. The aircraft was reportedly hit by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. The pilot was seriously wounded, but was rescued within hours in a complex operation inside Iranian territory.

The weapons systems officer flying with him also survived, but spent nearly two days hiding in mountainous terrain while evading enemy forces. His rescue required a wider operation and the creation of a temporary forward base. President Donald Trump called the mission “one of the boldest operations in history.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the crew after the rescue, saying, “The courage demonstrated by both the pilot and the weapons system officer while isolated and them evading the enemy cannot be overstated.” Retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula told CBS the case was historically unusual, saying it was “like getting hit by lightning twice.”

A hotel in the Bavarian Forest region of southern Germany has apologized after sending an Israeli guest a message stating, “Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel” — attributing the remark to an employee’s frustration over fraudulent bookings, an explanation that left observers wondering what a ban on Jewish guests has to do with phishing attempts.

The Hotel Zum Hirschen, located near the town of Lam close to Bavaria’s border with the Czech Republic, sent the message through the Booking.com platform after an Israeli family submitted a reservation request. The message was confirmed as authentic by the Israeli consulate in Munich.

Talya Lador, Israel’s consul general to southern Germany, posted a screenshot of the message on X on Monday. “Are we back in the 1930s?” she wrote in German. Following her post, Booking.com removed the hotel from its listings, blocking further reservations through the platform.

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, told Israel’s N12 News that “something must be done — when they write ‘No entry for Jews’ they are no longer hiding.”

In an apology letter subsequently sent to the guest — and also forwarded to the office of the Bavarian state premier — the hotel’s owners attributed the message to an employee acting out of “frustration” over fraudulent reservations.

“It is extremely important to us that you understand that this remark was not directed at people of the Jewish faith, but was made out of frustration at the numerous fake bookings,” the letter stated, while acknowledging that “this was unacceptable and must not happen in a professional business.”

The hotel did not explain how concern over fraudulent reservations would lead an employee to invoke the religion of a prospective guest.

The hotel offered the Israeli guest and his family a complimentary one-week stay to “get to know us personally, and to prove to you that we are not bad people who discriminate against others.” The junior director, Andreas Vogl, told the dpa news agency that the message does not reflect the hotel’s “world view at all.” The owner separately described the reply as a “regrettable mistake” caused by human error.

The hotel initially denied having sent the message before later acknowledging that an employee had done so.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany called for a full investigation. “Even though I have taken note of the apology for this unacceptable remark, it remains shocking that someone would not only have such thoughts but also put them down in writing and send them out,” said Council President Josef Schuster.

The guest filed a formal complaint with the Bavarian Justice Ministry’s commissioner for combating antisemitism. Bavarian authorities have confirmed they are reviewing the case to determine whether the message warrants criminal proceedings under German law.

Antisemitic offenses in Germany reached a record high in 2024, with 6,236 incidents recorded, including 173 violent crimes. In the first half of 2025 alone, authorities logged more than 2,000 antisemitic offenses. The Central Council of Jews in Germany has described the post-October 7 surge in antisemitism as a “new normality.”

The Sperl-Vogl family, which owns the hotel, said they have since received threats and calls for violence following the public outcry over the incident, though they produced no evidence to this effect.

The incident occurred just days after Yad Vashem announced it would open its first education center outside of Israel — in Bavaria. Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder had commented on that announcement, saying, “Jewish life has a firm place in Bavaria.”

New York City recorded a 46%rise in antisemitic hate crimes in May, with incidents targeting Jews increasing significantly compared to the recent monthly average, according to new NYPD data. Experts caution that many hate crimes may never be reported to police.,

The latest figures showed three hate crimes targeting Asians, none targeting Black victims, one against an unspecified ethnicity, one motivated by gender, one against a Hispanic victim, five targeting Muslims, 10 involving unspecified religious groups, five based on sexual orientation, and one against a white victim.

The 46% increase in antisemitic hate crimes last month came after 30 confirmed incidents in April, 32 in March, and 21 in February.

The NYPD adjusted its hate crime reporting system in February, moving from suspected cases to confirmed incidents. Because of the change, confirmed data was unavailable for January. Following criticism, the department now publishes both suspected and confirmed hate crime numbers.

Since the beginning of the year, Jews have been targeted in 152 confirmed hate crimes across the city, making up 57% of all confirmed hate crimes — the same share recorded throughout 2025. Overall hate crimes have risen 8.6% this year compared with the same period last year, while antisemitic incidents have increased by 6.3%.

The rise in hate crimes poses a challenge for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who entered office on January 1 after promising to address hatred and discrimination in New York City.

A Jewish doctor working in Britain’s National Health Service told ITV News that fellow doctors said they would refuse to treat Israeli patients, including those facing life-threatening emergencies. Baruch, who asked to be identified only by his first name, said some colleagues told him they would not care for patients from Israel, calling the conversations deeply disturbing.

Baruch, who works at a London hospital, also said he witnessed Jewish patients being denied kosher meals and described growing antisemitism within both British society and the healthcare system. “If they are dying in A&E, doctors told me that if they are from Israel, then they will not treat that person,” he said.

The allegations come as Baruch, his wife Daniela, and their young family prepare to make aliyah to Israel. Despite his family having lived in England since the 17th century, he said he will be the last member of his family to leave Britain, with his parents and five sisters already living in Israel.

Baruch said antisemitic abuse has become increasingly common, including being told to “go back where you came from” and receiving threats that acid would be thrown in his face. He said he never imagined he would be afraid to walk openly as a Jew in North West London or wear a kippah in public.

Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care called the reports “shocking” and said it is unacceptable for people to feel unsafe working in or using the health service. The government also acknowledged failures within the healthcare regulatory system and pointed to an ongoing review, led by Lord John Mann, examining antisemitism and other forms of racism across the NHS.

A plastic surgeon with documented past associations with an Al-Qaida front organization and the convicted terrorist known as the “Blind Sheikh” won the Democratic primary Tuesday for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, as voters across six states headed to the polls in what is shaping up as a consequential early test of the 2026 midterm landscape.

Adam Hamawy, who secured the nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman in the solidly Democratic district covering Trenton and surrounding communities, is now the heavy favorite to win the seat in November — a prospect that has alarmed pro-Israel and counterterrorism observers alike.

Hamawy’s past associations with figures and organizations linked to Islamic terrorism received significant coverage in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote, apparently without damaging his standing among Democratic primary voters.

Jewish Insider reported last week that in 1994, Hamawy volunteered in Bosnia with the Benevolence International Foundation — a Chicago-based nonprofit later shut down by U.S. and Bosnian authorities as an Al-Qaida front. Hamawy described the work in a 1996 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, saying he spent five weeks with the organization in Sarajevo and Zenica — the exact cities where Benevolence International maintained offices that were raided in 2002. The 9/11 Commission Report identified the group’s Sarajevo base as part of the covert financial and logistical network Osama bin Laden established in the early 1990s.

Federal evidence documented that Benevolence International provided Al-Qaida with funds, weapons, and logistical support. Its chief executive, Enaam Arnaout, pleaded guilty to racketeering and was later stripped of his U.S. citizenship, with prosecutors citing the group’s Al-Qaida connections. The U.S. Treasury Department and the United Nations Security Council continue to list the organization as a sanctioned terrorist-linked entity.

Separately, court transcripts from the 1995 trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman — the “Blind Sheikh” convicted of plotting a campaign of terrorist attacks across New York City — show that Hamawy visited the sheikh at his home, accompanied him on a 13-hour drive to a Detroit conference in 1991, served as his translator at a press conference denying involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and testified on his behalf at trial. Hamawy has said he testified out of “civic duty” and that he condemns Abdel-Rahman’s “violent rhetoric and actions.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer said he has “serious questions and deep concerns about [Hamawy’s] associations with terrorist organizations and leaders who have attacked America,” and that Hamawy “needs to answer these questions and explain himself to New Jersey voters.”

Hamawy has also drawn fire for his stance on Israel. He volunteered as a trauma surgeon at the European Hospital in Khan Younis during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza — a facility the IDF struck after identifying an underground Hamas command center operating beneath it, and where forces subsequently recovered the body of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar. Hamawy has denied that any such infrastructure existed, telling the left-wing outlet Jacobin the hospital was “a completely benign civilian hospital with no tunnels underneath it.”

He has called for a full arms embargo on Israel, an end to military aid, and the Palestinian right of return. In a recent appearance on the program of Hasan Piker — a far-left streaming personality who has openly celebrated Hamas and made statements embraced by supporters of the September 11 attacks — Hamawy declared his opposition to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, arguing it was “insulating Israel” from “having to deal with the consequences of war.” Fellow candidate Sue Altman responded that “we absolutely cannot and should not ever be cheerleading and wishing for the deaths of Israeli children.”

Hamawy’s endorsers include Sen. Bernie Sanders and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ro Khanna, as well as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Jewish Voice for Peace. The pro-Palestinian super PAC American Priorities spent approximately $1.5 million boosting his candidacy.

In New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett won the Democratic primary and will face Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in November in what analysts consider a must-win race for Democrats. Kean has been absent from Capitol Hill since early March due to an undisclosed illness, though he issued a statement Tuesday saying he would return to in-person work “within a matter of weeks.” President Trump endorsed Kean the same day. Bennett bested three opponents including a former Small Business Administration official, a physician, and a businessman.

In Iowa, state Rep. Josh Turek defeated state Sen. Zach Wahls for the Democratic Senate nomination and will face Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in November. The race has attracted national attention both for Turek’s background as a former paralympian born with spina bifida linked to his father’s Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, and for Democrats’ belief that Sen. Joni Ernst’s retirement opens a rare pickup opportunity in a deeply Republican state. On the Republican side, businessman Zach Lahn pulled off a significant upset, defeating Trump-backed Rep. Randy Feenstra for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

In New Mexico, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland won the Democratic gubernatorial primary and is positioned to become the first Native American woman elected governor in U.S. history, succeeding outgoing Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

In Montana, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, endorsed by both outgoing Sen. Steve Daines and President Trump, quickly secured the Republican Senate nomination after polls closed.

In California, polls closed at 11 p.m. ET with early results showing incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass leading the city’s mayoral race with approximately 38% of the vote, with reality TV personality Spencer Pratt and progressive City Council member Nithya Raman trailing. The state’s congressional redistricting, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, was also being closely watched for its potential to expand Democratic opportunities in the House.

Israeli tourists were reportedly denied accommodations at a hotel in southern Germany after receiving a message through an online booking platform stating, “Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel,” according to the Israeli Consulate in Munich.

The incident involved Hotel Zum Hirschen in the Bavarian town of Lam, according to a Ynet report. The outlet said it reviewed the message and verified its authenticity.

The report did not indicate when the exchange between the hotel and the prospective guests took place.

The tourists subsequently filed a complaint with Bavaria’s commissioner for combating antisemitism within the Justice Ministry, the report said.

The guests also lodged complaints with Booking.com, which has temporarily removed the hotel from its listings while the matter is reviewed.

“Are we back in the 1930s?” Israeli Consul General Talya Lador wrote in a German-language social media post while sharing a screenshot of the message.

Germany continues to grapple with significant levels of antisemitism. According to a report released last week by the country’s antisemitism monitoring body, 2,197 anti-Jewish incidents were documented in Berlin during 2025. Although that marked a decline from the 2,521 incidents recorded a year earlier, the total remained more than twice as high as levels seen before the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

“The threat to Jewish life is worse than at any time since the Holocaust,” Hesse antisemitism commissioner Uwe Becker said following the report’s publication.

The alleged discrimination in Bavaria comes amid a series of recent incidents involving Jewish and Israeli travelers overseas. It is the third reported case in recent weeks involving hotels, spas, or similar establishments accused of denying service to Jewish or Israeli guests.

On Friday, two Jewish American women said they were turned away from a sauna in Barcelona because they were wearing Star of David necklaces. The sauna’s owners later issued an apology.

Earlier in May, two Israeli tourists reported being verbally harassed by a hotel employee in California. Video from the incident appeared to show the employee asking the couple whether they were “baby killers” and if they had served in the Israeli military.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will attend the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday, July 24, praising organizers for moving forward with the event after a gunman disrupted the original gathering in April. He described the decision to hold the dinner as “a sign of Strength and Fortitude” following the attack.

The event will take place in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue, a property that originally operated as a Trump Hotel before being sold in 2022. Guests who had already purchased tickets for the postponed dinner will not be required to pay again for admission.

The Waldorf Astoria’s Presidential Ballroom can accommodate roughly 1,300 seated attendees, according to promotional materials, making it considerably smaller than the approximately 2,500-person event held at the Washington Hilton that was cut short by the shooting.

“This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president added that he had been invited by White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang and intended to attend.

“I was asked to be there, and speak, by Weijia Jiang, President of The White House Correspondents’ Association, and have accepted. I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out.”

Trump also highlighted the venue’s connection to his business history.

“In any event,” the president added, “it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket! Interestingly, the location will be The Waldorf Astoria, on Pennsylvania Avenue, a Building and Ballroom that I built.”

The annual black-tie event, which includes scholarship presentations and journalism awards, had originally been scheduled for April 25. It was postponed after alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen forced his way toward a security checkpoint carrying a rifle and shot a Secret Service agent, whose protective vest prevented more serious injury.

According to investigators, Allen later stated in a manifesto that he intended to assassinate Trump and multiple Cabinet members. He remains in custody awaiting trial.

“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has served as a celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century,” WHCA president Weijia Jiang, a CBS News correspondent, said in a message to association members.

“When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the First Amendment. We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for.”

Jiang also informed members that the July event would be “a more intimate gathering” than the original dinner and would feature “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures.”

Iranian authorities are preparing for one of the largest public mourning events in the history of the Islamic Republic, as state-linked media report new details on the funeral plans for former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The main preparations are centered in Tehran, where authorities are preparing for massive crowds. Mohammad Amin Tavakolizadeh, Tehran’s deputy mayor for social and cultural affairs, said officials are preparing for “a crowd of more than 15 to 20 million people in the capital.” The central funeral ceremony is expected to last at least a full day.

The funeral ceremonies were originally expected to begin shortly after Khamenei’s death, with plans for several days of public mourning and farewell events in Tehran. However, Iranian authorities later postponed the ceremonies, saying they needed additional time to prepare for the unprecedented crowds expected to attend. Despite the extensive preparations now underway, Iranian authorities have still not released a final official schedule for all stages of the funeral. The public is expected to receive three official days of mourning to pay final respects.

After the events in Tehran, the funeral procession is expected to continue to Qom and Mashhad, two of Iran’s most important religious centers. The route would turn the funeral from a single ceremony into a national religious and political event across the Islamic Republic’s core cities.

Khamenei is expected to be buried near the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Iranian reports said the burial place reflects Khamenei’s will and the wishes of those close to him, as Tehran seeks to frame the funeral as both a farewell to the man who ruled Iran for decades and a show of regime continuity.

The IDF announced Tuesday that it eliminated Hamas terrorist Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan, a deputy commander in a Hamas Nukhba terror cell who participated in the abduction of Israeli hostages during the October 7 massacre.

According to the military, Ramadan was killed in an airstrike in central Gaza on Monday.

The IDF said Ramadan infiltrated Israel during the October 7 attack and took part in the kidnapping of Hersh Goldberg-Polin Hy’d, Eliya Cohen, Alon Ohel, and Or Levy from the bomb shelter at Re’im Junction.

Israeli officials also stated that throughout the war, including in recent weeks, Ramadan was involved in planning attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians, making him an active threat to forces operating in the Gaza Strip.

Before carrying out the strike, the military said it took steps to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, including the use of precision-guided munitions and aerial surveillance.

Footage released by the IDF showed the strike that eliminated the terrorist as he traveled on a motorcycle.

Nearly 18 months after the body of IDF Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul was recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel for burial, prosecutors filed a declaration against Hamas terrorist Ibrahim Hilo, who allegedly concealed Shaul’s body for nearly 10 years following the soldier’s death during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

According to newly released information, the breakthrough came after Israeli security forces arrested Hilo, a member of the terror group’s Shati Battalion. Hilo had previously served as a platoon commander in Hamas and, in recent years, reportedly operated under the guise of a civilian merchant.

During a joint investigation conducted by the Shin Bet, the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, and Israel Police, Hilo was identified as a key figure connected to the case of Shaul’s remains.

Israeli forces later carried out a covert operation to capture him. During intensive interrogations by Shin Bet and police investigators, Hilo eventually admitted that he had personally hidden Shaul’s body and disclosed the exact location where it had been concealed.

Investigators said the body had been buried inside a shop located within a civilian building in Gaza City, which Hamas allegedly used as cover.

Armed with the intelligence provided during the interrogation, Israeli security forces quickly launched a complex recovery mission. Personnel from the Shin Bet, Military Intelligence, and special operations units raided the site under significant time pressure.

The operation succeeded just minutes before an official ceasefire took effect, allowing troops to recover Shaul’s body and bring him home to Israel.

On Thursday, the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office is expected to file a formal indictment against Hilo in the Beersheba District Court, charging him with numerous serious security-related offenses.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has selected Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence, succeeding Tulsi Gabbard after her departure later this month.

Revealing the appointment on Truth Social, Trump praised Pulte’s financial and management experience.

“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump wrote.

“During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!”

Pulte, who founded Twitter Philanthropy and serves as CEO of Pulte Capital, is also the grandson of homebuilding and real estate entrepreneur William J. Pulte. If Trump chooses to nominate him for the intelligence post on a permanent basis, Senate confirmation would be required.

Gabbard is scheduled to leave her position as director of national intelligence on June 30. She announced her resignation last month, citing her husband Abraham’s recent diagnosis of bone cancer.

The 38-year-old Pulte has drawn attention during his tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency for targeting several of Trump’s political opponents. He previously issued criminal referrals involving New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud.

New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is facing scrutiny after a series of resurfaced social media posts showed her advocating the abolition of all police and prisons, the elimination of national borders, the seizure of property from all landlords and even claiming that “Israel doesn’t exist,” the New York Post reported Sunday.

Chevalier, who is challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District, has also come under fire for past posts in which she called Joe Biden a “war criminal,” described the United States as a an “[expletive] disgrace,” boasted about wiping dirty hands on the American flag, and made inflammatory comments about interracial relationships involving white women and black men.

Additional posts uncovered by CNN through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine from Chevalier’s since-deleted X account, spanning 2018 through 2022, revealed further controversial statements.

In August 2020, Chevalier reposted a message reading, “Israel suddenly disappears, your third emoji is your reaction,” and replied, “Trick question — Israel doesn’t exist!”

During a string of pro-illegal immigration posts in September 2021, she wrote, “A world without borders—just like a world without prisons or police—is possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward.”

After some questioned whether she was joking, Chevalier later clarified her position, writing, “Yes, literally, abolish the border. All deportation is wrong.”

Chevalier has also attacked prominent figures on the political left, accusing Sen. Bernie Sanders of promoting “liberal Zionism” and criticizing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for voting “present” on Israeli military funding legislation.

Several of the resurfaced posts also promoted explicitly socialist and communist policies.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she reposted a message calling for the nationalization of hospitals, utilities, and pharmaceutical companies, the suspension of rent and mortgage payments, the dismantling of insurance companies, and “seiz[ing] all properties from landlords,” according to the report.

In another deleted post from 2019, Chevalier wrote, “Seize the means of production,” a slogan commonly associated with communist ideology.

During the anti-police protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in 2020, Chevalier forcefully defended calls to abolish law enforcement.

Two days later, she rejected the notion that activists merely sought to reform policing.

“No. It means ending policing full stop. Period. No more police at all ever,” she wrote.

Responding to the report, Chevalier accused Espaillat of focusing on years-old social media posts rather than current issues facing voters.

“My opponent wants to live in the past. He is re-litigating social media posts from half a decade ago, and continuing to champion an outdated politics that fails to serve our people,” she told CNN.

“I have grown considerably since in the years since these tweets, and I am focused on our community and our community’s future.”

Mamdani defended his endorsement in a separate statement.

“In Congress, she’ll take on corporate greed, bad landlords, and D.C.’s broken political system. At a time when power is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, Darializa will fight in Congress for New York City’s working families. She’s the champion we need for a city New Yorkers can actually afford.”

A source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s team acknowledged Tuesday that the recent call between Netanyahu and President Donald Trump was tense, while rejecting reports that Trump personally attacked Netanyahu. The comments, reported by N12, come a day after Axios revealed details of a heated exchange between the two leaders over Israel’s Lebanon policy.

According to the source, two calls took place between Netanyahu and Trump on the same evening. The first was the lengthy conversation that preceded Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire understanding. The second call, which occurred afterward, became the subject of the controversy.

The source said the tension centered on social media posts published by both leaders following their earlier conversation. According to the account, Trump complained that Netanyahu’s statement implied that, aside from a planned strike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, Israel’s military campaign would continue unchanged. Netanyahu, meanwhile, objected that Trump’s post suggested Israel had halted military activity on all fronts even as Hezbollah continued attempts to attack IDF forces and northern communities.

The source rejected reports from American officials that Trump made personal remarks about Netanyahu or claimed credit for keeping him out of prison. However, the source confirmed that Trump told Netanyahu it was becoming difficult to defend Israel’s position internationally and that the situation was generating growing hostility toward Israel. American officials quoted by Axios offered a far more dramatic version of the call, describing it as one of the toughest exchanges between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.

According to the source, the conversation ultimately ended with an understanding that Israel would refrain from striking Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh as long as Israel itself was not attacked inside its borders.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, State Attorney General Letitia James, several left-wing Jewish organizations, and a congressional candidate criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for taking part in New York City’s annual Israel parade.

The annual Israel Day on Fifth parade drew more than 50,000 participants to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on Sunday, serving as a public demonstration of support for the pro-Israel Jewish community, which many attendees say has faced growing hostility in recent years.

Smotrich joined an Israeli delegation headed by Knesset Speaker Amir Ochana. Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu of the Otzma Yehudit party also attended the event.

“Bezalel Smotrich is a far-right extremist whose hateful and divisive rhetoric is fundamentally at odds with the values we hold dear in New York,” Hochul said in a statement. “Yesterday’s parade was a celebration of Jewish pride, community, and unity. I strongly condemn his participation.”

Smotrich and Eliyahu have both faced criticism in the past for controversial remarks. In 2021, Smotrich said that Israel’s founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, should have “finished the job” by expelling all Arabs when the state was established. Eliyahu previously suggested that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza could have been considered among Israel’s options during the war against Hamas terrorists.

Despite her criticism of Smotrich, Hochul has consistently expressed support for Israel and New York’s Jewish community. She addressed attendees before the parade began and led the march alongside other state and city officials.

James, who also spoke in support of the Jewish community during the event, said, “I unequivocally condemn Bezalel Smotrich’s hateful rhetoric.”

Smotrich’s participation also became a point of contention in the race for New York’s 10th Congressional District, which includes parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is challenging incumbent Representative Dan Goldman for the seat. Both candidates are Jewish, identify as Zionists, and have voiced criticism of the Israeli government, though Lander has positioned himself further to Goldman’s left on Israel-related issues.

The two candidates share similar views on a range of other topics, including immigration policy and opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We’re both proud Jewish New Yorkers. But there are sharp and clear differences between us on Israel/Palestine,” Lander said in a statement. “For example, Dan Goldman marched alongside war criminal Bezalel Smotrich yesterday, who called it ‘just and moral’ to starve Gaza. I did not.” Lander recently prayed in Arabic at a Queens mosque in which an Imam called for the death of all “kuffar,” or non-Muslims.

No Israeli officials have been convicted of war crimes.

Several left-wing Jewish organizations also objected to Smotrich’s participation, including New York Jewish Agenda and Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, which is allied with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Mamdani said in a statement that Smotrich’s “presence in our city is an affront to everything New York stands for.”

Ahead of the parade, organizers from the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY) said they did not know which representatives from the Israeli government would be attending and that those decisions were made by Israel’s consulate in New York. The consulate did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smotrich was also absent from official Knesset statements and promotional videos regarding the delegation’s participation in the parade.

JCRC-NY CEO Mark Treyger addressed the controversy on Monday, saying, “While some individuals who attended were neither invited by JCRC-NY nor known to us in advance, participation in the parade is not an endorsement of any political figure or ideology.”

The Israeli delegation marched as a separate contingent, and there was no indication that New York elected officials walked alongside the two ministers or were aware they would be participating during the event.

Within hours of President Donald Trump announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah Monday evening, a Hezbollah rocket struck near Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, triggering sirens in the northern border town of Metula.

The IDF confirmed the attack and said no injuries were caused, baruch Hashem. A separate siren in the Western Galilee, initially attributed to a suspected Hezbollah drone, was later declared a false alarm.

Lebanese media also reported multiple Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon following Trump’s announcement. The IDF had not commented on those reports as of late Monday.

Trump had not specified when the ceasefire was to take effect.

The IDF cleared for publication on Monday night that Captain Doctor Ori Yosef Silvester Hy’d, 30, of Tel Aviv, was killed during combat operations in southern Lebanon.

Silvester Hy’d served as a physician in the Shaked Battalion (424) of the Givati Brigade. He was killed during an operational incident in southern Lebanon.

In the same incident, two IDF officers and one soldier sustained serious wounds. Another soldier was moderately injured, while two additional officers and one soldier suffered light injuries.

All of the wounded were evacuated to hospitals for medical treatment. The IDF said their families have been informed of their conditions.

A new survey has found that a record 57% of Israeli respondents identify themselves as Jewish before identifying as Israeli — up sharply from 34% in the previous year’s equivalent survey and the highest figure recorded in the ten years that the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry has conducted its annual Diaspora Index.

The 2026 Diaspora Index — Public Attitudes Toward the Relationship Between Israel and World Jewry found that 87% of Israelis say they are proud to be Jewish and that Jewish identity is important to them, a figure that has risen over the past two years.

On the question of Diaspora Jewry, 94% of Israeli respondents said they expect Jews around the world to stand with Israel during wartime. The survey also found growing concern among Israelis about intermarriage and assimilation as threats to the future of the Jewish people.

The report characterizes the trend as a process of “identity consolidation” — a deepening of Jewish national identity alongside a growing sense of shared peoplehood, accompanied, however, by a parallel belief that the State’s primary obligations run to its own citizens rather than to Diaspora communities. The survey noted a decline in the degree of responsibility Israelis feel the government should bear toward Jews abroad.

President Yitzchak Herzog, presenting the report, said the findings underscore “the importance of strengthening and maintaining the deep connection among the Jewish people across the world.”

A new yeshiva has been established in the Jewish village of Anatevka, near Kyiv, Ukraine, and is set to open its doors at the beginning of the month of Elul. Its founder, Rabbi Shmuel Azman, stated: “We have created all the necessary conditions to enable students to dedicate themselves fully to learning and to their personal and spiritual growth.”

At a ceremony held over the weekend, the “Tomchei Temimim – Beit Binyamin” Yeshiva was officially inaugurated in the Jewish village of Anatevka on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Rabbis, supporters, and guests from several countries attended the event to mark the completion of one of the most significant Jewish educational projects established in Ukraine in recent years.

Anatevka, where the new yeshiva has been built, was founded in 2015 by Ukraine’s Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Azman, to provide a home for Jewish families who were forced to leave their communities due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Named after the famous Jewish shtetl from Fiddler on the Roof, the village has developed into a vibrant Jewish community featuring residential housing, educational institutions, and synagogues.

The new yeshiva was constructed at a cost of more than €8 million, funded by a philanthropist who chose to remain anonymous. It is scheduled to welcome its first students at the beginning of the upcoming month of Elul, with the admissions process for the inaugural class currently in its final stages.

According to the yeshiva’s founder, Rabbi Shmuel Azman, the campus was designed to provide a modern, high-quality educational environment that integrates outstanding residential, academic, and recreational facilities. “We have created all the necessary conditions to enable students to devote themselves to Torah study and to their personal and spiritual development,” he said, “within an environment that supports their growth around the clock.”

The campus features a central study hall (Beit Midrash), a library, dining facilities, student dormitories, a mikveh, sports facilities, and open spaces dedicated to learning and educational activities. In addition, a large-scale bunker was constructed on-site to address the complex security realities in Ukraine.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the project is that construction began just days after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Despite numerous challenges, work continued uninterrupted until the completion of the new campus.

Among those attending the inauguration ceremony were Rabbi Moshe Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Axelrod, Chief Rabbi of Moldova, along with dozens of rabbis and public figures from Israel and across Europe who traveled specifically for the occasion.

The yeshiva’s leadership notes that the institution is intended for students seeking to immerse themselves in full-time Torah and Chassidic studies. Its mission is to provide an outstanding educational environment alongside a strong sense of community and Jewish values. According to its administrators, the opening of the yeshiva represents another important milestone in the renewal and strengthening of Jewish life in Ukraine, even during one of the most challenging periods in the country’s history.

The Leviev Foundation unveiled a major new educational program, pledging $50 million over the next five years to provide scholarships and educational grants for Jewish children from immigrant and underserved communities, the Jerusalem Post reported Monday.

Speaking at the Opening Gala of the media outlet’s New York Conference, Chagit Leviev Sofiev, daughter of billionair philantropist Lev Leviev stressed the importance of ensuring access to Jewish education, declaring that “Jewish identity should never be a luxury.” She recounted a conversation with a young public-school student who told her, “Don’t worry, no one in my school knows I am Jewish.”

The remark left a deep impression on her, she said, because Jewish children should feel proud of who they are and never feel compelled to conceal their identity.

The foundation, which focuses on strengthening Jewish identity through education, has already helped tens of thousands of Jewish children receive a Jewish education. Its work includes financial aid, mentorship opportunities, and partnerships with communities to support future generations.

“The importance of Jewish education was deeply rooted in my family”, she continued, describing how her great-grandfather, Zevulun Leviev, was sent to Siberia for teaching young “Jewish children how to read the aleph bet.” She also recalled that her grandfather, Avner, endangered himself to maintain Jewish traditions while secretly serving as the region’s only mohel. Her father often shared a lesson from her grandfather, who would tell him he was focusing on the “wrong diamonds,” because “the real diamonds are waiting for you, Jewish children need your help.”

That philosophy later inspired Lev Leviev to establish more than 150 Jewish schools and institutions across the former Soviet Union and other locations. He also went on to found the first free Jewish school in Queens.

Reflecting on raising her own children in the United States, Leviev Sofiev said she came to appreciate the same lesson her father had learned years earlier. “While raising my own children in America, I began to understand something my father had recognized decades earlier…they all understood something that we cannot forget,” she stated. “Jewish continuity survives only when each generation is willing to protect it.”

According to the foundation, the new initiative is intended to ensure that Jewish families are not forced to choose between financial pressures and providing their children with a Jewish education.

“My great-grandfather helped preserve Jewish learning, my grandfather reminded us who the real diamonds are, my father helped rebuild Jewish education, and now it is our responsibility to continue that work,” she said. “Because the greatest diamonds we will ever invest in are not the ones in jewelry, but the children of the future.”

Shas leader R’ Aryeh Deri sent a letter Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz demanding a preliminary reading vote on the proposed Basic Law on Torah Study this Wednesday, warning that continued coalition support hinges on the legislation moving forward.

In the letter, dispatched following a lengthy faction meeting, Shas declared that passage of the law — which would entrench Torah study as a constitutional value — is a precondition for the party’s support of government-sponsored legislation. Members warned that if a majority for the bill cannot be secured, Shas MKs would not only withhold their votes from coalition measures but would actively work to defeat other coalition bills brought to the plenum.

The faction opened its letter with sharp criticism of the attorney general, describing what it called an “unprecedented and ruthless persecution” of Torah learners. “Our distinguished sons, toilers of Torah and the shevet Levi of our generation, have become targets of persecution and humiliation,” the letter stated.

Shas argued that the only way to protect yeshivah funding and tax benefits from legal challenge is by erecting what it called a “constitutional protective wall.” The party said the law would equate the legal status of Torah learners with that of those serving in the military, thereby neutralizing discrimination claims in the courts. The legislation is also intended to circumvent High Court rulings and attorney general directives by anchoring Torah study as a foundational constitutional value.

The letter reminded the Prime Minister that advancing the bill was included in coalition agreements signed with Likud, and characterized the vote as “a value-based, moral, and national statement.”

Shas closed the letter with a quote from a past Netanyahu Knesset address: “The Torah world protected us throughout the years of exile. Torah study and the preservation of our heritage are what defended the Jewish people — without them, the Jewish people would not have survived.”

UTJ chairman MK R’ Yitzchak Goldknopf welcomed Shas’s move while pointedly noting it had taken too long. “We welcome Arye Deri’s belated awakening — though it comes three years late,” he said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu must understand that commitments must be honored, not endlessly delayed with excuses, while the Torah world bears the cost.”

For the first time since Israel withdrew from Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem in October 2000, Mispalelim on Sunday held an afternoon Mincha at the site. Attendees described the event as a historic milestone in efforts to expand Jewish access to one of the most sensitive and sought-after locations in Judea and Samaria.

For years, visits to Kever Yosef have been limited to infrequent and tightly coordinated military operations conducted in the middle of the night, with Jews typically allowed only a couple hours at the site before being escorted out. Just weeks ago, Jews held the first Shacharis prayer there since 2000, itself a major expansion of access in decades. Sunday’s Mincha represented the next step in that process, bringing organized Tefilah to the site during normal afternoon hours for the first time in 26 years.

The entry was coordinated with the IDF and approved by senior military and political officials. Advocates have also pushed for the return of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva, which left the compound when Israel withdrew during the Second Intifada.

Supporters view the latest expansion as part of a gradual effort to reverse restrictions that have been in place since 2000. Defense Minister Israel Katz approved expanded daytime access to the site late last year, paving the way for the recent changes.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan welcomed the move, saying: “This is a significant step toward the historic correction and the full return of Israeli sovereignty to the holy compound of Kever Yosef. Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and in our holy places is not only a legal or security matter — it is recognition of historical justice and our right to the land.”

MK Tzvi Sukkot, chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, called the Tefilah part of a broader effort to reverse Israel’s withdrawal from the site during the Second Intifada. “This is an important and meaningful step in the process of correction, after which more steps will come until we reach the goal — a full Jewish return to Kever Yosef,” he said. Sukkot described the 2000 withdrawal as “the injustice of abandoning the Kever” and said restoring a sustained Jewish presence there is both “a moral and security correction of the first order.”

It’s with great sadness Belaaz reports the petirah of Rebbetzin Miriam Twersky A”h, the almana of the Rachmastrivka Rebbe of Boro Park, Harav Chai Yitzchok Twersky Zt”l.

Born in Romania in 1934 (5694), Rebbetzin Miriam was the daughter of the Skverer Rebbe, Harav Yaakov Yosef Twersky zt”l, and Rebbetzin Treina a”h, daughter of the Ostila Rebbe, Harav Pinchas zt”l.

In her youth she married the Rachmistrivka Rebbe zt”l, son of the previous Rachmastrivka Rebbe, Harav Yochanan Twersky zt”l.

Their wedding took place on 20 Adar 1954 (5714) in Manhattan and was honored by the presence of the greatest Admorim of the generation, including the Satmar Rebbe, the Vayoel Moshe zt”l, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, the Imrei Chaim zt”l, and many other Gedolei Yisroel.

For nearly seven decades she stood faithfully at her husband’s side through every stage of their life; in Williamsburg, the Skvera community, and later in Boro Park, supporting his heilige avodah with strength, wisdom, and quiet devotion.

The Rebbetzin’s Kevura is set to be beside her husband in Monsey.

Levaya details to follow.

Bsuros Tovos.

Israeli legal officials are moving toward a new financial front in the Charedi draft dispute: municipal property tax discounts. Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon today defended the possible revocation of property tax discounts (arnona) for Charedi men who have not reported for military service.

In a letter responding to Interior Ministry Director-General Israel Uzan, Limon said revoking the discounts had been identified by the Israeli Supreme Court and professional officials as an effective tool against mass non-compliance with the draft. “An arnona discount is not a vested right,” Limon wrote, while military service is “a legal obligation, a vital security need,” and failure to serve “severely harms equality.”

The move comes one day after the Attorney General’s office advanced another major sanction: blocking tax-deductible donation benefits for Yeshivot where eligible draft-age students who have not regularized their military status continue to learn. The Tax Authority is expected to publish a public notice on the policy by June 7, ahead of a July 13 Supreme Court hearing.

The issue goes to the heart of Israel’s long-running dispute over Charedi military service an arrangement now under growing legal pressure especially in recent days. 

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri accused the attorney general of pushing Charedim “to the edge,” saying the sanctions campaign was driving a growing rift between parts of the Charedi community and the state.

A new government-commissioned report has found that Jews in Norway are increasingly concealing their Jewish identity and withdrawing from public life due to growing antisemitism and a heightened sense of social isolation.

The study, prepared by the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities for Norway’s Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, is part of the country’s 2025–2030 Action Plan against Antisemitism.

Researchers reported that many Jews feel less comfortable openly expressing their identity, particularly during transitions between schools and different educational settings.

Jewish children were identified as especially vulnerable. Parents described cases of exclusion and social isolation in classrooms and on playgrounds and voiced concerns about their children’s sense of security and belonging.

The report warned that continued concealment of Jewish identity could further reduce the visibility of Norway’s small Jewish community, which numbers roughly 1,500 people.

“It is serious that Jews in Norway experience insecurity and isolation. I am particularly concerned that Jewish schoolchildren are so exposed,” said Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Bjørnar Skjæran. “We all have a responsibility to counter antisemitism. This is a societal responsibility, and this report shows that we must both continue and strengthen our efforts against antisemitism.”

Two teenage girls were injured Sunday evening when a terrorist carried out a ramming attack at the Gush Etzion Junction between Yerushalayim and Chevron. A 17-year-old girl was seriously wounded, while a 15-year-old girl suffered moderate injuries. A third person was treated for shock.

Emergency crews transported all of the victims to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim. Medical officials said the 17-year-old was rushed into surgery shortly after arriving at the hospital.

The terrorist was neutralized by a soldier from the Nachshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade. Initial reports identified the attacker as a resident of the Chevron area.

Magen David Adom paramedic Moshe Benita and senior medic Chaim Sharabi described the scene: “When we arrived at the scene of the attack, we observed significant commotion and a vehicle near a bus stop. Lying next to the vehicle was a 17-year-old girl who was fully conscious and suffering from severe injuries to her lower limbs. We provided initial medical treatment at the scene, including stopping the bleeding, and evacuated her by intensive care ambulance to the hospital in serious condition.

“Additional MDA teams provided medical treatment to another injured girl, 15, who was in mild condition and suffering from facial injuries.”

President Donald Trump has privately raised doubts about whether Vice President JD Vance can succeed him as the leader of the Republican Party, according to a New York Times report published today as Republicans increasingly look toward 2028.

Trump has reportedly asked advisers and allies whether Vance has what it takes to “go all the way,” and has sometimes answered that question himself by saying he is not sure. The report said Trump has criticized Vance over his political experience, vacation time, personal style and initial opposition to military action against Iran.

According to the report, Trump repeatedly brought up Vance’s Iran position, including in front of the vice president himself. “I’m more of a man of peace than you, but I had to do it,” Trump reportedly told him. Trump also reportedly questioned Vance’s decision to lead talks in Pakistan, which did not produce the results the White House had hoped for.

Despite the criticism, the relationship between the two remains strong. Trump continues to include Vance in major decisions, gives him a public role in advancing the Republican agenda and recently praised him for his work on fighting corruption. White House officials, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, have reportedly urged Vance to reduce his online fights with critics.

The report also points to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a major rival in the post-Trump succession fight. Trump has reportedly asked guests, “JD or Marco?” and recently floated the idea of a Vance-Rubio “dream team,” while stopping short of endorsing either man.

Vance remains one of the clearest heirs to Trump’s movement, but Rubio’s rise has made the 2028 question more complicated. Recent polling showed Rubio nearly tied with Vance among Republican voters, making Trump’s private doubts politically significant.

Governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday signed legislation establishing buffer zones around religious institutions and Jewish community spaces, prohibiting harassment of individuals entering or exiting such sites — making New York the latest state to enact such protections in the wake of a national surge in antisemitic incidents.

The signing took place at the Met Council’s annual legislative breakfast in New York City, where Hochul addressed a room packed with influential Jewish community figures and elected officials before affixing her signature to the measure. The crowd erupted in applause throughout her remarks, and the governor received a standing ovation.

Hochul was flanked by prominent officials as she signed the bill, including City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Attorney General Letitia James, whose presence underscored the broad support the measure has drawn across state and city government.

“You have no right to harass someone walking into a synagogue with their family to carry on a tradition that has been there for centuries and centuries, and have to put up with people screaming vile epithets,” Hochul said before the signing.

“That is wildly un-American, and it’s definitely not how we do it in New York — and that will be not just condemned but prohibited.”

The governor said the legislation would make it a criminal offense to harass individuals heading into a “religious organization, institution, place of worship, school, or community gathering place.”

Hochul drew on personal testimony in her remarks, citing what she described as repeated images from the aftermath of October 7 that she said she will “never get out of my head, ever, ever, ever,” and expressing frustration at what she characterized as an ongoing pattern of antisemitic incidents across the state.

“I’ve had enough of having to put out social media posts condemning the latest symbol of hate being etched on a wall at a synagogue or a yeshiva,” she said. “I’ve had enough with people being harassed on the streets and in our subways. I’ve had enough with people not being able to go to their place of worship freely as a place of gathering and comfort.”

Hochul also acknowledged community leaders and officials in attendance, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Attorney General Letitia James, and state legislators she credited with championing the bill.

Assemblyman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn), one of the State legislation’s advocates, credited Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie with shepherding the bill to the finish line – and said that without Heastie, the measure would not have reached the governor’s desk in the form it did.

Yeger told Belaaz that the bill draft was narrower than sponsors had sought. Efforts to include community centers were blocked; the governor did not support that expansion, and the Senate resisted as well.

“It is only as strong as it is because Speaker Carl Heastie made it that way,” Yeger said. “The governor didn’t support our efforts to expand it to what it was, which was to include JCCs and other buildings of Jewish community interest, and the Senate opposed it at the beginning. But when we tried to squeeze those things in, the Senate didn’t actually let us get those pieces in. Carl Heastie wouldn’t leave the table until those things happened. That’s a push over the edge. 100 percent.”

The event, held each spring to celebrate the organization’s work fighting poverty among New York’s most vulnerable, has long served as a gathering place for Jewish community leaders and their allies in government.

But as elected official after elected official took the podium — many of them not Jewish — and spent the bulk of their remarks not on hunger relief or housing, but on antisemitism, the weight of the moment was unmistakable. The warmth in the room was real, the camaraderie genuine.

And yet the fact that so many officials felt compelled to address hatred at length at a poverty-fighting breakfast said something about just how much the community has had to carry.

The governor said she has grown weary of responding to incidents rather than preventing them. “I’ve had enough of having to put out social media posts condemning the latest symbol of hate being etched on a wall at a synagogue or a yeshiva,” she said. “I’ve had enough with people not being able to go to their place of worship freely as a place of gathering and comfort. This is how we say enough is enough.”

The state legislation runs in parallel with a City Council buffer zone bill championed by Speaker Menin — the first Jewish speaker in the council’s history — who described the measure as among the first acts of her speakership.

Menin told the crowd she had made combating antisemitism a defining priority from the moment she took the gavel, passing a five-point plan that included the buffer zone bill. “It should not be controversial that congregants have the right to freely enter and exit their house of worship without intimidation, harassment, or injury,” she said.

“It should not be controversial for students to enter and exit their school without intimidation, harassment, or injury.” Menin also highlighted a $`1.25 million allocation to the Museum of Jewish Heritage to expand a program bringing every eighth-grade public school student to the museum’s permanent Holocaust exhibition — a response, she said, to studies showing that 34 percent of young New Yorkers believe the Holocaust was a myth or was exaggerated.

“As a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, this is shameful. It’s unconscionable. It’s unacceptable,” said Menin, whose mother is from Hungary. “And I can assure you we are reversing that.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the country, spoke on a deeply personal note, recounting how his family was massacred in Ukraine in 1941 when the Nazis invaded. “When the Nazis told my great grandmother, ‘You’re coming with us,’ she refused, and they machine-gunned every last one of them down — babies, the elderly, and everyone in between,” he said. Schumer connected that history to the present moment. “Far too many have forgotten. We see that as the consequence — rising antisemitism,” he said. “I worry about the future my grandchildren are going to inherit.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who received a standing ovation of her own upon entering, struck a tone of personal resolve. “I was raised to believe deeply in Am Yisrael Chai, and that is how I am raising my kids,” said Tisch, who is Jewish. “I know how meaningful it is for so many of you to have a Jewish police commissioner. It is a responsibility I feel deeply in my mind, in my bones, and in my heart. I worry so that you shouldn’t have to.” She announced what she described as the most robust security plan the NYPD has ever assembled for any parade, with thousands of officers deployed for the Israel Day Parade later that morning.

NY Attorney General Letitia James was characteristically direct. “At a time when we are witnessing a rise in antisemitism, it is not just the responsibility of the Jewish community to respond — it requires all of us,” she said. “Any individual who engages in hate against the Jewish community or any other community will have to deal with Tish James — and she’s from Brooklyn.” The line drew laughter and applause. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated in the state of New York as long as I am the Attorney General,” she added.

Congressman Dan Goldman announced he would introduce the Jewish American Security Act in the House the following week — a bipartisan bill he said would increase and streamline nonprofit security grants, expand eligible expenses to include security personnel, and require social media companies to report to Congress on how their platforms are amplifying or suppressing hate speech.

“We have to stop the Jew tax,” Goldman said, referring to the outsized security burden Jewish institutions absorb. “The rise of antisemitism is scary. Swastikas are now routinely painted on Jewish homes and institutions. It cannot be normalized.”

Congresswoman Grace Meng of Queens highlighted her effort, together with Congressman Adriano Espaillat, to create a new federal grant specifically for security personnel at yeshivas and day schools.

Congressman Mike Lawler, who chairs the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and represents the congressional district with the largest Jewish population in the country, said the fight must cross party lines without exception. “It is imperative to call out antisemitism on the right and on the left,” Lawler said. “Anti-Zionism is antisemitism. It is rooted in Jew hatred, and I, for one, will not stand for it.”

Lawler noted that Met Council serves not only Jewish families but African American, Latino, Asian American, and Muslim families in need, and pledged his office’s continued partnership.

Comptroller Mark Levine praised Met Council CEO David Greenfield, who MC’d the event. “He could be running a Fortune 500 company; he has instead given his life over to addressing poverty in New York” — and pushed back against narratives used to disparage the community.

The IDF announced Sunday that Israeli forces captured the Beaufort ridge in southern Lebanon, returning to the strategic high ground for the first time since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000.

The ridge overlooks Metula, the Galilee Panhandle and key northern communities. For the IDF, the operation is meant to deny Hezbollah the terrain it used to observe Israeli towns, direct anti-tank fire and operate rocket and drone infrastructure.

Israel first captured Beaufort during the First Lebanon War in 1982. The site later became one of the symbols of Israel’s 18-year security zone in southern Lebanon. In May 2000, the IDF demolished its Beaufort outpost and withdrew to the international border, while UN Resolution 1701 was later meant to keep Hezbollah away from the area south of the Litani.

Now, 26 years later, Israel says those arrangements failed to remove the threat. The current operation, led by Division 36, included Golani, Givati, the 7th Armored Brigade, the Fire Brigade and the Multidimensional Unit. Engineering forces built crossings over the Litani to move major forces north of the river.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the move carried both military and symbolic weight. “Twenty-six years after the withdrawal from the security zone in Lebanon, the Israeli flag is once again flying over the peaks overlooking the communities of the Galilee,” Katz said. He added that Israeli forces “will remain there as part of the security zone in Lebanon.”

Brig. Gen. Yiftach Norkin, commander of Division 36, said the operation was meant to destroy Hezbollah’s positions on the ridge “so that direct fire cannot be carried out toward the northern communities and the Galilee Panhandle.” The capture of Beaufort signals that Israel is no longer relying solely on border defenses and diplomatic arrangements to contain Hezbollah. Instead, it is moving to seize and hold the terrain from which the group threatens northern Israel.

The IDF announced that Staff Sergeant Michael Tyukin Hy’d, 21, of Ashkelon, was killed during operations in southern Lebanon.

Tyukin served in the Givati Reconnaissance Battalion (846th), part of the Givati Brigade. He fell while engaged in combat in southern Lebanon.

The same incident in which Tyukin was killed also left four other IDF soldiers lightly wounded.

Authorities are investigating multiple unusual incidents in Brooklyn after more than a dozen people were spotted climbing into and out of sewer manholes, police said Friday.

According to investigators, at least seven individuals were seen entering a manhole near McDonald Avenue and Colin Place in Gravesend at approximately 11 p.m. Thursday. The group remained underground for several hours before resurfacing around 2 a.m. Friday.

“Authorities conducted a thorough investigation following reports of unauthorized individuals inside the sewer system on McDonald Avenue,” read a social media post from the 62nd Precinct. “The NYPD and other agencies have completed their sweep, confirming the area is safe and free of hazards.”

In a separate incident roughly eight miles away, officials said another group of eight people descended into the sewer system near Heyward Street and Bedford Avenue at about 1 a.m. Friday.

Police said those individuals emerged from the manholes shortly before 4 a.m. and then left the area in a vehicle.

The NYPD’s K-9 unit, the FDNY, and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection responded to the scenes and conducted inspections.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Protection said both sewer locations were examined and determined to be structurally safe, while stressing that members of the public should never enter the sewer system.

“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces. For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

City Council Member Susan Zhuang praised emergency responders for their handling of the situation and warned about the dangers associated with entering underground infrastructure.

“What happened in Gravesend and Bedford Avenue this week was dangerous, illegal, and cannot be dismissed. Our sewers contain deadly gases, unstable surfaces, and serious flooding risks, they are not a place anyone should ever enter,” Zhuang said in a statement.

“To anyone tempted to explore these spaces: it is not worth your life. If you see someone entering a manhole, call 911 immediately.”

Investigators are continuing to examine both incidents and are working to determine whether the two groups were connected.