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In a dramatic escalation following a recent Israeli High Court ruling, officials in Israel’s Finance Ministry and Justice Ministry are now considering a complete halt to all yeshiva funding until the government can verify that none of the money is being directed—directly or indirectly—to students classified as draft-evaders.
The emerging proposal, reported by Kan News, comes days after the High Court ruled that the state may not finance, even indirectly, any yeshiva bochurim who are legally obligated to enlist and have not received deferments.
While government allocations to the Olam HaTorah have already been sharply reduced over the past year, funds are still being transferred to yeshivas under existing budget frameworks. Senior officials, however, fear that even with stipends to draft-evading students already frozen, general yeshiva funding may still ultimately benefit those individuals.
Earlier today, Kan News reporter Tamar Almog revealed on Reshet Bet that the Attorney General intervened to block an increase in funding for foreign-born avreichim for precisely that concern, arguing that until the government can prove that allocations are not “leaking” to draft-evaders, such increases cannot move forward.
Tonight, it was disclosed for the first time that ministries are weighing an across-the-board shutdown of the entire yeshiva budget unless and until the state can demonstrate clearly that no part of the funding is supporting students who are obligated to enlist.
Such a measure would freeze billions of shekels annually and would set off a major political and communal upheaval, dealing an unprecedented blow to the chareidi sector and triggering far-reaching implications in the coalition.
{Matzav.com}
Tensions rose on Thursday during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the United Torah Judaism faction, as the continued stalemate over the draft law leaves chareidi lawmakers under growing pressure from their constituents.
The meeting, held under significant time constraints, was described as partially heated. According to remarks aired on Channel 13, Netanyahu tried to calm concerns, saying he has no intention of going to elections now and that he would lead a public campaign in support of the law to ensure it passes.
The MKs, however, expressed the strain they are experiencing on the ground.
MK Yaakov Tessler reportedly told Netanyahu, “We can’t go to the batei knesses because people shout at us over the situation.”
UTJ chairman Yitzchok Goldknopf challenged the prime minister as well, saying, “Your grandfather learned Torah and sat in the mizrach. Here they are putting Torah learners in prison.”
MK Asher added that “the rabbonim have not yet approved the wording.”
According to the leaked comments, Netanyahu reiterated that he wants to maintain the long-term partnership between Likud and UTJ and said, “I am not interested in elections at this time. The alliance between Likud and United Torah Judaism is long term. We will run a campaign explaining why this law is good. Only Edelstein and Shasha-Biton will oppose.”
After the meeting, Likud issued a statement saying: “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu concluded a meeting with the United Torah Judaism faction, part of a series of meetings he is holding with all coalition parties. The prime minister and UTJ members discussed the issues currently on the agenda.”
{Matzav.com}
A civil lawsuit seeking 220,000 shekels in damages has been filed against an Arab bus driver who, two years ago in Yerushalayim, sprayed perfume at a group of chareidi teenagers while telling them they “stink” and ordering them to move to the back of the bus.
The incident, which occurred on Egged’s Route 19, resurfaced after the Honenu legal organization submitted a civil claim on behalf of the youths, following the closure of the police file and the rejection of an appeal against that decision.
Attorney Chaim Bleicher of Honenu, who filed the suit, said the goal is both to compensate the boys and to deter future acts of anti-Jewish harassment.
According to the lawsuit, the event took place on June 16, 2023. The victims, aged 14 and 15, boarded the bus with two friends. The teens, described in the filing as having a distinctly traditional Jewish appearance with peyos, sat quietly in a double seat near the front of the vehicle, leaving an empty row between themselves and the driver.
The claim states that the boys were behaving respectfully when the bus approached the Petach Tikva Junction. At that point, the driver allegedly stopped at a station, glared at them with clear disdain, and instructed them to move to the rear, saying they were “stinking.” He also warned that if they refused, he would spray perfume on them.
When the teens asked why he was ordering them to the back, the driver allegedly took out a bottle of perfume or air freshener and sprayed each of them at close range, directing the mist at their bodies and faces. The suit says the driver’s actions constituted an unlawful assault motivated by racism, as well as defamatory statements toward the youths.
Attorney Bleicher condemned the behavior, saying, “The lawsuit describes a disgusting antisemitic incident targeting children. This is especially serious when involving a bus driver who is responsible for the safety and security of hundreds of passengers every day. Unfortunately, law enforcement authorities declined to address this incident on the criminal level, and we are making an effort, at least in the civil sphere, to compensate the boys for the significant anguish they suffered and to create deterrence against such antisemitic acts.”
{Matzav.com}
Moments before stepping onstage this week, famed singer Avraham Fried recounted a deeply personal incident that occurred during a recent concert tour in Europe, a moment he said he will never forget. At a train station abroad, a police officer suddenly approached him with his lost wallet in hand, leading to an emotional exchange that left a strong impression on the singer.
Speaking with Dudi Kepler, Fried described the whirlwind of travel that preceded the story. “I was in France,” he said, explaining that he had been rushing from place to place: “I was running from one place to another for concerts — Belgium, France, London, Zurich.”
He recalled standing at a train gate in one of those countries, waiting for the train to arrive. “Suddenly I see a tall police officer standing in front of me. He walks over and asks me, ‘Is this yours?’ I look at his hand and see my wallet. ‘Yes,’ I told him immediately. ‘It’s mine.’”
Fried said he was completely confused as to how the wallet had ended up with the officer. “I didn’t understand. I asked the officer: Ribono Shel Olam, this is mine — where did you find it?” The officer explained that Fried had forgotten it on the counter when purchasing his ticket.
But the singer still wondered how the officer had known to whom it belonged in such a crowded station. “I still didn’t understand. I said to the officer: Wait, there are thousands of people here — how did you know this wallet is mine?”
The officer responded that he had no choice but to open it. “He said: ‘With respect, rabbi, I had no choice. I opened the wallet, and inside was a picture of your father.’
“It was a picture of the Rebbe.”
Fried concluded the story with emotion: “So on the train, on the way to the next place, I kept thinking that even a police officer, not Jewish, knows and feels that the Rebbe is a father.”
{Matzav.com}
The passing of the great mekubal and tzaddik, Chacham Moshe Chaim Aryeh zt”l, earlier this week left an immense void in the world of Torah and avodah. Yet alongside the grief emerged an extraordinary life-lesson — a story that encapsulated his unwavering faith, his boundless dedication to mitzvos, and a spiritual test that spanned twenty long years until its miraculous conclusion just hours before his soul returned to its Maker.
Family members, talmidim, and countless visitors who came during the shivah shared accounts of his hidden greatness, quiet devotion, and the radiant light he carried. But one story — the final chapter of his life — stood above all, offering a powerful lesson in emunah, love, and the absolute supremacy of kibbud av.
Among those who knew him, it was well known that Rabbi Moshe Chaim Aryeh shared an unusually deep spiritual connection with the saintly Rav Sasson Mizrachi zt”l, a bond reminiscent of “v’nafsho keshurah b’nafsho.” Their relationship was rooted entirely in Torah, yiras Shamayim, and shared holiness.
After serving for two decades as mashgiach in Yeshivas Porat Yosef–Geulah under the leadership of Chacham Yehuda Tzadka, Rav Moshe Chaim was urged by Rav Sasson to leave the yeshiva world and instead devote himself to the chinuch of bnos Yisroel, establishing schools built on deep purity and Torah values.
Rav Moshe Chaim hesitated. “What will be with my olam haba?” he asked his revered rebbi. Rav Sasson, perceiving both the need of the generation and the unique mission awaiting his talmid, persisted — and then made an extraordinary offer.
He proposed a written pact: each would grant the other “half of his World to Come,” joining their spiritual destinies forever. This rare agreement gave Rav Moshe Chaim the strength to begin the Orah v’Simchah educational network for girls in Yerushalayim.
To complete their partnership, the two purchased adjacent burial plots in the Sanhedria cemetery. When Rav Sasson passed away in 1998, he was buried in his place — while the neighboring grave meant for Rav Moshe Chaim remained empty.
But life brought an unexpected test.
About twenty years ago, Rav Moshe Chaim’s father, Rav Chaim Yitzchak Aryeh zz”l, passed away. To fulfill the mitzvah of kibbud av, he made a stunning decision: he relinquished his own burial plot, the one designated beside his revered teacher, and gave it to his father.
“Kibbud horim comes before everything,” he declared.
With that, the family began a long and grueling search for a new grave in Sanhedria — a search that repeatedly met the same response: “There is no space. It is impossible.” For two decades, their efforts led nowhere.
But Rav Moshe Chaim remained completely calm.
“Do you think Hashem doesn’t know where I’m supposed to be buried?” he told his children. “The place is already reserved. Everything is fine. Hashem forgets no one.”
His serenity stood in stark contrast to the family’s anxious attempts. Again and again he asked them, “Do you believe or not? If you believe, it will happen.”
And then — everything changed.
On Thursday, 7 Kislev, just four days before his passing, one of the sons met by chance with a friend who had once tried to help secure a plot. The son asked him to try once more, explaining that he had promised his father.
At 3:30 that afternoon came an astonishing phone call: “A spot has just now opened,” the friend said in disbelief. “They told me it’s becoming available at this very moment. Send your father’s ID immediately!”
The paperwork was arranged, and on Sunday afternoon the family finalized the purchase of the long-awaited plot.
When they informed the Rav, he did not express surprise. His expression conveyed only one message: This was always part of the plan.
That night, he ate supper as usual. But later that evening, some food entered his lungs, and he was rushed to the hospital. The doctors warned the family to prepare. Early Monday morning, 11 Kislev, Rav Moshe Chaim Aryeh returned his pure soul to Heaven — and was buried in the very plot that had been secured only days earlier.
Thursday: the discovery.
Sunday: the purchase.
Monday morning: the burial.
A sequence orchestrated with perfect precision, as though Heaven had waited for the exact moment to reveal what had been prepared all along.
The Eternal Messages1. From kibbud av, one never loses.
Rav Moshe Chaim surrendered an unparalleled spiritual privilege — being buried beside his rebbe, a partner in eternal reward — to honor his father. His choice teaches that kibbud av v’em overrides personal aspirations, even lofty spiritual ones. And in the end, he lost nothing; Heaven returned to him exactly what he needed, in miraculous fashion.
2. Everything is already decreed; our role is to trust.
For twenty years, the family faced endless refusals. Yet the Rav remained steadfast: “Hashem knows exactly where I need to be buried.” His unwavering faith opened the gates of salvation in the most dramatic way possible.
3. For tzaddikim, miracles are simply the natural order.
While the family marveled at the timing and the impossibility of the events, the Rav accepted it with calm simplicity. As the Ramban writes, everything — even what appears “natural” — is a direct expression of Hashem’s will. The Rav lived with that truth every moment of his life.
{Matzav.com}
A political storm erupted in the Knesset after Likud MK Tally Gotliv used the protection of parliamentary immunity to disclose what she described as a critical and previously concealed detail surrounding the breakdown in Israel’s security posture before the October 7 massacre. Speaking in the plenum, she claimed that the official known as Oscar, who once headed the Shin Bet’s Southern District, dispatched an operative to the Erez crossing late on the night of October 6 for a direct conversation with a senior Hamas operative roughly eight hours before the onslaught began.
Gotliv identified the meeting as highly troubling, stating, “R. from the Shin Bet, known as Oscar, I didn’t add the first letter of your last name out of courtesy, sent an officer to the Erez crossing on the night of October 6th at around 10 p.m. to meet with the cruel Izz al-Din al-Haddad.” Her remarks suggested that the rendezvous took place at a moment when multiple indicators of heightened terror activity were already emerging.
She further alleged that the purpose of the contact was to obtain information straight from the Hamas figure about unusual communications patterns, explaining that the official was seeking clarity about “SIM cards and other signs.” Gotliv fiercely criticized the very idea of relying on such a source, charging that “in your utter lunacy, you believed the bizarre story that the damned terrorist told you.”
Her dramatic intervention came as wider questions mount regarding why several senior security officials have not cooperated with the State Comptroller’s investigation into the intelligence collapse that paved the way for the October 7 attack. Reports indicate that two top Shin Bet figures have repeatedly declined to appear, even after State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman triggered an unprecedented legal mechanism to compel testimony.
Linking the refusal directly to the alleged late-night meeting, Gotliv confronted the official through her remarks, demanding, “Now I understand why you refuse to appear before the State Comptroller.” Her comments implied that the hidden encounter may be at the heart of their reluctance to cooperate.
Gotliv also highlighted the contrasting operational decisions taken in those crucial hours. She pointed to the deployment of the Tequila unit, a covert and highly trained team sent to the Gaza perimeter due to troubling intelligence indicators, while simultaneously thousands of young people attending the Nova music festival remained unprotected in an exposed field near the border. Despite the warnings, she said, reinforcements were never summoned and the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, was not alerted to the destabilizing signs.
She ended her statement with a vow that the truth will ultimately surface, asserting, “But thankfully, we have brave and reliable people who love our nation and this country, and thanks to them, we will ultimately reach the truth.”
{Matzav.com}
