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The New York Public Library is facing criticism after hosting Pulitzer Prize-winning author Benjamin Moser for an event promoting his new book on Jewish anti-Zionism, during which Moser compared Israel to a “dog shelter,” accused major American Jewish organizations of supporting “genocide,” and joined retired Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi in sharply attacking Zionism.
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The September 22 program at the NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street was held to mark the publication of Moser’s new 400-page book, Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History. Moser discussed the book with Khalidi, the Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Arab Studies at Columbia and a longtime critic of Israel. The event was organized through the library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, where Moser was a 2025-2026 fellow while working on the book.
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During the discussion, Moser sought to characterize the relationship that some American Jews historically had with Israel, comparing their support for the Jewish state to support for an animal shelter.
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“Israel was like a dog shelter … Isn’t it nice there’s a dog shelter?” Moser said at the event, held in the NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
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The event did not feature a pro-Israel participant opposite Moser. Instead, Moser was interviewed by Khalidi, whose own scholarship and public advocacy have included extensive criticism of Zionism and Israeli policies. According to the account of the event, Khalidi largely agreed with Moser’s arguments during the discussion.
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Moser also dismissed concerns expressed by some American Jews about growing antisemitism and their personal safety, portraying some of those fears as exaggerated.
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Moser called it a “‘poor me’ thing” where Jews are walking “down Madison Avenue” and complaining that “‘I couldn’t get a croissant and it’s like [Polish Nazi concentration camp] Treblinka,’” Moser said. “This is really stuff you see on social media every day.”
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Both Moser and Khalidi referred during the discussion to Zionists as “intellectual thugs,” contending that supporters of Israel seek to suppress criticism of the Israeli government and its conduct in Gaza.
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Moser went further in his criticism of the organized American Jewish community, saying that “the leadership of almost all of the main Jewish institutions” in America “have supported this genocide” in Gaza and said “nothing has made Jews look worse in history…than Zionism.”
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The characterization of Israel’s conduct in Gaza as genocide remains fiercely disputed. Israel has rejected the allegation, saying its military operations have targeted Hamas following the October 7, 2023, terror attack and that Hamas’s embedding of military infrastructure among civilians has contributed to the enormous civilian toll. Critics of Israel, including Moser and Khalidi, have accused Israel of genocide and systematic mistreatment of Palestinians.
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During the NYPL event, Moser also argued that Israel’s creation involved the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and was followed by the establishment of what he described as an apartheid system. He additionally referred to Theodor Herzl, widely regarded as the father of modern political Zionism, as “weird.”
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The discussion focused heavily on Israel’s conduct in Gaza while giving comparatively little attention to Hamas’s October 7 massacre, according to the account of the event. The Hamas-led assault killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 people taken hostage into Gaza, triggering the war that followed.
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Moser’s book, released by Doubleday on the same day as the library event, seeks to trace a history of Jewish opposition to Zionism through figures from different countries, religious backgrounds and political movements. The publisher describes the work as an effort to challenge the proposition that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are synonymous.
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The library itself has been directly involved in Moser’s work. Moser spent the 2025-2026 academic year as a fellow at the NYPL’s Cullman Center, where his stated project was a global history of anti-Zionist Jews. His previous book Sontag: Her Life and Work won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
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Criticism of the event quickly emerged, with former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, blasting the publicly supported library for providing Moser with a prominent platform.
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“You have a right to free speech. But don’t use our taxpayer dollars to give this Jew hater a platform,” said former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind, founder of the group Americans Against Antisemitism.
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The controversy has also reached City Hall. The office of New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said it had received complaints concerning the program and was communicating with the NYPL to obtain additional information about what occurred.
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The New York Public Library defended its decision to host the event, maintaining that presenting controversial viewpoints does not constitute institutional endorsement.
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“The Library abides by an overarching principle to host speakers, programs, and public discussions that offer a diversity of viewpoints and cultural perspectives,” NYPL spokesperson Melissa Grace said. “We host over 100,000 events a year.
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“Programming is never an institutional endorsement, but rather an opportunity to let people come to their own conclusions, debate, or even change their minds,” Grace added. “We do not police speech, which is consistent with our commitment to intellectual freedom and the protections of the First Amendment.”
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The library also stressed that its programming has included viewpoints from across the Israeli-Palestinian debate and programming focused specifically on Jewish history, antisemitism and Israel.
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Brent Reidy, the NYPL’s director of research libraries, acknowledged the sensitivity of the subject when introducing the Moser event, saying people within and outside the institution have “strong and differing feelings on Zionism, antii-Zionism and rising antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
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“We hold complex and often difficult conversations,” he said.
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The library pointed to its annual observance of Jewish American Heritage Month and previous programs involving a range of Jewish and Israeli subjects. Earlier programming has included an event concerning Holocaust survivor Gary “Pips” Phillips and a discussion featuring Israeli and Palestinian peace activists who had lost relatives in the conflict.
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In 2025, the NYPL hosted Sen. Chuck Schumer for a discussion of his book Antisemitism in America: A Warning. In 2020, it hosted New Yorker editor David Remnick in conversation with Natan Sharansky, the famed Soviet refusenik, former Israeli government minister and human rights activist. ​

The controversy comes as Moser is making the case for his book in a series of appearances and interviews surrounding its release. The work presents anti-Zionism as a longstanding current within Jewish intellectual and religious history rather than a phenomenon arising principally from the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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The book itself has already generated substantial debate. A recent Jewish Book Council review described it as deeply critical of Zionism and catalogued a series of explosive allegations made by Moser against Zionists, while other reviews have challenged elements of his historical framing and accused the book of minimizing complexities that do not fit its thesis.
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For the NYPL, however, the immediate controversy centers less on the publication of Moser’s book than on the decision by one of the nation’s most prominent publicly supported cultural institutions to provide a platform for the discussion — and whether its stated commitment to presenting diverse viewpoints adequately addresses criticism that this particular program offered no substantive pro-Israel counterpoint.

{Matzav.com}

A new University of Chicago survey is raising alarms about growing acceptance of political violence in the United States, with political scientist Robert Pape reporting that 25% of American adults — including 44% of self-identified Democrats — say they support the use of force to prevent President Donald Trump from being president.
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Pape, who directs the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, or CPOST, said the overall figure represents roughly 65 million American adults. The nationally representative polling is conducted by CPOST in conjunction with NORC at the University of Chicago, as part of a series of surveys examining American attitudes toward political violence.
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The findings measure expressed support for the use of force, rather than respondents’ intentions to personally commit violence. Pape said, however, that years of follow-up focus groups and survey experiments conducted by his team indicate that many respondents who endorse “force” understand the term to encompass serious physical violence.
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Pape discussed the latest findings in an interview with podcaster Chris Williamson, warning that political violence in the United States has reached levels not experienced in decades and could become particularly dangerous surrounding the 2026 midterm elections.
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“We haven’t seen this level of violence, political violence, since the 1960s,” Pape said in a recent interview.
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Pape has warned that, in an extreme scenario, the coming election period could become “the most violent election in American history.”
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He attributed his concern not to a single political party or ideology, but to several trends occurring simultaneously, including intense partisan hostility, demographic and social upheaval, economic pressures and the willingness of substantial minorities of Americans to tell pollsters that political force can sometimes be justified.
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Discussing his newest data with Williamson, Pape said 25% of adults nationwide now endorse using force to prevent Trump from being president. Among respondents identifying themselves as Democrats, that figure climbed to 44%.
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“This is a stunning number,” he said. “This is not just another turn of the data.”
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The latest findings represent a sharp increase from earlier CPOST surveys. Pape said support for force against Trump had previously registered at approximately 9%, before reaching 14% in September 2025. A May 2025 CPOST survey found 39% of Democrats agreeing that force was justified to remove Trump from the presidency, compared with the latest figure of 44%.
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Pape said his researchers have also sought to determine what respondents actually mean when they say they support “force.” Through focus groups and additional survey work, he said, researchers found that among those supporting force against Trump, 55% associated the term with lethal violence, including assassination, while other respondents envisioned violence resembling riots or mass civil disorder.
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At the same time, Pape’s research has also identified support for coercive political force among Trump supporters. In the latest polling, he said 16% of Americans supported Trump using the military to suppress Democratic protesters.
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For Pape, those findings are evidence of a broader phenomenon he describes as “violent populism,” in which the willingness to justify political violence is spreading beyond organized extremist movements and becoming increasingly accepted among otherwise ordinary Americans.
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Pape argues that social media can intensify and spread political rage, but he does not regard online platforms as the fundamental cause. Instead, his research points to deeper political, economic, demographic and social forces driving the increasing willingness to view violence as an acceptable response to political conflict.
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His greatest concern surrounding the midterm elections is not necessarily Election Day itself. Instead, Pape believes the most dangerous period could begin once ballots are counted and continue through the certification process and the seating of elected officials in January.
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“That’s the real danger zone,” he said.
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According to Pape, a crucial factor will be whether defeated candidates and their supporters accept election results or instead conclude that victories were illegitimately taken from them. A contested result combined with already elevated public support for political violence, he argues, could create conditions for serious unrest.
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The latest numbers come against the backdrop of two assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
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On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was struck by a bullet, rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed, and spectators David Dutch and James Copenhaver were wounded. The FBI subsequently investigated the shooting as an assassination attempt and potential act of domestic terrorism. Investigators determined that Crooks acted alone but never established a definitive motive.
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Two months later, Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested after a Secret Service agent spotted him concealed along the fence line of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a rifle as Trump was playing nearby.
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A federal jury convicted Routh in September 2025 of attempting to assassinate Trump, assaulting a federal law enforcement officer and firearms offenses. In February 2026, a federal judge sentenced Routh to life in prison plus an additional 84 months.
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Trump and Republican officials have not been the only targets of politically motivated violence and threats. Democratic elected officials have also faced attacks and threats, a fact Pape cites in arguing that the current danger cannot be understood solely through a partisan lens.
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Historical research nevertheless shows significant differences in the lethality of extremist violence. National Institute of Justice-funded research examining ideologically motivated violence since 1990 found that far-right extremists carried out 227 attacks resulting in more than 520 deaths, while far-left extremists were responsible for 42 attacks resulting in 78 deaths. Those historical figures describe extremist violence over several decades and are distinct from Pape’s current polling of public attitudes toward political force.
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The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing remains the deadliest prominent example of modern anti-government far-right terrorism in the United States. Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killed 168 people.
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Pape contends that the political environment changed substantially beginning around the 2016 election. His research describes the ensuing period as an emerging era of “violent populism,” marked by increasing threats and violence directed at political figures across ideological lines.
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CPOST has also studied threats against members of Congress. Pape’s research has found a dramatic increase in charged threats against lawmakers beginning after 2016, with Democratic and Republican members alike becoming targets.
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Pape’s concern is therefore less about assigning political violence exclusively to the right or the left than about the growing number of Americans across the political spectrum who appear prepared to justify it.
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“Once you come to see that there are tens of millions of Americans that support political violence, that changes everything,” Pape said.
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Another striking example of changing public attitudes followed the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Luigi Mangione was charged in the killing, which generated widespread discussion online about anger toward the health insurance industry.
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An Emerson College poll conducted shortly afterward found that 68% of voters considered the killer’s actions unacceptable, while 17% found them acceptable and 16% were unsure. The partisan differences were notable: 22% of Democrats considered the killing acceptable, compared with 12% of Republicans and 16% of independents. Among voters ages 18 to 29, 41% said the killing was acceptable.
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A separate Generation Lab survey conducted among 1,026 college students in December 2024 likewise found substantial sympathy for the killing among younger Americans, adding to concerns among researchers about weakening social taboos against political and ideological violence.
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Pape argues that the danger increases when political violence begins to acquire a broader constituency of people who may never themselves carry out an attack but nevertheless regard violence committed by others as legitimate.
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His fear is that the United States could enter a cycle in which violence against one political faction becomes justification for retaliation by the other, progressively eroding longstanding norms against using physical force to resolve political disputes.
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While most Americans continue to reject political violence, Pape says the growth of the minority willing to justify it represents a significant change — particularly as the country approaches another contentious national election and both sides increasingly perceive the political stakes as existential.

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A potentially significant shift is emerging within Agudas Yisroel ahead of Israel’s upcoming election, with senior figures reportedly saying that party chairman MK Yitzchok Goldknopf could abstain rather than vote against a minority government headed by Gadi Eisenkot — a move that could alter the parliamentary arithmetic needed to establish Israel’s next government.
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The report was first publicized Monday evening by political commentator Amit Segal, who cited senior figures in Ger as saying that Goldknopf would not necessarily vote against an Eisenkot-led minority government. Instead, according to those sources, he could abstain from the confidence vote. The report remains an assessment attributed to party and Ger sources, rather than a formal commitment by Goldknopf or Agudas Yisroel.
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Other reports indicated that Goldknopf may not be alone. MK Yaakov Tessler, another Ger representative in Agudas Yisroel, was also named as someone who could potentially abstain, while some political sources suggested that additional members of United Torah Judaism might ultimately take the same course. There is considerably more uncertainty, however, regarding the position of Degel HaTorah, and no such decision has been announced by the party.
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The development comes after an extended rupture between Agudas Yisroel and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu over the failure to secure legislation protecting the status of bnei yeshivos. Goldknopf has repeatedly argued over the past year that the chareidi parties entered Netanyahu’s coalition with a commitment that the status of lomdei Torah would be legislatively resolved, and he has sharply criticized Netanyahu over what he regards as the failure to fulfill that commitment.
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The dispute eventually led Goldknopf and Agudas Yisroel away from the Netanyahu government, and Goldknopf has increasingly rejected the assumption that the chareidi parties must automatically remain part of a permanent Netanyahu-led political bloc. Months ago, he publicly warned against assuming that the chareidi electorate would remain part of the Netanyahu bloc if the government failed to deliver on the issue of bnei yeshivos.
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The significance of an abstention could be substantial. A government seeking the Knesset’s confidence does not necessarily need 61 affirmative votes if enough MKs abstain; what matters in an ordinary confidence vote is whether the government receives more votes in favor than against. As a result, every MK who abstains rather than votes against a proposed government can change the numbers needed for it to take office.
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That possibility takes on added importance because Eisenkot has already been publicly discussing a scenario in which he could seek to establish a minority government if his political camp does not reach 61 seats. Earlier this month, Channel 12 reported that Eisenkot was preparing what has been described as the “Eisenkot Plan,” under which a minority government could seek Knesset confidence without bringing the Arab parties into the coalition.
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Until now, much of the discussion surrounding such a government centered on the possibility of Arab parties abstaining. The latest development raises a different possibility: that members of Agudas Yisroel could themselves decline to vote against an Eisenkot government, potentially reducing the number of votes required for such a government to survive its initial confidence vote.
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Goldknopf, however, responded to Monday’s report by laying down what he described as Agudas Yisroel’s fundamental condition for dealing with any future government, without confirming that he would abstain in favor of allowing an Eisenkot government to take office.
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“Agudas Yisrael will not support the establishment of a government and will not provide outside support to any government without resolving the status of yeshiva students and passing a draft law without sanctions and without quotas,” Goldknopf said.
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The wording immediately drew attention because Goldknopf did not explicitly say that Agudas Yisroel would vote against an Eisenkot government. At the same time, his declaration that the party would not “provide outside support” to a government that failed to satisfy its demands could also be understood as ruling out an abstention designed to enable such a government to take office. For now, therefore, the precise position remains unresolved.
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Agudas Yisroel’s insistence on legislation without quotas or sanctions is not new. The party’s Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah has opposed legislation imposing sanctions on lomdei Torah, and Goldknopf has repeatedly placed preservation of the status of bnei yeshivos at the center of the party’s political demands.
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The latest reports nevertheless underscore how deeply the draft-law dispute has altered the political relationship between Agudas Yisroel and Netanyahu. Goldknopf has previously said that Netanyahu bore primary responsibility for the failure to pass legislation acceptable to the chareidi parties and has argued that the alliance cannot simply be taken for granted.
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For now, the reported abstention remains a possible post-election scenario rather than an announced Agudas Yisroel policy. Much will depend on the election results, the position ultimately taken by the Gedolei Yisroel, the negotiations over the status of bnei yeshivos, and whether any prospective coalition is prepared to meet Agudas Yisroel’s demand for legislation without quotas and sanctions.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] TalkTV presenter Alex Phillips confronted British Defense Secretary Wes Streeting in a heated exchange over the government’s handling of national security, immigration and terrorism following the arrest of five men in connection with a suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
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The confrontation came after five men were arrested near the military installation, which is used by the U.S. military. British counterterrorism authorities said Monday that the suspects are all British nationals in their 20s from London. Police are investigating whether individuals acting on behalf of a foreign state may have been involved, though authorities have not established a motive publicly.
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Phillips focused much of her criticism on reports that a local farmer raised the alarm after encountering masked men and suspicious vehicles near the base. Streeting has since said British security authorities had prior awareness of the suspects, suggesting that the farmer had only a partial picture of the broader operation.
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During an interview with The Express, Phillips pressed Streeting over what she portrayed as interconnected threats involving illegal immigration, terrorism, Islamist extremism and Russia.
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“You’re the defence minister. What are you doing about the small boat crossings, the terror cells, Islamism, the threat from Russia?” she asked.
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Phillips then challenged the British government over its policies toward Israel, questioning why London would take punitive measures against a country that provides intelligence assistance to Britain.
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“Why is Israel sanctioned when they provide a lot of our intelligence reports for us?”
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Phillips also accused the government of failing to heed warnings from intelligence officials and former senior security figures who have raised concerns about immigration and national security. “I would take a little guess here, Wes,” she said.
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She then suggested that the suspects in the Fairford case may have entered Britain from abroad specifically to carry out an attack — an assertion that was contradicted by information subsequently released by British authorities identifying all five arrested men as British nationals from London.
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“Let me teach you a thing or two, in case you don’t get it yet. I would imagine that whatever has happened near Fairford, the people who did it probably came into the country from elsewhere and came there specifically to do whatever they were planning to do. Perhaps, let me make it clear, you should join a dot, right?”
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Phillips continued by attacking the government’s treatment of asylum seekers and its use of hotels and other facilities to accommodate migrants.
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“They told you it themselves. And yet you’re still going, oh, yeah, aren’t they nice? They’re just asylum seekers. Give them a hotel. Let them stay on a military base. And don’t worry about that perimeter fence. We’ll open it wider.”
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The five men were initially detained on suspicion of offenses under Britain’s Explosives Act and preparation of a terrorist act after police received a report concerning three suspicious vehicles traveling toward RAF Fairford early Sunday. Counterterrorism police said Monday that the investigation remained ongoing and had generated multiple new lines of inquiry.

Matzav.com regrets to inform you of the petirah of Rebbetzin Devorah Marcus a”h, wife of Hagaon Rav Mordechai Marcus zt”l, longtime rov of the Lakewood Minyan in Flatbush. Rebbetzin Marcus was niftar on Thursday, before Yom Tov.

For decades, Rebbetzin Marcus stood faithfully at the side of her illustrious husband, enabling him to devote his life to limud haTorah and harbotzas haTorah. Behind the extraordinary Torah accomplishments for which Rav Marcus was renowned was a devoted eishes chayil who built a home centered entirely around Torah and created the environment in which his remarkable aliyah and accomplishments could flourish.

Rav Marcus zt”l, who was niftar in 2020 at the age of 78, was regarded by those who knew him as one of the exceptional Torah minds of his time. He possessed an extraordinary command of Shas, Shulchan Aruch and poskim, combined with an analytical brilliance that made an impression on distinguished talmidei chachomim and rabbonim who learned with him and attended his shiurim. In his younger years, Rav Marcus learned at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef, RJJ, where his unusual abilities were already evident. Even as a young ben Torah, his brilliance was recognized by his rabbeim, who respected the incisiveness with which he approached a sugya. He could identify a weakness in a sevara almost immediately and possessed an uncommon ability to penetrate to the heart of a difficult Torah discussion.

Over the years, Rav Marcus acquired a breathtaking breadth of yedios haTorah. His mastery extended across virtually every area of Shas and halacha, yet his knowledge was accompanied by the ability to analyze difficult questions with remarkable depth and clarity.

Despite what he knew and what he had accomplished, there was little outward indication that one was speaking with a man of such extraordinary stature. His middos, simplicity and respect for every person were as memorable to those around him as his brilliance in Torah.

Throughout that life of Torah, Rebbetzin Marcus was his steadfast partner.

She understood what her husband possessed and what his Torah could mean for others, and she devoted herself to allowing that Torah to grow unhindered. The demands of raising a large family and maintaining a home were carried with dedication and strength, while Rav Marcus was able to spend his days and years immersed in learning, teaching, writing and answering difficult shailos.

But Rebbetzin Marcus’s contribution was far greater than simply making room for her husband’s Torah. Together, Rav and Rebbetzin Marcus built a magnificent family. Torah was the center around which family life revolved, and the fruits of that partnership can be seen in the generations they raised.

Rebbetzin Marcus is survived by her children, all devoted bnei Torah and marbitzei Torah: R’ Shloimy Marcus, R’ Shaya Marcus, R’ Michoel Marcus, R’ Aharon Marcus, R’ Avrumi Marcus, R’ Moshe Marcus, R’ Aryeh Marcus, Mrs. Miriam Hendler and Mrs. Rochel Hamaoui, as well as numerous grandchildren.

The levayah was held Thursday night at the Congregation Sons of Israel Memorial Chapel on Ramsey Avenue in Lakewood.

Yehi zichrah boruch.

{Matzav.com}

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New details have emerged about the extraordinary measures Israel reportedly took to prevent Hezbollah from discovering the booby-trapped pager operation before thousands of the devices were detonated in September 2024, including the targeted killing of a suspicious Hezbollah operative and an airstrike that destroyed equipment sent from Iran to test the pagers.
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The previously undisclosed details are featured in “Paging Hezbollah,” a documentary directed by Justin Falk that is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 30. The film examines the Israeli operation and the tense period leading up to its activation, when officials feared Hezbollah might uncover the plot.
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According to information being disclosed ahead of the documentary’s release, Israeli officials took covert action on multiple occasions after indications emerged that Hezbollah was getting dangerously close to discovering what had been done to the communications devices.
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One of the most serious concerns arose in early August 2024, when Israel’s security establishment learned that a Hezbollah operative had become suspicious of the pagers that had been distributed among members of the organization and was preparing to inspect them.
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Israeli officials responded by targeting and killing the operative before he could carry out the examination. But because his sudden elimination could itself have alerted Hezbollah that his suspicions were well-founded, the strike was reportedly designed to create the impression that another person who was nearby had actually been the intended target.
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Israeli intelligence later identified another potential threat to the operation when Iran dispatched an unusual shipment of advanced mirror machines to Lebanon. The equipment was reportedly intended to examine the pagers and determine their reliability and authenticity.
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The Israeli Air Force subsequently attacked the shipment, destroying the testing equipment before it could be used. As with the earlier targeted killing, Israel reportedly sought to conceal the actual reason for the strike, portraying it instead as an ordinary intelligence-based operation against Hezbollah.
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The documentary includes interviews with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, former Mossad chief David Barnea, former Northern Command commander Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin and other officials and figures involved in the events.
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The filmmakers also detail the methods Israel reportedly used to penetrate Hezbollah’s supposedly secure communications infrastructure, combining sophisticated engineering with extensive infiltration of the terror group’s international supply chain to place the compromised devices into Hezbollah’s hands.

{Matzav.com}

​The IDF and Shin Bet have raised their level of alert in the Gaza Strip following specific intelligence indicating that Hamas may attempt to carry out an attack aimed at kidnapping an Israeli soldier in the near future.
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In response to the intelligence warning, heightened security measures have been introduced across Israeli forces operating inside Gaza, with particular attention being given to preventing Hamas terrorists from exploiting vulnerabilities in IDF positions or troop movements.
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According to a report by Ynet, the alert status has been increased in both operational divisions currently deployed in the Gaza Strip — the territorial division and the 99th Division.
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As part of the heightened readiness, senior commanders from all units operating in the Gaza sector were instructed several days ago to remain in the area until further notice.
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Commanders have also been ordered to carry out ongoing readiness assessments, review and drill emergency procedures, and reinforce vigilance among the soldiers serving under their command.
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Israeli forces are presently positioned at approximately 40 outposts within the area of the “Yellow Line,” while another 10 IDF outposts are situated beyond the security fence.
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Security precautions have been tightened at each of those positions in light of the intelligence warning. Patrols have been increased, defensive zones surrounding the positions have undergone additional inspections, and soldiers have received more stringent orders governing their movements.
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The new directives also place particular emphasis on preventing soldiers from moving alone and prohibit troops from unnecessarily remaining in exposed locations, as the IDF and Shin Bet seek to minimize opportunities for a potential kidnapping attack.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Tens of thousands of mispallelim packed the Kosel plaza in Yerushalayim on Monday morning for the first mass Birchas Kohanim of Chol Hamoed Sukkos, with hundreds of kohanim raising their hands together to bentch the enormous crowd during Shacharis and Mussaf.
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The traditional gathering, now in its 56th year, was originally established by Rav Menachem Mendel Gefner zt”l and has for many years been organized by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation during Chol Hamoed Pesach and Sukkos.
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Among those attending were the Rishon Letzion, Rav Dovid Yosef; Chief Rabbi Rav Kalman Ber; Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rav of the Kosel and Holy Sites; Defense Minister Yisrael Katz; National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir; Minister Yitzchak Wasserlauf; Yerushalayim Mayor Moshe Lion; Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy; Yerushalayim District Police Commander Avshalom Peled; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; Western Wall Heritage Foundation director Mordechai “Soli” Eliav; Religious Services Ministry director-general Yehuda Avidan; former hostage Bar Kuperstein; and Motti Wieder, father of Sgt. Maj. Elishiv Eitan Wieder Hy”d.
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Rav Rabinowitz led the tefillos as shliach tzibbur. During Birchas Kohanim, Defense Minister Katz, who is a kohen, joined the hundreds of other kohanim in duchening.
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Following davening, a kabbolas pnei rabo gathering was held with the Chief Rabbis and Rav Rabinowitz, with thousands of people passing by to receive their brachos for Yom Tov.
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Particularly emotional moments took place during the gathering when former hostage Bar Kuperstein joined the tens of thousands in a tefillas hoda’ah, expressing gratitude for the return of the hostages a year ago.
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Motti Wieder, whose son Sgt. Maj. Elishiv Eitan Wieder Hy”d fell in battle in southern Lebanon on Erev Sukkos two years ago, recited Kaddish in memory of his son.
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A second mass Birchas Kohanim gathering is scheduled to take place at the Kosel on Thursday, giving those unable to attend Monday’s event another opportunity to participate. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said the event will be broadcast beginning at 8:45 a.m.
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The foundation urged those planning to visit the Kosel throughout Sukkos to follow instructions from Israel Police and event personnel, who will regulate the flow of visitors into the plaza during the heavily attended Yom Tov period.
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The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said: “The gathering was dedicated with heartfelt prayers for the welfare of IDF soldiers, the recovery of the wounded, and the peace and unity of Israel. The Foundation prepared in advance for the arrival of tens of thousands of visitors and worshippers during Sukkos to commemorate the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and we invite the public to participate in the second gathering, which will take place this coming Thursday.”
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Meanwhile, the foundation apologized to hundreds of visitors seeking tickets for tours of the Kosel tunnels during Chol Hamoed Sukkos, saying tickets had already sold out in advance. Only a small number of spaces remain for the new “Gate of Heaven” presentation that recently opened to Kosel visitors.

WATCH:



{Matzav.com}

The Torah community of Ramat Shlomo in Yerushalayim is mourning the sudden petirah of Rav Shmuel Shmelka Klein zt”l, one of the neighborhood’s respected talmidei chachomim, who was niftar at the age of 70.
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Rav Shmuel Shmelka was born on 26 Sivan 5716/1956 to his father, Rav Yaakov Yisroel Klein zt”l of Bnei Brak.
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Upon reaching marriageable age, he married his wife, the daughter of Rav Nochum Tzvi Kaztzkow zt”l.
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Throughout his life, Rav Shmuel Shmelka devoted himself with exceptional diligence to limud haTorah. Those who knew him describe a person whose life revolved around Torah and avodas Hashem, and who was beloved by those around him for the warmth and pleasant countenance with which he greeted others.
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Friends and acquaintances recalled an elevated personality who continued serving Hashem faithfully despite considerable yissurim that he endured over the years. He accepted his suffering with emunah and without complaint, while continuing his dedication to Torah and avodas Hashem.
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His sudden petirah during Chol Hamoed Sukkos came as a profound shock to his family, friends and the many people who knew him in the Ramat Shlomo community.
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The levayah was held today, the second day of Chol Hamoed Sukkos, at 3:30 p.m. from his home at 3 Lopian Street in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Yerushalayim. From there, the levayah proceeded to Har Hazeisim for kevurah.
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Rav Shmuel Shmelka leaves behind his grieving family, including members of the Klein, Broide, Stenger, Heiman and Zaritzky families.
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The family will sit shivah at his home following Yom Tov.
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Yehi zichro boruch.

​The decades-long legal battle surrounding the Ponevezh Yeshiva has now reached Israel’s Supreme Court, with Rav Shmuel Markowitz, the Mesores HaTorah organization and Rebbetzin Tziporah Markovitz seeking to overturn a lower-court ruling that upheld an arbitration decision requiring their faction to vacate portions of the yeshiva campus. They are also seeking an emergency stay of the eviction, currently scheduled for September 30, and of the financial obligations imposed upon them.
​
At the heart of the appeal is the contention that a final arbitration ruling issued more than 25 years ago, in 2000, has effectively been rewritten retroactively. According to the petitioners, that original ruling granted Rav Markovitz substantive, independent and permanent rights within the yeshiva, even describing him as a “king in his domain” with regard to the area placed under his authority. A subsequent arbitration ruling issued in 2025, however, determined that those rights had effectively expired around 2007.
​
The petitioners argue that this is the central legal flaw in the latest decision. They say the 2000 ruling contained no provision under which those rights would expire. Instead, they contend, the later arbitrator created an “implied condition” that did not appear in the original ruling and, according to the appeal, had never even been asserted by either party.
​
The appeal maintains that a final and binding ruling cannot be revisited years later by inserting a condition that was never part of the original decision and then using that newly created condition to extinguish rights expressly established by the earlier ruling. The petitioners argue that what occurred was therefore not merely an interpretation of the 2000 ruling, but a substantive alteration — and perhaps effective nullification — of its outcome under the guise of interpretation.
​
They also point to what they describe as an consequence of the 2025 decision: individuals who had occupied and used the premises for years based on rights they say were established by a binding arbitration ruling were retroactively deemed to have become “trespassers” as far back as 2007. According to the petitioners, no ruling at the time declared that their rights had expired, and the later decision did not establish a precise date on which the alleged expiration occurred.
​
A separate component of the appeal challenges the Tel Aviv District Court’s reasoning in approving the arbitration award. The petitioners say one of the central grounds for rejecting their request to overturn the award was the conclusion that Rav Markovitz was now barred from relying upon the 2000 ruling because of positions he had taken in earlier legal proceedings.
​
The petitioners counter that the specific argument of legal preclusion ultimately relied upon by the court was never presented against them in a manner that gave them a proper opportunity to address or rebut it.
​
Their Supreme Court filing describes the result as a legal “trap.” They note that an earlier court ruling in 2015 held that the 2000 arbitration decision was final and could not be changed. The petitioners say they were consequently required to conduct themselves in accordance with that determination, yet their reliance upon that same final ruling is now being invoked against them as grounds for preventing them from asserting their rights. They characterize this as a miscarriage of justice and a violation of their right to present their arguments.
​
According to the petitioners, the legal ramifications extend far beyond the longstanding dispute within Ponevezh. They argue that if a final arbitration ruling can later be interpreted by adding an unwritten “implied condition,” and that condition can then be used retroactively to eliminate rights expressly granted in the original ruling, the case raises fundamental questions about the finality of court judgments and arbitration awards generally.
​
The appeal therefore asks the Supreme Court to address what the petitioners describe as a precedent-setting legal question: where the boundary lies between interpreting a final ruling and effectively changing or overturning it, and how much authority a subsequent arbitrator possesses to alter the practical consequences of an earlier binding decision.
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Alongside those broader legal arguments, the petitioners are warning of severe and immediate consequences if the eviction is carried out before the Supreme Court considers the case. The current ruling sets September 30, 2026, as the deadline to vacate the premises.
​
According to the application, the affected Ponevezh campus currently serves approximately 1,266 talmidim and avreichim. That number includes 226 minors, while approximately 837 of the talmidim live in the yeshiva’s dormitory facilities.
​
The petitioners say there is presently no alternative campus capable of accommodating an institution of that size. Their request for a stay states that a replacement complex would require approximately 18,000 to 25,000 square meters of space, including batei medrash, classrooms, dormitories, a kitchen, dining rooms and the necessary supporting infrastructure.
​
Even under an optimistic timetable, they contend, preparing an alternative campus and securing all necessary permits and approvals would take at least two years. They estimate that such a move would cost no less than NIS 200 million.
​
The petitioners further note that the arbitrator himself acknowledged the enormous practical difficulties involved in an eviction. According to their filing, the arbitrator recognized that relocating Rav Markovitz’s yeshiva framework would require extensive resources and that finding a solution for such a large number of talmidim would be no simple undertaking. At the same time, they say, the arbitrator determined that transferring the property to the opposing side was not necessary for that side’s current operations.
​
That finding, the petitioners argue, strengthens their request to preserve the existing situation until the Supreme Court rules on the appeal. They maintain that once the yeshiva is evacuated, restoring the previous situation would be virtually impossible, whereas temporarily postponing the eviction would, in their view, cause no substantial harm to the respondents.
​
In a statement accompanying the filing, the petitioners said:
​
“What was placed before the Supreme Court today is not another chapter in the Ponevezh dispute. This is a fundamental question of the rule of law: Is a final judgment truly final, or can it be rewritten 25 years later, an ‘implied condition’ that was never written in it invented, and then it can be retroactively determined that rights that were defined as permanent simply disappeared.
​
“The result that was reached is absurd: In 2025, an entire community was told that it had effectively been a ‘trespasser’ since 2007 – even though throughout all those years it was never told that its rights had expired, it was never determined when they expired, and the basis for their expiration did not appear at all in the final ruling under which it operated.
​
“More seriously, the judgment that approved the arbitration relies, in our view, on an argument of preclusion that was not raised against the petitioners in a manner that allowed them to address it. Substantive rights cannot be denied on the basis of an argument to which the party harmed by it was not given a genuine opportunity to respond.
​
“Now they are seeking to carry out the irreversible even before the Supreme Court has had its say: to evict 1,266 students and avreichim, hundreds of them minors and dormitory students, and dismantle a campus and a way of life that were built over decades – when even the arbitration ruling itself determined that the other side does not need the property for its current operations. First it must be determined whether the ruling can stand legally, and only afterward should a result be implemented that cannot be reversed. A final ruling is not a draft that can be rewritten after a quarter of a century.”

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of the Djerka Rebbe, Rav Aharon Brizel zt”l, who was niftar in New York at the age of 73 following a serious medical condition.

​The Rebbe had grown increasingly weak in recent weeks, with his condition fluctuating. Over the last several days, his health deteriorated significantly and he was hospitalized in New York in serious condition. His chassidim, family members and admirers throughout the world davened fervently for the refuah of Rav Aharon ben Chana Yuta, and a major atzeres tefillah was held at his bais medrash in Boro Park. Sadly, the Rebbe was niftar surrounded by members of his family and those close to him.
​
The Rebbe was born in Yerushalayim on 27 Nissan 5713/1953 to his father, Rav Pinchas Brizel zt”l, a prominent Karlin chossid and a member of the distinguished Brizel family, which has long been associated with the old Yerushalmi community. His mother, Chana Yuta a”h, was a daughter of Rav Chaim Hy”d, who served as a dayan in Kleinwardein.
​
Growing up in Yerushalayim, Rav Aharon absorbed Torah and yiras Shomayim from an early age. He became a close talmid of the Birkas Shalom of Ashlag, Rav Baruch Shalom Ashlag zt”l, the eldest son of the Baal HaSulam, Rav Yehuda Leib Ashlag zt”l. From his rebbe, Rav Aharon absorbed a distinctive approach to avodas Hashem, pnimiyus haTorah and chassidus, with particular emphasis on middos, compassion and love for other Yidden.
​
Rav Aharon eventually established his home in the United States and founded the Djerka chassidus. His batei medrash in Boro Park and Yerushalayim became known not only as places of Torah and tefillah, but as addresses for extraordinary hachnosas orchim and chessed.
​
The Rebbe’s path toward becoming an Admor was itself unusual. He initially established his following not as a Rebbe, but as a mekubal teaching Kabbalah according to the approach of Ashlag. A group of devoted talmidim gradually gathered around him, eventually becoming his chassidim.
​
Over the years, he established his home and bais medrash on Lapidot Street in Yerushalayim’s Bais Yisroel neighborhood. His home became particularly renowned for its open doors, with dozens of bochurim regularly joining him at his table every Shabbos.
​
Indeed, hachnosas orchim became one of the defining features of the Rebbe’s life. His doors and his heart were open to people from every background, particularly those who were struggling, lonely or simply needed somewhere to go. Whether in Eretz Yisroel or America, visitors knew that they could find a warm meal, a welcoming face and a place where they would be made to feel at home.
​
Those who knew the Rebbe related that his hachnosas orchim was never merely something delegated to gabbaim or followers. Despite the people surrounding him and his position as a Rebbe, Rav Aharon personally involved himself in caring for those who came through his doors.
​
Following a path reminiscent of Rav Shayele of Kerestir zy”a, the Rebbe would enter the kitchen himself, prepare food and personally distribute meals to hungry and needy Yidden. He performed these acts with simplicity and warmth, sharing in the pain and difficulties of those who turned to him for assistance.
​
At the same time, his bais medrash became a gathering place for chassidim, talmidei chachomim and Yidden seeking greater closeness to Hashem. Rav Aharon was known for his fiery avodas hatefillah, his warm words of encouragement and his unusual ability to combine depth in pnimiyus haTorah with simplicity, accessibility and a welcoming chassidishe warmth that drew people toward him.
​
The Rebbe endured a particularly painful personal tragedy during the past year with the untimely petirah of his granddaughter, Mrs. Miriam Sarah Bard a”h, daughter of Rav Moshe Shmuel Rottenberg, director of the Rav Lehoshia chessed organization. She was just 24 years old when she was niftar following a serious illness.
​
Despite the profound pain of that loss, the Rebbe accepted the decree with emunah and continued leading and strengthening those around him with tremendous devotion, even as he himself endured considerable suffering.
​
The Rebbe leaves behind a distinguished family of sons, daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren, including marbitzei Torah and yirah, who continue the Torah, avodah and chessed that characterized his life and his leadership in the chassidishe communities of Eretz Yisroel and the United States.
​
Details regarding the levayah will be announced when they become available.
​
Yehi zichro boruch.

Rav Dov Landau, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka, issued an unusually forceful warning Sunday about what he described as an existential battle confronting the Olam HaTorah, amid increased pressure on yeshiva bochurim to enlist in the IDF.

Rav Landau delivered the remarks during a special Chol Hamoed Sukkos shiur at the new Slabodka bais medrash in Elad. Following the shiur, the Rosh Yeshiva addressed the hundreds of bochurim and others in attendance with brief but pointed words of chizuk concerning the current situation.

“May Hashem help us, together with all the multitudes of Your nation, Klal Yisroel, that all evil decrees against us should be nullified,” Rav Landau began.

He then spoke directly about the challenges currently confronting the yeshiva world, warning that the issue should not be regarded as merely another political or governmental dispute.

“The entire Torah world now stands before a decisive and existential battle,” Rav Landau said. “This is no ordinary battle. It is a battle of the Torah itself! It is a battle for those who study Torah! And it must not be taken lightly.”

The Rosh Yeshiva concluded by calling upon bnei yeshiva to respond to the situation by strengthening their commitment to limud haTorah, remaining deeply immersed in their learning despite the pressures surrounding them.

“May we merit Divine assistance and be able to continue studying in depth with even greater dedication, be guided by the learning, and remaining fully immersed in our learning,” Rav Landau said.

{Matzav.com}

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese apologized Monday after acknowledging that she had incorrectly understood both the origin of the word “antisemitism” and the meaning of a term used for certain Jewish prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.
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“I sincerely apologize,” Albanese wrote on X. “I misread the term ‘Muselmann’ (Muslim) used in Nazi camps for prisoners at the brink of death, wrongly inferring that the term antisemitism originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples. In fact it was coined specifically to denote hatred of Jews.”
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The apology followed earlier remarks by Albanese in which she asserted that Jews being led to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps were sometimes referred to as “the Muslims.”
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“In fact, when they were being taken to the gas chambers, there are some accounts of life in the concentration camps saying that Jews were called ‘the Muslims.’”
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Albanese made the assertion as part of a broader argument in which she contended that the term “antisemitism” had not originally referred specifically to hatred of Jews, but rather encompassed hostility toward all people she characterized as “Semitic.”
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“When the word ‘antisemitism’ was coined, it referred to anyone who was not European and who came from the Middle East,” Albanese said, adding that the term only became associated specifically with Jews because they constituted the largest non-Christian minority in Europe at the time.
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The term “Muselmann” was in fact used in Nazi concentration camps to describe prisoners who had become severely emaciated, physically depleted and close to death. According to Yad Vashem, the term referred to prisoners who could no longer stand upright; some scholars have suggested that its origin was connected to the posture associated with Muslim prayer.
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The word “antisemitism,” meanwhile, was coined by German agitator Wilhelm Marr in 1879 as a term for hostility toward Jews, employing racial terminology that was presented at the time as having a scientific basis. Historically, the term has specifically denoted prejudice, hostility or hatred directed against Jews. In more recent years, some activists on the political left have argued for a broader understanding of the term that would encompass hatred directed at Arabs and Muslims as well.
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Albanese has previously faced repeated accusations of antisemitism over her public comments. In February, several European Union foreign ministers condemned remarks she delivered at an Al Jazeera conference, where she said: “The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support … We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy.”
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Albanese subsequently disputed interpretations of those remarks, insisting in an interview that she “never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity,'” and describing the claims against her as “completely false accusations.”
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Controversy surrounding Albanese’s statements about Israel and Jews predates the current war. Social media posts that surfaced in 2022 showed her referring to the “Jewish lobby” as exercising control over the United States.
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Albanese rejected accusations at the time that her reference to the “Jewish lobby” was antisemitic, saying that her comments had been “mischaracterized”. She has continued to face criticism over subsequent statements and actions concerning Israel.
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Following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, Albanese argued that the attack had to be considered in “context” and described it as a response to Israeli “aggression.”

National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir ascended the Har Habayis on Monday morning during Chol Hamoed Sukkos, where he davened and called for Israeli sovereignty over the site.
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During his visit, Ben Gvir reflected on the three years that have passed since the October 7 massacre and contrasted the devastation of that day with what he described as Israel’s subsequent accomplishments.
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“October 7 was an immense pain, a terrible pain. But today, three years later, it is the Sukkot holiday, a festival of joy, and we can be happy about many things that have happened since then.”
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Referring to Hamas and Israel’s actions in the years since the massacre, Ben Gvir said that the terror organization had sought to defeat Israel but had instead suffered major setbacks.
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“Hamas wanted to defeat us. ‘Al-Aqsa Flood,’ they called it. And today, we are the masters of the Temple Mount! We are the masters of the prisons. We have turned the lives of their terrorists into hell. We distributed weapons and established civilian emergency response squads.”
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“Three years later, the people of Israel are on the path to total victory!” he declared.
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Ben Gvir then said that his visit to the Har Habayis was an opportunity to daven for Israel’s victory and for Israeli sovereignty over the site.
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“And on this holiday, I pray here on the Temple Mount, at the most important place, for total victory, complete redemption, death to all terrorists, and sovereignty here, at the most important place for the Jewish people. They wanted to win. We defeated them, first and foremost, here on the Temple Mount.”
⠀
It should be noted that the longstanding ruling of the leading poskim and the Chief Rabbinate is that it is assur for Jews to ascend the Har Habayis nowadays because of the severe halachic issues involved. That prohibition has been reiterated by leading poskim throughout the generations, including Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Ovadia Yosef, among many others. Some Religious Zionist rabbonim, however, maintain that under specific halachic conditions and after appropriate preparations, certain areas may be entered.

Noa Argamani, who was rescued by the IDF after spending 246 days as a hostage in Hamas captivity, announced Monday that she is beginning a new professional chapter with Israeli venture capital firm Vine Ventures.
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Argamani revealed her new position in a post on X, writing: “I’ll start from the end: I have joined @VineVenturesLP. I’m excited, a little emotional, and mostly grateful to continue living my life.”
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Her announcement followed the publication of an interview with Business Insider. Argamani expressed appreciation to the outlet and journalists Meliá Robinson and Jamie Heller “for listening and for telling my story with sensitivity and nuance.”
⠀
Argamani noted that despite moving forward with her life and career, she understands that she remains known to millions around the world primarily as the young Israeli woman whose abduction and eventual rescue became among the most recognizable stories of the war.
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“For many people, I’m Noa Argamani, who was rescued by the IDF after 246 days in Hamas’ captivity,” she wrote. “That’s part of me, and it always will be. But it’s not all of me, and I’d like you to get to know me in my new role too.”
⠀
In discussing what she hopes to accomplish at Vine Ventures, Argamani said she wants to serve as a connection between Israel’s technology sector and the investment and entrepreneurial community in Silicon Valley.
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“If you’re building something, have an idea you can’t stop thinking about or you’re in the Valley and looking to help the most ambitious founders in Israel succeed, I hope to be a bridge between the two ecosystems,” she wrote.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is sounding one of his strongest warnings yet about the potential dangers posed by artificial intelligence, cautioning that increasingly sophisticated AI technology combined with malicious actors could unleash a catastrophe resulting in an enormous loss of life.
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Speaking in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Gates told host Kristen Welker that existing and emerging AI capabilities are powerful enough to potentially contribute to events that could claim as many as one billion lives.
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“AI is definitely powerful enough to drive events that could cause a billion deaths,” Gates said.
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Gates said his primary concern centers on what could happen when rapidly advancing AI technology becomes available to individuals or groups deliberately seeking to cause widespread destruction.
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“There has never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of malicious people using the latest AI tools,” Gates said.
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Gates was not predicting that artificial intelligence will kill one billion people. Rather, he used the figure to illustrate the possible magnitude of a worst-case catastrophe in which highly advanced AI systems are intentionally exploited for destructive purposes.
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He also argued that responsibility for preventing such scenarios cannot rest exclusively with the technology companies building and operating AI systems.
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According to Gates, governments must become directly involved in establishing rules and oversight for artificial intelligence, with lawmakers and U.S. law enforcement agencies participating in the creation and enforcement of safeguards as the technology continues to advance.
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“Nobody thinks self-regulation is enough,” he said.
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Gates acknowledged that government-mandated safeguards would create additional expenses for companies developing AI. He nevertheless argued that safety requirements should be built into the development of the technology rather than being voluntary decisions left to individual companies. Such regulations, he said, would not necessarily have to significantly impede technological progress.
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The comments are the latest indication of growing concern surrounding the potential consequences of the extraordinarily rapid development of artificial intelligence.
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Earlier this month, Gates told Reuters that governments worldwide are failing to keep pace with preparations for the changes AI is expected to bring. Among the areas he identified as potential concerns were job disruption, cyberattacks and AI products designed in ways that could become addictive to users.
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Despite those warnings, Gates has continued to stress that artificial intelligence also offers tremendous potential benefits, particularly in fields including medicine, education and agriculture.
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Concerns about the malicious use of sophisticated AI systems are already extending beyond hypothetical scenarios. Earlier this month, AI company Anthropic said it had thwarted attempts to exploit its Claude models for potentially dangerous activities, including biological weapons research and cyber operations.
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Anthropic said one of the cases involved a user attempting to obtain assistance in designing experiments related to avian influenza. Other incidents uncovered by the company involved efforts connected to cyber espionage.
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Potential AI threats have also emerged as a subject of discussion between major world powers. The United States and China have agreed to create a formal channel for discussions about AI-related dangers and emergency communications. Among the issues raised have been the possibility of AI agents acting outside human control and the danger posed by non-state actors using the technology to conduct cyberattacks.

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Israel’s Attorney General’s Office reversed course Monday and canceled its decision to postpone the deadline for bids on a major E1 construction tender, allowing the process for 1,234 housing units to proceed on its original timetable rather than being pushed beyond the Knesset elections.
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The reversal came after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had decided that the deadline for submitting bids should be delayed by one month because of its proximity to the election.
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Under the earlier directive, the tender would not have advanced to its next stage until after Israelis went to the polls, based on concerns that moving the project forward during the campaign period could have political ramifications.
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The tender encompasses seven residential complexes containing a total of 1,234 housing units. They are part of a larger plan involving 3,401 homes approved for advancement in E1, the strategically significant corridor between Ma’ale Adumim and Yerushalayim that supporters of the project say would establish built-up continuity between the two.
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Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach welcomed the Attorney General’s Office’s reversal after opposing the proposed delay.
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“I am pleased that we succeeded in this struggle and that the E1 tender will proceed as planned,” Yifrach said. “After more than 30 years of waiting, the time has come to build. I call on developers and contractors to submit bids, join us in a Zionist endeavor, and become partners in building and expanding Ma’ale Adumim and connecting it to Jerusalem, our capital. E1 is moving forward.”
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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, however, said the reversal did not resolve his concerns, accusing the attorney general of employing a maneuver designed to ensure that the tender is not finalized before the current government’s term ends.
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“The Attorney General’s maneuver, joining Eisenkot in his opposition to strategic construction in the E1 area that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian terror state, is transparent. She has only one objective – to create a situation in which the tender is not completed during our term, the left comes to power, and cancels the construction.
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“As far as the Attorney General is concerned, as long as the tender box has not been opened, the bids examined and the winner announced, the tender can still be stopped. I am not prepared to accept that. The tender must open and close, with the winner announced and construction beginning, on the date originally set for it,” Smotrich said.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka, issued unusually forceful remarks against Israel’s political left on Sunday, declaring that efforts must be made to prevent the left-wing camp from gaining strength.

The comments were delivered during a Simchas Yom Tov gathering in Modiin Illit for coordinators of Ichud Bnei Hayeshivos, headed by Yehuda Weissfish, who is slated to serve as a Degel HaTorah member of the Knesset.

Addressing the political and spiritual situation in Eretz Yisroel, Rav Hirsch directly linked the difficulties facing the country to the political left.

“The lack of Heavenly assistance that exists comes because of the left-wing side. We must, as much as possible, prevent the strengthening of the left,” Rav Hirsch said.

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher was seated beside the Rosh Yeshiva, along with senior Degel HaTorah MK Yitzchok Pindrus.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., pushed back yesterday against continued speculation that he could leave the Democratic Party or caucus with Republicans, but declined to commit to how he would vote if Democrats regain control of the Senate in November and he emerges as the decisive 51st vote. The Texas Tribune
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Appearing at the closing keynote of the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Fetterman told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett that Democrats could regain the Senate majority, while sidestepping questions about how he would wield his potential leverage in such a closely divided chamber.
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“Let’s revisit after the midterms, and let’s see what happens,” he said.
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The comments came amid weeks of renewed questions about whether Fetterman, a first-term senator who has repeatedly split with fellow Democrats on high-profile issues, might eventually begin caucusing with Republicans.
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Fetterman was once again the only Democrat to oppose a Senate war powers resolution Thursday concerning the U.S. war in Iran. He has also repeatedly departed from his party on matters involving arms sales to Israel.
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Tensions between Fetterman and fellow Democrats intensified earlier this month after he appeared in a prerecorded video at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas. In the video, Fetterman introduced fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, as a “great friend” and said he would work with President Donald Trump on issues affecting Pennsylvania’s steel industry.
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Several days later, when reporters on Capitol Hill questioned Fetterman about the possibility of switching parties, the senator emphatically rejected the suggestion. “I’m not going to be a Republican,” the senator said, urging them to wait until the midterms.
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Fetterman reiterated that position during Saturday’s appearance, saying: “I’ve said I have no path as a Republican.”
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Later in the evening, however, Fetterman made an inadvertent remark that immediately drew attention when an audience member asked why he had not simply registered as an independent.
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“Because I’m a lifelong Republican,” the senator replied, before Garrett quickly corrected him.
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Fetterman laughed after realizing what he had said and acknowledged that the verbal slip was likely to spread widely, before clarifying that he was “a lifelong Democrat though.”

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Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly had to be rescued from beneath the wreckage of a Tehran hospital after U.S. and Israeli forces bombed the facility, marking the second time he narrowly survived an attack during the war, according to a senior Iranian cleric.
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Khamenei had initially been seriously wounded in the Feb. 28 strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was taken to a hospital in Tehran for treatment. The 86-year-old Iranian leader and dozens of senior regime officials were killed when the U.S. and Israel struck Khamenei’s compound at the outset of the war.
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In the days following that initial attack, three hospitals in Tehran were reportedly struck. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was inside one of them and was eventually extracted from the debris. He was subsequently moved to an undisclosed location and has neither appeared publicly nor been heard from since.
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“Even after he had been wounded and taken to the hospital, three hospitals in Tehran were bombed,” Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, told Qatari television network Al Araby Thursday.
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“Mojtaba Khamenei was in the third hospital and was pulled from the rubble.”
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Heydari also revealed new details about the extraordinary circumstances surrounding Khamenei’s selection as Iran’s new supreme leader. According to his account, Khamenei apparently did not even know that he had been selected for the position on March 8 until Iranian state television publicly announced the decision. Once chosen, however, Khamenei was “legally and religiously” obligated to accept the position, Heydari said.
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The Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for selecting Iran’s supreme leader, was itself reportedly targeted during the U.S.-Israeli campaign. The assembly’s secretariat in Qom was bombed, killing eight people and destroying documents containing reports and recommendations concerning candidates to succeed Ali Khamenei.
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With their normal procedures disrupted, members of the assembly reportedly wrote their individual choices on pieces of paper before being summoned to a secret location approximately one week after the opening strikes. According to the account, the members were not told beforehand where they were going or precisely what type of meeting they would be attending.
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Heydari said he became the first participant at the meeting to formally put forward Mojtaba Khamenei’s name, despite President Trump having warned Iran against installing the late supreme leader’s son. Mojtaba had been regarded as an even more uncompromising hardliner than his father.
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“Given the enemy’s position, we will choose and elect no one as leader and supreme guide of the Islamic Republic except Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” Heidari recalled saying.
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“We obtained information that Mojtaba Khamenei was healthy and able to lead, and we determined that he met the requirements of religious qualification, justice and competence to manage the country,” he told the outlet.
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Khamenei ultimately received 50 of the 59 votes cast by members of the assembly. Eight members supported Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, while one abstained.
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During his interview with the Qatari network, Heydari described Khamenei as a “man of the shadows.” Before succeeding his father, Khamenei had never formally held a political position within the Iranian government, although he was reportedly a longtime adviser to the elder Khamenei.
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Questions have continued for months about the new supreme leader’s medical condition — and even whether he survived his injuries. U.S. intelligence assessments have reportedly indicated that Khamenei was severely disfigured in the attacks.
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President Trump addressed the speculation last month, saying “I don’t think he’s dead” when questioned about Khamenei’s condition.
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“He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing. He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead,” he added.
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, insisted this week that the reclusive supreme leader is “completely” healthy. Pezeshkian made the claim during a Fox News interview while visiting New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
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“We met for about seven hours,” the Iranian president told “Special Report” host Bret Baier of a meeting between the two Iranian leaders last month. “We conducted talks.”