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A Jewish Israeli man sustained facial injuries on Monday in an assault near the town of Mevo’ot Yericho in the southern Jordan Valley.

Multiple men assaulted the man, a shepherd, in the Mu’arrajat area about 15 miles northeast of Yerushalayim, lightly wounding him.

Israeli troops arrested at least two men in Mu’arrajat in connection with the incident, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. Jewish men showed the troops where the assailants hid, leading to a search of the premises.

Palestinians resisted the search, leading to an altercation with the troops in which several Palestinians were wounded and some arrested, the IDF said. The report did not say whether those apprehended were the attackers who had assaulted the shepherd.

Elisha Yered, an activist promoting Jewish presence in Yehuda and Shomron, wrote on X that the shepherd’s attackers were Arabs. Several of them assaulted the shepherd and another man in the early morning hours on Monday, Yered wrote. A photo of the victim that Yered posted on X shows blood streaming from a young man’s right ear.

The IDF said the victim sustained a head injury.

The JDN news site reported that the assailants stole the shepherd’s phone and beat him with blunt objects. He used a distress buzzer that he was carrying to alert the owner of a nearby farm, who arrived at the scene with security personnel. Several suspects fled as they saw the security forces approach, the report said.

A Magen David Adom ambulance took the victim to Hadassah Medical Center in Yerushalayim’s Ein Kerem. His injuries were defined as minor.

Mevo’ot Yericho was established in 1999, north of Yericho, which is controlled by the PA.

(JNS)

Exceptionally heavy rainfall pounding Central Europe has prompted deadly flooding in the region, with four new deaths reported Monday in Poland, three in Czech Republic and one in Romania. The flooding has swamped parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania as a low-pressure system crossing the region has unleashed record-high rains for days, and it was expected to affect Slovakia and Hungary later in the week. So far 16 people have been reported killed — seven people in Romania, five in Poland, three in the Czech Republic and one in Austria. In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an emergency meeting and later declared a disaster in flooded areas, a government measure to facilitate evacuation and rescues. He also said the government would provide 1 billion zlotys ($258,000) in immediate payouts to victims. The flooding in Poland has burst dams and embankments, while receding waters have left streets covered in piles of debris and mud. It prompted a hospital in the southwestern Polish city of Nysa to evacuate about 40 patients. Schools and offices in the affected areas were closed Monday and drinking water and food were being delivered by trucks. Many Polish cities, including Warsaw, have called for food donations for flood survivors. Experts warned of flood threats due to cresting Oder River in Opole, a city of some 130,000 residents, and Wroclaw, home to about 640,000 residents and where disastrous flooding happened in 1997. Firefighters in southwestern Poland said flood victims included a surgeon whose body was found Monday morning in Nysa after he was returning from hospital duty. The bodies of two women and two other men have been found in other communities in the region. Police in the Czech Republic said that a woman and two men drowned in the northeast, which has been pounded by record rainfall since Thursday. The men were found dead at different locations after water receded in the town of Krnov that was almost completely submerged on Sunday Romanian authorities said Monday that another person died in the eastern county of Galati, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to seven. One death previously was reported in Austria. Authorities in the Czech Republic declared an emergency in two northeastern regions, including in the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border. A number of towns and cities had been submerged in the northeast, with thousands evacuated. Military helicopters joined rescuers on boats in efforts to transport people to safety. Waters were receding from the mountainous areas on Monday, leaving behind destroyed houses and bridges and damaged roads. In most parts of the country, conditions were expected to improve later Monday. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visited the town of Jesenik, one of the hardest hit places. “The worst is behind us and now, we have to deal with all the damage,” Fiala said following the visit. In Hungary, the mayor of Budapest warned residents that the largest floods in a decade were expected to hit the capital later in the week, with the waters of the Danube River set to breach the city’s lower quays by Tuesday morning. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán canceled his planned foreign engagements, including an address to a plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday where heated debates were expected over his conduct since […]

On Monday, a source inside the Prime Minister’s office told KAN News that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu plans on firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the immediate future.

Bibi also reportedly plans on bringing Gideon Saar, and his New Hope party into the coalition, adding four seats to his majority.

Stocks in Israel fell and gas prices spiked as the news broke that the Prime Minister plans on firing the Defense Minister in the middle of a war. The move also raises concerns among hostage families, as Saar opposed a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Bibi and Gallant have been at odds for months over agreeing to a ceasefire deal, with Gallant, Intelligence Services, and the IDF believing Israel must prioritize returning the hostages, and then can handle the security risks associated with a deal. Reportedly, Bibi and Gallant have not met for a long time, despite the mutli-front war Israel is facing.

According to a senior member of Neyanyahu’s cabinet, bringing in Saar would enable Bibi to pass a Charedi draft bill, something Gallant opposes. The Charedi parties have threatened to not vote for the upcoming budget, essentially torpedoing the coalition, if the draft bill is not passed. Some wondered if Bibi would call their bluff, as current poling indicates Charedi parties would be unlikely to sit in the coalition if new elections were held.

The draft bill in question would exempt the vast majority of Charedi men from serving in the IDF. Currently, the Charedi population is vulnerable to penalties if they do not enlist, as the Supreme Court has ruled the legal basis for the Charedi draft exemption has expired.

According to sources familiar with the communication between Bibi and Saar, the two have agreed in principle to the wording of a draft bill that would have the approval of the Charedi parties, and the coalition. However, Saar has denied negotiation a draft bill, with his allies saying any bill he agrees to would be based on the needs of the IDF.

Gallant has refused to back such a draft bill unless it received wide support, including from the opposition. Such a draft bill would be very controversial in Israel, with some reservists threatening to refuse to serve if the laws pass and ‘Israel steps away from being a democracy.’

US officials are concerned regarding the move to fire Gallant, with the US reportedly believing he is the ‘only adult in the room’ in Bibi’s coalition.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu put out a statement denying that Saar was going to replace Gallant, but he did not deny his intention to fire Gallant.

{Matzav.com} 

It’s noisy, smelly, shy — and New Zealand’s bird of the year. The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country’s fiercely fought avian election on Monday, offering hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition from its victory might prompt a revival of the species. It followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was without the foreign interference scandals and cheating controversies of past polls. Instead, campaigners in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty. More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late night host John Oliver drove a humorous campaign for the pūteketeke — a “deeply weird bird” which eats and vomits its own feathers – securing a landslide win. This year, the number of votes cast represented 1% of the population of New Zealand — a country where nature is never far away and where a love of native birds is instilled in citizens from childhood. “Birds are our heart and soul,” said Emma Rawson, who campaigned for the fourth-placed ruru, a small brown owl with a melancholic call. New Zealand’s only native mammals are bats and marine species, putting the spotlight on its birds, which are beloved — and often rare. This year’s victor, the hoiho — its name means “noise shouter” in the Māori language — is a shy bird thought to be the world’s rarest penguin. Only found on New Zealand’s South and Chatham islands — and on subantarctic islands south of the country — numbers have dropped perilously by 78% in the past 15 years. “This spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. This iconic penguin is disappearing from mainland Aotearoa before our eyes,” Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird — the organization that runs the poll — said in a press release, using the Māori name for New Zealand. Despite intensive conservation efforts on land, she said, the birds drown in nets and sea and can’t find enough food. “The campaign has raised awareness, but what we really hope is that it brings tangible support,” said Charlie Buchan, campaign manager for the hoiho. But while the bird is struggling, it attracted a star billing in the poll: celebrity endorsements flew in from English zoologist Jane Goodall, host of the Amazing Race Phil Keoghan, and two former New Zealand prime ministers. Aspiring bird campaign managers — this year ranging from power companies to high school students — submit applications to Forest & Bird for the posts. The hoiho bid was run by a collective of wildlife groups, a museum, a brewery and a rugby team in the city of Dunedin, where the bird is found on mainland New Zealand, making it the highest-powered campaign of the 2024 vote. “I do feel like we were the scrappy underdog,” said Emily Bull, a spokesperson for the runner-up campaign, for the karure — a small, “goth” black robin only found on New Zealand’s Chatham Island. The karure’s bid was directed by the students’ association at Victoria University of Wellington, prompting a fierce skirmish on the college campus when the student magazine staged an opposing campaign for the kororā, or little blue penguin. The […]

Salvagers have successfully towed a Greek-flagged oil tanker ablaze for weeks after attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to a safe area without any oil spill, a European Union naval mission says. The Sounion reached waters away from Yemen as the Houthis meanwhile claimed that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground.

Former President Donald Trump stated on Monday that the individual accused of attempting to assassinate him during a golf game on Sunday was driven by the “rhetoric” of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump, the 78-year-old Republican presidential contender, told Fox News.

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”

Trump pointed to Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, the suspect in the attack, suggesting that Routh’s language closely mirrored that of Biden and Harris when they referred to Trump as a danger to American democracy if he were to return to power.

Routh was found hiding in the shrubbery near Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course, where the former president was playing a round. Authorities also uncovered a tactical rifle, a scope, and a GoPro camera at the scene.

“These are people that want to destroy our country,” Trump said, referring to Biden and Harris. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”

Routh had shared numerous political opinions on social media, and he had been featured in interviews with major news organizations regarding his work to recruit Afghans to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

In April, Routh posted, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”

Biden, 81, often used the phrase “democracy is on the ballot” before concluding his campaign for a second term on July 21, at which time he endorsed Harris as his preferred successor.

Harris, 59, has likewise claimed that Trump presents a danger to democracy — both before and after the former president was grazed by a bullet on July 13 during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle for reasons still not fully understood.

“Donald Trump wants to turn our democracy into a dictatorship,” Harris stated on July 9 in Las Vegas — just four days before the first attempt on Trump’s life.

Less than a month later, on July 31, Harris resumed her remarks, stating, “our fundamental freedoms are on the ballot and so is our democracy,” repeating these words twice that day.

The Democrats frequently point to Trump’s unwillingness to concede his 2020 election loss, which culminated in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Criticism has been aimed at Biden and Harris for allegedly misrepresenting Trump’s words to support this narrative. This includes a claim earlier this year that Trump had threatened a “bloodbath” if he were to lose, though Trump had actually been talking about the potential impact on the auto industry in the event of an election.

Neither Biden’s nor Harris’s spokespeople have responded to reports of Routh echoing their language.

Routh had also shared various other political views online, including his 2020 claim that he was a disillusioned former Trump supporter who had backed the populist leader in the 2016 election.

In addition, this year Routh wrote that he believed former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and GOP businessman Vivek Ramaswamy should run as an independent presidential ticket.

{Matzav.com}

The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a Florida golf course may have had inside information on his movements, according to a former FBI official. Chris Swecker, a former FBI assistant director, told Newsweek that investigators will need to determine how Ryan Wesley Routh knew Trump’s exact whereabouts during the incident. Shots were fired at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, where Trump, the leading candidate for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was golfing. No injuries were reported, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The FBI has since joined the investigation into the shooting, with Swecker describing Routh as a “wingnut” with a deep disdain for authority. “The biggest question to answer is: ‘How did the would-be assassin know to be at that location at that time?’” Swecker said. “There are only three possible answers: He guessed and got very lucky; he conducted surveillance on Trump and followed him to the golf course; or he had inside information about Trump’s schedule. The last answer is scary and has implications that another person was involved.” The West Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said at a press conference that a U.S. Secret Service agent noticed a rifle barrel sticking out of the fence surrounding the golf course and quickly “engaged” with the suspect. Law enforcement officials stated that the gunman may have gotten as close as 300 yards to Trump before being apprehended. Swecker, who retired from the FBI in 2006 and now practices law in Charlotte, North Carolina, commented on the broader context of the attack, suggesting that the heightened rhetoric around Trump may be influencing unstable individuals. “There is little doubt that the demonization of Trump is resonating with the fringe elements who are mentally unstable and highly impressionable, so it may be time to tone it down a bit,” he said. Routh, whose background is described as erratic, had reportedly been involved in “strange quests,” including attempting to recruit Afghan fighters to join Ukraine in its fight against Russia. “We know this suspect has posted about Trump being a danger to democracy, and he has been active on some strange quests: visiting Ukraine to round up Afghan fighters. So motive is coming into focus—he is a wingnut who dislikes authority, based on his arrest record for resisting arrest in a two-hour standoff,” Swecker added. That incident refers to a 2002 arrest where Routh was stopped by police for driving without a valid license. He fled the scene, barricading himself inside his roofing company for three hours before surrendering. He was later charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting an officer, and driving without a valid license. Swecker further noted that Routh appeared to have been influenced by claims that Trump was an existential threat to democracy, allegedly deciding to take matters into his own hands. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rav Gershon Ribner, rosh kollel of Kollel Nesivos Hatorah and son-in-law of Rav Shneur Kotler, has succeeded in applying classical Talmudical analysis and methodology to understanding all areas of Yiddishkeit, bringing out its profundity and sense.

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Among the last words heard from the crew of an experimental submersible headed for the wreck of the Titanic were “all good here,” according to a visual re-creation of the journey of the Titan before it imploded, killing all five on board. The U.S. Coast Guard presented the animation Monday on the first day of what is expected to be a two-week hearing on the causes of the implosion. Crew aboard the Titan were communicating with staff aboard the support ship Polar Prince via text messages, according to the presentation. The crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the submersible’s depth and weight as it descended. The Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display. One of Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended, was “all good here.” The Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five on board and setting off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration. In other testimony Monday, Coast Guard officials said the Titan was left exposed to weather and elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023. The hull was also never reviewed by any third parties as is standard procedure, they said. The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard’s commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation. “There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing. “But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again.” Among those killed was Stockton Rush, co-founder of OceanGate, the Washington state company that owned the Titan. The company suspended operations after the implosion. The first witness to testify Monday was OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen. Also scheduled to speak were the company’s former finance director, Bonnie Carl; and former contractor Tym Catterson. Some key OceanGate representatives are not scheduled to testify. They include Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company’s communications director. The Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations, said Melissa Leake, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard. She added that it’s common for a Marine Board of Investigation to “hold multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.” Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein; former operations director, David Lochridge; and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, Leake said. OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began, the statement said. The Titan became the subject of scrutiny in […]

Amid fresh rocket fire from Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday told his American counterpart Lloyd Austin that time was running out for an agreed-upon de-escalation with Hezbollah.

“The possibility of a settlement in the north is passing. Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas. The direction is clear,” Gallant told Austin in an overnight phone call, Israel’s Defense Ministry said.

The call follows an escalation in the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, which have exchanged fire since Oct. 8, when Hezbollah began offensive action in solidarity with Hamas’s invasion of the northwestern Negev. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Sunday and more rockets on Monday. Israel struck terrorist targets in Southern Lebanon both times.

The Defense Ministry’s report on the call did not include quotes by Austin, whose U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately provide a readout of the conversation.

The call between Austin and Gallant, who have spoken dozens of times by phone since Oct. 7, comes at a time of tension between Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to reports in the Israel media, is interested in firmer military action in Israel’s multi-arena conflict.

On Sunday, Netanyahu pledged to not allow a continuation of the status quo vis-à-vis Hezbollah. Austin has called repeatedly for regional de-escalation, including in his conversation with Gallant last week.

The defense minister reiterated in his latest call with the secretary of defense Israel’s commitment to dismantling Hamas and returning the hostages from Gaza “in any way possible.” JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the U.N. said Monday. It’s a devastating setback for polio eradication, since the virus is one of the world’s most infectious and any unvaccinated groups of children where the virus is spreading could undo years of progress. Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped. The other is Pakistan. It’s likely that the Taliban’s decision will have major repercussions for other countries in the region and beyond. News of the suspension was relayed to U.N. agencies right before the September immunization campaign was due to start. No reason was given for the suspension, and no one from the Taliban-controlled government was immediately available for comment. A top official from the World Health Organization said it was aware of discussions to move away from house-to-house vaccinations and instead have immunizations in places like mosques. The WHO has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year, all but two in the south of the country. That’s up from six cases in 2023. “The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is aware of the recent policy discussions on shifting from house-to-house polio vaccination campaigns to site-to-site vaccination in parts of Afghanistan,” said Dr. Hamid Jafari from the WHO. “Partners are in the process of discussing and understanding the scope and impact of any change in current policy.” Polio campaigns in neighboring Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. As recently as August, the WHO reported that Afghanistan and Pakistan were continuing to implement an “intensive and synchronized campaign” focusing on improved vaccination coverage in endemic zones and an effective and timely response to detections elsewhere. During a June 2024 nationwide campaign, Afghanistan used a house-to-house vaccination strategy for the first time in five years, a tactic that helped to reach the majority of children targeted, the WHO said. But southern Kandahar province, the base of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, used site-to-site or mosque-to-mosque vaccination campaigns, which are less effective than going to people’s homes. Kandahar continues to have a large pool of susceptible children because it is not carrying out house-to-house vaccinations, the WHO said. “The overall women’s inclusion in vaccination campaigns remains around 20% in Afghanistan, leading to inadequate access to all children in some areas,” it said. Any setback in Afghanistan poses a risk to the program in Pakistan due to high population movement, the WHO warned last month. Pakistani health official Anwarul Haq said the polio virus would eventually spread and continue affecting children in both countries if vaccination campaigns aren’t run regularly and in a synchronized manner. “Afghanistan is the only neighbor from where Afghan people in large numbers come to Pakistan and then go back,” said Haq, the coordinator at the National Emergency Operation Center for Polio Eradication. “People from other neighboring countries, like India and Iran, don’t come to Pakistan in large numbers.” There needs to be a united effort to eliminate the disease, he told The Associated Press. The campaign suspension is the latest obstacle in what has become a problematic global effort to stop polio. The initiative, which costs about $1 billion every year, […]

Terrorists in Lebanon fired rockets into Israel on Monday morning, promoting IDF shelling of targets in Southern Lebanon.

Three of the enemy rockets exploded in open areas in the Galilee Panhandle and an anti-tank missile hit a building in Metula. There were no reports of casualties in Israel.

IDF artillery hit multiple targets in Southern Lebanon, according to reports in the Lebanese media.

The exchange Monday follows the launch of dozens of rockets by Hezbollah into Israel’s north on Sunday, which also prompted retaliatory strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, hitting rocket launchers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Israel would retaliate against the Houthi militias in Yemen, which fired a missile into central Israel on Sunday. It was intercepted.

On Monday, the mayor of Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Golan Heights where a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 children on a soccer field in July, announced that schools would not open for the next two days out of concern for the lives of pupils amid concerns of major escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

On Sunday, Netanyahu vowed to “change the balance of power” in the north and not accept the status quo.

Israel has killed more than 460 Hezbollah gunmen, including 30 senior commanders, since the current round of hostilities began on Oct. 8. Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas’s onslaught on the northwestern Negev the previous day. The Lebanese terrorist organization has killed about 40 Israelis in its attacks, half of them civilians.

Some 60,000 residents of Israel’s north were evacuated from dozens of border-adjacent communities following Oct. 8. Many thousands have also left their homes in Southern Lebanon, with fresh departures this week following the exchanges of fire. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

Guided by the wisdom of our gedolim as evidenced at several recent events, Kiryat Beit Halevi in Netivot offers affordable housing, chinuch al taharas hakodesh, and a close-knit community

In the video below, there is 2.5 minutes of Democrats explicitly calling for using political violence against their opponents (Trump etc.). No surprise, there have been two attempted assassination attempts on the life of Donald Trump.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) used X on Sunday to criticize what he termed “extreme MAGA Republicans,” asserting, “We must stop them.” This statement came just one hour after former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped a second attempt on his life.

In his X post on Sunday, Jeffries declared, “Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of a national abortion ban and Trump’s Project 2025,” emphasizing once more, “We must stop them.”

The House Minority Leader from the Democratic Party voiced these concerns just an hour after President Trump’s campaign confirmed his safety after gunshots were reported near him.

In a statement, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said, “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity,” adding, “No further details at this time.”

Gunfire was reported while Donald Trump was at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he was enjoying a round of golf on Sunday.

Donald Trump Jr. subsequently revealed that authorities have taken a suspect into custody and discovered an AK-47 rifle hidden in the foliage at Trump National, according to information from law enforcement.

“Again folks! SHOTS FIRED at Trump Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump Jr. said. “An AK-47 was discovered in the bushes, per local law enforcement. The Trump campaign has released a statement confirming former President Trump is safe.”

Trump Jr. further mentioned, “A suspect has reportedly been apprehended.”

Following this, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that it is looking into what it considers to be the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life.

“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach, Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the FBI said.

The first assassination attempt on the 45th president occurred on July 13, during a speech he was giving at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump was shot in the ear but narrowly escaped death, as he had turned his head to view a chart that was displayed just as would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire.

The attack, however, led to the death of former fire chief Corey Comperatore and left two other attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, severely injured.

In the wake of the July 13 incident, the U.S. Secret Service has faced intense criticism. Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned ten days later following a harsh congressional hearing where she struggled to address many critical questions from lawmakers about the agency’s failure to safeguard President Trump.

{Matzav.com}

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin overnight Sunday that the window for a diplomatic solution to the war against Hezbollah in Israel’s north is closing. Speaking by phone, Gallant told his US counterpart that Hezbollah continues to align itself with Hamas and that the direction the crisis is heading is clear. He emphasized that the State of Israel is committed to distancing Hezbollah from the border so that residents of the area can safely return home. Hezbollah rocket fire at the Upper Galil continued early on Monday. The embattled Druze village of  Majdal Shams – where 12 children were murdered by Hezbollah fire in July – shuttered its schools for the day after being targeted with heavy rocket fire in the past day. The head of the IDF’s Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin has recommended allowing the IDF to seize a security buffer zone in southern Lebanon. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A Jewish University of Michigan student was assaulted on Sunday in what police are treating as a bias-motivated attack. According to reports from the Ann Arbor Police Department and Hillel at the University of Michigan, the student was walking near Hill Street and South Forest at approximately 12:45 a.m. when a group of males approached him from behind and asked if he was Jewish. After confirming his Jewish identity, the student was assaulted by the group, who then fled the scene on foot. The 19-year-old victim did not sustain serious injuries and did not require hospitalization. He reported the incident to the police later that day. The Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) has opened a hate crimes investigation, assigning the case to their bias-motivated crimes unit. Hillel’s Jewish Community Security Coordinator was informed of the assault, and both the Ann Arbor Police Department and the University of Michigan Police Department (UMPD) were alerted. Hillel at the University of Michigan, in collaboration with the Jewish Community Security Inc., remains in regular communication with state and federal law enforcement agencies as the investigation unfolds. Chief of Police Andre Anderson, in an official statement, reaffirmed the city’s commitment to combating hate crimes, stating, “There is absolutely no place for hate or ethnic intimidation in the City of Ann Arbor. Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes.” He further emphasized that the AAPD is working closely with the County Prosecutor’s office to ensure those responsible will face aggressive prosecution. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The United Torah Judaism party is highly displeased with what it views as an insufficient response from Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu regarding their demands. The party is particularly critical of Netanyahu’s upcoming five-day overseas trip next week, according to Channel 13 news.

Although Netanyahu is said to have assured UTJ leader and Housing Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf that he would accelerate the process for a new law providing significant exemptions from military service for the chareidi community, the Kan public broadcaster has reported that this legislation will not be ready before Rosh Hashanah.

Goldknopf has warned that he will oppose the budget when it is presented in several months if the law is not pushed forward, a stance that could lead to new elections.

Channel 13 cites an anonymous associate of Goldknopf, who remarked: “The prime minister is taking off next week for a trip with [his wife] Sara to the United States, instead of working to ensure we don’t go to elections. It’s clear the prime minister doesn’t really think the threat [to vote down the budget] is real; he is wrong.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

A Biden-Harris sticker seen proudly displayed on a pickup truck at the home of Ryan Routh, Trump’s would-be assassin.

The top legal adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned abruptly over the weekend, the latest sign of instability in the Democrat’s administration as it deals with multiple federal investigations. City Hall announced Lisa Zornberg’s departure late Saturday night. She had advised Adams and other city officials on legal strategy for over a year and often parried legal questions from the press on his behalf. She was not his personal lawyer. “It has been a great honor to serve the City. I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position. I wish you nothing but the best,” Zornberg wrote in a three-sentence resignation letter to Adams. The resignation comes after the phones of multiple members of Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle were seized by federal investigators, including the head of New York City’s police department, who resigned Thursday. Zornberg, a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office now leading some of the investigations into the Adams administration, wasn’t one of the officials who had their phones seized. The police commissioner, Edward Caban resigned citing the “distraction” created by news of the the investigations. Federal authorities haven’t disclosed the subjects of the investigations. Besides the police commissioner, phones were taken from the head of the public schools system, a top deputy mayor, and two top advisers to Adams on public safety issues. Investigators seized devices from Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, a former NYPD sergeant who runs a nightclub security business. They also conducted searches related to Terence Banks, who is the brother of Adams’ top deputy on public safety, Phil Banks, and Education Chancellor David Banks. In separate investigations, federal authorities have previously seized phones from Adams, searched the home of one of his top campaign fundraisers, and searched two homes linked to his director of Asian affairs. Adams has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing. Adams said an interim replacement for Zornberg would be announced in the coming days. “We appreciate all the work Lisa has done for our administration and, more importantly, the city over the past 13 months,” Adams said in a statement. “These are hard jobs and we don’t expect anyone to stay in them forever. We wish Lisa all the best in her future endeavors.” (AP)