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A violent neo-Nazi from the country of Georgia, who called himself “Commander Butcher,” has confessed to planning a horrifying terror campaign targeting Jews and other minorities in New York City.

Twenty-three-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili admitted guilt to federal hate crime charges after he sent detailed instructions for producing bombs and the deadly poison ricin, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Investigators revealed that Chkhikvishvili’s plan included distributing poisoned candy to children at Jewish schools in Brooklyn, alongside other acts of violence aimed at minority groups.

Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg condemned the acts in the strongest terms, saying, “Chkhikvishvili’s monstrous plots and propaganda calling for racially motivated violence against civilians, including children, posed a grave threat to public safety.”

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi credited the swift and coordinated response of law enforcement with preventing tragedy, noting that their efforts had “saved untold lives.”

Known by several aliases—including “Mishka,” “Michael,” and “Butcher”—Chkhikvishvili was a key figure in the Maniac Murder Cult (MKY), a global neo-Nazi network that advocates brutal violence against Jews and others. The group, prosecutors said, operates primarily in Russia and Ukraine but maintains followers in the United States and elsewhere.

Authorities uncovered a manifesto authored by Chkhikvishvili titled the Hater’s Handbook. The document glorified murder, promoted “ethnic cleansing,” and urged adherents to record violent acts, including school shootings and suicide bombings. In it, Chkhikvishvili claimed he had “murdered for the white race.”

The extremist traveled from his home in Tbilisi, Georgia, to Brooklyn in June 2022, where he stayed with his grandmother. During his time in New York, he boasted of committing hate crimes.

By that summer, he began using encrypted messaging apps to recruit and direct others to carry out attacks for MKY. He shared footage of assaults and provided materials on making explosives and biological weapons, urging participants to seek recruits with military or chemical expertise.

One of the people he contacted was, in fact, an undercover FBI agent posing as a potential recruit. In conversations with the agent, Chkhikvishvili proposed a large-scale New Year’s Eve attack in New York City in which someone dressed as Santa Claus would distribute poisoned candy to minorities.

He instructed the agent to strike specifically at Jewish schools, saying, “Jews are literally everywhere” in Brooklyn and suggesting that “some Jewish holiday” would provide the ideal time to target “Jewish schools full of kids.” He then added chillingly, “Dead Jewish kids.”

In messages with another extremist from the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), Chkhikvishvili bragged, “Mky is only group so far that done so many kills,” claiming to have attacked and attempted to murder a Jewish victim in Brooklyn.

Members of New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force later discovered that Chkhikvishvili had once been employed at a rehabilitation center in Brooklyn and had worked for an Orthodox Jewish family, caring for one of their relatives.

Prosecutors said he sent the FBI’s undercover agent detailed instructions for creating chemical weapons, along with video manuals urging the filming of violent acts. He even borrowed tactics from radical Islamist groups such as ISIS, praising jihadist ideology while blending it with neo-Nazi extremism.

Chkhikvishvili was captured in Chișinău, Moldova, on an Interpol warrant, extradited to the United States, and brought before the federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

His online incitement was later linked to multiple deadly attacks, including a school shooting in Tennessee in January, in which a 17-year-old gunman—who cited MKY—killed one person and then himself while livestreaming the rampage.

Chkhikvishvili faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years when he is sentenced in March. Federal officials say his arrest prevented “a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.”

{Matzav.com}

Russian lawmakers endorsed new tax hikes on Tuesday as Moscow looks for new revenue sources to boost its economy during its nearly four-year war with Ukraine. Legislators in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, approved the key second reading of a bill that will raise value-added tax from 20% to 22%. The changes […]

President Trump paused to show the Saudi Crown Prince the Biden autopen portrait on the Presidential Walk of Fame.

In an unusual move, the Shas faction convened on Monday at the Knesset rather than at the party’s Har Chotzvim headquarters, where meetings have been held since the beginning of the war. The session, chaired by party leader Aryeh Deri, was called amid recent tensions and incidents involving attacks on chareidi lawmakers.

Deri gathered all Shas Members of Knesset for a briefing following a series of assaults and demonstrations by extremists, including an attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur and protests outside the home of MK Yaakov Asher of Degel HaTorah.

During the closed-door meeting, Deri expressed optimism that the long-debated Giyus Law would soon reach its conclusion. “I hope that today or tomorrow the matter will be finalized, one way or another,” he told his colleagues. “As of yesterday, I was informed that the Litvishe Gedolei Yisroel will rule in favor of the Bismuth proposal. If they indeed decide in favor, an official announcement will be published in Yated Ne’eman,” he said.

Deri further predicted that “Porush and Eichler will join Shas and vote in favor,” signaling growing support for the compromise version of the draft law.

Addressing the ongoing wave of protests and attacks, the Shas chairman suggested that the demonstrations could paradoxically strengthen their cause. “They’re only helping us,” Deri remarked. “The legal advisors now see that the chareidim are paying a heavy price, and that increases the likelihood that the law will pass in the High Court.”

He also strongly condemned the violence targeting public representatives. “We all completely denounce and reject the severe attack on MK Yoav Ben-Tzur that took place on Motzoei Shabbos,” Deri declared. “When you hear Lieberman today, and the disgraceful way he speaks about those who study Torah in response to the incident, you understand the tremendous chillul Hashem caused by those rioters. The incident itself was a real danger to life and could easily have ended much worse. To our dear friend, Reb Yoav, we say: Chazak ve’ematz, Hashem imcha gibor chayil!”

{Matzav.com}

WATCH: U.S. military jets roared over the White House as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived.

The Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel has begun a historic visit to Eretz Yisroel. On the first day alone, the Rebbe met with Hagaon HaRav Moshe Shternbuch, the Belzer Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe, HaRav Yaakov Meyer Schecter of Breslov, the Kretchnif Rebbe, the Eidah HaChareidis, and attended a major Kabolas Ponim. YWN will be publishing […]

According to The Washington Post, the U.S. Department of Education is expected later today to announce the transfer of multiple major offices to other federal agencies in what is described as a significant move to dismantle much of the department created by Congress in 1979. The plan involves shifting operations from offices such as Civil […]

During his “Medabrim” radio program, Israeli media personality Yaakov Friedman launched a fierce critique of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, contrasting him sharply with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom he described as the only politician in the right-wing bloc who continues to stand firmly with the chareidi public.

Friedman noted that although Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit ran on a joint list in the last election—winning 14 seats together—their partnership has grown increasingly strained. “Anyone who remembers how much muscle Smotrich flexed before agreeing to run with Ben-Gvir can see that things look very different today,” Friedman said. “Ben-Gvir isn’t just growing stronger—he’s eating up Religious Zionism. Some polls show them hovering near the electoral threshold.”

The host emphasized that Ben-Gvir’s loyalty to the chareidi cause has been consistent, particularly regarding the sensitive issue of the draft law. “When it comes to the matters that matter most to us—especially the Chok HaGiyus—there’s not one word against us. Not one person on his team can be accused of turning his back on the chareidim,” Friedman asserted. In contrast, he accused Smotrich of “siccing the media” on the chareidi community and cited Smotrich’s earlier remark that “the unwritten pact is over.” Friedman shot back: “It didn’t end with you, Mr. Minister—and it certainly didn’t start with you.”

Friedman also pointed to what he called Smotrich’s “arrogance,” referencing comments made earlier that day at an Yisroel Hayom conference. When asked if he liked Ben-Gvir, Smotrich curtly replied, “No.” According to Friedman, when pressed about the possibility of another joint run, Smotrich hesitated—proof, Friedman said, that “he knows he needs Ben-Gvir.”

In contrast, at an Otzma Yehudit press conference later that evening, Ben-Gvir was asked by journalist Yehuda Schlesinger to respond to Smotrich’s remark. Ben-Gvir replied simply: “I love every Jew.” When asked again, he repeated, “I love every Jew—except maybe Ofer Cassif—and I love Minister Smotrich.”

Friedman concluded by highlighting the stark difference in tone between the two men. “Look at the contrast,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on with Smotrich—maybe he’s chasing headlines, maybe he’s just trying to stay above the threshold—but the difference in derech eretz speaks for itself.”

{Matzav.com}

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has labeled the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations, banning them from acquiring land in Texas and empowering the Attorney General to take legal action to shut them down.

The Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel has begun a historic visit to Eretz Yisroel. On the first day alone, the Rebbe met with Hagaon HaRav Moshe Shternbuch, the Belzer Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe, HaRav Yaakov Meyer Schecter of Breslov, the Kretchnif Rebbe, the Eidah HaChareidis, and attended a major Kabolas Ponim. YWN will be publishing […]

The National Transportation Safety Board is set to vote on its findings into what caused a massive container ship to crash last year into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed and killed six construction workers. The board’s vote on Tuesday is scheduled a day after Maryland officials more than doubled the estimated cost to […]

The East Wing of the White House, which had stood for generations, was demolished last month at President Donald Trump’s direction. Rising in its place is a sprawling new ballroom — a gleaming 90,000-square-foot monument that may not outlast the next election cycle.

If a Democrat wins the presidency in 2028, the ornate new space could quickly become a political lightning rod. While any incoming administration would have weightier issues like foreign crises and domestic policy to tackle, there’s already growing chatter among Democrats about what should be done with the ballroom that Trump built. They could actually tear it down.

Within the Democratic Party, influential voices are brainstorming ideas for transforming the $300 million structure into something less reflective of Trump’s opulent tastes. Some have floated proposals that would turn the space into a cultural or civic center, rather than the gilded venue Trump envisioned for high-profile events and dinners.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who has hinted at a possible presidential run if Democrats reclaim the House, said he has no intention of leaving Trump’s vision intact. “No way,” Raskin declared. “This is a space that’s owned by the people and that serves the people. So, it should be used opposite of what Trump has in mind, which is for the American aristocracy and plutocracy to gather.”

California Rep. Ro Khanna, also viewed as a potential presidential contender, echoed that sentiment, suggesting that the hall should instead “celebrate and empower forgotten Americans,” rather than serve as a setting for lavish state banquets.

Critics within the party argue that maintaining the ballroom would reward what they call Trump’s disregard for process — tearing down the East Wing without warning and using private donations to bankroll the construction. To them, preserving it as a ballroom would symbolize complicity.

Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen takes the opposition even further. “I don’t think it would be a bad idea to tear it down,” he said bluntly. “It’s this gigantic blob there that’s Donald Trump.”

Asked about what might become of the ballroom after Trump leaves office, the White House declined to comment. Trump himself, however, has defended the project as a practical improvement, designed to eliminate the need for outdoor tent events. He has said the ballroom will allow future leaders to “hold large events in a convenient indoor space.” White House officials insist that presidents for over 150 years have wanted precisely such a facility.

Anita McBride, a board member of the White House Historical Association and former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, praised the idea — provided it is done right. “I hope it remains a ballroom and hope that it’s tastefully and beautifully done so that future presidents will be proud to host honored guests there,” she said. “But what I mostly hope is that the new building includes offices for the Office of the First Lady, White House social office and White House Visitor Office. Those offices serve the presidency in a unique and special way, welcoming all visitors to the People’s House.”

History shows that presidents altering the White House often invite criticism. Harry Truman was ridiculed for adding a balcony to the South Portico in 1948, prompting a cartoon that mocked him saying, “Love me… love my balcony.” Yet none of those renovations compare to the scale of Trump’s new addition — or to the controversy surrounding it.

For many Democrats, the ballroom is an irresistible political symbol. It plays perfectly into their narrative of Trump’s excess and disregard for norms. Polling backs their instincts: a recent Washington Post-Ipsos survey showed that 88% of Democrats and 61% of independents oppose the project altogether.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, another name floated for a 2028 presidential bid, pulled no punches when discussing it. “It’s a metaphor for this administration — the recklessness to which he goes about things, the fact that he doesn’t believe in rules, he doesn’t believe they apply to him,” Newsom said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “So, you know, he’s a wrecking ball presidency.”

Still, tearing it down could prove politically cumbersome. With other priorities competing for attention, a Democratic president might simply decide to ignore the ballroom and focus elsewhere. Even Newsom, who is no admirer of Trump, hasn’t said what he would do with it. His office declined to comment.

Some on the left, however, are already pitching creative ideas. Saikat Chakrabarti, a congressional candidate from San Francisco running for the seat being vacated by Nancy Pelosi, said he would introduce legislation to turn the ballroom into a Smithsonian museum about “corruption and autocracy.” The exhibit, he said, would showcase the private donors who financed the project, to “really put into the sunlight how this thing came to even be.”

Raskin envisions something different — a mixed-use hall that hosts some official events while also serving as an educational space on American democracy. “One side of the space,” he proposed, would trace the history of attempts to “undermine and thwart popular democracy in American life,” from King George III to Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results. His suggested name: the “Democracy Matters Ballroom.”

Khanna, meanwhile, thinks the public should have the final say. “We need a White House that is not for the tech billionaires, but for forgotten Americans,” he said. “In that spirit, we should ask Americans — in rural communities, urban centers and hollowed-out factory towns — for their ideas of what to do with the space.”

Republican presidents might choose to keep the ballroom intact, viewing it as part of Trump’s enduring legacy. Yet even within the GOP, tastes differ. Trump’s penchant for gilded décor and grand halls isn’t universally shared. As one historian observed, the project risks altering the image of the White House itself.

“The White House is a residence that symbolizes American democracy,” said Edward Lengel, former chief historian of the White House Historical Association. The ballroom, he cautioned, makes it look less like a presidential home and more like “a palace.”

{Matzav.com}

WATCH:

President Trump delivered a fiery address at the McDonald’s Impact Summit on Monday, telling attendees that America narrowly avoided an economic collapse by electing him in 2024. Speaking before an audience of McDonald’s owners, suppliers, and executives, he declared, “You are so […] lucky that I won that election, I’m telling you,” a line that drew laughter and applause from the crowd.

Trump contrasted his record with that of Vice President Kamala Harris, asserting that her leadership would have plunged the nation into disaster. “Welfare was going up. Everything was going up. Government jobs were going up, real jobs were going down,” he said, claiming that Harris’s policies would have drained the economy. “So you would have had that catastrophe, and on top of that, instead of $20 trillion coming in, you would have had $10 trillion leaving our country. In other words, you would have had a catastrophe. You probably would have had a bankrupt country,” he warned.

The president’s remarks come amid mounting frustration among voters and economists over the nation’s sluggish economic performance. While Trump campaigned on reversing inflation and cutting costs after what he called the “Biden-era price explosion,” inflation has remained stubbornly high through his second term. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer prices rose 3 percent in September — the same level as when he assumed office — and the job market has cooled sharply, with fewer than 30,000 new positions being added per month. Several major corporations have already announced upcoming layoffs heading into the end of the year.

Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to reignite growth, vowing to restore the strength of the U.S. economy through tariffs and deregulation. However, the reality of persistent inflation and job losses has forced a recalibration within the administration and the broader GOP. After Republicans suffered setbacks in last month’s elections, party strategists have urged a renewed focus on the cost-of-living crisis that has dominated voter concerns.

To that end, Trump has introduced new measures in recent weeks aimed at easing financial pressures. He moved to roll back tariffs on key imported food products such as beef, bananas, and coffee — a reversal of policies he had once touted as economic leverage. Additionally, he directed the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the meatpacking industry, accusing major producers of conspiring to inflate prices for consumers.

Trump and his allies have continued to emphasize positive indicators like record-breaking tax revenue from tariffs and promises of future corporate investment, seeking to reassure the public that his strategy remains sound. Still, the administration faces growing skepticism from both economists and everyday Americans as prices remain stubbornly high and job growth falters.

{Matzav.com}

United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest volunteer emergency medical service, has unveiled a new pilot program introducing electric “AmbuScooters” designed to shorten response times in Israel’s most congested urban centers. The organization is deploying an initial fleet of ten lightweight, specially adapted electric scooters in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The vehicles are built to maneuver through heavy […]

WATCH: Zohran Mamdani reaffirmed yesterday in an interview that he will do whatever he can to enforce the international arrest warrant against PM Netanyahu if he visits New York, even if it is during a visit to the UN General Assembly.

An essential component of the internet’s background mechanics experienced a widespread failure on Tuesday, resulting in numerous websites displaying error notices to users across the globe.

The United States-based firm Cloudflare, which provides services essential for safeguarding countless websites against cyber threats and other issues, encountered an unnamed difficulty on Tuesday. This incident prevented some internet users from reaching certain websites that rely on the company’s protection.

A representative for Cloudflare stated: “We saw a spike in unusual traffic to one of Cloudflare’s services beginning at 11.20am. That caused some traffic passing through Cloudflare’s network to experience errors. While most traffic for most services continued to flow as normal, there were elevated errors across multiple Cloudflare services.

Owners of some websites were also unable to log into their management tools and performance monitoring dashboards.

Addressing the root cause, the spokesperson added: “We do not yet know the cause of the spike in unusual traffic. We are all hands on deck to make sure all traffic is served without errors. After that, we will turn our attention to investigating the cause of the unusual spike in traffic.”

Though the disruption is still active the company announced a degree of return to normal operations: “We are seeing services recover, but customers may continue to observe higher-than-normal error rates as we continue remediation efforts.”

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] A newly surfaced video of Rav Hershel Schachter, rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon (RIETS) of Yeshiva University and a leading posek for the Orthodox Union, features comments from him regarding the recent atzeres tefillah in Eretz Yisroel protesting the drafting of yeshiva bochurim into the army.

In the video, Rav Schachter dismissed the large public gathering—attended by leading gedolei Torah and hundreds of thousands of people—as “utterly ridiculous.”

“They just had in Eretz Yisrael, they had this whole yom atzeret,” he said. “I think it was utterly ridiculous. The country is at war and no one wants to go to the army? I think the whole thing was ridiculous. I don’t think anybody from YU would ever participate in such an atzeret.”

Rav Schachter continued, “They’re big talmidei chachamim, but they exaggerate so much that nothing else counts by them. Here we’re more reasonable. Torah is important, and the war is important, and the army, everything is important, everything is. You shouldn’t exaggerate [and say] everything just depends on Torah.”

“The Jewish people has to have an army. If everyone’s gonna sit and learn, the enemy is gonna kill all of us,” he said. “You have to have an army, you have to have other things. So I think our hashkafah is more normal, more reasonable.”

Concluding his remarks, Rav Schachter added, “We have to present it to the public. They shouldn’t think anyone who learns Torah is a meshuggener. Everything is exaggerated.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

During an interview on Fox News, Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was asked how he would feel if New York’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, were to follow through on his earlier remarks about arresting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should he visit the city.

The interviewer noted that Mamdani, known for his vocal anti-Israel positions, previously declared that he would have Netanyahu detained if he set foot in New York. “He said that if Prime Minister Netanyahu comes here, he will arrest him,” the anchor reminded Bennett, pointing out that a Republican congresswoman from New York had already fired back on social media, writing: “I invite you—go ahead and invite him to your inauguration. I dare you to try to arrest him on January 1.”

Bennett responded sharply, questioning Mamdani’s priorities: “Is he so obsessed with a country that’s six thousand miles away? Has he solved all the crime here? Is the economy perfect? Are prices low? Has everything else been taken care of that he can afford to be so fixated on Israel?”

When asked how he personally felt about the possibility of Netanyahu facing such a threat—given their long and complex political relationship—Bennett said that, despite his political opposition, there were limits no Israeli would tolerate being crossed.

“Yes, I’m in the opposition, and I oppose Netanyahu domestically,” Bennett said. “But make no mistake—every Israeli would be outraged and would fight anyone who tries to arrest our prime minister, whoever that may be. We stand behind Israel, our soldiers, and our leaders.”

{Matzav.com}