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A wave of anguish and frustration swept through advocates and supporters today after Mordy Berkowitz was handed a six-year prison sentence, prompting the leadership of Tzedek to issue a sharply worded statement condemning what they described as a deeply unjust outcome.

The ruling came despite the judge openly acknowledging how impressed he was by the sweeping accountability campaign that Berkowitz launched over the past three years with Tzedek’s guidance.

In the Tzedek statement, Rabbi Moshe Margaretten expressed “great pain” at the sentencing, emphasizing that Berkowitz had already spent the past three years in strict home confinement while devoting himself to public education, outreach, and a national campaign urging people never to drink and drive. According to the organization, nearly 50,000 individuals signed pledges committing to change their behavior, a response Tzedek has described as unprecedented and a powerful kiddush Hashem. Yet prosecutors insisted on seeking a decade behind bars, a decision that Rabbi Margaretten said ignored the sincere repentance, the tangible impact of the campaign, and the pleas of those directly affected by the tragedy.

Tzedek noted with particular distress that the victims and their families had personally asked the court for mercy, urging leniency and expressing that additional prison time would not bring healing. The statement also pointed out that in a neighboring county, cases with similar circumstances have resulted in little to no incarceration, underscoring what they see as stark inconsistency and disproportionate punishment. “This sentence is extraordinarily harsh and deeply unfair,” Rabbi Margaretten wrote, adding that the outcome stands in sharp contrast to the transformative work Berkowitz has undertaken.

According to Tzedek, the judge repeatedly praised the accountability initiative, recognizing the sincerity and the scope of the public-safety effort. Nevertheless, the final sentence left the organization stunned. “Mordy has shown more responsibility, remorse, and dedication to protecting others than anyone could have demanded,” a Tzedek representative said. “What more could he possibly have done?” Their statement emphasized that Berkowitz’s campaign did not seek to excuse what happened, but to prevent other families from ever enduring similar heartbreak.

Rabbi Margaretten vowed that the fight is not over. “Tzedek will not stop until justice is done,” he wrote, assuring the community that all avenues will be pursued to challenge what the group sees as a miscarriage of justice. He urged the public to continue their tefillos, stating that with Hashem’s help, “we will succeed.” The organization maintains that this case is about more than one sentence—it is about whether sincere accountability, genuine change, and overwhelming communal support are recognized by the justice system or disregarded.

Rabbi Margaretten closed his message with a promise that this effort will continue until fairness is restored and justice is truly served.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu used his appearance at the New York Times’ Dealbook forum on Wednesday to deliver a forceful message about Israel’s direction, the dangers posed by Iran and its allies, and his refusal to waver on core national positions.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Netanyahu portrayed this moment as a pivotal one, insisting that “history beckons” and that Israel must act with clarity and strength. He brushed aside the legal proceedings against him, characterizing them as irrelevant noise compared to the country’s overarching challenges.

Netanyahu tied recent battlefield gains in Gaza directly to Israel’s broader security outlook. He pointed to the UN Security Council’s vote on President Donald Trump’s peace plan as part of a larger diplomatic framework, but stressed that military pressure is the true engine behind stability and hostage recoveries. He credited the operational campaign together with American backing for shifting the reality on the ground.

“The battering that the Iran axis received opens up many possibilities,” Netanyahu told Sorkin, explaining that Israeli forces reached deep into Hamas’s strongholds. “We went into the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza City. They didn’t believe we’d do it… And the combination of those two pressures brought Hamas to its senses.”

He reaffirmed his long-held belief that deterrence is the cornerstone of peace in the region. “In our neighborhood, and I venture to say now in all the areas of the world, the way you achieve peace is peace through strength,” Netanyahu said. “If you’re weak, you invite aggression, and nobody makes peace with the weak. You make peace with the strong.”

Sorkin pressed him on the Saudi position that ties normalization with Israel to a pathway toward Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu flatly rejected this linkage, pointing to Gaza as evidence of what he views as the failure of territorial concessions. “There was a Palestinian state. It’s called Gaza. That’s exactly what it was,” he said. “We didn’t get peace. What we got was the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”

He emphasized that the Israeli political system overwhelmingly agrees with him. According to Netanyahu, nearly the entire Knesset—99 members—opposes any arrangement that leaves Israel vulnerable. He faulted Palestinian leadership and educational systems for perpetuating incitement. “People say, look, there has to be a solution with the Palestinians. But it’s not one in which they don’t recognize the Jewish state… They indoctrinate their children with textbooks that are calling for children to become suicide bombers.”

Turning to the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu dismissed the idea of granting it power in Gaza, arguing that the PA is “very corrupt” and unable to maintain democratic norms. “They cannot pay terrorists to kill more Jews,” he added.

Netanyahu then addressed the global climate surrounding Israel, delivering a fierce denunciation of the International Criminal Court while tying antisemitic rhetoric today to anti-Jewish myths of centuries past. “The same lies that were leveled at the Jewish people are now being leveled at the Jewish state,” he said, refuting accusations against the IDF’s conduct. “We don’t carpet bomb. We don’t do Dresden… We send our soldiers, some of whom die, trying to clear out these booby traps.”

The interview touched on New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s warning that Netanyahu could face arrest if he visits New York under the ICC’s warrant. Netanyahu brushed it aside with characteristic defiance. “Yes, of course I will [come to New York],” he said.

He also spoke openly about seeking a pardon from President Herzog, describing his corruption case as a “witch hunt” rooted in trivialities. “I received a Bugs Bunny doll 29 years ago, and I received some cigars and champagne bottles. That’s what this trial is about,” Netanyahu remarked, calling the proceedings a massive waste of time. “I think history beckons… The needs of Israel are such that to spend another two, three years in this nonsense where this trial has just collapsed, it’s become a joke.”

Even with the turmoil abroad and at home, Netanyahu conveyed deep confidence about where Israel is headed—especially in areas like AI, innovation, and national development. For him, the prerequisite for all of it is security, and on that front he vowed to continue leading the nation.

“When history is within reach, you don’t step aside. You step forward. And that’s what I’m doing,” Netanyahu said, ending the conversation with a pledge. “We will change the face of the Middle East. We will win this war.”

{Matzav.com}

Hillary Clinton used her appearance at the Yisroel Hayom conference in New York to issue a pointed warning about how young Americans are forming their opinions about Israel and the war in Gaza. She argued that a powerful wave of online distortion is shaping perceptions in profoundly damaging ways, driven largely by short-form video platforms.

Clinton said she was stunned to learn how many “smart, well-educated” young people rely almost exclusively on TikTok and other social media apps to understand Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault and the ensuing conflict. According to her, “That is where they were learning about what happened on Oct. 7, what happened in the days, weeks, and months to follow,” a trend she described as “a serious problem” for both Israel and “for democracy” in America.

She said the speed with which misinformation spread after the massacre left many young viewers with a completely inverted sense of events, noting that the story was flipped “upside down” by the rush of deceptive content that flooded social platforms.

Clinton emphasized that this is not simply a partisan battle, but a generational one. She warned that the “battle for the historical narrative” is being lost in the whirlwind of viral videos and algorithm-curated feeds.

The distortion, she said, is particularly potent among young Americans who never learned the basic history of the region. As a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, she pointed out that students with no foundation in Middle East history are especially susceptible to manipulation.

She added that the confusion extends far beyond activist circles, explaining that even young Jewish Americans have been caught up in the digital fog because they “don’t know the history and don’t understand.”

Clinton called the period following the release of Israeli hostages an important moment to reassess, saying it is time to “take stock of where we are, both in Israel and in this country, learn the lessons that perhaps can help us determine a more productive future.”

She warned that concerns about Israel’s reputation and the “significant increase in antisemitism in real life and online” are very real, saying, “There is a great deal of valid concern about how Israel is viewed, not just around the world, but from the United States, how Jewish Americans are viewed.”

Her comments also lined up with arguments long made by conservatives, who have insisted that social media platforms act not as neutral “platforms” but as powerful gatekeepers that shape what millions accept as reality.

Clinton stressed that the crisis is bigger than the current war. With more than half of young Americans consuming news primarily through social media, she argued, core democratic functions are weakened because the public no longer shares a common factual baseline.

Her speech reflected bipartisan anxieties about foreign propaganda, coordinated disinformation campaigns, and adversarial states exploiting open platforms to sow discord.

At the Yisroel Hayom summit, she distilled the problem sharply: if Americans cannot distinguish truth from fiction online — or lack the historical grounding to evaluate what they are shown — then those pushing falsehoods win by default.

In Clinton’s view, that is exactly what is happening now, carried forward “one viral clip at a time.”

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. imposed sanctions Wednesday on alleged affiliates of the Tren de Aragua gang and increased the reward to as much as $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of one of the leaders of the criminal group that the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The actions come […]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has escalated his efforts to scrutinize special counsel Jack Smith’s work, issuing a formal subpoena that orders him to sit for a deposition and turn over documents connected to his investigations of President Trump.

In the letter sent with the subpoena, Jordan wrote, “Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,” making clear that Smith’s firsthand knowledge is now central to the committee’s probe.

Jordan first sought Smith’s voluntary cooperation back in October, requesting both an interview and access to internal records. Those overtures followed months of criticism from the Ohio Republican, who has repeatedly accused Smith and his team of overreach.

Smith, for his part, has vigorously defended the federal cases he brought, maintaining that a jury would have convicted the 45th and 47th president for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and for retaining national security documents at Mar-a-Lago — “had Trump not won a second non-consecutive term last year.”

Under the terms of the subpoena, Smith must hand over the requested documents by Dec. 12 and appear for a deposition on Dec. 17, setting up a high-stakes confrontation between the special counsel and House Republicans.

Jordan’s inquiry has expanded in recent months, with former top aides to Smith also coming under scrutiny. In November, the chairman referred Thomas Windom, Smith’s onetime senior assistant, to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

Smith has previously signaled a willingness to address lawmakers publicly. He offered to testify before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, an offer that was not accepted.

Jordan’s investigators typically insist on private depositions before allowing public appearances, prompting pushback from Smith’s legal team. In response to the subpoena, Smith’s attorney Peter Koski said, “We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics.”

Koski added that “Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”

Beyond testimony, Jordan’s subpoena requires Smith to submit communications and records related to his tenure as special counsel, ensuring the committee gains access to a broad array of internal material.

The demand comes as fresh disclosures about Smith’s probe continue to surface, including details that the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation — which Smith assumed — had obtained phone records belonging to 10 Republican lawmakers.

{Matzav.com}

Last month, Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) sounded the alarm to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about one of his constituents being held in an Iranian prison. The congressman wrote to Rubio again this month, but this time, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) joined him in the letter.

The two asked Rubio to use “all available tools” to get Iran to release Kamran Hekmati, imprisoned for “attending his son’s bar mitzvah in Israel 13 years ago.” The lawmakers said Hekmati has aggressive bladder cancer and should be released “immediately on humanitarian grounds.”

Hekmati, 70, who holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenship and is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals of the village of Great Neck Estates, was imprisoned earlier this year while visiting relatives in Iran. The lawmakers said that Hekmati had made that trip several times “without issue” until now.

In a letter to Rubio released on Monday, Suozzi and Tenney said Hekmati’s “alleged crime was attending his son’s bar mitzvah in Israel 13 years ago,” and the United States should use “all available tools to secure his safe and immediate return.”

The lawmakers also requested that the U.S. State Department and White House update them on efforts to obtain Hekmati’s release.

“This case has deeply alarmed residents across New York, particularly within the large Persian Jewish community on Long Island,” they wrote. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Trump “stands by” Hegseth following CNN reporting on watchdog report, White House says The White House said today that President Donald Trump “stands by” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following reporting on an inspector general report about his sharing of highly sensitive attack plans in a Signal chat. “This review affirms what the Administration has said from the […]

You don’t see this every day! As heavy rain drenched Malta, a limited-edition, million-dollar McLaren Senna supercar was seen driving through flooded streets during the storm.

Rep. Henry Cuellar: I’m a conservative Democrat, I work across the lines, and I want to see President Trump succeed. It’s good for the country. We might have differences, but if I can work with him I will.

Billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, Trump’s pick to lead NASA, touted plans to put U.S. astronauts back on the moon before China and worked to distance himself from Elon Musk during his second Senate confirmation hearing

Lebanon’s prime minister said Wednesday that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, despite a move toward direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s comments to a small group of journalists in Beirut came in contradiction to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel […]

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations advanced the nomination of Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun to be the Trump administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in a bipartisan vote on Wednesday.

If confirmed by the full Senate, the Chabad rabbi would become the second Chassid to be approved by the Senate for a senior administration position after Mitchell Silk was confirmed as assistant secretary of the treasury for international markets during the first Trump administration in 2020.

Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) voted with every Republican to confirm Kaploun, who faced opposition from some Democrats over his partisan commentary about their responses to Oct. 7 and antisemitism.

“Democrats are afraid to even say the words ‘radical Islamic terror’ while Trump says it openly,” Kaploun told Mishpacha magazine in 2024. “Democrats refuse to even recognize the butchers of women and kidnappers of children as terrorists. How can you go along with that?”

Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) all voted to oppose Kaploun’s nomination.

The Anti-Defamation League and Orthodox Union Advocacy Center welcomed the committee’s vote to advance Kaploun and recommended his Senate confirmation.

A Miami-based businessman who was born in Israel and raised in Connecticut, Kaploun has a lower profile than his predecessor, Deborah Lipstadt, who had a decades-long career as an academic expert on Holocaust denial before assuming the antisemitism envoy role.

At his confirmation hearing in November, Kaploun said that he would focus on education as a means to combat Jew-hatred.

“We must educate, educate, educate about the history of the Jewish community in America and the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded on,” the rabbi said. “Antisemitism is anti-American. Those who chant ‘death to the Jews’ all too often chant ‘death to America.’”

The U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism is a position within the State Department and has a mandate to fight antisemitism overseas.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Relations Committee also advanced the nomination of former Fox Nation host and current State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce to be the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations on a party-line vote. JNS

{Matzav.com}

A punishing Arctic blast is barreling across the United States this week, threatening to plunge more than 200 million Americans into life-threatening cold and potentially rewrite the record books across 15 states. Meteorologists warn that over 40 record lows could fall between Thursday and Friday alone, as a destabilized polar vortex and an early-season La […]

NYC BUSINESS GIANT BLASTS MAYOR-ELECT: ROWAN CALLS MAMDANI “ENEMY OF JEWS,” WARNS OF “DARK TIMES” AHEAD Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan issued a searing public rebuke of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Monday night, accusing the incoming leader of “normalizing antisemitism” and declaring him an outright “enemy” of the Jewish people. The […]

In a dramatic escalation of the year-long battle over control of the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Trump administration has officially rebranded the institution with the president’s name and placed new signage on the headquarters, even as the courts continue to wrestle with who actually runs the organization.

The renaming marks the latest chapter in a tug-of-war that began after the Department of Government Efficiency targeted the institute early this year. What had once been a largely academic, congressionally funded think tank devoted to conflict resolution has turned into the center of a fierce constitutional dispute.

The State Department announced on Wednesday that the facility will now operate as the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, saying the title was chosen to “reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.” Fresh signage bearing the new name went up at the building located near the State Department.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly offered a blistering assessment of the institute’s past performance, declaring: “The United States Institute of Peace was once a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace.” She continued, “Now, the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which is both beautifully and aptly named after a president who ended eight wars in less than a year, will stand as a powerful reminder of what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability.” She closed her statement with, “Congratulations, world!”

The legal fight over who controls the headquarters has seesawed since March, with the building shifting hands multiple times through court orders following the DOGE takeover. A final ruling from the federal appeals court remains unresolved.

The institute insists it is an independent body created by Congress and therefore not subject to executive authority. Washington’s stance, however, is that the organization falls squarely within the executive branch.

When Trump dismissed the institute’s board earlier this year, the entire staff was removed as well and the building was transferred to the General Services Administration. A federal district judge later overturned that move, returning control to the institute’s leadership, but the appeals court reversed the ruling only weeks later.

As a result, employees have been terminated twice, and the GSA currently holds the keys to the building.

Despite the institutional turbulence, the headquarters is slated to host a major diplomatic signing ceremony on Thursday. Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame are expected to sign a peace accord there, with senior figures from the African Union, Qatar, Uganda, the UAE, Angola, Burundi, Kenya and Togo in attendance, according to Kagame adviser Yolande Makolo.

Online, the institute’s website had not been updated with the new name as of Wednesday night, but its main headline read, “President Donald J. Trump to Sign Historic Peace Agreement at USIP Headquarters,” highlighting the Congo-Rwanda deal set to take place at the site.

The U.S. Institute of Peace traces its origins to the mid-1980s, when Congress founded it as an independent, federally funded nonprofit aimed at conflict prevention and resolution outside the purview of the State Department. President Ronald Reagan signed the enabling legislation in 1985. Before DOGE shut down its operations, the institute had an active presence in 26 conflict areas, including Afghanistan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Pakistan.

Adding to the swirl of attention around the rebranding, speculation is mounting that Trump will be honored with a new peace prize from FIFA during events surrounding the World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

{Matzav.com}

A 75-year-old Long Island man who admitted waging a months-long campaign of terror against Jewish residents and businesses in Montauk walked out of jail with nothing more than probation, after a bureaucratic technicality erased the five-day sentence he was supposed to serve for his antisemitic crimes. Michael Nicholoulias, of Montauk, pleaded guilty in August to […]

The following observations are completely aside from the actual merits of the Draft Law. I simply wish to point out what I see as the unfortunate reality that plagues us, time and time again. There is a sad, insidious pattern, repeated so many times that it’s painful to watch. Gedolim. Daas Torah. Kavod HaTorah. Words […]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he would not hesitate to travel to New York, even after the city’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, vowed to honor an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against him on alleged war-crimes charges. Speaking remotely from Israel at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Netanyahu dismissed the allegations tied […]

The city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit against some of the nation’s top food manufacturers on Tuesday, arguing that ultraprocessed food from the likes of Coca-Cola and Nestle are responsible for a public health crisis. City Attorney David Chiu named 10 companies in the lawsuit, including the makers of such popular foods as Oreo […]

The White House unveiled a sweeping proposal on Wednesday aimed at dramatically softening the fuel economy benchmarks that Joe Biden locked into place last year, marking another effort by the administration to ease the pathway for selling gasoline-powered cars.

Under the plan released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the required fleetwide average for model year 2031 would drop to 34.5 miles per gallon—far below the 50.4 mpg level set under Biden. The agency also wants to reset the standards for earlier years and then raise them incrementally between 0.25% and 0.5% each year through 2031.

NHTSA noted that the Biden-era policy had demanded much steeper annual increases: 8% for models built in 2024 and 2025, and 10% for 2026. By contrast, the new plan represents a significant rollback that the administration argues will reduce the cost of purchasing a new vehicle by an estimated $900 on average, even though it would lead to substantially higher fuel consumption nationwide.

The agency is also seeking to overhaul the program itself. A key element of the proposal would scrap credit trading between automakers beginning in 2028 and discontinue certain credits tied to efficiency-enhancing features. In its explanation, NHTSA said the current system has become a “windfall for EV-exclusive manufacturers that sell credits to other non-EV manufacturers.”

President Donald Trump is expected to present the proposal alongside the chief executives of Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler.

Earlier this year, Trump signed a measure eliminating fuel economy penalties for the auto industry, and according to NHTSA, companies will not face any fines retroactive to the 2022 model-year period.

The effort to eliminate credit trading has major implications for companies like Tesla and Rivian, which have generated sizable revenue streams by selling credits to manufacturers still producing gas-powered vehicles.

Ford’s CEO Jim Farley applauded the move ahead of Wednesday’s event, saying Trump was “aligning fuel economy standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability.”

GM’s Mary Barra, speaking at an event on Tuesday, underscored the pressures the industry faced under California’s now-blocked zero-emission rules. Before Congress intervened in June, states following California’s model were preparing to require that “35% of new vehicles sold in 2026 must be EVs,” she said. “We were going to have to start shutting down plants because we weren’t going to be able to build and sell those vehicles.”

NHTSA had previously projected that the 2022 standards for passenger cars and trucks would cut fuel use by 64 billion gallons and eliminate 659 million metric tons of emissions, delivering a net financial benefit of roughly $35.2 billion to American drivers.

Long-range projections from the same 2022 rule estimated more than 200 billion gallons of gasoline saved through 2050.

Environmental groups immediately blasted the new proposal. Kathy Harris of the Natural Resources Defense Council argued that “The Trump administration is sticking drivers with higher costs at the pump, all to benefit the oil industry. Drivers will be paying hundreds of dollars more at the pump every year if these rules are put in place.”

Trump has repeatedly advanced policies to ease the sale of gasoline vehicles and slow the shift toward electric models, including revoking EV tax credits and preventing California from imposing a 2035 phase-out of gas-powered car sales.

{Matzav.com}