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As authorities continue investigating the deadly incident at a daycare center in Yerushalayim’s Romema neighborhood, the director of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital says that early medical findings have ruled out poisoning and point instead to extreme environmental conditions as the likely cause of the tragedy.

In an interview on Kol Chai radio’s main evening program, Dr. Yaniv Scherrer, director of Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, shared initial insights from hospital treatment rooms and laboratories hours after two toddlers died and dozens of others were rushed for medical care. Despite extensive testing using advanced equipment, Scherrer said doctors have not identified “any toxin or substance that we can say caused the incident involving dozens of infants,” leaving investigators still searching for definitive answers.

Scherrer explained that once the first emergency report was received from Magen David Adom, Hadassah’s hospitals immediately prepared for an unusually complex scenario. While the medical teams are experienced in mass-casualty events, he said this case raised particular alarm. “This is not a routine incident. We are talking about very young children, infants in a daycare, with three in life-threatening condition,” he said. Because of the initial concern that the children may have been exposed to a toxic substance, staff prepared the emergency rooms with separate clean and potentially contaminated zones to protect both patients and medical personnel.

During comprehensive examinations of the 45 children treated at Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus, several key possibilities were ruled out. Doctors searched for signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, a dangerous gas sometimes emitted by heating devices in enclosed spaces, but blood tests did not show elevated levels. Exposure to pesticides was also excluded. “Very quickly we saw that this was not an external substance, but rather some kind of irritation that was likely respiratory,” Scherrer said, adding that rarer possibilities such as contaminated food or bottles are still being examined, though the cause may ultimately prove to be environmental.

With toxic exposure largely ruled out, medical assessments are increasingly focusing on the physical conditions inside the daycare. Scherrer addressed this cautiously, saying, “It’s possible that in the end this is a story of crowding and heat and suffocation that were there—we don’t know.” As part of preparations for worst-case scenarios, the hospital even readied its hyperbaric chambers in case of severe poisoning, but they were ultimately not needed. Most of the children required only mild respiratory support, and their conditions stabilized quickly after receiving oxygen and initial treatment.

Concluding the interview, Scherrer sought to reassure families and the wider public about the condition of the surviving children. “The infants who are still hospitalized with us—at the moment they are not in danger, and we expect they will be discharged tomorrow,” he said. He also expressed appreciation for the medical teams at both Hadassah hospitals, noting that they mobilized within minutes to provide life-saving care to dozens of infants who arrived at emergency rooms simultaneously amid great uncertainty.

{Matzav.com}

WATCH: Hafganos against the autopsies of the two infants who were Niftar in the Romema playgroup, are continuing in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. Flash bombs, water canons, and horses were used by police. Numerous reports of police violently beating Chareidim.

The British Ambassador to Israel, Simon Walters, held a meeting at the residence of Hagaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

A pre-dawn operation by the military police in the yishuv of Adam ended without an arrest early Tuesday morning after residents and yeshiva students rushed to the scene and physically blocked officers from taking a yeshiva bochur into custody.

According to reports, heavily reinforced military police units entered Adam at around 3:00 a.m. with the aim of arresting a talmid from the Noam HaTalmud Yeshiva who is considered a draft evader. The quiet community was jolted awake as the forces moved toward the bochur‘s home.

Once it became clear that military police were operating inside the community, activists triggered the so-called “Black Alert” system, a rapid-response warning used by opponents of the draft. Within minutes, dozens—and then hundreds—of residents and yeshiva students converged on the location, surrounding the police vehicle and forming a human barrier around the bochur.

After a prolonged standoff marked by tension and confrontations, the officers withdrew from the area without making the arrest. The retreat was met with loud cheers from those gathered at the scene.

The nighttime incident has once again fueled anger and unrest in the chareidi public, particularly among the Sephardic community. Individuals familiar with the details voiced sharp criticism, claiming a troubling pattern. “Time and again we see these initiated arrests—nighttime raids that reach right into people’s homes—focused on young men from the Sephardic community,” one source said. “Is this coincidence, or a deliberate policy? The public is no longer buying claims that it’s random.”

Following the withdrawal of the forces, the atmosphere quickly shifted. The home in Adam turned into a scene of celebration, with footage showing dozens of yeshiva students dancing energetically alongside the student and his family, expressing gratitude for what they described as a late-night miracle.

“They came to take him to prison, and in the end he stayed in the study hall,” one participant said during the dancing. “It feels like the spirit won over brute force.”

{Matzav.com}

A Chareidi bochur was moderately injured on Tuesday when a passing car ran into him during a protest on Rechov Golda Meir in Jerusalem at 2:45 p.m. Violent protests are taking place across the country ahead of the hearing at the Supreme Court on the autopsies on the babies who died in a Jerusalem daycare […]

Newly released data following a court petition has revealed how public funds totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels were used in 2024 to cover personal and household expenses connected to the private residences of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in Caesarea and Yerushalayim.

The information was disclosed after a legal petition filed by the Movement for Freedom of Information, leading to the publication of expenditure records from the Prime Minister’s Office that had previously been partially redacted. The newly released documents provide a clearer and more detailed picture of daily and personal spending, including food purchases and maintenance of private facilities such as a swimming pool.

According to the records, more than NIS 27,000 was spent on maintaining the swimming pool at Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea. An additional roughly NIS 50,000 was used for food, groceries, and gas refills for both the Caesarea residence and the private home in Yerushalayim.

The documents further show that thousands of shekels were paid during the year for maintenance and renovation work at the Caesarea property. These included approximately NIS 5,000 for waterproofing consultation, around NIS 6,550 for sealing and insulation work following water damage, and about NIS 1,500 for pest control. In parallel, roughly NIS 6,000 was allocated for communications infrastructure work at the private residence on Gaza Street in Yerushalayim.

Other listed expenses included about NIS 1,400 for laundry services and approximately NIS 12,500 categorized as “maintenance and miscellaneous” costs. Additional payments to individual professionals were also detailed, including roughly NIS 1,650 to replace a kitchen faucet, around NIS 7,300 to repair bursts in the main water line, and NIS 650 to fix a clothes dryer.

Visits by other technicians—covering refrigerator repairs, electrical work, and plumbing—amounted to an additional roughly NIS 16,000, bringing the total spent on professional services alone to about NIS 18,000.

Public funds were also used for exterior maintenance at the Caesarea residence. Nearly NIS 1,400 was spent on torch fuel, approximately NIS 4,680 on replacing window screens, and close to NIS 7,000 on root-cutting work. These items had originally been redacted from public disclosure on security grounds, with the redactions now partially lifted.

Despite the expanded transparency, some information remains withheld. About NIS 46,000 in expenses is still classified due to security considerations, while another roughly NIS 20,000 was not itemized for privacy reasons. In total, around NIS 250,000 in public spending had until now not been fully disclosed.

Attorney Yaara Winkler-Shalit, who represents the Movement for Freedom of Information, sharply criticized the Prime Minister’s Office, saying that despite clear rulings by the Supreme Court and district courts, the public is repeatedly forced to turn to the legal system to understand how its money is being used. She said the matter involves basic information about personal expenses funded by the state budget.

{Matzav.com}

Prominent figures who served in the Biden administration are sharply criticizing the vetting process used by Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, after Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro disclosed that he was asked whether he was “an Israeli agent” while being considered as a potential running mate.

Deborah Lipstadt, who served as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, said the reported question reflected deeply troubling bias. “This report is extremely distressing. When vetted by the White House for my position as Special Envoy, I was not asked anything akin to this. Had I been, I would have responded that the question is an example of why an Envoy is necessary. It is classic antisemitism,” Lipstadt wrote on social media.

In a follow-up post, Lipstadt said her concerns only intensified as more details emerged. “The more I read about Josh Shapiro’s treatment in the vetting process, the more disturbed I become. The questions to him, I repeat, are why they needed a Special Envoy on antisemitism. These questions were classic antisemitism,” she added.

Similar criticism came from Aaron Keyak, who previously served as Lipstadt’s deputy, in a statement addressing the episode. “The minimum demand of Jews in the United States and our allies – even those in public service – is to simply be treated like any other American, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or race. That Governor Josh Shapiro wrote that he was asked if he was a double agent of the world’s only Jewish state is an antisemitic inquiry,” Keyak said.

Keyak questioned why Shapiro, in particular, was subjected to such scrutiny. “While we can safely assume that asking all potential Vice Presidential picks if they are an Israeli double agent is not included on the standard list, the obvious question is why it was Governor Shapiro who was targeted by the staff of the presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee, Kamala Harris, in particular. The truth is, we almost certainly know why,” he added.

He went on to argue that such treatment reflects a broader pattern. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time the US government or a presidential campaign has applied a double standard to American Jews during the vetting process for a wide range of officials. I have heard from too many being asked similar questions over many years and I can speak from personal experience. During my vetting process I faced questions in a classified setting that my fellow non-Jewish political appointees did not. These sort of antisemitic questions are anti-American and do not represent the best that the Democratic Party offers. Now and especially during the next Presidential campaign we must demand better,” Keyak concluded.

The remarks followed reporting by The New York Times, which published excerpts from Shapiro’s forthcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light, scheduled for release on January 27.

In the book, Josh Shapiro describes what he characterized as an unusually tense and intrusive vetting process, particularly surrounding Israel. “Had I been a double agent for Israel?” Shapiro wrote, recounting a last-minute question posed by the vetting team. He said he pushed back, calling the inquiry offensive, and was told in response, “Well, we have to ask.”

Shapiro wrote that while he believed the staffer was “just doing her job,” the exchange nevertheless “said a lot about some of the people around the VP.”

A spokesperson for Kamala Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

Shapiro was among the finalists under consideration to join Harris on the Democratic ticket, though she ultimately selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

President Donald Trump, who defeated Harris in the 2024 election, has repeatedly argued since then that Harris passed over Shapiro, whom he described as a stronger option than Walz, because Shapiro is Jewish.

Shapiro has rejected the claim that antisemitism determined the outcome, and has dismissed Trump as the “least credible person” to lecture others about opposing hatred and bigotry.

At the same time, Shapiro acknowledged broader concerns, saying, “Antisemitism played absolutely no role in my dialogue with the vice president. Absolutely none. It is also true that antisemitism is present in our commonwealth, in our country and in some areas within our party, and we have to stand up and speak out against that.”

{Matzav.com}

Two extremist minors were arrested overnight Monday for alleged involvement in a violent incident against the son of Shas MK Yinon Azoulay in Ashdod, in an apparent “protest” against his father’s involvement in advancing a Chareidi draft law. The suspects, who were arrested near the scene of the incident, were transferred to the station for […]

Israel’s military chief has alerted the country’s top political leadership to a growing crisis in combat manpower, cautioning that the Israel Defense Forces could face serious operational limitations if the issue is not addressed swiftly.

In a letter disclosed by Channel 12 News, Eyal Zamir, the IDF Chief of Staff, warned that “the shortage of fighters is already acute” and could begin “to undermine the military’s readiness within the next year.”

Zamir wrote that the security pressures of the past two years have placed extraordinary strain on the IDF, disrupting personnel systems and creating challenges without precedent. He pointed out that legislative efforts tied to the Draft Law and to extending compulsory service are moving too slowly, a lag he said threatens the army’s capacity to carry out its responsibilities.

According to the Chief of Staff, only an immediate, urgent, and even retroactive extension of mandatory service for men to 36 months can prevent serious harm to the IDF’s force-building plans. He cautioned that without such a step, both readiness and the standard of combat training would deteriorate, with effects becoming noticeable as soon as next year and intensifying from January 2027.

The warning comes as the IDF reports shortfalls of thousands of soldiers in combat units and raises concern that, beyond the current gaps, the Knesset is advancing legislation that would broaden draft exemptions, potentially worsening the manpower crisis.

{Matzav.com}

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Police announced after midnight overnight Monday that two of the babysitters at the Jerusalem daycare center—where two babies died on Monday—were arrested. After their initial questioning following the tragic incident, the police decided to keep them in custody overnight. According to reports, the police may charge them with reckless homicide and negligence. The two are […]

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Parents of the babies and toddlers evacuated from the Jerusalem daycare where two babies were found unconscious on Monday and later died spent the night at the hospital, where their children were monitored overnight. B’Chasdei Hashem, after comprehensive tests, it was reported this morning that 27 babies and toddlers who had been hospitalized in the […]

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld In Shemos, Perek Yud Bais the Torah tells us that we have a mitzvah to bring a Korban Pesach on Erev Pesach. Was the bracha of shehecheyanu recited when they brought the Korban Pesach since it is a mitzvah that occurs infrequently? The Nesiv Chaim in siman taf lamed bais says that they did not say the bracha of shehecheyanu while shechting the Korban Pesach. They relied on the shehecheyanu that would be said on the night of Pesach during Kiddush. This is similar to the fact that we don’t make a bracha of shehechyanu while building the sukka, but rather we say the bracha of shehecheyanu during Kiddush when we also have the building of the sukka in mind. The Shailos Utshuvos Shevet Halevi in chelek gimmel, siman samech heh questions the above comparison. We don’t make a bracha of shehecheyanu on the building of the sukkah because that act is actually a hechsher mitzvah, a preparation for the mitzvah of eating in the sukka. We therefore rely on the shehecheyanu on the mitzvah of eating in the sukka itself, which includes the preparation for the building of the sukka as well. A similar scenario would be concerning saying shehechayanu while searching for chametz. We do not say shehecheyanu while we check for chametz since it is only a hechsher mitzvah; the actual mitzvah is not having chametz in your domain on Pesach, so we are yotze with the shehecheyanu we say as we usher in the Yom Tov during Kiddush. In contrast, when it comes to shechitas Pesach where the Rishonim count the shechita and the achilas Pesach as two separate mitzvos, we should be required to say shehecheyanu on the shechita and then at night when we eat the Pesach we could either rely on the original shehecheyanu on the shechita or rely on the shehecheyanu we say for the Yom Tov itself. The bottom line is that since the shechitas Pesach is a mitzvah on its own and comes infrequently; we need to say a shehecheyanu. The Shevet Halevi was asked a question in Chelek Tes, siman kuf yud yud gimmel based on what we pasken in Yoreh Deah, siman chof ches, seif koton gimel concerning a shochet who shechts for the first time. The shochet makes a bracha of shehecheyanu on the kisui hadam, (the covering of the blood) but not on the shechita because when one shechts, the animal is hurting so we don’t say shehecheyanu during the shechita. The question then is, how could we say a shehecheyanu when we shecht the Korban Pesach when we are causing pain to the animal? The Shevet Halevi answers that there is a difference between these two scenarios. When one shechts an animal because he wants to eat meat, then there is no place for him to say shehecheyanu since he is causing the animal pain in order to have his own pleasures fulfilled. On the other hand, when one brings the Korban Pesach, he is shechting the korban because Hashem told him to and not for his own personal pleasure. In such a case one could say shehecheyanu despite the fact that the animal is in pain since that is what Hashem commanded us to do. May we be zocheh soon to bring korbanos and be required to say shehecheyanu for shechita in our lifetime.

A group of Chassidish bochurim came under attack in Melbourne, Australia, on Monday evening by the driver of a car yelling antisemitic curses—only 100 meters from the Adas Yisrael shul, which was firebombed a little over a year ago. According to a report in the Herald Sun, the bochurim were walking together at around 9:50 […]

Nearly 3,000 high-level participants from business, government and beyond plus untold numbers of activists, journalists and outside observers are converging in the Swiss town of Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. Here’s a look at the latest edition of the elite affair in the Alpine snows: The WEF and Davos The forum is a […]

Outrage erupted this week after vile online influencers — led by neo-Nazi antisemite Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate — were filmed celebrating Adolf Hitler while blasting Kanye West’s widely condemned Nazi-themed song “Heil Hitler.” Footage circulating on social media shows Fuentes, Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan Tate, and several other extremist-linked influencers partying on a […]

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” online video showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country. The hacking comes as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that […]

Denmark has moved to bolster its military presence in Greenland, sending additional troops to the Arctic territory as tensions escalate with President Donald Trump over the region’s strategic importance.

Danish broadcaster TV 2 reported that the Armed Forces confirmed the arrival of a fresh deployment late Monday at Greenland’s main international airport, describing the move as “a substantial contribution” to security efforts on the island.

According to Maj. Gen. Søren Andersen, who heads Denmark’s Arctic Command, roughly 100 Danish soldiers have already been stationed in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, with further forces set to be positioned in Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland.

The decision follows recent remarks by Trump emphasizing Greenland’s military and geopolitical significance and accusing Denmark of failing to adequately protect the territory.

In a Jan. 18 post on Truth Social, Trump warned that Denmark had neglected its responsibilities in safeguarding Greenland from external threats.

“NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland,’” Trump wrote.

“Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” he said.

On Monday, a statement released a text message exchange between Trump and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that addressed Greenland and the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” Trump said before adding that there were “no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also,” he said in part of the exchange.

“I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT,” he added.

Prior to the release of the exchange, Andersen had said, according to Reuters, that Denmark’s troop movements were motivated by general security considerations rather than by Trump’s statements.

Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen also said Denmark is expanding its military activity in and around Greenland in coordination with NATO allies as part of a broader effort to reinforce Arctic defenses, Reuters reported.

Existing Danish units in Greenland may remain in place for a year or longer, with further rotations planned in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Jan. 15 that the deployment of European forces would not influence Trump’s stance on Greenland.

“I don’t think troops from Europe impact the president’s decision-making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all,” she told reporters.

The latest Danish troop increase follows Trump’s announcement that the United States will impose a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from countries that have backed Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

{Matzav.com}

The deadly incident at an unlicensed daycare center in Yerushalayim on Monday has prompted urgent action in the Knesset, with a special joint hearing scheduled to address the dangers posed by unlicensed childcare facilities.

Next Monday, January 26, at 9:30 a.m., the Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee, chaired by MK Zvi Sukkot, will convene an emergency joint session together with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, headed by MK Keti Shitrit.

The discussion has been formally designated as an emergency hearing and will focus on the serious risks involved in operating daycare centers for infants without proper licensing, an issue that has once again come to the forefront following the tragic events in the capital.

MK Sukkot said: “My heart aches for the pain of the bereaved families, and I am praying for the injured. But our responsibility as public representatives is to ensure that scenes like today’s tragedy never happen again.”

He added that “we will demand that the supervision and enforcement authorities in the education system provide immediate solutions that will prevent danger in daycare centers operating without a license.”

The tragedy has ignited a fierce public and political backlash, with criticism centered on a decision by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to cancel state subsidies for daycare centers serving families of avreichim.

Chareidi political figures argue that the decision, widely referred to as “the daycare decree,” has pushed thousands of parents to place their children in unregulated and unsupervised facilities, potentially endangering the lives of infants and toddlers.

According to these claims, the removal of subsidies has directly undermined the ability of economically vulnerable families to choose safe, supervised daycare frameworks.

MK Yoav Ben-Tzur, who previously served as the minister responsible for daycare subsidies, said he had warned in advance about the possible consequences of eliminating the funding.

“My heart is bleeding over the terrible tragedy at the unregulated daycare center in Yerushalayim. At this moment, our hearts go out to the families of the toddlers whose world has been destroyed by the heavy disaster that struck them all of us,” Ben-Tzur said.

He continued: “In the fierce struggle I waged to continue daycare subsidies also for avreichim, I warned and cried out in dozens of written documents, legally supported, to the Attorney General, about the grave danger of denying subsidies to supervised daycare centers and pushing thousands of families into unsupervised daycare frameworks.”

“Sadly, today the fear has proven to be a true outcry. The writing was on the wall. Helpless toddlers paid with their lives because of forceful and irresponsible decisions that harm, first and foremost, helpless infants,” Ben-Tzur concluded.

MK Moshe Arbel also sharply criticized the policy, saying: “In the State of Israel, the children of illegal infiltrators are entitled to daycare centers and preschools. In the name of the battle against the chareidi public, the children of avreichim are expelled from supervised daycare centers. The voices of the blood of ‘tinokos shel beis rabban,’ infants who never tasted sin, cry out from the ground. Children’s lives must be kept outside of any political struggle.”

The Chalamish organization, an association advocating on behalf of daycare centers in Israel, also issued a strong statement in response to the tragedy.

“We heard with shock about the heavy disaster that occurred at the pirate daycare center in Yerushalayim,” the organization said. “We have no doubt that government ministries that restrict the steps of daycare operators and parents, together with the decrees of the Attorney General that prevent subsidies for Torah-learning avreichim and punish toddlers for the ‘sin’ of their parents, will not be able to say: ‘Our hands did not spill this blood and our eyes did not see.’”

The organization added: “We call on all law enforcement authorities and the Supreme Court to look at the disaster that occurred today at the pirate daycare center and understand that the exclusion of chareidi children from supervised daycare centers is what could lead to the next disaster.”

{Matzav.com}