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A dramatic escape attempt by members of the radical Lev Tahor cult was thwarted at a U.S. airport late Wednesday night, when two families — four adults and five young children — were taken into custody by undercover FBI agents just moments before boarding a flight to Guatemala.

According to officials, the group had landed back in the United States only two days earlier after being expelled from Colombia. In an effort to avoid detection while arranging their next move, the adults reportedly swapped the radical cult’s distinctive clothing for traditional chassidic attire. They successfully passed passport control and routine airport security checks before agents intervened at the gate.

Footage from the scene showed the group being escorted out of the terminal by law enforcement.

Their arrest comes on the heels of a major international operation. On November 23, Colombian authorities announced the detention of nine adult members of Lev Tahor along with 17 minors. Immigration officials explained that five of the rescued children — all of whom hold Canadian, American, or Guatemalan citizenship — had been flagged by Interpol under a yellow notice due to fears of kidnapping, human trafficking, or exploitation.

Five days later, Colombia confirmed that the adults and all 17 minors had been deported to the United States. A spokesperson for Colombia’s immigration agency said that several children from the group were also transported back to the U.S. on the same flight and handed over to American child-protection services. Colombian police accompanied them onboard.

Local security officials revealed additional concerns uncovered during the probe. Members of Lev Tahor had reportedly planned to settle on a remote private property in Yaromal, a move that could have severely hindered rescue efforts. “Their intention was to disappear onto private land,” a security source said, adding that the plan raised “serious concerns.”

After the deportation, two of the families made a quick attempt to flee again — this time to Guatemala — but were intercepted at the last possible moment. Authorities say further investigations are underway.

{Matzav.com}

Federal aviation officials and airline engineers are still piecing together what caused a New Jersey-bound JetBlue flight to plunge thousands of feet in late October, injuring at least 15 passengers and forcing an emergency landing. But a new theory circulating among space-radiation experts is pulling the investigation in an unexpected direction. According to Clive Dyer, […]

Revelations of more than a billion dollars in welfare fraud across Minnesota have ignited sharp questions about what Rep. Ilhan Omar knew regarding the massive schemes carried out within the Somali community she represents. The scope of the theft — sprawling across programs meant to help vulnerable families — has intensified scrutiny of Omar’s long-standing associations with individuals and groups now implicated in the investigations.

Multiple reports note that Omar has maintained close relationships with entities and figures tied directly to several of the fraud cases. The widening scandal, which implicates Minnesota’s expansive welfare network, has now surpassed the billion-dollar mark in misappropriated taxpayer funds.

One of the most glaring examples centers on Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, a gathering place Omar has used for campaign events and celebrations. That same establishment has been repeatedly referenced in investigative findings. Owners Salim Said and Aimee Bock, who were deeply involved in Omar’s orbit, were convicted for their central role in the Feeding Our Future scheme — a $250 million swindle siphoning off funds intended for children’s meals. Chadwick Moore of the New York Post reported that Omar not only celebrated her 2018 victory at the restaurant but also introduced the very legislation that enabled the scam. Despite those ties, she has insisted she had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.

In August, Said was convicted of stealing $12 million from food-aid allocations under the 2020 MEALS Act — legislation Omar authored and championed as it sailed through Congress with bipartisan backing. Footage even surfaced of Omar promoting the program inside Safari Restaurant, praising the initiative that fraudsters later exploited.

Another troubling link comes from within her own political team. Guhaad Hashi Said, a Democrat activist who served on Omar’s campaign from 2018 to 2020, admitted to masterminding a sham nonprofit called Advance Youth Athletic Development. Claiming to feed 5,000 children, he secured $3.2 million in fraudulent funding. Throughout his tenure, Said was heavily involved in turnout operations for the Somali community and frequently appeared alongside Omar.

Financial ties also emerged as part of the scandal. Omar accepted donations from several individuals later charged in the schemes, though in 2022 she returned $7,400 in contributions traced back to those convicted. Nonetheless, she has continued to insist she had no awareness of any criminal activity.

As the fallout grows, Omar has attempted to reframe public criticism as an attack on the Somali community. She recently published an op-ed in the New York Times, brushing aside Trump’s condemnation of the billion-dollar theft and labeling his concerns as “bigotry.” Outraged over his comment describing her and large numbers of unassimilated Somali migrants as “garbage,” she accused him of attempting to “silence” Black and Muslim “newcomers.”

In the op-ed, she asserted: “He fails to realize how deeply Somali Americans love this country. We are doctors, teachers, police officers and elected leaders working to make our country better. Over 90 percent of Somalis living in my home state, Minnesota, are American citizens by birth or naturalization. Some even supported Mr. Trump at the ballot box.”

Omar continued denouncing Trump’s “dehumanizing” remarks, insisting that Somali migrants care profoundly about the United States. Yet she did not confront the vast fraud schemes carried out within her community nor the allegations of millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars being funneled by Somali networks to the terror group Al-Shabaab.

The unanswered questions — and the scale of the fraud — ensure the pressure on Omar will only intensify.

{Matzav.com}

In a remarkable display of yashrus and unwavering commitment to halacha, a young avreich from the Slabodka Kollel returned a staggering sum of 150,000 shekels discovered in the walls of his newly purchased apartment — money he could have easily and legally claimed as his own. The story began several weeks ago, when the avreich […]

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is preparing to torch one of the most visible pillars of the Adams administration, announcing Thursday that he will end all homeless encampment sweeps the moment he takes office in January. At a Manhattan press conference, the Democratic Socialist insisted the policy was not just ineffective but fundamentally misguided. […]

The Trump administration is preparing to unveil the second phase of its Gaza peace plan — a move senior American officials say could come before the end of the year, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected visit to Washington. The details, shared with Israel’s Channel 12, reveal an increasingly high-stakes effort to push Hamas […]

CNN found itself in an awkward spotlight after an on-air description by host Jake Tapper was immediately contradicted by his own broadcast. While introducing new developments in the Washington, D.C., pipe-bomb investigation, Tapper referred to the suspect as a white man—only for his program moments later to display images showing otherwise.

Tapper had told viewers, “Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old white man from the D.C. suburbs, is charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with malicious destruction by means of explosion.” But the footage that followed clearly showed a black man identified as the same suspect, prompting swift attention to the discrepancy.

Authorities have stated that the man in question, Brian Cole Jr., was taken into custody and faces a series of federal charges. As Breitbart News noted, Cole was “arrested and charged with placing the pipe bombs at the RNC and the DNC on January 5, 2021.” The outlet further reported, “He was also charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and the attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials, with more charges likely to result from the ongoing investigation.”

Investigators reportedly connected Cole to the bomb locations nearly five years after the incident. Officials used license-plate readers along with cell-tower data to place him near both party headquarters on the day the devices were planted.

In a statement marking the arrest, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized the significance of finally breaking the case. “Today’s arrest was the result of good, diligent police work and collaboration on a case that languished for four years under the prior administration,” she said. “The American people are safer thanks to this morning’s successful operation.”

{Matzav.com}

The Supreme Court stepped in on Thursday and allowed Texas to move ahead with its newly drawn congressional map, a ruling that hands Republicans a significant political edge heading into the 2026 midterms and potentially delivers them up to five additional House seats.

Texas had asked the justices to freeze a three-judge district court ruling that struck down the map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The high court granted that request in an unsigned order, prompting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to declare victory. “Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state,” he said. “This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.”

The Supreme Court suggested Texas is likely to prevail when the case returns for full review. According to the order, the state met the “traditional criteria for interim relief,” and the lower court committed “at least two serious errors” in tossing the map. The majority faulted the judges for refusing to apply the standard presumption that lawmakers act in “good faith,” insisting that ambiguous evidence was improperly construed “against the legislature.”

The justices also said that challengers should have faced a “dispositive or near-dispositive” adverse inference because they did not submit their own alternative map—one that would accomplish Texas’ stated partisan objectives without the racial characteristics they objected to.

Timing also carried enormous weight. With the candidate-filing deadline arriving on Sunday, the majority quoted earlier decisions warning that lower courts “should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election.” They concluded that the district court had “improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign,” disrupting election processes and disturbing the “delicate federal-state balance in elections.” The ruling keeps the Texas map intact for 2026 as long as the state promptly files its appeal.

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, issued a separate opinion asserting that partisan strategy—not race—was the true motivation behind the Texas plan. He wrote that it is “indisputable” that the “impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.” He added that the usual “clear-error” deference did not apply because the district court “based its findings upon a mistaken impression of applicable legal principles.”

Alito argued that because political affiliation and racial demographics often correlate, racial-gerrymander claims can “easily” be weaponized “for partisan ends.” As a result, he said challengers must “disentangle race and politics” by offering an alternative map that produces the same partisan balance. Since the plaintiffs’ experts never did that, he concluded the record supported a “strong inference that the State’s map was indeed based on partisanship, not race.”

Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, issued a blistering dissent. She maintained that the three-judge panel had done “everything one could ask” to resolve the dispute and accused the majority of discarding the rigorous “clear-error” standard in favor of a rushed review “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.” She warned that the ruling “guarantees that Texas’s new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year’s elections” and “disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.”

Texas House Democrats blasted the decision on X, writing that “the Supreme Court failed Texas voters today, and they failed American democracy. Every Texan who testified against these maps should be angry. Every community that fought for generations to build political power and watched Republicans gerrymander it away should be angry. Democrats will continue to fight.”

Across the country, the ruling is intensifying an already heated redistricting fight. President Donald Trump has urged GOP-led states to redraw maps mid-decade to secure the party’s House majority heading into 2026. Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah have responded with newly approved maps, collectively positioning Republicans to gain as many as nine seats.

Meanwhile, Republican leaders in Florida and Indiana have launched redistricting discussions or special sessions, though internal disagreements and legal uncertainties have stalled final action.

Democrat-led states are maneuvering in response. California voters approved a constitutional amendment championed by Democrat leadership that temporarily sidelines the state’s independent redistricting commission and replaces its map with one expected to generate roughly five additional Democratic seats. In Virginia and Maryland, officials are exploring ways to circumvent or influence their own independent bodies as they consider maps that could add to their party’s tally, though those efforts remain early-stage and likely headed toward legal challenges.

The Texas ruling signals that the coming national battle over congressional districts is far from over—and that the Supreme Court is poised to play a decisive role in shaping the next electoral map of the United States.

{Matzav.com}

Vice President JD Vance is rejecting claims that antisemitism is gaining traction inside the Republican Party, pushing back on a growing chorus of conservative lawmakers and commentators who say the movement has a festering problem it refuses to confront. In an interview with NBC News marking his first year in office, Vance said he simply […]

Internal Hamas intelligence files, seized by the IDF and newly analyzed, reveal a sweeping, years-long surveillance dragnet aimed at aid workers and local “guarantors” tasked with facilitating humanitarian operations. The documents, compiled between 2018 and 2022, expose a system of coercion, intimidation, and ideological policing that governed nearly every foreign organization operating in the Strip. […]

Benjamin Tisch — brother of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch — used a podium at a major charity dinner to brand mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani an “enemy of Jewish people.” Tisch, president and CEO of Loews Corporation and a prominent Jewish philanthropist, was presenting an award at the Met Council’s annual holiday dinner at the Mandarin Oriental […]

The BBC is rolling out compulsory education programs on both antisemitism and Islamophobia, marking the first stage of a new internal push to address bias within the corporation.

Outgoing Director-General Tim Davie wrote to employees, saying, “The BBC is for everyone, and we are clear that everyone working here should feel they belong. As an organization we stand united against any form of discrimination, prejudice, or intolerance.” He emphasized that the antisemitism module is already active and that the Islamophobia component will go live in February, with a six-month deadline for completion. “I know that everyone will be committed to the training, ensuring the BBC is a role model as an inclusive and tolerant workplace,” he added.

The initiative comes only after months of internal pressure. Over 200 Jewish employees and contributors submitted a letter titled “Being Jewish and working at the BBC,” in which they warned that the broadcaster had become “a safe space to be Jewish” no longer. They later followed up, accusing executives of offering “words not action” after the Board allegedly failed to investigate claims of antisemitism.

Jewish communal leaders had also raised the alarm. The Board of Deputies of British Jews met with BBC Chair Samir Shah, Davie, and senior staff to discuss everything from antisemitism to persistent concerns about BBC Arabic and the network’s Middle East reporting. Board President Phil Rosenberg explained, “Over the last 18 months, the Board of Deputies’ engagement with the BBC has focused on the urgent need for change in both culture and content at the Corporation. We have always said that a key component of the cultural change required is a proper understanding of contemporary antisemitism, provided by credible organisations.”

Advocacy groups welcomed the new training, though many noted that it was long overdue. Danny Stone MBE of the Antisemitism Policy Trust stated, “Against a backdrop of rising antisemitism in the UK and across the globe, staff at our national broadcaster must understand how to spot and tackle anti-Jewish racism and support colleagues who face it. This training will assist in that effort.”

Dr. Dave Rich MBE from the Community Security Trust echoed that sentiment, remarking: “The BBC has faced serious challenges in its handling of antisemitism, but we have been encouraged by the open and collaborative way in which they have worked with CST, APT and their own Jewish staff to develop this important training.”

The network’s credibility has taken hit after hit over the past several years, especially regarding its coverage of Israel. The backlash intensified after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, with critics pointing to a pattern of deeply flawed reporting. One notorious example came in November 2023, when the corporation apologized for wrongly alleging that IDF troops had deliberately targeted medical personnel at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital. Months earlier, the BBC had asserted—again incorrectly—that Israel caused a deadly hospital explosion later proven by the IDF to have been triggered by an Islamic Jihad rocket. The BBC ultimately acknowledged that “it was false to speculate” about the blast.

The problems didn’t stop there. Earlier this year, the broadcaster found itself under renewed scrutiny after discovering that a narrator in the BBC documentary “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” was the son of a senior Hamas figure. Following widespread condemnation, the BBC conceded that the film contained “serious flaws.”

Amid the mounting controversies, Davie recently announced that he would step down, a decision that followed public outrage over an edited broadcast of President Donald Trump’s January 6, 2021 remarks. He will stay at the helm until his replacement is chosen.

{Matzav.com}

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Bibi Netanyahu released an English-language video Thursday night, using the platform to sharply criticize the legal case against him and accuse prosecutors of running a political campaign under the guise of justice.

In discussing Case 1000, Netanyahu ridiculed the very premise of the allegations, declaring it the “Bugs Bunny trial.” He argued that the central claim — that he improperly benefited from media treatment — never held water. “I am accused of receiving favorable press coverage from a second-rate internet site,” Netanyahu said. He added, “that’s the so-called ‘bribe.’ Except, as the trial progressed, it turned out that I didn’t get favorable press coverage, I got unfavorable press coverage.”

Netanyahu went on to say that the judges themselves questioned the bribery claim years ago. According to him, “Yes, it’s a political trial,” and he insisted, “They’re not interested in justice, they’re interested in getting me out of office.” He described the prosecution’s refusal to drop that portion of the indictment as further proof of political motivation.

He then shifted to the specific items referenced in the case, dismissing them as absurd. The standout example, he said, was a toy gift given decades ago. He remarked that one of the accusations centers on a Bugs Bunny figurine he received from Arnon Milchan nearly three decades earlier. “From now on, this trial will be known as the Bugs Bunny trial,” he announced.

Netanyahu acknowledged other gifts — cigars included — but blasted the charges as baseless, contending the entire matter is built on “idiodic charges.” He noted that the proceedings have already stretched across four years and may continue for several more, all while requiring his presence in court three times weekly.

In closing, Netanyahu argued that the drawn-out process is draining national energy and resources. “This farce is costing the country a lot,” he said, lamenting the time being taken from diplomatic and technological progress. “There’s big things to do – there are peace treaties to get, there’s AI and other technologies that are amazing, could change Israel, could change the Middle East, could change the world.”

Frustrated by what he sees as misplaced priorities in the justice system, he summed up his message bluntly: “That’s what this trial is about – Bugs Bunny and cigars. Ridiculous.”

{Matzav.com}

An Arabic-language report out of London is stirring anxiety within Hamas ranks, as Asharq Al-Awsat revealed that the organization is bracing for what it believes could be Israeli action targeting its senior operatives beyond the Middle East.

Following the attempted hit in Doha, the group’s figures living outside Gaza have dramatically escalated their own defense measures. One insider admitted there is “an assumption that Israel will continue to track them using sophisticated technology,” a concern now shaping every aspect of their movements.

The newspaper released what it said was an internal document outlining upgraded security protocols handed to Hamas leaders stationed overseas, reflecting the seriousness with which the organization is treating the threat.

The instructions emphasize that gatherings must no longer occur at recurring sites. Instead, leadership meetings should shift unpredictably, with both timing and location constantly altered to avoid patterns that could be traced.

Hamas officials were further told that all phones and electronic devices must stay no closer than 70 meters from any meeting zone. The document bars any electronic or medical item inside the room, explicitly naming air conditioners, smartwatches, routers, screens, and even intercom systems.

Before any discussion begins, operatives are now required to conduct comprehensive sweeps for concealed surveillance cameras, a final layer in a growing maze of precautions meant to shield the group from what it fears is an expanding Israeli reach.

{Matzav.com}

Vice President JD Vance is publicly disputing warnings from fellow Republicans who argue that antisemitism is taking root within parts of the political right, creating a sharp contrast between himself and figures such as Sen. Ted Cruz. While Cruz and others have been sounding increasingly urgent alarms, Vance insists the charge is unfounded and unfair.

In a broad interview with NBC News, Vance rejected the notion that conservatives are experiencing a rise in anti-Jewish sentiment. He portrayed the allegations as attacks on the party itself, insisting they amount to “slanderous” mischaracterizations. “When I talk to young conservatives, I don’t see some simmering antisemitism that’s exploding,” Vance said. He added, “In any bunch of apples, you have bad people … But it’s slanderous to say the Republican Party … is extremely antisemitic.”

Vance argued that the issue should be viewed through the lens of individual behavior rather than a pervasive cultural trend, noting that judging others based on “immutable characteristics” contradicts both religious and American values. His framing puts him at odds with Republicans who believe the shift is not only real but dangerous.

Cruz, who is positioning himself for a possible 2028 showdown with Vance, has been increasingly vocal about what he sees as a rising tide of hostility toward Jews among some conservative activists. He has pointed to several developments as evidence of a deeper problem, including young conservatives pressing Vance with antagonistic questions about Israel, the growing influence of Tucker Carlson, and rhetoric from segments of the populist right that echoes narratives typically associated with fringe ideologies.

Carlson — a close ally of Vance — plays a central role in Cruz’s critique. Carlson’s recent decision to feature a Holocaust denier on his podcast led to widespread condemnation, including from Cruz. Carlson has also advanced claims that members of the Jewish community view as deeply offensive, asserting that Jews control the banking system, Congress, and even President Donald Trump. He further accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza as it sought the release of hostages held by Hamas.

These perspectives have been amplified by influencers aligned with “New Right” and national conservative factions, many of whom cast Israel as a costly foreign entanglement or accuse Jewish American leaders of steering U.S. policy in unwanted directions. While they deny any discriminatory intent, many of the narratives they elevate overlap with long-standing antisemitic tropes.

Vance’s political alliances make it difficult to separate his posture from the broader movement reshaping parts of the right. His trip to Israel underscored that tension. Instead of offering the full-throated backing that had long characterized Republican support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vance adopted a more critical tone, highlighting what he described as policy missteps and raising questions about Israel’s approach to the conflict.

His stance reflects a growing shift among segments of the conservative base — one that diverges sharply from traditional Republican figures such as Cruz, Nikki Haley, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Pence, all of whom have maintained strong, unequivocal support for Israel.

Against that backdrop, Vance’s assurances that antisemitism is not gaining traction on the right place him squarely in the middle of a widening Republican debate. Even as he aligns with the populist wing, the lingering tensions within the broader movement — including within the orbit of President Donald Trump — make clear that the party is grappling with profound internal divisions over Israel, foreign policy, and the boundaries of public discourse.

{Matzav.com}

House Speaker Mike Johnson is imploring his fellow Republicans to stop venting their frustrations in public and bring their complaints to him directly. “They’re going to get upset about things. That’s part of the process,” Johnson told reporters Thursday. “It doesn’t bother me. But when there is a conflict or concern, I always ask all members […]

In a forceful and emotional shmuess delivered last night at Yeshivas Be’er Yitzchak in Telzstone, Rav Aviezer Piltz — rosh yeshiva of Tifrach and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah — lamented what he described as unprecedented persecution of lomdei Torah in Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Piltz opened his remarks with unusually strong chizuk, noting the spiritual greatness of learning Torah specifically under pressure. “There is a maalah to learning Torah in Eretz Yisrael when it is done amid fear, stress, and government persecution,” he told the packed beis midrash.

He then issued a striking comparison, contrasting Israel with countries historically hostile to Jewish practice. “For fifty or sixty years,” he said, “there has not been a place in the world where Torah learning was forbidden. Under Communism in Russia it was forbidden to learn Torah, but today in Russia people sit and learn Torah, and the government encourages them.” Rav Piltz then added pointedly, “Even in Iran it is permitted to learn Torah!”

Shifting to the spiritual roots of the crisis, Rav Piltz suggested that the animosity toward yeshiva students stems from jealousy. “I think the root is that they envy us,” he explained. “They ask themselves, ‘I am a Jew as well — why was I not privileged that my children should learn Torah too?’ They feel like a different nation.”

Rav Piltz concluded with words of praise and encouragement for the bochurim of Be’er Yitzchak. “This yeshiva is so important,” he said, adding warm admiration for its rosh yeshiva, Rav Menashe Avi’ezeri. He urged the talmidim to recognize the immense value of their learning during a time of national spiritual challenge.

{Matzav.com}