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[Video below.] Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu concluded his four-day trip to Washington on Thursday night, boarding the “Wing of Zion” aircraft to return to Israel after meeting twice with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Following the visit, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement declaring, “All the goals Netanyahu sought to achieve during the visit were accomplished.”

In an interview with Newsmax before departing, Netanyahu shared a guarded sense of hope about the possible return of ten more Israeli hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

During the conversation, Netanyahu spoke about the current diplomatic efforts to broker a temporary pause in fighting in order to facilitate the release of hostages who were seized during the October 7, 2023, attacks.

He described the suffering endured by the 255 hostages as “hell,” calling Hamas “monsters” for their treatment of those taken.

“Well, they’re monsters. I mean what they do to them and the stories we get are horrible,” Netanyahu stated. “So it’s not easy for us when we’re doing it.”

Netanyahu stressed that Israel is resolute in its mission to recover every last hostage still being held.

“We have 50 left; 20 definitely alive, and some 30 that are not alive, and I want to take them all out,” he told Newsmax. “We now have a deal that supposedly we’ll get half of the living and half of the dead out, and so we’ll have 10 living left and about 12 deceased hostages. But I’ll get them out, too. I hope we can complete in a few days.”

The potential agreement being discussed includes a 60-day pause in hostilities. During that time, some hostages would be released, and talks would continue in pursuit of a broader end to the war. Netanyahu reiterated that peace could happen immediately “if Hamas lays down its arms.”

Shifting focus to the wider humanitarian crisis, Netanyahu condemned Hamas for its treatment of Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, accusing the terror group of hiding behind civilians and turning them into pawns in the conflict.

“It is a fighting force and a governing force in Gaza that oppresses its people, targets our people, our civilians, and uses their civilians as human shields. And then they complain that the civilian losses are because of us,” he told Newsmax. “No, we say to the civilians, ‘Leave. Leave the war zone.’ … And Hamas says, ‘You don’t go. You try to leave the war zone, we’ll shoot you.’ And they shoot them because they want the pictures of dead civilians that they are causing put on Israel’s head. And that’s what you get in TikTok and the social media: ‘Israel is deliberately killing civilians’; no, we’re not. Hamas is deliberately killing its own people, preventing them from escaping the war zone. So they’re monsters.”

Netanyahu also pointed to a significant and unusual development unfolding within Gaza: Palestinian Arabs themselves are beginning to rise up against Hamas’s iron grip.

“There are Palestinians fighting Hamas because we weaken them to this point,” Netanyahu told Newsmax. “We see something that never happened before. Palestinians in Gaza are fighting Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza are defying Hamas. Palestinians in Gaza are saying, ‘We don’t want them. We don’t want to be tyrannized and subjugated by these monsters.'”

He ended the interview with a firm message of determination: “Well, that didn’t happen before, and we think we can bring it to completion. So I wouldn’t tell you that we have a war goal that is unachievable. We’re going to defeat these monsters and get our hostages back.”

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{Matzav.com}

The State Department is firing more than 1,300 employees on Friday in line with a dramatic reorganization plan initiated by the Trump administration earlier this year. The department is sending layoff notices to 1,107 civil servants and 246 foreign service officers with domestic assignments in the United States, said a senior State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters ahead of individual notices being emailed to affected employees. Foreign service officers affected will be placed immediately on administrative leave for 120 days, after which they will formally lose their jobs, according to an internal notice obtained by The Associated Press. For most affected civil servants, the separation period is 60 days, it said. “In connection with the departmental reorganization … the department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities,” the notice says. “Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities.” While lauded by President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their Republican allies as overdue and necessary to make the department leaner, more nimble and more efficient, the cuts have been roundly criticized by current and former diplomats who say they will weaken U.S. influence and its ability to counter existing and emerging threats abroad. The Trump administration has pushed to reshape American diplomacy and worked aggressively to shrink the size of the federal government, including mass dismissals as part of moves to dismantle whole departments like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Education Department. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court cleared the way for the layoffs to start, while lawsuits challenging the legality of the cuts continue to play out. The department had formally advised staffers on Thursday that it would be sending layoff notices to some of them soon. The job cuts are large but considerably less than many had feared. Rubio said officials took “a very deliberate step to reorganize the State Department to be more efficient and more focused.” “It’s not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don’t need those positions,” he told reporters Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he’s attending the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum. “Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.” He said some of the cuts will be unfilled positions or those that are about to be vacant because an employee took an early retirement. The American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents diplomats, urged the State Department last month to hold off on job cuts. Notices for a reduction in force, which would not only lay off employees but eliminate positions altogether, “should be a last resort,” association President Tom Yazdgerdi said. “Disrupting the Foreign Service like this puts national interests at risk — and Americans everywhere will bear the consequences.” Michael Rigas, the department’s deputy secretary for management and resources, said in a notice Thursday that select staffers would be informed if they were being laid off and called it part of the department’s biggest reorganization in decades. “Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force. First and […]

Federal agents faced fierce resistance Thursday during coordinated immigration and labor-enforcement raids at two Glass House Farms cannabis facilities north of Los Angeles. Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), supported by FBI tactical teams and low-flying helicopters, descended on the state-licensed operations—illegal under federal law—to serve warrants for allegedly undocumented workers and child-labor violations. At the Camarillo farm, protesters converged on agents executing warrants, throwing rocks and bottles. Federal personnel deployed tear gas and smoke grenades to clear crowds. Witnesses reported military-style helicopters sweeping low over the fields, a tactic intended to flush out individuals hiding among the crops. Ventura County Fire Department confirmed four people were hospitalized with injuries—ranging from gas inhalation to minor trauma—and three others were treated at the scene. Video footage showed several detentions as vans marked “ICE” drove onto the property. In Carpinteria, roughly 50 ICE agents and federal officers raided a sister Glass House location, arresting additional workers amid similar protests. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D–Calif.) was on site criticizing the show of force. “This is deplorable. This should not be happening on our soil,” Carbajal said. “Individuals dressed like military personnel… We don’t do that in America. This was overkill.” U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced that the FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of an “unknown subject” who allegedly fired a pistol at federal officers near Camarillo on July 10. The suspect remains at large. Local leaders condemned the raids as heavy-handed and harmful to immigrant communities. Oxnard Mayor Luis McArthur decried ICE’s “bold and aggressive” tactics on social media and vowed to seek legal remedies alongside state officials. “These actions are causing unnecessary distress and harm,” McArthur wrote. “I remain committed to exploring legal avenues to address these activities.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have also called for an end to aggressive enforcement in their jurisdictions. Newsom, on social platform X, posted harrowing footage of children fleeing tear gas and lambasted the federal operation as “chaos, fear, and terror within our communities.” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott countered that 10 juveniles—eight unaccompanied—were found at the Camarillo site and that the facility is under investigation for child-labor violations. The raids follow a similar operation earlier this week in Los Angeles’s MacArthur Park and come amid escalating tension between federal immigration authorities and California’s sanctuary policies. Los Angeles and eight other cities recently sued the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of using unconstitutional tactics to “instill fear” in immigrant communities rather than protect public safety. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the renowned matzo bakery in Dnipro has received a top-tier kosher certification from one of the world’s leading kashrus authorities.

Rav Asher Eckstein, a senior dayan from the United States and one of the foremost figures in the global kosher certification world, traveled to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to personally inspect and grant his certification to the matzo bakery that has continued operating even during the war. Dnipro is considered the nerve center of Jewish life in Ukraine, home to the largest organized Jewish community in the country, as well as the Menorah Center.

Rav Eckstein toured the city’s Jewish institutions together with the city’s chief rabbi and head Chabad shaliach, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, and Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.

One of the key highlights of Rav Eckstein’s visit was his inspection of the Dnipro matzo bakery, considered the largest of its kind in Europe. The bakery exports its meticulously prepared matzos to destinations including the United States. After personally examining its wheat supply and witnessing its meticulous standards, Rav Eckstein granted the bakery his personal kosher certification, which will now accompany the certifications already issued by Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi of Kfar Chabad, the OK kashrus organization, and the Dnipro Vaad Hakashrus led by Rabbi Kaminezki.

Joining Rav Eckstein on his visit were Rabbi Elisha Baram, the former head of the Dnipro kashrus division, and his successor, Rabbi Yisrael Gurevich.

During his inspection, Rav Eckstein remarked on the extraordinary level of halachic stringency upheld by the Dnipro community and its institutions. “It’s remarkable to see such high standards of kashrus being maintained in a country at war,” he said. “The commitment to halachic excellence here, despite the challenges, is clearly blessed with siyata dishmaya.”

{Matzav.com}

At a Jewish heritage celebration Tuesday evening at Gracie Mansion, Mayor Eric Adams implored Jewish New Yorkers not to flee the city following Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s surprise Democratic primary victory, but to stay and defend their home against a growing tide of antisemitism. Addressing an audience of approximately 1,000 under the sweltering July heat, Adams drew on historical examples of Jewish exile to underscore the dangers of abandoning the city. “You have the right to be in this city and anywhere in this country,” Adams declared. “We will not be the generation of fleeing and of leaving. We will be the generation to push back against hate.” Using the metaphor of a frog slowly boiled by rising water temperatures—a science exercise he recalled from elementary school—Adams warned that antisemitism in New York has been ‘‘turned up one degree at a time.’’ “The heat of antisemitism has gotten too hot in our city, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel,” he said. “I’m here to turn off the flame and get the frog out of the pot.” Jewish Heritage Month events had been postponed by rain in May and rescheduled for Tuesday evening in Carl Schurz Park. Despite a citywide heat advisory, attendees gathered under lit tents and listened to Israeli pop music, performances by singer Yoni Zigelboum (Yoni Z), and speeches honoring community leaders. Recipients of community service awards included volunteers from Chesed 24/7 and journalist Douglas Murray, who praised Adams’s vocal stance against intolerance. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Thousands of people from Bosnia and around the world gathered in Srebrenica to mark the 30th anniversary of a massacre there of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim boys and men — an atrocity that has been acknowledged as Europe’s only genocide after the Holocaust. Seven newly identified victims of the 1995 massacre, including two 19-year-old men, were laid to rest in a collective funeral at a vast cemetery near Srebrenica Friday, next to more than 6,000 victims already buried there. Such funerals are held annually for the victims who are still being unearthed from dozens of mass graves around the town. Relatives of the victims, however, often can bury only partial remains of their loved ones as they are typically found in several different mass graves, sometimes kilometers (miles) apart. Such was the case of Mirzeta Karic, who was waiting to bury her father. “Thirty years of search and we are burying a bone,” she said, crying by her father’s coffin which was wrapped in green cloth in accordance with Islamic tradition. “I think it would be easier if I could bury all of him. What can I tell you, my father is one of the 50 (killed) from my entire family,” she added. July 11, 1995, is the day when the killings started after Bosnian Serb fighters overran the eastern Bosnian enclave in the final months of the interethnic war in the Balkan country. After taking control of the town that was a protected U.N. safe zone during the war, Bosnian Serb fighters separated Bosniak Muslim men and boys from their families and brutally executed them in just several days. The bodies were then dumped in mass graves around Srebrenica which they later dug up with bulldozers, scattering the remains among other burial sites to hide the evidence of their war crimes. The U.N. General Assembly last year adopted a resolution to commemorate the Srebrenica genocide on the July 11 anniversary. Scores of international officials and dignitaries attended the commemoration ceremonies and the funeral. Among them were European Council President Antonio Costa and Britain’s Duchess of Edinburgh, Sophie, who said that “our duty must be to remember all those lost so tragically and to never let these things happen again.” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said he felt “humbled” because U.N. troops from the Netherlands were based in Srebrenica when Bosnian Serbs stormed the town. “I see to what extent commemorating Srebrenica genocide is important,” he said. In an emotional speech, Munira Subasic, who heads the Mothers of Srebrenica association, urged Europe and the world to “help us fight against hatred, against injustice and against killings.” Subasic, who lost her husband and youngest son in Srebrenica along with more than 20 relatives, told Europe to “wake up.” “As I stand here many mothers in Ukraine and Palestine are going through what we went through in 1995,” Subasic said, referring to ongoing conflicts. “It’s the 21st century but instead of justice, fascism has woken up.” On the eve of the anniversary, an exhibition was inaugurated displaying personal items belonging to the victims that were found in the mass graves over the years. The conflict in Bosnia erupted in 1992, when Bosnian Serbs took up arms in a rebellion against the country’s independence from the former Yugoslavia and with an aim […]

Former Hamas captive Romi Gonen was released from Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer on Thursday after nearly six months of intensive rehabilitation and two surgeries to treat wounds she sustained during the October 7, 2023, terror attacks in southern Israel. Gonen, 26, was among the hostages released by Hamas on January 19 under the hostages-for-ceasefire agreement. She arrived at Sheba Medical Center shortly thereafter, having been airlifted from the IDF reception point at the Gaza border alongside fellow former captives Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. During her hospitalization, Gonen underwent two operations — one to address shrapnel damage to her right arm and another on her lower back, where she suffered a gunshot wound at the Nova music festival. Medical staff have scheduled a third surgery later this month to complete her arm reconstruction. In a post on her Instagram account, Gonen reflected on her journey: “On 7.10, I was brutally kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. Today, on 10.7, I’m being discharged after a very difficult period — enduring pain, surgeries, and countless setbacks. I take this step with mixed emotions of sadness and joy, knowing that 50 of our loved ones remain in captivity.” She credited the outpouring of support she received throughout her recovery: “The people of Israel were with me every moment — from friends in rehabilitation classes to the meals that kept me going. Thank you; your support has been everything.” “While we experience life’s highs and lows, time in those tunnels stands still. I pray for the day we can be a united and whole people again,” she added. Sheba Medical Center’s rehabilitation team provided Gonen with physical and occupational therapy designed for victims of severe trauma. Hospital spokesman Dr. Yael Abrams said Gonen had shown “remarkable resilience” and praised her “courage and determination” throughout treatment. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF and Shin Bet announced Friday that they have killed the commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Shejaiya sector in a recent airstrike in the Gaza Strip. The slain terrorist, identified as Fadl Abu al-Ata, had risen from deputy commander to head of Islamic Jihad’s regional unit during the October 7 assault on southern Israel. According to Israeli authorities, Abu al-Ata “was one of the key coordinators between terror organizations in the Shejaiya sector” and orchestrated “numerous terror attacks against IDF troops.” He is also accused of infiltrating into Israeli territory alongside other militants at the outset of the war last year. In a separate operation, the IDF reported that they eliminated Hamed Kamel Abd al-Aziz Iyad, an explosives expert in Islamic Jihad’s Turukman Battalion. Israeli officials said Iyad “was responsible for planning and executing terrorist and explosive attacks against IDF forces.” The strikes form part of ongoing Israeli efforts to target senior Islamic Jihad operatives in Gaza. Both Abu al-Ata and Iyad were considered high-value targets due to their roles in coordinating cross-border incursions and attacks on Israeli soldiers. The IDF said it will continue its campaign “against those who threaten Israeli civilians and soldiers” and emphasized the precision nature of the strikes to minimize civilian harm. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The NYPD confirmed on Thursday that it has terminated dozens of officers who were hired despite having serious disqualifications noted during their recruitment process.

An internal probe revealed that 31 officers brought onto the force within the past two years had already received final disqualification notices, yet were still approved for employment. The department stated that once those final decisions were made, hiring them was against the law.

“The department was not legally allowed to hire these individuals and was forced to inform them that they could no longer continue as members of the NYPD,” a department spokesperson said.

Sources told 1010 WINS that Inspector Terrell Anderson, who previously oversaw the Candidate Assessment Division, made the decision to hire the disqualified applicants on his own, even though they had been officially notified they were ineligible.

That same source added that Anderson has now been reassigned and is facing significant disciplinary charges from within the department.

According to information provided to 1010 WINS, the disqualifications stemmed from serious issues in the applicants’ pasts, including failure to disclose criminal convictions, past arrests, job dismissals, multiple arrests, outstanding criminal summonses, and serious driving violations that led to license suspensions.

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, condemned the firings, saying that the fault lies not with the officers, but with the department’s flawed recruitment system. “These police officers aren’t responsible for the NYPD’s broken hiring process or the supervisors who made these decisions,” Hendry said.

He explained that the recruits believed they were eligible to serve, especially since the department had already hired and trained them. The union said it is weighing legal action to defend the affected officers and demand accountability from NYPD leadership.

“It is an absolute travesty that the department is trying to cover its tracks by summarily forcing them off the job, without affording them the same appeal process available to other applicants,” Hendry said.

The dismissals come amid mounting internal turmoil within the NYPD. Just days earlier, four former senior officials filed lawsuits alleging widespread misconduct and favoritism, including accusations that promotions were being sold for as much as $15,000.

Among the claims is that former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, who stepped down in December after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced, routinely bypassed standard protocols to appoint unqualified associates to influential roles starting in 2023.

In a lawsuit brought by ex-Chief of Detectives James Essig, he described noticing an “unusually high number” of inexperienced officers being reassigned to the sex crimes division during that period.

The legal filings further allege that current leadership, including Chief of Department John Chell, has worked to undermine internal oversight and prevent scrutiny of the department’s actions.

{Matzav.com}

An IDF officer was killed Thursday in an apparent accident during operations in southern Gaza, bringing Israel’s death toll in its renewed ground offensive against Hamas to 41 since March. The fallen soldier was identified as Captain Reei Biran, 21, a reconnaissance team commander in the Golani Brigade and a resident of Shorashim. According to an IDF investigation, troops were preparing to demolish buildings in Khan Younis suspected of housing Hamas operatives. After rigging the structures with mines, an explosion occurred approximately two hours later. Captain Biran was struck—likely by shrapnel or debris—and succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter. The circumstances remain under further inquiry. In a separate incident overnight in northern Gaza’s Jabalia region, two IDF soldiers were wounded—one moderately and one lightly—when their tank came under anti-tank fire. Both were evacuated to a military hospital, and their families were notified, the IDF said. Captain Biran is the nephew of Orna and Eitan Biran, who paid tribute to his character and sacrifice. “Reei was a figure of inspiration—devoted, principled, guided by mission and love for humanity,” his aunt Orna told Ynet. His uncle Eitan wrote on Facebook, “Reei was a child of light, a brave fighter, a beloved son and brother. The loss is unfathomable.” Captain Biran’s girlfriend Avia posted on Instagram, “You’re the love of my life. Please come back to me.” Since October 2023, including frontline and border operations, 451 Israeli security personnel have been killed in connection with the conflict around Gaza, among them two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Mahmoud Khalil, an alumnus of Columbia University, is demanding $20 million in compensation from the administration of President Donald Trump after spending more than 100 days in immigration custody, according to a report by The Independent on Thursday.

In advance of a formal federal lawsuit, a court filing alleges that Khalil was the victim of politically motivated arrests and efforts to suppress campus activism. Officials in the administration claimed Khalil had engaged in “antisemitic activities” due to his involvement in anti-Israel demonstrations.

“There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power,” Khalil stated. “I’m holding the US government accountable not just for myself, but for everyone they try to silence through fear, exile, or detention.”

On March 8, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended Khalil as part of a broader effort to clamp down on campus protests critical of Israel.

At the time he was taken into custody, Khalil had become a prominent voice in student-led demonstrations nationwide opposing the war in Gaza. After his arrest, federal authorities relocated him from his residence in New York to a detention facility in Louisiana to face deportation proceedings.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited a Cold War-era statute passed during the 1950s Red Scare, which allows for the expulsion of foreign nationals considered detrimental to American foreign policy.

But a judge later determined that Rubio’s claims were insufficient to justify Khalil’s continued detention or deportation, ruling that the government lacked grounds to classify him as a national security threat. Khalil was subsequently granted release on bail in late June.

Officials have accused Khalil of omitting from his immigration paperwork what they called his “membership” in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Khalil denies any wrongdoing and insists his arrest and detention were punitive actions in response to his political speech.

{Matzav.com}

A two-year-old girl who was rushed to Ruth Children’s Hospital at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa last week after being left unattended in a vehicle was niftar overnight in the pediatric intensive care unit, hospital officials confirmed Friday morning. The toddler, whose identity has not been released, was admitted in critical condition on July 3 following an extended period inside a parked car in Hadera. United Hatzalah first responders provided on-scene emergency treatment, including CPR, before transporting her to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center. She was later transferred to Rambam for specialized pediatric intensive care. “Despite all life-saving efforts, the child’s condition remained grave,” a Rambam spokesperson said. “We deeply regret to announce that she succumbed to her injuries overnight.” Shmuel Mori, a United Hatzalah medic who treated the girl at the scene last week, recalled: “We were told she had been in the car for a prolonged time. We performed advanced life-support measures on site before she was taken to the hospital in critical condition,” he said. United Hatzalah issued a renewed safety warning to parents and caregivers: “Never leave children alone in a vehicle, even for a moment,” the organization said. “On hot summer days, always check the back seat before locking your car to ensure no child has been inadvertently left inside.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced Friday morning that Captain Reei Biran, 21, a squad commander in the Golani Reconnaissance Unit of the Golani Brigade, was killed during an operation in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

According to an initial review of the events, Biran’s unit had been tasked with targeting terrorist infrastructure in Khan Yunis. As part of their assignment, they were preparing buildings suspected of being used by terror operatives for demolition.

Roughly two hours into the mission, an explosion erupted during the rigging process. Captain Biran sustained critical injuries and was later declared dead. The IDF is actively investigating the details of the incident to determine what went wrong.

So far, 890 Israeli soldiers have died since the onset of the war.

Another casualty was cleared for publication Wednesday night: Abraham Azulay, 25, from the Shaked Farm near Yitzhar, who was killed while operating engineering equipment in Gaza. Azulay had been married only three months prior.

Azulay is the third individual from Yitzhar to lose his life in the war. He had volunteered, along with many others from his community, to assist the IDF by operating heavy engineering vehicles in the Gaza Strip.

Preliminary findings suggest that while IDF troops were conducting a mission in Khan Yunis, terrorists emerged from a subterranean tunnel and launched an attack. During the ambush, they tried to kidnap the soldier operating the engineering vehicle.

The soldier resisted the attackers but was fatally shot. Forces stationed nearby returned fire, injuring several of the terrorists and preventing the abduction. The IDF is continuing to examine the circumstances of the incident.

{Matzav.com Israel}

President Donald Trump revealed on Thursday that the United States will impose a 35% tariff on goods imported from Canada beginning August 1, citing Ottawa’s retaliatory actions as the reason behind the move.

“Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs,” Trump wrote in a message addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, which was shared publicly on Truth Social.

Trump pointed to the fentanyl crisis as a factor behind the tariff decision, suggesting that progress on that issue could potentially change the tariff plan. “If Canada works with me to stop the flow of Fentanyl, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” he said.

According to Trump, the new tariff rate will be distinct from any previously existing sector-specific tariffs. He warned that if Canada hits back with more trade penalties, the U.S. will respond with even higher duties. “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 35% that we charge,” he declared.

The letter also made clear that any attempts to reroute goods to bypass the increased tariff would be met with the same penalty. “Good transshipped to evade this higher tariff will be subjected to that higher tariff,” it stated.

Trump noted that the tariff rate could either go up or be reduced based on how negotiations unfold with Canada. He stressed that the issues between the two nations aren’t limited to fentanyl. ″[Canada] has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, which cause unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States … The Trade Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”

Currently, Canadian products are subject to a 25% tariff put in place earlier this year, aimed at addressing Canada’s alleged connection to fentanyl trafficking. Exceptions have been made for those complying with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, while Canadian energy exports face a reduced 10% tariff.

The latest tariff announcement followed a June 29 agreement between the two nations to restart trade negotiations, aiming for a new deal by July 21, according to Canada’s Department of Finance.

Trump had previously threatened to call off all trade talks with Canada after it refused to halt its planned digital services tax targeting U.S. tech companies. Canada eventually dropped the tax, clearing the way for talks with Washington to resume.

{Matzav.com}

At a gathering held Thursday evening in honor of United Hatzalah volunteers in Bnei Brak, MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, delivered a fiery speech targeting Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara following her announcement of new enforcement measures aimed at yeshiva students who do not enlist in the army.

Addressing the volunteers, Gafni praised them as the true servants of Israeli society. “You are living proof that the chareidim serve, assist, and help all the citizens of Israel,” he said, lauding their selfless dedication to saving lives.

Turning to the Attorney General, Gafni’s tone turned scathing. “She’s putting up roadblocks — well, she can forget about that,” he declared. “She wants us to speak out against her so that if they try to fire her, she’ll be able to claim she’s the one standing up to the chareidim. That’s what she’s really interested in. It’s a disgrace to the State that this woman is the Attorney General.”

Then, with biting sarcasm, Gafni added, “But one thing’s for certain — if, Heaven forbid, she’s ever in an accident, it’ll be the chareidim from United Hatzalah who save her. We don’t keep score.”

His remarks came in the wake of Baharav-Miara’s endorsement of a new IDF draft enforcement plan targeting yeshiva bochurim. In a statement issued by her office, the Attorney General welcomed the military’s enforcement efforts, saying, “The Attorney General commends the progress made in formulating this year’s draft enforcement plan and the IDF’s policy to increase enforcement in the immediate term.”

She stated that “the number of recruits in the past year does not meet the security needs, the commitments of the State, or the value of equality.” The statement added that enforcement would be carried out “equitably across all sectors, with particular attention to shortening the time until draft orders are issued and until draft dodgers are formally declared — to enable quicker use of enforcement tools.”

The plan also includes a one-time opportunity for draft dodgers from all sectors to enlist without being arrested. Those who report for duty will begin regular service immediately and, if they complete one full year of proper service and meet additional conditions, their charges will be commuted and replaced with a suspended sentence.

Further steps outlined include a follow-up meeting to assess implementation, including updates on IDF activity at border crossings, proactive enforcement actions, and details regarding the expansion of detention facilities.

Due to gaps in coordination between the Education Ministry and the IDF regarding transfer of information on draft-eligible students, another meeting — headed by the Deputy Attorney General — will be held to address and resolve the issue.

The meeting summary will be forwarded to the Defense Minister’s office, emphasizing the importance of expanding the tools available to enforce the draft on those evading service.

To finalize the government’s legal response to court challenges, officials were instructed to expedite efforts to complete a comprehensive draft affidavit, including specific details about the enforcement plan, criteria for identifying draft dodgers, and IDF enforcement activities — their scope and frequency — particularly at Israel’s borders.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Articles written by Zohran Mamdani during his college years have resurfaced as his profile rises in New York City’s political landscape. A review by Fox News Digital reveals that Mamdani, a self-described socialist and Democratic mayoral nominee, used his time at Bowdoin College to promote radical views on race and Israel, including a call for an academic boycott of the Jewish state.

During his time at Bowdoin from 2010 to 2014, Mamdani authored 32 opinion pieces for the college newspaper, the Bowdoin Orient. In one of his final columns as a senior, Mamdani backed a push for academia to cut ties with Israel. “This academic and cultural boycott aims to bring under scrutiny the actions of the Israeli government and to put pressure on Israeli institutions to end the oppressive occupation and racist policies within both Israel and occupied Palestine,” he wrote. Mamdani also co-founded the college chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group now known for organizing some of the loudest anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses, especially in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre, with some chapters going as far as glorifying the attack.

One of Mamdani’s targets in his article was Bowdoin’s president at the time, Barry Mills, who rejected the idea of an academic boycott. “Lastly, Mills regrettably makes no mention of Palestinians or Palestine,” Mamdani wrote. “The call for the boycott comes in response to more than 60 years of Israeli colonial occupation of Palestine. When Mills speaks of the ‘free exchange of knowledge, ideas, and research, and open discourse’ in academia, he does so while privileging partnerships with Israeli institutions over basic freedoms for Palestinians, including the rights to food, water, shelter and education, which many Palestinians are denied under Israeli rule.”

In another opinion piece from 2013, Mamdani accused a fellow White student of failing to recognize his own racial privilege after the student objected to claims that the school’s editorial section lacked diversity. “White males are privileged in their near-to-exclusive featuring as figures of authority in print, on television and around us in our daily realities,” Mamdani wrote. “We, the consumers of these media, internalize this and so believe in the innate authority of a white male’s argument and the need for its publication. So, white privilege is both a structural and an individual phenomenon, the former propelling the latter. Therefore, even when the individual is silent, the structures continue to exist and frame our society through their existence.”

He further elaborated on the lack of diversity in the campus newspaper’s opinion section, calling it a product of institutional racism. Mamdani wrote that the “pervasive male whiteness” of the school’s opinion pages “builds on the sadly still-present white male monopolization of both discourse and understanding.”

Expanding on the topic, Mamdani emphasized how white privilege operates, regardless of personal experience. “While whiteness is not homogenous, white privilege is. This privilege is clear in not having to face institutional racism in access to housing subsidies, college grants, financial institutions, or civil rights. It allows a white person to universalize his own experiences. It restricts society’s ability to understand its flaws, and projects a false image of meritocracy upon a nation built on institutional racism,” he wrote.

In a separate piece titled “Bearded in Cairo,” Mamdani recounted his semester abroad in Egypt during a period of political upheaval. He wrote about choosing to grow a beard before his trip as a way to confront American stereotypes about Muslim and South Asian men. He admitted the beard was “mostly as a symbolic middle finger” to the idea, widespread in America, that people with brown skin and beards are automatically seen as “terrorists.”

While in Egypt, Mamdani reflected on how racial privilege manifested differently. “Gone was the image of the white Christian male that I had grown accustomed to, and in its place was a darker, more familiar picture – ­­­one that, for the first time, I fit: brown skin, black hair, and a Muslim name,” Mamdani wrote. “With the right clothing, some took me for an Egyptian and most thought I was Syrian – either identity allowed me unrestricted access to exploring Cairo.”

In a 2014 article marking the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to Bowdoin, Mamdani critiqued what he saw as complacency around diversity. Although the school had increased its non-white student population in recent years, he argued that it had fallen short of what true inclusivity required. “I have been forced to personally grapple with these inconsistencies during my time here,” Mamdani wrote.

He offered a personal window into how these shortcomings played out in everyday campus life. “I sit in class not knowing whether to correct everyone’s mispronunciation of an Indian woman’s name. I usually do, but today I’m tired. I’m tired of being one of a few non-white students in a classroom, if not the only one. I bring up race in discussions only to see the thought flicker in my peers eyes and on their tongues. They sigh without a sound. I’ve brought up race again. I’ve sidetracked the discussion. I’ve chosen to make an issue out of it.”

In the same article, Mamdani — born in Uganda to Indian parents — wrote candidly about the alienation he felt early in college. “I grow a beard only to be called a terrorist,” Mamdani wrote. “I pronounce the ‘h’ in my name only to hear muffled laughs. Clothing becomes exotic once it clads my body. Cotton shirts are called dashikis and sandals ethnic.”

He also described the insecurities he wrestled with during his freshman year. “While I am now comfortable in my own skin, I can remember wishing for whiteness my first year when I thought certain types of girls were impossible to talk to due to my skin being more kiwi than peach. Months later, I remember thinking that attraction might only be possible when a girl had ‘a thing for brown guys.’”

Despite finding a few like-minded peers, Mamdani remained frustrated by what he perceived as willful ignorance. “Still, too few people acknowledge that race is an issue on our campus, or that it has ever been one,” he wrote. “But if people say they are color blind, do they even see me?”

Mamdani captured national attention last month after an unexpected win in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, despite heavy criticism of his far-left platform. His campaign has called for radical changes, such as municipal-run grocery stores, police defunding, government-sanctioned drug sites, and a $30 minimum wage.

His win has deepened the divide within the Democratic Party. While some party leaders urge a centrist course following Kamala Harris’s loss in the presidential election, others have rallied behind the progressive movement championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who backed Mamdani’s campaign.

Now heading into the general election as the leading candidate in a city where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, Mamdani appears poised to extend his political rise.

{Matzav.com}

At least 200 homes were damaged during a deadly flash flood in the mountain village of Ruidoso, and local emergency managers warned Wednesday that number could more than double as teams survey more neighborhoods. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was among the officials who took an aerial tour of Ruidoso and the surrounding area as they looked to bolster their case for more federal assistance for the community, which has been battered over the past year by wildfires and repeated flooding. The governor said the state has received partial approval for a federal emergency declaration, freeing up personnel to help with search and rescue efforts and incident management. She called it the first step, saying Ruidoso will need much more. “We will continue working with the federal government for every dollar and resource necessary to help this resilient community fully recover from these devastating floods,” she said. An intense bout of monsoon rains set the disaster in motion Tuesday afternoon. Water rushed from the surrounding mountainside, overwhelming the Rio Ruidoso and taking with it a man and two children who had been camping at a riverside RV park. Their bodies were found downstream. One person is still unaccounted for. Lujan Grisham expressed her condolences and wished a speedy recovery for the parents of the 4-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy who were killed. She said it will be an emotional journey. “There are no words that can take away that devastation,” she said. “We are truly heartsick.” Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, whose district includes Ruidoso and surrounding Lincoln County, told reporters more rain is coming and that residents remain at risk. She urged people to follow emergency orders, saying “we cannot lose another life.” A community rebuilds — again Broken tree limbs, twisted metal, crumpled cars and muddy debris remain as crews work to clear roads and culverts wrecked by the flooding. Tracy Haragan, a lifelong Ruidoso resident on the verge of retirement, watched from his home as a surging river carried away the contents of nine nearby residences. “You watched everything they owned, everything they had — everything went down,” he said. A popular summer retreat, Ruidoso is no stranger to tragedy. It has spent a year rebuilding following destructive wildfires last summer and the flooding that followed. This time, the floodwaters went even higher, with the Rio Ruidoso rising more than 20 feet (6 meters) on Tuesday to set a record. Officials said the area received about 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) of rain over the South Fork burn scar in just an hour and a half. “It is such a great town, it just takes a tail-whipping every once in a while,” Haragan said. “We always survive.” Sucked into the floodwaters Stephanie and Sebastian Trotter were camping along a stream with their son Sebastian, 7, and daughter Charlotte, 4, when the campsite began to flood rapidly, the children’s uncle Hank Wyatt said on a verified GoFundMe page for the family. Their RV was nearly halfway full of water when the wall cracked, and Stephanie and the children were sucked into the floodwaters, he said. The father dove into the water and tried to help his son climb up a tree, while the mother and daughter floated downstream, clinging to each other until debris hit and separated them. Both children and two of the family’s dogs, Zeus and Ellie, died. […]

The Department of Education has officially rescinded a longstanding policy that allowed individuals residing in the U.S. illegally to receive federal funding for vocational and technical education programs, according to a report by The Daily Caller.

“Postsecondary education programs funded by the federal government should benefit American citizens, not illegal aliens,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “Under President Trump’s leadership, hardworking American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for illegal aliens to participate in our career, technical, or adult education programs or activities.”

She emphasized the department’s new direction, saying, “The Department will ensure that taxpayer funds are reserved for citizens and individuals who have entered our country through legal means who meet federal eligibility criteria.”

The change aligns with a previous executive order issued by President Donald Trump, which terminated government subsidies for undocumented immigrants.

The original rule dates back to 1997 during Bill Clinton’s presidency. It followed the enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which restricted access to health care benefits for illegal immigrants. Clinton at the time had insisted that federal education programs should not fall under those same restrictions.

However, Trump administration officials rejected that approach, stating that Clinton “mischaracterized the law by creating artificial distinctions between federal benefit programs based upon the method of assistance,” according to The Daily Caller.

Implementation of the new policy is scheduled to begin next month, with the Department of Education preparing to enforce the updated standards.

{Matzav.com}