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A political and legal dispute has erupted over the expansion of weekend public transportation after Shas MK Moshe Abutbul called on Transportation Minister Miri Regev to immediately suspend the operation of Line 711, part of the “Naim B’Sofash” Shabbos transit network.

The controversy centers on the line’s recent extension into Ben Gurion Airport, where it now enters airport grounds and stops at Terminal 1. Abutbul described the move as a “serious, unlawful and unprecedented event,” arguing that it represents an unauthorized attempt to establish facts on the ground without state approval.

In a sharply worded appeal to the minister, Abutbul claimed the route is operating as a “pirate” line, bypassing the authority of national regulators. He criticized statements by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi, who had argued that local authorities are stepping in where the government has left a vacuum.

“The only vacuum here is an attempt by a municipality to replace the state,” Abutbul wrote.

In his letter to Regev, Abutbul outlined what he described as multiple legal violations, including alleged breaches of Israel Airports Authority regulations and the placement of signage at the terminal without proper authorization. He further argued that operating an intercity transportation service without the approval of the Interior Minister violates the Cities Association Law, and noted that the Transportation Ministry has not yet completed the regulatory review it committed to conducting before the court on the matter.

Beyond the issue of Shabbos observance, Abutbul warned of potential criminal and traffic violations, including stopping at designated public transportation stations without a license and harming licensed taxi drivers at Ben Gurion Airport who operate under binding agreements. He also accused the municipality of using artificial intelligence-generated images to depict signage at the terminal, calling it part of what he described as a broader effort by a “State of Tel Aviv” to appropriate sovereign powers belonging to the State of Israel.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev responded to a parliamentary query from Abutbul, stating that she would thoroughly examine the claims and the legality of the route’s operation.

Abutbul concluded with a pointed message directed at Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai: “Ben Gurion Airport is not a municipal plaza, and the law is not a recommendation. Whoever seeks to lead must first lead in respecting the law.”

{Matzav.com}

A rare and historic Sefer Torah once owned by Rav Aharon of Chernobyl zt”l was presented this week to the Skverer Rebbe during a moving ceremony marking the completion of the public Torah reading cycle in a scroll that the Rebbe had dedicated one year earlier.

The miniature Sefer Torah, written more than 160 years ago, was acquired and gifted to the Rebbe by philanthropist Mr. Nachum Rokeach.

After the passing of Rav Aharon of Chernobyl, the Sefer Torah was inherited by his son, Rav Yeshaya Meshulam Zusia, and later by his grandson, Rav Shlomo Bentzion of Chernobyl. Rav Shlomo Bentzion took the Sefer Torah with him when he fled the pogroms in Russia in 1919.

Several years ago, Rav Yitzchak Meir Twersky of Queens, a descendant of the Chernobyl dynasty, discovered that the Sefer Torah was in the possession of another descendant of the family living in Eretz Yisroel. The Sefer Torah was being kept in a simple bag, and its owner mistakenly believed it to be a “Tanach of the Baal Shem Tov.” After careful historical and scholarly research, it was confirmed that the Sefer Torah was in fact the long-lost Torah of Rav Aharon of Chernobyl.

Rav Twersky purchased the scroll, and Mr. Rokeach of Lakewood subsequently acquired it on behalf of the Skverer Rebbe.

The Sefer Torah is exceptionally small, with the parchment measuring approximately 10 centimeters in height. Despite its size, the script is remarkably precise and beautifully formed. The Skverer Rebbe invested tens of thousands of dollars to have the Sefer Torah meticulously restored and enhanced by an expert sofer.

{Matzav.com}

Air Force One is being repainted in President Trump’s preferred red, white, and dark blue scheme, replacing the iconic light blue-and-white design from the Kennedy era, the Air Force says. A gold stripe will also be added, introducing a fourth color to the new design.

Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna signaled they will seek to force House action on Iran-related war powers, with Khanna stating they already have a War Powers Resolution filed and that he intends to introduce a motion to discharge to bring the measure out of committee for debate and a floor vote next week, arguing […]

WATCH: Dramatic footage filmed by a passenger shows fellow travelers exiting the JetBlue aircraft at Newark Airport via its emergency slides.

Hakeem Jeffries: “Republicans have decided they would rather shut down FEMA, shut down TSA, and shut down the Coast Guard, than get ICE under control.”

The federal government has now been partially shut down for five days, though many Americans may not yet have felt the effects. If the standoff continues, however, travelers could soon encounter problems at airports across the country.

The shutdown, which took effect early Saturday morning, is limited to the Department of Homeland Security. As a result, air traffic controllers — who work under the Federal Aviation Administration — continue to receive their pay.

Transportation Security Administration employees, by contrast, are generally required to report to work despite not receiving pay during the shutdown.

History suggests that travel complications tend to surface gradually rather than immediately during funding lapses. Roughly a month into last year’s lengthy shutdown, TSA shut down two screening checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport. On that same day, federal officials took the rare step of instructing commercial airlines nationwide to scale back their domestic flight schedules.

This time, however, disruptions may arise more quickly, according to John Rose, chief risk officer at global travel management firm Altour.

“It’s still fresh in their minds and potentially their pocketbooks,” Rose said, referring to last year’s shutdown experience.

Strains could intensify once TSA workers miss their first paycheck while still facing regular monthly expenses. Some may feel compelled to call in sick or seek temporary work elsewhere to cover essential costs.

“If you have kids, a mortgage, a car payment, food bills—you can’t miss a check,” Joe Shuker, regional vice president of the union representing TSA workers, said during the late 2025 shutdown. “Our members are worried about how to pay for childcare, wondering if they could be saving money by staying home with their kids.”

Although air traffic controllers remain on the payroll, flight operations could still be affected indirectly. Airlines might hold planes at the gate if passengers are delayed at security checkpoints. Staffing shortages among TSA agents could also slow the inspection of checked luggage behind the scenes, adding to delays.

Negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats remain stalled. According to an administration official who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press, the two sides are “still pretty far apart” on an agreement that would impose certain limits on federal immigration enforcement agents.

Democratic leaders presented a revised proposal to the White House late Monday, but with lawmakers currently outside Washington, expectations for a breakthrough this week are low.

The administration official said the White House remains open to serious discussions aimed at reopening the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the TSA. At the same time, the president has made clear that any compromise must safeguard law enforcement personnel.

All other federal agencies outside DHS remain funded through September 30.

A shark has been filmed for the first time in Antarctica’s near-freezing deep waters, surprising experts who previously believed sharks did not inhabit the frigid region.

Hakeem Jeffries on comments made by Rep. Randy Fine that were condemned as Islamophobic: “Mike Johnson has spent a lot of time talking about decorum. Get your members under control. Because if you don’t, we will.”

U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz praising the Board of Peace on Gaza oversight: “The Board of Peace, colleagues, is a ‘Board of Action'”.

TRUMP: THE UNITED STATES TRADE DEFICIT HAS BEEN REDUCED BY 78% BECAUSE OF THE TARIFFS BEING CHARGED TO OTHER COMPANIES AND COUNTRIES. IT WILL GO INTO POSITIVE TERRITORY DURING THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY DECADES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

The Minneapolis City Council is moving to delay and potentially block liquor license renewals for hotels that accommodated ICE agents.

Democrats, Republicans continue to clash over DHS funding as shutdown drags on.

The Syrian government says it has relocated about 400 relatives of detained ISIS terrorists from al-Hol camp to Akhtarin camp in the Aleppo countryside, according to Syrian state media.

A public dispute has erupted between senior Israeli officials over whether New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani should be invited to march in the annual Israel Day Parade in Manhattan. Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul general in New York, said Wednesday that Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), has “no authority” to extend […]

A new serious security case in Israel was exposed on Tuesday evening by i24News, only two weeks after indictments were filed in the previous security affair that centered on the smuggling of cigarettes and other goods into Gaza. According to the report, security officials are investigating serious suspicions that top Israeli criminal figures cooperated with […]

An unusual and troubling incident unfolded Tuesday on an El Al flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, when several passengers landed at Ben Gurion Airport only to discover that their luggage had been left behind in the United States. The reason, according to airport officials, was the discovery of “Free Palestine” stickers affixed to the suitcases, prompting a security hold.

The flight, which departed from Los Angeles en route to Israel, was already delayed on the runway before takeoff. One passenger, Keren, a resident of Kfar Saba who was on board, described a chain of events that began with an unexplained delay and ended in frustration at the baggage carousel in Israel.

“There was about an hour-and-a-half delay at departure from Los Angeles,” Keren recalled in a conversation with mako. “Everyone was already on the plane, but we didn’t take off, and no one told us the reason.”

The explanation only became clear after landing at Ben Gurion Airport. When Keren and several others were unable to locate their suitcases, they approached the airport’s baggage tracing department.

“When we landed in Israel and went to collect our suitcase – we didn’t find it, and together with eight other passengers we went to the baggage tracing department at Ben Gurion Airport,” she said. “There we were told that all of our suitcases remained in Los Angeles after ‘Free Palestine’ stickers were found on them, apparently placed there by one of the airport workers. There is no other explanation.”

Beyond the inconvenience of being separated from their belongings, Keren voiced serious concern about the broader security implications.

“It’s really frightening and alarming – what if they had put something inside one of the suitcases? Whoever did this could have done other things,” she said.

The passengers’ luggage is now reportedly en route to Israel and is expected to be returned to its owners within the next 24 hours.

Airport officials emphasized that after check-in, all luggage bound for Israel undergoes a rigorous inspection process. Bags are subject to multiple layers of security screening — both by the airline and airport personnel — before being loaded into the aircraft’s cargo hold, effectively creating a double security procedure prior to departure.

{Matzav.com}

We live in galus, and that means there is always a magnifying glass on how Yidden conduct themselves. Our public behavior does not exist in a vacuum. It reflects on our community, on the Torah, and ultimately on Hashem Himself. As Purim approaches, it is worth thinking carefully about costumes that could, chas v’shalom, create […]

Donald Trump made the decision to seek the presidency again just hours after departing the White House in January 2021, according to Lara Trump, who described the pivotal moment during a recent podcast interview.

Speaking on New York Post columnist Miranda Devine’s “Pod Force One” podcast in an episode released Wednesday, Lara Trump recounted that the realization came the same evening the family arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, following their final trip from Washington after the contentious 2020 election.

She described the mood aboard their last Air Force One flight as heavy and subdued. The family, she said, was “in a place of despair,” and there was little conversation as they traveled south.

Later that night, before a family dinner began, Donald Trump addressed those gathered and made his intentions clear. “Well, kids, I’ve got to do it again.”

According to Lara Trump, that declaration reflected a core quality that defines her father-in-law — determination in the face of adversity. She emphasized that even during moments of intense political and media pressure, he has consistently refused to withdraw.

During the interview, she presented that evening as evidence that Trump’s return to the presidency was driven by personal resolve rather than carefully engineered campaign strategy. In her telling, it was resilience — not messaging — that fueled the path back to the Oval Office.

The podcast also revisited an earlier chapter, when Trump first floated the idea of running for president in 2015 during a family discussion, before his widely publicized descent down the escalator at Trump Tower. At the time, she said, he cautioned that if he pursued the campaign and did it “right,” critics would “come after” not just him but the entire family.

In the years that followed, those warnings materialized as Donald Trump faced multiple investigations, criminal charges, and civil lawsuits, while continuing to exert significant influence within the Republican Party.

Lara Trump also reflected on her first meeting with Donald Trump, which took place at the U.S. Open in New York early in her relationship with Eric Trump. She said that the persona Americans see publicly closely matches the individual she came to know in private — someone forthright, high-energy, and at ease commanding attention.

She shared a lighter memory from that introduction, recalling how he eased the pressure of the moment by offering to buy her ice cream, something she said made her feel she could “get through this.”

Comparing the family’s political journey to “Olympic training,” Lara Trump suggested that mounting criticism and scrutiny only strengthened their resolve.

The conversation also explored the evolving public roles within the Trump family, including Lara Trump’s own movement between party leadership and media work. She noted that today’s political battles extend well beyond campaign events, increasingly playing out in cultural spaces where Republicans argue that the broader direction of the country is at stake.

{Matzav.com}

An eight-year-old girl in Beitar Illit was injured Wednesday when her hand became impaled on a nail protruding from a wooden surface after she fell while riding a scooter. Firefighters who arrived at the scene carried out a careful rescue operation to free her hand as she suffered intense pain.

Fire and Rescue teams from the Judea Regional Station were dispatched to a residential home in the city following reports of a child whose hand had become lodged in wood by a nail during the fall.

Upon arrival, emergency crews found the girl in visible distress and frightened from the ordeal. Firefighters worked methodically and sensitively, speaking to her throughout the operation in an effort to calm her while preparing the necessary equipment.

Using specialized tools, the team succeeded in extracting her hand from the wooden surface without causing additional injury. She was then transferred to medical personnel who were on scene for continued treatment.

Staff Sgt. Yosef Elazar, the team commander at the incident, described the rescue: “We treated a young girl who was suffering severe pain as a result of a nail that had penetrated her hand into a wooden panel. The operation was carried out with the utmost caution to prevent further damage, and at the same time the firefighters spoke with the girl and reassured her until the successful completion of the rescue and her transfer for medical care.”

{Matzav.com}