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WATCH: An all-female Chinese SWAT team beat an all-male Indian squad at a tactical competition in the UAE.

Another round of snow could impact New England and the Northeast starting Tuesday and lasting into Wednesday morning.

As the Trump administration seeks to sweep away obstacles to developing artificial intelligence, the president’s team has brought its zeal for the new technology to the federal government itself.

Orders came down from the White House budget office in April urging every corner of the government to deploy AI. “The Federal Government will no longer impose unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions on the use of innovative American AI in the Executive Branch,” the White House said in a statement announcing the push.

Officials across the government answered the call, according to a Washington Post analysis of more than two dozen recent agency disclosures on AI use. On top of automating rote tasks, government agencies have launched hundreds of artificial intelligence projects in the past year, many of them taking on central and sensitive roles in law enforcement, immigration and health care.

The Department of Homeland Security has adopted new, more sophisticated facial recognition tools. The FBI has purchased novel systems to sift through reams of images and text to generate leads for investigators. And the Department of Veterans Affairs is developing an AI program to predict whether a veteran is likely to attempt suicide.

Revoking – even scorning – the Biden administration’s caution, the White House has directed government departments to cut through any red tape that might slow the adoption of AI. “Simply put, we need to ‘Build, Baby, Build!’” the Trump administration’s AI action plan says.

Federal agencies are doing just that: The 29 that had posted data last week listed 2,987 active uses for AI by the end of 2025, up from 1,684 the year before. The disclosures are required by the budget office and provide basic details about each use of AI. Hundreds of those uses were marked as “high impact,” meaning they are being used as the main basis for making significant decisions or have implications for people’s rights or their safety, according to federal standards.

The White House argues the technology is a way to make the government vastly more efficient, though it’s impossible to tell from the disclosures how well used any of the thousands of tools are.

The practical value of many of these tools remains uncertain. The public, meanwhile, remains deeply skeptical of the technology.

The administration’s focus on speed may come at the expense of ensuring the tools are being used safely, said Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer science professor. AI could spit out erroneous information, leading officials to make bad decisions, or a facial recognition tool could lead to someone being wrongfully placed on a watch list, he said. Venkatasubramanian, who worked on AI safety in the Biden administration, argued that officials previously placed a greater emphasis on oversight and managing risks.

“It’s not the use case itself that raises the question, it’s do you have the guardrails in place to use what can be very noisy and powerful tools in the right way,” he said. “Any particular use case – even the most innocuous sounding ones – could backfire.”

The White House Office of Management and Budget, which is overseeing the government’s AI rollout, did not respond to a request for comment. Its April memo directs agency leaders to ensure “that rapid AI innovation is not achieved at the expense of the American people or any violations of their trust.”

– – –

Turbocharged law enforcement

As the administration has dramatically ramped up its deportation efforts, DHS has increasingly turned to advanced technology to turbocharge its work. The department’s disclosures reveal a suite of facial recognition tools deployed in the past year and another system to help identify people to deport. In all, 151 AI use cases mention either “immigration” or “border” or were filed by immigration and customs agencies.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of DHS, reported adding new facial recognition functions, including the Mobile Fortify app, which is used to scan individuals’ faces in the field. It also disclosed its use of an unspecified system to identify “vulnerable populations,” which the agency defined as including “unaccompanied minors who have crossed the border.”

ICE also said it began in June using a new generative AI system from the defense contractor Palantir that trawls through handwritten records such as rap sheets and warrants, to automatically extract addresses to aid Enforcement and Removal Operations, the agency’s deportation division. The AI-powered system, called Enhanced Leads Identification and Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE), is not supposed to serve as a “primary basis for enforcement actions,” the agency said. Officers manually review the data and make decisions, it added.

Another Palantir system helps quickly review ICE’s tip line, summarizing and categorizing each tip, whatever language it is submitted in.

“Employing various forms of technology in support of investigations and law enforcement activities aids in the arrest of criminal gang members, child sex offenders, murderers, drug dealers, identity thieves and more, all while respecting civil liberties and privacy interests,” DHS previously said in a statement.

The Justice Department disclosed multiple tools designed to generate leads for investigators, including a facial recognition system at the FBI and another to prioritize tips coming into bureau offices around the country. But many of the department’s descriptions are vague: The output of one FBI tool is described merely as “text.”

Valerie Wirtschafter, a fellow at the Washington-based think tank Brookings, said a lack of detail in some agency disclosures makes it difficult to fully judge some of their more sensitive uses of AI.

The Justice Department and Palantir did not respond to requests for comment.

– – –

A Veterans Affairs boom

The Department of Veterans Affairs listed more high-impact uses of AI than any other agency, disclosing 174 such tools either in development or operation to revamp how it provides health care and benefits. The department said it is developing AI helpers to prepare patients for surgery, use computer vision to more precisely measure wounds and identify potential suicide risks that human clinicians might have missed.

Another system is designed to help veterans claim their benefits. “This project harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to analyze vast amounts of data, providing personalized recommendations and streamlined access to a wide array of veteran benefits,” the department said in its disclosure.

Pete Kasperowicz, a VA spokesman, said those four systems “are still being assessed for their viability and have not been tested or deployed.” He said the department uses AI only as a “support tool,” leaving final health care and benefits decisions to agency staff.

Chris Macinkowicz, an official at Veterans of Foreign Wars, a service group, said that while VA’s use of AI promises to help the agency serve millions of veterans more efficiently, it needs to be carefully overseen.

“Our experience has shown that, although AI can be a valuable tool, it is not infallible,” Macinkowicz said in an email. “Human judgment is essential to ensure accuracy, fairness, and accountability in decisions that have a direct and lasting impact on veterans and their families.”

The Department of Health and Human Services disclosed an additional 89 projects connected to medical care. They include using AI to oversee clinical trials and to track the availability of vaccines. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

– – –

Chatbots

Many government uses are similar to those available to the general public. Agencies operate at least 180 chatbots designed to not only help federal employees complete mundane tasks such as scheduling travel and IT help, but also support them in more sensitive work like understanding labyrinthine internal rule books. Several agencies are using similar tools to help with writing federal rules and deciding how to award contracts.

In a year that saw hundreds of thousands of federal employees laid off or take buyouts under cuts engineered by the Trump administration, a Defense Department official described at a conference last month how one team was able to use AI to still get a mandatory report finished despite losing the help of a team of about 20 contractors.

“There’s four people, and guess what?” said Jake Glassman, a senior Pentagon technology official. “They generated the report, and I would dare anyone to see any type of difference on that.”

– – –

National security

The Pentagon is exempt from the disclosure process, but other government records show how it is aggressively accelerating its AI experimentation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered officials to avoid being hamstrung by undue concerns of risks in a memo issued last month. Future AI contracts with vendors must allow for “any lawful use,” he wrote, without further usage constraints.

“We must eliminate blockers to data sharing,” the memo said. “… We must approach risk tradeoffs … and other subjective questions as if we were at war.” The Pentagon told vendors in recent weeks that it is seeking to acquire cutting-edge “agentic” AI systems that exhibit “decision-making capabilities” and “human-like agency” for its elite Special Operations forces. One potential use for such systems is to weigh various “constraints” that govern when units can initiate or continue combat and the risk of killing or injuring civilians.

“These constraints overlap and sometimes include conflicting guidance,” the department said in a request for industry input, adding that the AI agents should understand how certain constraints have priority over others.

The request said the tools are expected to adapt and learn in real time, though they will be prohibited from “online” learning in contexts such as “kinetic fires” – the use of live ammunition – “since it may lead to undesired behavior.”

The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment.

– – –

Science and research

Government scientists are experimenting with using AI to solve problems in hundreds of niche areas, including eight related to whales and dolphins. Some at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working on “Automated whale blow detections” – part of a population-tracking effort. (Some of these biologists are having fun, titling one project “Artificial Fintelligence: Automating photo-ID of dolphins in the Pacific Islands.”) Some 49 other projects use AI to evaluate satellite and aerial imagery to detect ice seals, track invasive species, estimate soybean yields, and locate cooling towers that might be vectors for the spread of Legionnaires’ disease.

NOAA did not respond to a request for comment.

Federal archivists have also turned to AI to help make the nation’s history more accessible.

Jim Byron, a senior adviser at the National Archives and Records Administration, said the agency launched an AI-powered tool last month to let the public search through newly digitized records. They include documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the disappearance of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart.

Byron said in a statement that the agency plans to build on its work, calling the tool a “giant leap into the present.”

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

Police say a small plane hit several vehicles while making an emergency landing on a roadway in Gainesville, Georgia.

Sec. of War Pete Hegseth visited the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, where America’s warships are built.

EU regulators have threatened Meta with temporary restrictions to prevent it from blocking AI rivals on its messaging service WhatsApp.

A federal judge is expected to soon rule on whether President Donald Trump’s planned $400 million White House ballroom project can proceed, zeroing in on whether the administration’s plan to rely on private donations allows it to bypass congressional approval.

Trump has argued that the approach spares taxpayers the expense, but the dispute has instead highlighted a lack of transparency over how the project is being financed. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, congressional Democrats and watchdog groups have questioned an arrangement that relies on donations from corporations with business before the federal government, funneled through a nonprofit intermediary that stands to collect millions of dollars in fees, to fund the most significant alteration to the White House in decades.

Leon has said he may rule this month on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s challenge to the project. As the decision approaches, watchdog groups have scrutinized the administration’s fundraising effort, arguing that it exploits gaps in federal disclosure rules that Congress should tighten.

Trump and White House officials have publicly identified about two dozen companies and about a dozen individual donors they say have already contributed hundreds of millions of dollars for the project, including major corporations such as Amazon, Google and Palantir that collectively have billions of dollars in contracts before the administration. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Most of the donors have declined to specify to reporters and lawmakers how much they have given and whether they expect any additional access to officials or other perks in exchange for their gifts.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) concluded that at least 22 companies involved in the ballroom project should have disclosed their donations in lobbying filings but did not.

“The public deserves real transparency around who is contributing and how much they are giving, but that is not what we are seeing,” Matt Corley, CREW’s chief investigator, wrote in an email.

Those concerns also have been taken up by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), who has pressed the Trust for the National Mall – a nonprofit that is managing donations for the White House ballroom project – to clarify its role and specify the donations it has received. In a letter sent to Warren and shared with The Post, the organization declined to offer details about the gifts, but said that it stands to collect between 2 and 2.5 percent of each donation as part of its management fee. The planned $400 million project would be the largest in the organization’s history.

“These new details raise even greater concerns about whether Donald Trump’s gold-encrusted ballroom has become a vehicle for corruption,” Warren said in a statement to The Post. “Americans deserve to know which billionaire corporations are shoveling money to Trump’s vanity projects and what favors they may be seeking in return.”

Julie Moore, a spokeswoman for the Trust for the National Mall, in an email to The Post characterized the management fee as standard practice and said the money would support “our critical work and mission with the National Park Service to restore, preserve and enrich the National Mall and President’s Park.”

The organization, which has managed past fundraising campaigns to restore the Washington Monument and other projects, reported around $13 million in revenue and $17 million in expenses in 2024, according to nonprofit filings. Moore said the organization’s role had been “mischaracterized” by lawmakers and in the media, adding that the organization does “not play a role outside of that in soliciting gifts or in the planning or construction of the project.”

Moore did not say whether at least two board members who had active interests before the Trump administration when the project was discussed recused themselves.

The White House declined to specify how much money had been raised for the project or respond to questions about whether or how contributors could benefit. Trump in October hosted donors for a celebratory dinner in the East Room of the White House.

“President Trump is generously donating his time and resources to build a beautiful White House ballroom, a project which past presidents only dreamed about,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement. “Since announcing this historic plan, the White House has been inundated with calls from generous Americans and American companies wishing to contribute.”

Just one company – organ-therapy firm Vantive US Healthcare – disclosed its ballroom gift as part of semiannual lobbying filings, saying that it gave $2.5 million to the Trust for the National Mall on Oct. 13. The filing was first reported by Bloomberg Government.

Vantive declined to respond to questions about why it made the donation or about its lobbying priorities, referring to the filing. The company on its forms disclosed spending more than $2 million in 2025 to lobby the Trump administration on Medicare billing, organ-support devices and other issues. That total included $340,000 for Ballard Partners, which employed Pam Bondi and Susie Wiles before they joined the Trump administration as attorney general and White House chief of staff, respectively. Neither Bondi nor Wiles reported lobbying for Vantive.

The administration has argued that the White House has the legal authority to accept gifts through the Department of the Interior, and that Congress has authorized the president to make changes to the White House grounds by setting aside a small annual fund for renovations. Lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is charged by Congress with preserving historic buildings, have countered that those provisions do not authorize a project of this scale and that the ballroom required express approval and funding from Congress.

“Rather than admit that [no authorization] exists, the Defendants invent a Rube Goldberg machine” to justify proceeding, the National Trust’s lawyers argued in court filings last month, invoking the expression about an overly complicated device designed to perform a simple task.

Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, appeared to agree with that critique at a Jan. 22 hearing, repeatedly referring to the Trump administration’s funding initiative as a “Rube Goldberg” machine and saying that the construction plan functioned as an end run around congressional oversight.

Justice Department lawyers have rejected that characterization, arguing that the administration’s funding approach is legal and consistent with past projects on White House grounds.

“This is not a circumvention of the appropriations process – it is a funding mechanism that Congress knowingly authorized and has long been aware is available to support projects on White House grounds,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a Feb. 2 filing.

Justice Department lawyers also framed any pause as a potential national security risk and said they would immediately appeal if Leon grants a stay on the project.

Leon said that, regardless of how he rules, he expects the case to be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and even the Supreme Court.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

Cuban-American lawmakers are calling on the Trump administration to sharply intensify its campaign against Cuba’s Communist leadership, contending that the government in Havana is more vulnerable than at any point in decades and that sustained pressure could finally bring about change.

“It’s a failed nation, and they’re not getting any money from Venezuela, and they’re not getting any money from anyone,” President Trump said during remarks to reporters on Feb. 2, as reports circulated that he is considering a push for regime change in Cuba before the end of the year. His comments came shortly after he warned of tariffs on countries that sell or supply oil to the island.

Signs of strain inside Cuba have become increasingly visible. President Miguel Díaz-Canel conceded Thursday, during an unusual press conference, that the government can no longer ensure consistent electricity or even maintain “basic activities” because of severe fuel shortages.

Although Díaz-Canel signaled a willingness to engage in talks with the Trump administration, he stressed that Cuban sovereignty would not be negotiable and said the government was drawing up a “defense plan” in response to pressure from Washington.

“We aren’t in a state of war,” Díaz-Canel said, “but we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war.”

At the same time, Trump has suggested that behind-the-scenes discussions with senior Cuban figures are already underway. He said last week that “I think we’re pretty close” to reaching an agreement.

Alejandro Castro Espin, the son of Raúl Castro, is reportedly among the senior officials involved in those contacts, which could offer the ruling elite a way to preserve its grip on power.

Still, Trump has insisted that any agreement he pursues must lead to fundamental change, saying the goal is for Cuba to “be free again” after 67 years under authoritarian rule.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), who fled Cuba as a child following Fidel Castro’s 1959 takeover, told The Post that he believes the end of the regime is approaching.

“I’ve been here 65 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the regime as weak as it is right now,” he said.

“I think what the administration should be doing is what they’re doing — putting pressure on supposed friends of ours that are helping to maintain the regime.”

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), whose family also escaped Cuba after the Communist revolution, echoed that view and urged even tougher measures.

“What needs to happen is to increase the pressure, and what I mean by that is pressure in every way: economic, diplomatic, in every way possible,” he said.

“It’s the only thing that’s ever worked in the history of our planet when you have a dictatorship like this that doesn’t want to give up power,” Diaz-Balart added. “Zero tolerance and total pressure.”

Mexico has long expressed “solidarity” with Cuba and has historically supplied the island with limited quantities of crude oil.

Those shipments have dropped sharply since the Jan. 3 arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, falling to roughly 3,000 barrels per day this year from about 20,000 barrels per day in 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal. Trump has made clear he wants that number reduced to nothing.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has described the oil transfers as “humanitarian,” but on Feb. 1 she reluctantly indicated that Mexico would stop sending oil to Cuba.

According to trade intelligence firm Kpler, the island now has only 15 to 20 days’ worth of oil remaining.

“The word ‘choke off’ is awfully tough,” Trump said when asked about his approach. “I’m not trying to, but it looks like it’s something that’s just not going to be able to survive.”

Sebastián A. Arcos, interim director of Florida International University’s Cuban Research Institute, said expectations have shifted dramatically.

“there is no longer an expectation that the regime will survive in the medium term.”

“Before [Maduro’s arrest] Jan. 3, it was understood that the regime was in a terminal crisis with a long horizon … that assumption evaporated after what Trump did in Venezuela,” Arcos said. “Without Venezuela and oil, the Cuban economy will go from limping along to collapsing.”

“There is no one who can come to save them from their own economic incompetence. The economy will shut down once they run out of oil.”

For years, Cuba relied on subsidized Venezuelan oil under an arrangement forged in the 2000s by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

Under that pact, Cuba sent doctors along with military and security personnel to Venezuela in exchange for discounted petroleum.

Instead of using the fuel domestically, however, about 60% of the 70,000 barrels per day Venezuela supplied last year was resold to Asia, according to a US official.

With rolling blackouts spreading across the island, that decision to sell oil was described by a State Department official as “further proof that the illegitimate Cuban regime only prioritizes enriching itself all while the Cuban people suffer the consequences of their corrupt nature and incompetence.”

Politico reported in late January that the White House is weighing a full naval blockade to stop any future oil deliveries to Cuba.

“Look, this regime has destroyed the island,” Gimenez said. “There’s no power, there’s no food, there’s no medicine — it’s at its end, it’s time for them to go.

“Any and all pressure that can be exerted to make this cancer go away is what the United States needs to do.”

Neither Gimenez nor Diaz-Balart believes US troops will be needed to bring down the government.

“Because it is so weak, I think you exert as much pressure as possible and let the regime collapse under its own weight,” Gimenez said.

“If pressure is increased, I think its days are numbered,” Diaz-Balart said. “The president — and this president particularly — always keeps all options on the table, but I just don’t think [US military intervention] necessary.”

Arcos said military action could become likely if mass protests erupt and the government responds with violent repression.

“If anti-government demonstrators take to the streets and the regime decides that they will do what the Iranians did, and they start massacring innocent Cubans,” he said, “the pressure on the US government to do something [in that scenario] will be immense.”

He added that he has no doubt “there will be blood in the streets” if Cubans rise up against the state.

Raúl Castro handed the presidency to Díaz-Canel in 2021, but analysts say he and his family continue to hold real power and would almost certainly be central to any talks with Washington.

“Everyone in Havana — even Cuban government officials — acknowledge Raúl Castro is really in charge, but he’s 94 years old, and his top aides are in their 90s as well,” said Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“Miguel Díaz-Canel is just a figurehead, and figureheads whose patrons die soon find themselves in exile or hanging from the gallows,” Rubin added.

Rubin warned that a prolonged power vacuum could invite outside interference from adversaries.

“Russians, Chinese, or even their Nicaraguans proxies” could step in, he cautioned.

He argued that Secretary of State Marco Rubio should begin laying the groundwork for a constitutional process.

“What [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio should be doing now is setting up the parameters of a constitutional convention so Cubans have some degree of insight into their future,” Rubin said.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration has already been meeting with Cuban exile groups while assessing which figures inside the regime might assist in a transition toward a pro-American government.

“The department regularly meets with civil society types. As is typical in routine meetings such as these, no commitments were made,” a senior State Department official said.

Unlike Venezuela, Cuba has no legal opposition party or recognized opposition leader, a reality that could complicate any democratic transition.

“There are more political prisoners in Cuba than in Venezuela, and Venezuela is four times bigger,” Arcos said. “So there is an active political opposition in Cuba, but it is completely repressed by the government.

“The opposition exists, but it cannot grow into what the Venezuelan opposition did, because this is a police state … It’s a different kind of animal.”

Rubin, who previously served at the Pentagon, said he believes the administration, including the CIA, is actively exploring potential partners within Cuba.

“When a country’s economy collapses and its ideology is discredited, people will do anything for money,” he said. “I’m sure the CIA’s biggest problem is actually handling all the potential sources rather than finding one.”

If the regime were to collapse, analysts say Washington might seek to work with Cuba’s powerful military to enforce change.

Arcos estimates the armed forces control roughly $20 billion through their dominance of the island’s most lucrative industries, including tourism, fuel distribution, money transfers, and currency exchange.

The Trump administration could attempt to build a relationship with Cuba’s military akin to its ties with Venezuela’s former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, though Arcos warned that the generals would resist reforms that undermine their dominance.

“They will try to dupe the United States government,” he said. “They will probably enter in some sort of negotiation to gain time … to see if Trump goes away and someone else comes that is different.

“They’re masters at doing this. They did it with Clinton, they did it with Obama, and they will do it to Trump.”

“And in the meantime, you know, we have to send Cuba humanitarian assistance — because the poor Cubans are starving and dying of diseases that didn’t exist 50 years ago — and they remain in power,” he continued.

“So it could be a trick, and they will try to negotiate that way … to fool the United States into a very long-term negotiation where they don’t give much and they get enough to survive.

“If the pressure is not applied,” Arcos said, “then we might have another extended period of uncertainty.”

Both Gimenez and Diaz-Balart acknowledged that even if change comes, Cuba’s path to democracy will be difficult and protracted, but they said it is a goal worth pursuing.

“It will not be easy,” Gimenez said. “Will it be long? Yeah, I could see it taking some time, but it’s something that we must, must attain, something that we have to reach.

“It took like, what, seven years for America to gain its independence from Great Britain? So things like that don’t happen overnight. But, you know, I’m sure glad we stuck it out, because that’s how we created the greatest country on Earth, and we can create an unbelievably great country in Cuba.”

{Matzav.com}

Beyond the car windows being smashed, people tackled on city streets — or even a little child with a floppy bunny ears snowcap detained — the images of masked federal officers has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. Not in recent U.S. memory has an American policing operation so consistently masked its thousands of officers from the public, […]

Israeli Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich said Israel has no choice but to confront the Iranian regime, which he described as a direct danger to the country’s survival, in an interview with Arutz Sheva.

“Our position is clear,” Smotrich said. “The Iranian regime is a regime of terror. It openly declares its desire to destroy the State of Israel and backs those words with actions, producing conventional and non-conventional weapons and constructing a ring of fire around us. This is not something we can live with. Either it destroys us, or we destroy it.”

Turning to Israel’s ties with Washington, Smotrich said that while disagreements may exist about the best approach to Iran, cooperation remains unusually close. “I believe the relationship between the current U.S. administration, the State of Israel, and the current prime minister is closer than I have ever seen,” he said. “I hope we will also reach an understanding regarding Iran.”

Smotrich again rejected the idea of negotiating with Tehran, warning against any diplomatic compromise. “We believe there should be no agreement at all, and certainly not a bad one,” he said. “If there is an agreement, it must include a demand that Iran halt the production of ballistic missiles that threaten Israel and stop financing terrorism and its proxy forces throughout the region.”

Asked whether Israel is prepared to take military action against Iran, the finance minister refused to go into specifics. “Do not expect me to discuss this in the media,” he said. “All options are always on the table.”

The interview also touched on friction with charedi parties over the national budget, with Smotrich cautioning against politicizing fiscal decisions. “Using the budget as a weapon is irresponsible,” he said.

He stressed that he intends to continue pursuing his economic program, including lowering taxes, dismantling monopolies, boosting competition in banking, and reducing borrowing costs. “I expect the charedi parties to act responsibly toward the State of Israel,” Smotrich said.

In closing, Smotrich addressed the disparity between his party’s influence in government and its showing in opinion polls. Despite playing a central role in wartime decision-making, economic policy, and settlement development, the Religious Zionist Party has struggled to convert that impact into electoral strength, with recent surveys suggesting it may fall short of entering the next Knesset. Citing the late minister Uri Orbach, Smotrich said, “We succeeded too much.”

He argued that the national-religious community is raised to integrate fully into Israeli society, which can make some voters uneasy about supporting a party seen as serving a single sector. Rejecting that label, he said his aim is to present the principles of “the people of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Torah of Israel” as the foundation of the country’s mainstream identity.

{Matzav.com}

When New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced his appointment to lead the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, he had one job: choose someone who could unite a frightened community and demonstrate serious commitment to addressing the alarming surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes. Instead, he chose Phylisa Wisdom—a pick so tone-deaf, so riddled with red […]

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid asserted on Monday, at the opening of the Yesh Atid faction meeting, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu manipulated an internal security document originating from the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to Lapid, the document was meant to be an official summary drafted following a security evaluation convened at the Prime Minister’s Office six days before the October 7 massacre. He said that Ronen Bar, who was then serving as head of the ISA, cautioned during that discussion about several possible escalation scenarios in the Gaza Strip. Lapid added that at the same session, then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi reportedly urged the preparation of an operational plan for Gaza, citing grave and urgent intelligence assessments indicating that Hamas was preparing for combat.

Lapid contended that these alerts were either excluded or misrepresented in the version of the document later made public by the Prime Minister’s Office. He characterized the released summary as a tendentious and selective rendering of the official minutes, arguing that the matter is not merely one of public misrepresentation but of potentially unlawful conduct, since tampering with such records could violate the Official Secrets Law.

He also said he had reached out to the security oversight officials for the defense establishment, as well as to the legal advisers of both the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Defense, seeking explanations. Based on the responses received, Lapid stated, it would fall to the ISA and the Israel Police to decide whether a criminal probe should be opened and which individuals, if any, could be involved.

{Matzav.com}

Apple is preparing to unveil a wave of new products, including a new iPhone 17e, updated iPad models, a refreshed entry-level iPad, new iPad Air variants, and several new Mac computers.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan: At this time there doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat of war. (between the United States and Iran)

The IDF issued an apology Monday night following an incident in which a yungerman who was taken into custody was prevented from putting on tefillin for many hours, even after his family brought them to him.

According to the IDF spokesperson, the incident began after the young man was arrested by Israeli police on Motzoei Shabbos and subsequently handed over to the military police. He remained in custody overnight and into the late morning hours. When he arrived at a military detention facility in the afternoon, he requested to put on tefillin and was informed that he would be able to do so upon reaching the detention platoon. However, due to delays in the intake process, he was ultimately unable to fulfill the mitzvah.

“The detainee was arrested on Motzei Shabbos by the Israeli police and transferred to the military police’s custody. The detainee remained in detention overnight until late morning. During his detention, when he arrived at the military prison in the afternoon, he asked the reception team to wear tefillin, and he was told he would be given the opportunity when he arrived at the detention platoon. However, due to an unexpected delay in his processing, and according to the report given afterwards, the detainee was ultimately unable to wear tefillin,” the IDF spokesperson stated.

The army emphasized that the incident was highly unusual and does not reflect standard procedure. “This is an extremely rare case, which is not in line with the IDF’s regulations. The IDF regrets the distress caused, and the procedures at the prison have been clarified for immediate implementation. The matter will be thoroughly investigated by the commanders to prevent similar incidents in the future. The detainee is currently in a facility where all the necessary equipment is provided according to his way of life,” the statement added.

The detainee was identified as Avraham Ben Dayan, 23, a talmid of Maor HaTalmud Yeshiva who was married just two months ago. He was stopped at a police checkpoint in southern Israel, where it was discovered that he was listed as a draft dodger. He was then transferred to the custody of the military police.

Family members who were summoned to the scene said they hurried to bring his tefillin, but were repeatedly denied permission to allow him to put them on. According to them, he was only permitted to wear tefillin at approximately 5 p.m. “This is a severe religious violation and the prevention of a basic mitzvah,” the family claims.

They further allege that authorities deliberately misled them throughout the night. According to the family, Ben Dayan was moved between several facilities — from Netivot to Ofakim and then to Sde Teyman — while they were given inaccurate information at each stage regarding his whereabouts. As a result, they say, they were unable to see him or provide him with basic personal necessities.

Ultimately, Ben Dayan was sentenced to ten days in a military prison.

MK Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, sharply condemned the conduct of the authorities. “This man was arrested for no reason, and according to his family, they didn’t allow him to wear tefillin. This is a military called the Jewish army, and they don’t let a yeshiva student wear tefillin.”

Gafni added that he intends to pursue the matter at the highest levels. “This will not go quietly. I will contact the Minister of Defense and not let this matter slide – this hatred towards everything Jewish.”

Ben Dayan’s attorney, Shlomo Hadad, has filed an appeal against the ruling in an effort to secure his immediate release.

{Matzav.com}

Cuban aviation officials have warned airlines that there isn’t enough fuel for airplanes to refuel on the island, the latest step in its moves to ration energy as the Trump administration cuts the Caribbean nation off from its fuel resources. The government of Cuba published the notices to airlines and pilots on Sunday night, warning […]

Rep. John Rose said Monday that he could support requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to carry identification while on duty, using the discussion to argue that Democrats apply different standards to voter ID as Congress moves toward a confrontation over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Speaking on Newsmax, Rose said Democrats have pushed for ICE officers to carry identification in the field and suggested the idea itself is not unreasonable. “Democrats want “ICE agents to have identification on them when they are in the field,” Rose said. “Novel idea. I think it’s a pretty good one, actually.

“I think that maybe it’s OK if ICE agents have identification — and maybe you should have an ID when you vote.”

In an interview on Wake Up America, the Tennessee Republican said the identification proposal is one of several Democratic conditions tied to DHS funding and could represent limited common ground, even as he faulted Democrats for pushing restrictions he says would undermine immigration enforcement.

Democrats have warned they may block continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless the Trump administration agrees to policy changes designed to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

Republicans, meanwhile, have cautioned that a shutdown would disrupt critical agencies and services, including DHS, FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, and the Secret Service.

Rose accused Democrats of leveraging the funding deadline to advance what he characterized as a “sanctuary country” agenda, saying their proposals would weaken federal law enforcement and put the public at risk.

“They’re willing to harm American citizens to protect illegal aliens that are committing crimes in our country,” Rose said, adding that Democrats appear ready to shut down essential agencies to extract concessions.

He also pushed back on claims that ICE activity should be curtailed, arguing that lawmakers ought to stand behind officers enforcing federal statutes.

“My parents taught me when you see a police officer or law enforcement officer, you comply,” Rose said. “We shouldn’t be interfering with our federal law enforcement agents’ duty to enforce the laws of this country.”

Rose said he initially intended to vote against last week’s spending package because it did not include the SAVE Act, a Republican-backed election integrity proposal, but ultimately supported the bill.

“I think the bill that we initially passed was right on target,” Rose said. “Frankly, I think it was probably a mistake to separate that issue and give Democrats a chance to negotiate on this further.”

While signaling some openness on the narrow question of ICE identification, Rose said Democrats’ broader list of demands shows they have failed to absorb voter dissatisfaction with border policies during the Biden administration.

“They’ve decided these criminal illegal aliens are more important than American citizens and American citizens’ safety,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Venezuela’s top prosecutor said on Monday that his office had requested the arrest of one of the closest allies of opposition leader María Corina Machado, less than 12 hours after his release from a detention facility as part of a government move to free those facing politically motivated accusations. The attorney general’s statement did not say […]

Israeli security authorities last week detained an independent journalist on suspicion of contact with Iranian operatives, according to a new report from Ynet. The journalist — who holds a government-issued press card — was arrested in a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the Jerusalem District Police after authorities alleged he had been in […]

Iran and Oman received advance notice that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would be traveling to the USS Abraham Lincoln over Shabbos, according to reports.

CNN said Sunday that both Tehran and Muscat were informed beforehand, a step widely viewed as a deliberate signal that the United States retains the option of military action should Iran refuse to reach an agreement limiting its nuclear activities.

Channel 12 likewise reported that Iranian officials were alerted ahead of the visit, underscoring the message being conveyed alongside the diplomatic track.

Witkoff and Kushner, who headed the American delegation for talks with Iran in Oman on Friday, toured the aircraft carrier at the invitation of the commander of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper.

Washington and Tehran returned to the negotiating table after earlier nuclear discussions were halted following Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June 2025, a conflict that concluded with a US strike on multiple Iranian nuclear facilities.

Western governments believe Iran is pursuing the capability to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies. Still, Iran has enriched uranium to levels with no civilian use, restricted access for international inspectors, and significantly expanded its ballistic missile program. Before the June fighting, Israel said Iran had recently taken concrete steps toward weaponization.

Despite the renewed talks, the possibility of conflict continues to loom. Trump described the discussions as “very good,” while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that they “constitute a step forward.” Iran, however, has consistently rejected Washington’s central demand that it halt uranium enrichment altogether.

After the first round of negotiations in Oman, Trump signed an executive order calling for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries that continue trading with Iran in defiance of US sanctions.

At the same time, the United States unveiled additional sanctions targeting a range of shipping companies and vessels as part of efforts to restrict Iran’s oil exports.

Amid the diplomatic activity, Tehran saw a stark warning displayed in public. A newly erected billboard overlooking Palestine Square threatened Tel Aviv with missile attacks, featuring a map of the city’s metropolitan area beneath Hebrew text reading, “Under raining missiles, it’s a small area!”

An English line beneath the image declared, “You start… We finish it!”

The billboard depicted the map placed on a table alongside a red button labeled “FIRE,” a walkie-talkie, and scale models of an aircraft and missiles.

Iran has previously displayed threatening imagery toward Israel in the same square, including a clock it claimed was counting down to Israel’s destruction.

During last June’s fighting, Iran launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and approximately 1,100 drones at Israel.

The renewed contacts between Washington and Tehran are taking place against the backdrop of a major US military buildup in the region, which followed Iran’s violent suppression of protests that erupted in late December over economic conditions.

Iranian authorities have said that 3,117 people were killed during the unrest, releasing on Sunday a list of 2,986 names they said consisted largely of security personnel and civilians.

International organizations and news outlets have estimated the death toll to be far higher, potentially reaching into the tens of thousands.

{Matzav.com}