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Senior chareidi media commentator Yisroel Cohen visited the home of the Yenuka in Rishon Letzon, where the two spoke at length about current issues and Cohen sought guidance and a brocha for his day-to-day challenges in Israel’s media.

During the visit, Cohen was shown rare and significant items that were on the table in the Yenuka’s home in honor of the day. Among them was the original handwritten Sefer HaKavanos authored by Rav Shalom Sharabi, the Rashash, whose yahrtzeit was that evening, as well as an exceptionally rare collection of photographs of Rav Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rebbe Rayatz, whose yahrtzeit also fell on that day.

The Yenuka praised Cohen for his work on behalf of the hostages over the past two and a half years, describing his efforts as a kiddush Hashem. Cohen then raised a range of topics and asked for advice and a brocha to help him navigate his frequent appearances in the secular media, where contentious issues dominate the public agenda.

The Yenuka emphasized the importance of tone and approach, saying, “One must always speak pleasantly. ‘Derocheha darchei noam vehcol nesivoseha shalom. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.’ Explain things in a good and gentle manner. But if there is someone who provokes and speaks with hostility, it is possible to be firm and respond.”

He continued, “In general, one must always maintain a line in which the message is conveyed truthfully and cleanly, without creating disputes. The truth can be said in a whisper and be heard from one end of the world to the other; there is no need to fight or quarrel over it. It is simple.”

Addressing faith and geulah, the Yenuka added, “If we truly merited the Torah and understood Who Hashem is and the power of His Torah, there would be no need to fight. He would simply redeem and save us.”

Turning to the issue currently inflaming debate in Israel’s media, the draft law, the Yenuka said, “I say that they do not understand the power of the Torah, and therefore they speak this way. But we also do not merit to fully understand the power of the Torah. These do not understand, and those do not understand.”

Quoting the posuk “Great is Hashem and greatly praised, and His greatness is unfathomable,” he explained, “Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world with the Torah. If they understood what the Torah is and understood its power, they would tell us: Do not leave it. Continue engaging in it.”

He concluded with a message of introspection, saying, “And on the other hand, if we ourselves truly understood more of the power and greatness of the Torah, we would be in a situation where they would not trouble us and tell us not to engage in it. We would not need to apologize for Torah study, because they would not be able to say anything to us. The fact that they speak to us this way is because we are not sufficiently engaged in and understanding the power of the Torah—and then they are able to speak to us as they do.”

{Matzav.com}

The State Department has signed off on a sweeping package of potential arms sales to Israel worth roughly $6.6 billion, underscoring Washington’s continued military backing of its closest Middle East ally as Israel reassesses battlefield needs after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack. According to notices published by the U.S. State Department, the proposed sales are […]

The IDF says an airstrike in the southern Lebanese town of Doueir killed Ali Dawoud Amees, a division head in Hezbollah’s engineering department. The military says the Hezbollah terrorist was involved in rebuilding military infrastructure in the area and advancing terror plans against IDF troops.

Trucks full of aid supplies and blankets entered Egypt’s Rafah Gate on Sunday, heading to Kerem Shalom crossing for Israeli inspection.

President Trump releases a letter from legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner calling on Trump to run for President dated 1989.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she believes President Trump supports her, and reiterates she gave the president her Nobel Peace Prize medallion as “a matter of what’s in the superior interest” of her home country.

A senior U.S. Border Patrol official at the center of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is accused of making antisemitic remarks about a Jewish federal prosecutor during a high-level planning call. Gregory Bovino, a veteran Border Patrol leader who oversaw the recent surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, allegedly used offensive language toward Jewish […]

Israel signaled a shift in Gaza’s isolation on Sunday as activity resumed at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, with limited travel in and out of the territory set to restart Monday after years of near-closure. The move is seen as a critical milestone as the Israel–Hamas ceasefire progresses.

Israeli officials said the crossing was opened on a trial basis. COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid to Gaza, said preparations were underway to expand operations and that Gaza residents would begin passing through the crossing on Monday.

The development followed a deadly weekend. Hospital officials said Israeli strikes a day earlier killed at least 30 Palestinians, including several children, marking one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire began. Israel had accused Hamas the previous day of fresh violations of the truce.

Nicolay Mladenov, the director-general of Trump’s board of peace in Gaza, wrote Sunday on X urging all sides to “exercise restraint and uphold the ceasefire.” He said his office was working with the Palestinian committee tasked with overseeing Gaza to “find ways that prevent future incidents.
We will need everyone’s full cooperation to make this possible,” he added.

Rafah, long viewed by Palestinians as Gaza’s primary gateway to the outside world, has been largely sealed since Israel took control of the area in May 2024.

At the outset, passage will be tightly restricted and goods will not be permitted to cross. Roughly 20,000 Palestinian children and adults in need of medical treatment are hoping to exit Gaza through Rafah, while thousands of Palestinians currently outside the enclave are seeking to return.

Zaher al-Wahidi, who heads the Health Ministry’s documentation department in Gaza, told The Associated Press that the ministry had not yet been informed when medical evacuations would begin.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will allow 50 patients per day to leave Gaza. A diplomat involved in the talks, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, said each patient would be permitted to travel with two relatives. The official added that around 50 Palestinians who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return daily.

Israel said that both it and Egypt would screen travelers entering and exiting via Rafah, with European Union border patrol agents supervising the crossing. If the system functions smoothly, officials expect the number of travelers to rise over time.

Separately on Sunday, Israel’s Diaspora Ministry announced it was “moving to terminate” the operations of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza.

The announcement followed Israel’s December decision to suspend the group’s work after it declined to comply with new registration rules requiring aid organizations to submit lists of local staff. Doctors Without Borders has argued that such requirements could endanger Palestinian employees.

“MSF will cease its operations and depart the Gaza Strip by February 28, 2026,” the ministry said, using the acronym for the organization’s French name.

The group did not immediately respond, but wrote on X on Friday that it had finalized its decision not to provide staff lists.

Doctors Without Borders is among more than two dozen humanitarian groups barred from operating in Gaza for failing or refusing to meet the new requirements. The Diaspora Ministry says the measures are intended to prevent Hamas and other terrorist organizations from infiltrating aid efforts, while humanitarian groups contend the rules are arbitrary and warn that suspensions will further harm civilians in dire need of assistance.

Independent aid organizations are central to sustaining Gaza’s health system, which has been severely damaged by two years of Israeli strikes and restrictions on supplies.

Doctors Without Borders has said Israel’s decision will have devastating consequences for its Gaza operations, where it funds and staffs six hospitals, operates two field hospitals, and runs eight primary health centers, clinics, and medical points. The organization also manages two of Gaza’s five stabilization centers treating children suffering from severe malnutrition.

At Rafah on Sunday, Palestinian security personnel crossed from the Egyptian side toward the Palestinian gate to join the European Union mission overseeing movement through the crossing, according to an Egyptian official who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to brief the media. The official added that ambulances also passed through the Egyptian gate.

The reopening of Rafah marks a significant step as the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect on October 10 enters its second phase.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday against Iran ‘s interior minister, accusing Eskandar Momeni of repressing nationwide protests that have challenged Tehran’s theocratic government. The penalties are the latest by the United States and the European Union targeting high-ranking officials over the crackdown. The administration says Momeni has overseen Iran’s law enforcement forces that are […]

I want to suggest something to you. A challenge if you will. Perhaps you don’t need to send in your name for the upcoming tefillah by Yad L’Achim on Tu BiShvat (4 holy places!) That’s fine. However, everyone knows someone who can use a tefillah. Someone sick….Someone waiting for children or a shidduch …. Here is […]

Encyclopedia Britannica has taken down a disputed map from its Britannica Kids platform after criticism that it labeled the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as “Palestine,” without referencing Israel. The move followed objections raised by the pro-Israel legal advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) and questions from The Telegraph, which reported concerns that the map effectively denied Israel’s existence and mirrored the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The map had appeared alongside text defining “Palestine” as the territory stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. Critics said the presentation closely tracked language commonly used by pro-Palestinian activists and groups such as Hamas. In a letter to Britannica’s publishers, UKLFI argued that the framing advanced a contemporary political narrative and erased the presence of the State of Israel from the same geographic space.

Public attention to the issue began in November 2024, when London-based Jewish children’s author Shari Black contacted Britannica directly to raise concerns. She said she was taken aback by what she viewed as historical inaccuracies in educational material for children, adding that the content appeared to promote an agenda aimed at delegitimizing Israel, despite its establishment through international agreement.

UKLFI also challenged Britannica Kids’ broader historical use of the term “Palestine” as a label extending back thousands of years. The group noted that historians generally trace the name to Roman Emperor Hadrian, who applied it to the region in 135 CE following the Bar Kokhba revolt, replacing the name Judea in an effort to weaken Jewish identification with the land.

Responding to the complaints, Britannica editor-in-chief Theodore Pappas said the company would examine UKLFI’s claims and make changes where appropriate.

UKLFI Director Caroline Turner said that applying the label “Palestine” retroactively across the region’s history misrepresents historical developments and falsely suggests an unbroken continuity that does not reflect the record.

Following The Telegraph’s inquiry, Britannica removed the map and updated the entry to clarify the present-day reality, stating: “Today the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip are located within this area.”

{Matzav.com}

Spanish police have arrested a 38-year-old man suspected of funneling hundreds of thousands of euros in cryptocurrency to Hamas. According to details first reported by Reuters, investigators believe the suspect — a Chinese national who owns a hair salon near Barcelona — sent roughly €600,000 ($711,000) in crypto through a web of transfers allegedly linked […]

Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, convened a special follow-up discussion that revealed serious shortcomings in the implementation of the High Court ruling on the enlistment of yeshiva students, with security officials warning of a deep enforcement failure and the military announcing tougher criminal and disciplinary measures against draft dodgers.

According to figures presented at the meeting, as of January 2026 the number of individuals designated for military or national service who received draft orders but failed to report has surpassed 71,000. Approximately 80 percent of those classified as draft dodgers come from the chareidi community.

The discussion was attended by senior legal officials, representatives of Israel Defense Forces, and police officials. During the session, sharp disparities in enforcement practices were raised. Military officials warned that, as a rule, the Military Police are not granted authorization to carry out arrests in chareidi neighborhoods. They added that even in cases where chareidi deserters are detained incidentally by the police, they are often released in practice without being transferred to military authorities.

A police representative said the policy stems from a severe manpower shortage and concerns over the potential for serious public disturbances. She argued that effective enforcement would require the addition of six Border Police companies. IDF officials countered that the current reality amounts to selective enforcement, which disproportionately impacts other sectors of the population where enforcement is significantly stricter.

Attorney General Baharav-Miara described the findings as “harsh and troubling,” and stressed that under the High Court’s ruling, claims of limited resources cannot justify a failure to enforce the law. In response, the IDF presented a series of immediate steps to tighten enforcement, including reducing the period required to pursue criminal prosecution for draft evasion from 540 days to 365 days, and increasing the maximum detention period under disciplinary proceedings to 35 days.

At the same time, the attorney general instructed professional officials at the Finance Ministry to reexamine funding mechanisms related to draft dodgers, including indirect funding. Among the options being considered is accounting separation within yeshivos, a move intended to expand the range of economic sanctions available against those who fail to report for mandatory service.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve could bring about sweeping changes at a central bank that dominates the global economy and markets like no other. Warsh, if approved by the Senate, will be under close scrutiny from financial markets and Congress given his appointment by a president who has loudly demanded much lower […]

A young yeshiva student from Yeshivas Ohel Yosef in Yerushalayim was arrested Sunday afternoon near his home, marking what family members describe as the first time a yeshiva bochur has been detained in the heart of a chareidi neighborhood under circumstances linked to the draft law.

The arrest took place in the Ramot neighborhood, close to the student’s residence. According to those familiar with the incident, a police vehicle pulled up near the home while the bochur was standing outside after returning from a Shabbos break. Officers exited the vehicle and arrested him on the spot.

The family says the arrest was carried out by the Military Police and was connected to the student’s failure to report to the induction office, in accordance with the directives of gedolei Yisroel. As in previous cases, the bochur is from a family of Edot HaMizrach. It was also reported that “the bochur is receiving legal representation from the legal department of Chayei Olam.”

Less than two weeks ago, another yeshiva student—described as a draft evader and a talmid of Yeshivas Noam HaTalmud—was arrested in the community of Adam. That arrest took place late at night, around 3:00 a.m.

The nighttime detention sparked significant unrest in the chareidi street, particularly among the Sephardic public. Sources familiar with the details pointed to what they described as a troubling pattern. “Time and again we see that the initiated arrests—those that come to the home in the middle of the night—are focused on bochurim from the Sephardic sector,” one source said. “Is this coincidence, or a deliberate policy? The public is no longer buying the stories of coincidence.”

Meanwhile, in the Knesset, the state budget passed a first reading with the support of Degel HaTorah and Shas, despite the fact that the draft law has yet to be enacted. Knesset members from Agudas Yisrael—Yitzchok Goldknopf, Meir Porush, and Yitzchok Tessler—voted against the budget.

Officials in Shas and Degel HaTorah acknowledged in conversations with Kikar HaShabbat, “Voting against the budget primarily harms the chareidi public. If the budget does not pass, the first to be hurt will be us, since a central portion of the sector’s funding is not anchored in the base budget. We do not have real tools to threaten the prime minister.”

{Matzav.com}

Houthi terrorists in Yemen are signaling a possible return to attacks against Israel, saying that continued military activity in Gaza could prompt action from their side.

In a message posted to social media, Houthi spokesman Hezam al-Asad said the group’s tolerance for Israel’s conduct in Gaza was “beginning to run out,” warning that ongoing fighting and civilian deaths would “open the gates of hell from the Yemeni front.” He said the Houthis would not stay on the sidelines while Gaza remains under what he described as bombardment and siege, especially during what he called a fragile ceasefire that is violated on a daily basis.

Al-Asad said previous warnings issued by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi should be taken seriously, adding that Yemen is preparing for future confrontations and would resume hostilities with “deeper, broader, and more effective capabilities” if fighting escalates again.

He also placed blame on the countries and parties serving as guarantors and mediators of the ceasefire, accusing them of remaining silent in the face of Israel’s actions and cautioning that continued violations could spark a broader regional crisis.

According to the Houthi spokesman, the current ceasefire does not legitimize continued military operations in Gaza, and he said the persistence of fighting means preparations are underway for every possible outcome.

Al-Asad further claimed that what he referred to as the “axis of resistance” remains united, stretching from Gaza to Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and accused the United States of bearing primary responsibility for Israel’s actions during the ceasefire, which he again described as fragile and repeatedly violated.

{Matzav.com}

The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility on Friday for an attack on an air force base in Niger’s capital that wounded four soldiers and damaged an aircraft. The claim of responsibility was contained in a statement on Amaq News Agency, the group’s propaganda wing, that said it was “a surprise and coordinated attack” in […]

NASA has kicked off a two-day countdown rehearsal ahead of fueling its next-generation moon rocket, a pivotal test that will help determine when four astronauts can lift off on a historic lunar flyby.

Already in quarantine to limit exposure to illness, Commander Reid Wiseman and his fellow crew members are set to become the first humans to head toward the moon since 1972. From their base in Houston, they will oversee the rehearsal before traveling to Kennedy Space Center once the rocket receives clearance to fly.

The massive Space Launch System rocket, standing 322 feet (98 meters) tall, rolled out to the launch pad two weeks ago. Should Monday’s fueling exercise proceed without problems, NASA could target a launch attempt as soon as a week later. During the test, teams will load the rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of ultra-cold propellant, halting the process about 30 seconds before engine ignition.

Extreme cold weather forced NASA to push back the fueling rehearsal and the launch timeline by two days. As a result, Feb. 8 is now the earliest possible liftoff date.

Once airborne, the American and Canadian astronauts will travel inside the Orion capsule perched atop the rocket, looping around the moon before heading directly back to Earth without landing. The mission is expected to last close to 10 days and will conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Between 1968 and 1972, NASA’s Apollo program sent 24 astronauts to the moon, with 12 of them stepping onto its surface.

{Matzav.com}

Nearly a month before a driver repeatedly slammed his car into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, senior city officials were alerted that the site faced elevated risk and should be fortified with physical barriers, the New York Post revealed. A Dec. 30 report authored by Moshe Davis, executive director of […]

Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, who served as Israel’s coordinator for prisoners and missing persons gave his first in-depth interview since the return of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, H’yd. After revealing that Hamas leader leader Yahya Sinwar intended to hold the hostages as bargaining chips for as long as a decade, Hirsch said that […]