Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, the widely respected chessed leader, founder and chairman of Yad Sarah, and former mayor of Yerushalayim, has been hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
According to reports, Rabbi Lupolianski, 74, was admitted after developing a severe case of pneumonia accompanied by breathing difficulties. He is currently receiving medical treatment and is in need of significant rachamei Shomayim.
Rabbi Lupolianski, who battled serious illness in the past and recovered with great siyata d’Shmaya, went on to continue leading the life’s work he established, building Yad Sarah into one of Israel’s largest and most impactful chessed organizations, providing medical equipment and support to hundreds of thousands annually.
All are asked to daven for Uri ben Malka.
{Matzav.com}
In a radio interview aired Monday morning, Jonathan Pollard spoke candidly about what he described as devastating treatment by Israeli authorities while he was incarcerated in the United States, saying he felt abandoned at the very moment he expected support.
According to Pollard, the most shocking episode involved a direct conversation with an Israeli representative who, he claims, urged him to end his life in order to resolve the affair. Pollard said the comment was made to him personally and left him shaken and confused.
Recalling the exchange, Pollard said: “As disappointed as the Israeli government was with the situation, there was no need to send someone to me to tell me to kill myself. It would have been better if the Israeli government had come to defend me, instead of denying the obvious. What was done to me was simply terrible.”
Pollard went on to explain how the message was framed, recounting the words he says were spoken to him: “They came and said to me: You’re a patriot, right? So why are you making all of us suffer so much? Why don’t you just do the right thing? We’ll bring you home, give you a respectable burial, and we’ll be able to close this file. And I didn’t understand what he meant.”
He said the incident might have taken a tragic turn were it not for the intervention of an American official who, Pollard claims, urged him to hold on. Describing that moment, Pollard said: “Then it was the American who looked at me and said: You must not do this. You have to live, and you will return home one day. The American said it to me-you will return home one day.”
The remarks were made during an interview on Galai Tzahal, where Pollard expressed lasting pain and resentment over what he characterized as years of neglect and damaging conduct by the Israeli government during his imprisonment.
{Matzav.com}
Israel’s Finance Ministry is moving ahead with a change that will sharply raise the ceiling for VAT-free personal imports, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slated to approve the measure on Tuesday.
Once signed, the directive will be formally recorded in the government’s official registry and will come into force overnight, between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Under the new rules, the exemption threshold will increase from $75 to $150, a move that is expected to open the door for Israelis to order a far wider array of goods from overseas sellers, especially via major international e-commerce platforms such as Amazon.
The higher limit is also projected to lower the effective cost of online shopping from abroad, since buyers will be able to consolidate more items into a single shipment without triggering value-added tax.
Officials anticipate that the change will intensify competition within the domestic market, broaden consumer options, and exert downward pressure on prices of comparable products already available in Israel.
{Matzav.com}
Mediators working on the Gaza ceasefire have forwarded to Israel a draft proposal outlining the creation of a technocratic authority that would be responsible for governing the Gaza Strip, according to sources cited by Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath.
The sources indicated that the United States is holding intensive discussions with the mediators ahead of what is expected to be a near-term announcement on establishing an international force tied to the ceasefire framework. They added that an upcoming meeting in Florida between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to play a key role in shaping decisions related to the second phase of the Gaza agreement.
Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that Turkey expects the second stage of the ceasefire to begin in early 2026. His comments came after talks held earlier in the week in Miami with officials from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt.
At a press conference in Damascus, Fidan explained that the discussions centered on barriers that have so far prevented the agreement from moving forward to its next phase.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of State rejected claims that Washington had agreed to provide $60 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction. In a statement, the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs said reports published by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times were incorrect, emphasizing that a plan attributed to President Trump does not include any such funding commitment.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli police confirmed that an investigation remains underway after a disturbing incident at a Tel Aviv shopping mall in which Chanukah neiros were deliberately put out, prompting allegations of an offense against religious sensitivities.
After being questioned by authorities, the two suspects were released subject to restrictive conditions. Law enforcement officials said they are continuing to probe the circumstances surrounding the act and are working to determine what motivated it.
הרב טל גומברג, שליח חב"ד באיכילוב, הדליק את הנרות ביד אוהבת –
החצופה כיבתה!
מזעזע!!
קניון וייצמן סיטי צמוד לאיכילוב היום pic.twitter.com/nMU9RvTDHz
— שרי רוט (Sari Rot) (@sari_rot) December 18, 2025
The case centers on a video that circulated on Instagram, showing a teenage girl walking through the mall alongside a relative. The footage captures her deliberately approaching a lit menorah and blowing out its candles, while the young man accompanying her appears to clap in approval.
Following the circulation of the video, police launched a formal inquiry and summoned both individuals for questioning. The girl involved in the act is 17 years old, while the accompanying family member is 19.
{Matzav.com}