A quick-hitting winter system is expected to sweep through the New York City region late Friday, bringing snow, slick roads, and travel disruptions as the season rush collides with deteriorating weather.
Meteorologists say snowfall should begin toward the end of the day Friday and intensify into the evening as temperatures dip into the upper 20s. Conditions are likely to worsen during the height of rush hour, with both roadways and airports facing delays.
“It looks like a 3- to 6-inch snowfall for the area coming probably very late tomorrow into tomorrow night,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told The NY Post on Thursday.
Officials stress that while the storm is not expected to paralyze the city, it will still make getting around uncomfortable and slow. “I don’t envision this as a storm that’s going to shut the city down and all that, but it will be a pain in our butts in terms of travel,” Kines said.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch covering New York City, northeast New Jersey, Long Island, and the lower Hudson Valley. The watch goes into effect at 4 p.m. Friday and runs through 1 p.m. Shabbos.
Forecasters project snowfall totals of 4 to 8 inches across the metro area by early Shabbos afternoon. However, they caution that a “reasonable worst-case scenario” could push accumulations as high as 10 inches in some locations.
Snowfall rates may reach about an inch per hour at times, with forecasters noting a “low” possibility of bursts as heavy as 2 inches per hour if stronger snow bands develop.
Either way, “hazardous travel from snow-covered roads” is expected.
AccuWeather described the storm as “fast-moving” but impactful, saying it has a “high likelihood of producing enough snow to require shoveling and plowing in the New York City metro area.”
The company warned of “major slowdowns on roads and at airports,” with senior meteorologist Tyler Roys cautioning that the “fast-moving storm will pack a punch in the Northeast.”
Kines advised that daytime plans on Friday may proceed with minimal disruption, but conditions will decline later in the afternoon. “If you’ve got errands to do during the day – returning presents or whatever – or even traveling, I think for the most part you’re OK. After 3 or 4 p.m. tomorrow, that’s when you start worrying about some snow coming in.”
City agencies say they are preparing in advance. Acting Department of Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan told The NY Post that crews began planning “well in advance of this storm, and we are ready for whatever comes our way.”
The sanitation department also cautioned residents that Friday trash pickup may be affected, posting on X that delays “are to be expected as we work to pick up material and prepare vehicles for snow operations at the same time.”
{Matzav.com}
An escalation was reported tonight as talmidim of the Sephardic yeshiva Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim joined forces with the Peleg Yerushalmi to hold a protest outside Military Prison 10. The demonstration follows the arrest of yeshiva bochur Yair Saada, who was taken into custody at his home in Be’er Sheva and sentenced to ten days in military detention for refusing to report for army service.
Following the arrest, rosh yeshiva Rav Tzemach Mazuz instructed talmidim from both the ketanah and gedolah divisions of the yeshiva to take part in the protest.
The Peleg Yerushalmi announced that buses were dispatched from various locations to the protest site. Earlier in the evening, dozens of demonstrators blocked the Yerushalayim light rail on Rechov Shivtei Yisrael, also in protest of Saada’s arrest.
Saada was detained overnight by military police at his family home in Be’er Sheva after, according to reports, he followed the guidance of rabbonim and did not present himself for enlistment. He was subsequently transferred to Military Prison 10, where he is to be held for ten days.
Officials at the yeshiva said that Saada had been feeling unwell and that his parents brought him home from the yeshiva due to his condition. Several hours after arriving home, military police reportedly arrested him while he was in bed suffering from a high fever. Reports indicated that the “Black Color” alert system, which warns of the arrival of military police, did not operate at the time.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli intelligence officials issued an unusually blunt public statement on Thursday, pushing back forcefully against comments made earlier in the day by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman. The response stood out not only for its speed, but for the fact that the Mossad almost never engages openly with criticism from senior political figures, particularly one who previously served as both defense minister and foreign minister.
The agency’s statement also marked a sharp escalation in tone toward Qatar. For the first time, the Mossad publicly accused Doha of more than just underwriting Al Jazeera. According to the statement, the Qatari-backed network “encourages hatred, antisemitism and terror,” while Qatar itself bears responsibility for “spreading false narratives and incitement against the State of Israel worldwide across multiple platforms.”
Behind the scenes, Mossad officials were reportedly incensed by Lieberman’s remarks, saying they created a misleading impression that the agency had spent years shielding or advocating on Qatar’s behalf. Officials stressed that the Mossad has long viewed Qatar as a hostile actor — a state that hosts terrorists and bankrolls antisemitic activity abroad, particularly on university campuses through Muslim Brotherhood-linked channels.
At the same time, officials emphasized the constraints under which the agency operates. In the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Israel and Qatar, the Mossad serves as the primary channel for contact. That role, they said, has been driven by one overriding consideration: the fate of Israeli hostages. Ran Gvili remains in captivity in Gaza, and since October 7 the Mossad has largely avoided public comment, believing that Qatar remained the most effective intermediary in negotiations, regardless of the broader “Qatar-gate” controversy.
Mossad sources said they never harbored illusions about Qatar’s conduct during this period. Officials acknowledged being fully aware that Doha ran what they described as a “poison machine” of bots that smeared Jews and amplified terrorist propaganda. In private meetings, Mossad chief David Barnea and his team voiced harsh criticism of Qatar but deliberately avoided moves that could sever lines of communication. When discussions arose inside Israel about shutting down Al Jazeera, Barnea and the Mossad opposed immediate action, arguing that such a step could undermine Qatar’s leverage with Hamas. The agency supported closing the network, but only after the hostages were returned.
“There was a need to show responsibility for human lives, because the Qataris were advancing a deal and had leverage over Hamas,” officials familiar with the deliberations said.
Lieberman claimed earlier Thursday that a meeting held this month in New York between Barnea and Qatari officials resulted in the creation of four joint working groups, including a “communications group.” Speaking at the Ogen conference hosted together with Yediot Achronot, he said the purpose of that group was to address “media issues and Qatar’s image.”
Mossad officials flatly rejected that version of events. They described the New York meeting — mediated by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff — as confrontational and tense, saying Israel leveled severe accusations against Qatar. According to the officials, Witkoff also conveyed pointed criticism from Washington. Responding to claims that Israel agreed to help rehabilitate Qatar’s image, they said, “It never happened. The opposite is true. The meeting was very tough, and Israel made harsh claims against Qatar. Witkoff also delivered strong criticism of the Qataris.”
“We made no concessions to the Qataris,” the officials added, explaining that any issues that might jeopardize the hostages were immediately taken off the table. “The country that held the switch to the hostages’ lives was Qatar. But make no mistake: no one tried to improve Qatar’s image.”
In its official statement, the Mossad said, “The report about the establishment of a communications team for Qatar is unfounded, false and baseless. The trilateral meeting held in New York, with the participation of the U.S. president’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, addressed a range of weighty issues related to the Middle East and the Gaza Strip, including senior Hamas figures hosted in Qatar.”
The statement went on to say, “The only media-related issue raised at the meeting was a clear demand by the United States and Israel that Qatar act regarding Al Jazeera’s negative coverage, which encourages hatred, antisemitism and terror, and a firm demand that Qatar cease spreading false narratives and incitement against the State of Israel worldwide through multiple platforms.”
Despite the Mossad’s unusually sharp rebuttal, Lieberman said he was not backing down. “All the details regarding the meeting between the Mossad chief and Qatari representatives in New York are correct,” he said. “The briefings coming out of the prime minister’s office are exactly like the hysterical briefings following my warning during Sukkot about the Iranian threat. There is nothing new under the sun.”
A man who has publicly styled himself as the chief rabbi of Saudi Arabia said this week that he was turned away at the kingdom’s border, even though he held a valid visa and has spent years traveling in and out of the country.
Rav Yaakov Yisroel Herzog announced the incident Monday in a post on X, writing: “With profound regret, I announce that I was barred from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upon arrival, despite holding a valid entry visa, and despite having spent a significant portion of the past years living and serving in this blessed Kingdom.”
Herzog has in recent years presented himself as a religious point person for Jewish visitors and residents in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that the kingdom has no officially recognized Jewish community and enforces strict limits on public expressions of non-Islamic faiths. His high-profile approach has reportedly clashed with the preference of other Jews in the country to maintain a low profile.
In a follow-up statement, Herzog described the personal impact of the refusal. “This incident has left me — against my will — distant from the Jewish community that I serve with love within the Kingdom, a community that has lived under the spirit of peace and goodwill embodied by the Saudi royal system and the great Saudi people,” he wrote.
Saudi Arabia generally bars entry to holders of Israeli passports, but Herzog, who was born in New York and holds both US and Israeli citizenship, has previously been able to travel between Jerusalem and the kingdom. That apparent flexibility, however, did not extend to his most recent attempt to enter the country.
The denial comes at a time of heightened regional tension. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel have cooled amid the fragile ceasefire involving Israel and Hamas. At the same time, Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Riyadh to formalize relations with Israel, an effort Saudi leaders have resisted.
Saudi officials have continued to emphasize that any normalization would depend on progress toward Palestinian statehood. “Saudi Arabia is not considering a normalization deal with Israel. Should Israel become a normal country with normal acceptance of international law, then Saudi Arabia will consider normalization,” former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki bin Faisal said Sunday in comments to The Times of Israel.
Herzog said he was given no explanation at the airport or by the Interior Ministry for the decision to bar his entry. Still, he insisted that responsibility did not lie with the country’s top leadership, saying he was “convinced that this measure did not emanate from the Royal Court or from the Saudi government itself.”
He added: “Despite my complete trust in the integrity of Saudi institutions and the sound intentions of its leadership, I cannot ignore the possibility of the existence of dark forces seeking to obstruct the path of reform, openness, and tolerance that the Kingdom is pursuing with determination.”
The Saudi Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Herzog has previously promoted kosher food availability in Saudi grocery stores and advertises services such as ritual circumcision on his website. Those activities exist alongside Saudi law, which prohibits the public practice of religions other than Islam.
The incident follows another episode highlighting religious sensitivity in the kingdom. In March 2024, a US government delegation focused on international religious freedom cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after a rabbi traveling with the group was instructed to remove his yarmulka while in public.
{Matzav.com}
More than eighty years after he was killed in combat, a Jewish American pilot who fought in World War II has finally been laid to rest, following the identification of his remains and a burial ceremony in South Carolina, according to the US Department of War, the Times of Israel reports.
The aviator, Lt. Morton Sher, was 22 years old when he died on Aug. 20, 1943, during an Allied air operation over China. Flying a P-40 Warhawk fighter-bomber as part of the China-Burma theater, Sher’s aircraft went down in Hunan province after a mission against Japanese forces. His plane crashed into a rice paddy in Xin Bai Village and burned, leading officials at the time to believe that no remains could be recovered.
In the aftermath of the crash, Sher’s squadron erected a memorial stone near the site, and a postwar Army review conducted in 1947 formally classified him as unrecoverable. That same year, his mother, Celia Sher, was presented with his Purple Heart, and for decades the family’s connection to him consisted only of letters, photographs, and memories preserved from the war years.
Sher had been born on December 14, 1920, in Baltimore, Maryland. His family later relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, where they were active members of Congregation Beth Israel. As a teenager, he helped found a local chapter of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization’s Aleph Zadik Aleph fraternity. He later attended the University of Alabama, joining the Kappa Nu fraternity, managing the school’s basketball team, and participating in ROTC before entering the Air Force to pursue aviation.
Assigned to the 76th Fighter Squadron of the 23rd Fighter Group in the 14th Air Force, Sher flew escort and combat missions over China. An Air Force historian cited by the Department of War noted that he had already achieved three aerial victories by the time of his death. In 1942, after his aircraft was hit by seven Japanese fighters following a successful raid on Hong Kong, Sher sustained a minor head injury but chose to return to combat rather than seek reassignment.
Letters sent home and interviews published during the war reflected Sher’s strong attachment to his mission and to the people he was helping defend. The Department of War reported that after making an emergency landing in a Chinese village in October 1942 due to engine trouble, Sher was welcomed by residents with food and celebrations. He later described singing American songs for villagers and being escorted back to base through mountain towns.
A renewed effort to locate his remains began in 2012, when a private citizen contacted the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency after discovering a photograph of the memorial stone placed by Chinese villagers at the crash site. Initial searches did not yield results, but a more extensive recovery mission in 2024 uncovered aircraft debris and human remains in Xin Bai Village near Hengyang. Subsequent DNA analysis confirmed that the remains belonged to Sher.
Sher was finally buried on December 14 — his birthday — in Greenville, where a headstone bearing his name and a Star of David had stood in anticipation for decades. During the burial, relatives and friends placed soil from Israel onto his grave.
At the memorial service, Sher’s nephew, Bruce Fine, reflected on his uncle’s life and choices. “He filled his pages of life with meaning,” Fine said, according to the Department of War.
Fine also recounted a letter Sher had written the day before he was killed, explaining that he had declined a safer assignment as an instructor because he found combat “too exciting” to leave.
“Our family tree produced a real hero,” Fine said. “The kind you read about and see on the big screen, except he was real. We hope his bravery and his courage will inspire the family members who follow us to believe that anything you can dream can be truly possible if you’re willing to commit to it and work hard to achieve it.”
{Matzav.com}
A government-backed bill granting the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet continued authority to secretly access civilian security camera systems cleared its final Knesset reading Wednesday night, passing unanimously by a 10-0 vote.
The legislation extends for another year an emergency measure first approved after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, allowing security agencies to covertly penetrate camera systems under certain conditions.
When the measure was initially enacted, it limited such intrusions to situations in which visual data posed a direct threat to national security or to IDF operations tied to the war in Gaza, and only during a period defined as “significant military operations.” The new extension removes that linkage, enabling the authority to continue even without an active wartime designation.
The explanatory notes accompanying the bill argue that ongoing dangers justify the expansion, stating that “the severity of the latest cyber threats and the risks posed by them…the need for additional tools to properly deal with enemy elements’ access to visual information produced by stationary cameras remains.” The rationale has gained renewed attention following the recent hacking of former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Telegram account by Iranian actors.
Despite this justification, the law has triggered strong opposition from legal scholars and civil rights organizations, particularly given the ceasefire in Gaza. Critics argue that the measure undermines basic legal safeguards and intrudes deeply into personal privacy.
“This is very troubling legislation that, for the first time, grants the IDF authority to operate within civilian property and civilian space,” said Adv. Haim Ravia, a leading authority on privacy and cyber law, in comments to The Times of Israel.
“It is hard to understand why…this cannot be done by means of a judicial warrant. It is also difficult to understand how the Knesset extended such a draconian provision without taking into account that the explanatory notes justify extending it indefinitely,” he added, describing the law as a “severe infringement” of privacy rights.
Ravia further warned that the law’s scope is extraordinarily broad. “Under the law, the cameras can observe any area, including private ones. It would have been possible to give citizens retroactive notice of the intrusion into their computers, but even that was not done. Together with a number of experts, we submitted reservations to the law, but they were not addressed.”
Adv. Amit Ashkenazi, a cyber law and policy specialist and former legal adviser to the Israel National Cyber Directorate, also criticized the legislation in a phone interview with The Times of Israel, calling it flawed on multiple levels.
He noted that Israeli law, like that of other Western democracies, generally prohibits unauthorized computer access and requires judicial approval. Existing procedures are “meant to protect you and the computer,” he said, but the current law bypasses those safeguards.
Ashkenazi outlined three core problems: the transfer of authority over civilian systems to the military, the fact that it “doesn’t require the authorities to go to a judge” to confirm justification and prevent “abuse of power,” and that affected individuals “do not receive any notification from the state at any point.”
“Today the army has no authority vis-à-vis civilians, and this law breaks that principle,” he said. “This isn’t dependent on a judicial warrant.”
To illustrate the concern, Ashkenazi offered a concrete scenario. “Imagine this happening to you. You put a camera outside your yard to protect yourself from thieves and you didn’t do the job properly. As a result, Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran hacks into the camera and uses it to see what’s happening along the border. Now this law allows the army—or the Shin Bet to hack into your camera themselves and disconnect it from the network. When the risk ends, they’re supposed to restore things to how they were, but at no point does it say they must notify you.”
Even if the security need is accepted, Ashkenazi said the way the law is implemented reflects a deeper problem. Its approach is “paternalistic,” he argued. “I’m talking about the method, because in a democratic state what matters, among other things, is the method by which we ensure that the authority we agree to grant to address a problem we’ve agreed exists is exercised in a way that also protects rights.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel echoed those concerns, stating that while “at the outset of the war there was a proper purpose or a security justification that led to authorizing the IDF and the Shin Bet to penetrate computer material without the need for a judicial warrant,” that justification no longer holds.
Following the war, the group said, it was “no longer possible to justify extending the temporary provision.”
“The provision allows intrusion into private cameras that document intimate and sensitive situations and into personal information stored on the computers of citizens and residents, on the basis of broad and vague grounds, and raises serious concern about misuse of the information,” a spokesperson said.
“Extending the provision, while severing the connection between these intrusive powers and the state of hostilities, disproportionately violates human rights, first and foremost the right to privacy.”
{Matzav.com}
