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The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday rejected claims that the remains of fallen IDF officer Hadar Goldin are being held in a tunnel in Rafah, dismissing the reports as inaccurate and damaging.

“These are false claims that cause harm to the family,” the IDF stated, emphasizing that it currently holds no verified intelligence suggesting that Goldin’s body is located in any tunnel where Hamas operatives are hiding.

The military called on the public to avoid spreading rumors or relying on unofficial reports. “The IDF urges the public to rely solely on announcements from official sources and to refrain from spreading unverified rumors, which harm the families of the hostages and the public. Efforts for the return of the deceased hostages are ongoing at all times,” the statement added.

The clarification came after Galei Tzahal earlier reported that Israeli officials had identified a tunnel in Rafah’s Janina neighborhood where Goldin’s body was allegedly being held, alongside about 150 Hamas terrorists. According to that report, Israel was said to have avoided striking the site—by air or ground—for fear of jeopardizing any possibility of recovering the remains.

At the same time, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir delivered a pointed message to Israel’s political leadership regarding the situation in Rafah. “No militant may be allowed to leave alive—unless the body of Hadar Goldin, of blessed memory, is returned,” Zamir declared, underscoring his uncompromising stance on retrieving the fallen soldier’s body.

Zamir’s sharp remarks were made amid reports that Israeli officials were debating whether to allow militants to retreat into Hamas-controlled areas under certain conditions. Those discussions were ultimately halted after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided against permitting the withdrawal, following strong opposition from right-wing leaders.

In the days that followed, Zamir reiterated his position, stressing to senior decision-makers that no evacuation of terrorists from Rafah should be considered unless it is directly tied to the repatriation of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who was killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and whose body has remained in Hamas’s hands ever since.

{Matzav.com}

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey secured re-election Tuesday, fending off a strong challenge from Democratic Socialist Omar Fateh in a closely watched contest that mirrored ideological battles unfolding in other major cities.

The 44-year-old incumbent led the field with 41.8% of first-choice votes on election night, while Fateh, a 35-year-old Minnesota state senator known for his far-left platform, followed with 31.7%. Under Minneapolis’s ranked-choice voting system, Frey ultimately clinched victory after three rounds of tabulation on Wednesday, with Fateh finishing at 44.4%.

The city’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) initially gave Fateh its endorsement at its July convention, marking a major boost for the progressive challenger, who became Minnesota’s first Somali American and Muslim state senator in 2021. However, the endorsement was later rescinded following a dispute over voting procedures, after Frey contested the process before the party’s Constitution, Bylaws & Rules Committee.

Frey first rose to national attention in 2020 during the unrest that swept Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death in police custody. Though he resisted demands to defund the police department, earning backlash from the city’s progressive bloc, Frey has often embraced liberal causes during his tenure.

At a March town hall with state Democratic leaders, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, Frey reaffirmed his stance on immigration policy. “I want all of you just to know exactly where we are as far as our neighbors go, Minneapolis will continue to be a safe haven for undocumented immigrants,” he said. Frey vowed that city police would not ask about residents’ immigration status or arrest individuals solely for being in the country illegally, even amid ongoing Trump administration enforcement efforts.

Frey also drew attention after the tragic mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in August, when a transgender assailant opened fire. Speaking shortly after the attack, he defended the transgender community against backlash. “I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Frey told reporters. “Anybody who is using this … as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone.”

Fateh, who like New York City’s Zohran Mamdani has championed a socialist vision for urban governance, campaigned on sweeping policy shifts. He pushed for higher minimum wages, expanded affordable housing, and the reallocation of police responsibilities to community-based alternatives.

In addition, Fateh pledged to notify illegal immigrants about impending ICE operations in the city, a proposal that echoed the far-left approach of Mamdani and other progressive figures.

A wide field of contenders rounded out the ballot, including Andrea Revel, Troy Peterson, Kevin Ward, Xavier Pauke, Adam Terzich, Kevin A. Dwire, Charlie McCloud, Alejandro Richardson, Laverne Turner, Jeffrey Wagner, DeWayne Davis, Jazz Hampton, and Brenda Short.

{Matzav.com}

Democratic candidates saw victories across key races Tuesday, and there were signs there’s plenty of room for the Democratic Party to make up ground among groups that moved toward President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. That finding comes from the AP Voter Poll, a sweeping survey of more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, […]

by Rabbi Eliezer Sandler   The concept of the Yissachar-Zevulun Torah Learning Pact goes back well over 3,500 years, to the time of Yaakov Avinu and his sons. It is named for the Torah pact between two of his sons – Yissachar the scholar and Zevulun the merchant. Not only was it an equal pact […]

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani fired back Wednesday at the Anti-Defamation League’s announcement that it would closely monitor his administration, dismissing the move while insisting that combating antisemitism remains a top priority for his incoming government.

Speaking to reporters one day after his election victory, Mamdani said he had not met with ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt but rejected suggestions that he is indifferent to Jewish concerns. “I take the issue of antisemitism incredibly seriously,” he said, emphasizing that his commitment to fighting hate was clearly stated in his post-election remarks.

“In my victory speech,” he noted, “I spoke about how my City Hall will stand steadfast with Jewish New Yorkers in fighting antisemitism across the city and making that clear in the actions that we deliver on January 1st.”

The mayor-elect went on to stress that his approach will be rooted in partnership with the city’s Jewish community. “I look forward to working with Jewish leaders across this city, whether they’re elected officials, rabbis, or community leaders, to deliver on the promise of not just protecting Jewish New Yorkers, but celebrating and cherishing them in the same city,” Mamdani said.

Asked about the ADL’s new monitoring project, Mamdani said the organization was free to review his policies, but questioned its fairness. “Anyone is free to catalogue my administration’s actions,” he remarked, “but I have doubts in Jonathan’s ability to do so honestly, given that he previously said that I had not visited any synagogues, only to have to correct himself.”

The ADL, meanwhile, defended its initiative as a necessary measure amid a sharp rise in antisemitic activity across New York. “Mayor-Elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration.”

As part of its campaign, the ADL announced a new citywide hotline for reporting antisemitic incidents, expanded research to identify municipal policies that may endanger Jewish communities, and the launch of a “Mamdani Monitor” to track City Hall’s actions. The group pointed to data showing 976 antisemitic incidents in New York City in 2024—the highest number nationwide—and warned that more than half of all hate crimes that year targeted Jews.

Greenblatt underscored that the effort was about transparency and vigilance, saying the ADL “will hold the Mamdani Administration accountable to this basic standard.”

{Matzav.com}

The IDF on Wednesday afternoon clarified an earlier report that there is no evidence that Hamas is holding the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin — an IDF officer killed and abducted by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War — inside a fortified tunnel complex beneath Rafah, along with roughly 150 Hamas operatives who have refused […]

On his first day being Mayor-elect, ‘Free Stuff’ Mamdani says: “Remember how I told you to stop sending me money? You can start again. I hope you will make a donation.”

Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker, one of the few high-profile Jewish officials in New York City government, abruptly resigned Wednesday morning — just hours after Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor. Tucker, a philanthropist and businessman who has led the FDNY for just over a year, will step down on December 19. His sudden departure […]

Chaos broke out in the Knesset on Wednesday when Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Yakov Margi erupted in anger after MK Samir Bin Said of the Ta’al party used his time at the podium to express support for Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City known for his anti-Israel views.

Margi immediately intervened, demanding that Bin Said leave the stage. “Get off the podium, you insolent man,” Margi shouted, his voice echoing through the chamber as members of both sides shouted over one another.

He condemned Bin Said’s remarks, calling it disgraceful for a member of the Israeli parliament to endorse someone who has openly stood with Israel’s enemies. “A member of the Israeli Knesset stands here and congratulates an antisemitic terror supporter who can’t even bring himself to condemn the massacre and the murder of infants,” Margi fumed.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump on Communist Zohran Mamdani winning the mayoral election in New York last night: “We lost a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York but we’ll take care of it, don’t worry about it.”

TRUMP: “If you want to see what Congressional Democrats wish to do to America, just look at the result of yesterday’s election in New York—where their party installed a COMMUNIST as the mayor…our opponents are hellbent on turning America into Communist Cuba or Socialist Venezuela.”

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday extended the arrest of disgraced Military Advocate General (MAG) Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi by three days—until Friday—at the request of the police. “After reviewing the investigation file, I believe there is reasonable suspicion that the suspect committed the alleged offenses,” the judge stated. “The investigative actions strengthen this suspicion.” “The […]

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday dismissed what he called “idiotic” overreactions within the Republican Party following a series of Democratic victories in high-profile races across the country, including the New York City mayoral race and gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia.

In a post on X, Vance urged Republicans to keep perspective, arguing that the results in traditionally blue states should not spark panic. “I think it’s idiotic to overreact to a couple of elections in blue states,” he wrote, before outlining several takeaways for the GOP moving forward.

“Scot Pressler, TPUSA, and a bunch of others have been working hard to register voters,” Vance noted. “I said it in 2022, and I’ve said it repeatedly since: our coalition is ‘lower propensity,’ and that means we have to do better at turning out voters than we have in the past.”

Vance emphasized the administration’s economic progress, saying Republicans must stay focused on “the home front.” “The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation,” he wrote. “But we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’re going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that’s the metric by which we’ll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond.”

The vice president also cautioned against party infighting, calling it “stupid” and counterproductive. “I care about my fellow citizens—particularly young Americans—being able to afford a decent life, I care about immigration and our sovereignty, and I care about establishing peace overseas so our resources can be focused at home,” Vance said. “If you care about those things too, let’s work together.”

{Matzav.com}

TRUMP: “The Radical Left Democrats are causing millions of Americans who depend on food stamps to go without benefits, they’re forcing federal workers to go without paychecks, and they’re stranding thousands of travelers at airports.”

TRUMP: “With the reckless Democrat Shutdown, virtually every Democrat in Congress has voted to hold the American People hostage in an effort to extort hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending. They’re demanding free healthcare for illegal aliens…”

Conservative members of the Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical of President Donald Trump’s sweeping unilateral tariffs midway through arguments in a case that’s a pivotal test of executive power for a tool central to his broader agenda. While the questions at times seemed to challenge the rationale for the tariffs, the arguments are still […]

Shinun Vachazarah’s Ateres Paz Event Celebrates Semichah of 70 Rabbanim Last week, hundreds gathered to celebrate a true simchas haTorah at the Third Ateres PazGala Siyum Event by Mifal Shinun Vachazarah where 70 avreichim talmideichachamim were crowned as Rabbanim and received their Semichah Certificatesendorsing them as Morei Hora’ah in Klal Yisrael. The long-awaited event followingyears […]

TRUMP: “I am pleased to report that today, the United States has the strongest economy, the strongest borders, the strongest military, the strongest friendships, and the strongest spirit of any nation anywhere. This is the Golden Age of America.”

Following the shocking discovery that a vandal had defaced the Magen David Yeshiva building with swastikas, Senator Sam Sutton and Councilman Simcha Felder immediately visited the scene on McDonald Avenue and Avenue S to survey the damage. More of the same hateful vandalism was soon identified at the Jewish cemetery on McDonald Avenue near Avenue […]

‘ככה ייעשה’! Yeshiva Bochur Ariel Shamai received a hero’s welcome at Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, arriving in style on a horse-drawn wagon.