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Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu is expected to personally attend a crucial meeting of Likud’s Constitution Committee on Sunday in an effort to win support for his proposed overhaul of the party’s Knesset candidate list. But senior party officials believe he is likely to face a majority opposed to his plan.

According to reports, the meeting is shaping up to be one of the most contentious internal Likud battles ahead of Israel’s 26th Knesset elections. Netanyahu decided to attend after realizing that negotiations over the structure of the party’s electoral slate had reached an impasse.

At the heart of the dispute is Netanyahu’s demand to reserve 10 personally selected slots within the first 30 places on the Likud list while pushing district representatives down to positions after No. 40. Opposing the proposal are senior Likud figures Chaim Katz and David Bitan, who insist Netanyahu receive no more than six reserved slots and want district representatives to remain guaranteed places within the top 30.

The internal battle has also spilled into a public campaign aimed at party activists. Messages circulated among Likud members declared: “Netanyahu is saving Likud! Yes to Netanyahu’s reserved slots, no to the corrupt membership drive.” Another message urged supporters: “Don’t let Bitan and Chaim Katz confuse you. We all know there is a hostile takeover attempt against Likud.”

Netanyahu has reportedly warned that if no compromise is reached, he will personally appear before the committee to try to persuade members to back his proposal. Even so, senior figures within the party remain skeptical that his direct involvement will change the outcome. One Likud official said, “It won’t help Netanyahu,” adding, “In any case, there will be a majority against him. It’s better for him to reach agreements.”

In an effort to reduce opposition, Netanyahu has reportedly offered to eliminate separate reserved positions for women and young candidates, instead including those groups within the reserved slots he is seeking for himself.

The party has yet to decide when its primary elections will be held, with August 4 and August 11 currently under consideration.

At the same time, Netanyahu is continuing to shape his preferred candidate list for the next election. Among his key objectives is broadening Likud’s appeal to younger voters and Israel’s Ethiopian community. Potential candidates reportedly being considered include Yoseph Haddad, Netta-Li Shem Tov, and several young IDF combat veterans who distinguished themselves during the recent wars.

Sources close to the prime minister say his hands-on involvement reflects his desire to assemble a balanced slate that preserves Likud’s traditional base while also attracting moderate right-wing voters. Before he can focus on expanding the party’s support at the ballot box, however, Netanyahu must first convince members of his own party to back his plan.

Two members of Venezuela’s Jewish community have been killed and several others remain missing following two powerful earthquakes that devastated northern Venezuela, according to local Jewish leaders. Hundreds of Jewish residents have also been displaced after their homes were destroyed or suffered severe damage.

Less than two hours after the earthquakes struck northern Venezuela—including the capital city of Caracas—leaving thousands dead and thousands more missing, Jewish families whose homes had become uninhabitable began making their way to Hebraica, the Jewish community center in Caracas. More than 400 people sought shelter there on the first night, sleeping in parked cars and on beach chairs set up around the center’s soccer field.

“Based on all the years of hardships we’ve experienced—massive power outages and other problems—the community already knows where it can go if something happens,” Roberto Mishkin, a leader of the country’s largest Ashkenazi Jewish community, told the Forward. He added that aftershocks continue to shake the region. “A lot of people don’t want to go back because they live on high floors. They are afraid.”

Community leaders confirmed that two members of the Jewish community were killed in the disaster, while several others remain unaccounted for. Hundreds more have been left homeless after their residences were either destroyed or badly damaged.

“People are worried, very worried, very desperate, and many people don’t know whether they can return to their homes,” said Elias Farah, the former president of Venezuela’s Sephardic Jewish community and a past leader of the Venezuelan Zionist Federation.

Mishkin said Venezuela’s Jewish community had already been enduring significant hardship for years before the earthquakes struck. He noted that more than 300 Jewish families had been relying on food and medical assistance provided by local Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

According to the Forward, community leaders are now working to restore a sense of normalcy amid the devastation. On Friday, organizers purchased mattresses so displaced families would no longer have to sleep in their vehicles or on beach chairs. They are also hoping to establish a communal kitchen to provide meals for those who cannot afford food.

“Right now everyone here is safe,” Mishkin said. “We’re feeding several families, and we’re trying to manage, but this is a very poor community.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he played a decisive role in shaping Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, arguing that his insistence on continuing the offensive prevented an early end to the war and ultimately helped secure the return of all the hostages.

Speaking in an interview on Nadav Perry’s All In podcast, the Religious Zionism Party chairman claimed that, without his intervention, the fighting would have been halted before Israeli forces reached Rafah.

“I think that if not for me, the war in Gaza would have been stopped even before Rafah. In fact, if not for me-contrary to the way some people try to portray me as someone who is cold-hearted and doesn’t care about the hostages-I think that thanks to me, all the hostages are here,” Smotrich said.

He went on to describe a critical moment following the January 2025 hostage agreement, arguing that Israel was on the verge of accepting another limited deal that would have prolonged negotiations with Hamas.

“After the previous deal, in January 2025, we were left with 20 hostages and the bodies of others, and another deal was beginning to take shape under which only eight would return. If, at that moment, I hadn’t drawn a red line and told Netanyahu, ‘Absolutely not. Once our soldiers have entered Gaza to maneuver, there will be no pause just to improve our negotiating position,’ we would still be negotiating with Hamas today over one hostage after another.”

Smotrich also asserted that he has substantial influence over the government’s wartime decision-making, attributing that influence to his preparation, strategic clarity, and willingness to focus on military objectives rather than political considerations.

“According to Smotrich, “I have a very significant influence on the war. That stems from being absolutely clear about where I want this war to end. I read all the intelligence material, study it thoroughly, and come to the discussions fully prepared. I am also capable of being pragmatic and not playing politics during the war-unlike others.”

{Matzav.com}

A media outlet affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has declared that the country has “no choice” but to acquire a nuclear weapon, escalating concerns about the future of the recently signed peace agreement between Tehran and Washington.

The article, published Sunday by the Iranian state-linked Fars news agency under the headline “No choice but to build the atomic bomb,” argues that Iran can only negotiate effectively with its adversaries if it possesses nuclear deterrence.

“To achieve the peace and calm that Iran needs, it must absolutely reach nuclear deterrence to ensure that the rest of the issues can be resolved through negotiation,” thunders the piece, before drawing a comparison between Iran’s current standoff with the United States and China’s relationship with Washington during the 1970s.

“America threatened China with nuclear attack twice — similar to Trump’s recent nuclear threats against Iran — but when did Kissinger secretly meet with the Chinese and then negotiate? It was when China built the atomic bomb,” the article continues.

The commentary further argues that nuclear weapons would provide strategic balance rather than encourage war. “Nuclear deterrence means that you can reach a balance of power against America and Israel, who possess atomic bombs — not so that war does not happen, but so that the scope of conflict remains controllable,” it goes on.

The article stands in sharp contrast to the commitments Iran made under the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the United States earlier this month. As part of the agreement, Tehran pledged not to pursue a nuclear weapon and agreed to restore access for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after international oversight had been suspended last year.

The United States has also demanded that Iran halt all uranium enrichment activities for the next 20 years.

The renewed rhetoric comes as the head of the IAEA continues pressing Tehran to allow inspectors unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities so the agency can verify compliance with the agreement.

“The government of Iran has affirmed quite clearly that [developing nuclear weapons] is not their intention, but of course, intentions are not enough,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told reporters on Friday.

“In order to have certainty, we need to have a very strong system of verification as soon as practicable,” he added.

Although Iran agreed to permit IAEA inspectors to return in September, it has yet to authorize inspections of the nuclear facilities targeted by President Trump during the 2025 U.S. airstrikes.

Questions also remain about the whereabouts of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which has not yet been fully accounted for.

Iranian officials have echoed the broader message that the country must preserve its military capabilities, offering additional support for the themes advanced by the state-linked publication.

“Iran’s military capabilities ensure the Iranian people’s inherent right to legitimate self-defence in the face of aggression and crimes, while at the same time guaranteeing peace and stability in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on X on Friday, later attacking the country’s Gulf neighbors.

Baghaei also accused Gulf states of “engaging in aggression against their Muslim neighbor,” and “remaining silent regarding the Israeli nuclear arsenal,” in his statement.

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rebbetzin Rochel Lieff a”h, who passed away at the age of 104.

Born in the historic Batei Machsah neighborhood of Yerushalayim in 1922, Rebbetzin Lieff was raised in an illustrious Yerushalmi family steeped in Torah and yiras Shamayim.

Her father was Rav Yaakov Leib Bergman, who was a son-in-law of Rav Yitzchok Shlomo Blau, a distinguished member of the renowned Blau family of Yerushalayim.

She later married Rav Yaakov Dovid Lieff zt”l, the longtime rov of Talmud Torah Tiferes Yisroel/The Avenue O Jewish Center in Brooklyn. Together, they built a home that became a beacon of Torah, producing children who continue to have a profound impact on the Torah world. Rav Yaakov Dovid was niftar 28 years ago.

Among her distinguished children are Rav Moshe Tuvia Lieff, rov of Agudath Israel Bais Binyomin on Avenue L in Flatbush, and Rav Eliezer Simcha Lieff, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah of South Monsey. She was predeceased by her son, Nochum Shlomo Lieff, who passed away at a young age.

Although she enjoyed a successful career as a mathematics professor at Brooklyn College, Rebbetzin Lieff never allowed her professional accomplishments to overshadow the central mission of her life. She remained steadfastly devoted to her family’s growth in Torah, providing constant encouragement and support to her husband in his rabbanus and to her sons as they pursued lives of Torah learning and leadership. Those who knew her saw a woman who skillfully balanced intellectual achievement with deep dedication to her role as the foundation of a home built upon Torah.

Throughout more than a century of life, Rebbetzin Lieff witnessed—and helped shape—the remarkable growth of the postwar Torah world. From her roots in Yerushalayim to the flourishing kehillos of Brooklyn and Monsey, she stood at the center of a family whose impact has been profound.

The levayah will take place today at 12 noon at Yeshiva Gedolah of South Monsey, located at 260 Saddle River Road in Airmont, NY. Following the levayah, the aron will be flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah there.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

{Matzav.com}

In a landmark decision, Israel’s cabinet unanimously approved a resolution formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide, marking a significant shift in Israeli policy and setting the stage for a final vote in the Knesset.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who introduced the proposal, announced the cabinet’s decision immediately after the vote, saying, “Just a short while ago, the Government of Israel approved the resolution I brought before it to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

The measure will now be brought before the Knesset plenum, where lawmakers will cast the final parliamentary vote.

Sa’ar said the decision reflects Israel’s moral responsibility as the Jewish state to acknowledge one of history’s greatest atrocities. “This horrific genocide, which took place more than a century ago and whose historical facts are no longer seriously disputed, claimed the lives of 1.5 million people and destroyed an ancient cultural and historical heritage,” he said. “As Jews, and especially as the nation-state of the Jewish people, I believe it is our moral duty to make this decision.”

The cabinet resolution also denounces any effort to deny, minimize, or distort the historical record of the genocide. With the vote, Israel joins 32 United Nations member states—including the United States, Canada, Russia, and Germany—that have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. The European Parliament and the Holy See have likewise extended formal recognition.

For decades, Turkey has rejected characterizing the mass killings, deportations, and imprisonment of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire as genocide, despite extensive historical evidence. Critics have accused Ankara of maintaining an “institutionalized campaign of denial and minimization” that includes the “manipulative rewriting of history books.”

The move, however, is expected to carry diplomatic consequences. Israel’s recognition of the genocide could complicate its close relationship with Azerbaijan, an important strategic ally that has received Israeli military support during its conflicts with Armenia. The decision is also widely expected to provoke a sharp response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.