Feed aggregator

Federal authorities have joined the investigation into the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, with FBI Director Kash Patel confirming that the bureau is providing full support to local law enforcement as officials continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the longtime South Carolina senator’s passing.

Patel announced the FBI’s involvement in a statement posted Sunday on X, paying tribute to Graham’s years of public service. “Senator Lindsey Graham was a devoted public servant, a fierce defender of our nation, and a true patriot who dedicated his life to the people of South Carolina and the United States,” Patel wrote.

He also extended condolences to the senator’s family and associates while confirming the bureau’s role in the investigation. “Our prayers are with his family, loved ones, colleagues, and all those who knew him during this devastating time,” he added. “The FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.”

Graham, 71, died Saturday evening after what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness.” News of his passing was released early Sunday.

In its statement, Graham’s office requested privacy for the family as they mourn. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the four-term senator’s office added.

Investigators from the FBI, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department are all participating in the inquiry as authorities work to determine whether there is any indication of foul play in the senator’s death.

According to police scanner recordings obtained by NBC News, emergency responders were dispatched to Graham’s Capitol Hill residence Saturday night following a report of a person suffering cardiac arrest.

Images obtained by NBC News showed paramedics transporting an individual from Graham’s home on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, while numerous police vehicles and fire apparatus remained at the scene.

Only a day before his death, Graham had returned to Washington after traveling to Ukraine during the Senate’s recess. While overseas, he met Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A longtime advocate of strong American support for Ukraine, Graham had consistently backed the country’s war effort against Russia. During his visit, he also worked with a bipartisan group of senators and the White House to finalize language for new legislation aimed at imposing additional sanctions on Russia.

President Trump said Sunday that he had spoken with Graham shortly after the senator arrived back in Washington from Ukraine on Saturday evening.

Recalling their final conversation, Trump said Graham appeared somewhat fatigued after the overseas trip but gave no indication that anything was seriously wrong. “He sounded a little tired, but perfect. But a little bit tired, he had a right to be,” Trump told host Kristen Welker on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”

A new survey has found that nearly one out of every two Israelis favors increasing pressure on bnei yeshivah in an effort to boost enlistment into the IDF, highlighting the widening divide over one of the country’s most contentious issues.

The findings come from the July 2026 Israeli Society Index released by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI). According to the poll, 46% of the overall Israeli public—and 50% of Jewish respondents—believe that bnei yeshivah can ultimately be drafted into military service and that stronger measures should be employed to make that happen.

By comparison, 31% of those surveyed said they prefer pursuing agreements with the chareidi leadership as the best way to encourage enlistment, while just 11% believe there is no practical possibility of drafting chareidim into the IDF and that attempts to do so should simply be abandoned.

The survey underscores the deep political split over how the issue should be handled. Support for imposing sanctions is especially strong among center- and left-wing voters, where 73% and 79%, respectively, back that approach. Among right-wing voters, however, the picture is markedly different, with 59% favoring negotiated understandings with gedolei Yisroel and chareidi leadership rather than punitive measures.

The results also varied sharply based on party affiliation. Three-quarters of Likud supporters said they favor reaching agreements instead of imposing sanctions, while 84% of Yisrael Beiteinu voters support applying tougher penalties. Within the chareidi community itself, 45% believe enlistment could only come through agreements with community leaders, 36% feel there is little or no realistic chance such enlistment will occur, and only 15% support the use of sanctions.

Researchers also asked Israelis about the ongoing chareidi demonstrations protesting the arrests of bnei Torah over the draft issue. Thirty-nine percent of respondents—including a majority of secular Israelis, at 53%—said the protests are unjustified and should not be allowed. On the other hand, 32% argued that if authorities permitted roads to be blocked during demonstrations against the judicial reform, the same standard should apply to chareidi protesters. That view was particularly common among right-wing voters and Likud supporters.

Prof. Yedidia Stern, president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, said the survey suggests that political identity, more than the substance of the issue itself, is driving public opinion on chareidi enlistment. According to Stern, the political right is reluctant to support sanctions because of its alliance with the chareidi parties, while the center and left are generally in favor of increasing pressure. “When the decisive factor is political rather than substantive, a solution appears more distant than ever,” he said.

{Matzav.com}

Just hours after the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved legislation temporarily freezing the arrest of yeshiva bochurim classified as draft evaders, leading Sephardic rabbonim and roshei yeshiva issued a sharply worded public letter condemning the measure, warning that it grants the state sweeping authority over the Torah world and places yeshivos under unprecedented government control.

The legislation, as approved by the committee, would suspend arrests, criminal investigations, and other enforcement measures against bnei Torah eligible for military service for a period of 90 days. However, the protection would not be automatic. Instead, bnei yeshiva and roshei yeshiva would be required to submit affidavits to a special military committee, to be established within a week, and comply with a series of strict conditions.

The rabbonim argued that while the proposal appears to provide temporary relief from arrests, it actually establishes a dangerous framework that allows the government to determine who is truly engaged in Torah study and who is not.

In their letter, the rabbonim wrote that the legislation incorporates “the same destructive oversight mechanisms and the same ‘divide and conquer’ approach” that were contained in the previously proposed draft legislation known as the Bismuth Framework, which had been opposed by senior Torah leaders from every segment of the Torah world in Israel and abroad.

They warned that the law would effectively “bring down the walls of the Torah world” by placing yeshivos and batei medrash under full government control and intensive supervision. According to the letter, the legislation authorizes intrusive surprise inspections of individual bochurim and avreichim, giving government inspectors sole authority to determine each student’s future.

The rabbonim outlined four principal objections to the legislation.

First, they warned that any student found repeatedly absent during inspections—even if he misses only a single hour of the required nine hours of daily study, which are defined by law—would immediately become subject to arrest.

The letter argues that the legislation’s “divide and conquer” approach would make arrests far easier to carry out than under the current system. Rather than confronting an entire united chareidi community, authorities would be able to target individual bochurim and avreichim, forcing them to face the government alone without the protection of broad communal solidarity.

The rabbonim expressed particular concern that Sephardic bnei yeshiva, many of whom live in Israel’s peripheral communities, would become the first targets of enforcement efforts, citing what they described as past experience.

They also objected to provisions requiring roshei yeshiva and roshei kollel to submit ongoing reports identifying students who fail to meet every required hour of study. According to the letter, the law effectively forces roshei yeshiva to become informants while establishing a government committee that will continuously monitor inspection reports and attendance records.

Another concern centers on a provision stating that if repeated absences reach 20 percent of a yeshiva’s student body, the institution could lose its official recognition. Students would then be forced to quickly find another recognized yeshiva willing to accept them in order to avoid becoming subject to arrest.

The rabbonim further warned that the inspection system would fundamentally change the atmosphere inside yeshivos, replacing an environment of spiritual growth with constant pressure, anxiety, and tension between students and their roshei yeshiva. They said school leaders would feel compelled to expel students who fail to meet attendance requirements, undermining the spiritual and emotional conditions necessary for successful Torah study.

The letter stresses that even if the law is eventually struck down or allowed to expire, simply agreeing to such legislation would inflict lasting damage by allowing the state to establish oversight mechanisms that could permanently breach the independence of the Torah world.

The rabbonim also pointed to previous government sanctions as evidence that merely discussing such enforcement measures often leads to their implementation even before legislation formally takes effect. They argued that only firm public opposition and unwavering resistance have succeeded in preventing more severe decrees against the Torah community.

In addition, they noted that the legislation does nothing to eliminate the existing sanctions and penalties already imposed on bnei Torah, leaving those measures fully intact while creating an impression that they have been accepted.

Concluding their letter, the Sephardic Torah leaders issued an emphatic call for opposition to the bill, writing that they cannot believe anyone who identifies as chareidi would support such “destructive legislation.” They declared that it is an absolute obligation to oppose the measure with full force, expressing confidence that the promise that “Torah will never be forgotten from the Jewish people” will endure and that Hashem will continue to protect both His Torah and those who dedicate their lives to its study.

{Matzav.com}

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and his wife are celebrating the birth of their fifth child, a baby boy, whom they welcomed this morning.

Shapiro shared the happy news with his millions of followers in a post on X, expressing gratitude for the newest addition to the family.

“With immeasurable thanks to God, we’re proud to announce the addition of baby number 5 to the Shapiro family this morning!” Shapiro wrote.

The newborn is the fifth child for Shapiro and his wife, Dr. Mor Shapiro, an Israeli-born physician. The couple married in 2008.

The Shapiros previously welcomed their fourth child, also a son, in 2023. At the time, Shapiro announced the birth by thanking God, the medical team, and his wife, calling the newborn “a big handsome boy.”

Shapiro, 42, is the co-founder of The Daily Wire and host of The Ben Shapiro Show, one of the country’s most widely followed conservative podcasts and radio programs. In addition to his work in media, he is the author of numerous bestselling books and a frequent commentator on politics, culture, and public policy.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s next national election will take place on October 27 as originally scheduled, after the Knesset completes its full term, marking the first time in nearly four decades that Israelis will head to the polls on schedule rather than after an early collapse of the government.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik confirmed on Sunday that the current parliament will conclude its term on July 17, with the election date remaining unchanged.

“The current Knesset will complete its full term and will not be dissolved [early]. The election date remains as established by law — October 27,” Afik said during a meeting of the Knesset House Committee.

If the timetable holds, it will be Israel’s first regularly scheduled election since 1988. It will also make Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s current administration the first Israeli government to serve out its entire term since 1973.

The announcement comes as coalition lawmakers race to advance a long list of controversial legislation before the Knesset adjourns. Once parliament dissolves, most legislative activity effectively comes to a standstill unless measures receive backing from both the coalition and the opposition.

Israel’s 37th government was sworn in on December 29, 2022, following the collapse of the Naftali Bennett-Yair Lapid coalition.

Led by Netanyahu’s Likud party and supported by several chareidi and right-wing parties, the coalition has frequently been described as the most conservative government in Israel’s history.

Despite surviving its full term, the coalition repeatedly faced threats to its stability. One of the most persistent flashpoints involved legislation aimed at preserving longstanding exemptions from mandatory military service for chareidi men, an issue that has divided not only the opposition but members of the coalition itself.

The government also weathered repeated threats from right-wing coalition partners during the war in Gaza, with some warning they would bring down the government over proposed hostage-release and ceasefire agreements with Hamas.

Recent polling indicates that if Israelis were voting today, Netanyahu’s coalition would likely fall short of securing a majority in the 120-member Knesset. At the same time, the Zionist opposition bloc—an alliance opposed to Netanyahu that excludes both Arab-majority and chareidi parties—appears to be hovering near the threshold needed to form a governing coalition.

Among those expected to challenge Netanyahu for the premiership are former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who now leads the Together party.

{Matzav.com}