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AG Pam Bondi: “The news is reporting that cartel drones are being shot down by our military. That’s what we all should care about right now: protecting America.”

IDF forces completed a counterterrorism operation in the Menashe Regional Brigade, conducting activities across 12 areas over the past day. Security forces, acting on ISA intelligence, apprehended multiple suspects linked to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, confiscated terror funds, seized weapons, dismantled illegal structures, and recovered stolen vehicles. In separate overnight operations, 23 additional suspects were […]

U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, a third the previously reported 584,000 […]

TMZ reports that a third message has been received claiming knowledge of who kidnapped Nancy Guthrie, with the sender demanding payment in exchange for the information.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of his meeting with President Trump.

NEC Director Kevin Hassett on the January jobs report: “Private sector jobs, which is our main focus right now because we’ve been reducing government employment, they went up 170,000—they absolutely blew out any expectation whatsoever. It’s really a remarkable, strong number.”

After weeks of relentless cold and lingering snow, New York City is finally poised for a meaningful thaw, with meteorologists predicting that remaining snow and ice could disappear by late next week.

Temperatures began climbing Tuesday, signaling an end to the deep freeze that gripped the five boroughs for much of early February. Forecasters say readings will now stay consistently above freezing for the near future, accelerating the melting process across the city.

“The two most significant factors that lead to the fastest snowmelt include a warm wind over the snowpack and fog, with temperatures above freezing,” AccuWeather meteorologist Chad Merrill told The NY Post.

A stretch of milder, breezy conditions is expected to help erode the accumulated snow, including the towering piles left behind by plows.

“We will see a period of breezy wind with above freezing temperatures into Wednesday, so that will help with the melting,” he said. “The current snow depth in NYC is 5 inches, but of course there are snow-plowed piles that in some spots are quite tall.

“We will likely see all the snow and ice completely melt in the city late next week.”

According to AccuWeather, daytime highs are forecast to hover in the upper 30s and low 40s through the end of next week, offering steady relief from the frigid pattern that dominated the start of the month.

Forecasters indicate that temperatures could climb to 46 degrees on Shabbos and reach 45 next Thursday. Aside from the chance of a light wintry mix on Sunday and again next Wednesday, conditions are expected to remain largely calm.

Even overnight lows are projected to be relatively moderate, settling in the low to mid-30s most nights, with only a few dips into the 20s anticipated during the week.

While highs in the 30s might still feel brisk elsewhere, city residents who endured early February’s punishing stretch — including sub-zero wind chills over the weekend — are welcoming the change.

Meteorologists caution that one additional cooler spell is possible later this month, though it is not expected to rival the severity of the cold already experienced.

“Another period of colder than average temperatures return the final week of the month into early March, but even so, it will not be the same in magnitude to the cold weather we experienced,” Merril said.

The incoming milder air should finally eliminate the snow that has blanketed the city since Winter Storm Fern dropped more than a foot on Jan. 25, leaving streets and sidewalks buried for more than two weeks.

{Matzav.com}

TRUMP: Just in: GREAT JOBS NUMBERS, FAR GREATER THAN EXPECTED! The United States of America should be paying MUCH LESS ON IT’S BORROWINGS (BONDS!). We are again the strongest country in the world, and should therefore be paying the LOWEST INTEREST RATE, by far.

A heavy pall has descended upon Yeshivas Kol Torah L’Tze’irim in Yerushalayim and upon the broader Torah world with the petirah of Rav Aviezer Asher Zelig Shapira zt”l, longtime mashgiach of the yeshiva. Rav Shapira was niftar in the early morning hours at the age of 81.

In recent months, his health had fluctuated. The mashgiach was hospitalized for a period and experienced improvement and was able to return to the yeshiva. In recent days, however, his condition deteriorated once again, and before dawn he was niftar.

Rav Aviezer was born in Kfar Chassidim on 5 Adar 5704 to his father, Rav Shlomo Aharon Shapira zt”l, and his mother, Rachel a”h.

In his youth, he learned in Yeshivas Kol Torah and later continued his studies in Yeshivas Chevron, where he absorbed the teachings of his revered rabbeim and developed into a distinguished talmid chacham.

Upon reaching marriageable age, he wed the daughter of Rav Meir Ephraim Winkler zt”l, who served as rav of the Machzikei HaDas kehillah in Copenhagen and later as a R”M at Yeshivas Torah Ore in Yerushalayim. His father-in-law was a son of Rav Michael Shalom Winkler zt”l, rav of Machzikei HaDas in Copenhagen and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Europe.

In 5730, Rav Shapira was appointed rav of the Ohr HaChaim beis haknesses in the Geulah neighborhood of Yerushalayim. The shul had been established in 5690 by a cousin of his grandfather, Rav Avraham Yaakov Shapira zt”l. From that time, he also served as the Rebbe of the Drohobycz chassidus, continuing the legacy of its founder, Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira zt”l.

His grandfather, Rav Aviezri Zelig Shapira zt”l, was a son of the Gavadzitzer Rebbe, Rav Yitzchak Mordechai Shapira zt”l, and the son-in-law of his uncle, the founder of the Drohobycz dynasty, Rav Chaim Meir Yechiel Shapira. Rav Shapira was a descendant of the Kozhnitzer dynasty on his great-grandfather’s side and of the Ruzhiner dynasty through his grandmother.

In 5738, he was appointed mashgiach of Yeshivas Kol Torah L’Tze’irim. For decades thereafter, he became the central spiritual figure of what is widely regarded as the premier mesivta in Yerushalayim, guiding and nurturing thousands of talmidim.

Rav Aviezer was the living spirit of the yeshiva, deeply involved both in the acceptance of new talmidim and in shaping the ruchniyus of the beis medrash. The talmidim loved him dearly, and he returned that ahavah in kind, embodying “k’mayim panim el panim.”

Every night, he would make his way to the Kosel HaMa’aravi. Over the years, he was among those who established the custom of reciting Nishmas at the Kosel at chatzos, a practice that became widely known and regarded as a powerful segulah.

Rav Shapira also served as chairman of the executive committee of Chevra Kadisha Chassidim in Yerushalayim and was a member of the board of Kollel Chibas Yerushalayim.

He merited to see doros yesharim u’mevorachim, sons and daughters and many descendants following in the path of Torah and yiras Shamayim. One of his sons, Reb Menachem Shapira, serves as deputy mayor of Bnei Brak and was especially devoted to his father.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

A 13-year-old boy stabbed and seriously wounded two students at a school in the UK, with witnesses reporting that he shouted “Allahu Akbar” just prior to carrying out the attack. The assault took place shortly before 12:40 p.m. at Kingsbury High School in the Brent borough, just minutes before students were due to break for […]

A 17-year-old with a gun opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand and briefly took people hostage Wednesday in a two-hour attack that left at least three people injured, police and local officials said. Police also wounded the assailant in a gunbattle at the Patongprathankiriwat School in Songkhla province before taking him […]

מעלין בקודש ELEVATE! Please give generously and help the Yeshiva of St. Louis (MTI) elevate the growth of every student as they are מעלין בקודש! With a student body from close to 35 cities across the United States, Yeshiva of St. Louis serves as a preeminent Mesivta and Bais Medrash that educates and encourages our […]

The IDF and Shin Bet announced that Basel Himouni, a Hamas terrorist responsible for the 2004 Be’er Sheva bus bombings, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last week. •⁠ ⁠Himouni is known for sending the two suicide bombers who murdered 16 Israeli civilians and injured over 100. •⁠ ⁠He was arrested in 2004 […]

Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal and Maariv reporter Ben Caspit co-host a daily radio program on Radio 103FM. Despite his secular appearance, Magal, who is Shomer Shabbos, has views that are more Chareidi than those of some Chareidim. In their daily confrontation on Wednesday, the two debated whether Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is connected to […]

U.S. job growth exceeded forecasts in January, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 130,000, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Wednesday. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%.

UPDATE: The FAA lifted the temporary airspace closure over El Paso on Wednesday morning, reversing a decision issued only hours earlier that had halted flights for 10 days. The restriction, which took effect late Tuesday night, had suspended all commercial, cargo, and general aviation traffic to and from El Paso International Airport. According to reports, […]

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was provided with intelligence assessments as far back as 2018 outlining Hamas’s detailed plans for a large-scale invasion of southern Israel, according to a report published Tuesday based on classified documents and testimony from senior officials.

The Ynet news outlet reported that between 2018 and 2022, Hamas formulated an extensive operational strategy for a coordinated, multi-front assault targeting Israeli military installations and civilian communities near Gaza. The blueprint, later compiled into a file referred to as “Jericho’s Walls,” envisioned breaching the border fence at numerous locations and sending thousands of armed operatives into Israeli territory.

That strategy ultimately materialized on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a brutal cross-border attack that left approximately 1,200 people dead, resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages, and ignited a prolonged war in Gaza lasting two years.

According to Ynet, Netanyahu — who has held the premiership since 2009, aside from an 18-month interval in 2021-2022 — was shown intelligence connected to the “Jericho’s Walls” framework on multiple occasions over the years. This stands in contrast to his public statements after October 7 in which he denied having prior knowledge of such a plan.

The first documented instance cited in the report dates to April 2018. At that time, the Research Division of the Military Intelligence Directorate circulated a classified assessment to high-level officials. Recipients reportedly included the military secretaries to the prime minister and defense minister, the National Security Council, the chiefs of Shin Bet and Mossad, and the office of the IDF chief of staff.

One of the intelligence documents referenced by Ynet carried a subheading posing the question: “Is Hamas’s military wing building up its force for a broad attack deep into our territory?”

The 2018 assessment warned that Hamas was crafting “a plan for an initiated offensive maneuver with a broad order of [troops in] battle (six reserve battalions; approximately 3,000 fighters)” designed to overrun IDF positions while simultaneously striking civilian communities “in the border communities and deep inside Israel.”

The report underscored the gravity of the threat, stating that “the scope of the plan and its complexity are exceptional.” Although some intelligence analysts questioned whether Hamas possessed the immediate capacity to execute the entire operation, they cautioned that “the plan illustrates a new and broader threat scenario than before.”

The existence of the 2018 “Jericho’s Walls” document cited by Ynet was confirmed last year by the IDF in an internal Military Intelligence Directorate review examining the intelligence breakdown preceding October 7.

That internal review, which anticipated several elements later seen in the October 7 assault, cited the Hamas plan as declaring that “forces from five [elite] Nukhba companies should attack and destroy the posts belonging to the [IDF] Gaza Division… everything will be done above ground… with [rocket] fire… attack the kibbutzim in order to take hostages… focus on critical sites… livestream from the posts and kibbutzim.”

According to the military probe, what began as a conceptual idea within Hamas evolved over time into a formalized strategy and received official internal authorization in 2019.

Netanyahu has consistently rejected claims that he was warned of an impending large-scale Hamas attack in the years prior to October 7. In response to questions from State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman during a review of the failures surrounding the assault, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that “the prime minister never received and was never briefed on the ‘Jericho’s Walls’ document” before the war began, and that he was “never presented with any Hamas plan for a mass raid into Israeli territory.”

However, materials released by Netanyahu himself appear to complicate that position. In a 55-page document submitted to the State Comptroller last week and later made public, Netanyahu acknowledged that he had received the April 2018 intelligence assessment. In that submission, he quoted a restrained portion of the evaluation noting that Hamas had “a basic capability to carry out several simultaneous raids,” but that under existing conditions, “it is not likely at this time.”

The published version did not include the paragraph’s final sentence, which warned that the document reflected Hamas’s long-term intentions and its plans to significantly expand its military capabilities.

A former senior intelligence official cited by Ynet said Netanyahu’s duty “was to ensure there [was] no repetition of the Military Intelligence assessment on the eve of Yom Kippur 1973,” referencing the well-known intelligence misjudgments preceding the Egyptian-Syrian surprise attack that triggered the Yom Kippur War.

“Back then, intelligence said ‘low probability,’ and the political echelon simply accepted it as a binding assessment without asking questions or checking on its own,” the official added. “Any serious leader would say in this situation: You received the plan in 2018, and even if Hamas is currently far from operational capability, this must be taken into account.”

Ynet further reported that in 2018, Unit 8200 obtained an Arabic Hamas document laying out a sweeping assault plan. It called for “launching a comprehensive offensive operation against the Zionist entity with the aim of subduing the enemy,” including attacks on the Re’im base, numerous communities along the Gaza border, and more distant targets such as Ashdod, Ashkelon, and strategic infrastructure. The document specified that “the attack will be carried out by six battalions,” with the “main effort” occurring above ground.

The Shin Bet also reviewed the Hamas plan and drafted its own analysis, describing the document’s “unusual and troubling characteristics.” That assessment was distributed to several entities, including the National Security Council, which operates under the prime minister’s authority.

One source quoted by Ynet said the Shin Bet’s findings were transmitted directly to Netanyahu.

In May 2022, Military Intelligence obtained an additional version of the Hamas invasion blueprint, dated August 2021, which was incorporated into the “Jericho’s Walls” file. That iteration likewise described large numbers of Nukhba Force operatives breaching the Gaza Division’s defenses and advancing into cities in southern Israel.

The document was presented to senior IDF intelligence officials, who at the time judged the scenario to be implausible. During a November 2022 Southern Command meeting reviewing potential conflict scenarios in Gaza, the “Jericho’s Walls” plan appeared at the bottom of a list of assessments.

Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid were serving as prime ministers for most of 2022, including in May and November, while Netanyahu was then leader of the opposition.

In 2023, after Netanyahu returned to office, the Intelligence Directorate collected new intelligence regarding Hamas training exercises simulating a cross-border invasion in the months leading up to October 7. Some personnel within Unit 8200 concluded that Hamas’s invasion concept had evolved into an actionable and concrete plan.

According to the IDF’s internal investigations, these conclusions were conveyed through emails and meetings to intelligence officers at Southern Command and to regional 8200 officers stationed in southern Israel. However, the updated assessments did not reach senior decision-makers, including top intelligence leadership.

Although Netanyahu was not personally briefed on the 2022 and 2023 updates to the “Jericho’s Walls” file, a senior intelligence source told Ynet, “Even if the army commanders failed to [connect the dots] themselves, the obligation of the prime minister is to demand answers regarding Hamas’s intentions.” “Netanyahu did nothing,” the source said.

Despite documentary evidence indicating that Netanyahu was exposed to Hamas invasion planning as early as 2018, he has maintained that the “Jericho’s Walls” file refers only to the 2022 version presented during the year he was not in office. Critics argue that this interpretation is intended to distance him from responsibility for the failure to prevent the October 7 attack.

{Matzav.com}

Federal authorities have made public the first images of the individual suspected in the abduction of Nancy Guthrie, ten days after the 84-year-old grandmother disappeared from her Arizona residence. The delay in releasing the footage stemmed from two critical issues: the home’s security camera had been removed, and Guthrie did not have a subscription to the cloud back-up service that would have automatically preserved the video.

The newly released footage, recovered from a missing Nest camera, shows a masked figure tampering with the device outside Guthrie’s Tucson home. According to one legal expert, the video’s recovery highlights the technological reach of Google, Nest’s parent company.

Guthrie had not enrolled in a Google Home subscription plan, which for $10 per month — or $100 annually — stores motion-activated or “event” recordings for up to 30 days, even if the physical camera is taken. Without that service, retrieving the footage required significant additional effort.

“It gives us some insight to what Google is capable of,” former prosecutor and current criminal defense lawyer John W. Day told The NY Post.

“Even without paid subscription, there is a way to go to some data center and spend a lot of time and effort to try to find that particular camera, at that particular time without a subscription,” Day said. “You can only imagine how difficult that was if it took 10 days to get there.”

Day outlined three primary paths investigators may have used to obtain the footage. Federal authorities could have secured a search warrant compelling Google to provide the data. Alternatively, Guthrie’s family may have authorized the company to search for it. A third possibility is that Google voluntarily assisted in locating the recording.

“Everyone has the same incentive, which is to find this sweet woman before too long,” Day said. “Google had every reason to cooperate. The family has got to be grateful, law enforcement has to be grateful.”

“It’s a miraculous turn of events because this could be the thing that leads to a break in the case,” the attorney added.

Guthrie was last seen on the night of Jan. 31, when her son-in-law dropped her off at her home around 9:45 p.m. On Feb. 2, the case was officially classified as a criminal investigation after media outlets received what authorities described as a $6 ransom demand. The deadline referenced in the note passed without any publicly known developments regarding her condition.

The video of the masked individual interfering with the camera appeared to strengthen suspicions that the mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie was abducted.

“We believe she is still alive. Bring her home,” Savannah wrote in a social media post Tuesday.

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A 13-year-old Jewish boy was brutally attacked on Monday evening in Paris’s 18th arrondissement while on his way to shul. Five thugs assaulted him, beat him, threatened him with a knife, and robbed him while shouting antisemitic slurs. It happened at around 7:20 p.m. on Boulevard de la Chapelle. The boy told the police that […]

DEAD END: The man questioned in relation to the Nancy Guthrie disappearance in Rio Rico, AZ has been released. Carlos Palazuelos explains what happened to him.