Iran has unveiled what it describes as new information about the strike that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last year. According to a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the killing was executed with a precision missile that homed in on Haniyeh’s cellphone signal.
Haniyeh was eliminated on July 31, 2024, in the Iranian capital, only hours after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Months later, Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz publicly acknowledged that Israel was responsible for the operation.
Conflicting reports about how the strike was carried out have circulated since the assassination. Early accounts described a missile strike, while a New York Times investigation suggested that an explosive device had been secretly planted inside Haniyeh’s guesthouse and detonated remotely once he arrived.
On Sunday, however, IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini dismissed the bomb theory outright. He maintained that there was no insider involvement or breach of Iran’s security systems. “The assassination of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh did not involve any act of sabotage,” Naini stated.
Instead, Naini said, the Hamas chief was killed when “a missile was fired from a certain distance and struck the window directly, hitting him while he was on a phone call from the same direction the missile came from.” He added that the weapon locked onto Haniyeh’s location through his mobile phone signal.
Iran’s reaction at the time was initially restrained. Although Haniyeh was killed in the heart of Tehran, the regime held off on immediate retaliation. Two months later, however, on October 1, 2024, Iran launched a barrage of roughly 80 ballistic missiles toward Israel. Tehran claimed the strike was retaliation not only for Haniyeh’s death but also for the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC General Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut the previous month.
According to Naini, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council reached a swift conclusion after Haniyeh’s killing that retaliation was inevitable. “The timing of the retaliation was left to the military command,” he said, noting that the delay stemmed from “difficulties” that arose following Iran’s unprecedented direct assault on Israel in April 2024—though he did not specify what those difficulties were.
Naini also said Tehran debated whether to let its regional proxies—Hezbollah, Hamas, or the Houthis—carry out the revenge strike, or to act directly. In the end, he said, “a unified decision was made” for Iran itself to take responsibility and launch the missiles from its own territory.
{Matzav.com}President Donald Trump issued a fiery Truth Social post today warning that New York City would face “complete and total economic and social disaster” if Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday’s mayoral election.
Trump said he would withhold federal funding from the city—aside from the bare minimum required by law—if Mamdani takes office, calling the candidate a “Communist” whose ideology guarantees failure. “If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home,” Trump wrote.
The president described New York as “once great” but said it has “ZERO chance of success, or even survival” under Mamdani’s leadership. “It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm,” he added. “I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad.”
Declaring it his “obligation to run the Nation,” Trump asserted that Mamdani’s economic views had “been tested for over a thousand years and never once been successful.” He warned that the city would suffer “complete and total failure” under Mamdani, whom he accused of lacking meaningful experience and achievement.
“I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a record of success, win, than a Communist with no experience and a record of complete and total failure,” Trump wrote. He called Mamdani’s record as a state assemblyman “nothing,” claiming he “ranked at the bottom of the class” and has “no chance to bring [New York City] back to its former glory.”
Trump also took aim at Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, arguing that a vote for Sliwa would effectively benefit Mamdani. “A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” he said.
In the final lines of the post, Trump endorsed independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, urging New Yorkers to rally behind him. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!” Trump wrote.
{Matzav.com}
Dear Matzav Inbox,
There’s a line being tossed around lately that’s as dishonest as it is dangerous — that Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani is “not anti-Jewish,” only “anti-Israel.” Some in the Satmar community have even used that absurd excuse to justify endorsing him.
Let’s be clear: When someone openly supports those who chant “globalize the intifada,” refuses to condemn a call for Jewish blood, and embraces a worldview that paints Israel — and by extension the Jewish people — as evil oppressors, that person isn’t just “anti-Israel.” They’re an oyev Yisroel.
If you hate Jews who live in Israel, if you defend terrorists who murder them, if you side with those who glorify intifada and jihad, then you hate Jews, period. There’s no separating the two.
To pretend that you can despise the Jewish homeland while loving its people is a moral contortion that fools no one — except those desperate to justify a political misstep.
Supporting someone who stands with our enemies doesn’t make you principled or nuanced. It makes you blind.
The blood spilled in Israel is no different from the blood spilled in Brooklyn or Monroe or anywhere else Jews live. To claim otherwise is to abandon the most basic sense of achdus Yisroel.
Those who make excuses for a man who champions our enemies should be ashamed of themselves. When you endorse a voice that fans the flames of hatred, you don’t just endanger Jews in Israel. You endanger Jews everywhere.
Sincerely,
G. H.
Boro Park, Brooklyn
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{Matzav.com}
Agudath Israel of America is excited to announce that the highly anticipated Agudah National Action Summit will take place on Monday and Tuesday, December 1–2, 2025, at the Newark Marriott Hotel. The two-day midweek gathering will draw community leaders, rabbanim, educators, askanim, and professionals from across the country for an event that will address the most urgent and complex issues facing the Jewish world today.
“The Summit is where actions will speak loudest,” said Mr. Shloime Werdiger, chairman of Agudath Israel’s Board of Trustees. “It’s designed for the doers of Klal Yisroel — those who roll up their sleeves, who lead, teach, support, and strengthen our communities every day. This is where they come together to share ideas, collaborate, and take tangible steps forward.”
From shidduchim and chinuch to special-needs, mental health, community growth, and halachic and legal challenges, the Summit will offer both practical strategies and hashkafic guidance for leaders navigating these realities on the ground.
Featuring a slate of distinct professional and communal specialized tracks, the Summit ensures that every participant can gain relevant insights tailored to their area of influence. Tracks will include:
• Rabbanim & Morei Derech
• Community Builders
• Special Needs Leaders
• Mental Health Professionals
• Shadchanim
• Kallah Teachers
• Legal Professionals
Each track will feature expert-led panels, interactive workshops, and real-world case discussions. The sessions will spotlight collaboration between communities, sharing of successful models, and open conversations that inspire both thought and action.
The two-day format, with an overnight stay at the Newark Marriott, is designed to encourage full immersion and connection. Participants will be able to take advantage of comfortable on-site accommodations and networking opportunities that extend well beyond the sessions themselves.
A grand gala dinner, a highlight of the event, will feature uplifting keynote addresses from gedolei Torah. The dinner will celebrate those who dedicate their lives to building and strengthening Torah communities, offering words of chizuk and direction to propel their efforts forward.
“This summit is a call to action, a place for those shaping our communities to come together, to learn from one another, and to leave with new strength and clarity to continue their avodas hakodesh,” said Mr. Werdiger.
The Agudah National Action Summit continues a proud tradition of landmark gatherings that have united and galvanized Klal Yisroel. With sessions designed to translate inspiration into implementation, the event promises to be both practical and uplifting, a reflection of the Agudah’s core mission to strengthen Torah life, advocate for the needs of the community, and empower those who serve on its front lines.
Registration for the Summit is now open, and space is limited. For more information, visit AgudahAction.com, email actionsummit@agudah.org, or call 212-363-8941.
{Matzav.com}
At a Torah Umesorah meeting yesterday, Rav Avrohom Fruchthandler, esteemed president of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin and widely respected for ensuring his own rabbeim receive the highest salaries of any mosad, delivered a fiery appeal for change in how the Torah world values and compensates its mechanchim.
Speaking with his trademark passion and bluntness, Rav Fruchthandler decried the community’s complacency toward the financial struggles of melamdim and rabbeim, urging institutions to recognize the immense responsibility placed upon these educators and to ensure they are paid with the dignity their sacred work deserves. He explained that we’ve raised the bar and level in every facet of chinuch, except for compensation for mechanchim.
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
A stunning memo from a BBC whistleblower has revealed that the British broadcaster deliberately altered footage of President Donald Trump to make it appear as though he incited the Capitol protest on January 6, 2021. The manipulated video was aired on Panorama in a program titled “Trump: A Second Chance,” just one week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
According to the internal memo obtained by the Telegraph, the broadcast stitched together portions of Trump’s speech in a way that falsely suggested he urged violence. The edited clip made it seem that Trump said: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you, and we fight. We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”
In reality, Trump’s full remarks painted a very different picture. He said: “We’re gonna walk down, and I’ll be there with you. We’re gonna walk down — we’re gonna walk down any one you want, but I think right here, we’re gonna walk down to the Capitol, and we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.
“We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you’ll never take back our country with weakness; you have to show strength, and you have to be strong. … I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The whistleblower, Michael Prescott, a journalist who spent three years advising the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee, accused the network of covering up the manipulation and refusing to admit wrongdoing. “The news outlet’s managers refused to accept there had been a breach of standards,” Prescott wrote in his explosive memo.
He said he personally warned BBC chairman Samir Shah of the “very, very dangerous precedent” being set by the Panorama program but never received a response.
In his letter accompanying the report, Prescott described his departure from the advisory role in June as the result of persistent ethical failures inside the organization. “I departed [from the advisory role] with profound and unresolved concerns about the BBC … my view is that the Executive repeatedly failed to implement measures to resolve highlighted problems, and in many cases simply refused to acknowledge there was an issue at all.”
Prescott singled out two senior executives — Jonathan Munro, the senior controller of news content, and Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News — for what he called their culture of denial and defensiveness. “I have been surprised at just how defensive Deborah and Jonathan in particular have been whenever issues are raised,” he wrote.
He concluded that systemic problems within the BBC’s leadership allow serious editorial breaches to go unaddressed. “Firm and transparent action plans to prevent the re-occurrence of problems are in short supply – and so, as you can see, errors are repeated time and again,” Prescott warned.
The revelations have sparked outrage over the BBC’s credibility, raising troubling questions about political interference and journalistic integrity at one of the world’s most influential news institutions.
{Matzav.com}
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has entered the fray of New York City’s mayoral election, throwing his full backing behind Andrew Cuomo and urging voters to rally around the former governor’s independent campaign.
Taking to X on Monday, Musk declared that New Yorkers should cast their ballots for Cuomo, who is challenging Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican contender Curtis Sliwa. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO made his position unmistakably clear, warning conservatives not to divide the vote. “Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis is really a vote for Mumdumi or whatever his name is,” Musk wrote. “VOTE CUOMO!”
Musk’s endorsement aligns him with a growing list of prominent business figures who have publicly voiced opposition to Mamdani, a state assemblyman known for his far-left platform and fierce anti-Israel rhetoric. Several high-profile billionaires have funneled significant financial support into the race in hopes of preventing a Mamdani victory.
Among those joining the anti-Mamdani camp are former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia, and hedge fund magnate Bill Ackman, each of whom has spoken out or contributed to efforts aimed at bolstering more moderate leadership for the city.
President Donald Trump also weighed in on the race, telling CBS News during a “60 Minutes” interview that “if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”
{Matzav.com}
