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[Video below.] President Trump presided over this year’s White House turkey pardon with a barrage of jokes, needling political opponents, poking fun at his predecessor’s “autopen” signatures, and reviving last year’s birds for a second, “real” reprieve.

He opened by ribbing Joe Biden’s past ceremony, quipping that “Former President Joe Biden used an autopen for last year’s turkey pardons,” branding those signatures “totally invalid.” In Trump’s telling, Biden relied on the device so often that an autopen image now hangs in place of Biden’s portrait in the White House gallery.

The president said last year’s pair of turkeys — Peach and Blossom — had supposedly been routed toward processing until he stepped in. “The turkeys known as Peach and Blossom last year have been located and they were on their way to be processed… but I have stopped that journey and I am officially pardoning them, and they will not be served as Thanksgiving dinner,” he said with a grin.

This year’s stars, two hefty birds named Gobble and Waddle, were officially spared in the Rose Garden. Trump joked that their names almost took a more political turn. “When I first saw their pictures… I was going to call them [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck [Schumer] and [former House Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi], but then I realized I wouldn’t be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people,” he said, adding, “I wouldn’t care what Melania told me.”

The pair joins the long roster of clemency actions he has issued across his second term, with more than 1,700 pardons already granted along with numerous commutations, although updated totals have not yet been released.

Continuing the banter, Trump said staffers tried to pitch an outrageous gag about deporting the birds. “My more enthusiastic staffers were already drafting the paperwork to ship Gobble and Waddle straight through the terrorist confinement center in El Salvador, and even those birds don’t want to be there,” he said, tying it to his immigration enforcement policies.

He also veered into local politics, saying aides prepared a joke about Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker but he was too irritated to deliver it after reading about a Chicago commuter who suffered burns in an attack. Instead, he went off script, declaring, “The mayor is incompetent and the governor is a big fat slob.”

Trump then mocked the very joke his team had drafted about Pritzker. “Some speechwriter wrote some joke about his weight, but I would never want to talk about his weight I don’t talk about people being fat. I refuse to talk about the fact that he’s a fat slob… I’d like to lose a few pounds too, by the way. And I’m not going to lose it on Thanksgiving.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Inoperable pistols gifted by FBI Director Kash Patel to senior New Zealand security officials, who had to relinquish them for destruction because they were illegal to possess, were revolvers inspired by toy Nerf guns and popular among 3D-printed weapons hobbyists, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. The AP first reported that Patel gifted the plastic 3D-printed […]

Prosecutors in New York say they have taken down a “sophisticated porch pirate operation” accused of stealing FedEx packages containing electronic devices.

The IDF released footage showing Duvdevan unit commandos killing Sultan al-Ghani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for murdering an Israeli security guard at a West Bank industrial park last year.

MI KEAMCHA YISROEL: A tefillin that was accidentally thrown into the trash at Fort Lauderdale International Airport was located and recovered after a coordinated effort involving Chaverim of South Florida, Rabbi Eli Eckstein, the airport chaplain, and the FLL Waste Department. What began as a frantic search quickly turned into an impressive display of teamwork […]

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz is set to visit Israel in the second week of December for his first official trip since taking office, following an invitation from Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon. During his visit, Waltz will meet with senior Israeli government and security officials, tour key border areas, and receive briefings […]

The IDF says troops operating in eastern Rafah identified and eliminated five armed terrorists earlier today. The terrorists were believed to have emerged from underground terror infrastructure in the area. The IDF adds that Southern Command forces remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue operating to remove any immediate threats.

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing top national security officials to evaluate whether multiple chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood should be formally labeled as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that could open the door to sweeping sanctions against one of the most influential Islamist networks in the Middle East. Under the […]

Israel’s security establishment reported late Tuesday that a Red Cross delegation handed over the coffin of a fallen hostage to IDF and ISA personnel inside Gaza. The remains are now being transported into Israel for a formal military reception attended by an IDF Rabbi.

Once the ceremony concludes, the coffin will be moved to the Health Ministry’s National Center of Forensic Medicine, where specialists will carry out the official identification. Only after the process is complete will the family receive formal notification.

Officials confirmed that the families of all fallen hostages were informed of the developments earlier in the day.

The handover followed an announcement from the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad declaring that they would return a hostage’s body at 4 p.m., saying the remains had been located in the central Gaza Strip and that the transfer would be coordinated with the Red Cross.

As the hour approached, the IDF released an update stating that Red Cross teams were en route to take possession of the body.
“According to information received, the Red Cross is on its way to the meeting point in the central Gaza Strip, where a coffin of a deceased hostage will be transferred into its custody,” the military stated.

The IDF also urged restraint from the public, adding, “The IDF requests that the public act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families. Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages.”

Shortly afterward, the IDF announced new information from the Red Cross: “According to information provided by the Red Cross, a coffin of a deceased hostage has been transferred into its custody and is on the way to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.”

Well before the transfer took place, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a sharp rebuke to Islamic Jihad over its earlier statement identifying the location of items belonging to a deceased hostage. The PMO emphasized that “Israel views with severity the delay in their immediate transfer into its hands. This constitutes a further violation of the agreement. Israel demands the immediate return of the three deceased hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.”

Despite Tuesday’s return of one set of remains, three bodies are still being held by terror groups: Israelis Dror Or and Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, a Negev Yasam officer, fell in combat at Kibbutz Alumim on October 7. Though wounded, he had rushed back into danger after leaving the hospital to assist during the assault. Communication with him ceased soon afterward. On January 31, 2024, he was officially declared fallen in battle and classified as a deceased hostage.

Dror Or, a well-known chef from Be’eri, was kidnapped from his home together with his three children, Alma, Noam, and nephew Liam, while his wife, Yonat, was murdered. Though the children were freed in earlier deals, Kibbutz Be’eri later confirmed on May 2 that Or had been murdered on the day of the attack and that Hamas continues to hold his body. He was 48.

Thai worker Sudthisak Rinthalak was seized while tending orchards in Be’eri. He, too, was murdered on October 7, and Hamas has kept his remains ever since. Rinthalak had been living in Israel since 2017, supporting his family back home in Thailand.

{Matzav.com}

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri addressed the growing turmoil surrounding the proposed giyus legislation on Monday night, telling party MKs that discussions in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee are expected to begin “in the coming days.” Yet despite pressure from Prime Minister Netanyahu, Deri declined to promise that Shas will ultimately vote in favor of the final draft that emerges from the committee.

Deri gathered Shas MKs and numerous municipal representatives in the party’s Knesset room for a closed-door meeting as the debate around the bill continued to intensify. Speaking to the group, he emphasized that once the committee finishes its deliberations, the matter will be brought back to the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah for guidance. Only after receiving clear direction from the gedolim, he said, will the faction determine how to vote.

At the meeting, Deri noted that if the gedolim ultimately approve the law, Shas believes it could secure the necessary majority during the current term — despite recent statements from several coalition MKs signaling that they may oppose it. “It’s possible that very soon this entire matter will already be behind us,” Deri remarked.

The controversy follows a strongly worded public letter last week from the former Rishon LeTzion, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, who sharply criticized those running campaigns against chareidi representatives.

“They are the same people who have been dividing and attacking the chareidi community for decades and even pursued my father during his lifetime,” Rav Yosef wrote. “Their intentions are not for the sake of Heaven, and one must stay far away from them and from their harmful ways.”

Addressing the draft legislation itself, Rav Yosef reiterated that the issue of regulating the status of yeshiva students remains fully in the hands of the special committee appointed by the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, which is overseeing the matter with “complete responsibility.”

On Monday, a senior chareidi figure deeply involved in the giyus discussions said that the proposed law is unlikely to pass at all — and if it does, it may not survive Supreme Court scrutiny.

“The law, in all likelihood, will not pass, and if it does pass, it will not stand in the Supreme Court,” he said. “Attias drafted a bill mainly to show the rabbanim that genuine efforts were made to address the issue. Maybe it will even help bring us back into the government — even without full legislation.”

The official added that the committee deliberations could still result in major changes. Among the scenarios being discussed is a demand by the committee’s legal advisor to raise the first-year draft quota to 7,500 recruits — a move that would require drafting approximately an additional 1,500 chareidim in the law’s initial year.

Within the Knesset, many believe that the legislation will not make it through during the current term — and even if it does, it may be struck down in the courts. For now, all eyes are on the committee’s upcoming sessions and the final word of the gedolim, upon whom the Shas faction has made clear its decision will ultimately depend.

{Matzav.com}

A new Saint Anselm College snapshot of the 2028 Republican landscape shows Vice President JD Vance towering over anyone who might consider challenging him, Breitbart reports. The New Hampshire survey — taken November 18–19 with a ±2.1 percent margin of error — places him in a position of overwhelming strength among likely GOP voters in the state.

Although the poll was initially released with Vance at 54 percent, a quick update clarified that his actual standing is 57 percent. That corrected figure, shared by WMUR’s Adam Sexton, underscores just how wide the gulf is between the vice president and the rest of the potential contenders.

The field behind him is barely competitive by comparison. Secretary of State Marco Rubio registers nine percent, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes in at seven percent. Another cluster — Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, and Tulsi Gabbard — lands at four percent each, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin scrape the bottom with one percent apiece.

Rubio’s calculation appears to reflect the same reality the polling reveals. Politico reported earlier this month that people close to the secretary of state say he is unlikely to run if Vance steps into the race. The report notes Rubio has quietly signaled he would support Vance outright and could even join him on the ticket.

That possibility has already been given a boost from the top. President Donald Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One on October 27, remarked that a potential Vance-Rubio ticket would be “unstoppable.”

Vance’s commanding position is not just due to polling. Within the second Trump administration, he has become a central powerbroker, simultaneously serving as vice president and taking on the unprecedented responsibility of Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee. The RNC now holds more than $86 million in cash on hand as of mid-November — a milestone that Chairman Joe Gruters credits directly to the vice president’s involvement. Gruters has said Vance’s expanded portfolio has been crucial to the party’s midterm-focused ground game and fundraising push.

The release of the poll also came on the heels of a high-profile policy conversation Vice President Vance participated in on November 20 in Washington, DC. Hosted by Breitbart News and moderated by its Washington Bureau Chief, Matthew Boyle, the discussion touched on accomplishments of the Trump-Vance administration and its direction moving forward. The gathering, backed by CGCN and the ALFA Institute, is part of a continuing series highlighting key administration officials.

{Matzav.com}

In Bnei Brak on Sunday night, the illustrious gaon Rav Meir Greineman, nephew of the Chazon Ish, brought a newly written Sefer Torah into the Beis Medrash HaGadol established by his late brother, Rav Chaim Greineman.

Rav Meir had personally commissioned the Sefer Torah from a master sofer over the past year, maintaining complete secrecy throughout the process. Only when the Sefer Torah was fully completed did he disclose it to his family, following the path of the Chazon Ish himself, who likewise kept the writing of his own Sefer Torah hidden until it was finished.

The hachnasah was carried out with the simplicity and tznius that are hallmarks of the Greineman household. The procession began at the home of Rav Shmuel Greineman, Rav Meir’s nephew, directly across from the beis medrash. With no advance notices and no public arrangements, the family and a small group of close talmidim escorted the Sefer Torah.

The paroches on the Sefer Torah bears only the pasuk, “V’zos haTorah asher sam Moshe lifnei Bnei Yisroel.”

{Matzav.com}

Hamas has released footage showing the recent handover of a hostage’s body to the Red Cross in central Gaza.

BDE: An unvaccinated one-and-a-half-year-old toddler from Jerusalem passed away from complications of measles at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital overnight Monday, the 11th toddler to succumb to the disease since the outbreak began in May. With the exception of one, all fatalities were unvaccinated healthy toddlers with no underlying illnesses before contracting measles.

CORE PPI COMES IN LOWER THAN EXPECTED: Core PPI rose 2.6% year-over-year, slightly below the 2.7% expected, according to today’s data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report also showed headline producer prices up 0.3% for the month and 2.7% year-over-year, signaling modest easing in underlying inflation pressures.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Naeh zt”l, the longtime principal of the Or Torah Talmud Torah in Tiveriah, passed away suddenly at the age of 75. He collapsed on Shabbos and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead Monday morning.

Rabbi Naeh was a grandson of one of the most prominent halachic authorities of the previous generation, Rav Avraham Chaim Naeh zt”l.

He was born on the ninth of Nissan 5710 (1950) to his father, Rabbi Baruch Naeh, a leading Chabad rov in Yerushalayim, and to his mother, Hadassah, daughter of Rabbi Yoel Ashkenazi of Tiveriah.

He married the daughter of Rabbi Avraham Ben Tzion Friedman, one of the pioneering members of the chareidi community in Be’er Sheva.

For decades, Rabbi Naeh led the Or Torah Talmud Torah in Tiveriah, educating generations of students and earning a reputation as an exceptional and devoted educator. In recent years, he relocated to Ramat Gan.

He is survived by a large, distinguished family.

The levayah was held at the Segula Cemetery in Petach Tikvah.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

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{Matzav.com}

Jonathan Pollard delivered a blistering rebuke of Israel’s senior leadership in a new conversation with Kan Reshet Bet, arguing that the country’s top decision-makers failed the nation in the aftermath of the October 7th atrocities.

“The whole country was abandoned and betrayed. We need a clean sweep, with new people replacing the old on the right, left, and center,” he declared, insisting that those in power forfeited the public’s trust.

He directed much of his outrage at Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling on him to take personal responsibility for the catastrophe of October 7th and to immediately halt the flow of Qatari money into Gaza.

Pollard also accused Netanyahu of bending too readily to Washington’s demands. He said, in reference to the canceled strike at the end of Operation Rising Lion, that “A prime minister worthy of the name would have told the president, ‘You know, we’ll get back to you when we finish what we’ve started, keep your opinion to yourself.’”

Although Pollard once backed Netanyahu without hesitation, he now says that confidence has evaporated. “When I said I couldn’t imagine a better prime minister, unfortunately, I was a bit too naive. Now I can imagine a better prime minister.”

Looking ahead, Pollard disclosed that he is weighing a political path of his own. He said he has already assembled a close circle of associates with plans to establish a new political framework and is considering whether to launch a fresh party or take control of an existing one.

He also addressed the uproar surrounding a New York Times report that he had met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in Yerushalayim over the summer. According to Pollard, the story’s source was the CIA, which he said leaked it out of lingering hostility toward him. He emphasized that the meeting was entirely aboveboard and carried no irregularities.

{Matzav.com}

LAWSUIT ACCUSES BINANCE OF MOVING FUNDS FOR TERROR GROUPS: A 300-page complaint filed in U.S. federal court alleges Binance moved over $1 billion through accounts tied to terror groups, including more than $50 million after October 7. Investigators cite a Venezuelan woman who allegedly moved $177 million through an account opened at age 26, as […]

FOUR MORE ARRESTED IN LOUVRE JEWEL HEIST CASE: French authorities detained four additional suspects today in connection with the October robbery at the Louvre Museum. The group two men and two women were taken into custody in coordinated morning raids across the Paris region. Police say several other suspects linked to the high-value jewel theft […]