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Hunter Biden claims that his father only granted him a pardon because Donald Trump’s return to the White House created an extraordinary situation — insisting that the decision never would have happened under ordinary conditions while his legal appeals were ongoing.

“Donald Trump went and changed everything,” Hunter said in an interview published Monday on journalist Tommy Christopher’s Substack. “And I don’t think that I need to make much of an argument about why it changed everything.”

The 55-year-old Biden son, who last year admitted to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes and was later found guilty on federal gun charges, avoided mentioning his participation in conversations about possible pardons during Joe Biden’s final months in office.

“I’ve said this before,” Hunter continued. “My dad would not have pardoned me if President Trump had not won, and the reason that he would not have pardoned me is because I was certain that in a normal circumstance of the appeals [I would have won].”

Hunter asserted that Trump’s anticipated “revenge tour” against his father made him an obvious target — a move he said could have silenced or intimidated the entire Biden family. “The easiest target to just to intimidate and to not just impact me, but impact my entire family into, into silence in a way that at least he is not — it’s not as easy for him to do [with] me being pardoned,” he said.

Acknowledging the controversy surrounding the pardon, Hunter said he understands how rare his situation is. “I realize how privileged I am,” he said. “I realize how lucky I am; I realize that I got something that almost no one would have gotten. But I’m incredibly grateful for it and I have to say that I don’t think that it requires me to make much of a detailed argument for why it was the right thing to do, at least from my dad, from his perspective.”

Adding to the intrigue, former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients revealed last month that Hunter “was involved” in discussions over clemency and “attended a few meetings,” according to a source familiar with Zients’ testimony before the House Oversight Committee, as reported by The New York Post.

{Matzav.com}

Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday emphatically rejected mounting calls from within his own party to abandon his campaign and throw his support behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, declaring he has no intention of backing down. Speaking at a press conference in Manhattan, Sliwa dismissed reports that GOP power brokers are urging him to withdraw, insisting he remains committed to the race. He said he had even been offered financial incentives to quit — offers he claims to have rejected outright. “So, let’s be very clear: I am not dropping out, under no circumstances,” Sliwa said at a press conference. “I’ve already been offered money to drop out, I said no.” His defiance comes one day after billionaire businessman and longtime Republican donor John Catsimatidis — Sliwa’s boss at WABC radio and one of the most influential figures in New York GOP circles — publicly urged him to end his campaign and unify the party behind Cuomo. Catsimatidis’ appeal marked the most direct and high-profile effort yet by Republican leaders to consolidate opposition to Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, whose insurgent campaign has alarmed moderates across the city. For months, strategists in both parties have warned that a divided field could hand City Hall to Mamdani, who has mobilized a passionate progressive base across Queens and Brooklyn. The calls for unity intensified this week as polls suggested Mamdani could win outright if center-right voters remain split. Despite the pressure, Sliwa appears determined to stay the course. He continues to enjoy the backing of several key Republican figures, including Andrea Catsimatidis — the daughter of the billionaire mogul and chair of the New York GOP committee — as well as the city’s Republican county chairs. In a rare show of unanimity, the party’s five borough chairs issued a joint statement Tuesday reaffirming their support for Sliwa and dismissing talk of a Cuomo consolidation as unrealistic. They described Sliwa as “the credible leader who will defeat the radical left and restore safety, affordability, and common sense to City Hall,” adding that “Republican voters are not going to vote for Andrew Cuomo.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

See the letter above and below issued by a group of choshuve NYC-based rabbonim in connection with the city’s upcoming mayoral election.

Text of the letter:

To our dear Jewish brethren in New York City,

Leading poskim throughout the generations have expressed the obligation to vote, calling it a fundamental responsibility to guard the freedoms we enjoy.

We, the undersigned rabbonim in New York City, watch the upcoming mayoral election in New York City with trepidation. Attacks on Jews have surged both locally and across the world. Dangerous rhetoric, at all levels, has become commonplace. Our chinuch in New York remains in jeopardy. That support for the security of Jews in Eretz Yisroel is being debated in mainstream political circles is deeply concerning; that this debate is occurring at the center of the largest concentration of Jews outside of Eretz Yisroel is frightening. We have already seen its pernicious impact on our own safety.

Any general obligation to vote has taken on new meaning in these times. Moreover, this race has garnered national attention, and its result is sure to have national electoral ripple effects.

Note that this hishtadlus is required regardless of the election’s outcome. The only hedge spurring a candidate with future political aspirations to moderate his stance is for him to know that he has a large, motivated voting constituency to contend with.

Local, regional, and national Orthodox Jewish organizations are thus mobilizing to ensure unprecedented voting participation in our communities. Such a turnout would be a powerful demonstration of the koach hatzibbur at this critical time.

We therefore implore every member of the community to engage in this important hishtadlus, and to organize and activate your families, shuls, yeshivas, and kehillos to do the same.

Hours after Rich Azzopardi, spokesman for former New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s independent mayoral campaign, touted a new poll showing a “dramatic 10-point swing since late August” and a “dead heat” between his boss and frontrunner and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo downplayed the importance of polling in remarks at Congregation Ohab Zedek on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Cuomo told a crowd of about 200 at the more than 150-year-old Modern Orthodox congregation that his father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, didn’t put too much stock in public opinion.

“My father was against the death penalty. He said, ‘On the death penalty, it is 50-50,’” Cuomo said. “I said, ‘50-50 on the death penalty? 78% support the death penalty. What do you think, dad?’ ‘They’re all wrong.’”

“How do you be in politics and say, ‘78%. They’re all wrong?’” Cuomo said. “Because you have to be a leader.”

The mayoral hopeful told the audience he has thought about leadership while watching Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

“You have to be in a place where you make a decision that you believe is the right decision, and you stand with your principles regardless of the political consequences and regardless of the noise of the moment,” he said. “Public opinion can sway from day to day. The emotion can sway from day to day. A real leader knows principles and sticks to their principles.”

Addressing event moderator Elisha Wiesel, son of the late Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, Cuomo said he learned that lesson about principles from his father. “I’m sure you carry the same lesson,” he said.

Before the recent poll, data about the New York City mayoral race suggested a large lead for Mamdani, a New York state representative with a history of anti-Israel comments, ahead of Cuomo and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was seen widely as the most sympathetic to Israel and Jews, dropped out after running as an independent.

“I was thinking when preparing for tonight, what would our fathers think that we have to be here tonight, in this moment?” Cuomo told Wiesel, citing rising Jew-hatred.

“This moment that they spent their entire lives working to make sure never happened again,” he said, noting the “sadness that I know my father would feel that we are in this situation.”

Wiesel also quoted Cuomo’s father, and said that the latter’s remark about the Holocaust—that “armies of people” aided “barbarians” by opting not to oppose them and refusing to notice, care or speak up—could also apply to Oct. 7 and its aftermath.

Cuomo has made rising Jew-hatred a central point of his criticism of Mamdani, who has repeatedly accused Israel of “genocide” and has said that he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested, should the premier come to New York.

Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish, which sponsored the event, told attendees that he said to Cuomo prior to the gathering that he was in the Knesset during U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent speech.

“In many ways, I feel like being here in this room today is more important than being in the Knesset last week, and I’ll explain why,” he said. He noted that Jews are a family and that Jewish hearts have bled since Oct. 7.

“As I was coming back and forth from Israel, the Jews of Israel kept saying to me, ‘What’s going on with the Jews in the Diaspora? Do they know how much pain they’re in? Are they supporting us?’” Burg said. “I kept telling them ‘yes,’ and then thousands of duffel bags made their way on El Al flights to Israel, and millions of dollars of philanthropy flowed into Israel to show the Jews of Israel that yes, we do support you.”

Two years later, things have changed. “I’m being asked by the Jews of Israel, ‘What is going on with the Jews of New York? We’re worried about our brothers and sisters in New York,’” he said. “We’re worried about someone potentially becoming mayor who is openly antisemitic.”

“We know as Jews what ‘globalize the intifada’ means,” he said. “It means our death.”

Rabbi Allen Schwartz, spiritual leader of the synagogue, told attendees that “it is simply unconscionable that the city with the largest Jewish population outside of the state of Israel could contemplate having as its leader someone who cannot walk away from ‘globalizing the intifada.’”

Cuomo said that it’s a “frightening moment” in New York City.

“It is a moment where the question will be asked for years to come, ‘Where were you and what did you do in that moment?’” he said.

“The Jewish community is New York,” Cuomo said. “There is no New York without the Jewish community.”

The former governor noted that the first Jews came to New York in 1630, “while my people were still making wine in the old country.”

“Jews were here 200 years prior to the major European immigration to the city. Jewish people helped build and found this city. How is it that we have more antisemitic incidents in New York City than any other city in the U.S.?” he said. “I don’t know how we got here, but I know what we have to do. We need to end the complacency of New Yorkers, which is worse than any antisemitic views of any one person.”

He added that those responsible for Jew-hatred in the city include “a group of young people, who have no sense of history, who have watched what has happened in the Middle East, in Gaza, and have no context for it.”

“I think that has been exploited on their behalf,” he said.

“I am sorry for all of us that we have to be here tonight. Sorry that we have to live through this moment in history. I’m sorry that we have to feel fear in our own home city. I’m sorry that we have to feel isolated in our own city,” Cuomo said.

“I’m sorry that we feel abandoned in our own city, that no one came to help in New York. Where are the many elected officials? Where were the people enforcing the law?” he said. “Where were the people standing up for the Jewish community? Where was the outrage?”

Cuomo noted that Wiesel’s father often referred to the danger of indifference.

“The indifference is the enemy today,” the former governor said. “We will win this election, because they are more good-loving people in this city than angry hateful people in this city, but we have to make it happen.”

Wiesel asked how Cuomo’s campaign is welcoming Republicans. “It’s easier than you would think, because this is so much more important than the normal partisanship,” Cuomo said. “This is beyond Democrat or Republican. That’s child’s play compared to what we’re talking about here.”

The election is a choice between “political moderation versus socialism plus antisemitism,” he added.

Cuomo said that he has a “history of working on both sides of the aisle.” As the New York governor for 11 years, he worked with a Republican state Senate to pass each bill, he said.

“Bridging that political divide I’ve done before, but this transcends everything, because this is Democratic Republican political moderation versus socialism plus antisemitism,” he said of Mamdani.

“That’s what he is selling. He is a socialist—Democratic Socialists of America, DSA—whole charter. This is a very organized, well-funded organization, the Democratic Socialists,” Cuomo said. “This isn’t a bunch of 20-year olds on a Friday night. This is a movement that has been growing for years and years and getting more and more sophisticated and better funded.”

Asked if he would try to convince Sliwa to drop out by offering him a role in a future city administration, Cuomo said that “it’s unfortunate that he is using this moment, I believe, for his own public relations and his own personal agenda.”

“He is not a viable candidate to win,” Cuomo said of Sliwa. “He knows that, but he is a viable candidate to make Mamdani a winner. I am hopeful that before the end of the day, he realizes that there’s something bigger at stake than his notoriety or his publicity.”

“I think you’re going to see a very conservative effort brought to bear where people with one voice say to Curtis, ‘This is bigger than you are,’ which is what Mayor Adams did, to his credit,” Cuomo said, to applause.

Dr. Joseph Bistricer, an optometrist in New York, told JNS that he attended to hear Cuomo speak because he is worried.

“My big concern and big worry is that someone like Mamdani may become mayor of this great city. It’s strange,” he said. “Very upsetting for the city, and especially for Jews. He’s a jihadist in a suit, and I’m very worried, and hopeful and pray that this doesn’t happen.”

“He’ll be bad for Jews and terrible for the city,” he said, of Mamdani.

Cuomo also told attendees that New York City isn’t creating enough jobs and that businesses are leaving the city. “We have to start attracting rather than losing businesses,” he said.

Speaking about illegal immigration, he gave a rare nod to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Cuomo noted that as head of the National Governors Association, he told the White House that Abbott is “a Republican, but he has a point.”

“It happens once in a while,” he said. JNS

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump’s choice to challenge maverick Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky announced his candidacy Tuesday, pledging to steadfastly support the president’s agenda while describing the incumbent as an obstructionist. Retired Navy SEAL officer Ed Gallrein entered the 4th District campaign after gaining Trump’s endorsement. He will have the president’s vaunted political operation on his side, and a super PAC launched by Trump aides already has run ads attacking Massie. But he will confront an entrenched, well-funded incumbent in Massie, who steamrolled past challengers, even when he incurred Trump’s wrath. “I’ve dedicated my life to serving my country, and I’m ready to answer the call again,” Gallrein said in a release. “This district is Trump country. The president doesn’t need obstacles in Congress — he needs backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and deliver the ‘America First’ results Kentuckians voted for.” The GOP primary election contest next May will test Trump’s hold over Republican politics. Gallrein, who has never held elective office, was defeated in a state Senate primary last year. The president’s dominance was on full display this month in Tennessee, where the Trump-endorsed candidate won a crowded GOP primary for an open congressional seat. The libertarian-leaning Massie has won reelection by lopsided margins since entering Congress in 2012. He has beefed up fundraising in preparation for the toughest political fight of his career. His reputation as a contrarian willing to buck GOP leaders goes back years but reached a tipping point with Trump this year, when he opposed the president on key budget and foreign policy issues. Massie is betting that Kentuckians will embrace his independent streak despite Trump’s popularity in the district. “Fourth District voters appreciate having an independent, conservative voice who works for them and I look forward to continuing my fight for transparency, constitutional rights, secure borders, a true America-first foreign policy and fiscal responsibility,” Massie said in a statement Tuesday. Massie dismissed Gallrein as “someone willing to be a rubber stamp for globalist billionaires, endless debt, foreign aid and forever wars.” Massie is at the forefront of efforts to trigger a vote on legislation that would force the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The Kentuckian opposed Trump’s massive tax breaks and spending cuts package, saying it will grow the national debt and hurt the economy, while Trump calls it “beautiful.” Massie said the president lacked authority to attack Iran’s nuclear sites without congressional approval. Previewing a likely campaign theme, Gallrein described Massie as an obstructionist. “Thomas Massie has become one of the biggest roadblocks to President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda,” Gallrein said. “President Trump endorsed me because Kentuckians deserve a congressman who will stand with our president, not against him.” Gallrein, 67, is a farmer and businessman who had a long, decorated military career. Massie has the support of Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who joined him on a swing through the district last month. During one stop, Massie said Trump is “probably the best president we’ve had in my lifetime,” but indicated he’s not a rubber stamp. “If I think he’s wrong on policy, or if I think one of his cabinet members has misled him on policy, and they want us to vote on something … I will speak up if I don’t […]

There’s a moment each morning when Shamgar Street transforms. The snarl of buses, streams of coffee-sipping girls, stroller-pushing Mommas and fathers walking sons to cheder. It all flows toward the Yirmiyahu intersection, a thronging wave of beauty in routine schedules. The daily rhythm intensifies, and the city’s heartbeat becomes audible. Feigin Architects saw this convergence when they envisioned Y38.These are the same designers who transformed spaces for the Waldorf Astoria and Jerusalem Estates, who understand that great buildings don’t just occupy locations, they amplify them. An architectural marvel, this 40-residence boutique building captures the essence of this intersection — the marriage of Yerushalayim’s spiritual gravity with its forward momentum. Construction crews are now turning this vision into foundation. Excavation is in full swing! Each apartment is being crafted with floor-to-ceiling windows that will bring Yerushalayim’s iconic blue skies indoors, while expansive balconies are set to become your family’s favorite setting for impromptu hosted bbqs and quiet morning moments alike. Y38 is more than a sought-after, central address and this building goes beyond modern architecture and finer details. It’s in the amenities that make coming home to Y38, a retreat to your private resort.  Luxury, five-star hotel-grade facilities include everything you need to work, unwind and go about your day in comfort and privacy. Your building’s gym becomes your morning sanctuary. The spa transforms stressful days into restoration. A residents’ shul creates instant community, while the business lounge offers professional space just an elevator ride from your kitchen table. And with glamorous private mikvas available you no longer will wait in crowded — or neglected looking — facilities again. As you know, the neighborhood has evolved into a place where English-speaking families build lives, bridge modernity and home comforts with the authentic spirituality they come for.  Planning a trip to Yerushalayim? Come witness the transformation in real time. Walk a few feet past the corners of Yirmiyahu/Shamgar. Picture the building rising upon this gaping hole. Imagine coming for a simcha, spending quality time with local grandkids or enjoying a well-deserved vacation with Y38 as your beautiful home base.  Hear more details about why Y38 is more than address! >>>

President Donald Trump waded into New York City’s mayoral race Tuesday with one of his most unfiltered interventions yet, warning that a Zohran Mamdani victory would mark a “Communist takeover” of America’s largest city and declaring he would rather see Democrat Andrew Cuomo return to power than watch the Democratic Socialist of America-backed assemblyman win. Trump tore into Mamdani, calling him “a Communist” whose policies would “destroy what’s left of New York.” Trump, notably, dismissed Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa’s chances outright and mused that a Cuomo comeback might be “the lesser evil.” “Looks like we’re gonna have a Communist as the mayor of New York,” Trump told the crowd. “Would I rather have a Democrat or a Communist? I’d rather have a Democrat. It’s been tried a thousand times — Communism never works.” A Siena College poll released Monday showed Mamdani leading with 32% among likely voters, Cuomo close behind at 28%, and Sliwa trailing at 18%. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The White House is moving swiftly to safeguard the delicate Gaza ceasefire crafted by President Donald Trump, as unease grows in Washington that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could walk away from the deal after repeated Hamas breaches, according to The New York Times.

Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Israel to meet with Trump’s Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner—two of the architects behind the agreement. Sources familiar with the mission said the trio will work to calm the situation and dissuade Netanyahu from ordering a full-scale military offensive against Hamas.

On Monday, Trump issued a blunt warning that if Hamas continues its provocations, Israel will have the green light to wipe out the terror group. “We made a deal with Hamas… they’re going to behave. And if they’re not, we’re going to eradicate them,” Trump said.

The fragile truce came under strain Sunday when Hamas terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF vehicle, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring another. Both sides have accused the other of breaching the ceasefire while insisting they remain committed to maintaining it.

Trump played down the episode, describing it as a localized insurrection by undisciplined fighters. He suggested that Hamas’s top leadership is still interested in keeping the peace. “Some Hamas fighters got very rambunctious,” he said, though he added that ongoing attacks would justify Israel taking decisive military steps.

Meanwhile, negotiators are still hammering out key unresolved details of the agreement—chief among them, an Egyptian-led stabilization force and a process for Hamas’s disarmament. No firm timetable has yet been established for implementing these provisions.

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of habochur Shlomo Aryeh Ribakow z”l.

A beloved talmid of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, he was a choshuveh ben Torah who was currently learning in Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim.

Shlomo Aryeh was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Larry Ribakow, and a brother to Dovid, Yehoshua, Yaakov, Daniel, Aaron, Moshe Ribakow, Ilana (Chesky) Finkelstein, Adina (Chezky) Kosman, and Shira Ribakow.

Known for his warmth, sincerity, and dedication to learning, Shlomo Aryeh exemplified a life of emes and avodas Hashem.

The levaya will take place on Wednesday afternoon at Eretz HaChaim Cemetery in Beit Shemesh, where kevurah will take place.

Shiva will begin in Eretz Yisroel and continue in Baltimore, beginning Friday morning, October 24, at the Ribakow home, located 3316 Olympia Avenue, and will continue until Tuesday morning, October 28.

Minyan times at the shiva house are as follows:

• Shacharis (Friday, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday): 7:45 a.m.

• Mincha Erev Shabbos: 3:30 p.m.

• Maariv Motzei Shabbos: 7:05 p.m.

• Mincha (Sunday & Monday): 5:00 p.m.

• Maariv (Sunday & Monday): 8:00 p.m.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

TRUMP: “I looked at the polls. Looks like we’re gonna have a Communist as the Mayor of New York… Here’s the good news, He’s gotta go through the White House… If [Sliwa] dropped out – he’s not going to win. And not looking too good for Cuomo either. But maybe, I don’t know, if [Sliwa] dropped out, maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance, but not much…Would I rather have a Democrat or a Communist. And I would rather have a Democrat…And with a communist in charge, look, you just go back a thousand years. I mean, it’s been done many times, a thousand years. It’s never worked once.”

This isn’t an endorsement. None is necessary. Even a third grader can see what’s at stake in New York City’s mayoral election. This is now a two-candidate race between Zohran Mamdani (D) and Andrew Cuomo. The opportunity is now. The urgency is real. Curtis Sliwa (R) is probably a decent candidate anywhere else. But this is New York. He’s a Republican in a Democratic stronghold, and he doesn’t enjoy the support of President Trump — meaning his narrow pathway is closed. Sliwa means well, but he can’t win. So we are left with a stark choice, and the stakes could not be higher. New York is about to hand the keys to City Hall to a man whose greatest skill is manipulating algorithms. Mamdani has built a digital propaganda machine that would make any authoritarian proud. He runs on viral moments and manufactured outrage, not results. That might work for influencers, but it’s a recipe for disaster when you’re running a city of over 8 million people. New York is not ready for his radical experiment. He would dismantle the city’s cultural fabric that has taken 250 years to build. Worse, he doesn’t have the experience. You can’t just go from riding in a plane to flying a 787. He’s too young, too raw, and too naïve about what makes this city work. And unlike every mayor before him, he’ll never have to face real accountability — his social media army has been trained to attack critics, not question their leader. Mamdani seems like a decent guy, but his policies would raise taxes, make our streets less safe, decimate New York’s economic base and drive out businesses. He is on the record as anti-NYPD, a harsh critic of Israel, and he has floated the abolition of private property. He is far too comfortable in the company of antisemites and he won’t back away from his own calls, using the language of terrorism, to “globalize the intifada. He is bankrolled by a radical network that doesn’t believe in America or the freedoms that made this country great. That’s not just bad politics — it’s dangerous. Lock your doors, New Yorkers. His proposals — rent freezes, free buses, city-owned groceries, 200,000 new government housing units on top of the New York City Housing Authority’s more than 177,000 — would supposedly be funded by tax hikes on millionaires and corporations. But this will just drive them all to Florida, leaving the bill for the middle class. Mamdani’s followers don’t understand what the New York City Housing Authority is. They don’t understand municipal bonds. They’ll vote for revolution because it got 4 million views. Being mayor isn’t a Tik Tok video. It means solving real problems: crime, housing, homelessness, jobs. It means managing a budget bigger than that of most states. The state of New York already faces a $3 billion deficit, and our economic base is packing its bags. Viral moments won’t replace serious solutions. By the time his followers realize the rent freeze destroyed housing construction, the algorithm will have moved on. Andrew Cuomo paid his price. Nobody’s perfect. He faced the consequences. But he’s done the job. He has governed through crises, kept the economy growing and balanced budgets. On housing — the issue New Yorkers care about most — he […]

After a period of quiet over Sukkos, the military police have resumed arresting bnei yeshivos. A talmid of Ohr HaChaim yeshivah was arrested overnight Monday at his home in Adam, a moshav in the Binyamin area (also known as Geva Binyamin). According to the bochur’s family members, the military police arrived in large numbers and even blocked several streets around his home to prevent protesters from gathering in the area. It should be noted that reports published on Monday that Chareidi “draft dodgers” will no longer be arrested apply only to the Israel Police and not the military police.  

Dozens of rabbonim from across New York City are urging Orthodox Jews to turn out in large numbers for the upcoming New York City mayoral election, calling voting “a fundamental responsibility to guard the freedoms we enjoy.” In a public letter released Tuesday by Agudah, the rabbonim describe the upcoming race as critical for the Jewish community’s future and safety, warning that “attacks on Jews have surged both locally and across the world” and that “dangerous rhetoric, at all levels, has become commonplace.” “The support for the security of Jews in Eretz Yisroel being debated in mainstream political circles is deeply concerning,” the statement reads. “That this debate is occurring at the center of the largest concentration of Jews outside of Eretz Yisroel is frightening. We have already seen its pernicious impact on our own safety.” The rabbonim stress that every member of the community has an obligation to engage in this hishtadlus, regardless of the election’s outcome. “The only hedge spurring a candidate with future political aspirations to moderate his stance,” they write, “is for him to know that he has a large, motivated voting constituency to contend with.” The letter emphasizes that a strong Orthodox turnout will send a message of political strength and civic engagement. “Such a turnout would be a powerful demonstration of the koach hatzibbur at this critical time,” the signatories wrote. Local, regional, and national Orthodox organizations, the letter notes, are coordinating to mobilize voters and ensure “unprecedented voting participation in our communities.”

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has dismissed his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, with the change taking effect immediately, following internal friction over major wartime decisions in Gaza.

Hanegbi, a veteran Likud figure who has held ministerial posts since the 1990s, was said to have disagreed with Netanyahu’s plan to send ground forces into Gaza City during the summer and had also opposed last month’s failed attempt to target Hamas leaders in Qatar.

Hanegbi’s deputy, Gil Reich, will step in as acting national security adviser and head of the National Security Council. Reich, who assumed the deputy post in 2022, previously served as the deputy director of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission.

Netanyahu issued a statement expressing appreciation for Hanegbi’s service and wishing him “much success in his future endeavors and good health.”

In his own farewell remarks, Hanegbi acknowledged the tensions that had marked his relationship with the prime minister.

“I thanked the prime minister for the privilege of being a partner in shaping Israel’s foreign and security policy during challenging years — for the opportunity to express an independent position in sensitive discussions, and for the professional dialogue we maintained, even in times of disagreement,” he said.

Hanegbi emphasized that the conflict which began on October 7, 2023, remains unresolved despite the recent ceasefire.

“Our fighters remain on guard on many fronts,” he said, “and the mission to bring all our hostages home has not yet been completed. Nor has the obligation yet been fulfilled — by diplomatic or military means — to ensure that the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are removed from power, disarmed, and that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly defined Israel’s war aims as freeing the hostages, eliminating Hamas, and preventing Gaza from ever again threatening the Jewish state.

Hanegbi also accepted personal responsibility for what he described as the “terrible failure of October 7,” and — in a veiled rebuke of Netanyahu’s resistance to a state inquiry — said it “must be thoroughly investigated to ensure that the necessary lessons are learned and to help restore the public trust that has been shaken.”

“We must all remain committed and attentive to the needs of those who have borne the dearest price of all — the bereaved families and the wounded, in body and soul,” Hanegbi said, urging national solidarity as “essential to ensuring the eternity of Israel.”

According to Israel’s Kan broadcaster, Netanyahu had assured Hanegbi only days before his removal that he would keep his job, even as reports surfaced that the prime minister was frustrated with him.

Sources close to Netanyahu told Kan that Hanegbi had leaked information to the media and acted against the premier’s interests. They added that Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife, was reportedly displeased with Hanegbi’s conduct — a factor that may have influenced the decision.

The shake-up comes as Netanyahu’s circle continues to thin. Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman is preparing to leave for London as Israel’s new ambassador, while Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is said to be considering stepping away from public life in the near future.

The prime minister previously dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last November, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has since retired, and multiple senior officers and officials have resigned amid the fallout from the catastrophic failures of October 7.

{Matzav.com}

A man whose convictions for storming the U.S. Capitol were erased by President Donald Trump’s mass pardons has been arrested on a charge that he threatened to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Christopher P. Moynihan is accused of sending a text message on Friday noting that Jeffries, a New York Democrat, would be making a speech in New York City this week. “I cannot allow this terrorist to live,” Moynihan wrote, according to a report by a state police investigator. Moynihan also wrote that Jeffries “must be eliminated” and texted, “I will kill him for the future,” the police report says. Moynihan, of Clinton, New York, is charged with a felony count of making a terroristic threat. It was unclear if he had an attorney representing him in the case, and efforts to contact him and his parents by email and phone were unsuccessful. Moynihan who’s 34, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for joining a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In January, he was among hundreds of convicted Capitol rioters who received a pardon from Trump on the Republican president’s first day back in the White House. Jeffries thanked investigators “for their swift and decisive action to apprehend a dangerous individual who made a credible death threat against me with every intention to carry it out.” “Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned,” Jeffries said in a statement. House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about the case during a news conference on Tuesday and said he did not know any details of the threat against Jeffries. “We denounce violence from anybody, anytime. Those people should be arrested and tried,” said Johnson, a Louisiana Republican. The New York State Police said it was notified of the threat by an FBI task force on Saturday. Moynihan was arraigned on Sunday in a local court in New York’s Dutchess County. He is due back in the Town of Clinton Court on Thursday. Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi said his office is reviewing the case “for legal and factual sufficiency.” “Threats made against elected officials and members of the public will not be tolerated,” Parisi said in a statement on Tuesday. On Jan. 6, Moynihan breached police barricades before entering the Capitol through the Rotunda Door. He entered the Senate chamber, rifled through a notebook on a senator’s desk and joined other rioters in shouting and chanting at the Senate dais, prosecutors said. “Moynihan did not leave the Senate Chamber until he was forced out by police,” they wrote. In 2022, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper convicted Moynihan of a felony for obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Moynihan also pleaded guilty to five other riot-related counts. (AP)

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has asked the Justice Department to investigate former CIA Director John Brennan, alleging that Brennan misled Congress about the CIA’s involvement with the Steele dossier during testimony last year.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Jordan charged that Brennan provided false statements in his 2023 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. He accused the ex-spy chief of wrongly denying that the CIA had relied on the Steele dossier while preparing the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian interference in the U.S. election, and of falsely asserting that the agency opposed using it.

The Steele dossier — a controversial compilation of memos alleging connections between Donald Trump and Russian officials — was assembled in 2016 by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele and later given to the FBI.

Jordan wrote that later investigations “confirmed that the Clinton campaign and the DNC paid Steele via the law firm Perkins Coie and opposition research firm Fusion GPS to provide derogatory information about Trump’s purported ties to Russia, which resulted in the discredited dossier.”

According to Jordan, documents declassified by the Trump administration in July 2025 indicate Brennan had personally approved incorporating information from the dossier into the intelligence report, despite objections from top CIA personnel.

During a closed-door interview on May 11, 2023, Brennan stated that “the CIA was not involved at all with the [Steele] dossier.”

However, newly released records suggest otherwise. The declassified files show that the inclusion of dossier material in the ICA “was jointly made by the Directors of CIA and FBI.”

“Brennan’s assertion that the CIA was not ‘involved at all’ with the Steele dossier cannot be reconciled with the facts,” Jordan wrote. “As the newly declassified documents show, a CIA officer drafted the annex containing a summary of the dossier; Brennan made the ultimate decision, along with then-FBI Director James Comey, to include information from the dossier in the ICA; and, as discussed further below, Brennan overruled senior CIA officers who objected to the inclusion of the dossier material.”

Although any potential criminal charges are beyond the five-year statute of limitations, Jordan further accused Brennan of lying to Congress back in 2017 during a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), arguing that the earlier incident “indicates a pattern of Brennan’s willingness to lie to Congress about the Steele dossier.”

“The HPSCI report and the CIA memorandum confirm not only that the Steele dossier was used as a basis for the ICA, but that Brennan insisted on its inclusion,” Jordan wrote. “This stands in stark contrast with Brennan’s testimony to HPSCI that the dossier was not used in drafting the ICA. … Brennan’s testimony before the Committee on May 11, 2023, was a brazen attempt to knowingly and willfully testify falsely and fictitiously to material facts.”

{Matzav.com}

POTUS on Hamas: “We could put that out in two minutes. We’re giving them a chance… If they don’t honor the deal, they’ll be taken care of very quickly — but I’d rather not have to do that.”

Hamas on Tuesday night transferred two caskets it said contained the remains of deceased Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, marking the latest exchange under the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza even as violence threatens to upend the deal. The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it facilitated the handover to the IDF, who draped the caskets in Israeli flags and held a brief ceremony led by a military rabbi before transferring them to Israel’s Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification. The terror group’s military wing claimed the bodies had been “retrieved today in the Strip,” without identifying the victims. If confirmed, the return would lower the number of deceased hostages still held by Hamas from 15 to 13. At the start of the ceasefire on October 10, the remains of 28 Israeli captives were believed to be inside Gaza. Tuesday’s transfer came a day after Hamas returned the body of slain hostage Tal Haimi, part of the ongoing exchange framework that trades the bodies of Palestinian casualties for Israeli hostages. Under the agreement, Israel returns the remains of 15 Palestinians for every Israeli body handed over. The Red Cross said it also facilitated the repatriation of 15 Palestinian bodies to Gaza on Tuesday, bringing the total transferred under the deal to 165. “The International Committee of the Red Cross today facilitated the transfer of deceased Palestinians to authorities in Gaza,” the organization said in a statement. The handovers took place as Israel reported new clashes in southern Gaza. Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded earlier Tuesday when their tank was struck by an explosive device near Khan Younis. The military said the soldiers were evacuated to a hospital and that an investigation is underway to determine when the device was planted. The incident followed a deadly flare-up two days earlier in Rafah, where gunmen emerged from a tunnel inside Israeli-held territory and launched RPGs at troops, killing two soldiers and wounding several others. Israel blamed Hamas for the attack, though the group denied responsibility, claiming it had “lost contact” with its operatives in the area. In response, the IDF struck roughly 20 targets in Gaza, with Hamas-run civil defense officials claiming 45 people were killed. Those figures could not be independently verified. The latest exchange underscores both the delicate progress and persistent volatility of the ceasefire framework — one that hinges on Hamas continuing to return hostages, living or deceased, in exchange for bodies and humanitarian relief, and on Israel exercising restraint in its military operations. Officials from both sides, speaking through intermediaries, have signaled a desire to maintain the fragile calm, but with the situation on the ground still tense, the risk of renewed fighting remains high. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hamas terrorists have unleashed a wave of internal terror in Gaza, rounding up Palestinians, torturing them, and executing them in the streets, according to shocking new footage released by Israel.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry shared disturbing video from inside the Gaza Strip showing masked gunmen, believed to be Hamas operatives, dragging a screaming man across the street before viciously beating him.

As the helpless victim writhes on the ground, one of the terrorists raises his rifle and fires multiple rounds into the man’s leg and torso. A second detainee, forced to watch the execution, breaks down sobbing as gunfire echoes through the street.

The gunmen then move on to others they had detained, beating and killing them one by one as part of Hamas’s campaign to crush any internal dissent and reestablish dominance during the fragile cease-fire.

“We call on all media outlets to give appropriate coverage to this threat to regional security,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on X along with the chilling footage. “Responsible journalism should shine a light on this.”

“Hamas — the terror state controlling Gaza — is brutalizing Palestinians as it seeks to reestablish control,” the ministry added, warning viewers that the content was “difficult viewing.”

Another clip released by the ministry shows a group of masked men, also believed to be Hamas members, standing around an injured man and beating him mercilessly with sticks.

The bloodied victim tries in vain to protect his face and head as the attackers continue striking him. When he attempts to crawl beneath a car to escape, one of the men drags him back out to the middle of the road, where the assault continues in full view of bystanders.

These scenes add to mounting evidence of Hamas’s violent efforts to restore its grip on Gaza, coming just days after public executions were reported in Gaza City.

Both Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials have pointed to these brutal acts as proof that Hamas has no intention of laying down its weapons or relinquishing control — core conditions outlined in President Trump’s peace plan.

While Trump initially signaled understanding toward efforts to suppress armed gangs in Gaza, the escalating violence against civilians prompted him to issue a warning to Hamas that the attacks must stop — or international forces could intervene. Trump stated Tuesday that several Middle Eastern allies were ready to send troops to “straighten [out] Hamas” if the group “continues to act badly.”

{Matzav.com}

Vice President JD Vance spoke to reporters in southern Israel Tuesday evening while on a mission to bolster the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, laying out his assessment of the early days of the U.S. diplomatic push.

“We are one week into President Trump’s historic peace plan in the Middle East, and things are going, frankly, better than I expected that they would,” Vance said as he opened his remarks.

Asked about Ankara’s potential part in enforcing the truce and helping stabilize Gaza — despite Turkey’s past backing for Hamas — Vance said multiple actors will be needed to address the region’s humanitarian and security challenges.

“We think everybody has a role to play here,” Vance responded. “Some of that’s going to be financial, some of that’s going to be in reconstruction, some of that’s just in communication with the various parties.”

He stressed that any deployment of foreign forces would be decided with Israel’s consent, while praising steps Turkey has already taken in the process.

“We’re not going to force anything on our Israeli friends when it comes to foreign troops on their soil, but we do think that there’s a constructive role for the Turks to play, and frankly, they’ve already played a very constructive role,” he added.

Vance acknowledged difficult history when addressing Turkey’s ties to Hamas, but urged forward-looking cooperation as the best path to lasting calm.

He noted that Turkey “has supported Hamas is the past,” but argued that pointing fingers won’t replace the work needed to secure a stable future: “no one who is a party to this conflict can look at the conflict and not point at something that they don’t like and that they disagree with … The way that we’re going to get to peace is to focus on the future, which is what the President of the United States has asked us to do.”

On the sensitive subject of recovering the remains of hostages still in Gaza, Vance said bringing the deceased home is a shared priority for all involved.

“it is a focus of everybody here to get those bodies back home to their families so that they can have a proper burial.”

But he warned the public that the recovery effort faces severe practical obstacles and that results will not be immediate.

“some of these hostages are buried under thousands of pounds of rubble. Some of the hostages – nobody even knows where they are. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work to get them, and that doesn’t mean we don’t have confidence that we will. It’s just a reason to counsel in favor of a little bit of patience.”

Turning his remarks directly to Hamas, Vance reiterated the core demands of the administration’s plan and the consequences of refusal to comply.

“Our warning to Hamas is very straightforward. The terms of the 20-point plan that the President put out there are very clear,” he continued. “It’s that Hamas has to disarm, it’s that Hamas has to actually behave itself, and it’s that Hamas – while all the fighters can be given some sort of clemency, they’re not going to be able to kill each other and they’re not going to be able to kill their fellow Palestinians. Now again, that’s going to take time … but right now, where I stand, I feel confident we’re going to be in a place where this place lasts, where it’s durable.”

He concluded with a stark threat should the group refuse to cooperate, while stopping short of setting a deadline for compliance.

“If Hamas doesn’t cooperate, then as the President of the United States has said, Hamas is going to be obliterated.”

{Matzav.com}