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More than 350,000 people have already participated in Selichos gatherings at the Kosel during the first half of Elul, as exceptionally large crowds continue to stream to the  site ahead of the Yomim Noraim.

More than 50,000 mispallelim packed the Kosel plaza in Yerushalayim on Thursday night for the fourth major Selichos gathering of Elul. The enormous crowd gathered near the remnant of the Bais Hamikdash for an emotional night of Selichos and tefillah.

Figures from the first half of Elul indicate a particularly significant increase in attendance this year. More than 350,000 people have visited the Kosel to participate in Selichos gatherings since the beginning of the month.

In addition to the major organized gatherings, which attract tens of thousands at a time, thousands of additional mispallelim have been arriving at the Kosel each night to recite Selichos.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people participating this year compared to previous years.

“This year, there has been a significant increase in the number of participants in the Selichos gatherings, and not only at the central gatherings, with thousands of worshippers gathering every night at the Western Wall plaza to recite Selichos, and tens of thousands flocking to the gatherings held throughout the month of Elul,” the foundation said.

Along with reciting Selichos, those gathered offered heartfelt tefillos for the welfare of IDF soldiers and members of Israel’s security forces, for unity among the Jewish people, and for peace and security in Israel.

Preparations are already underway at the Kosel for the next major Selichos gathering, which is expected to once again draw tens of thousands of people to Yerushalayim.

Crowds at the Kosel are anticipated to continue growing as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur draw closer.

{Matzav.com}

A man was killed Sunday night after a fire erupted in an underground parking garage of a residential building in Rishon Lezion, with initial reports indicating that a Tesla may have crashed into a wall before catching fire.

Fire and rescue crews were dispatched to the building on Ahi Lahav Street and worked for an extended period to extinguish the blaze and search the smoke-filled garage.

Once firefighters brought the fire under control, they discovered a person inside one of the vehicles with no signs of life.

Magen David Adom paramedics and EMTs examined the victim but were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene.

“When we arrived at the scene, we saw a vehicle on fire. After prolonged operations by the firefighting forces, a person was located inside a vehicle, unconscious. We performed medical examinations, but unfortunately, there were no signs of life,” paramedics Benny Joseph and Shaked Ron Tal Cohen said.

According to Israel Fire and Rescue Services, preliminary findings indicate that the blaze began in an electric vehicle and subsequently spread to several other vehicles parked nearby.

A separate report from the scene indicated that the electric vehicle was a Tesla that apparently struck a wall for reasons that remain unclear and then burst into flames.

Authorities stressed that the circumstances surrounding the reported collision are still under investigation, and no official determination has yet been released regarding the cause of the fire.

Even after the flames were extinguished, firefighters remained at the scene and continued ventilation operations to clear the heavy smoke from the underground garage.

Volunteers from ZAKA’s Central District were also dispatched to the scene and assisted police in preserving the dignity of the deceased and collecting findings from the area.

A fire investigator from Israel Fire and Rescue Services, together with police investigators, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deadly incident.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu issued a sharp message on the Chareidi draft controversy Sunday night, declaring that those who are not learning Torah should enlist in the IDF and that anyone who proclaims, “We will die rather than enlist,” should be sent immediately to jail.

In a wide-ranging interview with Yinon Magal on Channel 14’s “The Patriots,” Netanyahu laid out his security and political priorities ahead of the elections for the 26th Knesset. He placed defeating the Iranian regime at the top of his agenda, pledged to complete the disarmament of Hamas and Hezbollah, addressed divisions within the political right, criticized Itamar Ben Gvir and Ofer Winter, and discussed further changes to Israel’s judicial system.

“Anyone who does not learn Torah should enlist. And anyone who says, ‘We will die rather than enlist,’ should go straight to jail,” Netanyahu said.

Iran was at the center of Netanyahu’s discussion of Israel’s security challenges. The prime minister said that despite the severe blows Tehran has suffered, the Iranian regime has not abandoned its nuclear ambitions.

“Iran will not have a nuclear weapon as long as I am prime minister,” Netanyahu declared.

He went further, saying that Israel must ultimately bring about the defeat of the Iranian regime.

“This regime must be defeated. I am committed to that, and it is possible. They are weaker than they were,” Netanyahu said.

According to Netanyahu, defeating the Iranian regime would also bring Israel closer to completing its campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Turning to Gaza, Netanyahu vowed that Hamas would be stripped of its weapons, whether voluntarily or through military force.

“The plan for Gaza is the elimination of Hamas. We will disarm it the easy way or the hard way. We will disarm them. I am committed to it, and I will do it,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister said his government had withstood enormous pressure during the war and promised that Israel would also finish the job of disarming Hezbollah.

Summarizing his priorities, Netanyahu said, “First and foremost—to defeat Iran. It is in our hands.”

Netanyahu also devoted a significant portion of the interview to the upcoming election and the danger that competing parties could split the right-wing vote.

He welcomed talks between Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin over a possible political alliance and said he would assist efforts to bring them together “in every way.”

Netanyahu was more critical of Ben Gvir, taking issue with his refusal to join forces with Smotrich.

“Today Ben Gvir needs to do it. He is categorical: ‘I am not uniting,’” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister said examinations conducted by his camp indicate that mergers among right-wing parties would strengthen the bloc. He warned that little time remains to prevent right-wing votes from being wasted.

“We have very little time, a week and two days, to enable this merger so that we do not lose a single vote,” he said.

Netanyahu also spoke at length about Ofer Winter, revealing that he met with the former senior IDF officer several weeks ago and offered him a place in Likud.

“I told him, look, there are two possibilities—you can come to us and be welcomed, or you can go your own separate way,” Netanyahu recounted.

Netanyahu warned that Winter’s decision to run independently could ultimately damage the right-wing bloc.

“I am concerned that this party could do one of two things—either waste votes or cause one of the parties to fall,” he said.

He also expressed skepticism about Winter’s declaration that he would support Netanyahu following the election.

“Winter said that he would support me. That’s fine and that’s true, but he added a ‘but,’ and a ‘but’ is an escape hatch,” Netanyahu said.

Turning to the judicial system, Netanyahu acknowledged that his government’s previous effort to enact changes had failed to accomplish its objective.

“We need to learn the lessons. The fact is that we did not succeed,” he said.

At the same time, Netanyahu made clear that he has not abandoned plans to make further changes to the judiciary. He said that if voters give the right another mandate, his government would seek to restore what he described as the proper balance between the branches of government.

“There is an understanding that the balance must be restored, and with that understanding we will succeed in doing it, and I am committed to doing it,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu was also questioned about the night before the October 7 massacre and whether events might have unfolded differently had he been awakened and informed of the warning signs that were emerging.

His answer was unequivocal.

“It would have looked completely different. That is the truth,” Netanyahu said.

He then went further, saying, “If they had woken me up, this would not have happened. I’m not saying that nothing would have happened, but it would not have happened like this.”

The prime minister called for the release of official protocols from the period surrounding the attack and said materials he presented to the state comptroller had surprised the comptroller. Netanyahu also reiterated his opposition to establishing a state commission of inquiry, instead proposing what he described as a “balanced commission of inquiry.”

Toward the end of the interview, Netanyahu returned to the Chareidi draft crisis and acknowledged that mistakes had been made in efforts to pass legislation regulating the status of yeshiva students.

“The draft law did not pass because mistakes were made. It can and must be handled differently,” Netanyahu said.

According to Netanyahu, the number of Chareidim entering the IDF is approaching 5,000. He said that on the day of the interview alone, 500 Chareidim enlisted, including 300 who entered combat tracks.

Netanyahu stressed that he has “enormous respect for the Torah world,” while drawing a firm distinction between those genuinely engaged in Torah learning and those who are not.

“Anyone who does not learn Torah should enlist,” Netanyahu said.