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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani unleashed a blistering attack on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, denouncing his hostility toward Israel, questioning his loyalty to the United States, and accusing his administration of worsening conditions across the city.

The former New York City mayor spoke on Newsmax shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly, where Netanyahu was expected to discuss Mamdani and his anti-Israel record.

“You don’t have to be Jewish to be disgusted with him,” Giuliani said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “Bianca Across the Nation.”

Giuliani said his objections to Mamdani extended beyond the mayor’s rhetoric about Israel.

“I’m disgusted with him because I’m a supporter of Israel,” he added. “I’m also a supporter of my country, and he gives me a tremendous sense that he hates my country. I don’t particularly like people that hate my country.”

Mamdani has previously described Netanyahu as a “war criminal.” He also once said that he would have the Israeli leader arrested if Netanyahu visited New York City, although he later retreated from that position.

Giuliani predicted that Netanyahu would use his UN address to answer Mamdani directly, pointing to the mayor’s statements and his ties to far-left political commentator Hasan Piker.

“I think he’s going to use illustrations of [Mamdani’s] virulent, hateful statements and his association with Hasan Piker,” Giuliani said, arguing that Netanyahu would likely present specific examples instead of limiting himself to broad criticism.

Giuliani portrayed Mamdani’s attacks on Israel as one element of a wider ideological campaign aimed at undermining Western society.

“The calumny against Israel has been orchestrated, and I think very, very, very much a part of the Communist plan, as well as the Islamic extremist plan to take over Western civilization,” he said.

Asked how Mamdani could win office in a city with one of the world’s largest Jewish populations, Giuliani compared the situation to the resistance he encountered when prosecuting organized crime figures decades ago.

“I view this a little bit like when I dealt with the Mafia 30, 40 years ago,” he said. “There were some Italian Americans who used to defend them, and some were members, and some were just overly, almost in a sick way, defensive. But most Italian Americans didn’t. And most Jewish people, I think, are disgusted with Mamdani.”

Giuliani, who led New York City from 1994 through 2001 and was mayor during the September 11 terrorist attacks, also criticized Mamdani’s performance at City Hall. He called the mayor “pathetic” and branded his administration’s policies “vicious, mean, and horrible.”

“I also, as a former mayor, think he’s a pathetic mayor,” Giuliani said. “What he’s doing with homelessness is vicious, mean, and horrible to the homeless people. He just took the police out of helping the homeless people.”

Giuliani maintained that homelessness was only one manifestation of a broader collapse in municipal leadership under Mamdani.

“We could go on all day about all of the problems that are occurring in New York City as a result of our poor leadership,” he said.

Rudy Giuliani denied that his administration concealed information about the dangerous contaminants that filled Lower Manhattan following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, maintaining that City Hall disclosed what it knew and relied on federal environmental guidance.

The former New York City mayor addressed the accusations as the city Department of Investigation begins examining what municipal officials knew about Ground Zero’s contaminated air, when they learned it and how they responded.

“My administration posted everything,” Giuliani insisted, saying his City Hall followed guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as large sections of downtown Manhattan reopened following the destruction of the World Trade Center.

“EPA initially said everything was safe,” he said.

“I was at the end of my administration when 9/11 happened. I was told approximately 10 months after I left office that more information was known.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration recently agreed to release approximately 170,000 records involving concerns about air quality near Ground Zero. Mamdani has alleged that “people got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”

Giuliani, who has frequently criticized his socialist successor, raised doubts about whether an investigation conducted under Mamdani’s administration could remain impartial. He nevertheless said he would reserve judgment if the inquiry genuinely focuses on establishing the facts.

“DOI can question me — fine,” said Giuliani, who became widely known as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership following the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

“I’ll give it a chance.”

Giuliani’s tenure concluded at the end of December 2001. Michael Bloomberg succeeded him and presided over the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan below Canal Street, including the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

A prominent advocate for people suffering from 9/11-related illnesses contended that city officials were more focused at the time on protecting New York from potential lawsuits than on establishing whether the air was actually safe for residents, students and emergency workers.

“There was not a concern for the safety of the people in the neighborhood, the schools and the first responders,” said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, which sued the city to obtain the previously undisclosed health records.

Chevat said, “I’m not going to fault people for making mistakes” during the deadliest terrorist attack in American history.

However, he added, “It’s a little early for Mayor Giuliani to say he knew nothing.”

The Department of Investigation has retained outside attorneys to assist in determining what successive mayoral administrations knew about the toxic dust at Ground Zero and whether they took any action in response.

Because the agency does not have enough personnel to conduct the labor-intensive review of the enormous collection of documents on its own, it is arranging a contract with the national law firm Epstein Becker & Green.

“Services will include conducting an investigation to ascertain the knowledge possessed by mayoral administrations on environmental toxins produced by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and to submit a report to the Council thereon,” the DOI stated in a procurement notice.

The inquiry was mandated by a City Council resolution approved in July 2025. The DOI was also allocated $3.8 million over two years to conduct the fact-finding investigation.

Environmental advocates have argued for years that New York City officials gave the public misleading assurances about the health hazards posed by contaminated air after the attacks.

Mamdani agreed to release the long-withheld collection of records as part of a settlement with 9/11 Health Watch.

“For 25 years, four different mayoral administrations kept from the public, the US Congress, and the City Council documents showing what the city actually knew about the danger of the toxic chemicals in Lower Manhattan and Western Brooklyn after the World Trade Center collapse — even as city officials continued messaging to the public that the air was ‘safe and acceptable,’” Chevat said.

An extraordinary and emotional maamad took place in Lemberg in recent days, as a minyan of Yidden gathered at the kever of Rav Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi zt”l, the Chacham Tzvi, to formally ask his forgiveness on behalf of the rabbinic leadership and Jewish community of Amsterdam more than three centuries after he left the city under painful circumstances.

The unusual initiative began approximately six months ago during a visit to Amsterdam by the Rebbe of Mevakshei Emunah. During his stay, the Rebbe heard about a number of difficulties that had befallen prominent families in the community, as well as the severe level of assimilation that has become one of the most significant challenges facing Dutch Jewry.

The discussions led to the idea of seeking mechilah from the Chacham Tzvi, one of the great poskim of his generation, who served as Rav of Amsterdam. His tenure in the city ended amid a bitter machlokes, and he ultimately left Amsterdam abruptly and with considerable pain and anguish.

The proposal was brought before Rav Eliezer Wolff, Rav and Av Bais Din of Amsterdam and a member of the European Bais Din, who endorsed the initiative and composed a detailed text of mechilah to be recited in the name of Amsterdam’s rabbinic leadership and community.

Carrying out the plan, however, required traveling from Amsterdam to Lemberg, where the Chacham Tzvi is buried. The initiative therefore remained pending until an appropriate opportunity arose.

That opportunity came in recent days, when Rav Moshe Balt, a prominent avreich in Amsterdam’s Tzvi Ashkenazi kollel, headed by Rav Yehuda Fischer, traveled to Lemberg. Together with a minyan of Yidden, he went to the Chacham Tzvi’s kever to carry out the request for forgiveness.

At the kever, the group recited the special text composed by Rav Wolff, asking forgiveness for the anguish caused to the Chacham Tzvi and for the circumstances surrounding his departure from Amsterdam. The text stressed that those participating were not seeking to pass judgment on previous generations, but rather to repair, to whatever extent possible, the affront to the honor of one of the great Torah leaders who had served the Amsterdam community.

Among the passages recited at the kever was the following:

“Our teacher, the Chacham Tzvi, forgive us. Forgive the community of Amsterdam. Forgive the rabbinate of Amsterdam. Forgive anyone who harmed your honor, directly or indirectly, through speech or action, and caused you pain and anguish. If you were treated improperly, if the honor of your Torah was harmed, and if you left our city with a hurting heart and a feeling of insult, we come today, after many generations, to repair whatever is within our ability.”

Toward the conclusion of the request, the group declared:

“Let this request for forgiveness serve as testimony that Amsterdam has not forgotten our teacher, and that his name and his Torah remain engraved in the history of the city’s rabbinate and in its heritage.”

The maamad concluded with tefillos that the great zechus of the Chacham Tzvi stand on behalf of Amsterdam’s Jewish community, its rabbonim and dayanim, and all of its members. The participants also prayed that the Chacham Tzvi serve as a meilitz yosher for them and for all of Klal Yisroel, that kavod Shomayim and kavod haTorah be increased, that the community be spared from machlokes and the scourge of assimilation, and that its members merit yeshuos.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON — President Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday with an elaborate display of pageantry, personal attention and behind-the-scenes access, even taking the Chinese leader aboard the presidential helicopter after showing him renovations to the grounds.

The cordial public appearances offered little indication of what the two leaders discussed privately. Xi ignored questions from reporters, including inquiries from The Post, while touring the White House grounds as Trump’s guest of honor.

Trump spent approximately three hours hosting Xi before the two leaders separated ahead of an evening state dinner. The guest list was expected to include a lineup of leading technology executives, including Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Michael Dell and Tim Cook.

Following their private meeting, Trump escorted Xi to the newly constructed granite helipad and invited him aboard the presidential helicopter.

Demonstrators representing several groups oppressed by the Chinese government gathered outside the White House gates. Among them were protesters dressed as Winnie the Pooh, whose perceived resemblance to Xi has led Chinese authorities to censor images and references to the character.

The formal welcome began with brief statements in the Grand Foyer before moving outdoors, where military bands and color guards performed in the Rose Garden. Fighter jets and a B-2 stealth bomber later flew overhead as part of the ceremony.

Xi, often described as China’s “president for life,” has experienced periods of both cooperation and tension with Trump. None of that strain was visible Thursday as Trump directed Xi’s attention to a photograph of the two leaders hanging in the West Wing.

“We have a lot of respect for you. We’ve had that up for a year,” Trump told him.

Xi was also seen laughing when Trump showed him a satirical image portraying Joe Biden as an autopen.

Trade was expected to feature prominently in the closed-door talks following last year’s exchange of tariffs between Washington and Beijing.

During his opening comments, Xi appeared to press for expanded access to the American market for Chinese-made automobiles, arguing that Chinese companies should be “treated fairly.” He also sought greater Chinese access to sophisticated artificial-intelligence chips and called on the two countries to “develop and manage AI for good.”

Xi said China was “willing” to cooperate with the United States in combating narcotics trafficking. His statement came after a U.S. official used a recent White House-arranged press call to accuse Beijing of failing to do enough to stop fentanyl shipments.

Fentanyl has been linked to approximately 488,000 American deaths over the past decade, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Xi also announced that China would loan two pandas to a zoo in Atlanta.

Trump was expected to confront Xi privately over fentanyl trafficking and to press Beijing to end its support for the Iranian and Russian militaries.

Those sensitive subjects did not surface publicly. In a departure from the arrangements made during many visits by foreign leaders, reporters were not admitted to the Oval Office for a press conference. Only photographers were briefly permitted inside.

“From the time of my first election in 2016, President Xi and I forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people,” Trump said in the Grand Foyer of the executive mansion.

“We have spent time together all over the world, from Germany to Argentina, Japan to South Korea, and Beijing to Palm Beach, Florida. But remarkably, this is our first time meeting together here at the White House, and as President Xi has already seen, a lot has changed since he was last here.”

Trump said “our teams have been working to encourage a more balanced trading relationship, including the new market access for American farmers and ranchers” and that “we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and super-intelligence.”

Trump traveled to Beijing in May and appeared determined to provide Xi with a similarly grand reception in Washington. Military personnel were positioned dramatically along the West Wing roof while bands and color guards marched across the white paving stones recently installed at Trump’s direction.

The White House also attempted to reproduce one of the memorable scenes from Trump’s Beijing visit, when groups of Chinese schoolchildren greeted Trump and Xi at the Great Hall of the People.

First lady Melania Trump and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, attended a children’s performance at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

Students from the Hope Chinese School waved American and Chinese flags and cheered for the two first ladies in a scene resembling the reception Trump received from students during his trip to China earlier this year.

The children, who ranged in age from 8 to 15, performed songs in both Chinese and English. Peng, who was a prominent singer before marrying Xi, was seen silently following the lyrics and clapping with the music.

Xi has ruled China since 2012 and last visited the White House in 2015, when he met with then-President Barack Obama. During Thursday’s visit, Trump personally showed him several changes made to the White House grounds, including the new helipad.

“He’s an expert on stone aside from many other things. And he loves good granite,” Trump told reporters as he and Xi headed back inside.

Because no formal press conference was held, journalists shouted questions at Xi following the helipad tour. He did not respond.

Xi kept a fixed half-smile as The Post questioned him about China’s role in facilitating fentanyl exports blamed for nearly half a million American deaths and Beijing’s lack of transparency regarding the origins of COVID-19.

Other reporters asked Xi about Taiwan and imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai. The Chinese leader offered no reaction and left every question unanswered.

The Vizhnitzer community is mourning the passing of Reb Chaim Litman Walzer z”l, one of the senior and prominent Vizhnitzer chassidim and a leading baal menagen in the chassidus for more than six decades. He was 83.

Reb Chaim had been seriously ill for the past two years. Over the course of his long life, he merited to sing in the presence of three generations of Vizhnitzer Rebbes, beginning with the Imrei Chaim, continuing for decades with the Yeshuos Moshe, and, in more recent years, with the present Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Reb Chaim was born on the 20th of Kislev 5703 to Reb Dov “Berel” Walzer z”l and Mrs. Rivka Walzer a”h. His father was among the distinguished Vizhnitzer chassidim who survived the Holocaust and played an important role in rebuilding Vizhnitz in Eretz Yisroel in the years that followed.

Raised in a home steeped in simple emunah, devotion to the Vizhnitzer Rebbes and dedication to the chassidus, Reb Chaim remained deeply attached to Vizhnitz throughout his life.

A particularly significant part of his life was his role in preserving and transmitting the rich musical tradition of Vizhnitz. Blessed with a sweet and distinctive voice, Reb Chaim became one of the leading baalei menagnim in the Vizhnitzer court and remained in that role for more than 60 years.

He first sang before the Imrei Chaim and subsequently spent decades singing before the Yeshuos Moshe. In later years, he continued in the presence of the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

For Reb Chaim, negina was far more than a matter of possessing a beautiful voice. It was an integral part of his avodas Hashem and his connection to the Vizhnitzer dynasty. His voice accompanied countless gatherings, tefillos and tisches over the decades, becoming familiar to generations of Vizhnitzer chassidim.

He was present for some of the most memorable moments in the recent history of the chassidus. He accompanied the Rebbes during the periods surrounding their respective coronations, escorting the Yeshuos Moshe to the bais medrash and later participating in the coronation Shabbos of the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Reb Chaim also sang at the major gatherings and celebrations of Vizhnitz over the years. Among the remembered occasions was the Lag BaOmer celebration in 2002, when he sang before the Yeshuos Moshe, leading the traditional songs in honor of Rav Shimon bar Yochai.

For many years, Reb Chaim earned his livelihood by operating a silverware store on Admor MiVizhnitz Street in Bnei Brak. He became a familiar and beloved figure to residents of the city, known for conducting his business with integrity and honesty.

Those who knew him recalled his warm countenance, sensitive nature and exceptional middos. Despite his prominent place within Vizhnitz, he conducted himself with modesty, avoided honor and maintained regular times for limud haTorah.

Reb Chaim shared an especially close relationship with the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe. That bond was poignantly demonstrated just days before his passing.

On Erev Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe visited Reb Chaim at his home while he was ill. During the visit, Reb Chaim presented the Rebbe with an extraordinary gift: an antique gartel that had belonged to the Ahavas Yisroel of Vizhnitz and had been preserved as a family inheritance.

The gift, given during what would prove to be one of their final encounters, carried particular meaning for a man whose life had been defined by his attachment to the Vizhnitzer Rebbes across generations.

Reb Chaim leaves behind a distinguished family. His only son, Reb Yisroel Walzer, is a prominent Vizhnitzer communal activist in London and serves as an administrator of the Vizhnitzer institutions there. He has been extensively involved in establishing and developing the chassidus’s Torah institutions and facilities in London.

Reb Chaim’s sons-in-law are Reb Moshe Korenboim and Reb Chaim Finkelstein.

The levayah was held at the Vizhnitzer bais medrash on Shlomo Hamelech Street in Bnei Brak. Kevurah took place at the Vizhnitzer bais hachaim in the city.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to clear the way for immigration authorities to continue rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their homelands, including nations with which they have no previous connection.

In an emergency filing, the administration urged the justices to suspend lower-court rulings requiring the government to give migrants effective notice and a meaningful opportunity to argue that they could face persecution or torture in the proposed destination country.

The filing marks the administration’s latest appeal to the Supreme Court in the closely watched case, D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, which centers on the extent of the protections migrants must receive before being sent to so-called third countries.

“The government has been able to remove thousands of aliens to third countries in recent months, and thousands more are eligible for such removal,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s filing.

The administration argues that third-country deportations are necessary when the United States cannot quickly return migrants to their countries of origin. According to government attorneys, receiving countries provide diplomatic assurances that those sent there will not be persecuted or tortured.

Officials contend that the procedural requirements imposed by the lower courts would cause lengthy delays, complicate deportation operations and potentially force the United States to renegotiate agreements reached with foreign governments.

The administration said the rulings have already resulted in the cancellation of a deportation flight that was scheduled to carry 70 migrants with criminal convictions to three different countries.

The Supreme Court previously intervened in the dispute in June 2025, temporarily lifting an injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston. That decision allowed third-country deportations to continue while the administration pursued its appeal.

Since then, Judge Murphy issued a final ruling declaring the Department of Homeland Security’s third-country deportation policy unlawful. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld that decision last week.

The appeals court did not prohibit the government from deporting migrants to third countries. It ruled, however, that migrants must receive sufficient notice of their intended destination and a meaningful chance to claim that sending them there could expose them to persecution or torture.

The court found that the administration’s policy offered no advance notice when the State Department believed it had received credible diplomatic assurances from the destination country. In other cases, the policy generally contemplated notice of 24 hours or less before deportation.

The case was filed as a class action on behalf of migrants with final removal orders who faced deportation to countries that had not been named during their immigration proceedings.

The plaintiffs do not dispute the government’s authority to remove them from the United States or to deport migrants to third countries under certain circumstances. They argue that the government cannot lawfully send them to a previously undisclosed destination without first allowing them to raise credible fears concerning that country.

The administration has significantly expanded the use of third-country deportations as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Thousands of migrants have been sent abroad through agreements with nearly two dozen countries, including South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Panama.

Attorneys for migrants have warned that diplomatic assurances do not always protect deportees after they arrive. Lawyers for two men sent to Equatorial Guinea alleged earlier this month that police beat them and held them at gunpoint inside a hotel being used as a detention facility.

The Supreme Court’s eventual decision could determine whether the administration may continue carrying out third-country deportations on an expedited basis or whether migrants must first be afforded a formal opportunity to challenge the country selected for their removal.

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish a heartfelt refuah sheleimah to all those who are once again packing their suitcases and running away for Sukkos. Some are off to Eretz Yisroel, some to Florida, some to hotels, some to rented houses, and some elsewhere. Wherever you are going, I hope you have a wonderful time, because after the difficult few weeks you have just endured at home, you certainly deserve the break.

I realize that many of you are still recovering from the summer. It was only a few weeks ago that you returned from your summer homes, where you spent July and August escaping from the large and beautiful homes that you worked so hard to buy. You packed up clothing, food, linens, toys, bicycles, scooters, cases of drinks, half your kitchen and enough supplies to establish a small settlement in the Catskills, all so that you could spend the summer getting away from it all. Then came the exhausting trip back home, followed by several very difficult weeks of having to live in your own house.

Somehow, you made it.

I can only imagine how challenging it must have been. You had to sleep in your own bed, sit on your own couch and eat in the kitchen you spent a fortune renovating. You had to use your own bathrooms and enjoy the central air conditioning that you complain about paying for all year. You may even have had to spend a Shabbos or two in your own neighborhood. Yet you persevered, and now, baruch Hashem, salvation has arrived. Sukkos is here, which means it is finally time to get out of the house again.

I have begun to wonder about these houses. I actually feel bad for them. These are beautiful homes, many of them purchased at prices that would have caused our grandparents to faint. Their owners spend years improving them. The kitchen gets redone, the basement gets finished, the dining room gets new furniture, the backyard gets a patio, and the bedrooms are decorated down to the last throw pillow. People spend months choosing countertops and agonizing over light fixtures. They debate whether the island should be eight feet or nine feet and whether the refrigerator should have custom panels. Then, when everything is finally perfect, they reach the conclusion that the best place to enjoy life is anywhere else.

Imagine being one of these houses and watching the suitcases come down the stairs again.

“Where are they going now? They just came back!”

The poor dining room must be terribly confused. Here it is, waiting patiently with a beautiful table that extends halfway to the front door, enough chairs for the entire extended family and a breakfront filled with dishes that are apparently too beautiful to eat on, and suddenly everyone is heading to Florida for Yom Tov. The kitchen must take it personally. Two sinks, two ovens, two dishwashers, a giant refrigerator, another refrigerator in the garage and three freezers downstairs, and the family still decided that making Yom Tov at home was simply too much.

What more could the house possibly have done?

Of course, after Sukkos, everyone will come back completely exhausted and tell us how difficult the trip was. The airport was mobbed, the flight was delayed, the rental car line was ridiculous, the kids didn’t sleep, the food wasn’t what they expected, somebody got sick, the weather wasn’t great, and by the time they finally walked back into their own house they needed a vacation from the vacation. This will be said without the slightest trace of irony.

Fortunately, there will then be a few weeks during which they can recuperate at home. I hope they use that time wisely, because Chanukah will be coming, and you know what that means. People cannot possibly be expected to spend Chanukah in the same place where they spent the three weeks after Sukkos. Florida will once again beckon. Then comes midwinter, because after spending several consecutive weeks in your own ZIP code, any normal human being obviously requires emergency evacuation.

Once midwinter is over, we can begin the serious business of discussing Pesach. This generally starts before the suitcases from Florida have been fully unpacked. Where are you going? Which program? Which hotel? Who is catering? Who is speaking? Who else is going? Is there a kids’ program? Is there a twenty-four-hour tea room? Heaven forbid someone should find himself hungry at 1:30 in the morning after consuming nine meals that day.

Then comes Shavuos, when another opportunity presents itself to flee the premises, and shortly thereafter it is time to begin packing for the bungalow again. Before you know it, another year has passed, during which the mortgage was faithfully paid every month on a house whose owners appear to regard spending time inside it as some sort of punishment.

I understand vacations. I really do. People work hard. Families enjoy going places together. Some people have parents or children in Eretz Yisroel and want to spend Yom Tov with them. There are a hundred legitimate reasons to travel, and everyone is entitled to spend his money and his vacation time however he wishes. What amazes me is how completely normal it has become to spend every possible break trying to get away from home, to the point that staying home for Yom Tov almost sounds like something that requires an explanation.

Tell someone, “We’re staying home for Sukkos,” and watch the reaction.

“Oh. You’re staying home?”

Yes. At home. Where we live. We have beds there and food and running water. There are even chairs. We think we’ll manage.

Sometimes the next question is, “You’re not going anywhere?”

Anywhere? I am going from my kitchen to my sukkah. I may even stop in the living room along the way. It’s going to be quite a trip.

Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but I always thought the whole point of having a home was that you actually enjoyed being there. Apparently, the new American dream is to buy the biggest and nicest house you can afford and then arrange your calendar so that you spend as little time there as possible.

So as Sukkos approaches, I really do wish all the travelers well. Have a safe flight. Have an easy drive. Enjoy Eretz Yisroel. Enjoy Florida. Enjoy the hotel, the rented house, the pool, the buffet and whatever other destination has rescued you from the terrible fate of spending another week in the home you chose, bought, furnished, renovated and continue to pay for.

And when you return after Yom Tov, exhausted and surrounded by suitcases, take a good look around. Say hello to the couch. Visit the dining room. Check whether the kitchen still remembers you. Maybe even spend a little time there.

Don’t worry. It won’t be for long.

Chanukah is coming.

A Reader Who Somehow Survives Staying Home

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An unusual public dispute erupted Thursday between the IDF and Israel Police over what security forces discovered beneath Qalqilya, with the military directly rejecting the police’s announcement a day earlier that a tunnel under excavation had been uncovered in the Palestinian city.

The controversy began after police announced Wednesday that forces operating in Qalqilya had discovered “a tunnel whose excavation had not yet been completed” that had already reached a depth of at least 25 meters. Police also reported finding what they described as the beginning of another tunnel excavation.

The announcement prompted widespread reports that security forces had uncovered underground tunnel infrastructure in Qalqilya.

On Thursday, however, the IDF issued a sharply different account, saying that an examination of the site determined that no tunnel route existed.

According to the IDF, troops operating overnight together with Border Police forces from the Yehuda and Shomron district, under the command of the Ephraim Brigade, discovered two shafts approximately 12 meters deep.

“Contrary to the official and irresponsible statements issued on the matter, following an examination of the shafts, the existence of a tunnel route in the shafts was ruled out, and the proximity of the shaft to the seam-line area was also ruled out,” the IDF said.

The wording represented an unusually open rebuke between two Israeli security bodies that had participated in the same operation. Although the IDF did not explicitly identify Israel Police as the target of its criticism, its statement came directly after the police’s official announcement regarding the alleged tunnel.

Police had stated Wednesday that “a tunnel and weapons were located beneath the ground in Qalqilya.”

The police announcement further said that “a tunnel whose excavation had not yet been completed was located, and already at this stage its depth is at least 25 meters,” adding that forces had also uncovered “the beginning of the excavation of an additional tunnel.”

The IDF now says the findings were substantially different. According to the military, the two underground shafts were approximately 12 meters deep, and an investigation of the shafts ruled out the possibility that they formed part of a tunnel system. The military also emphasized that the shafts were not close to the seam-line area separating Yehuda and Shomron from pre-1967 Israel.

Despite the dispute over the underground structures, weapons were indeed discovered during the operation.

Security forces found an M16 rifle, a hunting rifle, a handgun and ammunition near the shafts. The weapons were confiscated.

Four suspects accused of involvement in terrorist activity were also arrested during the operation and transferred to security forces for questioning.