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Dear Matzav Inbox,

It’s very nice that some wonderful, generous people have recently decided to build chesed wedding halls in our various communities. Really, it is. The idea is noble: help struggling families make simchos without drowning in debt. But tell me: Why does “chesed” automatically mean small, squashed, and second-rate?

Why, just because someone is paying a discounted rate, does the hall have to be the size of a large shul simcha hall?

Why does the food have to look like it was thrown together by a camp kitchen on a rainy Thursday night — a few leaves of lettuce, a couple croutons, and two cherry tomatoes pretending to be an appetizer? [Evidence: Real photo above.]

Why does the schedule of the wedding have to unravel into chaos, just because the hall carries the holy label of “chesed”?

Let’s not kid ourselves. Millions were spent on these buildings. Millions. Would it really have killed someone to make them the size of a normal, mainstream hall that could comfortably seat a regular crowd? Just something normal? Something where a chosson and kallah don’t feel like they’re making their simcha in a glorified bar mitzvah hall?

And don’t tell me it’s about saving money. The money was already spent! The walls are already up, the hall is already standing. So why the decision to make them sub-par from the get-go? Who decided that people who need help automatically deserve less? Why do we build for them an experience that feels like a cut-rate version of a real wedding, instead of just giving them what every other family has?

If this is chesed, then it’s a strange kind of chesed. Real chesed is about dignity. Real chesed is about making sure the families don’t feel like second-class citizens on the happiest night of their lives. Real chesed doesn’t embarrass. It uplifts. It doesn’t scream “discount wedding.” It says, “Your simcha matters just as much as anyone else’s.”

But instead, we’ve built halls that practically announce: “This is the budget option. This is the place where you settle for less. This is where you celebrate your wedding like a shalom zachor — squish into the kabbolas ponim if you can, clear all the table and amke room for one big circle during dancing, and leave your dignity at the door.”

Why? Why do we do such dumb things? Why do we pour millions into projects that miss the whole point? If we’re going to do chesed, then do it right. Build normal halls. Serve decent food. Run a wedding like a wedding, not like a communal potluck. Give people pride, not pity.

Because at the end of the day, just because I’m using a discounted wedding hall does not mean my wedding has to look and feel discounted. My simcha should be celebrated like anyone else’s — with kavod, with joy, and with dignity. That’s the kind of chesed our community deserves.

A Frustrated Baal Simcha

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{Matzav.com}

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday appointed economist and former Columbia University president Minouche Shafik as his chief economic adviser. It’s part of a staff shakeup aimed at strengthening the government’s response to a sluggish economy and a heated political debate over immigration. Starmer’s center-left Labour Party government has struggled to boost economic growth and curb inflation, leaving Treasury chief Rachel Reeves facing unpalatable choices about taxes and spending in her budget this fall. Shafik, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, has held senior academic and civil service roles in Britain, and served a brief, tempestuous term as Columbia president. The British-U.S. national left her job leading the New York university in August 2024 after just over a year following scrutiny of her handling of protests and campus divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Like other U.S. university leaders, Shafik faced criticism from many corners: Some students groups blasted her decision to invite police in to arrest protesters. Republicans in Congress and others called on her to do more to call out antisemitism. Starmer spokesman Dave Pares said the prime minister was delighted to have Shafik bring her “exceptional record when it comes to economic expertise” to the government. Starmer also shook up his communications team and appointed Darren Jones, formerly a minister in the Treasury, to the new post of chief secretary to the prime minister, tasked with coordinating work on policy priorities. The moves came as lawmakers returned to Parliament after a summer break that saw dozens of small but heated protests outside hotels housing asylum-seekers. The Labour government, which was elected in July 2024, has struggled to curb unauthorized migration and fulfill its responsibility to accommodate those seeking refuge. The hard-right Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage has sought to capitalize on concern about thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. Painting the asylum-seekers as a threat, Farage has pledged to deport everyone who enters the country without authorization should Reform win power in a future election. Reform has only a handful of lawmakers in the House of Commons but regularly leads both Labour and the main opposition Conservative Party in opinion polls. Starmer’s government says it is fixing an asylum system broken after 14 years of Conservative government and is working with other countries to tackle the people-smuggling gangs that organize the cross-channel journeys. (AP)

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The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is preparing to resume deliberations on the controversial Draft Law as early as this week, with newly appointed chairman MK Boaz Bismuth leading the effort.

Following the parliamentary recess, the committee will reconvene under Bismuth’s leadership to continue discussions surrounding the legislation that has long been at the heart of debate between the chareidi community and government officials.

Ahead of the sessions, Bismuth intends to embark on a marathon of consultations in an attempt to forge broad understandings. According to information obtained by Matzav.com, his schedule includes meetings with Shas representative Ariel Attias, Defense Minister Yisroel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, as well as leaders of the IDF reserve organizations.

The government itself is grappling with tensions on the issue. At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting—held at a secure and undisclosed location in light of the recent wave of targeted killings in Yemen and Gaza and heightened threats against ministers—Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered a pointed message to the chareidi factions. According to political correspondent Amit Segal, Netanyahu said: “I want this government to serve its full term. I am calling on everyone to act responsibly, return to the coalition, and ensure the passage of the 2026 budget.”

Netanyahu’s statement came against the backdrop of a strong warning issued by Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni over the weekend. Gafni declared that he would advise the Gedolei HaTorah to oppose any government budget proposals, citing what he described as violations of previous coalition agreements. Specifically, Gafni was responding to the government’s plan to slash approximately 40 million shekels from the remaining 89 million shekels allocated to the “Ofek Chadash” program.

Meanwhile, discussions between the defense establishment and the committee chair are expected to address not only the Draft Law itself but also broader issues. Reports last week indicated that Chief of Staff Zamir is scheduled to meet with Bismuth to review the army’s manpower needs. Their agenda is also expected to cover the so-called “Chief of Staff’s enhancements” relating to pension benefits, along with other pressing security matters.

That meeting is slated for next Friday, following a classified intelligence briefing Zamir will deliver to the subcommittee on intelligence affairs at the IDF’s Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv. Before then, on Tuesday, the closed-door committee session is set to tackle another urgent subject: the fate of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

{Matzav.com Israel}

For the third time in less than three weeks, Israeli police have detained a 27-year-old Jerusalem resident accused of spray-painting inflammatory graffiti equating the war in Gaza to the Holocaust. Police said the suspect was arrested Sunday near the city’s central bus station after attempting to spray-paint the phrase “There is a holocaust in Gaza” in Hebrew on a wall adjacent to the light rail stop. He also held a sign carrying the same message. Authorities stopped him after he managed to scrawl part of the phrase, images released by police show. The arrest follows a string of incidents in which the suspect allegedly defaced some of Jerusalem’s most prominent sites. On Aug. 11, he spray-painted the same slogan on a section of the Kosel and the outer walls of the Great Synagogue. Two weeks later, he was arrested outside a church with a paint canister; the phrase was later discovered inside the Christian site. The acts drew widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court previously released the man for psychological treatment after he admitted to defacing the Kosel. Relatives have since told Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef that he suffers from serious mental health issues and has a history of hospitalization. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Beit Shemesh is facing one of the stormiest openings to a school year in recent memory. After months of failed placement efforts for incoming ninth-grade girls, the city’s leading rabbonim and school administrators turned to the senior Torah authority of the city, Rav Mordechai Goldstein, who issued a dramatic ruling: the school year for ninth grade will not open until the issue of student placements is resolved.

According to the details, the city’s Department of Education was unable to place all the girls into existing seminaries. Administrators had warned repeatedly that without clear agreements that they would not begin the year, but the municipality, they said, did little to resolve the situation. As a result, the seminary principals gathered this morning at the home of Rav Goldstein, who instructed them not to open the year until a proper arrangement is reached.

Beit Shemesh is home to at least seven major schools, both Lithuanian and Sephardic, and this year an additional institution opened under the umbrella of the “New Seminary” of Yerushalayim. Local rabbonim, including Rav Elimelech Kornfeld and Rav Dani Porush, are among the key figures behind the Beit Shemesh branch.

Due to the city’s rapid population growth, demand for schools placements has skyrocketed. Principals were asked to expand class sizes from 35 to 40 girls to accommodate the need. While most schools reluctantly agreed, one new school refused to open an additional class despite allegedly committing to do so, citing a desire to preserve “quality” among its students.

This refusal, combined with political backing from city officials close to the seminary’s leaders, shifted the pressure onto the older, established institutions. A source familiar with the matter said: “The new school promised the mayor to open two classes, but after registration decided to open only one. The other schools agreed to 40 students per class, and now they are being asked to take on even more.”

Rav Goldstein reportedly told the principals that they may not exceed 40 girls per class, as they carry a responsibility to those already accepted. With the municipality unable to resolve the dispute, the matter was handed over to the Education Ministry, which summoned the principals to a hearing this coming Tuesday.

The stalemate reached its peak Sunday when school leaders once again consulted Rav Goldstein, who ruled decisively that classes for ninth grade will not open until a solution is found. This decision directly impacts some 400 girls who were supposed to begin school tomorrow.

One principal remarked: “The city has options for placement — there are schools that still haven’t filled 40 girls per class, and the new school must open two classes as it promised. There is no reason the girls should be left without a place.”

Observers note that the mayor is reluctant to pressure the new school due to the influence of a local rav, and is instead sheltering behind the claim that the school lacks formal recognition.

For now, both sides remain entrenched, leaving hundreds of young girls in limbo. Rav Goldstein, who holds the final word on school issues in the city, has made it clear: the school year will not open until every girl has a suitable placement.

A similar problem has arisen in Yerushalayim, where several institutions are also delaying the start of classes. But in Beit Shemesh the crisis is far more severe, marking what appears to be the first time the beginning of the school year has been blocked entirely due to placement disputes.

The Beit Shemesh municipality issued a brief response: “The city has placed every student into a school. There is no girl who has not been assigned. As for the refusal of certain schools to accept the city’s placements, the matter has been transferred to the Education Ministry, which will deliberate seriously and enforce the municipality’s decision.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government. The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage. The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 27 kilometers (17 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed. Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands. The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar. Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built. One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed. “Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name. “We need help here,” he pleaded. “We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.” Homes collapsed and people screamed for help Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas. The quake has worsened communications. Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospitals. One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help. Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name. He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him. “I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Hospital. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out.” It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said. Rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman. Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesman, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but road travel was difficult. “There are some villages where the injured and dead haven’t been recovered from the rubble, so that’s why the […]

At a government session held on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu appealed to his coalition partners who had stepped away, urging them to rejoin and allow the current government to finish its mandate.

“This government must serve out its full term. You see what’s happening with the Houthis—that’s why we’re here in this room,” Netanyahu stated, according to a Channel 13 News report by Yuval Segev.

Netanyahu pointed out that only his administration has the ability to properly navigate the difficulties the country is facing. “We have the Draft Law before us, and there are other matters I won’t elaborate on here,” he remarked.

He made it clear that there are two pressing objectives. “We must first make a supreme effort to ensure the school year begins smoothly – and then work to bring our partners back into the government.”

The Prime Minister highlighted that stability and achdus are essential. “We need to reach agreement on the budget and the Draft Law.”

He declared with conviction, “If we complete these tasks, we can continue to lead the State of Israel for years to come. This is vital for our survival. I don’t believe any other government would have done what we did to eliminate the existential threat above our heads.”

Addressing the critics who have downplayed recent achievements, Netanyahu said, “Our opponents in the media and politics are doing everything they can to make people forget that small event – which is actually one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel. And I’m not just talking about the State of Israel, but the entire history of the Jewish people. Who else would have done this, if not us?”

According to the report, Netanyahu expressed disappointment over the absence of the chareidi representatives from the session. “There’s no substitute for this government,” he said. “I’m sorry our chareidi friends aren’t here, because this is something we need to say to them directly – to look them in the eye and speak to their minds.”

He added that his intent is to inspire with lasting depth. “Not like a bullet, but like a piercing insight – one that reaches both heart and mind. That’s what I want all of us to take in.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

On Sunday, a fleet of vessels carrying activists and supplies left Barcelona, in what organizers describe as the largest organized attempt by sea to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

The effort, called the Global Sumud Flotilla, features about 20 ships with representatives from 44 nations. Organizers claim the cargo includes food, medical items, and water, and they are insisting on unhindered passage and the creation of a dedicated humanitarian maritime route to the coastal enclave.

According to the Associated Press, thousands of demonstrators assembled at the Barcelona harbor to cheer on the departing ships, shouting anti-Israel chants and waving PLO flags. The flotilla is made up of various vessels, from older yachts to modest sailboats, including the Sirus, which is more than a hundred years old.

Spokesperson Saif Abukeshek told Spanish media that more boats are expected to link up with the group, including some from Tunisia and Italy. Roughly 70 vessels are anticipated to converge for the last stage toward Gaza, with the convoy hoping to arrive around September 14 or 15.

Among those on board is Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who remarked, “The story here is about Palestine. The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive.”

Also sailing with the flotilla are former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau—who during her tenure cut the city’s formal connections with Israel—and actor Liam Cunningham.

Thunberg has already had a confrontation with Israel this year. In June, she was expelled after the IDF intercepted another ship, the Madleen, on which she was a passenger.

When that vessel was seized, the passengers were supplied with food and water, although many of them had already recorded videos alleging they had been “kidnapped” by Israeli forces.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded at the time by saying the aid aboard the Madleen amounted to less than a single truckload, and that it would nonetheless be transferred into Gaza through established humanitarian delivery systems.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Deep in the Swedish forest, where reindeer roam and scientists ski in winter, lies one of Europe’s hopes for a spaceport that can ultimately compete with the United States, China and Russia. For decades, Europe has relied upon the U.S. for its security among the stars. But the Trump administration’s “America First” policies, plus a commercial market that’s growing exponentially, has prompted Europeans to rethink their approach. The state-owned Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden, is among the sites building out orbital rocket programs to allow Europe to advance in the global space race and launch satellites from the continent’s mainland. “The gap is significant,” said Hermann Ludwig Moeller, director of the European Space Policy Institute. “I would argue that Europe, to be anywhere relevant in the next five to 10 years, needs to at least double its investment in space. And saying that it would double doesn’t mean that it would catch up by the same factor, because you can expect that other regions will also continue to step up.” A European spaceport near the equator Currently, Europe’s only space base capable of launching rockets and satellites into orbit is in sparsely populated French Guiana, an overseas department of France in South America that’s roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the equator. Otherwise, Europe borrows NASA’s Cape Canaveral in Florida. In March, Isar Aerospace launched the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle from the Andøya Spaceport, another site that’s part of Europe’s efforts to expand its presence in space, on an island in northern Norway. While the rocket crashed into the sea 30 seconds after liftoff, the private German aerospace company had largely ruled out the possibility of the rocket reaching orbit on its first complete flight and deemed the short journey a success. Moeller believes a successful orbital launch from continental Europe could occur within the next year, though he won’t guess where. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom also are among the countries seeking to be part of Europe’s spaceport portfolio. Elsewhere on Earth, India — active in space research since the 1960s — has launched satellites for itself and other countries and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014. After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole in 2023 in a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold reserves of frozen water. The mission was dubbed a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation. New Zealand also has a growing and active launch industry, and Australia is working to develop its commercial space industry. Northern Europe’s geography Esrange and Andøya date back to the 1960s and much of their space-bound appeal stems from their far-north geography on Earth. Esrange, for example, is owned and operated by the Swedish Space Corporation and based more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. The space center’s 30-plus antennas can more easily communicate with satellites orbiting the North Pole compared to infrastructure that’s near the equator. Most important, perhaps, is its size. The base itself encompasses 6 square kilometers (2.3 square miles), where experts conduct Martian lander parachute tests, suborbital rocket launches and stratospheric balloon experiments. But its key selling point is Esrange’s rocket landing zone: 5,200 square kilometers (2,000 square miles) of […]

The Trump administration has enacted a sweeping freeze on visitor visas for individuals holding Palestinian Authority passports, a step that blocks thousands of people who were planning to travel to the United States for health treatments, studies, or family reunions, according to a report in the New York Times on Sunday.

According to the paper, the decision was formalized in an August 18 State Department cable that ordered consular staff to refuse applications for nonimmigrant visas by invoking section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This new directive widens earlier limitations that had been aimed specifically at residents of Gaza and now covers Palestinians from Judea and Samaria as well as those living abroad. Palestinians who hold dual citizenship or already possess valid US visas are not affected, the Times noted.

The suspension of visas comes as several Western countries step up efforts to grant official recognition to a Palestinian state, a move Israel has strongly opposed and that has drawn concern from some US leaders. France and Canada are reportedly preparing to extend such recognition, with Britain expected to follow suit during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

Just two days earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Palestinian Authority representatives, including its chairman Mahmoud Abbas, would not be permitted to attend the Assembly, accusing them of breaching past agreements and attempting to secure recognition unilaterally.

In response, Abbas’s office issued a statement voicing “deep regret and astonishment,” and pressed the administration to reconsider the measure.

US officials have insisted that the restrictions are consistent with American law and serve the interests of national security.

{Matzav.com}

A flotilla headed to Gaza that had departed Barcelona under much fanfare was forced back to port after a storm hit parts of Spain overnight. The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of around 20 boats with participants from 44 countries, chose to return and delay its departure to “prioritize safety,” a statement said Monday. Facing winds of over 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour), some of the smaller boats taking part in the mission would have been at risk, it said. The flotilla is the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea. It comes as Israel has stepped up its offensive on Gaza City, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies in the north of the Palestinian territory. Food experts warned earlier this month that the city was gripped by famine and that half a million people across the strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger. Israel has pointed out the massive amounts of aid that have been delivered to Gaza, but are routinely hijacked by Hamas and other terrorist elements. Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters had gathered under a scorching sun on the docks of Barcelona’s old port Sunday to cheer the mission as it took off. Spain’s national weather agency AEMET had issued warnings of rainfall and strong storms for the region of Catalonia, as well as other parts of Spain. It was unclear when the maritime convoy would depart Barcelona again. Other boats are expected to join from across the Mediterranean in the coming days, including from Tunis and Sicily. Among the participants on board are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and former Mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau. The Israeli military is likely to try and stop the boats from getting near Gaza, as they have done in the past. (AP/YWN)

YWN regrets to inform you of the sudden Petirah of Rebbetzin Faiga Shifra Hager A”H, wife of the Viznitzer Rebbe of Kiamesha (Gibbers) in the Catskills, HaRav Menachem Mendel Hager Shlita. She was 70 years old. The Rebbetzin A”H was the eldest daughter of the Rachmistrivka Rebbe ZT”L, whose second Yahrtzeit was just recently marked. She endured various medical conditions over the years and had been at Alaris Health in Rochelle Park, NJ for the past month following a bout of pneumonia. She was Niftar on Monday morning. The Levaya will take place on Monday in Gibbers (Kiamesha), and will then continue in Monsey. Kevurah will follow at the Viznitzer Beis HaChaim on Route 306. Exact timing will be published. Baruch Dayan HaEmes. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Two and a half months after Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva was hit by Iran during Operation Am K’Lavi, the government has finalized a plan to rehabilitate and upgrade the hospital. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Health Minister Chaim Katz announced on Sunday evening that they had reached an agreement on a joint initiative to restore the damaged facilities and strengthen the hospital’s infrastructure.

As part of the decision, a joint task force will be established to outline the framework for repairing the damaged buildings, upgrading the hospital’s services, setting the project’s budget estimates, selecting partners for the work, and creating a clear timetable for implementation.

Smotrich emphasized the hospital’s importance for the southern region, saying: “Soroka Medical Center is the beating heart of public healthcare in the Negev. We are working at full speed to begin the rehabilitation of the medical center, alongside the decision we already advanced to build another hospital in the Negev. The restoration process and the construction of a new medical tower at Soroka is a Zionist project of the highest order—for the residents of the south and for all of Am Yisroel.”

Health Minister Katz underscored the government’s commitment, noting: “We are fully committed to the optimal rehabilitation of Soroka. This move will advance the quality of care for patients and ensure the essential protection of the hospital, which serves as a major medical hub for the entire Negev population. We will set clear milestones to achieve this goal.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

For a few hopeful weeks this summer, a bright billboard on the major highway linking Toronto to New York greeted Canadian drivers with a simple message: “Buffalo Loves Canada.” The marketing campaign, which included a $500 gift card giveaway, was meant to show Buffalo’s northern neighbors they were welcome, wanted and missed. At first, it seemed like it might work, said Patrick Kaler, CEO of the local tourism organization Visit Buffalo Niagara. More than 1,000 people entered the giveaway. But by the end of July, it was clear the city’s reliable summer wave of Canadian visitors would not arrive this year. Buffalo’s struggle reflects a broader downturn in international tourism to the U.S. that travel analysts warn could persist well into the future. From northern border towns to major hot spots like Las Vegas and Los Angeles, popular travel destinations reported hosting fewer foreign visitors this summer. Experts and some local officials attribute the trend that first emerged in February to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. They say his tariffs, immigration crackdown and repeated jabs about the U.S. acquiring Canada and Greenland alienated travelers from other parts of the world. “To see the traffic drop off so significantly, especially because of rhetoric that can be changed, is so disheartening,” Kaler said. Forecasts show US losing foreign travelers The World Travel & Tourism Council projected ahead of Memorial Day that the U.S. would be the only country among the 184 it studied where foreign visitor spending would fall in 2025. The finding was “a clear indicator that the global appeal of the U.S. is slipping,” the global industry association said. “The world’s biggest travel and tourism economy is heading in the wrong direction,” Julia Simpson, the council’s president and CEO, said. “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.” Travel research firm Tourism Economics, meanwhile, predicted this month that the U.S. would see 8.2% fewer international arrivals in 2025, an improvement from its earlier forecast of a 9.4% decline but well below the numbers of foreign visitors to the country before the COVID-19 pandemic. “The sentiment drag has proven to be severe,” the firm said, noting that airline bookings indicate “the sharp inbound travel slowdown” of May, June and July would likely persist in the months ahead. Deborah Friedland, managing director at the financial services firm Eisner Advisory Group, said he U.S. travel industry faced multiple headwinds — rising travel costs, political uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Since returning to office, Trump has doubled down on some of the hard-line policies that defined his first term, reviving a travel ban targeting mainly African and Middle Eastern countries, tightening rules around visa approvals and ramping up mass immigration raids. At the same time, the push for tariffs on foreign goods that quickly became a defining feature of his second term gave some citizens elsewhere a sense they were unwanted. “Perception is reality,” Friedland said. International arrivals down from Western Europe, Asia and Africa Organizers of an international swing dancing said an impression of America’s hostility to foreigners led them to postpone the event, which had been scheduled to take place this month in the Harlem area of New York City. About three months into Trump’s second term, international competitors […]

Since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in December, some 850,000 Syrian refugees have returned home from neighboring countries and the figure could reach 1 million in the coming weeks, a top official with the U.N. refugee agency said Monday. Deputy High Commissioner of UNHCR Kelly T. Clements told The Associated Press in Damascus that about 1.7 million people who were internally displaced during the 14-year-old conflict have returned to their communities as the interim central government now controls large parts of Syria. “It’s a dynamic period. It’s an opportunity where we could see potentially solutions for the largest global displacements that we have seen in the last 14 years,” said Clements, who has been in Syria for three days. Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011 has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. More than five million Syrians fled the country as refugees, most of them to neighboring countries. Clements said everybody has a different reason for coming back now, while some are delaying and waiting to see how things go. As part of her visit, she went to a border crossing with Lebanon where she said she saw long lines of trucks and people waiting to head back to Syria. Lebanese authorities had given an exemption to Syrians staying illegally in the country if they left by the end of August. Lebanon has the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, and in the past few days, thousands of Syrians headed back over the border. “Returns numbers are exceptionally high,” Clements said. Many Syrians had high hopes after Assad was brought down in an offensive by insurgent groups in early December. However, sectarian killings against members of Assad’s Alawite minority sect in Syria’s coastal region in March and against the Druze minority in the southern province of Sweida in July claimed hundreds of lives. Clements said that about 190,000 people were displaced in southern Syria as a result of the fighting in July between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters. Since then, 21 convoy of relief supplies, of which UNHCR has been an important part, were sent to Sweida, she added. She said the Damascus-Sweida highway, blocked for weeks by pro-government gunmen, is now open, “which is very important because that will allow much more relief to come into the area.” (AP)

The Houthis in Yemen held a mass funeral in Saana on Monday morning for Prime Minister Ahmed A-Rahawi and almost all the members of the Houthi cabinet who were eliminated in the Israeli airstrike last week. Twelve coffins were seen placed side by side in a row as the masses shouted “Death to Israel!” several times during the funeral. The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah and the Iranian-backed Shia axis, reported Monday that “the Yemeni street” anticipates an extensive response to the Israeli strike, potentially targeting “critical enemy sites” following the funerals. “Israeli government ministries will not be beyond the reach of our armed forces,” a Houthi source told the outlet, adding that the target bank could expand and that “Netanyahu’s residence and offices will not be safe.” On Monday morning, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for an attack on what he called a “Zionist oil ship” in the northern Red Sea, asserting that a ballistic missile struck it. However, reports on Sunday indicated that the vessel, Israeli-owned but sailing under a Liberian flag, reported only a “water spray” nearby after the alleged strike. The crew is reported safe, and the ship continued to its destination. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

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IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir declared last week that Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which began in mid-May, had met its objectives. However, an internal document prepared in the IDF as preparation for the next stage of the conquest of the Gaza Strip and revealed by Channel 12 News on Sunday evening states clearly and unequivocally, “We failed.” “Israel made every possible mistake when it waged war in a manner in contradiction to its own war doctrine,” the document states, listing some of the mistakes as providing the enemy with resources, mismanaging the operation, exhausting the soldiers, and losing all international support. The document—written by Brig-Gen (res.) Guy Hazut, the head of the operational information center of the IDF’s ground forces—emphasized that the operation did not achieve its main objectives: Hamas was not defeated, neither militarily nor in terms of governance, and the hostages were not returned—not through a deal nor an operation. Among the reasons for the failure, the document asserts that Israel acted out of “deterrence logic” rather than pursuing “decisive victory” in order to advance another hostage release deal—a move that Hamas identified and understood how to exploit. The document also noted that the “clumsiness” in the planning and distribution of humanitarian aid allowed Hamas to lead a false but effective “starvation” campaign, which resonated in the international arena. The report emphasized that “the systemic logic of the operation failed”—forces returned and operated in the same areas they operated in in the past, and combat was carried out at a slow pace and with no clear deadline, hindering significant achievements and leading to the attrition of forces and equipment. In addition, the troops were poorly prepared for Hamas’s sophisticated guerrilla warfare methods. It noted that at the same time that the IDF used combat methods in contradiction of its own professional combat doctrine, Hamas fought in a way that precisely aligned with the terror group’s doctrine of warfare. A highlighted passage states: “Hamas had all the conditions necessary to survive in order to win—resources, time, and a suitable method of combat.” The Forum of Reserve Commanders and Soldiers stated in response to the report, “The document revealed today proves what we have been saying from day one—the current path will not lead to victory. We at the Forum of Reserve Commanders reiterate our warning: first of all, Operation Gideon’s Chariots B must be halted. Lessons must be learned, water and electricity must be cut off, a real siege must be imposed, and only then should IDF forces enter the area.” “The IDF’s internal documents say this clearly. Military logic says this clearly. Anyone who enters without a real siege sends soldiers to fight against a strengthened enemy, in tunnels, with no chance of a decisive victory. We call on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz: Stop the operation. Impose a real siege. This step alone will open the way to victory and the release of the hostages.” The IDF stated, “These are materials that were distributed without authorization and the approval of the relevant authorities. The matter is being investigated. The IDF met the goals set within the framework of Operation Gideon’s Chariots and achieved many successes. These days, the IDF is in phase B of the operation and continues to work to achieve the […]