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Long-simmering gambling fears erupted into scandal Thursday morning as FBI agents arrested at least two high-profile NBA figures, including Hall of Fame guard and Portland Trail Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups, who authorities said was involved in a mob-run rigged poker scheme and also supplied information to sports bettors about his team.

Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, just hours after his Trail Blazers team lost its season-opening game Wednesday night. He was charged with money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy for his alleged participation in rigged poker games that also involved members of Mafia crime families, also called La Cosa Nostra.

Agents also arrested Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, a former first-round draft pick, in Orlando. Authorities allege he participated in a sports betting operation that involved sharing information with bettors that wasn’t publicly available. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In all, 31 people were arrested in connection with two cases, officials said. At a news conference Thursday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel said parallel investigations led to the “historic arrests,” spread across 11 states, and involved fraud that is “mind-boggling” – “tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation,” he said.

“Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA,” Patel said, “but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra.”

The arrests were related to two separate investigations. One, called “Operation Royal Flush,” involved high-stakes poker games that were allegedly rigged. The FBI said that 13 members of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families were involved in staging the games.

According to investigators, former athletes like Billups were used to lure unsuspecting players to the table. The basketball players were called “Face Cards” and “received a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for their participation in the Scheme,” according to an indictment. Everyone else at the table, from the big-name celebrity to the dealer, was aware the game was rigged with tampered shuffling machines, hidden cameras and even an “X-ray” table that could reveal cards, according to authorities.

An indictment filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court alleges only one instance of Billups participating in rigged games.

Prosecutors say Billups participated in games in Las Vegas around April 2019 that included a tampered shuffling machine. While the indictment states that the rigged poker schemes defrauded victims of $7.15 million in total, the games allegedly involved Billups defrauded victims of “at least $50,000.”

According to a court filing, the game’s organizers talked about the impact Billups had on the other players at the table during an April 2019 game, and about having Billups lose a few hands to avoid suspicion of cheating after he had won too many improbable hands.

“The one guy on the end acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money! He was star struck!” wrote one of the alleged co-conspirators, in an exchange included in court filings.

The other case was dubbed by investigators “Nothing but Bet” and focused on suspicious betting activity involving NBA games that prosecutors said was traced back to inside information supplied by players, including Rozier, and others.

Billups is implicated but not charged in the sports betting case, described only as a co-conspirator who played in the NBA from 1997-2014 and has been a coach since 2021.

Prior to a game on March 24, 2023, according to the indictment, the co-conspirator told another defendant, Eric Earnest, “that the Trail Blazers were going to be tanking … to increase their odds of getting a better draft pick in the upcoming NBA draft,” and also said that several key players would be sitting out the March 24 game against the Chicago Bulls.

According to the indictment, Earnest then shared that information with another co-defendant and multiple bets were placed on the game, totaling around $100,000. The Trail Blazers lost the game 124-96. The indictment does not suggest the Billups played any role in the placing of bets or that he received any money in return for the inside information that was used.

“The years of investigative work that culminated with this morning’s operation seems reminiscent of a Hollywood movie,” said Ricky Patel, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, “but this wasn’t luck and this wasn’t theatrics.”

The early morning arrests also included former NBA player Damon Jones, who was implicated in both the poker case and the sports betting probe. Jones played parts of 11 seasons in the NBA, from 1998 to 2009, including five seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The felony charges threaten to send the basketball players and coach to prison for years, if prosecutors can earn convictions. Each of the two charges faced by Billups, Rozier and Jones carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

According to Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, from 2022-24, players including Jones and Rozier aided a network of bettors by supplying inside information that included when players would sit out games or when they might pull themselves early for “purported injuries or illnesses.”

“My message to the defendants rounded up today is this: Your winning streak has ended, your luck as run out,” said Nocella. “Violating the law is a losing proposition, and you can bet on that.”

Spokespeople for Trail Blazers and the Heat did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, NBA spokesman Mark Broussard said the league is still reviewing the indictments.

“Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” he said. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

Billups, 49, appeared in five all-star games and was the NBA Finals MVP in 2004, as he helped lead his Detroit Pistons squad to a championship. He went into coaching shortly after retiring in 2014 and has been the head coach in Portland since 2021.

The Boston Celtics made Rozier the 16th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft out of the University of Louisville. He was largely a role player there before finding the starting lineup with the Charlotte Hornets from 2019 to 2024. Rozier, 31, was traded to the Heat last January. He had been reportedly under investigation following unusual betting activity related to his performance in a 2023 game. The NBA cleared him of wrongdoing in July.

In a statement, Jim Trusty, Rozier’s lawyer, said that Rozier is “not a gambler” and that “he looks forward to winning this fight.” He called it a “non-case” and said investigators had previously characterized the player “as a subject, not a target.”

“[But] at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” he said. “It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing.”

Rozier was expected to appear in federal court in Orlando on Thursday afternoon, and Billups was due in a Portland courtroom. According to court filings, prosecutors are not seeking to detain Billups or Jones pending trial.

In a court filing, prosecutors said Jones demanded his payment for a rigged game in East Hampton, New York even before it began.

The organizer sent Jones $2,500 later that day, prosecutors said. Others coached Jones in real time on how to cheat guiding him through it by likening other players at the table to NBA superstars, according to the indictment.

“Remember if you have to think hard about a call … just fold,” read one text message to Jones. It counseled him to think of one of the other participants in the scheme playing that night as the “Steph,” a reference to Steph Curry, and another as “the Bron,” referring to NBA All-Star LeBron James.

Jones responded, according to court filings: “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!! Let me hibachi like Gilbert Arenas,” a reference to the former NBA star arrested on illegal gambling charges earlier this year.

Legal sports betting became widespread in the United States with the fall of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018. Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., offer some form of legal sports gambling. Although professional sports leagues like the NBA have partnered with gambling operators and cashed in on the arrangement, they’ve also been wary about pitfalls posed by rampant wagering.

Federal investigators have been reportedly looking into suspicious gambling activity involving former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley, centered on games from the 2023-2024 season. Beasley, currently a free agent, has not been charged with any crimes.

And in 2024, Jontay Porter, a former Toronto Raptors player, was given a lifetime ban from the NBA over accusations of giving confidential information to bettors and placing bets on NBA games. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the scandal.

Nocella said Porter was threatened by some of the men charged Thursday, made susceptible “because of his preexisting gambling debts.”

“Defendants used this nonpublic information to place hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraudulent bets, mostly in the form of prop bets on individual player performance,” Nocella said. “ … The defendants relied on a network of straw bettors to place the maximum amount of bets to potentially increase their profits. Most of these bets succeeded, and the losses were in the millions of dollars.”

(c) 2025, The Washington Post · Rick Maese, Jeremy Roebuck 

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich sparked controversy Thursday with fiery remarks about normalization talks with Saudi Arabia, declaring that Israel would not agree to a Palestinian state as part of any peace deal.

Speaking at the Tzomet Institute and Makor Rishon Conference, Smotrich said bluntly: “If Saudi Arabia tells us ‘normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state,’ then friends, no, thank you. Continue riding camels in the Saudi desert.”

Smotrich’s party recently voted in favor of a proposal that directly contradicts Saudi Arabia’s reported demand to link normalization with progress toward Palestinian statehood.

The finance minister went on to say that right-wing parties have a “trauma” from times when international goodwill led only to bloodshed. “When the nations of the world embrace us, it usually ends with exploding buses,” he said. “We don’t need to say no right away, but we must be cautious. By the end of this term, Israeli sovereignty will be applied in Judea and Samaria, despite American opposition,” he added — ignoring President Donald Trump’s clear message against such a move.

Meanwhile, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to visit the White House on November 18 to meet with President Trump. The visit will mark his first since Trump’s return to office. Riyadh is seeking a defense pact with Washington as part of broader regional negotiations.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid reacted sharply to Smotrich’s comments, posting on his Arabic-language X account: “To our friends in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Smotrich does not represent Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

China’s ruling Communist Party said Thursday it will focus on speeding up self-reliance in science and technology, a long-running push that has become more pronounced as the U.S. has imposed increasingly tight controls on access to semiconductors and other high-tech items. The announcement by state media came in a communique after a four-day meeting that approved a draft of the party’s next five-year development plan. China faces “profound and complex” changes and rising uncertainty, it said. The communique did not directly mention the trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. China’s leader Xi Jinping is expected to meet Trump for talks in South Korea next week. Since returning to the White House, Trump has ramped up tariffs on imports in an effort to compel manufacturers to shift factories to the United States. That has added to pressure on the Chinese economy at a time when the leadership is struggling to resolve a prolonged downturn in the property market and stoke stronger domestic demand. But China has managed to keep exports growing by shifting to other markets, and the statement signaled the government is confident it can counter external threats with domestic policy tools, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, a French investment bank. “It means China will likely demand more from the U.S. to reach a deal, if one is to be reached,” he said. The communique contained few surprises, largely echoing the policy direction set out by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who wants to build China into a tech leader and global power with a robust military able to command respect and exert international influence. It provided only a broad overview of the coming 2026-2030 five-year plan, indicating its scope without details. More information may be released in the coming days, but the full plan won’t be known until March, when the legislature gives a rubber-stamp approval to the plan at its annual meeting. “The general impression of the communique is that it highlights much more continuity than change,” said Xin Sun, a senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian Business at King’s College London. Ng said that compared to the previous plan five years ago, the government is deepening its push for technological self-sufficiency, income redistribution and a transition to clean energy. The country’s industrial policy has driven the rapid development of the electric car and wind and solar industries in recent years and has turned now to robotics and artificial intelligence. The party will “accelerate the all-out green transformation of economic and social development,” the statement said. It said that China would continue to boost domestic demand and spending, an objective that economists said is important for the country’s economic growth, though it didn’t signal any significant change to that approach. China has rolled out various policies to help increase consumption — such as subsidies for consumer loans and child care and trade-in programs for electric vehicles and appliances. Economists are watching for more measures to support consumption by the year’s end. Beijing said this week it is still on a “solid foundation” to achieve its full-year official growth target of around 5%, after China’s economy grew 4.8% in the July to September quarter. The meeting of the party’s Central Committee was notable for the low number of deputies, an indication of Xi’s deep purges […]

Shomrim representatives met today in Golders Green with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, alongside Councillor Dean Cohen and Councillor Peter Zinkin, to discuss the alarming rise in antisemitism and ways to strengthen community safety and support for the Jewish community. Photos by Avi Yodaiken

The IDF and Shin Bet announced that eight Hamas terrorists involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel—including the abductions of Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or, and Eitan Mor from the Nova music festival—were killed in strikes in Gaza between March and August, before the recent ceasefire. Those killed include Ahmad Ibrahim Rajab Shaar, Ahmad Abu Marhil, Arafat Dib, Odeh Alyan Ahmad Qaware, Bakr Mujida, Firas Ghrir Sweilam al-Hadaf, Ibrahim Saleh Rajab Bakhit, and Mu’ayid Mahmoud Muhammad Nufal, all of whom participated in the invasion of Israel and the holding or abduction of Israeli hostages.

The Shas party is escalating its pressure on Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to pass legislation governing the conscription of yeshiva students. On Thursday, Shas announced it will vacate all its coalition roles in the Knesset.

Their statement declared: “In accordance with the directive of the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah from Tammuz 5785, which instructed the government to bring the draft law to a vote no later than the opening of the Knesset’s winter session–a directive that, unfortunately, has yet to be fulfilled–Shas hereby announces its resignation from coalition positions in the Knesset.”

Following this announcement, MK Yossi Taieb, chair of the Education Committee, and MK Yoni Mashriki, chair of the Health Committee, submitted letters of resignation to the Knesset Speaker on Thursday morning. In addition, MK Michael Malchieli stepped down as Chairman of the Committee for Narrowing Gaps in the Periphery.

Shas affirmed: “Shas will continue to act with full force to secure the status of yeshiva students and Torah scholars, who are the spiritual and historical foundation of the Jewish people. The movement will continue to lead the fight against the cruel political persecution campaign being waged against students of the holy yeshivos, who toil in Torah day and night for the sake of all of Israel and the success of our soldiers.”

Furthermore, the party added: “Once the status of yeshiva students is secured, Shas will return to its government and Knesset duties. Until then, Shas will operate in full coordination with other chareidi factions and maintain continuous consultation with the Council of Torah Sages regarding its position on Knesset votes.”

In July, under instructions from the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah, Shas had previously announced it would leave the government, citing persistent delays in moving the draft legislation forward. At that time, they stated: “Under the current circumstances, it is impossible to sit in the government and be a partner while Torah students are trampled.” They also stressed: “there is no place for any cooperation with the left or opposition parties to bring about the appointment of one of their candidates as Prime Minister.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism. The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement Thursday that Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration prosecuted Zhao out of a “desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry” and that there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.” Zhao’s pardon is the last move by a president who has flexed his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of crimes. Zhao was released from prison last year after receiving a four-month sentence for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person ever sentenced to prison time for such violations of that law, which requires U.S. financial institutions to know who their customers are, to monitor transactions and to file reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did. The judge in the case said he was troubled by Zhao’s decision to ignore U.S. banking requirements that would have slowed the company’s explosive growth. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” was what Zhao told his employees about the company’s approach to U.S. law, prosecutors said. Binance allowed more than 1.5 million virtual currency trades, totaling nearly $900 million, that violated U.S. sanctions, including ones involving Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaida and Iran, prosecutors said. “I failed here,” Zhao told the court last year during sentencing. “I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.” Zhao had a remarkable path to becoming a crypto billionaire. He grew up in rural China and his family immigrated to Canada after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. As a teenager, he worked at a McDonald’s and became enamored with the tech industry in college. He founded Binance in 2017. Trump’s pardon of Zhao fits into a broad pattern of the his taking a hands-off approach to the crypto industry, which spent heavily to help him win the election in 2024. His administration has dropped several enforcement actions against crypto companies that began during Biden’s term and disbanded the crypto-related enforcement team at the Justice Department. Meanwhile, the president and his family have plunged headfirst into making money in crypto. A stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project founded by Trump and sons Donald Jr. and Eric, received early support and credibility thanks to an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates using $2 billion worth of World Liberty’s stablecoin to purchase a stake in Binance. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are typically tied to the value of the U.S. dollar. Zhao said earlier this year that his lawyers had requested a pardon. It is not immediately clear what impact Trump’s pardon of Zhao may have for operations at Binance and Binance.US, a separate arm of the main exchange offering more limited trading options to U.S. residents. (AP)

New Yorkers should get ready for a truly harsh winter. Experts are warning that snow totals could soar past 100 inches in parts of the state, creating a season marked by relentless storms and frigid temperatures.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac has dubbed this coming winter one of endless repetition: “chill, snow, repeat.” The prediction is enough to send residents scrambling for heavy coats, insulated boots, and sturdy shovels before the first flakes fall.

AccuWeather’s new long-range forecast echoes that warning, projecting a sharp rise in snowfall for New York City compared to last year. While last winter brought just 12.9 inches, meteorologists now anticipate between 17 and 21 inches for the upcoming season—still shy of the city’s usual 29.8-inch average but a clear sign that heavier storms are on the way.

“Snowfall is projected to be higher than last winter in parts of the Northeast,” said AccuWeather. Buffalo, meanwhile, could be buried under as much as 90 to 100 inches, continuing its reputation as one of the snowiest spots in the state.

Other areas across the U.S. are set for a weather rollercoaster of their own. The Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest may see unusually high precipitation, though temperatures are expected to hover around normal levels. But while this winter may bring snow and sleet, long-term climate models paint an even grimmer picture—some U.S. coastal cities could be “underwater by 2050” if sea levels continue to rise.

According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center, the first measurable snow in the region has historically arrived as early as late September in Vermont and Maine, and by early November in parts of New York. This year, residents might not have to wait long for the first big storm.

Adding to the mix, the Climate Prediction Center forecasts a 71 percent likelihood that La Niña conditions will shape the climate between October and December 2025. This cooling pattern, part of the recurring El Niño-Southern Oscillation, often brings harsher winter conditions across the northern U.S.

With temperatures expected to plunge, experts are reminding everyone of the dangers of frostbite and hypothermia. Hypothermia occurs when the body’s core temperature sinks below 95°F, a serious and potentially fatal drop that can set in quickly during extreme cold.

Children and the elderly are at highest risk, and even short exposure can have dire consequences. To guard against frostbite, doctors advise covering all exposed skin—ears, nose, toes, and fingers—and favoring mittens over gloves for warmth. Staying dry and avoiding wind whenever possible can also help prevent life-threatening cold injuries.

So, as winter approaches, the message is clear: bundle up, prepare your homes and vehicles, and brace for a long, snowy season ahead.

{Matzav.com}

A construction worker died Thursday morning after falling 50 feet down a hole in Hudson Yards, Manhattan, just before 9 a.m., authorities said. The worker was reportedly on the ground floor when the fall occurred.

The European Union on Thursday heaped more economic sanctions on Russia, adding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new punitive measures the previous day against the Russian oil industry. Russian officials and state media dismissed the Western measures, saying they are largely ineffective. The sanctions are intended as part of a broadened effort to choke off the revenue and supplies that fuel Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war. The measures are a triumph for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has long campaigned for the international community to punish Russia more comprehensively for attacking his country. “We waited for this. God bless, it will work. And this is very important,” Zelenskyy said in Brussels, where EU countries attending a summit announced the latest round of Russia sanctions. Despite U.S.-led peace efforts in recent months, the war shows no sign of ending after nearly four years, and European leaders are increasingly concerned about the threat from Russia. Ukrainian forces have largely held Russia’s bigger army at bay in a slow and ruinous war of attrition along a roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line that snakes along eastern and southern Ukraine. Almost daily Russian long-range strikes have taken aim at Ukraine’s power grid before the bitter winter, while Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian oil refineries and manufacturing plants. Targeted sanctions Energy revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation and avoiding a currency collapse. The EU measures especially target Russian oil and gas. They ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas into the bloc, and add port bans on more than 100 new ships in the Russian shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers that are dodging sanctions. The latest sanctions bring the total number of such ships to be banned to 557. The measures also target transactions with a cryptocurrency increasingly used by Russia to circumvent sanctions; prohibit operations in the bloc using Russian payment cards and systems; restrict the provision of artificial intelligence services and high-performance computing services to Russian entities; and widen an export ban to include electronic components, chemicals and metals used in military manufacturing. A new system for limiting the movement of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU will also be introduced. International crude prices jumped more than $2 per barrel Thursday on news of the additional sanctions. Trump-Putin dynamics The U.S. sanctions against Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil came after Trump said that his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” It was the latest twist in Trump’s hot-and-cold efforts to end the war as Putin refuses to budge from his demands. However, the sanctions don’t take effect for almost a month, until Nov. 21, potentially giving Putin a chance for a change of heart. Chris Weafer, CEO of the Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy, said “that’s a window where they hope Russia will more seriously engage, and if it does, then those sanctions could be suspended.” While the U.S. sanctions won’t have an immediate impact, they will over time erode revenue for Moscow. “You can be sure that every oil buyer in Asia today is trying to find anything that floats that they can buy Russian oil before that sanction kicks in,” Weafer told The Associated Press from London. “And therefore, Russia will sell a […]

Israeli paratroopers uncovered disturbing materials this week while conducting a raid in Chevron, discovering a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf alongside other propaganda promoting hatred of Jews. The books were found inside the offices of an organization tied to Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday.

According to the IDF, the so-called Islamic Charity Association in Chevron “presents itself as aiding the needy,” but in reality operated as a front “to promote incitement to terror and to recruit and channel funds to finance the organization’s terrorist activities.”

Soldiers seized 165,700 shekels—over $50,000—in what the military identified as terrorist funds during the same operation. The army said that troops also moved to “seal off the main entrance of the compound where the incitement materials and funds were located.”

The organization is believed to run multiple branches across Judea and Samaria, serving as part of Hamas’s extensive civilian infrastructure used for recruitment, indoctrination, and funding.

The discovery echoed a similar incident last year in Gaza. In November 2023, Israeli forces battling Hamas in the northern Strip also found a copy of Mein Kampf in a child’s bedroom that had been turned into a terrorist base. President Isaac Herzog personally displayed the book during an interview with the BBC on November 12, 2023.

“This is Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, translated into Arabic. This is the book that led to the Holocaust and the book that led to World War II,” Herzog said, according to a statement released by the President’s Residence.

“The terrorist wrote notes, marked the sections, and studied over and over the ideology of Adolf Hitler to hate the Jews, to kill the Jews, to burn and slaughter Jews wherever they are,” Herzog added. “This is the real war we are facing.”

{Matzav.com}

A Chareidi avreich arrested for “draft dodging” spoke to Kol Chai on Thursday about his stint in military prison. He said that the conditions in the prison pose a danger to ruchniyus. “There were eight prisoners in one room, including Chareidim, secular, and Druze,” he said. “The conditions were very difficult, especially for someone who comes from the Olam HaTorah.” “You’re in a room with the television on all day, and you can’t always turn it off. Even if you don’t watch it, you’re affected by it. It’s not an environment appropriate for Chareidim.” He added that most of the officers serving in the prison are female. “You have to approach them for the most basic things, and it’s very uncomfortable.” “My stay in prison wasn’t easy, emotionally or spiritually, but despite the hardships, I felt a sense of mission.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance were given a rare, high-tech window into the Gaza Strip during a visit Wednesday to IDF headquarters at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, where they used a virtual reality system to “observe” the territory and receive a classified intelligence briefing, according to Israeli officials. The briefing focused on three key issues at the center of President Donald Trump’s Gaza cease-fire framework: recovering the bodies of slain hostages, disarming Hamas, and demilitarizing Gaza. Vance was joined by top U.S. officials, including Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper. The session underscored the pivot Trump’s new administration is attempting to achieve in its second term — balancing visible U.S. solidarity with Israel while overseeing the delicate implementation of the Gaza peace plan. On the Israeli side, the high-level meeting brought together some of the country’s most senior defense and intelligence officials: Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, and Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder. According to Israeli defense officials, Vance was briefed on the early operational phases of the International Security Force being assembled to stabilize postwar Gaza and oversee the phased disarmament of Hamas terrorists — a key condition of Trump’s peace framework. The vice president’s visit to the Kirya followed two days of meetings across Israel, including discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of Israel’s war cabinet. It marked one of the most detailed U.S.-Israeli defense exchanges since the cease-fire took hold earlier this month, signaling Washington’s effort to keep Israel closely aligned with its plan even as internal political tensions rise over settlement policy and annexation efforts in the West Bank. Vance’s use of virtual reality technology — a first for a sitting U.S. vice president in an Israeli military facility — was described by one Israeli official as “a new kind of battlefield diplomacy.” The system, developed by the IDF’s Technological Division, allows users to experience live-mapped terrain and operational environments in real time. “The goal was to give the vice president a clear sense of the geography, the security challenges, and the ongoing operations in Gaza without having to set foot there,” said an Israeli official familiar with the visit. The session at the Kirya capped a trip that has seen Vance emphasize the U.S. commitment to ensuring that “the peace is not just holding, but lasting.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The IDF says it foiled a weapons-smuggling attempt from Syria into Lebanon near Mount Hermon last night. Surveillance by the 595th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit spotted suspicious activity, prompting troops from the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade and Unit 504 field interrogators to detain several suspects near the peak. The suspects, caught trying to move multiple firearms into Lebanon, were taken for questioning. This is the second such smuggling attempt prevented by the IDF in the area in the past week.

Experts say the $100 million jewels stolen from the Louvre may already be lost forever. Investigators fear the thieves will melt down or break apart the historic royal gems — including crowns, necklaces, and brooches — to sell the pieces discreetly on the open market. “It could be sold down the street from the Louvre,” said art crime expert Erin Thompson, noting that cutting or recasting the gems would erase their traceability and historic value.

A powerful voice rose late Wednesday as thousands of yeshiva students and supporters gathered at the gates of Prison 10 to protest the arrest of a yeshiva bochur. In a special broadcast addressed to the demonstrators, Rav Moshe Shternbuch denounced the actions of the authorities and broke down in tears as he rallied the crowd.

The protest at the prison followed the detention of Ariel Shamai, a student of Yeshiva Ateret Shlomo, arrested for refusing draft enlistment. Thousands of yeshiva bachurim assembled at the gates of Prison 10 for an initial demonstration.

Speaking from his home in the Har Nof neighborhood of Yerushalayim, Rav Shternbuch condemned the authorities’ conduct as unprecedented cruelty: “We have never heard of such cruelty before. Students are learning Torah and in the middle of their learning they are hauled off to prison. They are distressed and thereby they distress us as well.”

Turning from denunciation to deep emotion, Rav Shternbuch said that the situation calls for unceasing mourning and firm resistance: “This is a situation we never dreamed we would reach — wickedness and cruelty. And those who have sinned — their sin is that they learn Torah; has anything like this ever been heard? It would be fitting for each and every one to cry day and night, and the Shechinah is certainly in great sorrow, but with Hashem’s help we will not give up; without Torah we are truly like beasts, we have no reason to live and why should we live like this.”

He went on to denounce the policy’s perpetrators and express confidence in the enduring strength of Jewish faith: “They are accursed wicked ones, cursed one and cursed again, but with God’s help they will not succeed, for we have a hidden strength; the heart of a Jew will never give up on Judaism, and the holy Torah is our life and the length of our days, and in it we will labor day and night and may Your love not depart from it forever.”

At one point the rov wept bitterly and appealed for a place to give expression to his grief: “Oh, oh, find me a place where I can cry and shed tears. We will not give up, and this voice will be raised everywhere in the country and abroad.”

Rav Shternbuch concluded with an urgent call to Jews abroad to join the struggle: “We call upon our brethren abroad: do not remain silent — know that this trouble will come to you as well; do not think you will be exempt. Go out with self-sacrifice and you will succeed, and I promise you that you will succeed, and we will see it with our own eyes very soon.”

{Matzav.com}

The soldiers and airmen stood at the back of the black minivan, arming themselves — with black garbage bags and red-handled trash pickers — and headed for the park around the recreation center. For the Washington, D.C., contingent of the National Guard deployed to the nation’s capital, it marked their 119th beautification project since the unit was called up in August as part of President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement intervention. Their work has included cleaning graffiti in parks, picking up trash and refurbishing a recreation center. There are plans to help a school reading program in an often overlooked area of the city. The hundreds of National Guard troops still deployed to the city — at times armed — have unnerved some residents, who see in them the manifestation of presidential overreach on law enforcement. And while there is deep mistrust over the motives of the overall deployment, others view the Guard in Washington, especially its local contingent’s focus on community improvement efforts, with a measure of approval. “I’m glad for the help,” said Sabir Abdul, 68, a resident who regularly cleans the trash and debris in the park around the Fort Stevens Recreation Center in Northwest D.C. “They have lives, but now they are here, helping us.” The mixed feelings over the Guard deployment have forced local officials to strike a balance between opposing what they see as a flagrant violation of the city’s already limited autonomy and the acknowledgment that the district could use the help that at least the D.C. National Guard contingent has been providing. A lawsuit filed by D.C.’s attorney general challenging the deployment — part of a wave of legal action in multiple cities facing their own federal law enforcement interventions — will be heard on Friday. The Guard deployment in DC is among several around the country Hundreds of National Guard troops have been in Washington, D.C., since Trump issued an emergency order in August, which launched what he said was a crime-fighting mission that also included the federal takeover of the local police department. The order expired last month, but the roughly 2,000 National Guard troops from D.C. and eight states remain in the city, with most contingents saying they plan to withdraw by the end of November. The troops have become a fixture of the city, patrolling metro stations and neighborhoods and supporting other federal law enforcement agencies in operations that have led to hundreds of arrests and sparked fear in many communities, especially among immigrants. Trump, a Republican, has praised the campaign as having reduced crime rates, which were already falling. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat whose city budget and laws are determined by Congress, has walked a fine line between appeasing Trump and pushing back on the deployment. She has acknowledged that the campaign has helped push down crime, while arguing that the out-of-state National Guard deployment has not been “an efficient use of those resources.” In a recent brief filed in the D.C. legal case, Attorney General Brian Schwalb argued that the Guard units are operating “as a federal military police force.” The document also indicated that there were plans for the D.C. Guard to potentially remain in the city at least through next summer. For some, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Grappling with mixed feelings about the Guard In Ward 8, which is […]

NYC Mayor Eric Adams will reportedly endorse Andrew Cuomo for mayor today. This comes after they sat together at a NY Knicks basketball game last night – and marks a stunning turnaround for Adams, who previously called Cuomo a “snake.”

A tense night unfolded across the olam haTorah as military police arrested two yeshiva bochurim and attempted to detain a third, sparking outrage and protests in multiple cities.

Two brothers, bnei Torah from the city of Ramla, were taken from their home overnight by the military police for the crime of learning Torah instead of serving in the army.

The brothers, Nehorai and Eliyahu Yaakovov, aged 18½ and 24, are talmidim of Yeshivas Kol Eliyahu and Shuva Yisrael, led by Rav Y. Pinto. Both were transferred to a military prison.

At the same time, in Be’er Sheva, military police attempted to arrest a talmid from Yeshivas Or HaChaim on Akzin Street. The family refused to open the door, and neighbors along with local bnei Torah quickly gathered at the scene, confronting the soldiers. Following heated clashes, the military forces retreated and the arrest was called off.

MK Meir Porush condemned the arrests in strong terms: “Also tonight, the attorney general sent the military police to arrest young men whose only crime is that Torasan umnasam. For months, this draconian campaign against the olam haTorah has failed to achieve its goals, yet she refuses to admit failure and continues to push the Jewish nation toward civil war. The letter signed yesterday, at my initiative, by members of Knesset from across the political spectrum, opposing the arrests of yeshiva students — including a chosson and a yasom — shows that the majority of the nation rejects this aggressive approach toward the Torah world. It’s time to stop before it’s too late.”

The joint letter referenced by Porush was sent Tuesday night, following two previous arrests that had already shaken the Torah community. The letter, signed by MKs from several parties, protested the ongoing detention of chosson Yisroel Meir Taharani, who was arrested during his sheva brachos, and yasom Ariel Rosenzweig, taken into custody during shivah for his father.

In their statement, the signatories wrote: “We, the undersigned members of Knesset and government ministers, protest the arrests of chosson Yisroel Meir Taharani and yasom Ariel Rosenzweig as part of the attorney general’s campaign of arrests following the unresolved status of yeshiva students. The yasom Ariel Rosenzweig was arrested during the shivah for his father, while the chosson Yisroel Meir Taharani was arrested over a month ago during his sheva brachos and remains imprisoned to this day.”

With outrage spreading and activists warning of a widening crackdown, askanim and roshei yeshiva are preparing for what they say could be a wave of widespread protests in defense of Torah learning across the country.

{Matzav.com}