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Initial report – a report was received regarding a terrorist who attacked an Israeli civilian and stole his weapon in the area of Kdumim. IDF soldiers are pursuing the terrorist. Details to follow.

A terror attack occurred on Sunday afternoon in the Shomron when a Palestinian attacked an Israeli security guard on his head with a hammer, stole his gun, and fled the area. The incident occurred in one of the factories in the Bar-On industrial park next to the yishuv of Kedumim. According to an initial report, the attack was carried out by a Palestinian worker in one of the factories where Palestinians and Jews work together. A large number of IDF forces arrived at the scene and launched a manhunt for the terrorist. Residents of Kedumim have been instructed to enter their homes and lock their doors. The victim, who was seriously injured, was evacuated to the hospital. This is a developing story. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

The IDF says approximately 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the Kiryat Shmona region a short time ago. Air defense systems managed to intercept several of the rockets, and there are currently no reported injuries.

Israeli negotiators have expressed “cautious optimism” regarding the talks in Doha, Qatar to secure the release of 115 captives still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The team updated Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Saturday regarding the discussion that took place over the previous two days, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The team expressed to the prime minister cautious optimism regarding the possibility of progress on the deal, in accordance with the updated American proposal (based on the May 27th framework), including components acceptable to Israel,” said the PMO.

“It is hoped that the heavy pressure on Hamas by the United States and the mediators will remove its opposition to the American proposal and will lead to a breakthrough in the talks,” added the statement.

The statement was referring to a “bridging proposal” submitted by American mediators this week meant to close the gaps between the sides, based on the outline presented by U.S. President Joe Biden in a May 31 speech that was previously accepted by Yerushalayim.

There is a consensus among the moderating countries—the United States, Egypt and Qatar—that the diplomacy is “in the endgame,” a senior American official told reporters on Friday from Doha.

The official called the latest negotiation session “the most constructive in 48 hours we’ve had in many months,” echoing a joint statement that the three countries released earlier in the day.

The “intensive” negotiations were “serious and constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere,” Washington, Cairo and Doha said earlier Friday.

In the coming days, the parties involved will work on “details of implementation, including arrangements to implement the agreement’s extensive humanitarian provisions, as well as specifics relating to hostages and detainees,” the three countries added. (By “detainees,” the three appeared to refer to jailed Palestinians, including those with blood on their hands, that Israel would release in a deal.)

Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Saturday that the American proposal does not call for an ongoing Israel Defense Forces presence along the Egypt-Gaza border or a mechanism to prevent the return of Hamas terrorists to northern Gaza, both of which have reportedly been demanded by Netanyahu.

The senior U.S. official noted on Friday that “there’s still more work to do,” adding: “This is a very difficult, complex deal. It is wrenching because this is about getting hostages out of Gaza. There are elements of the deal that are uncomfortable. Just like any deal like this, it is far from perfect.”

(JNS)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a bipartisan package of 10 bills that aims to crack down on smash-and-grab robberies and property crimes, making it easier to go after repeat shoplifters and auto thieves and increase penalties for those running professional reselling schemes. The move comes as Democratic leadership works to prove that they’re tough enough on crime while trying to convince voters reject a ballot measure that would bring even harsher sentences for repeat offenders of shoplifting and drug charges. While shoplifting has been a growing problem, large-scale, smash-and-grab thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have become a crisis in California and elsewhere in recent years. Such crimes, often captured on video and posted on social media, have brought particular attention to the problem of retail theft in the state. The legislation includes the most significant changes to address retail theft in years, the Democratic governor said. It allows law enforcement to combine the value of goods stolen from different victims to impose harsher penalties and arrest people for shoplifting using video footage or witness statements. “This goes to the heart of the issue, and it does it in a thoughtful and judicious way,” Newsom said of the package. “This is the real deal.” The package received bipartisan support from the Legislature, though some progressive Democrats did not vote for it, citing concerns that some of the measures are too punitive. The legislation also crack down on cargo thefts, close a legal loophole to make it easier to prosecute auto thefts and require marketplaces like eBay and Nextdoor to start collecting bank accounts and tax identification numbers from high-volume sellers. Retailers also can obtain restraining orders against convicted shoplifters under one of the bills. “We know that retail theft has consequences, big and small, physical and financial,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, who authored one of the bills, said Friday. “And we know we have to take the right steps in order to stop it without returning to the days of mass incarceration.” Democratic lawmakers, led by Newsom, spent months earlier this year unsuccessfully fighting to keep a tougher-on-crime initiative off the November ballot. That ballot measure, Proposition 36, would make it a felony for repeat shoplifters and some drug charges, among other things. Democrats worried the measure would disproportionately criminalize low-income people and those with substance use issues rather than target ringleaders who hire large groups of people to steal goods for them to resell online. Lawmakers’ legislation instead would allow prosecutors to combine multiple thefts at different locations for a felony charge and stiffen penalties for smash-and-grabs and large-scale reselling operations. Newsom in June went as far as proposing putting a competing measure on the ballot but dropped the plan a day later. Proposition 36 is backed by a coalition of district attorneys, businesses and some local elected officials such as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. Newsom, flanked by a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers, business leaders and local officials in a Home Depot store in San Jose, said the ballot measure would be “a devastating setback” for California. Newsom said last month he will work to fight the measure. “That initiative is about going back to the 1980s and the war on drugs,” he said. “It’s […]

Change is coming for the U.S. real estate sector, with implications for anyone buying or selling a home.

In March the National Association of Realtors agreed to settle litigation that had accused it of artificially inflating real estate commissions, which for decades have been between 5 and 6 percent of the sale price, paid by the home seller. The NAR denies the allegations but agreed to pay $418 million to settle several cases.

It also agreed to important rule changes that advocates hope will break the industry’s grip and give consumers more control over real estate deals – including how much they pay to agents and brokers. Experts believe the rule changes could alter how homes are bought and sold, decrease the cost of buying a home and possibly spur an exodus of Realtors.

Here’s what buyers and sellers need to know.

– – –

Do I need a Realtor at all?

Out of the roughly 4 million homes that were sold in the United States last year, about 7 percent were “For Sale By Owner,” meaning they were listed directly by the sellers, according to a recent estimate from the National Association of Realtors.

Experts believe many of those sales are carried out between family members. Some deals may include a buyer agent and no seller agent, or vice versa. People with expertise in law or business sales may have an easier time closing this sort of transaction.

Industry and advocacy figures alike tend to urge caution when cutting real estate agents out of the equation entirely. Buyers who go without an agent might be vulnerable to scams, or a deal could fall through over bungled paperwork.

Buying a home is usually the single biggest transaction in a person’s life, said Kevin Sears, president of the National Association of Realtors.

“There are pitfalls that the average consumer might not know about. … It could end up costing them, and that’s where professional representation is so vitally important,” Sears said.

– – –

I plan to buy a home. How much should I pay my Realtor?

Now, Realtors representing buyers will have to agree to a written contract before working with their clients. At least a dozen states already required them before the March settlement, but now they are mandated for all Realtors working with buyers.

Historically, agents on both sides split a 5 percent to 6 percent commission paid by sellers, whose agents would include compensation levels when posting available homes in the NAR’s multiple listing service.

The new rules strip compensation from seller listings. Combined with the contract requirement, that means buyers in many cases will have to decide whether to pay their agent a commission, and how much the commission will be. Advocates of the new rules hope that making home buyers pay their own agents will lead to lower commissions.

Some jurisdictions already functioned with lower commissions. Buyer agents in some parts of Brooklyn typically get 1 percent commissions, for example, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Some brokerages advertise a flat fee.

The consumer federation recommends setting a goal in dollar terms of 2 percent of the home sale or less.

If the buyer chooses not to offer any commission, the Realtor may decline to work with them, or may agree to only see homes where the seller is offering compensation.

– – –

As a buyer, what should I look for before signing a contract with an agent?

Consumer advocates and real estate lawyers have pointed out that many of the template contracts being circulated among agents are written with the industry’s interests in mind.

Some of them contain steep fees buried in the fine print, or provisions that make it hard for buyers to cancel the agreement. In some cases, buyers who default on a real estate deal can still be responsible for paying their agents.

The Consumer Federation of America recommends that clients should have the right to terminate the contract at any time, without penalty. The group also says that broker’s fees should be clearly stated as a dollar figure or hourly rate and that any concession payments made by the seller should be approved by the buyers themselves and not just brokers.

The CFA recommends avoiding any contract that includes a blanket commitment allowing an agent to work for both the buyer and the seller, something known as “dual agency.” And it recommends against signing contracts that include arbitration clauses.

Another nonprofit group, Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate (CAARE), offers one-page draft compensation agreements for both buyers and sellers, as well as a “touring agreement” when buyers just want to view a home without agreeing to a broader buyer-agent relationship. A template contract offered by eXp Realty also has been held up as easy to understand and more fair to buyers than most other industry-written contracts.

– – –

I’m selling my home. Do I have to pay the buyer’s agent?

No.

It will be up to home sellers to decide whether they want to offer any compensation to the buyer’s agent, says Sears, the NAR president.

“Since it can’t be done on the MLS, there will have to be other ways,” Sears said. “Our agents are trying to figure that out, whether it’s a text, a phone call, or a [For Sale] sign that says ‘We will [make] offers of compensation to buyer agents and brokers.’”

Steve Brobeck, senior follow with the Consumer Federation of America, says he recommends that sellers instead wait for offers to come in from buyer agents.

– – –

How do I negotiate commissions?

Since the new rules were announced in March, industry figures have been quick to point out that commissions have always been negotiable. Home buyers can clearly delineate what they’re willing to pay when offering an upfront contract and talk to multiple agents to find one willing to agree to their terms.

CAARE recommends that buyers come up with a flat fee, along with a written agreement that any extra compensation offered by seller agents go directly to the buyer or be credited toward the purchase of the house.

CAARE also emphasizes that buyers should ensure the compensation field is filled out before agreeing to a buyer contract. Agents will often leave it blank until late in the homebuying process, allowing them to collect any unexpected “bonuses” or perks the seller may be offering. The organization cites one example in which a Minnesota home builder offered buyer agents a free Lexus.

“This tip isn’t just about saving you money, it’s also about making sure that your buyer agent’s advice isn’t being financially influenced by the seller’s agent,” CAARE says.

(c) Washington Post

Former congressman George Santos – who was expelled from the House after being caught in a web of fabrications about his background and money grifting – is expected to plead guilty to multiple felony counts Monday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A plea agreement would mean Santos does not have to stand trial in federal court in Long Island next month on 23 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.

Santos is scheduled to appear for a pretrial conference Monday afternoon in Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., according to court records.

Last December, court papers revealed that Santos had been negotiating a plea agreement to settle the case.

Santos’s lawyers declined to comment.

In May 2023, Santos was charged with 13 counts related to allegedly defrauding his donors, using their money for his personal benefit and wrongfully claiming unemployment benefits. He pleaded not guilty and called the investigation a “witch hunt” at the time.

Santos also pleaded not guilty to 10 additional charges last October. Those charges accused him of stealing the identities of family members and using donors’ credit cards to spend thousands of dollars.

Days before the additional charges against Santos were brought last year, Nancy Marks, treasurer for the Santos campaign, pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy and implicated him in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors. The next month, another Santos staffer, Samuel Miele, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge, conceding that he had claimed to be chief of staff to former House speaker Kevin McCarthy to attract donors to Santos’s campaign.

Santos was elected to Congress in 2022 to represent portions of Queens and Long Island – one of several Republicans who flipped Democratic congressional districts in New York that year, helping deliver the House majority to the GOP. He was expelled from Congress on Dec. 1, 2023, by a vote of 311-114 after a lengthy investigation found rampant misuse of campaign funds and ethical issues, marking the first time the chamber had moved to remove a member in more than 20 years. Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election in February for Santos’s seat.

Santos has lied about many elements of his background, including his ethnicity, family hardships, his education and past jobs. Since his expulsion from Congress, he’s been making videos on Cameo, an app that lets fans buy personalized video messages from celebrities and other public figures.

(c) Washington Post

Ukraine has destroyed a key bridge in Russia’s Kursk region and struck a second one nearby, less than two weeks into its stunning cross-border incursion, disrupting Russian supply routes and possibly signaling that its troops are planning to dig in. Russia’s pro-Kremlin military bloggers have acknowledged that the destruction of the first bridge, which spanned the Seim River near the town of Glushkovo, will impede deliveries of supplies to Russian forces repelling Ukraine’s incursion, although Moscow could still use pontoons and smaller bridges in the area. Ukraine’s air force chief, Lt. Mykola Oleshchuk, on Friday released a video of a Ukrainian airstrike that split the bridge in two. Less than two days later, Ukrainian troops hit a second bridge in Russia, according to Oleshchuk and the Russian regional governor, Alexei Smirnov. As of Sunday morning, there were no official reports on where exactly the second bridge attack took place. Russian Telegram channels claimed that a second bridge over the Seim, in the village of Zvannoe, had been struck. According to Russia’s Mash news site, the attacks left the area with just one intact bridge. The Associated Press could not immediately verify these claims — but if confirmed, the Ukrainian strikes would further complicate Moscow’s attempts to replenish its forces in Kursk and evacuate civilians. Glushkovo lies some 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, and approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the main battle zone in Kursk. Zvannoe is located a further 8 kilometers (5 miles) northeast. Kyiv has been tight-lipped about the planned scope and goals of its lightning push into Russia, the largest attack on the country since World War II, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands. The Ukrainians drove deep into the Kursk region in several directions, facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic. Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed last week that his forces had advanced across 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) of the Kursk region, although it was not possible to independently verify what exactly Ukrainian forces effectively control. But the strikes on bridges, apparently aimed to stymie a Russian counterpush in Kursk, could mean that Kyiv intends to seek a foothold in the region — or at least signal to Moscow that it plans to do so. Analysts say that although Ukraine could try to consolidate its gains within Russia, it would be a risky maneuver given Kyiv’s limited resources, because supply lines extending deep into Kursk would be vulnerable to Russian strikes. The incursion has already boosted Ukraine’s morale, sapped by a failed counteroffensive last summer and months of grinding Russian gains in the eastern Donbas region, and proven its ability to seize initiative. It has resembled Ukraine’s lightning operation from September 2022, led by Syrskyi, in which its forces reclaimed control of the northeastern Kharkiv region after taking advantage of Russian manpower shortages and a lack of field fortifications. (AP)

Israeli Naval forces reported a possible drone sighting near Caesarea on Friday, Yisrael Hayom reported on Sunday. The sighting raised concerns that Hezbollah was carrying out surveillance attempts on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s beachside home. The radar system of a Navy missile ship patrolling off the Caesarea coast detected an unidentified aircraft but other monitoring equipment failed to corroborate its presence. Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to the area but they also failed to locate a drone. IDF sources said it was likely a false alarm since radar systems occasionally misidentify flocks of birds or other objects as potential threats. However, the IDF and Air Force did not completely rule out the possibility that it was a tiny Hezbollah drone. Netanyahu was not in Cesearea at the time. His office said in response to an inquiry on the matter by Yisrael Hayom: “It was determined to be a false alarm.” Israeli security officials have warned that Iran and Hezbollah may attempt to carry out targeted assassinations of senior Israeli figures in retaliation for the eliminations of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shakr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

On July 30, 2024, Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike on the seventh floor of a Beirut apartment building, not far from the site of the bombing he planned that killed 241 US Marines in 1983. How did Shukr, with a $5 million bounty on his head, elude the US for almost four decades? According to a Wall Street Journal report, Shukr was a “ghost” – living an almost invisible life and rarely appearing in public. He was so secretive that Lebanese media outlets reporting on his death initially published photos of the wrong person. Shukr’s last day was spent at his office on the second floor of a residential apartment building in the neighborhood of Dahiyeh in southern Beirut. Per his secretive life, his residence was on the seventh floor of the same building, eliminating the need for him to leave his building to go to his office. According to a Hezbollah official, Shukr received a phone call that evening telling him to go up to his apartment. Shortly later, at 7 p.m., an Israeli airstrike destroyed his home, killing the shadowy figure. The official said that the phone call luring Shukr to his death likely came from an outside party who had somehow breached Hezbollah’s internal communications network. Shukr became Hezbollah’s first military commander after the terror group’s formation in 1985. Shortly after helping plan the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in June 1985, he went underground and “became invisible.” He came into Israel’s crosshairs after Hezbollah killed 12 children in a rocket attack on Majdal Shams in northern Israel on July 27. “We’d heard his name, but we never saw him,” said a young neighbor who sat on the pavement near the building where Shukr was killed. “He was like a ghost.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Saturday to “continue intensive diplomatic efforts to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal presented today by the United States, with support from Egypt and Qatar,” the U.S. State Department stated on Friday.

“This proposal would achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, ensure humanitarian assistance is distributed throughout Gaza and create the conditions for broader regional stability,” Foggy Bottom added, noting that Blinke will stress the importance of avoiding regional escalation.

“I am sending Secretary Blinken to Israel to reaffirm my iron-clad support for Israel’s security, continue our intensive efforts to conclude this agreement and to underscore that with the comprehensive ceasefire and hostage release deal now in sight, no one in the region should take actions to undermine this process,” U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Friday.

Biden said that he reviewed “the significant progress made in Doha over the past two days of talks” with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

“They expressed the strong support of Qatar and Egypt for the U.S. proposal as co-mediators in this process,” Biden said. “Our teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work over the coming days, and senior officials will convene again in Cairo before the end of the week. They will report to me regularly.”

(JNS)

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign hired Nasrina Bargzie, a former adviser of Harris’s in the White House on “Muslim, Arab and Gaza-related issues as well as reproductive rights, voting and democracy,” to “lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters,” NBC News reported.

“I am honored to continue my work for the vice president, advising on a range of critical issues in this election—from democracy and reproductive rights to Muslim and Arab outreach,” Bargzie stated, per NBC.

Bargzie co-wrote a 2015 article in the UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice, at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, in which she noted “a wave of civil-rights complaints” related to Israel and the Palestinians.

“This article rejects the central premise of these complaints: that students suffer from a hostile educational environment in violation of their civil rights when a particular country or government with which they may identify is subjected to vigorous critique or academic scrutiny,” she and her co-author wrote.

The U.S. Department of Education’s “handling of these complaints contributed to a chilling effect on university campuses discouraging robust discussion about Israel, Palestine and U.S. policy,” they added.

Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, told JNS that Bargzie sought “to shut down investigations of the groups that harass and attack Jewish students.”

Klein connected Bargzie’s tenure in Harris’s office and the Democratic presidential candidate “increasingly and unjustifiably attacking Israel, including falsely implying that Israel is deliberately targeting civilians.”

“We are deeply concerned about Nasrina Bargzie’s support of Students for Justice in Palestine—the group perpetrating numerous violent anti-Jewish actions on college campuses across the country,” Klein added, “and about Bargzie’s accusations that Jewish students and organizations are engaged in ‘organized legal bullying’ for taking legal action demanding that universities protect Jewish students.”

Alan Dershowitz, law professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, told JNS that Bargzie tilts the Harris campaign in an anti-Israel direction compared to the pro-Israel stance of Ilan Goldenberg, who leads Jewish voter outreach for the campaign.

“She appears to be much more one-sidedly anti-Israel than Ilan Goldenberg. It’s an imbalance,” Dershowitz told JNS. “The Muslim liaison appointment seems much more one-sidedly anti-Israel than the allegedly pro-Israel appointee seems pro-Israel, so it seems like an unbalanced couple of appointments.”

(JNS)

Hurricane Ernesto weakened into a tropical storm late Saturday as it moved away from Bermuda over open waters of the Atlantic after crossing over the tiny British territory early in the day with heavy rains and strong winds. Ernesto forced residents to stay indoors, and more than 23,000 people lost power, officials said. By late Saturday, the storm’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to 70 mph (110 kph). It was centered about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda and moving north-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph). The National Hurricane Center had warned of strong winds, a dangerous storm surge and significant coastal flooding for Bermuda. The center said 7 to 9 inches (17-22.5 centimeters) of rain was expected to fall on Bermuda. “This rainfall will likely result in considerable life-threatening flash flooding, especially in low-lying areas on the island,” it said. Due to the large size of the storm and its slow movement, gusts sometimes up to hurricane force were expected through Saturday night and tropical storm-strength winds were expected to continue well into Sunday, the Bermuda government said. Late Saturday afternoon, Michelle Pitcher, director of the Bermuda Weather Service, said wind gusts were still reaching hurricane force. “It’s still quite rough out there,” she said. A tropical storm warning would remain in place into the night, Pitcher said. Premier David Burt shared a video on the social media platform X thanking emergency services and encouraging residents to stay inside. “Overnight, there will still be tropical storm force winds, and we’re asking everyone to please exercise caution,” he said. “Remain at home.” BELCO, Bermuda’s power company, said over 23,000 customers had no power as of Saturday night. The hurricane center reported life-threatening surf and rip currents on the East Coast of the United States and Canada. Ernesto was expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland by Monday night, and possibly could regain hurricane strength, it said. Lana Morris, manager of Edgehill Manor Guest House in Bermuda, said conditions were calm, though the wind has started to pick up again. “I spoke to my guests, they told me they still have electricity, they have running water, and are comfortable.” Morris said she has been communicating with her guests via phone. “They do not have internet — but if the network is down, it’s down. They are safe and I’m happy with that.” Bermuda is an archipelago of 181 tiny islands whose total land mass is roughly the size of Manhattan. According to AccuWeather, it’s uncommon for the eye of a hurricane to make landfall in Bermuda. It noted that, before today, since 1850 only 11 of 130 tropical storms that came within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of Bermuda had made landfall. The territory is a renowned offshore financial center with sturdy construction, and given its elevation, storm surge is not as problematic as it is with low-lying islands. Ernesto previously battered the northeast Caribbean, where it left tens of thousands of people without water in Puerto Rico. LUMA, Puerto Rico’s national power company, said it had restored more than 1.3 million customers’ electricity 72 hours after the storm’s passage. After cleaning up and removing debris, the Virgin Islands Department of Education said all public schools would resume operations Monday. Classes in Puerto Rico’s public schools also were scheduled to start Monday, […]

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In a new letter, Rav Avrohom Schorr, the Rov of Khal Nezer Gedalyahu in Flatbush, expressed deep dismay over the increasing extravagance observed at Friday Toameha gatherings and at Kiddushim on Shabbos, particularly highlighting the excessive drinking of alcohol and the lavish spending associated with these events.

The letter, penned on Erev Shabbos Nachamu to members of his bais medrash, serves as a clarion call for a return to the core values of simplicity and modesty.

Rav Schorr pointed out that the opulence of these events, especially the overindulgence in alcohol, not only shifts the focus from the spiritual and communal aspects of Shabbos but also exacerbates financial pressures on families. In light of the current economic challenges faced by many, he emphasized that such overspending is particularly egregious.

Moreover, Rav Schorr noted that Toameha gatherings do not have any halachic significance.

Read it:

{Matzav.com}

Vice President Kamala Harris is currently ahead of former President Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in Arizona and has a slight advantage over him in North Carolina. However, Trump leads in Georgia and Nevada, resulting in an overall tie between the two candidates across these four Sun Belt states, as per a recent poll.

The poll, conducted by The New York Times and Siena College, surveyed 2,670 registered voters from August 8 to 15 and was released on Saturday. The results show Harris leading Trump 50% to 45% in Arizona and 49% to 47% in North Carolina. Conversely, Trump holds a 50% to 46% lead in Georgia and a 48% to 47% lead in Nevada, leading to a 48% tie between Harris and Trump across the four states.

This poll reflects a notable improvement for Democrats since the previous Times/Siena poll in May, where Trump led President Joe Biden 50% to 41% in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. That earlier poll did not include North Carolina.

The latest poll follows a Times/Siena poll from last week in the northern battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which showed Harris leading Trump by 4 percentage points.

Despite these gains, Harris faces some challenges, as 43% of registered voters view her as too liberal, while 33% consider Trump too conservative.

The poll also indicates growing enthusiasm among Democrats with Harris as their nominee, with 85% of voters expressing at least some excitement about voting—a level of enthusiasm almost on par with that for Trump.

Moreover, large majorities on both sides are now satisfied with their candidates, a shift from May when Republican satisfaction was significantly higher.

The current poll underscores the deep polarization of this year’s election. Harris garnered support from 84% of Black voters, surpassing the levels Biden had before exiting the race in July.

Harris also secured 54% of Latino voters and created a significant gender gap with Trump in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada, leading by 14 percentage points among women.

Additionally, Harris expanded her lead among nonwhite voters in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada by 29 percentage points, compared to the 17-point lead Biden held among these voters in May.

Trump, on the other hand, maintained a strong lead among white voters without a college degree, with 66% support across the four Sun Belt states.

Both Harris and Trump received a 48% favorable rating. For Harris, this marks a significant improvement from a national survey in February, where she had an unfavorable margin of 19 percentage points.

The poll did highlight some potential weaknesses for Harris, as more voters believe she changes her stance on important issues more than Trump does.

Trump continues to hold an advantage on issues like the economy and immigration, which most voters identify as key concerns facing the country.

On the question of which candidate would best handle the issues most important to voters, Harris and Trump were nearly evenly matched.

When third-party candidates were considered, the polls for the four Sun Belt states remained virtually unchanged. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 4% of the likely voters, about half of what he garnered in the May poll.

The margins of error for the polls were plus or minus 4.4 points in Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia, and plus or minus 4.2 points in North Carolina.

{Matzav.com}

A New York Times reporter in Melbourne Australia was responsible for leaking personal information of over 600 Australian Jews earlier this year. The private information was subsequently disseminated online, leading to mass doxxing, harassment and threats.

According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, and subsequently confirmed in a NY Times statement, natasha Frost, a reporter for the Times, shared 900 pages of content from a private WhatsApp group with hundreds of Jewish members. The private information was then released in a list called ‘Zio600″ which has been used to target the 600 Jewish members with threats and harassment.

Frost admitted to the data breach, and the NY Times said it will be taking legal action against her. According to the Jerusalem Post, Frost still appears on the paper’s website, but her contact info has been removed.

A spokeswomen for the NY Times said: “It has been brought to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics. This was done without the knowledge or approval of The Times.”

After the mass doxing, one Jewish family in Melbourne had their store vandalized, and were forced to close their store and go into hiding after receiving a message including a photo of their child, which said “I know where you live.”

Another case included a Jewish woman, who is a teacher at a Jewish school in Melbourne, have people call her school with threatening messages.

After the incident, Mark Dreyfus, Australia’s Attorney-General, introduced legislation to ban doxxing. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed the doxxing in an interview back in February, saying this incident was: “not a WhatsApp group that was heavily political, [it was] a WhatsApp group to provide support for each other because of the rise in antisemitism that we’ve seen.”

“The idea that in Australia, someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith, whether they be Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Catholic or Buddhist, is just completely unacceptable.”

{Matzav.com}

Donald Trump has enlisted Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic Representative from Hawaii, to assist in preparing for his upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gabbard, aged 43, recently participated in a strategy meeting with the 78-year-old ex-president at his Mar-a-Lago estate as he readies himself for the debate scheduled for September with the 59-year-old Democratic contender, according to the New York Times.

Previously a potential running mate for Trump, Gabbard has experience debating Harris from their time as candidates in the 2019 Democratic presidential primaries. During one of their debates, she delivered a fierce critique of Harris’ record as California’s Attorney General.

The Trump campaign has confirmed that Gabbard is assisting the former president, who is known for his aversion to conventional debate preparation, in his preparation for the upcoming confrontation with Harris.

“[Trump has] proven to be one of the best debaters in political history as evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden,” campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told the Times.

“He does not need traditional debate prep but will continue to meet with respected policy advisers and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2020,” she added.

During a primary debate in July 2019, Gabbard harshly criticized Harris’ tenure as California’s Attorney General.

“There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said during the notable exchange.

“She blocked evidence, she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so.”

In a later debate, Harris accused Gabbard of holding foreign policy views and criticizing the Democratic Party establishment, deeming her unqualified for the party’s presidential nomination.

“Our Democratic Party, unfortunately, is not the party that is of, by and for the people,” Gabbard countered, asserting that the party is still influenced by the foreign policy establishment associated with Hillary Clinton and others.

The Trump campaign responded positively to this retort, retweeting a clip of the debate moment.

After the debate in November 2019, Harris withdrew from the presidential race, and Gabbard ended her campaign in March 2020.

Trump and Harris are set to face each other for the first time in Philadelphia on September 10 on ABC.

{Matzav.com}

Dr. Jordan Peterson calls out Kamala Harris and the Democratic party for their “manipulative” behavior.