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Speaking Thursday at the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva Network and Makor Rishon’s National Education Conference, Defense Minister Yisroel Katz delivered a wide-ranging address touching on Gaza, military policy, media, and the draft law, opening with a forceful declaration that “we won in Gaza.”

Turning to the future of the Strip, Katz rejected the idea that Israel would relinquish control even under the terms of the ceasefire arrangement. Although the agreement envisions an IDF pullback and a transfer of authority to Palestinian Arabs, Katz insisted, “Israel will never leave the territory of Gaza. There will be a security buffer zone inside Gaza to protect the communities.”

Addressing the ceasefire framework more broadly, Katz warned that Israel would not tolerate an armed Hamas presence. Referring to the plan advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump, he said that if Hamas refuses to disarm, “we will do it.”

Katz also explained his controversial decision to shut down the IDF radio station, Galei Tzahal, offering a blunt critique of its role and conduct. “This station supports the enemy, it provides an outlet for Hamas members, and attacks soldiers and the IDF. All of the chiefs of staff have said that the station needs to close and can not remain in the IDF. Today, some of them who have moved on to politics changed their opinion,” he said.

He added that the move was not driven by ideology or personal agenda. “I don’t make a hobby of closing radio stations. All of the chiefs of staff wanted to get rid of the station. You can’t privatize it,” Katz stated.

On the so-called Qatar Gate affair, Katz sought to downplay its significance, saying it never reached him as a security concern. “Many things are put on my table, no security official ever brought this to me as some sort of security danger to Israel. That’s a sign that it’s not as big as it sounds,” he said.

The defense minister concluded by addressing the conscription bill, striking an optimistic note about the prospects for change. “I believe that we have an opportunity here; they had a broad consensus on things they had disagreed with in the past. There is also an opportunity to draft 10,000 in the first two years, and within five years, 50% from every cycle. If 50% would serve, the norm will change. This is feasible and necessary.”

{Matzav.com}

By Alex Traiman

Case 4000—the most serious and consequential of the criminal cases against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—has long been portrayed by prosecutors as the centerpiece of their corruption allegations. Yet testimony heard this week in the Jerusalem District Court has intensified claims by Netanyahu’s allies that the case is not merely weak, but compromised by investigative misconduct.

According to Likud spokesman Guy Levy, testimony delivered on Tuesday by Ron Solomon, a serving senior investigator in the Israel Police’s signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit, revealed evidence of intentional suppression of exculpatory material, alteration of professional findings and continued investigative activity even after indictments were filed—all in service of sustaining a narrative that was unraveling under its own weight.

The flagship case—and why it mattered most

Among the three cases against Netanyahu—Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000—Case 4000 has always been regarded by prosecutors as the most severe. Unlike the others, it alleged a direct quid pro quo: that Netanyahu, while serving as communications minister, advanced regulatory decisions favorable to Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecom company, owned by Shaul Elovitch, in exchange for favorable coverage on the Walla news site.

Central to that theory is an alleged meeting between Netanyahu and Shlomo Filber, the former director general of the Communications Ministry who signed a deal to become a state’s witness in 2018, during his first week in office. The prime minister has consistently denied that such a conversation ever took place.

On the witness stand, Solomon testified that cell phone location data never placed Filber together with Netanyahu at the time of the alleged meeting. According to his testimony, the police had assembled a detailed chronology early in the investigation demonstrating that the meeting did not occur.

That data, Solomon said, was transferred to the prosecution.

According to Levy, the significance is unmistakable: The prosecution allegedly knew that the foundational claim of the meeting was false, yet indicted Netanyahu anyway—while withholding the contradictory location evidence from the defense and the court.

If correct, this would amount to concealment of exculpatory material, misrepresentation to the court and the filing of indictments based on claims known to be untrue.

From “favorable coverage” to “exceptional responsiveness”

Solomon’s testimony also addressed the prosecution’s shifting theory regarding media coverage.

Initially, prosecutors alleged that Netanyahu received positive coverage from Walla. During pre-indictment hearings before then–Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the defense demonstrated that the coverage was frequently hostile, inconsistent and often negative.

Faced with that reality, the prosecution rebranded the allegation as “exceptional responsiveness” or unusually preferential treatment.

Solomon testified that he was tasked with reviewing Walla’s coverage of Netanyahu’s controversial Election Day 2015 statement warning that Arab voters were turning out “in droves.”

His findings contradicted the prosecution’s narrative. Walla was the third outlet to report the statement, later published a follow-up article debunking Netanyahu’s claim, and framed its coverage in a sharply hostile tone, including accusations of racism from opposition leaders.

Solomon testified that he had submitted these findings to the commander of the police’s financial crimes unit—only to be instructed to delete the information supporting Netanyahu’s position.

According to Solomon, the directive came from above, under guidance from the prosecution.

The big picture

The developments in Case 4000 come against the backdrop of the other cases against Netanyahu, each of which the defense and Likud officials describe as increasingly tenuous.

In Case 1000, prosecutors allege that Netanyahu and his family received gifts—including cigars, champagne and even a Bugs Bunny doll—valued at approximately $230,000 over many years from wealthy acquaintances. The prosecution concedes there was no specific quid pro quo, arguing instead that accepting gifts constituted a breach of trust because it might have compromised Netanyahu at some undefined future point.

In Case 2000, Netanyahu is accused of discussing a possible quid pro quo with Arnon “Noni” Mozes, publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth, under which Netanyahu would advance legislation restricting the free distribution of the pro-Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom in exchange for more favorable coverage. The prosecution openly acknowledges that the quid pro quo never occurred, yet argues that the mere conversation constitutes a criminal breach of trust.

A broader pattern alleged misconduct

Likud spokesman Levy argues that when viewed together, the cases reflect an unprecedented legal theory: criminal liability without demonstrated corruption, benefit or outcome. The picture that emerges is not of an investigation following evidence, but of evidence being reshaped to fit a predetermined conclusion.

Likud officials further allege that evidence in the cases was illegally collected and then selectively leaked to the media during consecutive election cycles, shaping public opinion and influencing electoral outcomes. They also point to the use of state witnesses who, they claim, were subjected to intense pressure and threatened with severe consequences unless they provided testimony aligning with the prosecution’s theory.

These claims remain contested, but Solomon’s testimony, Levy argues, lends new credibility to longstanding allegations of investigative overreach.

The pardon question

Against this backdrop, Netanyahu recently requested a presidential pardon from Isaac Herzog, who possesses the constitutional authority to bring the proceedings to an end.

Supporters of the move argue that after years of political paralysis, repeated elections and deep social division, a pardon would serve the national interest regardless of one’s view of Netanyahu himself.

The issue gained international attention after President Donald Trump sent a letter to Herzog urging him to grant a pardon, describing the case as politically driven and destabilizing.

Whether Herzog will act remains unclear. But after Solomon’s testimony, pressure on the prosecution—and on Israel’s political leadership—to address the legitimacy of the proceedings is likely to intensify.

A case on trial

Ultimately, the court will determine the weight of Solomon’s testimony and the credibility of the allegations surrounding it. Yet one conclusion is already evident: the case once billed as the prosecution’s strongest is now the one most visibly unraveling.

As Levy put it, Case 4000 is no longer merely a trial of a prime minister. It has become a trial of the system that brought him to the dock.

{Matzav.com}

In a joint statement issued Thursday, the Israeli military warned that it will continue to act decisively against Iranian-backed threats, declaring, “The IDF and ISA view with great severity any attempt by the Iranian regime and its proxies to advance terror plans, and will continue to operate in order to remove any threat against the State of Israel.”

The warning followed a targeted operation earlier in the day in southern Lebanon, where forces from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency struck in the Ansariyah area, killing Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari.

According to the military, al-Jawhari was a senior terrorist operative affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and played a central role in advancing and planning attacks against Israel over recent years, operating from both Syria and Lebanon.

Al-Jawhari was part of Unit 840, the operational arm of the Quds Force responsible for coordinating and executing Iranian terror activity targeting Israel. The unit is commanded by Asghar Baqeri, with Mohammad Reza Ansari serving as his deputy, and oversees the direction of attacks carried out by Iran and its proxies against Israeli targets and security forces.

Israeli officials stressed that the strike was part of an ongoing campaign to disrupt and dismantle Iranian-directed terror networks operating beyond Israel’s borders, particularly those seeking to establish attack infrastructure along the northern front.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli security forces announced Thursday they had detained an Israeli citizen on suspicion of espionage on behalf of Iran, including photographing “areas near” the residence of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Vadim Kupriyanov, an Israeli in his 40s from the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion, was arrested earlier this month after he carried out “photography missions” near Bennett’s home, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a joint statement.

An investigation by the International Crime Investigations division of the Israel Police’s National Major Crime Unit (Lahav 433) and the Shin Bet revealed Tehran had ordered Kupriyanov to carry out “a variety of security-related tasks” over the course of approximately two months.

“Among other things, at the request of his handlers, he transferred various photographs he took in his city of residence and in other cities, in exchange for varying sums of money,” according to the statement.

Prosecutors were expected to file an indictment against Kupriyanov on Thursday in the Central District Court in Lod, the statement added, stressing past warnings against contacts with hostile foreign intelligence services.

“The security agencies will continue to act to locate and thwart terrorist and espionage activity in Israel and will act to bring to justice, with severity, all those involved in such activity,” it concluded.

Bennett, who served a one-year term as prime minister from June 2021 to June 2022 and is seeking to run in next year’s election with his “Bennett 2026” party, stated in response, “Iran’s efforts to harm me will not stop me in my life’s mission. Am Yisrael Chai [‘The people of Israel lives.’]”

Bennett on Dec. 17 confirmed that his official account on the Telegram messaging app was hacked, along with his contacts, photos and chats.

“The contents of my contact list, as well as many photos and chats—both real and fabricated (including a photo of me alongside [the late Prime Minister David] Ben-Gurion)—were distributed. This material was obtained illegally, and its distribution constitutes a criminal offense,” the statement from the former premier’s office read.

Iranian hacker group Handala wrote to Bennett, who was the CEO of Cyota, an anti-fraud software company, before stepping into politics some 20 years ago, “You once prided yourself on being a beacon of cybersecurity, showcasing your expertise to the world.

“Yet how ironic that your iPhone 13 fell so easily into Handala’s hands. Despite all your boasting and pride, your digital fortress was nothing more than a paper wall waiting to be breached,” the group stated.

Since the outbreak of the war triggered by the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli security forces have uncovered at least three dozen cases in which Tehran allegedly attempted to recruit Israelis. JNS

{Matzav.com}

An Arkansas lottery ticket sold for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing has claimed a staggering $1.82 billion prize, making it the second-largest jackpot ever awarded in the game’s history.

Although the drawing had been promoted at $1.7 billion, the total prize climbed sharply once final ticket sales were calculated, pushing the payout into record territory.

The numbers drawn were 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, with Powerball 19.

The ticket holder now faces a choice between receiving the full $1.82 billion through annual payments spread over 29 years or taking a one-time cash payout of $834.9 million.

Powerball officials marked the moment with praise for both the winner and the broader player base. “Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,” Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn said. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak – every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.”

For Arkansas, the win represents just the second Powerball jackpot in state history. The only prior top prize came on Jan. 2, 2010, when a $25 million jackpot was claimed. In that case, the player opted to remain anonymous and selected a $12.15 million cash payout.

State law allows Arkansas Lottery winners of prizes valued at $500,000 or more to keep their identities private for up to three years.

The Powerball jackpot had last been claimed on Sept. 6, when two tickets—one sold in Missouri and the other in Texas—split a $1.78 billion prize. Each of those winners was eligible to receive either $895 million in annuity payments over 29 years or a lump sum of $410.3 million, and both chose the cash option while remaining anonymous under their respective state laws.

Beyond the top prize, eight players nationwide won $1 million each by matching all five white balls. Two of those tickets were sold in New York, one at a convenience store in Sidney, Delaware County, and another at Montauk Highway Gas Corp in Lindenhurst on Long Island.

The odds of matching all six Powerball numbers stand at 1 in 292,201,338.

Only one Powerball jackpot has ever exceeded Wednesday night’s total—the $2.04 billion prize won in California in November 2022 by Edwin Castro.

With the jackpot now claimed, the Powerball grand prize resets to $20 million for this weekend’s drawing.

{Matzav.com}

ISRAELI POLICE GIVE HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR KAVOD ACHARON * Police officers in Tel Aviv discovered the body of 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Igo Margolis, who lived alone with no family. * After efforts to find relatives failed, the officers arranged his funeral and burial at Yarkon Cemetery. * They recited Kaddish and committed to visiting his kever […]

A short while ago, IDF observation posts and the IAF aerial control center identified two drones that crossed from the west into Israeli territory in a smuggling attempt. Following the identification, an IAF combat helicopter intercepted the two drones upon their entry into Israeli territory.

Israel overnight returned the body of Abd al-Muttalib al-Qaisi, the Jordanian truck driver terrorist who killed two IDF soldiers at the Allenby Crossing in September. His family held a dawn funeral procession and buried him in Wadi al-Shita, in the Amman district.

A powerful winter storm is bearing down on the Tri-State area, with forecasters warning of significant snowfall, dangerous travel, and possible ice from Friday evening through Shabbos morning. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for New York City, much of New Jersey, and southern Connecticut as an area of low pressure […]

Dear Matzav Inbox,

There was a time when a shtreimel was a symbol of dignity and inherited mesorah. It sat on a head quietly, without screaming for attention, without demanding applause, without turning its wearer into a walking spectacle. That time, apparently, has passed.

Somewhere along the line, subtlety was declared obsolete, and excess crowned itself king—quite literally.

Shtreimels are getting taller, wider, and more absurd by the year. What once rested respectfully atop a head now looms overhead like an architectural project gone rogue. It is no longer headwear. It is a statement piece. And the statement is deeply embarrassing. It’s a busha. And I say that as the wearer of a shtreimel – a normal one.

Do the wearers realize how clownish they look? Or is that awareness drowned out by the applause of a society that has confused ostentation with chashivus?

Let us stop pretending this is about mesorah. Our grandfathers did not parade around with fur towers balanced precariously above their ears. They did not need height to signal worth. Their dignity came from who they were, not from how much fur they could stack on their skulls. The shtreimel was never meant to compete with skyscrapers.

And yet, here we are, locked in a silent but vicious arms race: taller than his, wider than theirs. A grotesque one-upmanship that masquerades as chassidishe refinement. If the goal is to look ridiculous, mission accomplished. If the goal is to honor mesorah, we have veered wildly off course.

Worse still is the money. The staggering sums being poured into these monstrosities would make even the most hardened fundraiser blush. Thousands of dollars—sometimes more—spent not on chinuch, not on helping struggling families, not on communal needs, but on looking like an overgrown cartoon character. And for what? To stand out in a crowd that should be running in the opposite direction?

We live in a generation crushed by tuition, suffocated by housing costs, strangled by simcha expenses. Families are drowning quietly, cutting corners, juggling debts, pretending everything is fine. And in the middle of this, we normalize the idea that a man must place an ever-expanding fur monument on his head to be taken seriously.

What message does this send to our children? That image matters more than substance? That dignity is measured in inches? That Torah values are best expressed through theatrical excess?

This is not hiddur mitzvah. This is vanity dressed up as piety. This is insecurity wrapped in sable. This is a costume contest that no one had the courage to shut down before it spiraled into parody.

And yes, someone needs to say it plainly: It looks ridiculous. It invites mockery. It cheapens what was once noble. It turns something meaningful into a joke — and we are the punchline.

Yiddishkeit has survived because our zeides and bubbes knew when to hold firm and when to rein things in. Not every escalation is growth. Not every “more” is better. Sometimes, more is just more….and sometimes more is grotesque.

It is long past time to ask ourselves an uncomfortable question: Are we honoring our minhagim or are we inflating them until they collapse under their own weight?

Because if we continue down this path, the only thing that will keep growing faster than the shtreimels themselves is the embarrassment they bring upon us.

And let us be brutally honest about the final, uncomfortable truth: No one looks at these towering shtreimels and thinks “yiras Shamayim.” They think excess. They think insecurity. They think parody. What was once meant to humble a man before the Eibishter now elevates his ego several inches above everyone else in the room. We have taken an article of kedusha and turned it into a grotesque measuring stick of status, where taller means “more,” and “more” means “better.” That is not avodas Hashem. That is theater. And if we do not stop congratulating ourselves for it, we will wake up one day and realize that in our frantic race to look holier, we have succeeded only in making ourselves look foolish—before the world, before our children, and worst of all, before the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself.

Running for Cover

New York

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{Matzav.com}

Saudi Arabia on Thursday formally called on Emirati-backed separatists in Yemen to withdraw from two governorates their forces now control in the country, a move that threatens sparking a confrontation within a fragile coalition battling the Houthi rebels. The statement from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry appeared aimed at putting public pressure on the Southern Transitional Council, a […]

From scraped knees to unexpected emergencies, parents deserve to know their children are in the best hands. The all-new Pediatric ER at Maimonides Children’s Hospital combines specialized pediatric expertise with compassion, communication, and comfort — so families feel supported when it matters most. Little adventures. Big peace of mind.My Bklyn. My Care. https://api.jewishadgroup.com/1uzi2e

The U.S. Supreme Court is nearing a decision that could eliminate race-based congressional districts.

Turkish authorities detained 115 suspected Islamic State members, saying the group was planning attacks targeting Christmas and New Year celebrations across the country.

ELIMINATED: IDF and ISA kill senior Iranian Quds Force terrorist Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari in southern Lebanon. Israel says he planned Iran-backed attacks from Syria and Lebanon under the IRGC’s direction.

RISHON LEZION MAN CHARGED WITH ACTING ON BEHALF OF IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE * A 40-year-old resident of Rishon LeZion has been charged on suspicion of acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence. * Prosecutors say he filmed near the home of former PM Naftali Bennett in Ra’anana as part of the activity. * An indictment has been […]

“Ma, this Santa is a Yid!” Watch as HaRav Moshe Weinberger, the Mora D’asra of Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, recounts the time he met Santa Claus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected construction at the site of a new 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided-missile submarine.

This year’s flu season is shaping up to be one of the most punishing in recent memory, with hospitalizations climbing sharply and the CDC estimating 4.6 million flu cases nationwide so far—even as peak season is still weeks away. Health officials say the surge is being driven by an unusually aggressive strain of influenza A, […]

IDF soldiers from Duvdevan and the Ephraim Brigade arrested the members of a terror cell planning an imminent terror attack against Israeli targets, the IDF spokesperson announced on Thursday morning The arrests were made overnight Wednesday in the village of Jayyus, near Qalqilya, during a targeted counterterrorism mission in several Palestinian villages. The arrest of […]